@NASAWatch

Unofficial NASA News Coverage Since 1996. Edited by @KeithCowing

 Reston, VA
nasawatch.com
Joined December 2007
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Heads up @NASAJPL @Caltech - #DareMightyThings
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Letter from @NASA SMD AA Nicky Fox: Dear NASA Science Community, NASA Science wants to deliver science faster, so we’re changing how we compete and select missions. On Monday, October 26, we will host a virtual NASA Science Town Hall, from NASA Headquarters, to explain our new Competition Model 2.0 (CM 2.0), and answer your questions.   We have heard you. We have listened. We know that the burden of bringing great ideas forward has been too heavy for too long. It has taken years to move mission concepts through the current two-step process. This has often come with contract management challenges, unpredictability, and not enough funding.  NASA is committed to doing better — and I’m excited to share with you how we’re making it happen.  I am so pleased that NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has empowered the Science Mission Directorate to take action and make our mission selection process move more smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. The Administrator has directed us to accelerate the delivery of science, reduce the time and resources spent on long competitive processes, and focus funding on the highest-priority missions across every NASA Science division as quickly and affordably as possible. Predictability in delivering incredible science will be at the forefront of what we do.  We are committed to getting this right. Some of these changes will take time to fully implement. We will roll them out in stages, be thoughtful about them, and refine them with your input along the way. But time is also of the essence. By streamlining how missions are proposed, reviewed, and selected, we can make meaningful change right now. That streamlined approach is Competition Model 2.0, or CM2.0, and it is how we are answering the Administrator's call to get you to science faster.  Full memo: science.nasa.gov/directorate… @NASAScience_ @NASA @NASAAdmin

Faster to Science: A Letter to the Science Community - NASA Science

NASA Science wants to deliver science faster, so we’re changing how we compete and select missions. On Monday, October 26, we will host a virtual NASA Science Town Hall.

science.nasa.gov
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As just announced in the @UN First Committee, Russia’s COSMOS 2612 military satellite has been exhibiting threatening behavior by intentionally maneuvering dangerously close to a commercial satellite, behaviors consistent with on-orbit weapons operations. This violates long-established safety thresholds in low Earth orbit. The United States will continue to secure and defend American vital national security interests in, from, and to space.
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Marcia Smith@SpcPlcyOnline7h
NASA SMD AA Nicky Fox announces "new Competition Model 2.0" -- a "better way to compete" science missions and "accelerate delivery of science." science.nasa.gov/directorate… Virtual NASA Science Town Hall on Oct 26 to discuss it.

Faster to Science: A Letter to the Science Community - NASA Science

NASA Science wants to deliver science faster, so we’re changing how we compete and select missions. On Monday, October 26, we will host a virtual NASA Science Town Hall.

science.nasa.gov
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NASA Aeronautics
@NASAaero11h
🏆 A historic flight. A prestigious honor! NASA's X-59 lead pilot Nils Larson recently received the Iven C. Kincheloe Award for his role in the aircraft's first flight and expanding its flight envelope. ✈️ go.nasa.gov/4sroNyP
NASA test pilot Nils Larson stands in front of NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft, wearing a tan flight suit and holding the Iven C. Kincheloe Award trophy.

ALT NASA test pilot Nils Larson stands in front of NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft, wearing a tan flight suit and holding the Iven C. Kincheloe Award trophy.

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Peter Frampton has joined the crew! 🚀🎸 A huge thank you to @peterframpton and all of our incredible supporters who make our mission possible. Together, we’re inspiring the next generation of voters to show up, speak out, and make their voices heard! AstronautsForAmerica.org.
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Jonathan McDowell
@planet458911h
Honored to receive this evening the Loftus Space Sustainability Award from the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety
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NASA Mars
@NASAMars13h
Still making tracks and doing science! Since breaking the all-time off-world driving distance record on Oct. 11, Perseverance has continued work on the Red Planet.  ½
Tracks made by the rover on the reddish desert Martian surface, with two of the rover’s wheels and one of its weather instruments visible at the bottom of the frame.

ALT Tracks made by the rover on the reddish desert Martian surface, with two of the rover’s wheels and one of its weather instruments visible at the bottom of the frame.

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Astrobiology
@astrobiology11h
Image from Ultima Airbase in Antarctica (Time=UTC). @DaleAndersen, his team and cargo will be landing here in the next day or so. They will then travel overland to Lake Untersee to conduct #astrobiology research.
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NASA Marshall
@NASA_Marshall11h
NASA’s Inspiration Tour is heading to Tuscaloosa on Oct. 24! @NASAAdmin Jared Isaacman will pilot an F‑5 jet in a flyover at Alabama vs. Texas A&M. Join NASA Marshall at the NASA Experience Zone from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (no game ticket required): go.nasa.gov/3VYHluf
NASA’s Freedom 250 F-5 team, including NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, performs a flyover during the national anthem at an NFL game between the Cleveland Browns and the Carolina Panthers at Huntington Bank Field, Sept. 27, 2026, in Cleveland. NASA/Jordan Cochran

