Keith’s note: I was just on CNN talking about the return of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to planet Earth after their excellent adventure in space. [Audio]

Keith’s note: Butch and Suni are back on planet Earth. I just did 20 minutes of color commentary with my friends at Bloomberg TV. Lots of questions regarding political claims made about the whole “stuck in space” thing and who offered what to whom and when. I tried to get into what goes into planning these complicated missions to distant, potentially hazardous places. Having been on multiple expeditions myself to remote places in the arctic and the Himalayas I tried to offer some personal experience regarding the actual logistical mindset that goes into planning things such as missions to the space station. Everyone at NASA and SpaceX did what they needed to do to make the best of this unexpected situation. Ad Astra y’all. [Audio]

Keith’s note: Yesterday I did launch coverage of Crew 10 on Bloomberg TV with Chad Anderson from Space Capital. Tonight I spoke with Deutsche Welle about the impending arrival of Crew 10 at the International Space Station and the return of Crew 9 to Earth. [Audio] – Video of the DW interview below.

Keith’s note: I was on Deutsche Welle tonight just after 6:00 pm EST to talk about Parker Solar Probe’s close encounter with our sun [Audio] See video below. I pre-taped a segment for CNN’s Christmas show which aired on Wednesday [Audio]. Update: I was on DW again on Friday to talk about Parker Solar Probe phoning home [Audio] See video below.

Keith’s note: a friend and former co-worker, Doug Koupash, has died unexpectedly. I worked with Doug at the Space Station Freedom Program Office in Reston, VA. We both worked in Utilization and Ops. I worked with the prospective science users, Doug did logistics – one of our “loggies”. We interacted almost daily and sat through endless (re)design reviews. He was one of the kindest folks I think I ever worked with at NASA. For some reason every time I was at some space event at the Reagan building in DC I’d bump into him in the food court – he went to work there for DHS after NASA. He was always upbeat. For those of you who know what we went through at SSFPO in Reston, we became a very tight bunch. Our Friday BBQ parties at Parkridge III and IV were legendary. The Space Station that is in orbit now carries a piece of every soul who helped design and build it – regardless of what name it was called then – or now. And we can see that legacy fly over our homes at night – true to our PR stuff at the time, it’s often the brightest object in the sky. Ad Astra Doug.

Keith’s note: In case you did not already notice, the 9th floor at NASA HQ issued these two reports on human spaceflight strategy in less than a week – and yet neither one mentions the other – even thought they overlap and cross-enable. Right? Nor does NASA make any effort to link them together. Why bother. Gotta take all that use-or-lose vacation time.

• Moon to Mars Architecture
• Strategy for Sustaining Human Presence in Low Earth Orbit

Keith’s note: According to yet another year-end report issued a few days before the Biden folks on the 9th floor at NASA HQ packs up their offices: “NASA Finalizes Strategy for Sustaining Human Presence in Low Earth Orbit“ which says: “The final framework includes 13 goals and 44 objectives across seven key areas: commercial low Earth orbit infrastructure, operations, science, research and technology development for exploration, international cooperation, workforce development and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement, and public engagement.” etc. etc. This “strategy” (it is not a strategy BTW) simply does what every single report like this before has done: it changes dates to reflect cost overruns/program delays since the last report; re-words the same goals and objectives etc. that the last report contained; and simply reflects an endorsement of the status quo. No imagination, no new ideas, just the same old, same old. Yawn.

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau – Keith’s note: From orbit, the spell cast by our ocean world is truly vast and compelling. Suni Williams, a naval aviator, arrived at the ISS in a spaceship named “Calypso”.

