Keith’s note: I was planning on retiring and writing my book on Astrobiology expeditions to other worlds. Then Trump 2.0 happened and everyone suddenly wanted NASAWatch back. That said, I am still trying to escape reality for several hours a day and travel on a personal Away Team sortie into the future. I hope y’all can do that too. I just posted this NOAA discovery of an alien-looking species on Astrobiology.com with an editor’s note: “One day we will begin a detailed exploration of ocean worlds other than our own. Hopefully they will be habitable – and inhabited. Given that we still find new life forms on Earth – things which also seem strange by comparison to what has already been discovered, we have along way to go – on this world. As such it make sense to practice the skills of exploration and discover on a world close to us and our tools. In so doing we need to develop some translatable skills that we can apply to the robotic and human exploration of these other worlds. Expeditions and discoveries as describe below still happen. And the more we look, the more we discover. This story is about the newly-named Advhena magnifica (Advhena is derived from advena in Latin which means “alien”). How are we going to name the new life forms that we discover offworld? Will we use the same Latin-based binomial naming system that is used on Earth, perhaps adapt it with a new prefix or suffix, or pick another language? Or go digital? Something to think about.” Full post

Keith’s note: NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce (OSC) just issued a Request for Information, seeking additional input from commercial Space Situational Awareness providers and users about its currently planned scope of basic safety services to be offered through the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) program. OSC will use the feedback to help develop capabilities to share SSA data and other critical services to space operators and the public.

Keith’s 4:12 pm EDT update: I just got the press release by email. It was sent out at 3:47 pm EDT. The Washington Post had an article posted at 12:21 pm EDT and then followed that with a tweet about this news while NASA said nothing whatsoever in advance. One would assume that this press release was in the can before the event happened. So why sit on it for […]

Trump administration removes head of Federal climate program that oversees key reports, Washington Post “[Michael Kuperberg’s removal] seems quite consistent with decisions at NOAA and elsewhere,” said Kathy Jacobs, director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at the University of Arizona, who ran the third National Climate Assessment. “[It’s] a last-minute attempt to remove people who may not be perceived as supporting the president’s agenda.” Kuperberg’s removal […]

Trump White House recruited climate science critics to work at NOAA, Science “At least three prominent researchers who question the severity of climate change rebuffed the opportunity to take a senior position at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The White House has been quietly working in recent weeks to reshape the leadership of NOAA with a goal of criticizing climate science, according to people who were contacted […]

Statement from NOAA “From Wednesday, August 28, through Monday, September 2, the information provided by NOAA and the National Hurricane Center to President Trump and the wider public demonstrated that tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Dorian could impact Alabama. This is clearly demonstrated in Hurricane Advisories #15 through #41, which can be viewed at the following link. The Birmingham National Weather Service’s Sunday morning tweet spoke in absolute terms that were […]

Reducing Climate Uncertainty, Improving Weather Forecasts, and Understanding Sea-Level Rise Are Among Top Science Priorities for Space-Based Earth Observation Over Next Decade, National Academy of Sciences “NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) should implement a coordinated approach for their space-based environmental observations to further advance Earth science and applications for the next decade, says a new report by the National Academies […]

OMB Budget Blueprint Excerpt for NASA “Provides $1.8 billion for a focused, balanced Earth science portfolio that supports the priorities of the science and applications communities, a savings of $102 million from the 2017 annualized CR level. The Budget terminates four Earth science missions (PACE, OCO-3, DSCOVR Earth-viewing instruments, and CLARREO Pathfinder) and reduces funding for Earth science research grants.” Keith’s note: I asked NASA PAO “Which “Earth-viewing instruments” on […]

White House proposes steep budget cut to leading climate science agency, Washington Post “The Trump administration is seeking to slash the budget of one of the government’s premier climate science agencies by 17 percent, delivering steep cuts to research funding and satellite programs, according to a four-page budget memo obtained by The Washington Post. The proposed cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would also eliminate funding for a […]

Keith’s note: According to NASA HQ PAO there is no change in NASA policy with regard to the release of data or information to the public. White House says no curb on federal agency media activities, Reuters “The White House denied on Wednesday that the new Trump administration ordered a curb on the flow of information from several government agencies involved in environmental issues. “They have not been directed by […]