Keith’s note: You’ll never hear about this from NASA – but WBUR’s “OnPoint” program just covered the amazing saga of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter [Listen here]. I’ve listened to lots of space coverage – for a very long time – as a young boy and not so young adult. I have to say, “on Point” host Meghna Chakrabarti did a truly masterful interview with the Ingenuity team. Not only did she do her homework in advance, but she took the time to tease out the special little things from the team that made this little project a big success. More below.

Keith’s note: NASA rolled out its new X-59 today. I did an interview with Deutsche Welle TV about this at 3:30 pm EST today [audio] and again just after 6:00 pm EST [Audio].

If you use the search engine at https://t.co/XMMHKxgwON to find "astrobiology" the top link is a post from 2003. The actual official main link for @NASA's Astrobiology program is https://t.co/igd6rpgpkl Can't find it in the search results. But Google finds it. #astrobiology #NASA pic.twitter.com/Jsu74XtDPW — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) March 25, 2021 Keith’s note: Earlier this week I pointed out that a search for “education” on the NASA.gov website did not […]

Keith’s note: Take a look at the NASA Advisory Council STEM Engagement Committee. The page has lots of meeting agendas but no one seems to have taken any notes at the meetings in 2020. The October 2019 meeting minutes has a few strange entries. This one stands out: “Mr. Dan Dumbacher noted that the five Sphere 1 activities did not include Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate content. Ms. Brown noted no […]

NASA Administrator Names Robert Pearce Head of Agency Aeronautics “NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has named Robert Pearce as the next associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). Pearce replaces Jaiwon Shin, who retired from the agency on Aug. 31. “Bob is a visionary leader with a deep understanding of the current and future aeronautics environment,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “He’ll do a great job directing NASA in […]

FAA hid study showing chronic air controller fatigue, CBS “The study is composed of a survey of 3,268 controllers about their work schedules and sleep habits, and a field study that monitored the sleep and the mental alertness of more than 200 controllers at 30 air traffic facilities. NASA produced the study at the FAA’s request. J.D. Harrington, a NASA spokesman, also declined to release the study, saying in an […]

NASA Associate Administrator Statements on the Asteroid Initiative in the FY 2014 Budget Request “The following are statements from the associate administrators of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Science Mission Directorate, and Space Technology Mission Directorate on the administration’s budget request for the 2014 fiscal year.” Keith’s note: Apparently the observations of Jaiwon Shin, the Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (about the budget), weren’t deemed […]

Mitt Romney pulls in $6 million at Beverly Hills fundraiser, LA Times “When you have a fire in an aircraft, there’s no place to go, exactly, there’s no — and you can’t find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem. So it’s very dangerous.”

Transformed X-48c Flies Successfully “The remotely piloted X-48C aircraft successfully flew for the first time Tuesday at Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave Desert. The aircraft, designed by The Boeing Co. and built by Cranfield Aerospace Limited of the United Kingdom, is flying again in partnership with NASA. The new X-48C model, which was formerly the X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft, was modified to evaluate the low-speed stability and […]

OIG: NASA’s Use of Research Announcement Awards for Aeronautics Research “Based on our sample results, we estimate that ARMD’s 447 NRA awards during this 5-year period contained $25.2 million in unallowable or unsupported costs. Moreover, we project that by addressing the deficiencies we identified NASA could avoid awarding approximately $3.6 million in unallowable and/or unsupported costs annually in ARMD NRA awards.”