Keith’s note: Chirag Parikh Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary, National Space Council posted something on LinkedIn. There is something happening next week – “Find Your Place in Space Week” from 6-13 April 2024. I never got anything from NASA PAO, OSTP, or National Space Council. There is no mention of this here at NASA news or here at the NASA main page or at NASA STEM Engagement or OSTP or National Space Council. Apparently NASA TV is ignoring it. If you use NASA’s search engine there is no mention. BUT If you Google these words “Find Your Place in Space Week NASA” a page shows up – but it is hidden inside of NASA.gov – you have to already know about it before you search for it. The Space Foundation is holding the Space Symposium next week – a natural tie-in, right? They ignore it too. The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, AIAA, Planetary Society, National Space Society etc. make no mention of this either. There are lots of partners on listed by National Space Council but if you go to USGS, NSF, NOAA, etc. etc. there is no mention whatsoever of this event that they are co-sponsoring. Again, you already need to know exactly what words to use to find this – otherwise, no joy since none of the obvious places even mention it. It is baffling that one part of the federal government has no idea what other parts are doing – especially NASA. All we get is a White House guy telling the space wonk community about it on LinkedIn. Here’s what Parikh posted:

Keith’s note: I was on Deutsche Welle TV today – twice – once with presenter Phil Gayle. This was my fifth TV appearance this week. I have been on global TV hundreds of times in the past 28 years. Pick a network – I have been on it. Just as the whole notion of talking to millions of people all over the planet becomes something that I do without thinking, I get a comment on my Facebook page that stopped me in my tracks. In this case, it was from someone I have never met – and would likely never meet – Jahwill KaGulda in Soweto, a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa – thanking me for explaining new technology. Wow. I’m pleased to say that I am still easily humbled by this whole Internet/TV thing – and I hope that I always will be. When I am not, then it is time to turn off the computer. Meanwhile this is motivating in the extreme. An American being interviewed by a Brit on German television prompts someone in Soweto, South Africa to thank us for having taught them something about science. This one Facebook comment is worth more to me than you can possibly know. As Sean O’Keefe was fond of quoting from his Jesuit schooling, he suggested to me that sometimes “you only make one convert at a time”. I guess I did. The Facebook post with the comment by Jahwill KaGulda is below.

Keith’s note: The popularity of space exploration – both real and imagined – is something that those of us in the developed and throughly wired developed world take for granted. What we often do not appreciate is how much of our content leaks out and finds its ways across the rest of the world. And in so doing how it can inspire millions of people – ones that we never stop to think about – to aspire to explore space. [much more below]

Keith’s note: According to a tweet by NASA SMD Nicky Fox the other day “Fun Friday night build – some tense moments when I managed to dislodge a critical piece in the sample arm gears but all good eventually! @LEGO_Group @NASAJPL @NASAPersevere and #Ingenuity in the house! @LaurieofMars you may be disappointed by the underside 😉🙃”. Too bad cool STEM education things like this conducted by two of the top female scientists running NASA – JPL Director Laurie Leshin and SMD AA Nicky Fox – go totally unnoticed by NASA Public Affairs, PAO AA Marc Etkind and Education AA Mike Kincaid. Don’t you have a Space Act Agreement LEGO? You used to have one. There is a NASA JPL Mars rover logo on the box that Nicky is holding. Gee, how did that get there? No mention of this outreach opportunity has been made by @NASA (74.9 million followers) or @NASAJPL (3.8 million followers). According to Local Community Engagement at LEGO “Our local community engagement program currently operates in 31 countries, and we are working hard to expand it even further.” Amazon is filled with NASA-themed LEGO products. More than 220 million LEGO sets are sold globally each year. You would think that someone in a position to make creative and strategic decisions would have a way to coordinate nascent outreach opportunities like this. NASA has one of the largest, most ubiquitous branding visibilities on Earth – and it is 100% positive, exiting, proactive, diverse – and hopeful. As such one would think that working with another equally visible entity (LEGO) would only result in a synergistic visibility for the common values shared by both. NASA can certainly get far greater reach than this. But the people responsible for doing so must have to want to see this happen. Oh yes another female leader at NASA Technology, Policy and Strategy AA Bhavya Lal is totally into LEGO as well. If NASA leadership is into the same thing as hundreds of million of people around the world isn’t this something to utilize as an outreach tool? Missed opportunities. Just sayin’.

Keith’s note: FYI NASA Public Affairs – the next time you try to understand your audiences for the whole outreach thing – based on the reality of U.S. demographics i.e. outside of 20546, 77058, 35812, 32953, etc. – keep this map in mind. Just sayin’.

Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Competed Space Mission Leadership at NASA Will Require Extensive Efforts Along Entire Career Pathways, Says New Report, National Academy of Sciences “Inadequate data gathering and reporting are critical barriers to NASA’s understanding of the efficacy of its own DEIA efforts to date, and of the proposal leadership pool’s demographics, according to the report. These are necessary steps for measuring progress, and for identifying […]

Keith’s note: On Wednesday I listened to Administrator Bill Nelson testify before a Congressional Committee. During the course of the hearing every single member chimed in about the importance of NASA to their state (and vice versa) and twisted Nelson’s arm for a site visit. As the hearing wore on it was obvious that this was all transactional – they people who give things to NASA want things from NASA. […]

Keith’s note: By now you must be bored with my daily critique of how NASA organizes and presents itself to the public, policy makers, news media, and the rest of the world – especially when it comes to education. (see Fixing Education And Outreach At NASA. Part 1: STEM Engagement Office) To virtually everyone, everywhere, NASA.gov online resources are how people learn what NASA does – and where they go […]

Keith’s note: According to James Miller at NASA who emailed “NASA Internal Memo: National Space Council UAG Update from Chair, ADM Jim Ellis” to lots of the usual suspects within the DC space wonk choir, the National Space Council (NSpC) and its Users Advisory Group (UAG) are still alive and active (surprise) with all of their Trump-nominated members: “… our UAG executive Committee (ExCom) has continued to meet on a […]

Keith’s note: When most people hear the phrase “space science” it is logical to expect that they think of “science” in “space”. Maybe its astronomy or planets. Maybe its studying how humans live in space. Perhaps its analyzing samples from another world or looking for life in the universe. It might even include looking down at Earth from space. But “space science” simply refers to “science” – and not any […]