Keith’s note: This was written and originally posted here by Mark V. Sykes, Ph.D., J.D. Senior Scientist, Planetary Science Institute: “This statement is my opinion and does not reflect an official position of the Planetary Science Institute.: Institutions are reeling from the spray of executive orders from the White House since late January. Activities in support of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) have been particular targets, with the cancellation of large numbers of research and other grants and contracts and the bizarre purging of material from government websites (including, for a time, information about the airplane that dropped the first atomic bomb, the Enola Gay). (More below)

Keith’s note: I just got this from USRA/LPI: “Dear Colleagues, We have heard from many of you and understand that there is significant concern among the planetary science community regarding the removal of DEI content from USRA/LPI websites. Please know that we did not make that decision lightly. We were doing our best to comply with our understanding of the Administration’s directives (specifically, Executive Order 14173) and the deadline it set for compliance.”

Keith’s note: The NASA DEI Erasure Squad has been busy. If you search for past LPSC abstracts on DEI, DEIA, diversity etc. you’ll see that they have disappeared and prior meeting agendas have been altered. Try this one from 2022: “Insight’s Diversity and Inclusion Working Group“. Its gone. But the Internet Archive has it here. While I have your attention how about this one over at NTRS “Diversity and Inclusion in Spacecraft Science Teams: What Do We Know and What Can We Do About It?” from NASA GSFC that was presented LPSC 2023. Or “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Initiatives on the Mars 2020 Science Team and Implications for NASA Planetary Science Missions“ presented at LPSC 2024. These and many other diversity and inclusion themed abstracts are all still online at a NASA server. And there’s man more abstracts and papers online all over the agency. And they are being archived offline. And they are in the abstract volumes originally created and distributed in printed and PDF formats to tens of thousands of participants. The DOGE Diversity Narcs are not very good at their job. You cannot make this whole topic go away. It just grows back and spreads when you try to do so. Just sayin’

Keith’s note: NASA PAO just provided this statement with regard to my post You Must Hide Your Pride At NASA (they waited 4 days to respond) which was cited in a press release from House Science Committee Democrats. To be clear: I stand by every single word in my post. Its real folks.

• NASA: “There are no new bans on any personal affects in employees’ workspaces. As always, the items must adhere to legal, safety, and NASA rules and guidelines. Some managers have been reminding employees to be mindful of what personal affects they have in their workspaces, but there are no penalties or warnings about being placed on administrative leave for displaying personal items.”

Keith’s note: Apparently someone on Capitol Hill reads NASAWatch 😉 According to Committee Leaders Lofgren and Foushee Call Out Trump’s NASA for Alleged Employee Censorship: “Today, Ranking Members Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Valerie Foushee (D-NC) issued the following statement after reporting from NASA Watch alleged that employees at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters in Washington have been directed to remove symbols aligned with or celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. According to the reporting, employees are prohibited from displaying anything related to pride in their office, including lapel pins, badge lanyards, laptop stickers, and flags.“