Podcast: You Can Provide Comments on Proposed Grant Rules Impacting NASA

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Image (Credit): Information from OMB’s “Learn About the Regulatory Process” page. (OMB)

As noted in a prior posting, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is politicizing the grant process for science, including space-related grants.

A recent episode of the Planetary Society’s Planetary Radio podcast covered this proposed change and suggested ways that all of us can push back on these changes.

For specific guidance on what you can do, this page from the Planetary Society provides useful instructions. As the site states:

The OMB proposal would allow political appointees to usurp agency autonomy and cancel any grant at any time if that person decides the work is no longer convenient. The proposed rules would make scientific peer review only advisory while political appointees decide what (and who) gets funded.

The site provides clear instructions to help you write at least two paragraphs that can then be used to challenge this proposed policy. In this case, form letters are not helpful because they would be grouped together as one comment.

The American Astronomical Society has its own page explaining how you can respond to this particular OMB proposal.

And remember, if you want to submit comments but remain anonymous rather that providing all of your personal details to OMB or even the Planetary Society, you are allowed to do that as well per these OMB instructions. So don’t let that be a factor that holds you back.

Comments must be submitted by July 13th, so that still gives everyone a month to think this through and put forward a solid set of concerns.

Movie: Disclosure Day is Here

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Emily Blunt in Disclosure Day. (Universal Pictures)

Here are some comments on Disclosure Day, which is premiering in theaters today. Rotten Tomato gives it an 81 percent on the Tomatometer. You can also see the final trailer on the website, which includes commentary from Stephen Spielberg.

James Berardinelli from Reelviews:

Ultimately, Disclosure Day won’t go down among Spielberg’s greatest or best-remembered films, although ufologists may disagree. There are just too many basic flaws. However, I appreciate its scope and ambition, and it does enough to represent solid, blockbuster-level entertainment. 

Kyle Smith from The Wall Street Journal:

As attempted profundity, this doesn’t quite land, and neither does much else. Mr. Spielberg combined fairy tale with sci-fi beautifully in his 2001 masterpiece, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. Disclosure Day is underwhelming when it tries to do the same.

Allen Almachar from The MacGuffin:

Above all else, it is a movie about understanding – about making connections to help overcome troubling times. Yes, this is a movie about aliens, but more importantly, it is a movie about us.

Overall, the reviews are not stellar, but we all need a thrilling summer movie and this may be as good as it gets.

You decide.

Pic of the Week: Dwarf Irregular Galaxy ESO 490-017

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Image of the dwarf irregular glaxy ESO 490-017 (top center) captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA, ESA, R. Tully (University of Hawaii); Image Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America))

This week’s image is from the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 490-017 as a mist of stars in the upper center of the image (hence the term “irregular”). The galaxy is about 23 million light-years away and only 12,000 light years across, compared to the 100,000 light-year diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy. If you look carefully, you can spot a variety of regular galaxies in the background that blend in with the stars in the foreground.

Space Quote: Some Question Lack of Female Astronaut on Artemis III Crew

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“The office gets what it needs when it needs it, and we’ll certainly have all these other people that you mentioned, you know, female military test pilots or just other female astronauts, that’ll be picking up on the follow-on Artemis missions.”

-Statement by Artemis III mission commander Randy Bresnik, as quoted by CBS News. He was noting NASA’s diversity of personnel that is ready for the various missions after some criticized NASA for not having a female astronaut among the Artemis III crew. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also noted his work with women throughout his career, adding in the same news story that:

The last astronaut candidate class selected under this administration was majority female [six women and four men] because they were the best of the best, including one astronaut [Anna Menon] I previously went to space with.

Note: It is worth mentioning that in March 2025 NASA eliminated from its webpage its earlier pledge to land the “the first woman, first person of color” on the lunar service as part of Artemis III mission. The removal was said to be related to an anti-DEI Executive Order. Of course, we are now dealing with a different Artemis III, with the Artemis IV mission now scheduled to be the first to land a crew on the Moon.

Artemis III Has a Crew

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Artemis III crew members (from left: Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano, Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio). (NASA/Bill Stafford)

Earlier today NASA announced its new four-member crew for the next set of Artemis tests. The two week long Artemis III mission will test spacecraft in low Earth orbit in preparation for Artemis IV, which will entail an actual crewed mission to the surface of the Moon.

The new crew are three NASA astronauts and one European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut from Italy. NASA has a full profile of each crew member, but here are the basics:

NASA may have a crew, but does it have any partners that are really ready for a lunar landing?

To date, the only fully operational spacecraft is the Orion capsule, which will be sent aloft via the Space Launch System. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin plan to send up demonstration lunar landers that will not contain all of the necessary components for humans preparing for a Moon landing. This sounds a little dangerous given that the real reason for Artemis III is a dry-run in space. It sounds more like a dry-run for a dry-run, but NASA may not have time to complete a true test.

In additon to lunar lander delays, SpaceX is busy trying to make a fortune with its IPO, while Blue Origin is still licking its wounds after the recent explosion at Cape Canaveral.

These four astronauts may be the best news out of NASA for some time to come, so it may be best to raise a toast to the four of them and then simply hope for the best.