<![CDATA[The SciComm Space]]>https://www.thescicommspace.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7x00!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ac3f266-f609-4df1-aa31-3d2226c3bf10_500x500.pngThe SciComm Spacehttps://www.thescicommspace.comSubstackMon, 25 May 2026 05:46:14 GMT<![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #29]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-29https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-29Fri, 15 May 2026 15:27:51 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a biweekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #28]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-28https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-28Fri, 01 May 2026 17:13:52 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a biweekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #27]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-27https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-27Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:02:47 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a biweekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[The Petrova Protocol: Communicating at the End of the World]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/the-petrova-protocol-communicatinghttps://www.thescicommspace.com/p/the-petrova-protocol-communicatingFri, 20 Mar 2026 15:29:00 GMTI absolutely loved reading Project Hail Mary last month in preparation for the movie’s release today, March 20. Andy Weir, author of Project Hail Mary and The Martian, and Drew Goddard, the screenwriter for The Martian, reunited to craft the script starring Ryan Gosling. A lone astronaut, Ryland Grace, wakes up with amnesia on a spaceship millions of miles from Earth, tasked with saving humanity from an extinction-level threat. With a science-driven plot, Weir presents a narrative blending accuracy, humor, and heart in this “hard science” fiction book.

As a public relations specialist, the book left me with one question: How do you keep the public informed about this crisis and solution?

As a disclaimer, I do not represent my employer nor NASA. My opinions and thoughts are my own. This piece focuses on what the science communication efforts might look like in the fictional world of Project Hail Mary, including fictional responses from space agencies.

Beware, reading any further may spoil the book.

Looking at Project Hail Mary, there are three main points the project needs to communicate with the public: recognizing a planetary crisis, finding a global solution, preparing for the Hail Mary launch, and staying vigilant for the beetles’ return.

A Planetary Crisis Uncovered

In the early pages of the novel, humanity discovers an invasive interstellar microbe that is absorbing the Sun’s radiation. Fictional statistics frequently cite that a quarter of the planet’s population could perish in 30 years as the Sun’s luminosity drops. Eva Stratt led an international government effort to tackle the astrophage problem at all costs. She would likely hide much of the top-secret and classified information from the public to prevent bad actors from interfering with the planet-saving mission.

In the novel, the American space agency would likely share as much scientific information as possible about astrophage and the planetary crisis. Sharing results in real time garners trust with the American and global public. NASA has a demonstrated history of this tactic in our real world.

Following the surprising launch of Sputnik, the United States moved quickly to create NASA in July 1958. President Eisenhower, acting on the advice of his science advisor James Killian, insisted that this new agency be run by civilians rather than the military. At the time, the Soviet Union was using its space achievements mainly as a tool for power and propaganda. Killian warned that if America simply tried to "beat" the Russians at their own game, it could actually hurt the country's long-term scientific reputation.

Eisenhower made a bold choice: the American space program would be built on a foundation of openness and transparency, operating in the public eye rather than behind a veil of military secrecy. As a result, NASA’s founding document, written in 1958, states the agency shall “provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof.”

Earth with clouds above the African continent
The Blue Marble, taken by Harrison Schmitt in 1972 from the Apollo 17 spacecraft. Credit: NASA

A World Striving for a Solution

Eva Stratt gained unilateral authority from the United Nations and world governments to make difficult decisions and combat the Astrophase crisis. She has an international task force, full legal immunity, and total control over international resources.

In the novel’s world, space agencies would likely collaborate to share scientific updates. They would need universal messaging to convey the mission’s importance and its impact on humanity. The fictional collaboration may even resemble the way dozens of nations have supported the International Space Station over the past 25-plus years.

What Project Hail Mary communications messages could look like.

In my fictionalized campaign, the tagline “Hope for All Mankind” succinctly illustrates the mission’s importance, reason, and focus. A trio of international scientific and astronautic experts are leaving our solar system to understand why Tau Ceti is not impacted, and potentially find solutions to the astrophage problem. While the name of the project implies this is our desperate attempt to save Earth, nowhere in the public messaging does it allude to this desperation. The messages embody hope for the mission and for a planetary solution.

