NASA Watch

Question for @NASAWatch readers. I’m invited on national & global TV to talk about space. Weekly. Millions listen - often audiences @NASA ignores. As an individual I see this as a civic duty. Yet #NASA is uninterested. Am I wasting my time? FYI @NASASpox @NASAadmin

In their latest op-ed, Beverly examines the effects of Administrator Isaacman's sweeping changes at NASA. Read more: spacescout.info/2026/05/op-ed-…

National Academies Presidents’ Statement on Value of National Science Board nationalacademies.org/news/national-… @theNASEM @theNASciences @NSF_NSB @NASA @NSF @NIH @NOAA For decades, the National Science Board has overseen the National Science Foundation and provided support for the American research enterprise that is central to the nation’s economic and geopolitical leadership. Sustained research investment guided by independent, expert oversight is critical for ensuring the long-term health, economic prosperity, and security of the U.S., particularly in the era of AI. Long-standing structures that ensure continuity across administrations — like the National Science Board — have been a cornerstone of this success. As an independent, nonprofit institution established to provide objective advice to the nation, the National Academies remain committed to supporting informed decision-making on issues critical to the country’s future, including the stewardship of the U.S. research enterprise. Our collective membership comprises experienced leaders and experts across all disciplines of science, engineering, and medicine, committed to the advisory mission of the National Academies to help ensure the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. Marcia McNutt President, National Academy of Sciences Tsu-Jae Liu President, National Academy of Engineering Victor J. Dzau President, National Academy of Medicine

Cool droids. Let's throw some at the Moon and see what they can do.

Artemis III Alternate Comm System (RFI) sam.gov/workspace/cont… 2.2 Service and Integration Expectations The Artemis III mission profile moving to LEO is introducing new challenges to the Orion vehicle, one being a reduced data rate for the primary communication system.  In addition, M2M seeks to receive live 4K imagery during rendezvous and docking operations, and downlink of large files in other phases of flight. To meet these demands, a secondary communications system is being evaluated for inclusion in the Artemis III Orion configuration.  It is anticipated that, to meet these requirements, the system must provide near continuous communication with a return link of at least 12 Mbps. Given the short timeline, availability of hardware and ease of integration into the Orion vehicle is a significant consideration. #NASA #ArtemisIII

I am continually baffled as to why @USOPM @USTechForce @skupor uses a creepy juvenile Darth Vader-like hacker figure to attract people to help their government. Seems counter intuitive. Hopefully @NASA #NASAForce will be different @NASAAdmin #MayTheFourthBeWithYou - thanks @Grok

Still waiting for @NASA PAO to send out press releases about Ireland and Malta signing the Artemis Accords.

Malta just beat Ireland to the table today to become the 65th signatory to the Artemis Accords. Ireland became 66th at NASA HQ 3:00 pm ET. state.gov/releases/offic…

Doesn’t the whole idea of making things “classified” involve making them less visible? Instead @AerospaceCorp and @AIAA are telling everyone where/when/who on globally accessible social media.

Efforts to shrink @NASAGoddard continue. Instead of embracing @NASAScience_ they can’t be bothered to refer to the @NASA #astrobiology program - when talking about astrobiology. Inept outreach.

Future lunar landings are taking shape right here at Johnson Space Center. 🌕 Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander recently completed environmental testing at @NASA's Johnson Space Center, preparing it to withstand the harsh, airless conditions modeling the vacuum of space and the extreme temperature conditions the spacecraft would experience during flight. Each test brings us closer to delivering science and technology to the Moon through @NASAArtemis. go.nasa.gov/4tSk8WE

Astronauts give a quick daily update from multiple places across the solar system. We can do this. #MayTheFourthBeWithYou Source: reddit.com/r/aivideo/comm… @NASA @ESA @CSA_ASC @JAXA

[L] DESI 3D map of the Universe shows galaxies tracing the cosmic web shaped by gravity and dark matter -- @NOIRLabAstro #Astronomy #astrobiology [R] Glutamate lighting up as it’s released in synapses -- Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics #Genomics #neuroscience

FYI @IEEEorg Voyager 1 and 2 are not “in orbit” but rather they are leaving our star system and are now entering #interstellar space - and we can still talk to them - which is even more amazing.

Moon Record Analysis Challenges Impact Origin Of Earth's Water astrobiology.com/2026/05/moon-r… #astrobiology #astrochemistry #astrogeology #oceanography

Science communicator Hank Green launched a specialized website that organizes every publicly released photo from the #ArtemisII mission into an interactive, live timeline. Located at artemistimeline(dot)com, the site syncs each image with the crew's official mission schedule and the real-time position of the Orion spacecraft during its 10 day journey around the Moon. By utilizing EXIF metadata from NASA's Flickr archives and trajectory data from public APIs, the platform allows users to see exactly where the crew was when a specific photograph was captured. Green utilized AI tools to assist with the massive data correlation required to align thousands of images with the spacecraft's orbital path. Source: artemistimeline.com

Janet Petro Is Retiring nasawatch.com/personnel-news… @NASA @NASAKennedy

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are seeking experts to serve on the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics. The committee supports scientific progress in astronomy and astrophysics by advising the federal government on the implementation of decadal survey recommendations. survey.alchemer.com/s3/7804930/Com… @theNASEM @NASAScience_ @NSF #astronomy #astrophyiscs #astrobiology