Alain Plattner

Planetary scientist, near-surface geophysicist. Assistant Professor at University of Alabama. From Basel Switzerland. Opinions are my own, not my employer's.

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@BreytonPaulse Beautiful photo!! The stars of my youth!!

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@SenKatieBritt Thank you for your support of space exploration!

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@Robert_Aderholt Thank you, Sir, for your support of NASA and space exploration!

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@Robert_Aderholt Our beautiful state and in particular MSFC have been contributing to this exciting NASA mission. Thank you, Sir, for your support of lunar and planetary exploration.

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@usmlr @Nigelrefowens No one beats Nige! Ever! At anything!

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@will_owen9 I agree! There is really nothing quite like watching Nico Cannone sing the national anthem!

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

I’m feeling at a bit of a loss due to a general negative sentiment about spaceflight, so I wanted to give you a bit of perspective…

In the 60’s, the entire world cheered on Apollo. Rightfully so, as it accelerated humanity forward into the space age. Grainy photos inspired millions, and the rocks brought back changed our understanding of the universe.

But the program wasn’t perfect… it used over 4% of the entire federal budget, was incredibly dangerous by modern standards, and had questionable political motives.

By comparison, the Artemis program is closer to .1% of the federal budget today, and is operating at safety margins that are significantly better than the missions during Apollo. This has of course slowed things down, but the result is a program that can survive in our challenging modern political climate.

Yet in every post about it, I’m seeing constant negative comments. Most seem rooted in a lack of understanding of the mission goals, or why this is such a massive deal after literal decades of proposed returns to the moon that went nowhere.

This is the first crewed mission in our triumphant return to the moon in over 50 years. Unlike the missions from the Apollo Era, there is a massive commercial industry capable of supporting our return to the moon, it’s not all resting on the taxpayer and Congress to fund nasa.

We’re going back to the moon safer and with a significantly smaller budget than we did in the 60s, and this time, the inertia generated by this event isn’t entirely determined by politics. As I write this, private companies are building hardware to use on the moon, despite not being contracted by the government to do this. There is a trillion dollar industry waiting to build infrastructure on the moon. With the weight of a massive Earth-Moon economy looming, we won’t see that go away.

This mission is the first major step towards our spacefaring future and I couldn’t be more optimistic about it.

Go Artemis!

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@c_reinach @THESTORMERS You were incredible last match! Looking forward to seeing you connect with Jurie Matthee!

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@RepTerriSewell @RepDaleStrong This makes me so happy! It's fantastic to see people of both parties working together to achieve great things!

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@WarrickGelant @URCOfficial @THESTORMERS Absolutely crazy! You guys basically beat the irish national team while missing key springboks players. The spirit of this team is amazing!!! Huge congratulations!!

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@BryanHabana What I'm trying to say is: it breaks my heart seeing a player deliberately hurting another player and this was especially egregious.

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@BryanHabana It is one of those incidents that makes watching rugby a bit less fun :(.

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@RassieRugby I love stats like these but it would be easier to read if age, weight, and caps were in the same order for both teams.

[Robert Aderholt @Robert_Aderholt]

Today we learned that an infant was safely surrendered at the new Safe Haven Baby Box at Muscle Shoals Fire Station Four—the first use of this life-saving resource in the city. I’m grateful to the Muscle Shoals first responders and the Kids to Love Foundation, which helped spearhead Baby Boxes across North Alabama, for ensuring this child received immediate care and a path to a loving home. This is exactly why I support Safe Haven initiatives—compassionate, anonymous options that protect life and help parents in crisis.
https://t.co/V6sL24QhFz

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@Robert_Aderholt Thank you sir for supporting and highlighting baby boxes. I cannot imagine the pain a mom must feel to leave her baby, but at least she can do it knowing that the little one will grow up in a safer home that she may be able to provide.

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@RepTerriSewell Thank you for your hard work for our state! And thank you for holding town hall meetings. It is a wonderful way for the community to connect with what is happening at the national level.

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@SenKatieBritt Thank you for your work supporting research! It saves countless lives and moves our country forward. Research overhead is used to support the laboratory infrastructure and to fund pilot studies that may become NIH fundable in the future.

[J. Frank Barefield Jr. College of Arts & Sciences @UA_BCAS]

⚡ Dr. Konstantin Matchev is The University of Alabama’s inaugural Endowed Shelby Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.

🔬 “STEM has a bright future in Tuscaloosa,” Dr. Matchev said.

🔗 Read more about Dr. Matchev here! https://t.co/arQ3sRTomc

[Alain Plattner @AlainPlattner]

@JoeMarler It could be considered a Banksy

[Amir @bgramrhssn]

Cool planetary mission concept illustration!

@B_jour