In the real world, we are experiencing our own triple planetary crisis: overwhelming pollution, global climate change, and anthropocene-driven biodiversity loss. NASA publishes an incredible amount of data and research on the topic, drawing on perspectives from astronaut photography, orbiting satellites, and other remote-sensing missions. Messaging from the American space agency often focuses on finding solutions and hope for the future even when discussing heavy environmental topics.

Launching Humanity’s Last Hope

As launch day arrives, the communications teams share their prepared resources to share the crew and its mission with the world. Key strategies would be to join the mission and humanize the crew. The American space agency would support its astronaut selection.

The comms team could ask Dr. Grace to film a series of videos explaining how he discovered astrophage and the mission goals with common experiments. As a beloved middle school teacher with a highly scientific background, Grace would be an excellent subject-matter expert to convey astrophage-related science to the public. The short documentary-style videos could be released in the weeks leading up to the launch, explaining core scientific concepts such as Newtonian and relativistic physics, solar luminosity, and microorganisms in space.

Additional products could be built around the core videos. Lesson plans to support teachers replicating the demonstrations in their classrooms. Think of it like Bill Nye the Science Guy or Don Pettit’s Saturday Morning Science. These activities allow students to foster STEM curiosity and vicariously prepare with the crew for Tau Ceti.

Alas, tragedy strikes. The first selection, Martin Dubois, was an American scientist who died in an astrophage explosion at Baikonur Cosmodrome. This causes a dramatic change in crew with Ryland Grace becoming the tertiary back-up days before the launch.

The comms plan would need adjustments at the last second using stills from Grace’s Science Corner for imagery. Another invitation to join the crew, the hashtag #HopeForMankind could allow the world to send messages to the crew prior to their launch. The social media posts could even be collected to provide inspiration during the mission.

The Vigilant Return of the Beetles

Perhaps the most difficult piece for the comms team is the long wait. It takes thirteen years to travel to Tau Ceti, then another thirteen to return. In the novel, the Hail Mary is launched in 2023. The earliest they could get results is 2049 if everything works according to plan.

NASA has a history of long space missions. Voyager 1, launched in 1977, is still transmitting data forty-eight years later as it continues to travel through interstellar space. Landsat 5 held a Guinness World Record for the longest-operating Earth observation satellite for nearly three decades. The difference with the Hail Mary is the lack of communication from the crew and the unknown return, instead of continual data updates.

Perhaps the simplest way to keep the mission alive is by celebrating launch anniversaries, crew birthdays, and other milestones that will keep the public mindful. Many science organizations will likely organize grants and competitions to hear the public’s interim solutions until the beetles return.

In the book, Stratt suspects that humanity cannot survive the coming decades without wars, famine, and other global crises. However, we never learn what happens on Earth. Perhaps as a species, we can band together to use science and the greatest minds to crowdsource solutions to save humanity. We certainly did six years ago, when COVID-19 emerged, leading to rapid vaccine development and a coordinated global response to the pandemic. As of posting, there have been over seven million COVID-19-related deaths reported to the World Health Organization. If we had not collaborated on solutions, the toll would likely have been much higher, perhaps even tripled.

What do you think the impact of this Project Hail Mary communications campaign would be?

]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #26]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-26https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-26Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:52:43 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a biweekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[The Freelance Lie: Why the 'Average' Writer Must Publish a Novel Every Month]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/the-freelance-lie-why-the-averagehttps://www.thescicommspace.com/p/the-freelance-lie-why-the-averageTue, 24 Feb 2026 02:50:26 GMTA decade-old Medium post always catches my eye: “How Much Do Freelance Writers Actually Make?” by Ryan McCready. He opens with how, in 2016, a majority of Americans were trying to nose their way into freelancing, no matter the industry. One person’s reason may be to earn a little cash, another’s to develop new skill sets. Over 53 million Americans were considered freelancers, and nearly a third of those were ‘moonlighting’ alongside a full-time job.

