Keith’s Note: If you read the NASA press release regarding former NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes’ return to NASA It says “Reporting to NASA Headquarters in Washington, Hughes will have direct responsibility for launch operations at NASA Kennedy, as well as the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. He will work across government, industry, and local leadership to strengthen coordination among stakeholders supporting NASA’s spaceports, enable increased launch cadence, and support execution of the President’s National Space Policy to ensure continued American leadership in space.” As such, the decades-long management by NASA Goddard of NASA Wallops – a launch facility in Virginia (a blue state) will now be run out of Florida (a red state) – thus continuing the deliberate shrinkage of NASA Goddard. And while NASA HQ is not being moved out of Washington DC, some of its major functions will be moving to Florida. Stay tuned as other aspects of the long-anticipated “Red Wedding“ unfold at NASA. Update: NASA Administrator Isaacman and I had a Twitter exchange about this. Full exchange below.

Keith’s note: With regard to the IAF Global Space Conference on Climate Change (GLOC 2026) in Kigali, Rwanda – don’t expect any NASA attendance.

1. “The U.S. Department of State has assessed Kigali (Rwanda) as being a HIGH-threat location for crime directed at or affecting official U.S. government interests.” — source
2. “The USGCRP met its statutory requirements by presenting its reports to Congress. NASA has no legal obligations to host http://globalchange.gov‘s data,” NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said in an email. That means no data from the assessment or the government science office that coordinated the work will be on NASA, she said”. — source
3. The U.S. Government has formally isolated itself from international Climate Change efforts — Source

Keith’s note: the White House just issued this Executive Order “Ensuring American Space Superiority”. Full text below.

Keith’s note: This memo was just sent out to NASA SMD employees (and others). It opens with “To ensure the continued safety of our workforce and compliance with security measures, the NASA Headquarters Protective Services Office will be reinstating random searches and inspections of individuals, belongings, and vehicles…” A day or so after NASA scared 4,000+ civil servants out of their jobs (and the contractor count is still TBD), the 9th floor sends out scary memos like this to their workforce. Brian Hughes et al simply do not know how to read the room. When the White House gets around to asking NASA to do something spectacular it will become obvious that they pushed NASA to throw away far too much human expertise. And NASA management now makes a point of needlessly freaking out those who remain. You have minimal resources left Brian, Darren, Sean et al. Treat them as the valuable individuals that they are – not sheep for you to scare whenever you get a memo from the White House . (Full memo below).

Keith’s note: Elon Musk said tonight on Twitter “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.” Meanwhile there is unease about the first and possibly a second letter – as can be seen in this note sent to all HHS employees. The official guidance urges detailed caution as what to omit from any voluntary response to OPM – and a final note that respondents should “Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly.”

Keith’s note: according to the OMB memo “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs”: “To implement these orders, each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders. In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal. This temporary pause will provide the Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities. The temporary pause will become effective on January 28, 2025, at 5:00 PM. Even before completing their comprehensive analysis, Federal agencies must immediately identify any legally mandated actions or deadlines for assistance programs arising while the pause remains in effect. Federal agencies must report this information to OMB along with an analysis of the requirement. OMB also directs Federal agencies to pause all activities associated with open NOFOs, such as conducting merit review panels.” Update: A Federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s pause on Federal funding until at least 3 Feb. Further update: OMB Memo About Payment Freeze Rescinded

Vice President Mike Pence is set to name a cadre of Artemis astronauts, Ars Technica “Vice President Mike Pence will announce a cadre of 18 astronauts from whom NASA is likely to choose the commanders, pilots, and mission specialists who will go to the Moon as part of the Artemis Program. Multiple sources said Pence would release a list of names on Wednesday at the National Space Council meeting in […]