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This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
nasawatch@spaceref.com | Voice +1.703.787.6567 | RSS Feed | Twitter | Advertising | Important Disclaimer
Boeing Statement on Passage of CARES Act
"Boeing's top priority is to protect our workforce and support our extensive supply chain, and the CARES Act will help provide adequate measures to help address the pandemic. We have also taken a number of measures for affordability and liquidity as we navigate the challenges our industry currently faces, including forgoing pay for our CEO and board chairman, suspending our dividend until further notice, and extending our existing pause of any share repurchasing until further notice."
Statement From Lockheed Martin Chairman, President And CEO Marillyn Hewson On COVID-19 Response
"At Lockheed Martin, we recognize that the rapid spread of COVID-19 and its wide-ranging impacts have caused severe disruption across society and tragic loss of life around the world. We also recognize that the global pandemic has created a need for urgent action by government, business, communities and citizens. In response to this crisis, our company will be guided by and operate with three clear priorities. First, we will continue to protect the health and safety of our men and women on the job and their families. Second, we will continue to perform and deliver for our customers because what they do for our national security, global communications, and infrastructure is critical to our nation and our allies. Third, we will do our part to use our know-how, resources, and leadership as a company to assist our communities and our country during this period of national crisis."
Keith's note: Boeing begs for $60 billion in tax dollars but won't say what they will do with the money or how they will help their employees while Lockheed Martin specifically talks about taking care of their people and others. Hmmm ... $60 billion for Being. Assuming 150,000 employees (give or take) that would be $400,000 per employee. That's enough to keep people employed for a year or two. Just sayin'
Former U.N. envoy Nikki Haley quits Boeing's board over its plea for $60B in aid, Geekwire
"Earlier this week, Trump told reporters that he supported a Boeing bailout -- and referred indirectly to the company's 737 MAX troubles: "it was unthinkable what happened, with respect to Boeing. Probably I would consider it the greatest company in the world prior to a year ago. Now they get hit in 15 different ways and they have different management. I've met the new people running Boeing. I think it's going to be outstanding. "But, yeah, we have to protect Boeing. We have to absolutely help Boeing. They were doing a job. ... It was coming along well. And then all of a sudden, this hits. So, obviously, when the airlines aren't doing well, Boeing is not going to be doing well. So we'll be helping Boeing."
Boeing CEO says company may reject stimulus if Treasury seeks equity stake
"Boeing chief executive David Calhoun on Tuesday suggested that the aircraft manufacturer would not accept federal aid as part of a pending economic rescue bill if it meant giving the Treasury Department a stake in the company. ... Boeing is requesting $60 billion in federal loans from a $500 billion corporate assistance program created in the Senate's $2 trillion economic stimulus bill. The bill, which is still being negotiated, also allows the Treasury secretary to take a stake in bailed-out corporations, as the government did to major banks who received federal rescue funds in 2008."
Boeing to Emerge as Big Stimulus Winner, WS Journal
"The company has declined to detail the components of the $60 billion it has been seeking. After the Senate passed its stimulus bill late Wednesday, Boeing praised the package, saying its liquidity boost was "critical for airlines, airports, suppliers, and manufacturers to bridge to recovery." Faced with mounting financial strain, Boeing has suspended its dividend and has been considering potential layoffs. Executives have said they were working to avoid cutting or furloughing employees from its 65,000-worker commercial arm. Under the proposed stimulus plan, certain loan recipients must maintain at least 90% of their current workforce through Sept. 30, among other worker protections, eliciting praise from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents Boeing factory workers in the Seattle area."
Categories: CommercializationJust remember @NASA up to 10% of Americans don't have Internet access plus there's no access at schools & libraries that are closed. Not all cable services carry NASA TV. You need to find a way to deliver your content to those people too #DigitalDivide #NASAatHome @JimBridenstine https://t.co/W74gMkcxEe
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) March 26, 2020
Teamwork and Resilience: Today's Ask the Administrator, NASA
"Thank you for all the great questions submitted for this week's virtual Ask the Administrator. With the assistance of Associate Administrator Steve Jurczyk and Chief Health and Medical Officer Dr. J.D. Polk, we got through as many questions as possible in this session. I encourage you to take a moment to watch the video online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCKR9Ge-5Gw. The video also will be posted to https://nasapeople.nasa.gov/coronavirus."
