David Kerley on Muck Rack

David Kerley

Verified
Washington, D.C.
As seen in: Discovery Channel, Full Throttle, ABC News, ABC NewsOne, Substack, Sustain What, Yahoo, KABC-TV (Los Angeles, CA), KGO-TV (San Francisco, CA), WLS-TV (Chicago, IL), KTRK-TV (Houston, TX), WABC-TV (New York, NY) and
Journalist Full Throttle #DiscoveryChannel - Space Launch LIVE shorturl.at/CVpNK Formerly ABC News Senior Transportation Correspondent
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Articles by David Kerley

Tricky Moon Mission Return

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
The first US mission to the Moon in more than five decades is looking good. It was an awesome launch of a new rocket with four astronauts on top for the first time. The problems for this check-out flight, known as Artemis II, have been minor. The trip around the Moon is coming. But the trip back home, through the Earth’s atmosphere, is something to pay attention to next week. Celebrate after splashdown. Why pay attention to re-entry?
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A new path to the Moon

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
The first year of the Trump administration saw a lightning round of changes to government. That was not the case at NASA. The President nominated, withdrew, and then renominated Jared Isaacman. Now, a year into the term presidential term, Isaacman has the job and a lot of changes are coming to the space agency. The latest announcement will change how the US gets back to the Moon. The NASA program to return to the Moon is called Artemis.
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Boeing’s Starliner flight: “Class A Mishap”

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Boeing Starliner docked with the International Space Station. Credit: NASA) If Boeing thought its trouble with the Starliner spacecraft was nearing an end, it was mistaken. An independent investigation by NASA has found the crewed flight test belongs in the same category as the two space shuttle disasters. It is called a Class A Mishap. The new NASA Administrator agreed and has reclassified the troubled flight that left two astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) for an extended stay.
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Trump-Musk and the Starliner

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Credit: The White House) The Trump-Musk breakup was quick, a bit earlier than expected, and left social postings scattered across the internet. In SpaceX language for a rocket exploding in flight, it was a RUD- rapid unscheduled disassembly. In a RUD debris falls randomly from the air. This bad breakup has indeed shaken business plans, changing the atmosphere of commercial and government space programs dramatically.
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Something different

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hello all… There is a lot to report and talk about involving space, EVs, autonomy, and FAA air traffic control. Musk is getting ready to launch another Starship test and claims his robotaxis are just around the corner. Full Throttle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Some of those stories have been percolating as we traveled to Europe and happened to be in St. Peter’s Square as the Conclave started.
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Touch the Moon, move on to Mars?

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
The stock market ride, tariffs, and retirement accounts have likely captured your attention the past couple of weeks. As you were watching graph lines go down, then up, then down again, the President’s nominee to run NASA faced Senators for his confirmation hearing and made a lot of news. It appears big changes are coming to NASA and its plans for human exploration, especially of the Moon. Jared Isaacman said the Moon and Mars programs can move forward at the same time.
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Blue Origin premature hatch opening

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hello subscribers. If you watched the Blue Origin flight did you notice the little problem after touchdown? Here’s what I posted: Blue Origin had a successful flight with its "tourist" spacecraft system New Shepard. An all female crew was the company's latest marketing effort. The flight appeared smooth and without issues. The hatch opening "ceremony" di… Keep reading with a 7-day free trial Subscribe to Full Throttle to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hello subscribers. Just a couple quick notes for this special group. Not many astronauts get to ride one type of spacecraft into orbit and return to Earth on a completely different spacecraft. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams did exactly that Tuesday with a beautiful splashdown off Tallahassee, Florida in a SpaceX Dragon. Many reporters and o… Keep reading with a 7-day free trial Subscribe to Full Throttle to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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Full Throttle

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
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“Un”- “Non” - “Not” - Stranded Astronauts

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Credit: NASA) Butch and Suni have been at the International Space Station (ISS) much longer than they expected. The headlines blare, “An eight day mission turns into a nine month stay,” or, “Stranded astronauts to head home.” But, they were never stranded! This bold declarative sentence provides fodder for plenty of debate. Let me make my case as the two astronauts prepare to return to Earth early tomorrow morning.
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The Moon seems farther away

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Test Flight 8 of Starship ended stormily after one of three engines failed and the spacecraft started cartwheeling as shown in the data bar on the bottom of the picture. (Credit: SpaceX) It was deja vu all over again last week when SpaceX lost its second Starship in a row. Also for a second time, a Houston startup’s lander ended up on its side on the surface of the Moon just hours earlier. It is hard to get to the Moon, and there were two dramatic examples last week.
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Assessing the Dangerous Trump / Musk Effect on Aviation and Highway Safety

