The administration is proposing ending Gateway, and SLS/Orion after Artemis III. That’s still two flights too many, but it all has yet to play out.
[Afternoon update]
Thoughts from Bob Zimmerman.
[Sunday-morning update]
Speaking of Bob Zimmerman, he’s less than impressed with Lockheed Martin’s delivery of the first crew-capable Orion.
[Bumped]
I guess I should follow up with the main point: Once you explicitly accept that you're going to use multiple launches to get back to the Moon, it opens up the trade space for lots of different architectures. If NASA doesn't already have a tiger team doing trade studies to present…
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) April 28, 2025
Things are moving along in the UK.
This is a deep, deep problem. I hope it’s not intractable. Jay Battacharya has a heavy lift. The way so many used the pandemic to seize power over the lives of others reminds me a lot of the climate scam.
[Afternoon update]
A thing we don't talk about enough is how bad the CDC guidance was for opening things up during Covid
— PoIiMath (@politicalmath) April 27, 2025
Read the details! It was insanely unrealistic but was used by states to act in very insane wayshttps://t.co/Ona38iTQXI
I largely agree with these recommendations. I doubt if there’s been any serious discussion with OMB about NASA.
It’s time to make California Golden Again ☀️ pic.twitter.com/unpY2f5Hv4
— Steve Hilton For Governor (@SteveHiltonShow) April 21, 2025
Jim Meigs has a long essay at the Manhattan Institute that quotes Yours Truly several times.
[Friday-morning update]
Bob Zimmerman writes that we don’t need no stinkin’ government program to get to the Moon.
Not sure I agree. The race to the poles was all about prestige, and America didn’t need it, but the race to the Moon is about resources, and we don’t want China to be making claims. But I agree that the best policy would be that which encourages private actors, and Isaacman is the ideal NASA administrator to do that.
Bob Zimmerman says that there are things deserving of cutting.
I certainly agree about Mars Sample Return, and said that on X this morning. I think we need a dramatic change in how these funds are allocated and prioritized, and the current decadal needs to be completely redone.
But I also don’t pay much attention to what OMB says at this point in the process.
I would add that it’s inappropriate for OMB to propose a NASA budget ahead of the confirmation of a NASA administrator who has been named for months. I wouldn’t put up with it if I were president. I personally consider OMB’s NASA budget proposal DOA, and I hope that Trump does as…
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) April 14, 2025
MY OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP
— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) April 5, 2025
The frustrating part is that I was on board for a reset. Truly. I’ve said it publicly. I’ve written about it in this very feed. I understood the need for a detox. For decades, the U.S. economy played the part of the rich guy at the table –… pic.twitter.com/0s4XppWGnF
Markets and businesspeople hate uncertainty, and this is uncertainty cubed.
In short, the Trump administration officials are so gung-ho on the tariffs because they are not a negotiation and also are a negotiation, because they are permanent and also temporary, because they will be a lasting source of new revenue for the government and also a declining…
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 7, 2025