This Should Not Be Necessary: The Acting NASA Administrator Responds

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan on the surface of the Moon. He was the last US astronaut to walk on the Moon. (NASA)

Acting NASA Administrator had to time time out of his day (or at least a staff member had to) to respond to a dumb comment by, let us say, a less-than-scientifically minded Kim Kardashian. She had earlier shared her doubts about whether the United States ever placed astronauts on the Moon. Of course, it is not an original sentiment, but it does gain traction in this social media age where dumb comments are golden.

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy tweeted out:

Yes, @KimKardashian, we’ve been to the Moon before… 6 times!

And even better: @NASAArtemis is going back under the leadership of @POTUS.

We won the last space race and we will win this one too

I left out the little cartoons of a rocket and an American flag from the tweet, but you get the point.

We can all certainly agree with Mr. Duffy’s first point about the Moon landings, but the matter of the new space race is still up in the air. In that regard, he and NASA still have much more to do.

Maybe Ms. Kardashian can use her influence in a more helpful way by pushing for more NASA funding. If she really believes we missed the mark last time, maybe she can help ensure this new space race is a success. Hell, we can even put her name on the side of one of the rocket boosters.

Space Stories: Earth’s Second Moon, Organic Molecules on Enceladus, and Mysterious Gullies on Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Earth as observed by the Apollo 11 spacecraft. (NASA/JSC)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—The Economic Times: “NASA Confirms Earth Has a Second Moon, And It Will Stay With Us Until 2083“

Earth has received a new cosmic partner, a small asteroid designated as 2025 PN7. NASA confirmed this week that the object, initially found by the University of Hawaii, qualifies as a “quasi-moon” , an uncommon type of celestial body that moves almost similarly in sync with Earth. While not a real moon, it has a similar orbit surrounding the Sun, seeming to shadow our planet as it travels through space. Researchers estimate the asteroid measures 18 to 36 meters wide, approximately the height of a small building, making it small by cosmic standards but noteworthy for Earth’s extended neighborhood.

—Sky&Telescope: “New Study Identifies Organic Molecules Spewing from Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus“

Twenty years after the Cassini spacecraft discovered an ocean under the icy surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, a new study of previously collected data hints at a much better chance for habitability. The change comes from recording how a plume of ice grains hit Cassini just minutes after it erupted from the moon. The close encounter exposed organic compounds not previously seen on Enceladus.

—Utrecht University: “Mysterious Gullies on Mars Appear to Have Been Dug, But by Whom or What?“

Did life really exist on Mars after all? Unfortunately, there is no conclusive evidence for this yet. Nevertheless, it would seem that some form of life was the driving force behind the mysterious Martian dune gullies. Earth scientist Dr Lonneke Roelofs from Utrecht University has investigated how these gullies were formed. In a test setup, she observed that blocks of CO2 ice ‘dug’ these gullies in a unique way. “It felt like I was watching the sandworms in the film Dune.”

Space Quote: SpaceX May Lose the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay.

“If SpaceX is behind, but Blue Origin can do it before them, good on Blue Origin…But … we’re not going to wait for one company. We’re going to push this forward and win the second space race against the Chinese.”

–Statement by acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy regarding ongoing delays with SpaceX’s Starship, which was given a $2.9 billion contract in 2021 for a lunar landing vehicle as part of Artemis III. As a result, NASA may reopen to lunar lander contract. Blue Origin is working on its own lunar lander called Blue Moon. As noted in yesterday’s post, Mr. Musk has been distracted this year, so it may make sense to have a solid back up.

Update: Mr. Musk was not pleased with the news. In reference to acting NASA Administrator Duffy, Mr. Musk commented, “The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2 digit IQ.” The man certainly knows how to make friends.

We Need Mr. Musk to Concentrate on Starship

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by mariocus from Pixabay.

Now that Mr. Musk is done with his misadventures in Washington, DC, everyone was hoping he would start to focus more on SpaceX and the Starship tests that are critical to NASA’s Artemis mission. That may be too reasonable.

First, we see that Mr. Musk is getting involved in British politics again. That has never been a good thing for the Brits or his ignored companies. I agree with the UK’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband when he states,

We have a message for Elon Musk. Get the hell out of our politics and our country.

And now we read that the Russians are interested in a rail tunnel between Alaska and Russia, with Musk’s Boring Company taking the lead. President Trump said he is considering it.

It sounds like a ruse to me. President Putin is ten times smarter than Mr. Musk when it comes to foreign affairs, so it is likely this is something he can dangle in front of Musk to distract him and maybe even bring him over to his side on the Ukranian issue where Starlink is still a critical resource. President Putin’s Chinese friends will also be very happy for the distraction if it delays U.S. ambitions related to the Moon.

None of this makes a lot of sense. Russia’s main export is energy, which is more economical by ship (and Alaska is not looking for any competition with its oil industry). Plus, the Russian side of the tunnel is underdeveloped and not ready for the inflows the tunnel would bring. Besides, I thought we were trying to restrict Russian trade.

It all sounds like a pipe dream (or tunnel dream) with no real purpose other than to play the trade card for Trump while making Musk feel like an important piece of the puzzle.

Both President Trump and Mr. Musk have trouble focusing unless they see themselves personally benefiting, and the Russians know this.

NASA needs to drum up a Moon tunnel real quick for Mr. Musk’s company if it wants to regain his attention.

Space Stories: Layoffs at NASA’s JPL, Rocky Giants in our Solar System, and New Findings from Apollo 17

Posted on by onespaceman2000

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—NBC News: “NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lays Off 550 Workers“

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced Monday that it will cut around 550 jobs — around 10% of its staff. In a statement posted online, the lab’s director, Dave Gallagher, said the layoffs are part of a broad “realignment of its workforce” and not a result of the government shutdown. The cuts will affect positions across the NASA center’s technical, business and support areas, he said.

—Space.com: “Uranus and Neptune May Not Be ‘Ice Giants’ After All, New Research Suggests“

Astronomers have long called Uranus and Neptune the “ice giants” because models suggested that these outer planets’ interiors are largely made of mixtures of water, ammonia and other ices — compounds that freeze easily in deep space. But new research reveals that we actually know very little about what’s going on inside these planets, causing researchers to propose that Uranus and Neptune be called “rocky giants” instead.

—Brown University: “With New Analysis, Apollo Samples Brought to Earth in 1972 Reveal Exotic Sulfur Hidden in Moon’s Mantle“

In a study published in JGR: Planets, researchers report a sulfuric surprise in rock samples taken from the Moon’s Taurus Littrow region during Apollo 17. The analysis shows that volcanic material in the sample contains sulfur compounds that are highly depleted of sulfur-33 (or 33S), one of four radioactively stable sulfur isotopes. The depleted 33S samples contrast sharply with sulfur isotope ratios found on Earth, the researchers say.