Keith’s note: OK so I am ‘back’. Thanks for all the kind words, support etc. Let’s get down to business. The month of September is going to be the hardest yet for NASA. Multiple budget profiles will collide with one another – in an inelastic fashion. Missions will be on hold and operate in holding pattern mode. Other missions will simply die at the hands of budgeteers. And the people of NASA – regardless of where their paycheck comes from – will still be called upon to lead humanity’s exploration of space while being stressed from multiple directions. Meanwhile, the political people inside the glass doors on the 9th floor of NASA HQ simply don’t care what happens to the agency’s workforce – or keeping them informed. As if you had not already figured that out. That said, NASA is already ‘Great In Space”. No “Again” required. Despite the political rhetoric over the years, NASA has begun humanity’s expansion into interstellar space (see image). No one else has done that. And NASA’s lead will be rather hard to eclipse. Anyway – here is my top ten take on things to be aware of in September . Warning – it is not pretty – but it is also not without hope. [More below]

Keith’s note: Last week two internal NASA directives dropped – except NASA has yet to officially release them: NASA Commercial LEO Space Stations Acquisition Strategy and Directive on Fission Surface Power (FSP) Development.

• From what I have managed to piece together these things were pitched in an end run directly to Sean Duffy – outside of the usual process of surfacing such things to the Administrator – especially in Directive form ready for signature. Both directives were signed on the same day – surprising everyone. Associate Administrators and Center Directors were not alerted or asked for comment. And in the case of the CLD directive, industry was left in the dark and they are not happy.
• Meanwhile, Congress is wondering what passes for planning and transparency at NASA given that the agency is actually adhering to the PBR being the scenes – but saying that they are adhering to Congressional budget intentions when pressed for public content. NASA cant have it both ways.
• Both directives built upon some ideas that had been developed over the past several years and have been kicking around NASA in one form or another. Chief of Staff Brian Hughes has zero experience with spaceflight engineering – so he leans heavily on a couple of his favorite people for ad hoc Rocket Science 101 to find exciting things to pass on to Duffy.
• Duffy is a part timer. Hughes is a gate keeper. NASA needs a real, full time leader – now.

Keith’s note: As the Administration seeks to gut funding of all government science agencies, they have issued another word salad executive order – one that could have been expressed in vastly simpler language. Indeed it calls for a process of conducting science in a transparent and reproducible fashion that has already been in place for nearly a century. Of course, this wordiness is a fig leaf for some specific political issues. e.g. “Actions taken by the prior Administration further politicized science, for example, by encouraging agencies to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations into all aspects of science planning, execution, and communication.” And the response of this Administration is to simply politicize science even more.

Keith’s note: All the space policy ‘experts’ claim that the Administration has a firm “plan” for NASA. If indeed it exists, then the chaos at NASA – programs gutted, people unsure if they have a job, research halted for no reason, paranoid behavior by management, must all be part of that plan, right? Chaos is not a plan. It just pisses people off, wastes money, and reduces productivity. This is not the way to keep America Great In Space. Just sayin’

Keith’s Rant #1: I wonder … while these DOGE folks are busy scurrying around eliminating people and things at NASA – do they ever stop to look up at the night sky – you know, the place where NASA does all of that exploration stuff – the reason that it exists in the first place? Probably not an action item on their spreadsheet. (Again) just wondering.

Keith’s Rant #2: FYI Space fans. There are lots of people inside DC who function inside one little policy bubble or another. These bubbles are, by definition, partially sealed off from the real world. Sometimes you can see inside (a little) and sometimes you can peek out. But usually the bubbles are opaque, sound proof, and work like echo chambers. The more that people here in the DC space bubbles hint, or tease, or insinuate, or imply, or otherwise want you to think that maybe they have some sort of secret sauce, are in the know, or have undisclosed information, or secret plans, or things only they know – well, after 40 years watching these people in their bubbles I have 2 sayings for you to ponder. Pick one, Or both.

• 1. Those who speak do not know; those who know do not speak
• 2. The first rule of Fight Club is don’t talk about Fight Club.

Keith’s Rant #3: It is getting tiresome watching space fans sit in their sound proof rooms writing about space fantasies on social media and op eds in niche publications. These folks seem to be bereft of any understanding of what is going on in the real world – here in the U.S. or elsewhere – or care that budgets are being slashed. And no one can stop the cutting. They scramble to get random leftover scraps rather than push back. No reason is given for the cuts. The current meme right now is simply to cut. No strategic plan is in place to guide the cuts or show a path to be followed after the cuts have been made. This whole thing is a turbine that serves only to feed on its own exhaust. Unless a cogent plan is in place – one that is relevant to the 99.99% of the folks who actually pay for all the space stuff – this whole party will collapse in on itself (again) in 3.5 years.

Keith’s note: NASA PAO just provided this statement with regard to my post You Must Hide Your Pride At NASA (they waited 4 days to respond) which was cited in a press release from House Science Committee Democrats. To be clear: I stand by every single word in my post. Its real folks.

• NASA: “There are no new bans on any personal affects in employees’ workspaces. As always, the items must adhere to legal, safety, and NASA rules and guidelines. Some managers have been reminding employees to be mindful of what personal affects they have in their workspaces, but there are no penalties or warnings about being placed on administrative leave for displaying personal items.”

Keith’s note: Two weeks: Waiting to see if/when these Space-oriented organizations (list below) respond to newly announced personnel and diversity policy actions directly affecting NASA. Or not. They are just going to let this all happen. If y’all can’t be bothered to speak up then why should I bother?

Keith’s note: According to this little gem that was tossed online after hours on a Friday “NASA Adjusts Agreements to Benefit Commercial Station Development“ “We continue to see an immense amount of dedication from our partners,” said Angela Hart, manager of Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.“The agency is committed to continuing to work with industry with the goal having one or more stations in orbit to ensure competition, lower costs, and meet the demand of NASA and other customers.” Uh huh. Since when has NASA lowered the cost – of anything? This whole ISS vs Gateway/Artemis vs Orbital Reef vs Starlab vs Axiom vs Russia vs China vs Congress with regard to space stations is all going to result in an inelastic collision – soon. To some extent this announcement is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The money is simply not there for everything, competing priorities are inherently non-synergistic, and in place of a coherent, national strategy – one that takes these things into account in a realistic way – we have a short-term, seat of the pants, ad hoc, fake it until you make it, free for all. Something has got to give since neither the money or a clear policy path are on the horizon. And the warning signs – if they are even apparent – will be ignored until it is too late. And expecting the National Space Council to do anything substantive is simply naive in the extreme. Oh then there’s the whole 2024 election thing and the fact that NASA has no idea when the moon walking resumes and … Just sayin’