Keith’s note: One of the more profound things generated by the Webb Space Telescope is this view of the center of our galaxy. Contrary to what you’d think, the observation team’s Principal Investigator on this image wasn’t some middle-aged, tenured professor. Instead, he’s an undergrad at UVA. According to a NASA release “There’s never been any infrared data on this region with the level of resolution and sensitivity we get with Webb, so we are seeing lots of features here for the first time,” said the observation team’s principal investigator Samuel Crowe, an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. “Webb reveals an incredible amount of detail, allowing us to study star formation in this sort of environment in a way that wasn’t possible previously.” The Artemis Generation is making its mark. See “UVA’s Young, Rising Astronomy Star” for more about Samuel Crowe.

Keith’s note: How are we going to train the Artemis Generation for the worlds that they will one day explore? Not just people in the U.S. – but everywhere on Earth where an aspiring space scientist/engineer/explorer is looking for their chance to join in on this adventure? On NASA TV yesterday some NASA folks checked the OSIRIS-REx SRC at its landing site in a remote desert for damage and moved it to a lab – just like a Star Trek Away Team might do. Where do you go to learn how to do field excursions like this? Think about it. There are thousands of locations on Earth that are analogs for the extraterrestrial environments that we might encounter with our droids and/or ourselves. What would it take to have an analog exploration program in every nation? Dylan Taylor and I put some thoughts together here on how to start to address this: “Why The Space Industry Needs A Space College“. More info on the concept can be found here. As the JPLers say ‘Dare Mighty Things’.

Keith’s note: Will someone please explain how a bunch of older folks (all well-intentioned, to be sure) on the NASA Advisory Council are expected to have clear knowledge of what the Artemis Generation actually wants their future in space to be? Based on these official photos, there is no one on the NAC who is apparently under 50. Many are over 60, several are well over 70. Two are over 80. The youngest of them will be in their 60s if/when we land on Mars. Just sayin’ Oh yes I am 68.

Keith’s note: According to “High school shop class is back—and it’s showing students alternatives to ‘traditional college’” on CNBC, “Thirty years ago, high school shop class seemed on track for extinction. As school funding became a matter of standardized test scores in reading and math, the budget tightened for classes that taught woodworking and printmaking. … the priority turned toward securing students spots in four-year degree programs. But with more job openings in the trades and more questions around the value of a four-year college degree, high schools are turning their attention back to equipping the next generation with hands-on technical skills.” OK, am I the only one who sees an opportunity for NASA? Why doesn’t NASA push the building of cubesats in shop class instead of napkin holders? You can buy cubesat kits for a few thousand dollars – and much if not all of the tech specs needed can be found online – with components 3D-printed or bought on eBay. The future of space utilization is not just ‘rocket science’ anymore. We’re going to need a much wider array of skills on Earth and offworld in the decades ahead for the Artemis Generation. Where are these new “space collar” jobs going to be taught? According to NASA elementary schools have already done this. Just sayin’

Keith’s note: A school principal was fired and/or forced to quit in Florida after a lesson involved Michaelangelo’s nude statue of David. Apparently Florida is going to make all the nude images in history illegal to use in schools. FYI this image was sent to Interstellar space – FROM FLORIDA – TWICE. OMG what will those aliens think? This NASA.gov page points to an image of the plaque on the pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft. It is also here, and here and a million other places. So Florida’s eventual website censors (you know that is coming following book banning) are going to be busy. NASA Administrator and former D-FL Senator Bill Nelson is a “Florida Man”. I am wondering why he has been so silent about this situation back home. If NASA truly supports the best possible dedication of resources toward the education of the “Artemis Generation” – and wants to have a safe work and living environment for all NASA and contractor employees and their families in Florida (and Texas, Alabama etc.) then you’d think that Bill Nelson would say something. But he and Pam are in Australia and his Education Office is clueless. Just sayin’.

Keith’s note: If NASA PAO really wanted to convey the essence of the Artemis Generation meme and its incredible soft power potential they’d use @NASA Twitter to retweet simple, joyful, hopeful tweets by new space travelers like Sultan AlNeyadi that say things such as “Today we fly to pave the way for the next generations” while he lofts his son – also in an astronaut suit – into the air with his spaceship waiting in the background. But NASA PAO won’t do this. They no longer know how.

A child dressed in an astronaut spacesuit waits on the Max Brewer Bridge in Titusville, Florida, to witness the Artemis I launch Larger image