NASA - Updates Only

As noted on NSF. It looks like a deliberate attempt to starve the science facilities at NASA. California and Maryland would be badly hit and Texas, Florida and Alabama less so. There is an obvious conclusion here about goals.
 
Blackstar again on NSF:

Were any of these projects specifically called out in the appropriations bill? My suspicion is that what is happening here is the administration is trying to halt spending on anything that Congress did not specifically tell them to fund. That could end the funding on them for a year or more until (if) Congress passes a new bill that specifically funds them. Even if peoples' salaries are still paid, they won't make any progress, and some will simply leave for other work. It's a slow term way to smother these projects until they die.

And as you might have seen in my posts in the budget thread, the administration was doing the same thing with NSF programs last year. Even though they had been funded, the administration was not allowing the money to be expended. It's a violation of several laws, but as we all know by now, unless Congress forces the executive branch to do it, they can get away with it.


I'm going to speculate a little bit here, but I think it's safe:

We talk about when the next New Frontiers or next Discovery mission opportunity may come up. But there's also the issue of the environment into which these things happen. In the past, it was pretty clear that if NASA selected a science mission like New Frontiers or Discovery, then they funded and flew that mission. (Let's not get sidetracked into the issue of whether it was a good idea to keep funding missions that ended up costing way more than they were supposed to.) The simple fact was that NASA did not cancel these missions for no reason. NASA was considered reliable. But now they are not. Now several mission proposals that did everything right, that were selected on their merits, have been canceled, or are targeted for cancellation.

What this means is that the process is no longer reliable and people will be wary of participating. People who successfully propose Discovery and New Frontiers missions are usually in their 40s and 50s and have usually lost at least one previous time. They have the scars. And it takes a LOT of effort to propose. But now NASA is saying "Even if you do all the work and win, we may still cancel you anyway." People tend to notice that kind of stuff, and they are more likely to stay away. And the people who proposed the Venus missions are not getting any younger. Neither are the people who proposed the missions that were not-selected. So I think that we're looking at a gap in planetary missions of a decade or more, and damage to the community that proposes and runs such missions that will last longer than that.
 
I really hope he’s right, but only time will tell on something like this.

Irene Klotz asked Isaacman about OMB suspending science funding at today's Crew-12 Postlaunch News Conference.

[30:40] Jared: "There are no missions that are being cancelled or terminated. This was entirely an information gathering exercise that has been completely routine."
 
NASA Presser

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Astronaut Update

Full Text:

NASA is sharing the following information at the request of NASA astronaut Mike Fincke:

“On Jan. 7, while aboard the International Space Station, I experienced a medical event that required immediate attention from my incredible crewmates. Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilized.

After further evaluation, NASA determined the safest course was an early return for Crew-11—not an emergency, but a carefully coordinated plan to be able to take advantage of advanced medical imaging not available on the space station. On Jan. 15, we splashed down off the coast of San Diego after an amazing five-and-a-half-month mission.

I am deeply grateful to my fellow Expedition 74 members—Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui, Oleg Platonov, Chris Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikayev—as well as the entire NASA team, SpaceX, and the medical professionals at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla near San Diego. Their professionalism and dedication ensured a positive outcome.

I’m doing very well and continuing standard post-flight reconditioning at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are. Thank you all for your support.”


NASA Communications



Eric Berger
@SciGuySpace
·
1h
Mike Fincke says he was the crew member who had a medical emergency during Crew-11, and expresses appreciation for his fellow astronauts. "Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilized."

View: https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/2026711259123429452
 
A U.S. Senate committee next week will consider extending the planned life of the International Space Station by two years to give companies more time to develop a replacement, one of a few changes to a NASA bill focused on rivaling China's growing footprint in space.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation plans to take up legislation on March 4 that would amend a NASA authorization bill with the ISS extension, and add a requirement that NASA build a base on the moon's surface as part of its Artemis program.
https://www.reuters.com/business/ae...space-station-life-nasa-moon-base-2026-02-26/
 
Congress seems willing to extend ISS' life. Let's not tell them no.

