Keith’s note: There will be a Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Hearing: “Strategic Trajectories: Assessing China’s Space Rise and the Risks to U.S. Leadership” Thursday, 4 Dec at 9:00 AM EST. Watch live here, Here is the charter. One tweet from the committee said “China’s rapid progress in space is a serious concern for the U.S.—threatening our leadership, national security, and economic future. Tomorrow, we will examine this challenge and what America must do to stay ahead.” OK, so enough arm waving. If you want NASA to effectively compete with China in space then don’t endorse NASA budget cuts and deep personnel cuts in FY 2026 as put forth by the Administration. All this rhetoric is just hot air. Do something. Or just sit down. Just sayin’.

Keith’s note: If the Administration really wants to win a new Space Race then these are the competitors – they were in Beijing today. They have a plan and stick to it. America – not so much. Indeed, we cut ourselves off at the knees and then complain about it.

Keith’s note: How do these things make sense in the same universe? First the White House cuts NASA’s FY 2026 budget and guts Artemis – thus undermining NASA’s ability to compete with China. Meanwhile Congress also wants to beat China, increases NASA’s budget somewhat – but cuts critical things elsewhere. And now the White House wants to train vast numbers of Chinese students in American universities so as to better compete with us? Make up your mind folks. See “There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and NASA Must Thwart China in the Space Race“ and Trump says the U.S. would accept 600,000 Chinese students, sparking uproar among some conservatives“

Keith’s note: (This stream of consciousness bubbled out of my head on a Sunday night) One of the potential victims of the upcoming NASA budget cuts is the Mars Sample Return. Its had its problems with cost and schedule and complexity. But what if you did not need to return the samples from Mars?

Keith’s note: I appeared on CGTN tonight to talk about the launch of Shenzhou-19 and what the crews will be doing on China’s Tiangong space station. [Audio]

Keith’s note: This evening I spoke with CGTN about the return of the Chang’e-6 lunar sample return mission; global interest in lunar exploration; and space exploration in general. [Audio] Video below:

Keith’s note: I did CNN this morning talking about the Boeing Starliner launch, SpaceX Starship, and China’s lunar exploration plans (and my reaction to how NASA Administrator Bill Nelson characterizes them). [Audio] I then did live launch coverage on Bloomberg Radio/Youtube, and then I did a quick interview with BBC World Service [Audio]. I also talked again to Deutsche Welle [Audio].

Keith’s note: I just did Deutsche Welle twice – first at 12:00 pm EDT via a 45 minute chat with Deutsche Welle and David Ariosto (@davidariosto) – SpaceWatch Daily podcast and co-author of the book “Open Space”. [Video]. I then did another DW interview at 2:00 pm EDT on the Chang’e-6 lunar landing [Audio] [Video]

Keith’s note: Japan successfully landed its SLIM spacecraft on the Moon this morning. However there seems to be a problem with its solar panels which are not charging its batteries. This may have to do with the panels’ orientation to the sun after landing. Unless that can be rectified the spacecraft can only operate for a matter of hours before its batteries are drained. SLIM did deploy its two small rovers and efforts are being made to see if any data has been collected. One of the rovers has responded. I was on CGTN a few minutes ago to talk about SLIM as well as the end of Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission to the Moon which returned to Earth the other day after a propulsion system failure prevented a lunar landing. I was also asked about former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin’s slam against NASA’s Artemis program. [audio]

Keith’s note: On Wednesday evening I appeared on CGTN to talk about the launch of a cargo spacecraft to China’s Tiangong and the future of the Chinese space station program [audio]. A few minutes later I appeared on the Scripps TV network and all of its affiliates talking about Astrobotic’s peregrine and sending humans back to the Moon. [audio].