@bnjacobs

After a remarkable 25-year journey with NASA, I retired. I help others find their voice. Author. Explorers Club Fellow. Former journalist. May I help you?

 Washington, DC
linkedin.com/in/bnjacobs
Joined December 2008
  • Tweets35.5K
  • Following1.4K
  • Followers10.8K
5.1KMedia
Sold wherever you find podcasts (j/k there is no charge) 🙃🌓
NASA Artemis
@NASAArtemisOct 15
“It was the greatest adventure that four humans can ever go on.” Hear from emeritus astronaut Reid Wiseman and astronaut Christina Koch as they reflect on the Artemis II mission on the latest episode of Houston We Have a Podcast. Take a listen: go.nasa.gov/4euAvmn
Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman (left) stands next to Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch (right) in front of the T-38 planes they used to fly to NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch of the Artemis II mission. They are wearing blue flight suits, sunglasses, and smile at someone off-camera. Credit: NASA/Brandon Hancock

ALT Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman (left) stands next to Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch (right) in front of the T-38 planes they used to fly to NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch of the Artemis II mission. They are wearing blue flight suits, sunglasses, and smile at someone off-camera. Credit: NASA/Brandon Hancock

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Sad to learn of the passing of actor Michael Forest. He was 97. You’d know him from Star Trek’s “Who Mourns for Adonais?”
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I may not be with the team anymore, but I can appreciate the recognition. Congratulations folks.
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
@NASARomanOct 15
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has been named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2026. Roman continues its journey in space to its final orbit, completing critical milestones along the way. We expect first images by early 2027. go.nasa.gov/4yQuwkb
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Bob Jacobs retweeted
Stratolaunch
@StratolaunchOct 13
Stratolaunch is proud to celebrate the 251stanniversary of the United States Navy. Thank you to all active-duty and veteran Navy sailors for your service and dedication. #Navy #Anniversary
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And an unexpected view of today’s #SpaceX launch from my condo in DC.
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Bob Jacobs retweeted
SpaceX
@SpaceXOct 13
Liftoff!
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Again, we are losing our first generation of explorers. When you have a chance to meet them or say "hello," please do so. You're in the presence of remarkable history and achievement.
NASA History Office
@NASAhistoryOct 8
“We had to find a way and we did. Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers.” —Margaret Hamilton Rest in peace, Margaret. Your trailblazing work leading the development of the on-board flight software for the Apollo spacecraft will forever be remembered. 🫡
Margaret Hamilton poses in a command module mockup in 1969. Credit: MIT Photo Service

ALT Margaret Hamilton poses in a command module mockup in 1969. Credit: MIT Photo Service

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A joint broadcast. It was an idea born out of what I considered to be necessity. We needed each other and continuing to do separate programs was a waste of resources. It started with me jokingly yelling, "Screw you and your pretty people" at my SpaceX counterpart during one mission. That grew into a real conversation. The effort led to a joint broadcast format that earned an Emmy or two.
Leah Cheshier@LeahCheshierOct 4
Some things never change. I always enjoy working with @whoisheartbreak! 6 years of missions under our belts — late nights, early mornings, a lot of laughter. Pretty cool to grow up in the world of human spaceflight together.
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This morning, the next crew destined for the International @Space_Station departed Houston -- until next year. Members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 -- NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov -- boarded NASA's T-38 aircraft for their flights to @NASAKennedy Space Center, where they're set to launch on October 1. Learn more about Crew-13: nasa.gov/mission/nasas-space…
From left to right, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk hold up the number "13" with their fingers. They are dressed in blue flight suits. Photo: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava

ALT From left to right, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk hold up the number "13" with their fingers. They are dressed in blue flight suits. Photo: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava

Two of NASA's T-38 aircraft are pictured in flight following departure from Ellington Field. One bears a paint scheme reflecting the Artemis program. Photo: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava

ALT Two of NASA's T-38 aircraft are pictured in flight following departure from Ellington Field. One bears a paint scheme reflecting the Artemis program. Photo: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk stands beside NASA's T-38 aircraft. NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins sits in the backseat. Both wear blue flight suits. Photo: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava

ALT Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk stands beside NASA's T-38 aircraft. NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins sits in the backseat. Both wear blue flight suits. Photo: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava

From left to right, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk walk carrying green bags and wearing blue flight suits ahead of departing aboard T-38 aircraft for NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Photo: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava

ALT From left to right, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk walk carrying green bags and wearing blue flight suits ahead of departing aboard T-38 aircraft for NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Photo: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava

