Jackie Wattles

Apollo's bold, unruly and controversial successor A visual guide to the audacious moon-landing mission design that put SpaceX and NASA in the hot seat — and has experts worried the US could lose the new moon race.

We've worked on this project for months — excited to finally share it!

[Note: The animations are not to scale, and details such as flight paths are simplified to give an illustrative overview of the mission design.]

cnn.com/interactive/...

NASA may be quietly gutting an iconic campus with what it calls strategic closures, workers fear | CNN Buildings at Goddard’s Maryland campus are being emptied and padlocked, sources say. NASA leadership has pushed back against the concerns.

Sources who spoke to @jackiewattles.bsky.social and me say they fear the sudden moves are part of an effort by the Trump’s administration to quietly gut the Maryland Goddard campus while the government remains unfunded — a claim denied by a NASA spokesperson. www.cnn.com/2025/11/04/s...

Live updates: The latest on Donald Trump’s presidency | CNN Politics More uncertainty surrounds President Donald Trump’s tariffs as a new week begins. Meanwhile, the White House is ramping up its halting efforts to secure ceasefires in Gaza and Ukraine. Follow for live...

NEW: Trump's decision to pull Jared Isaacman's nomination was the result of behind-the-scenes maneuvering: A top WH aide grew to dislike Elon Musk, and that aide lobbied for Isaacman's departure after Musk left Washington last week, a source familiar tells me. Read here: www.cnn.com/politics/liv...

New in our coverage this morning: A former senior Biden White House official told me they were never made aware of an offer from Elon Musk or SpaceX to bring Butch and Suni home early. Read here: www.cnn.com/2025/03/18/s...

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus just addressed employees at a watch party in Houston. He cnfirmed the vehicle is intact, delivering data, generating power — but "not enough," hence Intuitive Machines' efforts to shut down certain components to save energy.

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus just addressed employees at a watch party in Houston. He cnfirmed the vehicle is intact, delivering data, generating power — but "not enough," hence Intuitive Machines' efforts to shut down certain components to save energy.

The crowd here was quiet, hanging on every word and waiting for updates. Cheers broke out once when company cofounder Kam Ghaffarian said, "we have landed" from the podium.

But it's still not clear what orientation Athena is in.

Coming to you live from an Intuitive Machines watch party in Houston for the IM-2 Athena landing. www.cnn.com/science/live...

Just in -- email from NASA acting administrator Janet Petro to agency staff announces that Todd Ericson, mission director for Jared Isaacman's Polaris Dawn mission w/ SpaceX, is now a "senior advisor to the administrator" on NASA staff.

No word yet on when Isaacman's confirmation hearings will be.

Live updates: The latest on Donald Trump’s presidency | CNN Politics President Donald Trump is forging ahead with his government overhaul, with Elon Musk threatening dismissals for federal employees who don’t respond to a mass email. This week will also see Trump meet ...

NASA leadership is assessing how to respond to Elon Musk's email ultimatum.

One email to SMD employees sent Saturday afternoon says it could be an “opportunity to showcase the great work we do in SMD.”

This morning, the guidance was updated: wait to reply.

Read more: www.cnn.com/politics/liv...

House Democrats raise ‘deep alarm’ over potential DOGE conflict of interest at NASA | CNN A new letter addressed to acting NASA chief Janet Petro calls out the space agency for failing to answer questions raised by lawmakers earlier this month.

Just in -- House Dems on the science committee raise "deep alarm" over DOGE involvement at NASA, saying lack of transparency is "ominous and unacceptable" www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/s...

NASA staff asked to take ‘inspiration’ from DOGE as employees express concern | CNN NASA’s acting administrator said in a Friday email to staff that employees should take an open-minded approach to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s efforts to gain efficiencies.

NEW: An email sent to NASA staff Friday afternoon asks workers to take “some inspiration from the spirit of the ‘Department of Government Efficiency" and “lean into this new opportunity to maximize efficiencies." www.cnn.com/2025/02/07/s...