ALT NASA’s Freedom 250 F-5 team, including NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, performs a flyover during the national anthem at an NFL game between the Cleveland Browns and the Carolina Panthers at Huntington Bank Field, Sept. 27, 2026, in Cleveland. NASA/Jordan Cochran

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NASA Watch
@NASAWatch18h
NASA’s SR-1 Freedom Advances with Progress on Nuclear Power Module nasa.gov/centers-and-facilit…

NASA’s SR-1 Freedom Advances with Progress on Nuclear Power Module - NASA

“These contract actions not only reduce technical risk and help us maintain momentum toward our 2028 launch, but they also strengthen collaboration across our

nasa.gov
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NASA Watch
@NASAWatch18h
NASA Chief Touts X-59 Progress at NBAA-BACE ainonline.com/aviation-news/…

NASA Chief Touts X-59 Progress at NBAA-BACE | AIN

Jared Isaacman says test data is ‘extremely encouraging’ so far

ainonline.com
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NASA Watch
@NASAWatch17h
This seemingly small thing is very very important. When we send explorers to Mars they need to be ready to start work as soon as possible - not sit around waiting to re-adapt to gravity - and after conducting a safe landing.
Jessica Meir
@Astro_JessicaOct 19
When our @NASAArtemis missions land on the Moon, we need to be ready to take manual control for a successful landing.  For the Manual Piloting study, I flew this landing simulator before and immediately after spaceflight to assess if any changes associated with cognitive function or gravity affected my performance.  Thankfully, I was able to land successfully even just two hours after we splashed down!
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NASA Watch
@NASAWatch16h
New Report Identifies Four Moon Sites for Crewed Missions to Explore to Advance Scientific Discovery nasawatch.com/2026/10/21/nas… @TheNASciences @theNASEM @NASA @NASAMoonBase #Artemis
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Astrobiology
@astrobiology13h
Today (21 October 2026) on Astrobiology.com Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 20 Oct 2026: Wheels Down In Cape Town astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… Astrobiology Primer astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… The Evolution Of Oxygen, Temperature, And Marine Aerobic Habitat For Animals Over The Last Billion Years Of Earth History astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… Robustness Of C/O And Mean Molecular Weight Under Disequilibrium Chemistry astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… Millimetre/Sub-Millimetre SETI: Expanding The Radio Technosignature Parameter Space With ALMA2040 astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… A New Method For Constraining 3D Exoplanet Atmospheres: Application To WASP-94A b's Panchromatic Spectrum astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… Identifying Deformed Exoplanets With JWST And Ariel: A Target Selection Metric For Phase Curve Observations astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… Microbial Methanogenesis on Mars: A Life Detection Target For An MLE-Type Mission And Future Human Exploration astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… Water As We’ve Never Known It: Testing Water Beyond Earth-like Conditions astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… Icy Ocean Planet Recon: Saildrone Research Fleet To Circle Antarctica For 5 Years astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… #astrobiology #Iceworld #Oceanworld #oceanography #droids #robotics #biophysics #chemistry #astrochemistry #exoplanet #biosignatures #astronomy
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This press release about a @NASA contract award has an interesting title. "Teaching Robots to "Feel Pain": AstraQua Secures $1.3 Million NASA Contract" finance.yahoo.com/technology…
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KezzieSquared@KezzieSquared15h
Found this while archive-diving a few months ago, and I rewatch it more often than I'd like to admit. McNair's always been a particular inspiration to me, even by an astronaut's standards.
NASA History Office
@NASAhistory16h
Today we remember astronaut Ronald E. McNair, born OTD in 1950 in Lake City, South Carolina. McNair, a physicist, jazz saxophonist, and karate black belt, was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate in 1978 and flew his first shuttle mission in 1984. He tragically perished in the Challenger accident on Jan. 28. 1986, yet his legacy of excellence, curiosity, and perseverance lives on.
Official astronaut portrait of Ronald E. McNair taken in 1978. A model of a space shuttle appears behind his shoulder.

ALT Official astronaut portrait of Ronald E. McNair taken in 1978. A model of a space shuttle appears behind his shoulder.

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Per Aspera
@peraspera_usa17h
🇺🇸's gotta go Faster, Better, Cheaper. It ain't choose 2!
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Astrobiology
@astrobiology16h
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 20 Oct 2026: Wheels Down In Cape Town astrobiology.com/2026/10/21/… #astrobiology #antarctica @DaleAndersen @SETIInstitute @ExplorersClub

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 20 Oct 2026: Wheels Down In Cape Town

The 787 Dreamliner rolled to a stop far out on the apron,

astrobiology.com
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New Report Identifies Four Moon Sites for Crewed Missions to Explore to Advance Scientific Discovery nasawatch.com/2026/10/21/nas… @TheNASciences @theNASEM @NASA @NASAMoonBase #Artemis
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