by Mark V. Sykes, Ph.D., J.D. – CEO and Director, Planetary Science Institute

To the American Public and Government Officials:

I would like to share a positive perspective of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility from the context of a science institute. At a time when these principles are being purged by our government from a large swath of federal programs, you should know they actually advance science, thereby advancing the interests of our country, and are important for the workplace. In the course of this, I would also like to take this opportunity to show you that scientists share much of your experiences and backgrounds as people, and something about the process of science itself.

Keith’s note: a large group of space scientists have put together a group letter that has large number of signatories: “To NASA leadership and our elected representatives: We write as members of the space science community who are dismayed by the impact of recent events on taxpayer-funded, NASA-supported science, missions, and communities. Many of us chose this profession motivated by a desire to push the boundaries of what is possible and widen our understanding of the universe, and to do so in the public interest. Space science research has inspired generations of scientists and engineers, while pushing U.S. innovation forward. … Recent events and actions directly damage our ability to do the work we value. We wish to call attention to several occurrences that have unfolded over the past weeks. … We also recognize that even in times of upheaval, all of us have the power to stand up for our values, for each other, and for the work we believe in. We hope you will join us in advocating for broadening access to publicly funded science, empowering NASA-funded projects to recruit strong, diverse teams, and building a future in which scientific progress truly benefits all of us. The American people deserve nothing less.” Full letter

Keith’s note: Sources at NASA Headquarters report that pride symbols are no longer allowed. Employees cannot have pride flags, lapel pins, badge lanyard, TEAMS backgrounds, clothing, laptop stickers – or anything related to pride in their offices. This guidance is NOT being put in written form (like everything else has been) but is rather communicated verbally from the 9th floor to all management for them to inform/warn their staff. The penalty for violating this guidance can result in being put on administrative leave. This applies to all employees – not just LBGTQ+ but also LBGTQ+ allies.

Keith’s note: This was sent out to NASA employees. Note the way that Janet Petro signed this – with a standard “Embrace the Challenge.” closing. This was not on her earlier DEI memo. Just sayin’. Full text below.

Keith’s note: Some people are feeling rather big right now. Others feel rather small. Let’s recalibrate. Wherever you are on the political spectrum just put all of that aside for a moment. We can all rise above this nonsense if we want to. America’s spacecraft have touched the sun and travel across interstellar space. Our reach has always exceeded our grasp. May it always be so. Ad Astra

Keith’s note: I am posting this piece by Fredrik Jonsson (video link below) as an example of what millions of people can now do with tools on their personal computers. At once realistic and fictitious – and yet sublime and majestic – these tools now allow one’s imagination to go wild. What is often lacking is a strong narrative – a message. Instead we get vibes and memes.

Keith’s note: As was to be expected, the right wing, 50+ year-old, white male space bro fringe chooses the death of President Jimmy Carter to post up manner of insulting jabs and personal grievances. Carter set a humble, nearly half-century long, humanitarian standard for a post-presidency that will be tough for other presidents to ever match. Beati pacifici. You done good Jimmy.

Keith’s note: the archetype for NASA outreach – beyond space enthusiasts – was the original NASA Art Program during Apollo. It expressed in images what math and physics could not. I recall seeing these images as a young boy and they served to heighten the excitement of what lay ahead. I am willing to state that everything NASA has done with and for the arts since that time has its roots in this program – including such things as the Golden Record on the twin Voyagers and the Pale Blue Dot image. According to “James Dean, Founding Director of NASA Art Program, Dies at 92 (NY Times): “James Dean, a landscape painter who ran a NASA program that invited artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Norman Rockwell and Jamie Wyeth to document aspects of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, died on March 22 in Washington. He was 92. … Mr. Dean believed that artists offered a perspective that could not be found in photographs. “Their imaginations enable them to venture beyond a scientific explanation of the stars, the moon and the outer planets,” Mr. Dean and Bert Ulrich wrote in their book, “NASA/ART: 50 Years of Exploration” (2008).” Ad astra James Dean.

