Keith’s note: In case you did not already notice, the 9th floor at NASA HQ issued these two reports on human spaceflight strategy in less than a week – and yet neither one mentions the other – even thought they overlap and cross-enable. Right? Nor does NASA make any effort to link them together. Why bother. Gotta take all that use-or-lose vacation time.

• Moon to Mars Architecture
• Strategy for Sustaining Human Presence in Low Earth Orbit

Keith’s note: According to yet another year-end report issued a few days before the Biden folks on the 9th floor at NASA HQ packs up their offices: “NASA Finalizes Strategy for Sustaining Human Presence in Low Earth Orbit“ which says: “The final framework includes 13 goals and 44 objectives across seven key areas: commercial low Earth orbit infrastructure, operations, science, research and technology development for exploration, international cooperation, workforce development and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement, and public engagement.” etc. etc. This “strategy” (it is not a strategy BTW) simply does what every single report like this before has done: it changes dates to reflect cost overruns/program delays since the last report; re-words the same goals and objectives etc. that the last report contained; and simply reflects an endorsement of the status quo. No imagination, no new ideas, just the same old, same old. Yawn.

Keith’s note: There is an Artemis media thing at NASA today at 1:00 pm EST. Tune in here. During the tenure of Bill Nelson at NASA the Artemis program’s schedule has slipped by several years, costs have continued to balloon out of control, and both OIG/GAO continue to point out chronically unresolved managerial and contractual issues with the whole Artemis/SLS/Orion/Gateway thing. It will be interesting to see what spin Nelson puts on this whole mess today in his exit presser – and how often he will say #SpaceIsHard.

Keith’s note: NASA put out a report NASA’s Economic Impact Report for fiscal year (FY) 2023. In addition to its data rich/ lousy common language construction (see A Nice NASA Economic Impact Report By / For Wonks) NASA is not really spending much effort to tell people about it. In addition to the report there are additional data files and one PDF file for every state (but nothing for Puerto Rico). But other than some info from GSFC, KSC, and Armstrong, NASA PAO seems to have ignored its own websites and not sent out any media advisories or press releases relevant to local state economic impacts (no mention here) just their main release and a KSC link. NASA has once again demonstrated that it is utterly clueless and bereft of strategic thought when it comes to demonstrating its value and relevance to its stakeholders, taxpayers, and its puppet masters in DC. This is going to come back and bite the agency. It is downright embarrassing that the same agency that can look outward and back at the beginning of time and reprogram 50 year old spacecraft in interstellar space can’t explain itself to the people that pay for the whole space thing. More snarky detail below.

Keith’s note: Chirag Parikh Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary, National Space Council posted something on LinkedIn. There is something happening next week – “Find Your Place in Space Week” from 6-13 April 2024. I never got anything from NASA PAO, OSTP, or National Space Council. There is no mention of this here at NASA news or here at the NASA main page or at NASA STEM Engagement or OSTP or National Space Council. Apparently NASA TV is ignoring it. If you use NASA’s search engine there is no mention. BUT If you Google these words “Find Your Place in Space Week NASA” a page shows up – but it is hidden inside of NASA.gov – you have to already know about it before you search for it. The Space Foundation is holding the Space Symposium next week – a natural tie-in, right? They ignore it too. The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, AIAA, Planetary Society, National Space Society etc. make no mention of this either. There are lots of partners on listed by National Space Council but if you go to USGS, NSF, NOAA, etc. etc. there is no mention whatsoever of this event that they are co-sponsoring. Again, you already need to know exactly what words to use to find this – otherwise, no joy since none of the obvious places even mention it. It is baffling that one part of the federal government has no idea what other parts are doing – especially NASA. All we get is a White House guy telling the space wonk community about it on LinkedIn. Here’s what Parikh posted:

• Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Hearing – Advancing Scientific Discovery: Assessing the Status of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
• March 21, 2024 10:00 AM EDT
• Hearing charter
• Dr. Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA
• Mr. George A. Scott, Acting Inspector General, NASA
• Dr. Jonathan I. Lunine, Cornell University
• Mr. A. Thomas Young, Former Director, GSFC and Former President and COO, Martin Marietta
• Watch live

