Keith’s note: The Senate CS&T Committee held the confirmation hearing for Matthew Anderson to be Deputy Administrator of NASA. He sailed through with the usual questions from both sides of the aisle. As to when the full Senate will vote on his nomination – stay tuned. Probably soon. Update: according to Marcia Smith: “Following today’s nomination hearing for Matt Anderson to be NASA Deputy Admin, the Senate Commerce Cmte will vote on his nomination (and several others) next Thursday, Mar 12, at approx 11:30 am ET. It’s in the Capitol (S-216) so likely not livestreamed”. Opening statement below:

Keith’s note: Jared Isaacman spoke at the a16z event about the lack of core competencies and extensive outsourcing at NASA is “why we’re $100 billion deep into [Artemis]”and how OPM is working with NASA and the new NASA Force effort to reverse that. Of course NASA just lost a lot of its workforce – so this is an effort to bring back some of what may have been lost as well as attracting new skills to the agency. Comments and video below:

Keith’s note: A lawsuit was filed on 19 February in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia concerning the closure of the NASA Goddard library and the disposition of records and research materials housed there. The plaintiffs, including the Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association (GESTA), filed the case to seek judicial review of NASA’s decision to close the library and disperse or dispose of portions of its collections. The complaint alleges that the agency’s actions violate federal records preservation requirements and were undertaken without the transparency and review required under federal law. Full complaint below.

Keith’s note: According to a tweet by @NASAAdmin: “Today, we’re launching NASA Force with @USOPM Returning to the Moon requires restoring core competencies in our civil servant workforce. This program will recruit top aerospace, software, systems, and other critical technical talent for approximately 2-year terms at NASA. This will strengthen in-house engineering excellence, close skill gaps, and deepen partnerships with industry. We’re investing in our people to deepen America’s leadership in space.”

Keith’s note: I was just on Deutsche Welle TV talking about today’s Artemis programmatic change s- and the impacts that may or may not have on Europe and other internationals pace efforts. [Audio] [video] – Youtube below.

Keith’s note: In an update today NASA Administrator Isaacman announced that Artemis III will not land on the Moon but will be a test mission in Earth orbit for docking with lander vehicles. The push is for moving to two lunar landing attempts in 2028 and will focus on achieving a launch cadence of 1 year or less. NASA will adopt a more or less identical SLS as a standard at the Block 1 configuration. Workforce additions will be needed to adjust NASA’s skill mix. No mention of what happens to Gateway. NASA press release.

Keith’s note: SOMD AA Ken Bowersox is retiring from NASA. According to a NASA press release: “Joel Montalbano will serve as the acting associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, and Dana Hutcherson will serve as the acting program manager of the Commercial Crew Program.”

Keith’s note: ASAP issued its 2025 Full report. There is not much new in this report that the ASAP et al have not said every year for decades. But this time the first recommendation strikes at the heart of why NASA often seems to be reactive and make things up one day at a time – with actions that are often inconsistent and contradictory: “Recommendation 2021-05-01: NASA should develop a strategic vision for the future of space exploration and operations that encompasses at least the next 20 years, including potential alternative scenarios, that is driven by how the Agency is going to understand and manage risk in the more complex environment in which it will be operating.

• The vision should describe the role that NASA intends to play during that period and how it plans to engage with both commercial and international partners.
• NASA should assess the workforce, including the number, types, skills, experience, and responsibilities that will be required, and the infrastructure facility requirements, with a plan for managing changes needed to meet those requirements.
• NASA should also propose general criteria for evaluating “make, manage, or buy” decisions on future programs or projects.
• All aspects of the strategic vision and its implementation should be clearly and unambiguously communicated throughout the Agency.”

Keith’s note: House Speaker Mike Johnson invited the Artemis II crew to be his guests at State of the Union tonight. Talk about Earned PR. Has NASA made any mention of this? No.

Keith’s note: One of the most awe inspiring things NASA does is Astrobiology – the search for life elsewhere in the universe. Yet despite this astonishing work, the NASA Astrobiology program is a scattered mess and stumbles upon itself to engage the public. And it can’t even link NASA’s few stories on this topic to their own program. Oh yes: the White House talks about this topic now and it is likely to get mentioned in the State of the Union speech tonight – one way or another. The trailer for Apple TV’s “For All Mankind” season 5 trailer just dropped – and they open with a prime task: “our mission is to find life”. Here’s a chance to expand NASA’s reach beyond the usual suspects – and maybe even make a few converts. Why not have weekly chats about this? What’s accurate and what is not – and why. The future of Mars Sample Return and the presidential mandate to go to Mars would seemingly be ample rationale for doing so. Just sayin’.

