Short Takes – 5-30-25

Blue Origin boss: Government should forget launch and focus on “exotic” missions. ArtTechnica.com article. Pull quote: ““Getting up there, building factories on the Moon is a great step, and the government can really help with research dollars around that," he said. "But it still does need the labs. The science missions need the JPLs [Jet Propulsion Laboratory] of the world. To make the human experience right, we need the Johnson Space Centers of the world to be able to kind of use that gold mine of institutional knowledge.”

University of Colorado, Boulder to announce new space policy center. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “On an early agenda for CSPC study includes what Baker said is the unregulated use of low Earth orbit (LEO). The policy center will also tackle science in the n space era, planetary protection, China policy and international partnerships, space commercialization, human versus robotic space exploration as well as relationships between national security and civilian space programs.”

‘One of the most contagious diseases’: Bay Area health officials warn about possible measles exposure. MercuryNews.com article. Pull quote: “Across the state, MMR vaccination rates dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic and have struggled to recover since. In Alameda County, MMR vaccination rates of kindergarteners dropped nearly one percentage point from the 2022-2023 year to 2023-2024. In Santa Clara County, the rates remained largely steady from 98.7% to 98.6% over the same time period.”

CDC Now Advises Shared Decision-Making for Kids' COVID Shots. MedPageToday.com article. Pull quote: “Late Thursday, the CDC updated its childhood immunization schedule to reflect that for kids ages 6 months to 17 years who aren't moderately or severely immunocompromised, the decision to vaccinate should be made via a discussion between parents and healthcare providers.”

White House budget office rebukes watchdog over ‘invasive’ probes. WashingtonPost.com article (free). Pull quote: “But Trump officials have grown more emboldened to challenge the GAO since then. Paoletta’s letter asserts that the GAO has nearly seven times the number of employees as the budget office. It says that as of Friday, the GAO has about 50 “open engagements” with the budget office, which has “struggled to keep up” with the extent of the requests for information. The letter also accuses the nonpartisan watchdog of making recommendations that “take the form of substituting GAO’s policy views for those of the President.””