Keith’s Note: According to NASA SMD: “As you may be aware, the new Administration has issued Executive Orders (EOs) and implemented policy and guidance that may affect grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. SMD, consistent with agency direction, is working diligently to comply with the requirements of the new policy and guidance, as well as court orders resulting from litigation related to EOs and guidance. SMD currently oversees approximately 6,000 grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, interagency transfers, and internal NASA transfers; thus, as you can imagine, the process of implementing the new policy and guidance is taking some time and the turnaround time on actions will be longer than normal. We ask for your patience. Please also realize that we are in a highly dynamic environment with multiple lawsuits being adjudicated each with the potential to impact policy and guidance affecting grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. SMD would like to provide the following brief updates:” Full memo

Keith’s note: According to an email sent out late on Thursday: “On January 20th, 2025, the President of the United States of America signed an Executive Order entitled “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions”. This Order repealed Executive Order 14035, “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce.” It also directed agencies to take immediate action to identify and terminate DEIA initiatives and programs. To comply with this order, SMD is in the process of amending open Program Elements in ROSES-2024 to end the Inclusion Plan Pilot Study, remove requirements for Inclusion Plans and the evaluation factors associated with them, and adjust the content of some other Program Elements to remove references to NASA’s DEIA programs. Program elements that have already received proposals will not be amended, but if they required Inclusion Plans, those plans will not be reviewed and will not impact the selection of proposals. The program elements that will be amended include:” (long list below)

Team SMD: JPL update. The Eaton Fire remains 0% contained although fire activity in the vicinity of JPL has reduced somewhat. No reports of physical harm to any employees or family members. However it appears that about 150 JPL staff have lost their homes, and this number will likely continue to increase as fires continue and more insight into damage becomes known. Over 1000 JPLers remain under mandatory evacuation orders.

Keith’s note: According to NASA: “To maximize chances of successfully bringing the first Martian rock and sediment samples to Earth for the benefit of humanity, NASA announced Tuesday a new approach to its Mars Sample Return Program. The agency will simultaneously pursue two landing architectures, or strategic plans, during formulation, encouraging competition and innovation, as well as cost and schedule savings. NASA plans to later select a single path forward for the program, which aims to better understand the mysteries of the universe, and to help determine whether the Red Planet ever hosted life. NASA is expected to confirm the program – and its design – in the second half of 2026.” More information on sample return.

Keith’s note: According to NASA SMD there will be a Town Hall for Planetary Science Research Programs on Oct 15. (official email below) “In advance of and during the webinar questions may be submitted and upvoted on at:
https://nasa.cnf.io/sessions/qfp6/#!/dashboard “ So … all of you out there concerned about planetary and space science missions – vote, add your comments etc. If you are afraid of things being traced back to you – use a private phone or home computer. You pay for this space program. Time to provide some feedback. Ad Astra y’all.

Keith’s note: NASA posted a blog update on the Europa Clipper mission and put out a tweet. Note the last sentence: “NASA’s Europa Clipper mission remains on track, with a launch period opening on Thursday, Oct. 10. The next major milestone for Clipper is Key Decision Point E on Monday, Sept. 9, in which the agency will decide whether the project is ready to proceed to launch and mission operations. NASA will provide more information at a mission overview and media briefing targeted for that same week. The Europa Clipper mission team recently conducted extensive testing and analysis of transistors that help control the flow of electricity on the spacecraft. Analysis of the results suggests the transistors can support the baseline mission.” Hmmm … “results suggest they’re ready to support our baseline mission”. Um, that’s not the same as “Yes, the transistors have been fully tested and they can fully support the mission we originally planned to do”. There is also another meeting – “Key Decision Point E” – where they give the formal go ahead to launch. I’d ask NASA PAO to clarify the wording – but they won’t respond to me – and if they do respond they will punt and tell me to wait a few weeks for the press event. So stay tuned.

“On May 21, 2024 at 1 PM Eastern, NASA’s Planetary Science Division (PSD) will host a webinar to discuss the Planetary Research Program, including upcoming changes, some data on programs to date, and plans to reduce the barrier to proposing for the planetary research community.” More

Keith’s note: the following was sent by Lori Glaze: Dear Colleagues, I’m writing to tell you about some near-term leadership changes in the Planetary Science Division (PSD).

• Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Hearing – Advancing Scientific Discovery: Assessing the Status of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
• March 21, 2024 10:00 AM EDT
• Hearing charter
• Dr. Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA
• Mr. George A. Scott, Acting Inspector General, NASA
• Dr. Jonathan I. Lunine, Cornell University
• Mr. A. Thomas Young, Former Director, GSFC and Former President and COO, Martin Marietta
• Watch live

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate will hold a Budget Town Hall meeting with Associate Administrator for Science Nicky Fox and her leadership team on Wednesday from 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT. Participants are invited to submit their questions below and/or vote up questions already posted.