NASA Virtual Town Hall: Ask the Administrator 25 March 2020 (Transcript), NASA
Categories: Ask The Administrator, Coronavirus
NASA Science Division Updates to the Community, NASA
"The NASA Science Division Directors will provide community updates on Tuesday, March 31, when they address the discipline committees of the National Academies' Space Studies Board (SSB) during Space Science Week 2020. During the updates, the Science Division Directors will discuss the President's Fiscal Year 2021 budget request for NASA Science and other Division specific updates of NASA's science programs."
Categories: Space & Planetary Science
Elon Musk's SpaceX puts employees in quarantine after two workers get coronavirus, telegraph
"An employee and a medic at Elon Musk's SpaceX have tested positive for coronavirus, causing the company to put at least 12 of its workers in quarantine. Employees were told on Monday afternoon that two people working at the company's facility in Hawthorne, near Los Angeles had the virus, according to a company email seen by The Telegraph."
Categories: CoronavirusTo all our readers in the space community: when dealing with #COVID19 be the Matt Damon on the left - not the one on the right. #BeMarkWatney #Coronavirus #NASA pic.twitter.com/eyw7q1GLCT
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) March 24, 2020
Keith's note: I am starting to see Facebook and social media posts by people I know - who know people who are sick with COVID-19 - or have died. This will start to accelerate sharply albeit exponentially in the next week or so. Remember back in the 80s and 90s when your gay friends would comment once in a while about the increasing number of friends they lost to AIDS and the air of despair and hopelessness that accompanied that loss - and the aching hope for a cure? Think of that decade or so of prolonged loss compressed into mere months. That is what COVID-19 can and will do unless everyone does their part to limit the spread. Add in what we all went through during/after 9-11, Columbia, and Katrina for good measure. We've all seen those movies before. And we all made it through each of them.
If you have worked at NASA for more than 5 minutes then you have heard the old "there is no 'I' in team" management theme. Well, guess what: that is now obsolete. The "I" is now of paramount importance. Every single person can - and must - make a contribution by staying home, being cautious, listening to medical professionals, and adapting to the new normal of doing rocket science from home. Acting as an individual is now of core importance to the team.
As Jim Bridenstine noted "Each of us has the important responsibility of taking extra precautions to protect ourselves and our team. If you are performing on-site work and feel sick, do not go to work. Contact your supervisor immediately and schedule an appointment with your primary care provider."
I take Jim 200% at his word. If your center is not at Stage 4 yet and you think that it should be, then tell your management. If you do not feel comfortable doing so or think that they are not listening then please borrow the NASAWatch comments section - or send an email - and I will make sure the message is delivered - with anonymity.
In the mean time, now that working at NASA - is working from home - in isolation - there is one example to emulate: Think like Mark Watney. He teleworked from Mars for years. He eventually showed up at his NASA office on Earth after all the bad stuff was over.
So can you.
Categories: Coronavirus
Keith's note: According to https://nasapeople.nasa.gov/coronavirus/ four five Six Nine NASA facilities are now at Stage 4 on the NASA COVID-19 Response Framework: Ames, Michoud, GISS, Stennis, Glenn, Plum Brook, and now Goddard, Wallops, Armstrong. Everyone else is currently at Stage 3.
Message From The NASA Administrator: March 24 Update on Agency Response to Coronavirus
"Our nation is fighting an invisible enemy - coronavirus (COVID-19). NASA is implementing important measures across the agency to do our part to help slow the transmission of COVID-19 and protect our communities. To continue NASA's inspiring mission, the safety of our workforce is our top priority. We will not ask employees and contractors to perform work if we do not have the highest confidence that it is safe to do so. ... Each of us has the important responsibility of taking extra precautions to protect ourselves and our team. If you are performing on-site work and feel sick, do not go to work. Contact your supervisor immediately and schedule an appointment with your primary care provider."
