Chase Million

As close as necessary, I would assume.

🎶 "Well I don't know, but I've been told / The streets in heaven are lined with gold." 🎶

I wish that were what I was hearing, mostly, instead of "We paid a lot for this AI subscription, so everyone better start using it to become more productive." over the objections of, e.g., the administrative staff who are like "this doubles our work fixing the 20% of invoices that it hallucinates."

My best guess as to the thinking here is:

Plopping a nuclear reactor down in a PSR to claim dibs is way easier and faster than landing humans. And you don't need Starship HLS. Half a dozen CLPS companies are working on landers. Astrobotic even has one already mostly built, that was meant for VIPER.

Have you read the latest MAST blog? MAST's view of the sky: Your Next Wallpaper spacetelescope.github.io/mast-blog/ma... by @mast-news.bsky.social

Think of what we have learned and have yet to learn from investing in these missions and making their data open and available to everyone.

always go to sea as a sailor

And I didn't realize when I wrote my first comment that Juno is zeroed out in the FY26 PBR.

So my first request is...

DON'T TURN OFF A WORKING AND PRODUCTIVE SPACECRAFT!

I assume that it's just ~half the annual cost (i.e. six months) of the Juno extended mission, which gets completely zeroed out in the President's budget request for FY26.

It would be cool if the Republican representative from Florida wanted to support directing $15M toward some scientific research that wasn't crackpot horseshit.

That amount of money would fund >25 typical NASA research grants.

Or support pediatric cancer research and HIV vaccines. Also good.

I remember when ~130TB of GALEX data was an inconceivable volume. 🤣

The amount of astronomical data that the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes makes available for free to everyone in the world --- along with extensive documentation and tools --- is absolutely mind-boggling!

The Day of Action to Save NASA Science Join us in Washington, D.C., to advocate for NASA science.

Live in the U.S.? We’re organizing in-person meetings for you to speak directly with your elected officials in Washington, D.C.
October 5–6, join us and nearly a dozen partner organizations for the Day of Action to save NASA’s space science.
Make your voice heard. www.planetary.org/advocacy/day...

Gooseteau

I understand. I didn't really expect _you personally_ to have the answer. I was just asking aloud as though in a crowded room. Thank you for boosting, though, because I really am curious.

Why aren't micro-channel plate (MCP) detectors on that list? Used to tremendous success on GALEX and Swift.

Congress’s NASA and NSF Budgets Counter Trump, Fund Science The House and Senate bill drafts keep NASA near current funding levels, but the Trump administration is nevertheless readying the agency for heavy cuts

More budget chaos—and an "aggressive interpretation of executive authority"—before the scientific futures of NASA, NOAA, and the NSF are settled 🛰️🔬☁️. Read my update today in @skyandtelescope.bsky.social: skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne... #trump #nasa #science #noaa #nsf #congress

With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.

You did a good job!

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert A Scientific Brain Drain Has Followed Trump’s Gutting Of The NIH - Dr. Francis Collins

This is a must watch. Here is an interview of Francis Collins, former director of the NIH w/ Stephen Colbert. He ran the NIH for 12 years.

"Medical miracles don't happen overnight. You have to invest in them. "Our investments are in trouble."

The brain drain is here.

🧪 youtu.be/lW9c6t4potU?...

Support the NASA Voyager Declaration Now! — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE Your solidarity with the NASA heroes helps their fight to preserve NASA's vital missions.

The Voyager Declaration - I like the sound of that!

Support NASA and our real-life Starfleet officers by signing, calling your reps, and being a STEM champion locally and nationally.

🫡

www.standupforscience.net/nasa-voyager...

As I noted in an earlier post, there's a fight about NASA between Congressional GOP (status quo roughly) and WH (meat axe). WH hopes to make irreversible shutdowns and layoffs before Congress can impose a new budget

bsky.app/profile/dbur...

Implementing Trump's proposed NASA cuts illegal before Congress passes budget, Democrats say Top Democrats on a House committee overseeing NASA's budget assailed senior agency officials on Thursday for starting to implement sweeping program cuts in President Donald Trump's proposed 2026 budget agenda before Congress agrees on an official budget, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Trump was willing to make small deals on priorities of key GOP legislators to pass funding bill.

But not for science. Despite Ted Cruz et al rejecting Trump's NASA meataxe, WH now pushing to cancel, unplug, RIF so fast that FY26 Congressional budget wont matter

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Science and Democracy Under Siege Documenting Six Months of the Trump Administration’s Destructive Actions

We are six months into the second Trump administration and the scale and severity of its assault on our nation's science and democracy has been unrelenting.

Today, @ucs.org releases a detailed assessment of the damage so far and where we go from here: www.ucs.org/resources/sc... #ProtectScience

E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm

Terrible Friday news dump.The wealth of expertise. The decades of scientific progress. The emerging and urgent challenges we were focused on tackling. It is all so short-sided and cruel. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/c...

Bipartisan Congressional Letter: Alarm Over NASA Science Cuts Threatening U.S. Leadership in Space According to a press release from Rep. Valerie Foushee

Bipartisan Congressional Letter: Alarm Over NASA Science Cuts Threatening U.S. Leadership in Space nasawatch.com/congress/bip... #NASA

Read this book.

Today, 1,152 NAS members/Nobel Laureates (as private individuals) sent a letter to Congress regarding the cuts to science being proposed by the Administration, and currently going through the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

tinyurl.com/5n7y7853

@standupforscience.bsky.social

The Hot Wheels casts for them are 100% identical, which I think is kind of funny.

Actual, Current, Real-World Cuts to NASA Planetary R&A
research.ssl.berkeley.edu/~mikewong/bl... "ROSES 2025 Research and analysis proposal opportunities were just announced yesterday. I did a graphical deep dive into how bad the situation is for soft money researchers working on NASA science."

Today is a good day to call your Senator and tell them to preserve NASA science funding.