Keith’s Note: NASA is holding a Cancer Moonshot media thing at 9:30 am EDT on Thursday, 21 March at NASA Headquarters with the Secretary of HHS, the NASA Adminstrator, and some astronauts, to talk about NASA and the White House Cancer Moonshot effort. As a former NASA life scientist and space station payload guy this fascinates me. But I won’t bother to cover it. It is an onsite thing only and will not be broadcast on NASA TV – no mention of the event by NASA TV here or here or or on the SMD science calendar here. HHS has no mention here or here either. And there is zero mention at the Cancer Moonshot website itself. So, at most a handful of people will hear what is said and distilled summaries will appear on a few news websites – maybe. If this is such ‘a big f*#king deal’, as the President likes to say (it is a project for which the Bidens have a strong personal – family – interest), then you’d think that NASA and HHS – and OSTP – would say a teeny tiny bit more about it. Guess again.

If I went to this event I’d be asking these two questions (assuming that NASA PAO actually let me ask a question):

More below

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate will hold a Budget Town Hall meeting with Associate Administrator for Science Nicky Fox and her leadership team on Wednesday from 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT. Participants are invited to submit their questions below and/or vote up questions already posted.

Keith’s note: True to form, overt politico Senator Administrator Bill Nelson D-FL said “As history has proven, as the present has shown, and as the future will continue to demonstrate, an investment in NASA is an investment in America for the benefit of humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “President Biden’s budget will fund our nation’s abilities and leadership for the future of space exploration, scientific discovery, cutting-edge technology, climate data, the next generation of aeronautics, and inspiring our future leaders – the Artemis Generation.” This is, of course, nonsense since NASA’s budget overruns/delays on Artemis, Mars Sample Return etc. have already begin to eat up other projects. An insufficient FY 25 budget simply makes things worse. Remember just a few years ago the NASA mantra was “Journey to Mars” in the 2030s. Well, the new variant – NASA “Moon to Mars” thing now only shows the Moon – no Mars – in the 2030s. Negative progress – indeed its space exploration Shrinkflation. Clicking your heels together, crossing your fingers, and whistling “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” ain’t gonna solve anything, Bill. NASA’s plans are royally screwed. And the Artemis Generation will not witness all the happy talk you continue to throw their way. I guess that Moon rock is not in the Oval Office anymore.

• According to Marcia Smith @SpcPlcyOnline {see chart above} From NASA budget summary, latest Artemis schedule. SpaceX Starship HLS test in 2026, same year as Artemis III landing. Artemis V, first use of Blue Origin’s HLS, now in 2030.
• According to @Lori_Garver The @POTUS ’25 @NASA budget of $25.38B is ~$2.5B less than projected last year. Along w/ congressional cut of $2.3B for 2024, the agency’s growth trend is now reversed. Absorbing these reductions w/out cancelling major programs will cause delays across the board. Tough choices.
• The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration put out a statement that only expresses concern about human spaceflight – not all the other things NASA does.
• In a 7 March Statement the Planetary Society only focuses on space science – and not human spaceflight
• Here are the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request documents posted by NASA. Read them and weep.

Keith’s note: According to this OSTP Fact Sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration to Kick off Fourth Investing in America Tour to Highlight How the President Is Delivering for Communities in Every Corner of America: “Throughout the Investing in America tour, President Biden, Vice President Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Cabinet members, and Senior Administration Officials will visit communities across the country where the President is cutting costs for American families, growing our clean energy economy, rebuilding our infrastructure, and creating good-paying jobs along the way. To date, the Administration has now launched over 50,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects and mobilized over $640 billion in private sector clean energy and manufacturing investments.” Alas, NASA is mentioned nowhere in this fact sheet. The fact sheet points to a Brookings Institution report – which also makes no mention of NASA or space. Remember the early days of this Administration when the President pointed out a Moon rock in the oval office? Looks like NASA has lost its mojo. As for the National Space Council – which is supposed to worry about these sort of things – nothing but crickets.