Keith’s note: Well you knew it was inevitable. When things get tough at NASA – announce some sort of reinvention or new direction and then come up with a motto, bumper sticker, talking points, and some elevator pitches – all of which are designed to make people think that there’s a new way of doing things that will be better than ever before. Even if it is just the same old nonsense in a new wrapper. This time it is “HQ Reimagined”. Before that there was “OneNASA”, “OpenNASA”, “Faster Better Cheaper”, “Journey to Mars”, “As Only NASA Can” etc. If only NASA could spend time actually implementing these changes and then sticking with them instead of coming up with new buzz words and talking points, maybe things would actually improve.

Keith’s Note: I did an interview on Scripps news tonight about the politics of space. Here’s the audio. Funny thing – as they were setting up the piece I heard another guest talking and recognizing the voice I said LEROY! – yup. It was my friend Leroy Chiao. Alas we were stacked guests – one after the other – but they did a “bump” shot before we were on and you can see us smiling away waiting to be interviewed. Next time Leroy.

Keith’s note: A few weeks ago a robotic explorer named Odysseus completed a journey – one not unlike its mythological human namesake undertook – and struggled ashore at the south pole of the Moon. While injured and out of sorts for a while, Odysseus managed to accomplish much of what it had been tasked to do – starting with a precision landing in a place no human or droid has ever visited before. The way that Odysseus made it to the lunar surface involved some truly heroic thinking the mission control team – rather fitting for a space droid named after a hero.

Keith’s note: The popularity of space exploration – both real and imagined – is something that those of us in the developed and throughly wired developed world take for granted. What we often do not appreciate is how much of our content leaks out and finds its ways across the rest of the world. And in so doing how it can inspire millions of people – ones that we never stop to think about – to aspire to explore space. [much more below]

Keith’s note: In 2021 I posted a book review of “Not Necessarily Rocket Science – A Beginners Guide To Life In The Space Age” by Kellie Gerardi – who just became an actual astronaut. So …. I am wondering if she is going to put out a revised version – with her daughter Luna’s input, of course. 😉 Update: @kelliegerardi Bold of me to write a whole damn book before the biggest life dream came true Chagrin!

Keith’s note: Nine years ago – on 7 November 2014 – I had a chance to visit a large scale model of the “Ranger” Spacecraft used in the filming of “Interstellar” (my original 2014 posting “Visiting Interstellar’s Spacecraft” with lots of pictures). A large tent was erected in a parking lot at the Udvar Hazy Facility near Dulles, Airport in Virginia 11 miles from my house. So I visited it more than once. Often times I was the only person in the tent other the lone security guard. Then I went inside to view the film on a vast IMAX screen in original film projection format. I was spoiled. I really loved this film for the way if portrayed a personal approach to the exploration of the universe – the small aspects and the vast aspects. The twin Voyager spacecraft travel ~ 3.5 AUs (325.5 million miles) a year – so they’ve both traversed around 3 billion miles outward across interstellar space since the movie came out. Meanwhile back on Earth we are still tearing our planet’s life support system apart – indeed the fires and natural disasters depicted in the film ring far more true today than they did in 2014. And of course we are doing much the same thing to our society – thus adding to the impetus to move outward. Oh yes: they almost used the NASA worm logo in the movie – and almost spelled my last name right on the aft end of Ranger 😉 Some of my favorite lines (there are so many to chose from):

• “We must reach far beyond our own lifespans. we must think not as individuals but as species. We must confront the reality of interstellar travel.”
• “Mankind Was Born On Earth. It Was Never Meant To Die Here.”
• “We Used To Look Up At The Sky And Wonder At Our Place In The Stars. Now, We Just Look Down And Worry About Our Place In The Dirt.”
• “Do not go gentle into that good night; Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” (Dylan Thomas)
• ” We’ve always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible. And we count these moments. These moments when we dare to aim higher, to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the unknown known. We count these moments as our proudest achievements. But we lost all that. Or perhaps we’ve just forgotten that we are still pioneers. And we’ve barely begun. And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, that our destiny lies above us.”

Keith’s note: There is a whole generation alive today who have known no time when humans were not living full time in space. Now the Artemis Generation has members who can watch a parent become an astronaut between breakfast and lunch time. Ad Astra y’all.

