Keith’s note: like everyone else I stayed up to watch the New Glenn launch and did some TV talking head time too. Here’s the audio from Deutsche Welle prior to the launch scrub. I was going to be on BBC World too for post-launch coverage but then the delays changed that. Weather is going to be pacing the next launch attempt apparently. Stay tuned. [Audio]

Keith’s note: Last night I spoke with Al Jazeera English about a recent piece of space debris that landed in Kenya and the broader issue of space debris. [audio]

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: I was just on CNN talking about the new Artemis program delays, SpaceX, and the stark contrast between NASA programs which cost too much and are constantly delayed – and private sector efforts such as SpaceX and Blue Origin where they make rocket science seem easy and see all of this rocketry as an enabling consumer product. And yes, that is an Enterprise NX-01 crew cap in the background, Mike Gold. [Audio]

Keith’s note: I was just on the Scripps News “Morning Rush” program talking about Earth’s new (temporary) Mini-moon 2024 PT5. Someone needs to give it a name. [Audio]

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: On Wednesday evening I appeared on CGTN to talk about the launch of a cargo spacecraft to China’s Tiangong and the future of the Chinese space station program [audio]. A few minutes later I appeared on the Scripps TV network and all of its affiliates talking about Astrobotic’s peregrine and sending humans back to the Moon. [audio].

Keith’s note: The first launch of a ULA Vulcan rocket – powered by Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman engines – took off this morning at 2:18 a.m. EST and has sent the Astrobotic Pergegrine lander on its way to the Moon. Alas it is having communications and power issues which they managed to fix that but there there are critical propulsion system issues. I am going to be on Deutsche Welle TV just after 12:00 pm EST Update: [Deutsche Welle Audio] – and then on Alhurra TV around 2:45 pm EST Update: [Alhurra audio] – then BBC World News TV at 3:45 pm EST and then Deutsche Welle TV (again) just after 6:00 pm today Update: [second Deutsche Welle Audio] to talk about the mission and the various things on board the Peregrine lander. More from NASA

Keith’s note: I was just on Alaraby TV in Qatar talking about the recent discovery of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of super-earth exoplanet K2-18b by the Webb Space Telescope and what this means in terms of Astrobiology and the search for life in the universe. It is fun to not have to talk to jaded American TV. Surprise: People outside of our Americo-centric news bubble are interested in things we don’t seem to care much about. Among many other international networks, I have been on Alaraby, Al Arabiya, Alhurra, and Al Jazeera. Also, since I am being translated into Arabic in real time, it is fun since I used to be a professional American Sign Language interpreter (often on TV) and the translators like that I am good at parsing technical things for translation at a pace that facilitates translation – in real time. Keith’s fun aside, I get the clear impression that NASA has little – if any – interest in making people available to this vast viewing audience. I have asked NASA PAO about this in the past but they always declined to answer. To be certain, the viewership of these Arabic language networks overlaps – but the core audience is somewhere between 200-300 million located in over 150 countries. NASA has an astonishing soft power and branding reach and it rarely takes full advantage of it. This is one example. Baffling. Anyway: here’s the [Audio]

Keith’s note: I was just on the BBC World Service talking about Frank Rubio’s new record on the ISS – and about the Moxie unit making oxygen on Mars. NASA’s press release about MOXIE
NASA says in its release that “MOXIE has generated a total of 122 grams of oxygen – about what a small dog breathes in 10 hours”. OK, so I am (was) an actual NASA space biologist once upon a time. As such I had a few opinions on this. Yes, I mentioned English bulldogs and suggested that they’d last a bit beyond 10 hours. I was on the BBC, so … [Audio]

Keith’s note: I was just on Alhurra TV with Lincoln Bloomfield, Former National Security Advisor to Vice President Quayle. We were interviewed about yesterday’s hearing on UAPs in Congress. And yes, I used props (again) – a little green alien 👽 and a shattercone from a meteorite crater on Devon Island. [Audio]

Keith’s note: On 7 July I appeared live on BBC Radio London with host Jumoké Fashola to talk about Saturn’s moon Enceladus and the possibility that it could host life. Plus culture, fashion, and Star Trek. [Audio]

Keith’s note: Just sent this note to some folks at NASA: “I was just on Al Jazeera Arabic to talk about NASA GSFC’s Prabal Saxena comments about life on the Moon and “pollution” caused by Apollo astronauts – and how the media ran with it with their crazy headlines. I hope I set both stories straight. I am baffled, of course, as to why NASA never seems to want to talk to this vast underserved audience of hundreds of millions of people. I am told that I get called because I speak plain english (their interpreters love me – I used to be an interpreter in another language) while you people babble in acronyms and carefully guarded bland sound bites. Not expecting a reply. Have a nice day.” Audio

Keith’s note: I was just on Alhurra TV talking about the large sunspot that has appeared and the potential for some bad space weather. In the process I had a chance to go through space weather (and solar physics) 101 for the audience to talk about the value of studying the sun – for all humanity – and how we are doing that every day. Audio.

Keith’s note: A SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the Dragon “Freedom” was launched on time today at 5:37 pm EDT from Kennedy Space Center with a crew of four on board which includes two Saudis. More. Earlier today I spoke with Alhurra TV about the upcoming AX-2 mission to the ISS later this afternoon. Audio.

Keith Cowing · BBC World Interview With NASAWatch: Mars Perseverance Landing

Keith Cowing · Deutsche Welle Interview With NASAWatch: Mars Rover Landing