Keith’s note: I just did an interview with Deutsche Welle about the ongoing air leak on the International Space Station [Audio]

Keith’s note: I appeared on CGTN tonight to talk about the launch of Shenzhou-19 and what the crews will be doing on China’s Tiangong space station. [Audio]

Keith’s note: According to a NASA OIG report NASA’s Management of Risks to Sustaining ISS Operations through 2030: “After more than a decade of effort, NASA and its partners continue to develop a transition and deorbit plan to prevent an operations gap in LEO and ensure a safe and controlled deorbit of the ISS. Russia has not committed to ISS operations through 2030, which includes the deorbit plan and timeline. Without commitment from Russia to the current deorbit plan, the ability to conduct a controlled deorbit is unclear. In June 2024, NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX to develop the U.S. deorbit vehicle to execute the controlled deorbit of the ISS in 2031. Nonetheless, the uncertainty of commercial LEO destination-readiness, limited budget availability, and the potential delay in availability of the U.S. deorbit vehicle adds more schedule challenges and risks to NASA’s 2031 deorbit plan.”

Keith’s note: Starliner made a mostly flawless return to Earth early today. I was on Deutsche Welle yesterday before the landing [audio] and then again after the landing [audio]. If you go to 03:25 on this YouTube video of the interview you’ll see that I had a walk-on guest commentary on the alien-sounding noises coming out of Starliner’s comm system (the picture on this post). I then did BBC World News this morning [audio] and CGTN this evening [audio]. YouTube videos of these interviews are posted below.

Keith’s note: NASA says that Starliner will return to Earth without any crew. Butch and Suni will stay on ISS until early 2025 when the Crew 9 on a SpaceX Dragon will bring them home. That’s three times that Boeing’s Starliner has flown and each mission has had problems – two of the missions have had mission-altering safety issues. And of course no one has been cited as being at fault. That will likely change when the inevitable congressional hearings occur. Did the post-Columbia safety culture at NASA work? Yes. Full stop. Did contractor oversight by NASA and contractor performance by Boeing work? You tell me. For the same program SpaceX did everything nearly flawlessly with Dragon years before and a $billion+ less than Boeing. Bill Nelson says that NASA will be flying astronauts on Starliner again. Well, it’s easy to punt and say that now since that decision will be made after the election and regardless of who wins Nelson will probably not be making that call. That said, at what point does NASA give up? One has to wonder whether Starliner will ever fly again with – or without – humans. Three strikes and … Update: I spoke about this with LBC Radio in the UK [audio], on Deutsche Welle TV at 4:00 pm EDT [audio] and again at 7:00 pm EDT [audio] and was on CGTN TV at 5:00 pm EDT [audio]. Videos below.

Keith’s note: Wednesday morning I was on CNN talking about the latest news – or rather lack thereof – regarding the ongoing Boeing Starliner saga. NASA held a media update today – except there was no actual “news”. All we heard from them was “yea, they’re still up there. We’ll get back to you” And yes, I did make a reference to the opening of “Gilligan’s Island” on CNN. [Audio]. I was also on CGTN [Audio], Deutsche Welle [Audio], and BBC World Service talking about Starliner during the day. Thursday update: And I just did a radio interview on Starliner with W Radio (with an excellent Spanish interpreter!) and they have a 33 million+ global reach.

NASA official acknowledges internal “disagreement” on safety of Starliner return, Ars Technica: “Boeing engineers are advocating for flying Starliner as is, that enough is known about the problem that failures will not occur during the vehicle’s return to Earth. However, during meetings of key engineers at NASA known as the “Program Control Board” this week, there was no agreement that this so-called flight rationale was enough to fly crew on the vehicle. “We heard from a lot of folks that had concerns,” Bowersox said. “We heard enough voices that the decision was not clear at the Program Control Board.” Given that NASA will soon decide whether to fly crew on Starliner, the Boeing team has about a week to convince the NASA team of Starliner’s safety before a potential switch to Crew Dragon.”