McCready leveraged the website Who Pays Writers?, an anonymous, crowd-sourced database of publications pay freelance writers (and how much). He analyzed 520 entries between 2014 and 2016. His conclusions, summarily, were grim. Most writers cannot survive the competitive freelance market by writing alone.

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I entered the workforce as a science communicator in 2021, five years after McCready’s analysis. Today, 64 million people work as freelancers, and about half of them are Gen Z professionals like me. Every so often I return to McCready’s article for insight, but as time passes, I wonder how many of his conclusions remain true in 2026.

I’ve scraped over 5,600 entries detailing the pay rate, article length, when they were paid, and other information from publishers across the internet using Who Pays Writers. The data was originally captured from the website in February 2025 and is available here for transparency.

Writers care about being paid in dollars and cents. While writing for exposure is a tale as old as time, the object of desire is to make a living putting words to paper. Ryan McCready’s original analysis of the crowdsourced Who Pays Writers database divides payment into two categories: per word and per article.

Technically both categories will reflect the same information, but the distinction will make it easier to digest. An author paid two cents a word for a thousand words receives the same payment as an author paid twenty cents a word for a hundred words. Writers usually get paid by the word, but we also keep track of the clips, or articles, we write.

Let’s start with words.

How Much Is A Word Worth?

Ryan McCready’s original analysis concluded that the majority of freelance writers made around $0.17 per word. My 2025 data shows that the median pay rate has ticked upward to $0.21 per word. While this represents a modest 23% increase, it has failed to keep pace with the significantly higher inflation seen over the last decade.

Accounting for all 5,600 entries, the average pay sits at $0.72. To the far left of the chart, we can see one person was paid six dollars per word—unheard of in the journalist world. It makes the average top heavy, pulling it higher than what most people experience. The median pay for a freelance writer, by comparison, is $0.21. A median number takes the middle fifty percent, shaving off the top and bottom twenty-five percent of a sample which may reflect extreme or unusual situations. It should better reflect what the majority of writers experience in the freelance world.

The median pay rate, or what the most people get paid, hovers at $0.21. A median number takes the middle fifty percent, shaving off the top and bottom twenty-five percent of a sample which may reflect extreme or unusual situations.

McCready’s original analysis points out that his data (like ours) is top heavy, which could lead to inaccurate conclusions later on. He breaks down the data into defining categories so the results are more easily understood. From his findings, he concluded that the majority of freelance writers make around seventeen cents per word. Our findings show that rate has raised to twenty-one cents per word.

The gap between the average writer and the elite has narrowed; the Top 10% now earns only 30% more than the mean, compared to 400% in 2016. This likely indicates that a larger volume of lower-paid writers is contributing to the database today. Results also show gains for Middle 50%, growing to $0.21. As we move towards the Bottom 50%, their pay per word rate has doubled. They’re earning a little less than half of what the Top 50% earn.

The Per-Article Reality

Freelance writers aren’t really concerned with word counts; they are concerned with “clips.” It may be easier to work on one large project that pays a “lower” pay per word count than writing several short projects with a “higher” pay per word count. While the average pay in my sample is $986 per article, over 80% of writers earn less than that. The majority of writers earn closer to $224 per article. This chart reflects a larger range than the first Pay Per Word chart.

When digging into the Top 1%, the numbers appear highly skewed. One entry for Wired suggested a payment of $33,600 for an 8,000-word piece. While it’s possible a lucky freelancer earned half of an annual teacher’s salary from a single story, the more probable explanation is a data-entry error. This highlights the inherent risks of relying on unvetted, crowdsourced databases.

Just like with Pay Per Word data, I matched McCready’s segments with the Pay Per Article data. Here, we can see the Top 1%’s numbers appear very skewed. Could the average pay per article essentially double while the top 10% remained relatively the same?

Despite these outliers, the trend is clear: nearly half of the articles submitted were paid less than $0.25 per word. While the percentage of writers making less than $250 an article has shrunk from 80% to 53% since 2016, the “ceiling” for traditional journalism feels lower than ever.