Categories: Coronavirus
ISS National Laboratory: COVID-19 Response and Update, CASIS
"Effective March 20, 2020, we elevated the COVID-19 response level at the ISS National Lab, enacting a mandatory telework policy for our team. ... As we endeavor to navigate this very dynamic situation, we will provide status updates as necessary. For now, let's all do the best that we can to remain safe and healthy. Let's also make an effort to remain connected to one another through this challenging time. All the best and trying to be Mark Watney."
Categories: Coronavirus, ISS News
ESA scales down science mission operations amid pandemic, ESA
"In response to the escalating coronavirus pandemic, ESA has decided to further reduce on-site personnel at its mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany. The new adjustments require temporarily stopping instrument operation and data gathering on four Solar System science missions, which are part of the wider fleet of 21 spacecraft currently flown by the Agency from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt. ESA implemented risk mitigation measures early on. The vast majority of ESA's workforce has been teleworking for nearly two weeks. Only key personnel performing critical tasks, which include maintaining real-time spacecraft operations, are still present on site at ESA's establishments throughout Europe."
Categories: Coronavirus
NASA Science Mission Directorate Virtual Town Hall 2020
"The leadership of SMD recognizes that the COVID-19 epidemic has placed tremendous strain on all of us and our families, disrupting our lives and putting new hurdles in the way of accomplishing our professional goals. Our first priority is the safety of everyone who works on NASA missions and funded research and SMD leadership is committed to doing all it can to support our community. I want to thank all of you for your patience and hard work as we transition to this new normal.
We know that progress on funded research may slow and in some cases even stop due to necessary telework and lack of access to facilities and labs, the closing of public schools and daycare facilities for our children, the transition of teaching activities to on-line classes, and other family obligations. SMD understands this potential outcome of the current epidemic response and will work with the research community and its institutions to mitigate any impacts and to make plans, when possible, for a way forward. This situation will undoubtedly cause some inefficiencies, but we continue to be supportive of any research that can be done remotely."
Categories: Coronavirus, Space & Planetary Science
NASA Weekly Update from the Administrator - March 23, 2020
Most of the agency remains at Stage 3 of NASA's Response Framework to COVID-19, with mandatory telework for all employees and limited exceptions for on-site work. Ames, Michoud and Stennis are at Stage 4 with personnel on-site to protect life and critical infrastructure. Recently, Glenn Research Center in Ohio and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City have also been elevated to Stage 4. Every precaution is being taken to safeguard the health of our workforce. Agency leadership is regularly evaluating mission-essential activities and determining what can safely proceed and what should be completed through telework. Please continue to stay in frequent contact with your supervisor and check the NASA People website regularly for updates.
Categories: Coronavirus, Personnel News
White House Announces New Partnership to Unleash U.S. Supercomputing Resources to Fight COVID-19
"The White House announced the launch of the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium to provide COVID-19 researchers worldwide with access to the world's most powerful high performance computing resources that can significantly advance the pace of scientific discovery in the fight to stop the virus. ... "We are pleased to lend NASA's supercomputing expertise to assist in the global fight against this pandemic. For more than six decades the agency has used its expertise to take on challenges that have benefited people worldwide in unexpected ways," said Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator."
Categories: Coronavirus
NASA COVID-19 Community Update from Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen
"We know that progress on funded research may slow and in some cases even stop due to necessary telework and lack of access to facilities and labs, the closing of public schools and daycare facilities for our children, the transition of teaching activities to on-line classes, and other family obligations. SMD understands this potential outcome of the current epidemic response and will work with the research community and its institutions to mitigate any impacts and to make plans, when possible, for a way forward. This situation will undoubtedly cause some inefficiencies, but we continue to be supportive of any research that can be done remotely."
Categories: Coronavirus
NASA Weekly ISS Space to Ground Report for 27 March, 2020 
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.