Keith’s note: In case you did not already notice, the 9th floor at NASA HQ issued these two reports on human spaceflight strategy in less than a week – and yet neither one mentions the other – even thought they overlap and cross-enable. Right? Nor does NASA make any effort to link them together. Why bother. Gotta take all that use-or-lose vacation time.

• Moon to Mars Architecture
• Strategy for Sustaining Human Presence in Low Earth Orbit

Keith’s note: According to yet another year-end report issued a few days before the Biden folks on the 9th floor at NASA HQ packs up their offices: “NASA Finalizes Strategy for Sustaining Human Presence in Low Earth Orbit“ which says: “The final framework includes 13 goals and 44 objectives across seven key areas: commercial low Earth orbit infrastructure, operations, science, research and technology development for exploration, international cooperation, workforce development and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement, and public engagement.” etc. etc. This “strategy” (it is not a strategy BTW) simply does what every single report like this before has done: it changes dates to reflect cost overruns/program delays since the last report; re-words the same goals and objectives etc. that the last report contained; and simply reflects an endorsement of the status quo. No imagination, no new ideas, just the same old, same old. Yawn.

Keith’s note: According to NASA PAO: “As NASA develops a blueprint for space exploration throughout the solar system for the benefit of humanity, the agency released several new documents Friday updating its Moon to Mars architecture. The roadmap sets NASA on course for long-term lunar exploration under the Artemis campaign in preparation for future crewed missions to Mars. Following an Architecture Concept Review, the 2024 updates include a revision of NASA’s Architecture Definition Document which details technical approaches and processes of the agency’s exploration plans, an executive overview, and 12 new white papers on key Moon to Mars topics.” More

Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen is back in Antarctica – and Lake Untersee – for another field season of Astrobiology research. Dale’s work is coordinated through the SETI Institute. We’ll be posting his updates here as has been the case since the 1990s. You can find an archive of the reports here. The latest reports:

• 14 December 2024: Departing Novo Station
• 11 December 2024: Back at Novo Station
• 20 November 2024: Live From Antarctica (webcast)
• 14 November 2024: The Plumes of Enceladus
• 5 November 2024: Evening In Antarctica (video and large panorama)
• 3 November 2024: Preparing For Science Diving (with video)
• 1 November 2024: Drilling Dive Holes Through The Ice
• 29 October 2024: Base Camp Structures
• 25 October 2024: Setting Up Base Camp (with pics and video)
• 23 October 2024: Preparing For The Traverse
• 20 October 2024: Arrival at Novolazarevskaya Station, Antarctica
• 2024 Preview: Dale Andersen’s Field Report: Preview: 2024 Lake Untersee Field Season
• That Time Star Trek Tents Were Actually Used In Antarctica

Keith’s note: I was just on CNN talking about the new Artemis program delays, SpaceX, and the stark contrast between NASA programs which cost too much and are constantly delayed – and private sector efforts such as SpaceX and Blue Origin where they make rocket science seem easy and see all of this rocketry as an enabling consumer product. And yes, that is an Enterprise NX-01 crew cap in the background, Mike Gold. [Audio]

Keith’s note: There is an Artemis media thing at NASA today at 1:00 pm EST. Tune in here. During the tenure of Bill Nelson at NASA the Artemis program’s schedule has slipped by several years, costs have continued to balloon out of control, and both OIG/GAO continue to point out chronically unresolved managerial and contractual issues with the whole Artemis/SLS/Orion/Gateway thing. It will be interesting to see what spin Nelson puts on this whole mess today in his exit presser – and how often he will say #SpaceIsHard.

Keith’s note: Here are some quotes with regard to the nomination of Jared Isaacman to run NASA. He’s clearly a space fan and has certainly put his money where his interests lie again and again. In so doing he has sought to squeeze the maximum science, engineering, outreach, and charitable causes into both of his flights and has several more in the planning stages. One interest has been in how to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope. How all of these interests intersect with the Trump 2.0 space vision will be interesting to watch. More below.

Keith’s note: According to this post from Truth Social Jared Isaacman is being nominated to become NASA Administrator. Isaacman replied via Twitter.

Keith’s note: I was just on CNN with Wolf Blitzer to talk about today’s Starship test flight.

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau – Keith’s note: From orbit, the spell cast by our ocean world is truly vast and compelling. Suni Williams, a naval aviator, arrived at the ISS in a spaceship named “Calypso”.

Keith’s 15 Nov note: NASA used to be plague by awful financial audits. Then it cleaned up its act. You’d think that such good news would be worthy of some smart media placement i.e. so the story can get into the publication process well before the deadlines are reached and maximum eyeballs can see it. Or maybe on the following Monday when it would have a week to be seen. Guess again. NASA sent this media release out at 5:27 pm EST today “NASA Receives 14th Consecutive ‘Clean’ Financial Audit Opinion“. As I post this 4.5 hours later NASA has still made no mention of the stealth news at @NASA for its 83.7 million followers. @NASAOIG posted a tweet at 5:23 pm for its 7,000 or so followers to see. No mention on the main home page at NASA.gov unless you know to dig for it. Here is the actual report. Again, this is good news, right Marc Etkind? Or are y’all just phoning things in now – since who cares? 18 Nov update: well @NASA just tweeted a link at 5:00 pm EST – thus losing one media day.