Keith’s note: How is NASA going to achieve all of its forward-leaning diversity goals if the states where the bulk of its activities are conducted (Florida, Texas, Alabama) – and where their work force lives – seem to go out of their way to thwart the intent of these efforts? Large numbers of space industry workers run the risk of not being welcome there as they pursue the dream of exploring space. I have no answers. But I am pointing this issue out whenever I see it. According to “Anti-Trans Laws Force Engineer to Quit Job Helping NASA With Moon Missions“ published in Futurism, “As electrical engineer Robin Witt told The Stranger, Florida’s increasingly extreme anti-transgender laws left Witt, a transgender woman, no choice but to quit her job at a NASA-contracted engineering firm called ERC — a heartwrenching decision that, according to Witt, cost her a lifelong dream. … And though NASA might be putting diversity at the public center of its Artemis missions, it seems that the less-visible folks behind the Artemis rockets and other missions – one of whom, in this case, was forced to choose between their human rights and their dream role – are getting left behind.” More below

Keith’s note: I am making a totally unexpected – but still exciting – career pivot effective 30 October 2023. After more than 25 years today is my last day with SpaceRef – not by choice. So now I am technically unemployed or semi-retired. Either way I am now going to focus only on what interests me and nothing else. More to follow. Here’s a hint. True Star Trek fans should be able to piece this together from the pics above. If you comment – wrong answers only 😉 FYI: I have Dan Goldin, Gerry Soffen, Barry Blumberg, Jill Tarter – and so many others – and (of course) ALH84001 to thank for creating the field that I will be focusing the rest of my career on. NASAWatch.com will continue albeit in a much more focused form and Astrobiology.com will continue in a more expanded form while I re-engage (and finish) with my book on Astrobiology. There will probably be no TV things for me for a while as the news outlets are all covering pre-World War III preparations. Otherwise, I am just going to to look up – and beyond. Ad Astra y’all.

Keith’s note: Maybe someone at NASA still has a spark of “why not” left in them … If only NASA and Star Trek could do a cross-over episode with NASA’s “First Woman” characters and Beckett Mariner from Star Trek Lower Decks. Just sayin’.

Keith’s note: Today’s “Obvious Question Begging An Answer Award” goes to Dennis Lees for his op ed “Earth’s ocean is in crisis. Why spend $5 billion to study the one on Jupiter’s moon Europa?“ in the LA Times which asks “As a marine ecologist, I’ve studied marine sedimentary ecosystems since 1972. My studies show that our current knowledge of these ecosystems is quite poor. Therefore, in this age of existential threats to species habitability and survival on Earth, I have serious objections to spending $5 billion on a project to explore the sea on Europa, a moon of Jupiter, to see if it contains chemicals that might support life. What real good will that do us? Can you imagine how much good it would do to spend those funds here to learn how our own oceans function and how to deal with injuries we humans are causing? What are our funding priorities? What benefits will knowing the chemistry of Europa’s sea create for us here as our planet becomes less habitable?”. If NASA has not explained this mission adequately to the broader scientific community – especially one wherein oceanography is constantly evoked – then maybe NASA PAO (Marc Etkind et al) need to do some clean up. IMHO the first thing you’d want to see is a response to the LA Times from NASA JPL Center Director Laurie Leshin and/or NASA SMD AA Nicky Fox (and whomever does the semi-invisible chief scientist stuff at NASA HQ) – with a broadcast via NASA’s vast web and social media presence. NASA should take these rather simple and credible questions as a challenge to be more transparent to its “stakeholders”. NASA needs to not only speak in a rational way to the scientific community since their support is often needed to keep the NASA science gravy train running but also to the remaining 99.999999% of humanity in the real world who is faced with existential problems right now – and is being asked to pay for these missions.A good place to start would be with the “Artemis Generation” since they are the ones who are going go home with excited questions about space for their parents and the parents need to give quality answers that feed these dreams.. At least that is what happened to those of us who are the “Apollo Generation” and look what we did. Just sayin.