Keith’s note: This evening I spoke with CGTN about the return of the Chang’e-6 lunar sample return mission; global interest in lunar exploration; and space exploration in general. [Audio] Video below:

Keith’s note: This item was posted on NASA.gov on 8 May 2024: “OTPS seeks input from the lunar community to inform a framework for further work on non-interference of lunar activities“. Cool stuff – and important as human activity on the Moon starts to expand with many new players. But who knew about it? I checked and there was no email from NASA PAO on this. When I look at the NASA press release page there is nothing mentioned. No mention is made on the 80 million-follower @NASA Twitter account either. So there does not seem to be much in the way of interest by NASA PAO in pushing out news about OTPS stuff – however cool and relevant it may be. The NASA Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy has a link but you have to know to go there to find the link. OTPS has no social media presence. The OTPS AA Charity Weeden does not have a Twitter account and her LinkedIn account doesn’t do much. Her Deputy has a Twitter account (I think it is hers) @AerospaceFury that has been inert since 2017. However, I did stumble across this OTPS thing for the first time on a LinkedIn post overtly related to an official NASA effort by Therese Jones (the Point of Contact for this NASA activity) which I promptly liked and reposted. But when I went to search out her Twitter account for an official post I discovered that she has blocked @NASAWatch (and my personal account) – thus making it hard to simply retweet it. So, I used another account to see if I could access her Twitter account and found a tweet here from 1:33 pm EDT today and then grabbed the link and tweeted it on @NASAWatch. Her Twitter account has ~2,500 followers. @NASAWatch has 50 times as many followers. Not that big – but 118,000 is more than the lone NASA-related employee account’s 2,500 – the only account that was talking about this activity. It is good that someone took the initiative to get wider exposure for this when official mention was lacking. But wouldn’t you think that an organization and its staff – with such an important role – one saddled with an underpowered PAO/outreach capability – would want to make the most of external/earned media – and not overtly block people/accounts that can help get the good word out? I guess not. 10 May update: the tweet has been deleted – but I am still blocked. Oh well. Maybe NASA OTPS will lift a finger and get PAO to make them an official social media account so that their cool stuff can reach the largest possible audience – in a professional fashion.

Keith’s note: IM-1 landing has landed. My lunar landing talking head dance card for today (so far):

• 6:00 am BBC 5 Live radio
• 8:00 am KTRH radio
• 1:50 pm Bloomberg radio/TV [Audio]
• 2:20 pm Alhurra TV [Audio]
• 4:20 Bloomberg radio/TV
• 5:30 BBC 5 Live radio
• 6:00 pm Deutsche Welle TV [Audio]
• 6:30 pm CGTN (cancelled – overlap)
• 6:20 Bloomberg – Live landing
• 7:00 pm ARD TV
• 8:00 pm Deutsche Welle TV [Audio]
• 8:30 pm BBC World Service scrubbed
• (Friday) 2:00 pm CGTN scrubbed

Keith’s note: Japan successfully landed its SLIM spacecraft on the Moon this morning. However there seems to be a problem with its solar panels which are not charging its batteries. This may have to do with the panels’ orientation to the sun after landing. Unless that can be rectified the spacecraft can only operate for a matter of hours before its batteries are drained. SLIM did deploy its two small rovers and efforts are being made to see if any data has been collected. One of the rovers has responded. I was on CGTN a few minutes ago to talk about SLIM as well as the end of Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission to the Moon which returned to Earth the other day after a propulsion system failure prevented a lunar landing. I was also asked about former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin’s slam against NASA’s Artemis program. [audio]

Keith’s note: Take the time to read the Astrobotic press release (below). While it is sad that Peregrine won’t land on the Moon it is very important that everyone – including NASA – takes note of the unrivaled transparency and promptness of updates that Astrobotic has provided. They’ve set a new standard that all responsible users of space should follow. Ad Astra.

Keith’s note: The popularity of space exploration – both real and imagined – is something that those of us in the developed and throughly wired developed world take for granted. What we often do not appreciate is how much of our content leaks out and finds its ways across the rest of the world. And in so doing how it can inspire millions of people – ones that we never stop to think about – to aspire to explore space. [much more below]

Keith’s note: I did an interview with Deutsche Welle about Chandrayaan-3. They aired an intro piece before me where they talked with a family in India and their children’s reactions to the landing and I almost had tears in my eyes since, as I said in my interview that was me as a little boy. [DW Audio]. I also did an interview with CGTN talking about how the Moon is a place that everyone can and should visit. [CGTN Audio]

Keith’s Note: according to NASA: “More than 20 missions are planned to the Moon between now and 2026, with participants including NASA, international agencies, and industry. Many of these missions are going to operate in proximity to each other on the surface of a celestial body for the first time in history. This will raise challenges humanity has never faced. A new Lunar Landing and Operations Policy Analysis by NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy examines some of the policy challenges that having numerous missions at the Moon will create.” More: NASA Releases Report on Policy Matters in Upcoming Moon Missions

Paul Spudis now has a crater on the Moon named after him. Let's go visit Paul. He's easy to find – he's right next door to Shackleton. https://t.co/Pz9o2sejzJ pic.twitter.com/gJZ67pbrIY — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) October 1, 2021

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