Latest news with #ExplorersProgram
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Audit of Canton Police's handling of Sandra Birchmore death says all procedures were followed
As part of the 200-page audit into the Canton Police Department released Tuesday, the audit team determined all procedures were followed related to officers' investigation into the death of Sandra Birchmore. Birchmore was found dead in her apartment at Windsor Woods 3307 on February 4, 2021. Canton Police initially ruled her death a suicide by hanging, but in the years since, former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell has been charged with her murder. According to court documents, Farwell was one of three Stoughton officers who had an inappropriate relationship with Sandra when she was a young teen in the Stoughton Police Department's Explorers Program. Investigators believe Farwell killed Sandra when she was 23 years old after learning she was pregnant with his baby. He was also a married father of three at the time. The night of Birchmore's death, the 5 Stones Intelligence Audit Team determined Canton Police officers 'followed all procedures related to crime scene preservation.' The timeline is as follows below: On February 6, 2021, two days after she was found dead, 5 Stones Intelligence said that Canton Police received 'critical' information from two witnesses who said Birchmore had been dating a police officer, who didn't want the baby, 'and if Birchmore did not get an abortion, he [boyfriend] would take care of the problem himself.' After identifying that Farwell was present at Birchmore's apartment on the night of her death, and establishing he was involved in a long-standing intimate relationship with her, Chief Helena Rafferty advised the audit team that after February 6, investigative authority into Birchmore's death was turned over to the Massachusetts State Police and Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey's Office. Pursuant to Canton Police's handling of the investigation, the audit team recommended the following: Officers should digitally photograph all crime scenes and sketch the scene. Chief of the Investigations Division should review all death investigation police reports to ensure completeness, accuracy and exhaustion of all investigative avenues prior to being finalized. Canton Police should remain involved in death investigations that occur within the Town of Canton. 'Town officials and the Police Audit Committee are now carefully reviewing the findings to assess any necessary next steps,' audit committee chair Robert McCarthy shared in a written statement. 'The committee is committed to working with all stakeholders, including the police department, town leadership, and residents to ensure that any recommendations are thoughtfully considered and appropriately implemented.' A spokesperson for the Canton Police Department told Boston 25 News on Tuesday they had yet to review the full 200-page audit. The full audit can be on the town's website here. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Amid tense clashes between NASA and Musk, two NASA science missions launch on SpaceX rocket
After every federal employee received an email asking them to list their recent accomplishments, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X, warning any employee who didn't respond would be terminated. NASA, instead, asserted that replying was optional and that its leadership would handle the weeks after the clash, the space agency hitched a ride to orbit on a SpaceX rocket. It's another indicator that, despite an aggressive push by the Trump Administration and Musk to significantly reduce government spending and the federal workforce that have led to some tense public disputes, NASA's space science missions — and its relationship with SpaceX, the dominant launch provider in the U.S. — have so far remained relatively unscathed. The space agency narrowly escaped the mass firing of its probationary employees and has stayed out of the political crosshairs of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, which is working to slash funding at agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency. It has also survived some strained squabbles with the SpaceX CEO, including Musk's call to deorbit the International Space Station as soon as possible, before its scheduled 2030 decommissioning date. Yet, tangible threats to the space agency's status quo are looming on the horizon, space-policy experts say, including potentially significant budget cuts and staff reductions through the normal processes of government. 'There's a lot of this highly disruptive, very symbolic culture war … that's taking a lot of attention,' said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, a Pasadena-based nonprofit advocating for space science and exploration. 