McCready checked his results by counting the number of articles in each of the selected ranges. Applying the same method, I found similar results. Nearly half of the articles submitted were paid less than twenty-five cents per word. Less than twenty-five percent earn more than fifty cents a word. While most writers are still making less than $250 an article, the percentage has significantly shrunk from 80% to 53%.

McCready’s conclusion in 2016 suggested only the top 10% of writers can afford to have freelance as their their sole source of income. My analysis shows that likely remains true, but perhaps the top 10% can’t make that meet needs anymore. Times have changed in the past decade, with both a evolving media environment and rising consumer prices. Writers may have the ability to earn income more easily—or more reliably—from other independent revenue sources like Patreon, Substack, and Ko-fi.

How Much Should I Write to Quit My Day Job?

How much do you actually have to write to leave your day job? To clear the federal minimum wage ($7.25/hr), a writer in the Bottom 10% must churn out 16 articles a month—essentially one every other day. If you want to reach the American median wage of $28.84 an hour, that same writer would need to publish a staggering 62 pieces a month.

The burden of output becomes even more daunting when we shift our gaze from word counts to finished assignments. To clear the bar for the federal minimum wage, a writer in the Bottom 10% must churn out 16 articles a month—essentially one every other day—while those aiming for the American median wage of $28.84 an hour would need to publish a staggering 62 pieces in that same window. That is more than two finished, polished stories every single day of the month, including Sundays. By contrast, the “freelance elite” in the Top 1% only need to secure a single high-paying assignment to exceed that same monthly median wage. For the Middle 50%, the reality sits at a grueling 20 articles per month to reach the median lifestyle, a pace that leaves little room for the deep research or creative breathing room that high-level science communication requires.

So, here we are. A decade has passed, a global pandemic reshaped the workforce, and Gen Z has taken the helm of the freelance ship. What have we learned?

While the floor has risen slightly—with the bottom 50% of writers seeing modest gains in their per-word rates—the “ceiling” for traditional journalism feels lower than ever. The fact that a median writer must still produce the equivalent of a Roald Dahl novel every month just to hit a livable wage is a sobering reminder that the “starving artist” trope has simply been rebranded as the “hustling freelancer.”

However, the data reveals a shift in the way we work. In 2016, you were either a “successful” writer for a major masthead or you were struggling. In 2026, the middle ground is widening. We are no longer just selling words to publishers; we are selling brands to audiences. The modern freelancer isn’t just checking Who Pays Writers?; they are checking their Substack conversions and Patreon tiers.

If you want to survive on words alone, the traditional “per-word” model is a treadmill that only the top 1% can run comfortably. For the rest of us, the path to a sustainable career isn’t just about writing more words—it’s about owning where those words live.

The freelance dream isn’t dead, but it has evolved. To make a living today, you have to be more than a writer; you have to be your own publisher.

Takeaways for Today’s World

So, how do McCready’s 2016 benchmarks hold up today?

The treadmill hasn’t just maintained its pace; for the average freelancer, the incline has grown significantly steeper. To survive today, the path isn’t just about writing more—it’s about finding independent revenue sources like Substack or Patreon to supplement a model that hasn’t changed in a decade.

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Special thanks to Nicole Williams from Come with Me for reviewing an early draft.

]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #25]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-25https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-25Fri, 20 Feb 2026 16:31:33 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a biweekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #24 (with NASA Summer Internships)]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-24-with-nasahttps://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-24-with-nasaFri, 06 Feb 2026 16:27:59 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a biweekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers v2]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-v2https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-v2Thu, 05 Feb 2026 01:00:45 GMTWelcome to a new year with Trajectory Maneuvers!

I’m making some changes to make this model more sustainable for me as a one person operation. Pushing to post this update weekly became a lot to balance by the end of 2025.

I’ve also heard from many of you sharing how this little newsletter has helped you in your job search. I’m glad! It keeps me motivated knowing that you are able to find your place in space with a little help from my industry experience.