Keith’s note: According to this little gem that was tossed online after hours on a Friday “NASA Adjusts Agreements to Benefit Commercial Station Development“ “We continue to see an immense amount of dedication from our partners,” said Angela Hart, manager of Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.“The agency is committed to continuing to work with industry with the goal having one or more stations in orbit to ensure competition, lower costs, and meet the demand of NASA and other customers.” Uh huh. Since when has NASA lowered the cost – of anything? This whole ISS vs Gateway/Artemis vs Orbital Reef vs Starlab vs Axiom vs Russia vs China vs Congress with regard to space stations is all going to result in an inelastic collision – soon. To some extent this announcement is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The money is simply not there for everything, competing priorities are inherently non-synergistic, and in place of a coherent, national strategy – one that takes these things into account in a realistic way – we have a short-term, seat of the pants, ad hoc, fake it until you make it, free for all. Something has got to give since neither the money or a clear policy path are on the horizon. And the warning signs – if they are even apparent – will be ignored until it is too late. And expecting the National Space Council to do anything substantive is simply naive in the extreme. Oh then there’s the whole 2024 election thing and the fact that NASA has no idea when the moon walking resumes and … Just sayin’

Keith’s note: There was another National Space Council thing in Washington, DC. Big room, lots of flags, big expensive billboard-sized posters from Kinko’s, dramatic lighting – and did I mention lots of flags? Today’s big news was not “news”. VP Harris announced that an international crew member would be part of a mission to the lunar surface. Duh. We’ve all known that for a while. We still do not know what country they wil be from or who they are. NASA can’t even tell you what year they’ll be able to announce the year that humans will land on the Moon – much less who will be in the spaceship or the flag on their shoulder. The Vice President’s team just wants talking points with a sizzle reel. Only NASA OIG and GAO seem to care about NASA’s ability to do things at cost and on time. Artemis and Gateway, Mars Sample Return, ISS service life extension and disposal, commercial space station follow-ons – and all those other other shiny new things will not all fit in the existing budget box. But why worry that the budget required to do things at NASA – It’s showtime! These public things are just a dog and pony show that costs a lot of money three times a year to make the people in the D.C space bubble feel important as they enjoy their choir practice in an echo chamber. The real work goes on behind the scenes. This is just for PR. Just sayin’. Here are the talking points and fact sheets.

• FACT SHEET: Strengthening U.S. International Space Partnerships
• U.S. Novel Space Activities Authorization and Supervision Framework
• Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Meeting of the U.S. National Space Council
• Secretary Antony J. Blinken at a U.S. National Space Council Meeting
• Space Manufacturing Technology Report Submitted to The National Space Council

Keith’s 11 Dec note: There is a National Space Council meeting on Wednesday 20 Dec. Other than a simple release from the White House – emailed to some media but not others – no other information has come out. I asked NASA PAO if it will be webcast. No response. No start/end time is listed. No location. No agenda. Nothing. NASA+ and NASA.gov make no mention whatsoever. You can’t ask the National Space Council since there is no way to actually contact them via their website (no email contact, phone number). It is hard to see how anyone outside of the DC space bubble will even hear what is said. Based on the indifference that the NSpC has had with being open about its activities, it is obvious by now that no one there or in the VP’s office or OSTP actually cares. (see Yet Another Pointless NSpC Users’ Advisory Group Meeting) This is just another VP photo op wherein people read from a script. Hard to take their interest seriously. Beam me up.

Keith’s note: According to NASA “The next meeting of the National Space Council (NSpC) Users’ Advisory Group (UAG) is scheduled for December 1, 2023, 11:00am – 2:00pm EST. This meeting will be virtual-only, via dial-in and WebEx. Access information links for both virtual video and audio lines will be posted in advance on this website.“ This meeting was supposed to happen on 4 August 2023 but they rescheduled it – no reason given. It then took them 4 months to figure out what they wanted to do and reschedule it. It sure doesn’t sound like there is a lot of priority attached to this meeting in the NSpC or the Vice President’s office. As we all know by now all of the topics that are discussed by the UAG have already been decided – in advance – by the NSpC staff. The same thing happened in the previous Administration so at least they are being consistent. All the UAG does in these meetings is a short photo op (in this case a screen grab opportunity) and have the members say words prepared by their staff about the things that have already been decided/enacted. This gives the impression that experts deliberated about whatever their words say they did. And then someone checks a box because they did another one of those FACA advisory meeting things we do here in Washington. Here is the agenda. Will they talk about SLS delays/overruns or Mars Sample Return woes? There does not seem to be room in a 3 hour telecon with a jammed agenda like this. Meanwhile if you want to actually ask the NSpC what all this is about they still do not have any way to contact actual NSpC staff on their official website which is 3 paragraphs on a generic White House webpage. If you have nothing better to do then here are prior rants posts about the whole NSpC/UAG space advisory rabbit hole to look at.

