Keith’s note: Prior to the arrival of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman a substantial part of NASA management direction was done verbally and not documented. Often times it was in direct opposition to stated congressional direction. Congress was not amused – especially Democrats. That has changed under Jared Isaacman to a rather substantial extent. While the FY 2027 Presidential Budget Request for NASA is a near mirror image of the FY 2026 PBR, Congress seems to have a much better interaction with Isaacman – and NASA management. But they are still not happy with science and education cuts. And there is still the matter of NASA delivering its FY 2026 operating plan to Congress. If Democrats gain majority in the House (and maybe the Senate) those concerns will be turbocharged. Meanwhile, the White House is leery of what a potential congressional flip in one or both chambers might mean. According to the Washington Post “The roughly 30-minute briefings have included a PowerPoint presentation about how congressional oversight works and best practices for handling it, according to the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Staff from the counsel’s office have encouraged political appointees to be careful about what they put in writing and provided guidance for how to respond to congressional inquiries in a timely manner, the people said.” NASA may be somewhat ahead already when it comes to thinking across the aisle. That said … stay tuned.

Keith’s note: According to “NASA Is the Most Underrated Brand“ by Mia Silverio: “On Friday, four astronauts returned to Earth after venturing deeper into space than anyone has gone before. The mission, Artemis II, sent a rocket weighing 5.7 million pounds around the moon and back, setting the stage for a future lunar landing. This incredible feat is a timely reminder that American excellence still exists — if only under the NASA logo.” Totally agree – and as NASAWatch readers have certainly noticed by now I have more than a few things to say about NASA’s immense – yet totally under-utilized – reach, branding, and soft power.

Keith’s note: according to this article “The U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s  first director, Edward “Ed” Buckbee, has died. He was 89. Hailed as a visionary, he assembled and managed the world’s largest space and rocket exhibition and founded the highly successful U.S. Space Camp and Aviation Challenge programs, according to his biography with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Foundation.” Buckbee’s efforts inspired many, many young people over the decades – some of whom went on to become scientists, engineers, astronauts – and one even became NASA Administrator. As we set foot once again on a path back toward the Moon, I can only hope that people like Ed Buckbee are remembered alongside the other legends of America’s exploration of space. Ad Astra Ed.

Keith’s 11 Nov 2025 note: 75% – 3/4 of the people on this planet have never seen humans walk on another world. We’re suddenly in a race to go back to the Moon and we are not clearly in the lead. The next time humans walk on the Moon will be the first time this happens as far as most of humanity is concerned. History is just history. Instead of grainy, flickering black and white imagery on a hulking television we’ll all see people bouncing on the Moon in 4K streaming on our cellphones. How does NASA adapt to this paradigm shift? So far, it is not doing that well. More below.

Keith’s note: Space fans worry online about lack of awareness about Artemis II. Only now do they see the need to engage with the public. Duh. Try talking to folks outside your bubble – every day. Jared Isaacman says 2027 will have monthly NASA moon missions. OK. Start talking that up. Now.

Keith’s note: An interesting ‘Notice of new information collection‘ from NASA appeared in the Federal Register this morning about the “NASA Front Door”. It is not totally clear as to when or how this will be implemented – i.e. atop NASA.gov, a new part thereof, or something else. A “NASA Strategic Plan” is mentioned – but which one are they talking about? NASA has not actually had a current ‘strategic plan’ for a while and they are usually not a ‘plan’ or ‘strategic’ when a document with that name is posted online. Also unclear is whether PAO/OCOMM will do this or some other TBD organization. It certainly sounds interesting – but NASA has a really spotty track record when it comes to understanding the audiences it should be serving outside of its front door and how to serve them. Just sayin’. Update: NASA Goddard and Johnson have links that to pages that include ‘front door’. That’s fine, but where does the agency as a whole tell all of its audiences what it can do for them – without a geographical bias focusing on one center but not others? Goddard is being cut in half, yet makes no mention of that downsizing i.e. capability to do things. Federal Registry Summary below.

Keith’s note: In case you have not already noticed NASA and space exploration have a deep branding and meme penetration. These two ads just ran (again) back to back midday on CNN. NASA will get exposure for ~12 days for Artemis II – then nothing – since NASA doesn’t know how to do follow-up. “Project Hail Mary” sugar high tie-ins are great – but what do you do when everyone has seen it?

