However, the shifts on NSF programs and priorities is also disturbing. Critical programs are being "archived" (effectively shut down). Many programs are being consolidated without expanding available funding. The science productivity of the US is about to plummet, and we'll be worse for it.

The news concerning tearing apart NCAR is especially distressing- it's a dangerous precedent to end one of the world's most successful, productive centers because their findings on the climate are inconvenient.

3 short tweets: agents in the area.
3 long tweets: an active arrest is occurring.

Eric's point - that we are desperate for leadership and Isaacman seems qualified and ready - has been our perspective for months. We were devastated when his nomination was pulled and excited that it's back because our need for stable, competent leadership is so dire.

We don't know what missions will be funded.

We don't know what science will be prioritized.

We don't know what, if any, funding opportunities will be available.

We don't know who to talk to change anything.

We don't know what to tell students who are worried about their future in science.

NASA guides so much about what the space community does- especially outside of NASA, both in science and engineering. Funding agencies such as NSF often look to NASA's priorities to set their own.

Speaking for the science community, "Uncertain" doesn't even begin to describe the ongoing situation.

Ah, we'll catch you in the playoffs. 😉😁🤪 ggwp. Go loins.

The hope is that Space Weather Follow-On (SWFO), currently on it's way to the first Lagrange point (L1), will solve this observational/operational crisis. SWFO was designed from the ground-up for operations- it should give some *excellent* data.

So what does SWPC do? They switch to DSCOVR! DSCOVR's plasma instrument is also suspect, often yielding WILD oscillations that are not accurate. That's happening right now! See my annotations in the plot below. You can see when SWPC switches to DSCOVR and when DSCOVR goes nuts.

...breaking this down: this is ACE real time data. The plasma instrument, SWEPAM, is very old. Under strong conditions, the instrument can not give good, clean data. We can see the precise moment where SWEPAM stops operating accurately in the orange, yellow, and green lines below.

This storm is nuts! Nuts, I tell you!