Keith’s note: I just did an interview with Deutsche Welle about the ongoing air leak on the International Space Station [Audio]

JPL statement issued on Nov. 12, 2024: “While we have taken various measures to meet our current FY’25 budget allocation, we have reached the difficult decision to reduce the JPL workforce through layoffs. This reduction affects approximately 325 of our colleagues, an impact of about 5% of our workforce. The impacts are occurring across technical, business, and support areas of the Laboratory. These are painful but necessary adjustments that will enable us to adhere to our budget while continuing our important work for NASA and our nation. The following is a memo sent earlier today from JPL Director Laurie Leshin to employees:”

2024 Report on NASA’s Top Management and Performance Challenges Full report. Excerpts:

• NASA has requested additional funding for Artemis systems through FY 2029, with the Artemis V mission delayed until 2030. At the same time, the lack of a comprehensive cost estimate for the Artemis campaign means that Congress and other stakeholders lack the level of transparency and insight needed about the long-term cost, feasibility, and sustainability of the effort.
• NASA expects to continue operations and maintenance of the Station through 2030. However, as the Agency delays the retirement of the ISS farther into the future, a variety of long-standing challenges will continue to intensify. These include maintaining and upgrading the Station, managing cargo and crew transportation constraints, and solidifying a transition and controlled deorbit plan.
• We also continue to identify funding instability as an impediment to NASA’s project management success. Unstable or uncertain funding, whether in terms of the total amount of funds dedicated to a project or the timing of when those funds are disbursed to the project, can result in inefficient management practices that contribute to poor cost, schedule, and performance outcomes. Protecting Ocean Worlds: Europa Clipper Planetary Protection Inputs To A Probabilistic Risk-based Approach
• Though the volume of interest in private astronaut missions has exceeded NASA’s expectations, significant demand for commercial activity in other sectors—such as in-space manufacturing and marketing products for sale on Earth—has yet to materialize. It is too early to determine the extent to which private astronaut missions will help facilitate a commercial market in LEO.
• At the end of 2023, approximately 64 percent of NASA employees worked in science and engineering occupations, yet the Agency remains at risk from a shortage of such staff due to increased competition for talent from the growing commercial space industry. NASA’s STEM engagement efforts have faced significant challenges over the past two decades including shifting administration priorities and declining budgets.
• much of NASA’s current infrastructure dates to the Apollo-era of space exploration and is in marginal to poor condition. As of July 2024, more than 83 percent of NASA’s facilities are beyond their original design life.
• Another area that we identified is NASA’s management of its cost-plus contracts for development efforts such as the SLS, Orion, and ML-2. These programs have experienced years of delays and billions of dollars in cost increases, due in part to payment of overly generous award fees that we have found to be inconsistent with contractor performance. Award- fee contracts are designed to incentivize contractors and reward strong performance, and these fees are in addition to the amounts paid to reimburse them for actual costs incurred.

Democrat defeats Republican Rep. Garcia in key California House race, The Hill “Democrat George Whitesides is projected to defeat two-term Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), according to Decision Desk HQ. Whitesides, the former Virgin Galactic CEO who also served as NASA chief of staff during the Obama administration, won California’s 27th Congressional District, a northern Los Angeles-area House seat.”

Keith’s note: Forget about all those Decadal science plans. The future of NASA and all American space activities will be forced into compliance with Project 2025 and implemented with the loyalty and political ideology screening contained within Schedule F.

Keith’s note: I appeared on CGTN tonight to talk about the launch of Shenzhou-19 and what the crews will be doing on China’s Tiangong space station. [Audio]

Keith’s note: According to Bob Jacobs (@BNJacobs) at NASA PAO: “After 25 years of public service, I have decided to retire from NASA. If I enjoyed any success, it was because of the team around me. Yes, I am looking forward to a new career challenge.” Bob’s contributions to NASA are immense and far too numerous to mention. 99% of what he did for the agency was without attribution and often involved diving catches behind the scenes. Some of the coolest things NASA talked about were the direct result of his steadfast dedication to the agency – often when others did not want to expend the energy to fix things and do them the right way. My only concern is where his small army (I am not exaggerating) of ‘Lost In Space’ robots that have guarded his office will end up – hopefully not homeless. I wish Bob all the best now that he is returning to the real world. Ad Astra.

Keith’s note: I’m sorry but I am tired of all this ignorant crap from Trump.

Keith’s note: NASA put out a report NASA’s Economic Impact Report for fiscal year (FY) 2023. In addition to its data rich/ lousy common language construction (see A Nice NASA Economic Impact Report By / For Wonks) NASA is not really spending much effort to tell people about it. In addition to the report there are additional data files and one PDF file for every state (but nothing for Puerto Rico). But other than some info from GSFC, KSC, and Armstrong, NASA PAO seems to have ignored its own websites and not sent out any media advisories or press releases relevant to local state economic impacts (no mention here) just their main release and a KSC link. NASA has once again demonstrated that it is utterly clueless and bereft of strategic thought when it comes to demonstrating its value and relevance to its stakeholders, taxpayers, and its puppet masters in DC. This is going to come back and bite the agency. It is downright embarrassing that the same agency that can look outward and back at the beginning of time and reprogram 50 year old spacecraft in interstellar space can’t explain itself to the people that pay for the whole space thing. More snarky detail below.