Keith’s note: I came across this photo by Morgan Cable standing in an ice cave and was instantly reminded of the iconic photo taken by Herbert Ponting in Antarctica in 1911. I hope NASA PAO starts to pay a little more attention to the parallels between terrestrial and extraterrestrial exploration as we move out into the solar system with humans and droids. Indeed, that core notion was the impetus for a NASA Administrator’s Symposium that Astronaut John Grunsfeld and I organized for NASA in 2004: “Risk and Exploration Earth, Sea And The Stars” (proceedings for which I was co-editor) Photos: [LEFT] NASA JPL scientist Dr. Morgan Cable tweeted via @starsarecalling on 16 September 2023. Her caption says: “Mapped a moulin today with LIDAR! We’re here at Athabasca Glacier in Canada to do science and engineering testing for the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) Project @NASAJPL Dare mighty things!” [RIGHT] This photo was taken by Herbert Ponting on 5 January 1911 during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ‘Terra Nova Expedition’ aka ‘The British Antarctic Expedition’. Charles Wright and Thomas Griffith Taylor are shown standing in the ice cave or “grotto”. Imagine the Ponting photo updated with Morgan Cable standing in an ice cave on Europa with a lander against. dark sky in the background while Jupiter looms on the horizon.

Roughly 4 years ago Donald Trump ruined Twitter for me. His lies and misleading statements have become his hallmark achievement. Someone recently said "Silence is not an option" and that has finally resonated with me. I appreciate that you've kept me in your scan. (1/2) — John Grunsfeld (@SciAstro) November 3, 2020 Here is an Op-Ed I penned. Please vote tomorrow for #JoeBiden and #KamalaHarris pic.twitter.com/Lc2Vhzlv7i — John Grunsfeld (@SciAstro) […]

Statement of Dr. John Grunsfeld Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate National Aeronautics and Space Administration before the Committee on Science, Space and Technology U.S. House of Representatives

Job Title: Associate Administrator for Science Mission Directorate, NASA Marc’s note: The job posting went up yesterday for John Grunsfeld’s replacement.

NASA science chief advocates ties with human spaceflight, SpaceflightNow “Grunsfeld told Spaceflight Now he met with Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA’s human exploration division, in his first week in office. “One of the reasons I’m in this job now is because NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden believed that teaming with human spaceflight on those things that make sense, on our exploration program, for science to take advantage of the resources of […]

Astronaut John Grunsfeld, National Geographic Adventure “Around NASA, he’s known as “the Hubble Repairman.” And last May, on his third visit to the orbiting space telescope, John Grunsfeld pulled off the repair to end all repairs. Working at zero gravity some 350 miles above the surface of the Earth, the astronaut restored sight to a half-blind Hubble–called the greatest scientific instrument ever invented–and ensured that it will continue to send […]