Derek Richardson
banner
spacewriter.bsky.social
Derek Richardson
@spacewriter.bsky.social
I am a space geek who loves to write and make videos!
I'm @TheSpaceWriter on Twitter and Threads
I also run Orbital Velocity on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OrbitalVelocity
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Ben Fiest, the man behind the "Apollo in Real Time " project, has launched for the International Space Station's 25th Anniversary. "ISS in Real Time" issinrealtime.org #ISS #ISS25 #ISSInRealTime
ISS in Real Time
Explore 25 years onboard the International Space Station.
issinrealtime.org
October 28, 2025 at 8:54 PM
HTV-X1 was captured and berthed to ISS today! There are now 7 vehicles docked/berthed to Station (tied record from 2024). If schedules hold, when Soyuz MS-28 docks in late November, all 8 available ports will be occupied for the first time -- a new record!
October 29, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Great to see HTV-X arrive at the ISS (and by my count, this is the last ever time we'll see a brand new type of Visiting Vehicle arrive at the ISS).
October 29, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
🎵 They did the Monster Slash 😭 @ellecordova.bsky.social
October 8, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
October 5, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
These “agents” like doing this. They want to do this because it’s a legal way to feed their worst compulsions.

And they’ve been given full authority to do it - verbatim - by Stephen Miller and President Trump.
Breaking news: ICE stops family at gunpoint—smash car window on top of newborn baby.

"I was screaming that there was a baby. But they didn’t care," cried mother.

“I covered my baby with my body—I was so scared he was going to be hurt because glass was landing on him."
October 4, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Check out this video on the International Space Station Truss and how NASA built it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvhd...

The Jared Owen Animations team did a phenomenal job on this one. It was a joy to help create this video, and a trip down memory lane for ISS construction!
Building the Space Station Truss (and the Solar Panel Tear)
YouTube video by Jared Owen
www.youtube.com
August 29, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
The administration’s anti-consensus Mars plan will fail

The White House’s FY 2026 budget request for NASA proposes a radical shift in the agency’s direction, proposing extinction-level cuts to space science, severe cuts in other program areas and a dramatic pivot of human spaceflight focus to Mars.
The administration’s anti-consensus Mars plan will fail
The White House’s FY 2026 budget request for NASA proposes a radical shift in the agency’s direction, proposing extinction-level cuts to space science, severe cuts in other program areas and a dramatic pivot of human spaceflight focus to Mars.
spacenews.com
June 16, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
“I have friends everywhere.” 🙌
Signs we made for #NoKings protest in #Pasadena. Lots of people showed up and the signs turned out pretty good! Photos by @carlynorama #NoKingsPasadena #NoKingsProtest
June 15, 2025 at 9:56 AM
The latest video for Jared Owen Animations is out! It's about Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket!

The team did a fantastic job on this one. Each of our names (and others) show up on the New Shepard screens. Let me know if you spot my name. :D 🚀

youtu.be/O9E0Ljd2ML8?...
New Shepard Rocket: Space and Back in 10 minutes
YouTube video by Jared Owen
youtu.be
June 13, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
As the world contemplates NASA's reliance on SpaceX
June 6, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Planetary Society has a very cool dashboard to see where NASA dollars go

@caseydreier.bsky.social
NASA Science Spending Across the U.S.
dashboards.planetary.org
May 31, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
I’ve worked for NASA since the Reagan administration, and I can’t recall a similar situation.
White House to pull NASA nominee Isaacman
Jared Isaacman was set for a vote next week, but now the president is yanking his nomination.
www.semafor.com
June 1, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Following the inspiration of @ohdearz.bsky.social @theplanetaryguy.bsky.social @jtuttlekeane.bsky.social here’s the NASA fleet with the proposed budget cuts. Red X’s will be fully defunded, green X’s will lose all NASA funding but have other funding sources, and exclamation point means >50% cuts
May 31, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Musk spent $292M on Trump's campaign, became a scapegoat for killing thousands of African children to save a few $B for billionaire tax cuts and all he gets at the end is hate for the destruction of NASA's science program under his watch.

Drugs destroyed his mind and made him Howard Hughes V-2.
Opinion | Elon Musk’s Legacy Is Disease, Starvation and Death
www.nytimes.com
May 31, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Trump has pulled Jared Isaacman’s nomination to be head of NASA.
He wants a NASA wrecker instead.
This is a disaster for America.
May 31, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Time to start learning Mandarin, I guess...
Well, that's the end of NASA I think. RIP. Space exploration is now in the hands of billionaires and China.
May 31, 2025 at 9:27 PM
May 31, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Jared 'Rook' Isaacman's nomination for NASA Administrator is being withdrawn. This is bad news for NASA but maybe a good thing for Jared himself though, since being NASA head right now is a bit of a Kobayashi Maru scenario. Rumour is he will be replaced by someone more gungho about slashing NASA
May 31, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
SPACENEWS: NASA budget would cancel dozens of science missions, lay off thousands (But sets aside nearly $2 billion effectively earmarked for SpaceX)

spacenews.com/nasa-budget-...
May 30, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
There's also a line from this movie: The Enterprise is dead in space, the Klingons ready to destroy the ship Kirk was informed his son has been killed. The no win situation is here. Kirk gets up and tells his team "I swear to you, we're not finished yet." Neither are we.
When you grew up watching #StarTrek thinking that
#NASA was the key to that future - and then seeing today's FY 2026 NASA budget request from the White House and realizing you've been robbed.
May 31, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
We're going to learn some tough stuff today about the White House's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026—including what they have in mind for NASA.

I'll share what I hear, but remember:

CONGRESS decides how much money NASA gets, not the White House.

So whatever happens today, the fight continues.
May 30, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
The Presidents Budget Request for NASA is out. It’s a bloodbath

Canceled are DAVINCI, VERITAS, Juno, OSIRIS-APEX, US participation in ExoMars and EnVision…

Huge cut to R&A. No funding to begin development of the Uranus Orbiter.

If you’ve ever cared about NASA, time to contact congress.
May 30, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
Inspired by @jtuttlekeane.bsky.social and @ohdearz.bsky.social, here's what the White House proposed budget cuts to NASA would do to the entirety of the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

Bloodbath is right.
May 31, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Reposted by Derek Richardson
The text on here heavily sounds like the budget people were in bed with Elon. It can't be a coincidence that they wrote that shit, with Elon announcing a near term starship Mars test yesterday. NASA is compromised.
May 30, 2025 at 9:34 PM