• Credit One Ad https://www.instagram.com/reels/DV9fXmmDdy0/
• Old Spice Ad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xywz26wIRLs

Keith’s note: NASA currently has two droids at work on Mars: Perseverance and its Older sibling Curiosity. Their common task is to perform astrobiology and astrogeology exploration activities on Mars. Both rovers are the size of a small car and, while they are ultimately controlled by humans back on Earth, they have become increasingly smarter – and independent – over the years thanks to new programming and some AI. As we continue to explore Mars and other worlds and return to the Moon, a new generation of scientists and engineers will be needed at NASA and the world’s other space agencies. If you are a fan of space – then you may have seen ads for a Mars Rover kit on social media – the NASA Mars Perseverance Rover by CircuitMess. But this is not just a pretty toy to look at. It works and acts like a real Mars rover. This is a participatory kit. You build it and code it. More

Keith’s note: As humanity expands outward we need to make sure it is all of humanity. Moreover, we may find that living in space may be a more enabling – and empowering – experience for some people than living on Earth. Eric Ingram has some thoughts: “I just published something I’ve been carrying quietly for a long time. It’s the full story of my experience with lunar gravity across two research flights, including the first time reduced gravity allowed me to stand unassisted, and what that moment taught me about access, human limits, and the future. This is the first time I’ve told the story in full, and the first time I’m sharing the lunar gravity photos and videos from the second flight. If you’re curious, I’d love for you to read it.” Full story.

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: 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: 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 posted this interesting news on Friday: “Perseverance Rover Completes First AI-Planned Drive on Mars“. This is a standard press release thing without much thought as to how it could be enhanced and re-purposed synergistically. Don’t mention the astrobiology or astrogeology science either. Just write it and push it out – on a Friday afternoon. In fact it could be used to leverage things NASA wants to be known for outside of the JPL robotics bubble. Done properly, White House OSTP; the tech, science, and commerce sectors; and other trending initiatives could be leveraged so as to boost visibility of NASA’s participation. But NASA is still kinda shy about all of that self promotion. NASA could do a vastly better job promoting all of its cool tech. Indeed, as budgets shrink NASA needs to do a much better job explaining itself. The Moon mission glow will (sadly) fade all too soon. (More below)

Keith’s note: (reposted from LinkedIn) Message from Sami Aziz, Head of Live at NASA. Sami and his team snagged some Emmy awards and yet NASA can’t figure out how to retain this proven talent – especially as the agency is about to send a human recon mission back to the Moon. Fair winds Sami. This is baffling. (Full note below.)

Keith’s note: NASA has been closing its libraries for a long time. Budgetary and building issues are usually the prime reason. Usually, stuff gets moved around and put in storage for years until the storage costs mount and then a portion ends up in someone’s library – somewhere – and the rest gets shipped to some generic GSA warehouse – or thrown away. Now it is GSFC’s turn to go through this painful process – not only with their collection but also the NASA HQ library that was moved there when the HQ library was converted to a visitor center. They have assured NASA HQ that nothing valuable will be lost. NASA’s record in this regard is somewhat rocky. More below.

Keith’s note: this is an except from the GESTA IFPTE Local 29 blog Building Closure Updates 27 Dec 2025 – it is important to note that this library also includes the contents of the NASA HQ library which was closed and removed to make a visitor’s center. More below

Keith’s note: Playing with memes – prompted by other memes. Much of the what is being pumped out on social media by the Administration and its agencies seems to be more about bullying and less about inspiration.

Keith’s note: I did an A.I. search. There are approx 114,500 grammar, junior, high schools (public & private) in America. Space them out from here to the Moon (239,000 miles) and you get one every 2 miles. 3 million classrooms is 12 per mile. That infrastructure houses 55 million students – the Artemis Generation. As a child of the Apollo Generation I think a successful metric for NASA outreach for Artemis II and beyond would be a NASA poster, study plan, model, webcast in every classroom in America. Prove me wrong. NASA has had a decade or more to plan this. (Thanks Grok!)

Keith’s note: According to @NASAEarthWatch ‪@nasaearthwatch.bsky.social‬ “Goddard Space Center library is due to disappear. It is not about when, but how and where the books will go. Another casualty in this relentless attack to #science and culture. It has a Facebook page. Let’s see how long it lasts.”