Pete Harding

NASA is now faced with the perfect storm: Russia effectively at war with the west, Musk gone off the rails, radio silence on Starliner, Artemis still not operational, and an administration intent on killing science.

Hopefully we are witnessing the downfall of Elon Musk. I don't think there's any way back for him now in the court of public opinion - he's alienated himself from pretty much all sides, apart from his wacky die-hard fans on X. I only hope that SpaceX can decouple from him in time - but I fear not.

I used to be attracted to the idealism of it, but now it's been politicised and weaponised like never before, and become a pursuit of manchild billionaires.

I think Russia & Soyuz are beginning to look like a more reliable "partner" at this point! Wow, what a complete dick Musk has turned out to be. The wheels are coming off for SpaceX, and NASA is done IMO. And I think I'm just about done following space.

Wow, who could have foreseen that Musk & Trump, two of the biggest narcissistic, egotistical assholes to walk the earth, would fall out? No-one saw that one coming. It's almost as if the "smartest man alive" isn't actually that smart... 🙄

And BTW, I'm rapidly running out of space exploration entities that I can support - it seems to be a choice now between tyrannical governments or the obscenely wealthy. Not exactly in the spirit of "for all mankind".

Well, that's the end of NASA I think. RIP. Space exploration is now in the hands of billionaires and China.

Of course ISS will need to be retired someday, but it's not ready yet - its only just reaching the apex of its capabilities. Commercial stations are simply not going to be ready to take over by 2030. The US Segment could fly into the 2040s IMO.

The limiting factor is likely to be the Russian Segment, which has some more serious issues (namely leaks). NASA should therefore continue development of the ISS deorbit vehicle, with a view to it one day replacing the Russian Segment to provide propulsion for the ISS.

Many components have far exceeded expectations in terms of their design life, and a healthy stock of spares exists onboard. Almost any component aside from the pressure vessel itself can be replaced if needed.

Despite Musk's rhetoric that ISS is nearing the end of its life, that's far from the truth IMO - the US Segment has many years of life left I think. Its modular nature has allowed it to be upgraded over the years – for example, it has a fully upgraded system of batteries and solar arrays.

Of course there are many providers available to NASA, the issue now is whether or not NASA is going to be allowed to use them. I expect to see contract requirements being written to favour SpaceX. For example, NASA's entire human exploration program now seems to be nothing but Starship.

I used to like Elon in the early days, back when he was a zany rocket scientist. He should've just stuck to tech, instead of getting involved in politics and culture wars.

Commercial space was supposed to free NASA from being dependent on one provider to access space and foster competition, but instead it seems to have made it more dependent than ever and created a de facto monopoly.

In 2011, when Shuttle retired, NASA found itself dependent upon and beholden to a partner (Russia) whose behaviour was increasingly becoming belligerent and erratic. The irony is, nearly 15 years later, NASA now finds itself in exactly the same position - only this time the "partner" is Elon Musk.

Great photo of the Japanese Experiment Module taken during EVA-93 yesterday.

Europe now needs to lead its own way in space instead of tagging along with whatever NASA does, as the US is now unfortunately an unreliable partner.

If Elon wants billions more for Mars, why doesn't he sell some of his (admittedly, now massively devalued) Tesla stocks and fund it himself, instead of gutting the federal budget in order to funnel money into his own companies? This is corruption beyond belief.

So, as expected, Trump's FY26 budget proposal effectively guts NASA and turns it into the SpaceX Contracting Agency. You know, it's almost as if Elon wrote the budget himself....

This is an extremely dumb move - reducing ISS research & crew at a time when the station is at it's most capable (and still improving). With reduced crewing requirements, Starliner may well be dead in the water too.

ACES finds its home in orbit The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES), ESA’s state-of-the-art timekeeping facility, has been successfully installed on the International Space Station, marking the start of a new chapter in space-...

🔧 Now installed on @esa.int’s Columbus lab, our Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space is ready to test gravity, compare time across continents, and explore the laws of physics from orbit 💫.
⚡ Next step: #ACES first power-up on 28 April 🔋
Find out more 👇

Also, build the LUVOIR-A! 😀

Agree, but if there's a chance to extend Hubble then it should be taken IMO, certainly once Hubble reaches the point where it's no longer operating. In that scenario the benefits outweigh the risks, and it could be a great pathfinder mission if nothing else.

We should go back for another servicing mission. She still has life left in her. Hopefully Isaacman can allow the Dragon proposal to proceed.

Happy 35th Birthday, Hubble!

Don Pettit now airborne aboard NASA's Gulfstream V heading back to the US. Routing Karaganda > Prestwick > Houston (Ellington).

I just hope he doesn't start parroting Trump's lines on everything. I know his hands will be somewhat tied, but he doesn't have to go "full Trump".

Butch & Suni have been rescued!!! All thanks to Trump & Musk! 😅

As the saying goes: "Why let truth get in the way of a good story"... 😆 🤡

Clearly the ket has kicked in again... 🙃