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.

Keith’s note: It is certainly refreshing for the Administrator of NASA to take a personal, hands-on interest in clearly stating that transparency is a priority at NASA and responding to events in near-real time. But he has to do most of that by himself. His writing and speaking style are easy to detect: no stilted English, no odd capitalizations, no weird grammar, no jargon and little in the way of overly gratuitous rah rah. Instead it is mostly to-the-point substance. Unfortunately, NASA Public Affairs staff can’t or won’t engage in basic human language in a similar manner. Instead, they cut and paste pre-written talking points and political babble – or just ignore the chatter – and those who do the chattering – altogether. Most of Isaacman’s time on social media seems to be focused on the bloggers and influencers and random armchair rocketeer posters on social media (me included) – all of whom are snugly inside the space bubble – a pocket universe that is mostly invisible to the real world. Don’t get me wrong: It is good that Isaacman cares about the fans of space exploration and is willing to engage with them – and make a convert here and there. Alas, he parachuted in the middle of several decades of other people’s bad decisions and now everyone expects him to fix all of that by next week. It is unfortunate that he has to spend time on postings inside the space bubble – often about woulda-coulda/oughta minutiae – and not on NASA’s value to the remaining 99.99999% of America – and the world. So chill space fans. Ad Astra y’all. Several Isaacman posting examples below:

Keith’s note: On 11 February I posted a memo – verbatim – with only people’s names redacted – from the CFO at NASA HQ to the centers about some internal SMD/OMB efforts. I posted the text verbatim. I tweeted it too – verbatim – at 10:28 AM. I never mentioned or hinted at missions being cancelled. I just posted the memo. Several hours later Politico posted a piece that mentions some of the content of this memo – but not in the original context – and omits mention of the source or links to the actual thing on NASAWatch or on Twitter. Whatever. I am used to this by now. But this quickly got out of hand and NASA PAO dropped the ball. More below.

Keith’s 13 Feb note: I am posting some photos of the NASA Goddard library taken yesterday. The photos were NOT taken by library employees – but rather by others at GSFC. Word has it that trucks are arriving this weekend to begin removal of these boxes. Many GSFC employees are still concerned that the imminent removal and possible disposal of materials are in direct contradiction to the instructions in a Congressional Joint Exploratory Statement which directs NASA to preserve technical and scientific capabilities. Jared Isaacman has said that he has staff he’s assigned to monitor this process. Perhaps NASA GSFC or NASA HQ management could post an update as to where these boxed library materials are being sent. I’d ask NASA PAO – but they ignore me these days. Keith’s 14 Feb Update: according to a source at NASA GRC “We are currently renovating our library space and briefing center (Building 142) and we’ve been told recently that NASA GRC will be ‘The NASA Library’ for the Agency and that the GSFC library books are being relocated to GRC.‘. See: Recent NASA NASA GSFC Library postings [More photos below].

Keith’s note: On 11 February 2026 NOVA PBS Host / NewsHour reporter Miles O’Brien conducted a live broadcast from a ship in the southern ocean around Antarctica where Thwaites glacier aka the “Doomsday Glacier” is melting at an alarming rate. In this broadcast Miles spoke first with Peter Davis from the British Antarctic Survey and then with David Holland from New York University. At 23:55 in this video Miles asked Peter Davis an Astrobiology-related question regarding Europa, and Enceladus that I posed via the online chat. Full transcript