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By James Fallows, David Kerley Verified
| Sustain What
“Elon Musk can declare, properly, every Starship explosion as a step forward because you have to try lots of things until you see what works. You can't do that with commercial airlines.” - Here’s the webcast / podcast version of my Sustain What transportation conversation with longtime journalists , and Jim Motavalli. All the details and relevant links are in the “curtain raiser”: Sustain What is a reader-supported publication.
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The war against electric vehicles

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Credit: Tesla) It is now fair to say the current President is at war with the electric vehicle (EV) industry and its infrastructure. In just the past few days it’s been reported that Federal agencies have been ordered to shut down EV charging plugs at government buildings. That amounts to thousands of chargers used by government workers and government vehicles.
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Where Trump and Musk don’t agree

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
The calling card for the new administration may be borrowed from Silicon Valley- “move fast and break things.” There is no shortage of stories about the early actions of the new occupant of the White House and the head of his Department of Government Efficiency. Despite all the fawning between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the men are not talking about, nor acknowledging, their dramatic differences on part of the transportation transformation.
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Deadly D.C. midair collision

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
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Big day for big rockets

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Credit: Blue Origin) The past week has been full of news about an inauguration, executive orders, California fires, and the NFL playoffs. It’s hard to believe that it was just seven days ago that some big rockets made history. It’s history that also brought two billionaire space businessmen to Washington DC and some prime seats for the Presidential swearing-in. It was an amazing 16 hours for reusable heavy-lift rockets in the United States on January 16, 2025.
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Full Throttle

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
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Boeing’s most important word- Safety

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
One year ago something happened that should never occur. On January 5th, a door panel blew out of a jetliner in flight. The 737 had just taken off from Portland with a load of passengers. The frightening experience on that Alaska Airlines jet likely left a mark on those passengers. It was also the straw that broke Boeing’s back and led to demands for changes at America’s only jetliner maker. There have been changes in the year since the door plug blew off.
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Paying to walk in space

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Credit: C-bass Productions) Get ready to hear a lot about the “first private spacewalk” and the “highest orbit in space” for humans since the Apollo days. This space mission is called Polaris Dawn. There have been proclamations about science experiments, innovation and development of space systems, and charitable contributions for this flight. All of that is true. But, this mission is really about a billionaire adventurer.
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Starliner could come home soon

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hello Full Throttle supporters! A short post for you this Friday. Here's the latest from Boeing and NASA on Starliner and its two astronauts on the International Space Station. This weekend Boeing will fire all but one thruster on the docked Starliner. While testing the thrusters, a helium leak will be checked as well. If both troubling issues are withi… Keep reading with a 7-day free trial Subscribe to Full Throttle to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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Good Reads

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Subscribe to Full Throttle to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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The Boeing hits keep coming

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
I really didn’t want to write about Boeing again this week. However, the news nearly demands an explanation about what went wrong for the beleaguered company’s airplane and space divisions. I am guessing you saw the headlines or read a couple stories. Here’s a little context on what happened to Boeing last week. NEWS ALERT: Boeing was in the news this week too. Questions about Boeing’s safety culture started in earnest after the two 737 MAX crashes and a fleet grounding in 2020.
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A big suit setback

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hello supporters of Full Throttle. This post is just for you! Collins Aerospace testing its spacesuit in a Zero-G environment. (Credit: Collins Aerospace) NASA and Collins Aerospace have agreed to part ways. Collins, which has been building spacesuits for decades, is bowing out of the contract it won to build the next generation spacesuit for the Internat…
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Boeing’s brand takes a beating

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Credit: FOX News) Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun knew it was going to be a grilling when he walked into a US Senate hearing room. Family members of some of those killed in the two 737 MAX crashes exclaimed, “shame, shame,” as Calhoun took his seat. As he started his written statement to the committee, Calhoun stood up and turned around to address the family members. He told them he is sorry.
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Good Reads

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hey friends… those who are helping support Full Throttle with paid subscriptions….. Here are a couple pieces I thought you might enjoy if you have a few minutes of spare time. On the news front, the space journalist community is awaiting tomorrow’s briefing on the Boeing Starliner.
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What a space week!

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Just five years ago there were less than two space launches a week. Last year that number was nearly four launches per week. Last week you needed a split screen to keep track of all the action in space. It was a good week for Boeing and its Starliner and Elon Musk’s SpaceX company which, for the fourth time, launched the biggest rocket in the world. Both test flights accomplished a lot, but there were problems with both attempts.
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Boeing’s first crew set to launch, again!