Keith’s note: OK. This is cool – the sort of thing NASA PAO ought to try to be doing – given the free earned PR they can get and the synergy that can emerge from real science and entertainment. But so far NASA has said nothing about this – and it happens tomorrow. Is this just an internal JPL thing or is the entire agency going to be watching – but only internally? Oh yes, since the whole idea is to try and cross leverage NASA and the movie – which is getting massive advance PR – one would think that this would be on NASA TV for the rest of us ~300 million taxpayer/potential ticket buyers. No mention is made at the official movie account at @projecthailmary (but the unofficial @HailMaryLogs does) nor is there any mention at the JPL website or NASA’s main website or the NASA Live schedule or the NASA YouTube channel or the NASA+ scheduled events page or @NASA on X etc. etc. Oh well.

Keith’s note: the other day NASA press Secretary Bethany Stevens @NASASpox said “We continue to embrace President Trump’s open science commitment as an agency. We have fostered open science since our inception so that the public can build upon our innovations. We continue to make all NASA data publicly available, and welcome public participation using our data.” Meanwhile NASA SMD is looking to exactly the opposite and cut funding for access to that very same data. According to an online petition “We are urging NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Directorate to reverse the 2025 reductions to the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) and GeneLab, including the GeneLab Sample Processing Laboratory (SPL). OSDR is NASA’s primary source for understanding space biology, containing a shared library and lab system housing nearly 600 studies across 45 species. Over 1,000 researchers worldwide have produced more than 160 published papers using OSDR data, mostly through volunteer effort, multiplying the return on investment. The cuts also threaten the SPL, which provides the consistent methods needed to compare biological results across missions, and training programs for hundreds of students for careers in space science. Decades of NASA-funded work is at risk. Restoring funding is essential to protect that investment and keep future astronauts safe.” More below.

22 Feb Update: From NASA PAO: NASA to Rollback Artemis II Rocket, Spacecraft 21 Feb Update: I just talked to BBC World News TV about the recent issues with the Artemis II mission [audio]. Keith’s note: Things change fast in the Artemis II world. On Friday NASA posted an update: “NASA is targeting no earlier than Friday, March 6, for the launch of Artemis II, pending completion of required work at the launch pad, analysis of test data, and the outcome of a Flight Readiness Review in the coming days.” Then today (Saturday) according to this post: “NASA is taking steps to potentially roll back the Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft to the VAB … after overnight Feb. 21 observing interrupted flow of helium in the SLS rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage. … This will almost assuredly impact the March launch window.“ Update: Detailed description from Jared Isaacman below:

Keith’s note: Yesterday President Trump tossed out his quasi-official proof of alien life – and visitations – directive on social media. NASA has not said anything about this. Oddly, they certainly had quite a lot to say about the exact same topic a few years ago in a formal report. As such I’m waiting for the formal Executive Order – maybe that will pry something out of NASA PAO. Meanwhile I did a lot of global TV today. (more below)

Keith’s note: Well … it would seem that NASA will be paying more attention to Astrobiology now. And other things.

Dear NASA Team, Within the next week, Congress will be briefed by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, and NASA’s independent investigative report on the Starliner Crewed Flight Test will be released publicly. Many of you know this program intimately, and some of you lived every development in real time. We returned the crew safely, but the path we took did not reflect NASA at its best. Full memo below

Keith’s note: I tweeted this the other day. NASA is promoting their Career Pathways intern program. Oddly every field center is listed – except NASA Goddard – which is in the midst of a significant downsizing effort.

Keith’s note: NASA issued a press release “NASA Releases Report on Starliner Crewed Flight Test Investigation” today: ” NASA released a report of findings from the Program Investigation Team examining the Boeing CST-100 Starliner Crewed Flight Test as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.” Full release and report link below

“A partial eclipse over Lake Untersee yesterday — an ordinary piece of celestial clockwork that felt anything but ordinary from the icy shores of Lake Untersee in the mountains of Antarctica. Eclipses come around often enough; being in the right place, at the right moment, to watch the Sun take a quiet bite out of itself is the rarer gift!” More

Keith’s note: I just got a long update from Astrobiologist Dale Andersen at Lake Untersee, Antarctica about his ongoing Astrobiology field research. Someday soon we’ll get reports like this from the south pole of the Moon – and then Mars – and beyond: : “Keith, Sorry for the quiet—our days have been packed, and out here every usable hour feels borrowed. Since my last report the weather has changed its mind a few times. The snowstorm I mentioned in my last note covered the lake with a few inches of snow for about a week, with steady drifting around our camp. It slowed us down, but did not stop us and we still managed plenty of work in the margins between squalls. A few days have been outright gusty—50 mph or more—never ideal when you are trying to handle gear with cold hands, and definitely noisy when you are trying to sleep. The bright side is that we have not been hit by anything truly serious (100+ mph winds like we’ve experienced in previous seasons), so by Untersee standards we have been lucky. Most of the snow on the lake has now blown clear and we hare back to hard ice.” Full report with pictures and videos.