'But the bigger issue is the more quotidian of, will NASA get the money it needs to do the projects it's told to do.' SpaceX launched two NASA spacecraft Tuesday — both part of the agency's Explorers Program, designed to provide frequent flight and funding opportunities for space science missions — on its Falcon 9 rocket. It included a spacecraft from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge that will study the rapid expansion that occurred during the first split-second of the universe and a mission from the Southwest Research Institute, a private nonprofit organization based in Texas and Colorado, that will explore the dynamics of solar wind. Read more: New JPL space mission seeks to unravel the mystery of cosmic 'inflation' Despite the public clashes, a NASA spokesperson said the agency's relationship with Musk's company remains strong. "NASA is working with partners like SpaceX to build an economy in low Earth orbit and take our next giant leaps in exploration at the Moon and Mars for the benefit of all," the spokesperson said in a statement. "To date, NASA invested more than $15 billion in SpaceX for its work under numerous agency contracts." The Falcon 9 has become one of the U.S.' most prolific and reliable rides to space (and unlike SpaceX's developmental Starship rocket, it does not frequently explode). Much of the rocket's success is thanks to a nearly two-decade partnership with NASA. The space agency funded the development of the rocket in 2006 as part of a push to foster a burgeoning private launch industry ahead of the retirement of the Space Shuttle. Two years later, SpaceX was the first private company to reach space with a liquid-fueled rocket, using a scaled-down precursor to the Falcon 9. In the years since, NASA has given SpaceX billions in contracts to shuttle supplies and, later, astronauts to and from the ISS; launch science missions far beyond Earth's orbit; and now, develop a spacecraft to deorbit the ISS in 2030 and the Starship rocket to carry humans back to the moon. Read more: NASA launches Europa Clipper to see if Jupiter's icy moon has ingredients for life As SpaceX excelled in rocket development, other private launch companies — and NASA itself — struggled to keep up. In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing $4.2 billion and SpaceX $2.6 billion to develop capsules to launch astronauts to the ISS. But while SpaceX has launched 10 missions to the ISS with NASA astronauts to date, Boeing has managed only one botched crewed test flight that left two U.S. astronauts on the ISS without a ride back, until SpaceX agreed to take them home. (Notably, that involved another incident pitting Musk against NASA, in which the former described the astronauts as 'stranded,' despite the latter's insistence that this was a mischaracterization.) Meanwhile, NASA's Space Shuttle successor, the Space Launch System, has accrued billions in cost overruns and years of delays. The rocket's side boosters and engines were originally projected to cost $7 billion over 14 years of development and flights. That's grown to at least $13.1 billion over 25 years, according to a report from the NASA Office of Inspector General. The result: Over the years, America's space agency has become increasingly dependent on SpaceX and Musk for access to space. Then, the Trump administration created DOGE — a temporary organization in the executive office (and not an official government department) — and instated Musk as a special government employee to head it. The administration began firing probationary employees — government workers in their first year of a new role, who are not yet considered full employees — across the federal government, including at the National Park Service, U.S. Agency for International Development, and most recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On Feb. 18, NASA employees braced for a similar cut, but it never came. The agency announced it had worked with the Office of Personnel Management to avoid the firings and that about 5% of the workforce had resigned voluntarily as part of a separate program to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Instead, the agency began undertaking a longer-term by-the-books reduction of staff mandated by an executive order. The agency, in a document outlining the process, stated it intends to proceed in a manner that 'minimizes adverse impact on employees and limits disruption to critical Agency missions, programs, operations, and organizations.' The agency is partnering with OPM and DOGE to carry out the reduction and does not have a specific percent reduction goal, a NASA spokesperson said in a statement. At a Cabinet meeting, Musk said DOGE's goal is not to be "capricious or unfair" and said the temporary organization has no target numbers. Instead, he wants to keep "everyone who is doing a job that is essential and doing that job well." NASA began the layoffs Monday with 23 employees in advisory science and policy offices, as well as a diversity, equity and inclusion branch. Employees at JPL, a government contractor funded by NASA but managed by Caltech, are exempt from the reduction, both NASA and JPL confirmed. However, the laboratory remains at the whims of federal funding for its missions. While, publicly, NASA's science funding has not seen the same level of scrutiny or cuts as other science agencies, Congress has a quick-approaching March 14 budget deadline, and, in line with the White House, the Republican-controlled chambers are set on decreasing federal spending. The implications for NASA's science programs could be significant. In an example budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget proposed slashing NASA's science budget in half — which would far outpace previous budget cuts to the agency's science programs. Typically, NASA's science budget follows the trends of the rest of the discretionary budget, which doesn't include mandatory spending like Medicare and Social Security that is managed outside the typical budget process. 