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
In a matter of hours Boeing may accomplish what it should have several years ago. The company’s Starliner spacecraft is back on the launchpad and at 12:25 pm EDT it is set to finally carry astronauts into space. Boeing, NASA, and the rocket company ULA are all saying they are, “go for launch,” after calling off an attempt in early May. This will be a huge milestone for Boeing. It will also be good news for the International Space Station (ISS).
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More fallout from Boeing blown door

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
It is usually not good news when Saturday Night Live makes your company the center of a joke. That’s how bad things have gotten for Boeing. During the Weekend Update segment on the NBC program, Michael Che delivered the biting commentary with a jab at Boeing and Donald Trump. “The FAA revealed that Donald Trump’s Boeing 757 clipped a parked plane when it landed in Florida. The good news is Donald Trump flies around in a Boeing,” Che said as he chuckled.
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Feds probe Musk’s self-driving claims

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
There was a dramatic turn last week in the investigation of Elon Musk and Tesla over claims about their car’s ability to drive itself. The Feds have been investigating statements by Musk about the capabilities of Tesla’s self-driving systems for a couple years. Reuters just reported that prosecutors are looking at the possibility that wire fraud laws could have been violated by Tesla and its boss. This is about autonomy, or, as Tesla calls it, Autopilot and Full Self Driving (FSD).
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Much more than two astronauts will be riding on the Boeing spaceship

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Monday night is a big one for Boeing. The company is set to finally launch two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on the company’s Starliner spacecraft. It’s a launch that should have happened years ago. Design problems, mistakes, and delays have now been dealt with and put behind the Boeing Defense and Space division. In the interim, however, the Boeing name has been diminished by the trouble in the Boeing Airplane division. The Boeing company needs a win.
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NASA's Hail Mary

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
I will be writing about this down the road. I am just highlighting that you may want to read stories in the next 48 hours about the remarkable move NASA made today. I’ve written about the Mars rover Perseverance and the plan to bring the samples it is collecting back to earth. It’s called MSR- Mars Sample Return. We knew there was troubl…
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Redo on reentry for SpaceX

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
SpaceX and NASA applauded the test flight of the Starship that made it to space on its third attempt. Major milestones were achieved. It was solid progress for the company expected to take American astronauts back to the Moon. “It was an incredibly successful flight,” SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at the Satellite Conference in Washington DC. However, neither the booster nor the Starship returned to Earth in the way SpaceX expected. Both vehicles broke up in an uncontrolled manner.
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Boom takes flight

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Boom’s XB-1 during its first test flight Friday in California. (Credit: Boom Supersonic) One of the first Full Throttle newsletters I wrote was about the effort to bring back supersonic jet travel. That was close to three years ago. A lot has happened since then and a big step forward came Friday in the skies above California.
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Fear of Flying? Are the skies safe?

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
NTSB investigators examine the “plug door” opening after the door blew out during flight on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX. (Credit: NTSB) Are you wondering whether it’s safe to board a jetliner? That’s understandable. There have been a number of incidents that have garnered headlines and stories, some breathless, about these incidents. There were two elements in many of these stories- something going wrong, and Boeing.
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Robot search for M370

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Credit: Ocean Intinity) When I talk to someone about the disappearance of MH370, the Malaysian 777, I am often asked, “will we ever find it?” my answer is always yes. Today marks a decade since MH370 disappeared deep into the southern Indian Ocean. So far it’s been invisible to human technology. But, it is technology that I base my answer on about finding the wreckage. A decade ago drones were just starting to get a lot of attention. Look at them now.
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A decade of mystery surrounding MH370

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Anniversaries often bring attention to major global events. We mark December 7th for the attack on Pearl Harbor. September 11th cannot pass without thinking of another attack on the United States. Friday will mark a milestone- one decade since the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines 777, with flight number MH370. The mystery has been the subject of several documentaries and a long list of conspiracy theories. The story is still very much alive.
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Moon patch fail

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hello everyone. It’s Good Reads Friday. But first, we learned a bit more about that Moon landing. The story has changed a bit. Odysseus is asleep. The first American spacecraft to reach the Moon’s surface in more than 50 years, has run out of power. It may wake up as as the Sun’s position changes over the lunar south pole landing site. The CEO of Intuitive Machines (IM) had plenty of vocal “high-fives” about this landing by his Houston company.
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Tilting on the Moon

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
For the first time in more than 50 years America is back on the Moon. This isn’t a NASA spacecraft. It is the first time a private company has put a lander on the lunar surface. But Odysseus will go silent a couple days early. The last transmission from the lander is expected Tuesday morning. That is five days after what was called a “soft landing." The Intuitive Machines (IM) spacecraft did not “stick the landing.” The Houston company’s lander tilted onto its side.
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What a landing!