New tech
https://phys.org/news/2026-02-small-mighty-microplate-reader-nasa.html
A small but mighty piece of lab equipment, about the size of a cellphone, has arrived at the International Space Station after launching with NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission. NASA aims to use the off-the-shelf device, called a microplate reader, to conduct vital biological research in space and get real-time access to data. Demonstrations like this are part of NASA's Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science (CERISS) initiative, which partners with industry to develop transformative research capabilities and increase the pace and productivity of space science. NASA's Biological and Physical Sciences Division is leading the demonstration in collaboration with the agency's International Space Station Program.
 
Philip Sloss has uploaded a new video concerning NASA's new Artemis plan:


NASA announced the decision to change their Artemis plans for the rest of the decade, but they didn't elaborate as much as outline new missions and a new SLS upper stage. The new plans have a long history, but we didn't hear about any revisions to the missions from reporting about them going back to 2024 and the previous administration. Now we wait for new information about the implications and consequences for all the Artemis programs, and confirmation about who else the White House has onboard for the new plan.​
Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.
Links to stories referenced:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVRsdFA0Sm0tTGp5UzRraEZjX1VoQ3ZZOEh6UXxBQ3Jtc0tuekk2aTU0cmxkY2lEVkh0ekRjaXRjVHJFdHctWGNja0tYaEtKSHZwYzA0LUpsNDlJbmNkN1ZILWdIWGJfa205ZE90emNXOW51ZVJNd3dWeFBNM2x1c0xiLUZCRG5EanR6bFZtYUtyWWpabkh6amdkRQ&q=https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/nasa-may-alter-artemis-iii-to-have-starship-and-orion-dock-in-low-earth-orbit/&v=hPbDrqlTSpM
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbW45Q0Vac1NjeXRzUDZoUTN3YUxNcnpZQ2g4QXxBQ3Jtc0tuVGFDLWVSajVRVU14bkFBbEc1aEI5WTNxR2RvMHkyOWZnR3BlT0xvYXdWV2FkTmp5dkVMd05zTlFKY0t6a3E3ZElFS24zSm0yR2VhMHRmSmVJV3h3MXA5blAyeHdjblVFNjVKX3lNTm1ldjYtUGlOaw&q=https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10/heres-how-to-revive-nasas-artemis-moon-program-with-three-simple-tricks/&v=hPbDrqlTSpM
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/09...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUVxeWtpVTNQLVAtZXFvcl9YdkR0dFlIaFotd3xBQ3Jtc0tram14X2NPcGpEV3ZoRTNNOTNZcU1OWlJRQlQzMkIxU2JSZmZ4S1dCLWZrWHp0ZnVCRFVrM29DQklOVlRfN1JmT0V3Q0JHRUR1dHdDRXNNYmc5OVNJZXpheGZqZnEtUjRGc3A0ZW0zMC14eGNITFo5WQ&q=https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/09/congress-and-trump-may-compromise-on-the-sls-rocket-by-axing-its-costly-upper-stage/&v=hPbDrqlTSpM

https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbFNRSHM2UXczb01HSTJhZFQxMUdxQi1VRTVLQXxBQ3Jtc0ttNkZQdUx3a3BpdEtxMk5qNVd3Qmk4bUExSXBvRC0yYmMtSzVMUlphVElLZVM0amNNbzNmbFlMaEdvWTJQZUlVbHlKMnd1Skc5NXF6TmdmSlBLcFJfa3l2SzkxTDAzcFdrSkhwcng1T3NrTzBIUWkwaw&q=https://buymeacoffee.com/philipsloss&v=hPbDrqlTSpM
00:00 Intro
01:45 Artemis II Watch
05:59 NASA outlines changes to their Artemis plans for the rest of decade, but details are sparse
07:36 Congress gave NASA permission to study EUS alternatives in the current budget
08:50 The decision to change is new, but the revised plans have a long history
11:16 The new SLS upper stage who shall remain nameless
14:01 Does the new plan mean Gateway and EUS are dead? Is this an FY 2027 preview?
15:09 No new information about the current status and schedules for Artemis III, IV, and V hardware production or design development
16:37 Thanks for watching!
 