Keith’s note: It would seem that none of International Space Station Research & Development Conference (ISSRDC) will be webcast. No mention whatsoever is made on their website. No mention of any webcast is made at NASA.gov either. NASA recently issued a contract to destroy the International Space Station. Not even bothering to webcast this event – which supposedly exists to promote and explain all that the ISS has done – is too much for CASIS or NASA to bother setting up. No one at NASA seems to care since they all have Artemis Go Fever. As such, the 300+ million U.S. taxpayers who put billions into this amazing resource aren’t entitled to learn what NASA did with all their money or why ISS needs to be splashed. The scheduled death of the ISS is not even on the meeting’s agenda. And of course, as Artemis delays mount, NASA will come back for more money without ever truly explaining why they are throwing this astonishing resource away or why they need to build another space station out near the Moon to support missions are moving ever further into the future. And then NASA’s Administrator has the audacity to whine and complain that China may beat the U.S. back to the Moon. DUH, Bill. China has a plan and they stick to it. NASA does not. Update: CASIS sent me a note: “While we are not actively promoting the livestream component to the conference yet (similar to last year), it will be made open to the public during the event. We will promote the livestream component for those not able to physically attend in a media advisory prior to the conference. Additionally, there will be social pushes during the event driving the public to the livestream.”

Keith’s note: In case you missed it while the Starliner thruster issue has been in the headlines, yet another EVA was canceled due to a spacesuit issue. First there was a problem with a suit’s comfort/flexibility. Then there was a water leak the other day. Scratch two EVA attempts. These suits are 50-ish years old – older than some of the astronauts who wear them. Now NASA is going to the Moon for long duration stays and new space suits are needed. Axiom and Collins had xEVAS contracts. Now Collins has decided to discontinue their work leaving only one company to produce the new spacesuits. Redundancy in terms of suppliers has been a smart thing that NASA has been doing. Now they will have only one spacesuit option and if it is delayed then that becomes a big pacing item for the whole Artemis thing – as if there are not already enough of those.

Keith’s note: According to NASA Selects International Space Station US Deorbit Vehicle “NASA is fostering continued scientific, educational, and technological developments in low Earth orbit to benefit humanity, while also supporting deep space exploration at the Moon and Mars. As the agency transitions to commercially owned space destinations closer to home, it is crucial to prepare for the safe and responsible deorbit of the International Space Station in a controlled manner after the end of its operational life in 2030.” Simply throwing the ISS away when it has been shown to be upgradable and repairable is short sighted to say the least. Then again NASA simply does not have the money to operate ISS, build and operate Gateway, and fund whatever emerges from the whole Axiom/Starlab/Orbital Reef mix – and do the Artemis things on the Moon – not to mention the notional Mars exploration things that NASA also crows about. NASA’s 50-year-old space suits leak and one of the replacement efforts is quitting. Oh – and Mars Sample Return and other large space science projects want their share too. That said, throwing things away is defeatist, unimaginative, and not the way we’re going to expand throughout the solar system – all while reusability is the new paradigm in the space world. Indeed, SpaceX is making and improving Starships at a rate that is more like a consumer electronics company. One Starship flight could add a decade of life to the ISS. FWIW Here is the International Space Station Deorbit Analysis Summary which has this rather odd justification for not allowing a Starship near the ISS: “However, ascending to these orbits would require the development of new propulsive and tanker vehicles that do not currently exist. While still currently in development, vehicles such as the SpaceX Starship are being designed to deliver significant amounts of cargo to these orbits; however, there are prohibitive engineering challenges with docking such a large vehicle to the space station and being able to use its thrusters while remaining within space station structural margins.” Yet NASA is totally cool with docking a Starship to the Gateway space station 240,000 miles from Earth. But let’s splash ISS instead. NASA is at risk of being known for what it can’t do as opposed to what it can do. Imagination is no longer in NASA’s toolkit.

Keith’s note: I just recorded a piece for Scripps News that should be airing on its various networks/stations about the current Boeing Starliner status and the planned EVA. ICYMI according to a Friday update from NASA: “NASA and Boeing leadership are adjusting the return to Earth of the Starliner Crew Flight Test spacecraft … Mission managers are evaluating future return opportunities following the station’s two planned spacewalks on Monday, June 24, and Tuesday, July 2.” And today’s EVA was cancelled “due to a water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit on Dyson’s spacesuit.” So … things are going to be TBD-ish for a while.