Newsletter updates for this year:

  • A free jobs newsletter sent twice a month, typically on Friday.

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Looking forward to sending you an e-mail this Friday!

—Andrea

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #23]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-23https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-23Thu, 20 Nov 2025 13:05:32 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a weekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #22]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-22https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-22Fri, 14 Nov 2025 16:02:35 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a weekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #21]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-21https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-21Wed, 05 Nov 2025 19:32:09 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a weekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #20]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-20https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-20Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:09:56 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a weekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #19]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-19https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-19Tue, 21 Oct 2025 18:03:15 GMTIf this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a weekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #18]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-18https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-18Wed, 08 Oct 2025 15:05:02 GMTBring the universe into your living room with the NASA+ series Space Out. From Landsat’s incredible view of the Earth below to the stunning visuals of galaxies from Hubble, this streaming series can help you relax during our unprecedented times.

Watch Space Out

If this is your first look at Trajectory Maneuvers, welcome! This is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Consider subscribing for a weekly update for communications, marketing, and related jobs in the space industry.

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #17]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-17https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-17Thu, 02 Oct 2025 14:26:45 GMTIn November 2025, NASA and its international partners will surpass 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station. As NASA prepares for Artemis missions to the Moon and sets sights on Mars, the space station continues to enable groundbreaking research not possible on Earth, making significant strides in our journey farther into the final frontier. Read more.

A full Moon is clearly visible in the dark background of space, framed by the blurred mechanical arms and equipment on the International Space Station’s exterior. Caption: The Moon shines between the space station’s external equipment. (Credit: NASA)
September’s full Moon, the Harvest Moon, is photographed from the International Space Station, perfectly placed in between exterior station hardware. Crdit: NASA.

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Trajectory Maneuvers is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Ad astra!

Disclaimer. I do not endorse nor represent any particular company. My opinions are my own and do not reflect my employer.

]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #16]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-16https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-16Tue, 23 Sep 2025 16:59:21 GMTNASA’s 10 new astronaut candidates were introduced Monday following a competitive selection process of more than 8,000 applicants from across the United States. The candidates, pictured below at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, are: U.S. Army CW3 Ben Bailey, U.S. Air Force Maj. Cameron Jones, Katherine Spies, Anna Menon, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, U.S. Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann, Dr. Lauren Edgar, Yuri Kubo, Rebecca Lawler, and Dr. Imelda Muller. Meet the latest class of astronaut candidates!

NASA announced its 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class on Sept. 22, 2025. Credit: NASA

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Trajectory Maneuvers is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Ad astra!

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]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #15]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-15https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-15Sun, 07 Sep 2025 20:46:51 GMTSpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch Northrop Grumman’s 23rd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station in mid-September. Science experiments aboard the spacecraft aiming to refine semiconductor crystals for next-generation technologies, reduce harmful microbes, improve medication production, and manage fuel pressure. Read the latest article from space station research here.

O’Hara, wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and khaki pants, faces the camera and smiles. She is holding a silver rectangular piece of hardware about the size of a box of tissues that has a black handle and a white label on its side.
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara displays the specialized sample processor used for pharmaceutical research aboard the International Space Station

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Provide feedback with this 3-question survey. This is your job blast resource and I would love to improve it based on your needs.

Some subscribers have asked for a way to support this job blast with a one-off donation. If inclined, you can support this effort with my ko-fi page.

Trajectory Maneuvers is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Ad astra!

Disclaimer. I do not endorse nor represent any particular company. My opinions are my own and do not reflect my employer.

]]><![CDATA[Trajectory Maneuvers #14]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-14https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/trajectory-maneuvers-14Wed, 09 Jul 2025 20:36:03 GMTThe new Vera C. Rubin Observatory broadcast its inaugural images of millions of galaxies and thousands of asteroids. It’s a small preview of its 10-year science mission to explore the universe’s biggest mysteries.

Credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

As always, you can find last week’s job list at the Trajectory Maneuvers page on Substack.