The most powerful rocket ever built exploded over a populated island. Residents are still dealing with the fallout | CNN Following the explosive failure of the Starship megarocket’s January 16 test flight, residents of the British territory were left with debris-strewn roads and beaches.

Since this story was published, the FAA said it has verified the report of Starship debris striking a car in South Caicos, causing "minor damage."

www.cnn.com/2025/01/30/s...

This note is from Dr. Tim Swindle of the U of A

We asked for him to respond to the latest executive orders

"We do not encourage and track diversity just because it is the fair thing to do, we do it because we want to provide NASA and aerospace corporations with the very best future workers we can"

Shameless crosspost from Firefly Space on Twitter🧪:

Blue Ghost's fluid and propulsion systems are now primed up! This bi-propellant priming distributes our fuel and oxidizer to the engines, getting them ready for our first burn in a couple days.

Based on FAA documents, an "Aircraft Hazard Areas (AHA)" was set up that extends 730 nautical miles (840 miles) east of the launch site. That would not reach Turks and Caicos. Pre-set DRAs were in place, but it's possible debris fell outside those areas too, per reports of damage on the islands.

Here's our latest exchange with the FAA. Awaiting more details

Regulators are investigating reports of property damage from SpaceX Starship’s explosion | CNN The FAA says it has grounded the Starship vehicle pending a mishap investigation, and it is working with the company to assess reports of property damage in Turks and Caicos.

When asked to clarify what constituted a “hazard area” and which locations were closed to air traffic during launch, the FAA said that its “investigation is ongoing” and “information is preliminary and subject to change.” Latest here: www.cnn.com/2025/01/17/s...

SpaceX changed the language on its Starship flight seven statement, removing that debris fell "into the Atlantic Ocean within the predefined hazard areas."

If you're interested in learning more about how the FAA manages rockets and planes competing for limited airspace, I did a deep dive on this with @lesliejosephs.bsky.social:

www.cnbc.com/2023/02/09/a...

To be clear, the Debris Response Area is specific to debris falling outside of "*closed* aircraft hazard areas" - could account for the difference - h/t
@michaelsheetz.bsky.social

SpaceX says Starship debris fell “into the Atlantic Ocean within the predefined hazard areas."

But FAA told us that it activated a “Debris Response Area” after Starship exploded. Such a step is only taken if debris falls outside designated areas, according to the agency.

🤷‍♀️

This is still part of a test and development campaign. This wasn't an operational mission with a satellite or spacecraft on board.

Starship, FWIW, likely would only be considered a dead project if SpaceX runs out of money

Idk about you guys but if I saw this while I was flying a plane, it would scare the ever-loving crap out of me...

Live updates: SpaceX Starship spacecraft is lost on 7th test flight | CNN Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, pulled off a daring booster catch on its most ambitious test flight yet, but the spacecraft was lost. Follow for the latest news.

Another audio clip just added from a pilot: "“We just got a major streak, going from at least 60 miles, there’s all these different colors. Just curious. It looked like it was coming toward us, (slight laugh) … just letting you know.” www.cnn.com/science/live...

Live updates: SpaceX Starship spacecraft is lost on 7th test flight | CNN Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, pulled off a daring booster catch on its most ambitious test flight yet, but the spacecraft was lost. Follow for the latest news.

What a ride. CNN has audio from air traffic controllers and pilots in the moments the SpaceX Starship debris rains down over the Caribbean. Listen to it here: www.cnn.com/science/live...

It's so nice and refreshing to see centibillionaires burying the hatchet and really coming together under the common goal of dominating the universe.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn set for next launch attempt | CNN After abruptly calling off its first launch attempt in the early hours of Monday morning, Blue Origin is now poised to try again. Follow the latest news.

Let's do this? Again? Maybe? www.cnn.com/science/live...

Bljue Origin just put out a statement of limited utility saying they're not delaying their launch attempt overnight, but saying they might.

Death by a thousand T-0 updates