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Here are some articles you may enjoy reading this weekend. (Credit: Intuitive Machines) Talk about computer coding on the fly, while flying around the Moon! Intuitive Machines’ (IM) spacecraft Odysseus is on the lunar surface and transmitting back to Earth. The first commercial landing, and the first American landing, in more than 50 years.
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New landing time

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
This will be my last email before landing. NASA says Intuitive Machines could land earlier. Now saying.. no earlier than 4:24 PM EST. Thanks again for the support.
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Here goes Odysseus

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hello subscribers. I am starting to provide additional content for those who are supporting Full Throttle with their wallet. This is a short note about setting an alarm if you are interested in the next attempt to make the first private landing on the Moon.
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Self-driving cars take a back seat

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
The pictures are dramatic. An autonomous taxi owned by Waymo bursts into flames on a San Francisco street. It was the work of vandals and celebrants of the Lunar New Year. Some observers, however, have suggested the burning vehicle is a metaphor for the development, and acceptance, of self-driving vehicles.
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Second attempt to be first

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
A new newsletter is coming. In the meantime, a couple of interesting items. Another shot at the Moon is underway by a private US company. Intuitive Machines rocketed into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and was deployed for its trip to become the first private spacecraft to land on the lunar surface. Full Throttle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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The Moon calendar keeps slipping

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
The saying folks in the business like to use is, “space is hard.” Going back to the Moon more than 50 years after Apollo is proving really hard, and has forced another delay. NASA was originally planning to land “the first woman and first person of color” on the lunar service later this year. That date was pushed back to 2025, and now there’s another delay until September of 2026. Some experts wonder if even that date can be met considering all the challenges ahead for the Artemis program.
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Are EV sales waning?

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Ford F-150 Lightning in snow. (Credit: Ford) The electric vehicle future promised by some of America’s biggest carmakers has hit a big speed bump on the road. The latest reverberation came just days ago when Ford announced it is cutting production of its electric truck, the F-150 Lightning. Share The Lightning is the best selling electric truck in the country,…
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Boeing’s brand battered again

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
The scenes of a gaping hole in a new 737 MAX-9 returning to land at Portland’s airport suggest the terror inside the aircraft when the door plug explosively left the Alaska Airlines aircraft and rapidly depressurized the cabin. It is the latest incident suggesting trouble at one of America’s top manufacturers. There are two issues at play here; responsibility for safety and inspections, and the use of subcontractors for manufacturing. More on that in a bit.
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Two firsts to the Moon!

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
For the first time since Apollo more than 50 years ago America is going back to the Moon. Get ready to hear plenty about Astrobotic, Peregrine, ULA, and Vulcan in the coming hours, days,  and weeks. There is a lot riding on the mission and there’s even a bit of controversy. (Credit: ULA) This is not a NASA mission. It’s a private company in Pittsburgh that is set to take the US back to the lunar surface. Astrobotic’s flight is the first-ever commercial lunar mission.
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Full Throttle into New Year

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
Hiatus: an interruption in time or continuity. That was the status of this newsletter for the past several months. It was a busy late summer and fall with a couple of big events. Full Throttle was put in the pause mode. I‘ve been heartened by several readers asking, “where’s my Full Throttle email?” It’s back. Your first newsletter of the new year will be arriving later today. I would ask you to use the share button.
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Moon landing delay?

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
(Credit: NASA) The US has proudly proclaimed its plans to go back to the Moon by landing the first woman and person of color on the lunar surface. The momentous return landing was going to be next year, 2024. NASA realized that timeline, set during the Trump Administration, was not going to work. There are just too many new systems to build. The mission was pushed to late 2025. Officially, NASA says it is sticking with that date. Reading between the lines reveals a very different story.
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Life on Mars? Will we ever get those samples?

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By David Kerley Verified
| Full Throttle
One of NASA’s biggest science projects faces serious struggles ahead. We’ve seen some great successes from the Perseverance Mars Mission. The rover has sent back amazing pictures of the area it is exploring. The small helicopter that came along on the mission has flown successfully many more times than expected. But will this mission be completed? A core job of Perseverance is collecting Martian soil in an attempt to determine if there was life on the red planet.
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