Keith’s note: According to House Democrats probe Elon Musk’s conflicts of interest with NASA, Axios: “Rep Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) and Rep. Gery Connolly (D-Va.) sent a letter to Iris Lan, NASA’s chief legal officer, requesting information and documents by April 21. They asked how NASA is ensuring that Musk isn’t exploiting the agency to enrich himself and his companies, which they said would violate ethics rules for his position as a special government employee. … “Mr. Isaacson’s fortune is tied to Shift4, the payments processing company he controls. In 2021, Shift4 entered into a partnership with Starlink, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mr. Musk’s SpaceX. Shift4 estimated that its partnership with SpaceX will generate $100 billion in Starlink subscription payments.” Full letter text below.

Keith’s note: The whole internal Administration tariff spat touches NASA rather directly. First there is “Musk lashes out at architect of Trump’s tariffs in first public comments about shock policy – then there’s “Musk “doesn’t understand” trade cheating, Navarro says“. Peter Navarro’s frequent co-author Greg Autry has been nominated to become the next NASA CFO and (former) SpaceX guy Michael Altenhofen is a senior advisor to NASA where two time SpaceX customer Jared Isaacman will soon work. Hopefully NASA can put up a firewall against this internecine bickering. Ad Astra y’all

Keith’s note: Elon Musk said tonight on Twitter “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.” Meanwhile there is unease about the first and possibly a second letter – as can be seen in this note sent to all HHS employees. The official guidance urges detailed caution as what to omit from any voluntary response to OPM – and a final note that respondents should “Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly.”

Keith’s note: Have a nice weekend. Update: sources report that NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails has sent out a memo that is making its way through the agency – about the OPM mass email that everyone got on saturday. She’s asking folks to pause in terms of dealing with that and that she and her team will add further information for everyone on Monday.

Keith’s note: I just spoke with Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio about the future of NASA, the Moon, China, Elon Musk, and Jared Isaacman, etc. [audio].

You're a hero, Chad pic.twitter.com/dQ3G4ffk0j — Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) May 9, 2021

When I was growing up in the 1960s they’d show those old sci fi films from the 1950s on TV as an example of what the post-Apollo future would be like. People would climb into silvery rockets with fins and then they’d blast off – and land somewhere – in the same rocket.

This is circulating from the @SpaceXStarlink TOS. Yes, people will be arguing about the Outer Space Treaty thing but it is interesting to see a company thinking ahead to providing services to people living offworld. Or maybe this is a @SpaceX lawyer having a little fun. Or both. pic.twitter.com/QUKW4hhszJ — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) October 28, 2020

How Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX beat Boeing to become a $28 billion aerospace juggernaut, CNBC “SpaceX has upended the rocket industry, making founder Elon Musk the world’s most disruptive space pioneer. The visionary entrepreneur is bent on building giant low-cost reusable rockets and spaceships that can be used to colonize humans on Mars. In the process, he is helping to catalyze a private space exploration industry in the United […]

SpaceX will try to launch Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster on new heavy-lift rocket, Spaceflight Now “Musk told reporters in March that SpaceX would put “the silliest thing we can imagine” on the first Falcon Heavy flight. The company placed a wheel of cheese on the first flight of its Dragon cargo craft in an ode to the Monty Python comedy group. The Tesla Roadster weighs about 2,760 pounds (1,250 kilograms), […]