Big surprise, yet another federal agency is being dragged down by the most incompetent regime in American history.
In scathing letter, NASA workers rebuke ‘rapid and wasteful changes’ at agency
Big surprise, yet another federal agency is being dragged down by the most incompetent regime in American history.
In scathing letter, NASA workers rebuke ‘rapid and wasteful changes’ at agency
This is the beginning of a current article in Scientific American…
“From World War II until 2024, the US stood unchallenged as the scientific leader of the free world. Across practically every discipline — physics, materials science, astronomy, chemistry, biology, medicine, geology, etc. — American scientific missions and initiatives, often in collaboration with European, Canadian, Asian, and many other global partners, brought us new advances and breakthroughs, paving the way for generations of scientists to thrive. In a society that values facts, scientific truths, education, and the public good, this recipe led to multiple generations of continued breakthroughs and advances.
Since late January of this year, however, all of that has rapidly changed. Many of the most valuable scientific organizations in the world, including NOAA, NASA, the NSF, the CDC, the EPA, and the FDA, have experienced a set of unprecedented internal attacks.Funding streams have been terminated.
Grants that have been successfully competed for and won have been pulled.
Fellowships and scholarships have been revoked.
Contracts have been broken.
Thousands upon thousands of employees have been terminated, often in defiance of court orders.And now, at the start of the second half of 2025, a new budget is on the verge of becoming law, which would largely eliminate science as we know it across universities and colleges, research institutes, and national labs. This isn’t a horror story; this is a real-life nightmare for the most educated and skilled American workers of all: scientists.”
This is a sad thing indeed. And a real betrayal of our country. Hope all that “winning” was worth it Trumpers.
American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history
Back in 2002, our Physics teacher introduced me to a student who wanted to build an ionic thruster. I had never heard of one, but I was able to tell the young man where to obtain a high voltage power supply (and give him a long lecture about safety). A few days later he popped by to show me a device constructed of balsa wood, aluminum foil and stainless steel wire that would levitate (it was anchored by its power supply wires) when connected to about 15,000 volts. I was kind of blown away to say the least. That young man is an engineer now and ionic thrusters have continued to be developed by NASA. Here is a further demonstration…
Great series.
I have always favored the proposed “Gentle Push” method of using an ion thruster to gently steer the asteroid onto a new course, but whatever, let’s get moving on this.
Do look up: How Earth can defend itself against asteroid
A cautious but interesting mission.
Will NASA’s Europa Clipper Really Find Aliens? Here’s What the Spacecraft Can and Can’t Do
Not as ambitious as a proposal I saw a few years ago, to send an autonomous submersible to bore under Europa’s ice (by way of a nuclear powered heated nose cone) and search it’s oceans.
The government must force Boeing to reorganize. This is crazy.
NASA Has Some Bad News for Its Stranded Astronauts
and then…
This is a sad testament to the ineffectiveness of our government. How is it that anyone on Boeing’s management team still has a job? If I was a shareholder I would want the bunch of them out. The CEO and Quality Control Head should both be facing prison time for bilking the American taxpayer. This is what happens when government and industry get too cozy.
NASA inspector general gives damning assessment of Boeing’s quality control
As a result, the two astronauts that flew the Boeing Starliner to the ISS may not get home until February! On a better built Space X Dragon no less!
Cost to develop Starliner – 4.2 billion dollars (not including cost overruns)
Cost to develop Dragon – 2.6 billion dollars
As we think about life, the future, and everything that bothers us, remember this…
In 1990, as Voyager 1 was leaving the solar system. NASA turned it around and took one last photo of the Earth. It was at the limit of Voyager’s camera’s ability. Earth is just one blue dot in a vast sea of darkness.
Yep, if you were guessing bureaucracy and false patriotism, you win!
There’s an Extremely Stupid Reason NASA Scientists Can’t Study China’s Amazing New Moon Rocks
I would be dumping my Boeing stock if you haven’t already. This is not going to be resolved without government intervention. Small scrappy Space X has been kicking Boeing’s tail in the commercial space race. Boeing probably needs to be broken up. It’s just too big, and unfortunately run by financial types not engineers. As are too many American “manufacturing” companies.
Also, keep an eye on the Chinese, we are decommissioning our orbital space station without a replacement as they expand their program. (see next post)
This is awesome news. 3D printed metals have the capacity to change so much. Just another reason why NASA’s Glenn Research center is an awesome part of NE Ohio! Ignore the talking heads at the end. Why does every local news station think I want to listen to the anchor’s opinions on each story? Please just shut up and read the news.