Reflecting and expecting

Jared Isaacman had a plan to overhaul NASA. An internal manifesto written by the once-and-again NASA administrator nominee and billionaire entrepreneur (pictured) was recently obtained by POLITICO. “Project Athena” outlines Isaacman’s vision for the agency, including proposals to reorganize the NASA workforce, critically analyze NASA’s field centers and contracts with industry, focus more heavily on pursuing commercial solutions for human spaceflight and some science programs, invest in future technologies like nuclear propulsion, and pursue more but smaller missions for planetary exploration to “accelerate world-changing discoveries.” Notably, the plan was written when massive budget cuts were first being proposed by the White House Office of Management & Budget. How this document might affect Isaacman’s chances of being confirmed by the U.S. Senate is yet to be seen, but expect Senators to question the nominee during an anticipated confirmation hearing. Jared Isaacman was renominated to lead NASA by President Trump on Nov. 4, the day after these plans were first reported by the press. Image credit: Polaris Dawn.

Akatsuki, the last spacecraft at Venus, is officially dead. The main goal of JAXA’s Akatsuki mission, which entered orbit around Venus in 2015, was to study the Venusian atmosphere. The Japanese space agency declared the mission over this week after more than a year of being unable to communicate with the spacecraft. There are now no active missions at Venus.

The Artemis program may need some changes. Two former NASA administrators recently voiced their concerns about the current architecture for the lunar landing program. NASA’s current acting administrator, Sean Duffy, also recently said that the agency will reopen the Artemis 3 landing contract to competition over concerns with the pace of the development of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle.

Do aliens understand the Universe the same way we do? This is the question explored by physicist Daniel Whiteson of UC Irvine and cartoonist Andy Warner in their book, “Do Aliens Speak Physics?” In it, they explore the nature of knowledge itself, asking whether math and physics are truly universal, or if even our most “objective” truths are shaped by our human perspective. Daniel and Andy join this week’s Planetary Radio to talk about the book and how humor and illustration can make those big cosmic ideas feel surprisingly down-to-Earth. Pictured: An illustration from the book. Image credit: Andy Warner.

Looking for U.S. government spending data? Planetary Society Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier has created a new tool that makes it easy to explore how the U.S. government spends money. The data comes from USASpending.gov, the official federal website for tracking government spending, but that site’s tools can be tricky to use. Casey’s new library simplifies the process, helping researchers, journalists, and anyone curious about government budgets quickly find and analyze the information they need.

Join the moon mania! October’s pick for The Planetary Society’s members-only book club was “Moons: The Mysteries and Marvels of our Solar System” by staff member Kate Howells. Kate joined host Mat Kaplan for a virtual Q&A this week, discussing the many fascinating moons she covers in her book. You can watch a recording of the live-streamed event. To join the book club, log in to the online member community. Not yet a member? Join today!

Bill Nye’s StarTalk takeover is now on YouTube. On a special episode of StarTalk, Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye and Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier took over Neil deGrasse Tyson’s podcast to unpack the budget threat facing NASA Science and what it could mean for the future of exploration. You can watch a video of the conversation here.