Christian Keil
@pronounced_kyle
·
Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) just announced the creation of "NASA Force"

In partnership with OPM, to hire core competencies back into NASA, instead of relying on vendors for everything (incl. mission control)

View: https://twitter.com/pronounced_kyle/status/2028897935581184014


NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman

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.

View: https://twitter.com/NASAAdmin/status/2028938469494669347
 
Regarding the above this seems to be a contradiction in terms. If you want to strengthen in-house etc, hiring on a 2-year term limit is useless. 2 years is just enough to get up to speed, then that experience is dumped out again.
 
Regarding the above this seems to be a contradiction in terms. If you want to strengthen in-house etc, hiring on a 2-year term limit is useless. 2 years is just enough to get up to speed, then that experience is dumped out again.
There is an ability to transition the positions to full term
 
The US Senate empowers NASA to fully engage in lunar space race
“Our bill authorizes critical funding for, and gives strategic direction to, the agency.”

Eric Berger – Mar 4, 2026 10:50 AM | 26

Eric Berger
The US Senate's new 'reauthorization' bill offers a major endorsement for NASA's revamped Artemis plans. Seriously, this is a really great legislation overall. No idea how Isaacman got this done so quickly, but he delivered.
View: https://x.com/SciGuySpace/status/2029269045678109119
 
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Via NSF:

This article from Science discusses why research funds for grants are not being released by NSF and NIH. NASA isn't directly discussed, but it would seem likely that it's research program is being similarly managed.

Strong suggestions that OMB may be delaying or blocking release of appropriated funds; no smoking gun.

Article should be available to all (Science limits non-subscribers to 3 free news articles a month)

https://www.science.org/content/article/analysis-why-research-money-isn-t-flowing-nsf-and-nih
Basically these funds have been allocated to these bodies but OMB are deliberately delaying or outright blocking the release of monies. It appears to be a backdoor way of rather than giving them the monies they were granted instead giving them the lesser monies allocated by the administration, and even then only giving monies that ideologically align with the administration. The intention is to use the various levers they have to keep doing stuff like this until the drive people out of the science fields and various science related projects die for want of money and people. And yes it is deliberately flouting the will of congress and the senate but when has that ever stopped this administration.

Just as an aside China continues to pour ever more money into numerous science fields in spite of their economic issues because they believe, and they are probably right it will get their economy going again.

I imagine they think as long as they keep spending on defence science and AI they’ll be fine. Seeming to forgot you cannot divide things up like this especially as science and engineering graduate numbers are falling in the US but rising in China.
 
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Technica: NASA issues draft request for moving space shuttle Discovery—or Orion capsule [Mar 20]

NASA has taken a step forward to moving an undetermined spacecraft of a various size on an indefinite date to a yet-to-be-decided location.

Or to put it another way: NASA is seeking to learn more about what it would take to remove the space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian in Virginia and relocate it to Houston, as compared to transporting a smaller space capsule from anywhere in the country.

[...]

The pre-solicitation request is an effort to meet the letter of the law — specifically the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — that requires NASA relocate a vehicle that flew with humans through space to a non-profit display facility within the vicinity of an agency center with ties to the commercial crew program. Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz had intended their legislation to result in Discovery being exhibited at Space Center Houston, but Senate rules required the wording to be more vague.

[...]

“The government anticipates that if an RFP is issued, the resulting contract would enable NASA to establish a long-term enterprise capability that would be transportation operations ranging from small spacecraft capsules to extremely large aerospace vehicles,” the draft reads.

Even if Cornyn and Cruz do not get their way and Discovery stays where it is in northern Virginia, the responses to this request may streamline the transport of future flown Orion capsules and other hardware to museums for years to come.
 
The current US administration cares diddly squat about space exploration, so don't hold your breath...
 
The current US administration cares diddly squat about space exploration, so don't hold your breath...
Considering what space ‘exploration’ has consisted of the past sixty years, they should. Exploration for its own sake is worth very little.

Re: the people upset about science spending: clean up the reproducibility and credibility problems in science, and get politics out of them, and then you will see less opposition. If you don’t mind heavily politicized science and it being credible only to a tiny portion of the electorate, well, I cannot help you.
 

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