• According to the Daily Mail ‘The China-U.S. relationship has never been smooth sailing and always faces problems of one kind or another,’ Xi said through a translator as he met Biden. ‘Yet it has kept moving forward amidst twists and turns. For China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option. It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has terrible consequences for both sides. Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.’ Biden said “We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict and we have to manage responsibly that competition,’ Biden told his counterpart. ‘That’s what the United States wants and what we intend to do. I believe that’s also what the world wants from both of us. ‘We have a responsibility to our people and the world to work together when we see it in our interests to do so. The critical global changes we face from climate change, narcotics to artificial intelligence demand us to work together.”

• Meanwhile NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has been quoted in Politico as saying “It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” the former Florida senator and astronaut said in an interview. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’” He pointed out that Russian cosmonauts operate the International Space Station side by side with NASA astronauts, and that they frequently trust each other with their lives. And on CTV Nelson said “We built the International Space Station with the Russians. What a contrast, with the Chinese government,” Nelson said. “They are secretive, they are non-transparent. They will not share when Earth is threatened by one of their tumbling rockets coming back in, they will not share their trajectories, so it’s a huge difference in the way we approach our civilian space program with the Russians visa vie the Chinese.”

• It would seem like Bill Nelson has been off on his own hawkish path with regard to China while being extra tender with regard to Russia (with whom we are fighting a proxy war) while the White House (and seemingly Beijing) are moving in the opposite direction than Nelson’s Cold War-ish rhetoric. Is Nelson out of touch – or is this a ‘good cop/bad cop’ game that the Administration is using Nelson for?

Keith’s note: There is a photo posted the other day by NASA titled NASA Admin Signs Joint Statement with Space Agency of Ukraine that says “NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and Deputy Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Volodymyr Mikheiev, display their signed joint statements on civil space cooperation between NASA and the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Friday April 21, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani) Date Created:2023-04-21”. Cool stuff. In a time of war America and Ukraine find a cool way to reiterate their solidarity on peaceful activities. Alas, There is no NASA press release about this listed – before or after the event. Nor a media advisory that I can find. If you search for “Ukraine” at NASA.gov all you get are old stories about grain. I can’t seem to find any stories posted at NASA.gov by looking around NASA.gov.

Keith’s note: The House Science Committee held a Fiscal Year 2024 Proposed Budget Request for NASA hearing today. According to committee chair Frank Lucas’ prepared sattement: “Because of these overflowing costs, NASA has been forced to make difficult choices in its science portfolio. It postponed a selected mission to Venus, indefinitely paused a flagship heliophysics mission, and delayed launch of an important asteroid detection spacecraft. If this trend continues, then NASA may have to make difficult decisions to postpone or cancel future missions. This is unacceptable and we must do better.” Bill Nelson made no mention of delays or cost overruns. Instead all he said in his prepared statement was “The FY 2024 Request is the highest request for NASA science in history, supporting over 120 NASA science missions and 10,000 U.S. scientists through more than 4,000 openly competed research awards.” Video below.

Keith’s note: NASA HQ & NASA Goddard (Apparently) only care about the Vice President Harris’ visit with South Korean President Yoon as a photo op No transcripts, text of agreements signed – not even a link to the White House statement. How much lazier can NASA PAO get? And of course NASA OIIR is sound asleep – as always. Update below.

Keith’s note: Vice President Harris and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are visiting NASA Goddard this afternoon. There will be live NASA TV at 3:45 pm EDT if you want to hear people speaking from a teleprompter an via interpreters. Only credentialed White House “Pool media” are covering. NASA PAO gave a few hours notice to media yesterday afternoon. Nothing much will be said and transcripts etc. will be posted later. Meanwhile NASA PAO just gave media short notice today about and event in a few hours with Bill Nelson and the Artemis II crew visiting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today in Ottawa. I have no idea if it is on TV. Words and pictures will be issued by someone eventually. Both events have international and intergovernmental relevance yet NASA’s Office of International and Interagency Relations will make zero mention. Why plan these things in advance for maximum impact, leveraged soft power protection, and overall transparency, eh?