'People love NASA, but in general, NASA's budget doesn't buck the trend of overall non-defense discretionary,' said Dreier. 'If that pie gets bigger, NASA's slice gets a little bigger, but if it gets smaller, NASA's slice doesn't stay big.' Read more: Scientists long urged NASA to search for signs of life near Jupiter. Now it's happening When Congress has tough choices to make over which programs to fund, it's often the science and technology side — and not the human spaceflight side — of the agency that sees the biggest cuts. Notably — with representatives jockeying to bring funding to their own constituents — conservative-leaning states are home to NASA's biggest human spaceflight centers, like the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Texas. More liberal states are home to many of the science-focused centers, like JPL and Maryland's Goddard Space Flight Center, which runs the Explorers Program. And within the science spending, it's the big flagship science missions, like the James Webb Space Telescope, that survive, whereas smaller missions, like those in the Explorers Program, end up on the chopping block. The bigger missions often have many more advocates across the country ready to defend the programs, and stir up backlash if they're canceled. The Senate has yet to hold hearings for Trump's NASA administrator pick, Jared Isaacman, a Musk and SpaceX business partner who rode to space on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2021 as part of the first space mission with an all-civilian crew. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Amid tense clashes between NASA and Musk, two NASA science missions launch on SpaceX rocket
After every federal employee received an email asking them to list their recent accomplishments, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X, warning any employee who didn't respond would be terminated. NASA, instead, asserted that replying was optional and that its leadership would handle the weeks after the clash, the space agency hitched a ride to orbit on a SpaceX rocket. It's another indicator that, despite an aggressive push by the Trump Administration and Musk to significantly reduce government spending and the federal workforce that have led to some tense public disputes, NASA's space science missions — and its relationship with SpaceX, the dominant launch provider in the U.S. — have so far remained relatively unscathed. The space agency narrowly escaped the mass firing of its probationary employees and has stayed out of the political crosshairs of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, which is working to slash funding at agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency. It has also survived some strained squabbles with the SpaceX CEO, including Musk's call to deorbit the International Space Station as soon as possible, before its scheduled 2030 decommissioning date. Yet, tangible threats to the space agency's status quo are looming on the horizon, space-policy experts say, including potentially significant budget cuts and staff reductions through the normal processes of government. 'There's a lot of this highly disruptive, very symbolic culture war … that's taking a lot of attention,' said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, a Pasadena-based nonprofit advocating for space science and exploration. 'But the bigger issue is the more quotidian of, will NASA get the money it needs to do the projects it's told to do.' SpaceX launched two NASA spacecraft Tuesday — both part of the agency's Explorers Program, designed to provide frequent flight and funding opportunities for space science missions — on its Falcon 9 rocket. It included a spacecraft from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge that will study the rapid expansion that occurred during the first split-second of the universe and a mission from the Southwest Research Institute, a private nonprofit organization based in Texas and Colorado, that will explore the dynamics of solar wind. Despite the public clashes, a NASA spokesperson said the agency's relationship with Musk's company remains strong. 'NASA is working with partners like SpaceX to build an economy in low Earth orbit and take our next giant leaps in exploration at the Moon and Mars for the benefit of all,' the spokesperson said in a statement. 'To date, NASA invested more than $15 billion in SpaceX for its work under numerous agency contracts.' The Falcon 9 has become one of the U.S.' most prolific and reliable rides to space (and unlike SpaceX's developmental Starship rocket, it does not frequently explode). Much of the rocket's success is thanks to a nearly two-decade partnership with NASA. The space agency funded the development of the rocket in 2006 as part of a push to foster a burgeoning private launch industry ahead of the retirement of the Space Shuttle. Two years later, SpaceX was the first private company to reach space with a liquid-fueled rocket, using a scaled-down precursor to the Falcon 9. In the years since, NASA has given SpaceX billions in contracts to shuttle supplies and, later, astronauts to and from the ISS; launch science missions far beyond Earth's orbit; and now, develop a spacecraft to deorbit the ISS in 2030 and the Starship rocket to carry humans back to the moon. As SpaceX