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What stunning imagery. But more important, what a stunning achievement. Way to go @SpaceX and @NASA. We're so ready to leave Earth's gravity well.
SpaceX
@SpaceXSep 28
Splashdown confirmed. Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the first orbital flight of Starship!
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And a pop culture reference for all times was born.
Henry Winkler
@hwinkler4realSep 20
OMG I was there .. Man could that guy water ski
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He's at least the third Administrator to ask for this. And as pointed out, the SRBs are recovered. It's the core you lose, along with those beautiful engines. The core stage just wasn't designed for that kind of retro fit. Now, add the extra fuel needed and the hardware and additional control engines, etc. Probably something that's not in the budget. It would look spectacular, though.
David Willis
@ThePrimalDinoSep 17
Replying to @NASAAdmin
@NASAAdmin An idea I would love to see taken under consideration is the reintroduction of booster recovery for the Artemis IV SLS launch. Artemis IV is to be the historic mission that will see American Astronauts return to the surface of the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, and it would be incredible to recover flight hardware from the astronaut’s launch to put on display. The Space Shuttle SRBs flying on SLS were already designed with recovery in mind, so it would not be too big of a stretch to re-implement this feature for a one time historic mission recovery. Plus it would allow for a future SLS display to include flown hardware instead of just mockups. This is not something that would normally be undertaken, but your administration seems uniquely open to interesting new ideas such as this, and I think it is definitely worth the time to consider doing something like this!
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And in one post you get the battle communications has had with its own leadership over the years. NASA continually failed to grasp the value of public buy-in and often carried out the original plan to the end... despite there being loud, vocal proof that something more exciting was right there for the taking. We made a lot of progress over my two decades, but the same battles had to be fought over and over again. Administrator Bolden had the best reaction when faced with a flawed process. He simply asked, "Where is the common sense button?" Every project and program should have that "common sense" button. It allows you to shift direction quickly when an opportunity presents itself.
NASA History Office
@NASAhistorySep 17
These are the voyages of the Space Shuttle Enterprise! 50 years ago today, NASA's first space shuttle voyaged out of the Rockwell facility in Palmdale for its public unveiling! Hundreds of invited guests, including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and several members of the Star Trek original series cast joined in the first orbiter's rollout celebrations. NASA had originally planned for the orbiter to be named Constitution and scheduled for the rollout for Constitution Day. But President Gerald Ford, after receiving letters from thousands of Trekkies, directed NASA to name the shuttle Enterprise after the fictional starship.
Pictured from left to right in this photo are NASA Administrator James D. Fletcher, DeForest Kelley (who played Dr. “Bones” McCoy in the original Star Trek series), George Takei (Mr. Sulu), James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry, U.S. Rep. Don Fuqua (D.-Fla) and Walter Koenig (Ensign Chekov). They are posed in front of space shuttle Enterprise during its rollout ceremony on Sept. 17, 1976.

ALT Pictured from left to right in this photo are NASA Administrator James D. Fletcher, DeForest Kelley (who played Dr. “Bones” McCoy in the original Star Trek series), George Takei (Mr. Sulu), James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry, U.S. Rep. Don Fuqua (D.-Fla) and Walter Koenig (Ensign Chekov). They are posed in front of space shuttle Enterprise during its rollout ceremony on Sept. 17, 1976.

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At work they refer to these as "first light." It's when they turn things on for the first time to see of it works. Looks like Roman is doing well. Now comes the tuning.
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
@NASARomanSep 15
Sometimes your eyes need a minute to focus when you wake up. Roman's Wide Field Instrument just woke up for the first time EVER, and scientists have started adjusting its "eyes" so they can focus on the bigger picture. Check out its first test image below go.nasa.gov/4j51w30
This test image captures the very first photons of starlight to reach the Wide Field Instrument on NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It was taken as an initial performance assessment with the detector array still stowed as it was for launch, far from best focus. Roman’s primary science instrument has opened its eyes to the universe for the first time, revealing a sea of out-of-focus stars, each spread out over many thousands of pixels. The image, which zooms into one detector and zooms again to a single star in the insets, offers a baseline the Roman team will work from to align the telescope’s optics and tune the focus. The team will soon activate the instrument’s fine-guidance system, which will mean Roman can lock onto targets. They’ll also focus the observatory, which will shrink each star’s light to appear as a crisp point, rather than the broad, donut-like features seen here (which appear as expected given the instrument’s present configuration).

ALT This test image captures the very first photons of starlight to reach the Wide Field Instrument on NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It was taken as an initial performance assessment with the detector array still stowed as it was for launch, far from best focus. Roman’s primary science instrument has opened its eyes to the universe for the first time, revealing a sea of out-of-focus stars, each spread out over many thousands of pixels. The image, which zooms into one detector and zooms again to a single star in the insets, offers a baseline the Roman team will work from to align the telescope’s optics and tune the focus. The team will soon activate the instrument’s fine-guidance system, which will mean Roman can lock onto targets. They’ll also focus the observatory, which will shrink each star’s light to appear as a crisp point, rather than the broad, donut-like features seen here (which appear as expected given the instrument’s present configuration).

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Today’s @NFL flyover in Pittsburgh is just the beginning. This is how @NASA does game day. 🇺🇸
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It's all about the math. This is incredible news.
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
@NASARomanSep 14
Achievement unlocked! Reward: More years of fuel! We have completed Roman's first course correction so accurately that it conserved years of fuel for the mission! Learn more: go.nasa.gov/46qdvRj
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Now this is a lecture I’d rock out to 🎸
Asteroid Institute, a program of B612@b612foundationSep 3
Congratulations to @DrBrianMay, astrophysicist, Queen guitarist, and #AsteroidDay cofounder, on receiving the National Space Society @nss Space Pioneer Award. He joins B612 cofounder & Apollo 9 #RustySchweickart, who received the award in 2009 for Historic Space Achievement
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If you wonder why flying 5X the speed of sound is important, you get a pretty good explanation here. #FlyFast
Stratolaunch
@StratolaunchSep 3
The future of U.S. hypersonics depends on moving faster—from breakthrough engineering to real-world flight testing. Zack Krevor recently joined @defaeroreport for a discussion on hypersonic technology and how Stratolaunch is supporting the acceleration of U.S. leadership in hypersonics. Zack discusses the technology behind Stratolaunch’s reusable, air-launched hypersonic flight-test platform, and how Stratolaunch is working to deliver more frequent, operationally relevant testing and the critical data needed to accelerate hypersonic innovation. Listen to the full conversation here: stratolaunch.com/news/strato…
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Earth to Roman! 📡 Our team has deployed Roman’s high-data-rate dish antenna. This antenna will be used to send more than a terabyte of science data down from the observatory daily. science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman…
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