New Jobs

These jobs are recently listed, roughly less than two weeks.

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Although these jobs have been available for over two weeks, they could still be looking for the perfect future employee!

Have a suggestion for a scicomm space job? Leave a comment with the link, and I’ll add it to next week’s newsletter.

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Provide feedback with this 3-question survey. This is your job blast resource and I would love to improve it based on your needs.

Some subscribers have asked for a way to support this job blast with a one-off donation. If inclined, you can support this effort with my ko-fi page.

Trajectory Maneuvers is a collection of resources to help you adjust your career trajectory to achieve your intended place in the space industry. Ad astra!

Disclaimer. I do not endorse nor represent any particular company. My opinions are my own and do not reflect my employer.

]]><![CDATA[We Must Sacrifice Everything and Nothing for the Future]]>https://www.thescicommspace.com/p/we-must-sacrifice-everything-andhttps://www.thescicommspace.com/p/we-must-sacrifice-everything-andFri, 04 Jul 2025 13:57:17 GMTWe Are The Weather prompts for a daring action plan to save the planet but fails to deliver a compelling argument for changing. Throughout the book, Foer tries to strike a balance between nothing matters and everything matters, but inevitably only brings one argument to the kitchen table: do not eat animal products before dinner.

Foer makes a valid argument about the balance of “doing nothing” and “doing everything.” Early in the book, he shares how polio was eradicated in the United States. Franklin D. Roosevelt helped create the March of Dimes in 1938, which became the primary funding source for polio research. One recipient of such funding in 1952 was Jonas Salk. After three years of thorough testing, Salk’s vaccine was declared safe and effective, a cure for polio. Salk had done “everything,” dedicating seven years of his life to medical research and vaccine development.

But polio vaccination rates were low in 1955, due to a public misconception that only infants and toddlers could be stricken with polio. Immunization rates sat at 0.6 percent among teenagers. While the disease mainly affects those under the age of 5, according to the World Health Organization, any unvaccinated individual can contract it. What use is a vaccine no one uses?

On October 28, 1956, an up-and-coming musician named Elvis Presley was preparing for his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Before the show went live, Elvis rolled up a sleeve for a New York state official to stick a needle loaded with the polio vaccine in his arm. Elvis flashed a smile for the press who captured the event. Six months later, American youth vaccination rates for polio skyrocketed to 80 percent. Elvis, who compared to Salk did nothing, was also instrumental to the eradication of the disease.

Foer focuses on the duality: a few may have to sacrifice everything to make meaningful change in the world, but many of us have to sacrifice nothing to ensure change.

Elvis Presley is vaccinated on The Ed Sullivan Show, 1956. Credit: Getty Images

From there, Foer’s argument weakens by honing in on one way to fight climate change: removing animal products from breakfast and lunch meals. Animal products (meat, eggs, milk, etc.) contribute to 35% of all greenhouse gas emissions according to a 2023 research paper. This small sacrifice may be too great an ask for most people. It’s one thing to get a small jab into your arm once, or to support soldiers fighting in World War 2 with food rationing, which is another example he shares. Removing a significant contribution to our diet, especially for Americans, may be too great a sacrifice. Foer admits many times throughout the book that he has not fully committed to this dietary switch.

There are many actions individuals can take to help the planet. And Foer is right, sacrificing “everything” and sacrificing “nothing” will be necessary of humanity. But giving a bold challenge without a path forward is inadvisable at best. Perhaps the challenge would feel feasible if Foer provided a scaffold about how to elimate or significantly reduce animal products from one’s diet, which is the approach of the cookbook Protest Kitchen by Carol J. Adams takes.

This book does have me thinking about my animal product in take, but it leaves me without a tangible way to implement the idea. I'm left wondering what other kinds of “nothings” can I sacrifice for the planet.

a large storm is coming over a rural road
Photo by Greg Johnson on Unsplash

“We Are The Weather,” written by Jonathan Safran Foer, can be found wherever books are sold including Bookshop.

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