excelled in rocket development, other private launch companies — and NASA itself — struggled to keep up. In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing $4.2 billion and SpaceX $2.6 billion to develop capsules to launch astronauts to the ISS. But while SpaceX has launched 10 missions to the ISS with NASA astronauts to date, Boeing has managed only one botched crewed test flight that left two U.S. astronauts on the ISS without a ride back, until SpaceX agreed to take them home. (Notably, that involved another incident pitting Musk against NASA, in which the former described the astronauts as 'stranded,' despite the latter's insistence that this was a mischaracterization.) Meanwhile, NASA's Space Shuttle successor, the Space Launch System, has accrued billions in cost overruns and years of delays. The rocket's side boosters and engines were originally projected to cost $7 billion over 14 years of development and flights. That's grown to at least $13.1 billion over 25 years, according to a report from the NASA Office of Inspector General. The result: Over the years, America's space agency has become increasingly dependent on SpaceX and Musk for access to space. Then, the Trump administration created DOGE — a temporary organization in the executive office (and not an official government department) — and instated Musk as a special government employee to head it. The administration began firing probationary employees — government workers in their first year of a new role, who are not yet considered full employees — across the federal government, including at the National Park Service, U.S. Agency for International Development, and most recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On Feb. 18, NASA employees braced for a similar cut, but it never came. The agency announced it had worked with the Office of Personnel Management to avoid the firings and that about 5% of the workforce had resigned voluntarily as part of a separate program to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Instead, the agency began undertaking a longer-term by-the-books reduction of staff mandated by an executive order. The agency, in a document outlining the process, stated it intends to proceed in a manner that 'minimizes adverse impact on employees and limits disruption to critical Agency missions, programs, operations, and organizations.' The agency is partnering with OPM and DOGE to carry out the reduction and does not have a specific percent reduction goal, a NASA spokesperson said in a statement. At a Cabinet meeting, Musk said DOGE's goal is not to be 'capricious or unfair' and said the temporary organization has no target numbers. Instead, he wants to keep 'everyone who is doing a job that is essential and doing that job well.' NASA began the layoffs Monday with 23 employees in advisory science and policy offices, as well as a diversity, equity and inclusion branch. Employees at JPL, a government contractor funded by NASA but managed by Caltech, are exempt from the reduction, both NASA and JPL confirmed. However, the laboratory remains at the whims of federal funding for its missions. While, publicly, NASA's science funding has not seen the same level of scrutiny or cuts as other science agencies, Congress has a quick-approaching March 14 budget deadline, and, in line with the White House, the Republican-controlled chambers are set on decreasing federal spending. The implications for NASA's science programs could be significant. In an example budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget proposed slashing NASA's science budget in half — which would far outpace previous budget cuts to the agency's science programs. Typically, NASA's science budget follows the trends of the rest of the discretionary budget, which doesn't include mandatory spending like Medicare and Social Security that is managed outside the typical budget process. 'People love NASA, but in general, NASA's budget doesn't buck the trend of overall non-defense discretionary,' said Dreier. 'If that pie gets bigger, NASA's slice gets a little bigger, but if it gets smaller, NASA's slice doesn't stay big.' When Congress has tough choices to make over which programs to fund, it's often the science and technology side — and not the human spaceflight side — of the agency that sees the biggest cuts. Notably — with representatives jockeying to bring funding to their own constituents — conservative-leaning states are home to NASA's biggest human spaceflight centers, like the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Texas. More liberal states are home to many of the science-focused centers, like JPL and Maryland's Goddard Space Flight Center, which runs the Explorers Program. And within the science spending, it's the big flagship science missions, like the James Webb Space Telescope, that survive, whereas smaller missions, like those in the Explorers Program, end up on the chopping block. The bigger missions often have many more advocates across the country ready to defend the programs, and stir up backlash if they're canceled. The Senate has yet to hold hearings for Trump's NASA administrator pick, Jared Isaacman, a Musk and SpaceX business partner who rode to space on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2021 as part of the first space mission with an all-civilian crew. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.
