Tom Donaldson

Software engineer. Tweets/opinions are my own.

[NASA Watch @NASAWatch]

Keith’s note: OK so I am ‘back’. Thanks for all the kind words, support etc. Let’s get to business. The month of September is going to be the hardest yet for NASA. Multiple budget profiles will collide with one another – in an inelastic fashion. Missions will be on hold and operate in holding pattern mode. Other missions will simply die at the hands of budgeteers. And the people of NASA – regardless of where their paycheck comes from – will still be called upon to lead humanity’s exploration of space while being stressed from multiple directions. Meanwhile, the political people inside the glass doors on the 9th floor of NASA HQ simply don’t care what happens to the agency’s workforce – or keeping them informed. As if you had not already figured that out. That said, NASA is already ‘Great In Space”. No “Again” required. Despite the political rhetoric over the years, NASA has begun humanity’s expansion into interstellar space. No one else has done that. And NASA’s lead will be rather hard to eclipse. Anyway – here is my top ten take on things to be aware of in September. Warning – it is not pretty – but it is also not without hope.
More: https://t.co/brq09Ip44D #NASA #AdAstra #DareMightyThings

[NASA Watch @NASAWatch]

They Are Throwing NASA Away -- Keith's note to NASA employees and contractor partners: If there is no FY 2026 budget by 30 Sep, a CR will be in place until there is. Yet major decisions are already being implemented per the devastating President's FY 2026 Budget Request (PBR). So ignore official statements from #NASA to the contrary. Even if a budget is approved, the actions taken by NASA may be hard or impossible to reverse.

@NASA HQ simply does not care what Congress thinks. Senior management across NASA has been told to "implement the PBR to the letter" on October 1. Nothing is in writing. It's all verbal. Odds are that most of your management - nearly all the way up - are being officially kept in the dark and simply told to comply. FYI NASA HQ 9th floor: this is not a secret - everyone, everywhere in the broader space community knows what is going on.

So pardon me if I seem to be a tad strident today. I have been watching NASA do its thing since I was a 6 year old in 1961. And I used to work there. I am heart broken - and angry - at the impending destruction of this unrivaled, amazing resource and the horrid treatment of the outstanding, inspired people who have made it what it is.

https://t.co/WCSTMvypx5

[. @GregTSargent]

For 50 years GOP has used 3 big scams:

*deficits pose dire threat only when Dem is in WH
*tax cuts for rich pay for themselves
*safety net cuts needed to purge welfare cheats

w/this bill, Trump's "working class GOP" is supercharging all three

New piece:
https://t.co/1gjAxXtLaA

[NASA Watch @NASAWatch]

Audio from today's @NASA Town Hall: https://t.co/S169bkevK5
Speakers
- Janet Petro, Acting NASA Administrator
- Brian Hughes, NASA Chief of Staff
- Vanessa Wyche, Acting NASA Associate Administrator
- Casey Swails, Deputy Associate Administrator

[Chris Murphy 🟧 @ChrisMurphyCT]

This guy stole $10 million from the employees of his nursing home to buy himself a luxury yacht and Cartier watches. He PLED GUILTY.

And because his Mom gave Trump $1 million, he just got a pardon.

And this story barely makes the news today. WTF.
https://t.co/RyKqBDdyNW

[Tom Donaldson @Tom_Donaldson]

For anyone still wondering if the editorial decisions at @washingtonpost have been compromised by the cowardly @JeffBezos, compare yesterday’s nationwide #handsoff protests with the front page of the formerly great newspaper.

[PBS News @NewsHour]

U.S. authorities did not respond to a request from The Associated Press for figures on how many tourists have recently been held at detention facilities or explain why they weren’t simply denied entry. https://t.co/YaK2oGtjqM

[Brian Schatz @brianschatz]

You guys Senate Republicans are ON IT. And by ON IT I mean they had a hearing on colonizing Greenland this morning.

[Tom Donaldson @Tom_Donaldson]

@davidfolkenflik "When it comes to the appearance of conflict, I am not an ideal owner of The Post."

At least he got one thing right.

[JM Rieger @RiegerReport]

Coronavirus infection may cause lasting damage throughout the body, doctors fear https://t.co/fhqRhqouZl

[David Hogg 🟧 @davidhogg111]

If this can happen to a president with secret service, if this can happen in Parkland with a cop assigned to our campus, if this can happen in Uvalde with hundreds of police.

STOP TALKING ABOUT GOOD GUYS WITH GUNS AND START DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THE GUNS.

[Hubble @NASAHubble]

After careful consideration, work is underway to transition @NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to operate using only one gyroscope.

This change will allow Hubble to continue making important observations through this decade and into the next.

Find out why we're making this change and what Hubble's new one-gyro mode means here: https://t.co/nWrsA8wkpk

[Tom Donaldson @Tom_Donaldson]

@ChrisMurphyCT Um, yes, but does no one proofread your tweets?

[Tom Donaldson @Tom_Donaldson]

@nicoleradziwill Yes! Very cool!

[Tom Donaldson @Tom_Donaldson]

@CandaceDBuckner Savage and awesome line: ‘They claim it’s a “Win-Win-Win!” (That’s three more wins than the Wizards recorded in February.)’

[Tom Donaldson @Tom_Donaldson]

@Paul_B_Ellis Given Baltimore’s history, they might want to come up with a new name for the project.

[Scott Fleming @ScottWFleming]

Have a spare 15-20 minutes? Please take this survey to support my colleague's (Adrian Garcia Riber) PhD research, combining sonification, astronomy data, and deep learning. You HAVE to hear some of the ML compositions created from sonification of spectra! https://t.co/o1mI2a9bk2

[Tom Donaldson @Tom_Donaldson]

@hbhammel Hello from several rows back! 👋

[Tom Donaldson @Tom_Donaldson]

@shellson11 @idsinger @not_wildebeast I hate to miss that!

[Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew]

This is a really nice science paper, but more importantly, hidden in the acknowledgements is a dedication to Rob Hawkins, who was lead developer on the Astronomers' Proposal Tool (APT) until his very sudden passing in November 2020 https://t.co/arDBDAMD6Y