NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

October 6, 2024

The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught

Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, grew a spectacularly long and filamentary tail. The magnificent tail spread across the sky and was visible for several days to Southern Hemisphere observers just after sunset. The amazing ion tail showed its greatest extent on long-duration, wide-angle camera exposures. During some times, just the tail itself was visible just above the horizon for many northern observers as well. Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught), estimated to have attained a peak brightness of magnitude -5 (minus five), was caught by the comet's discoverer in the featured image just after sunset in January 2007 from Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Comet McNaught, the brightest comet in decades, then faded as it moved further into southern skies and away from the Sun and Earth. Over the next month, Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, a candidate for the Great Comet of 2024, should display its most spectacular tails visible from the Earth.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Mission control GO for Hera launch

06/10/2024

At ESA’s ESOC mission control centre, in Darmstadt, Germany, every launch is preceded by the pre-launch briefing – and the all-important team photos.

The next spacecraft to be flown from ESOC, Hera, is scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket this month.

Hera is Europe’s first asteroid mission and will be the first spacecraft to rendezvous with and explore a binary asteroid system.

The Didymos system is special one: it is home to humankind’s first attempt at a technique that may one day be used to protect Earth from an asteroid on a collision course – asteroid deflection.

Two years ago, on 26 September 2022, NASA’s 580-kilogram DART spacecraft slammed into the 151-metre Dimorphos asteroid, changing its orbit around the larger, 780-metre Didymos asteroid.

Now, Hera is launching on a mission to perform a detailed post-impact survey of Dimorphos.

Using a suite of scientific instruments on the main spacecraft and its two CubeSat passengers, Hera will assess the effectiveness of asteroid deflection and help turn this experiment into a well-understood and repeatable technique for planetary defence.

Gathered inside the Press Centre at ESOC, this is the team that will take Hera to Didymos.

They will oversee the mission from its crucial first hours in space, through its two-year journey to Didymos, via Mars, and during its exploration of the two target asteroids.

Months of preparations and simulations at mission control culminated in Saturday’s launch dress rehearsal and team photos.

This final rehearsal brought together the ESA teams and the mission’s partners to test communication links between ESOC, ground stations and the spacecraft, and complete a final, meticulous run through of the sequence of events that will take place on launch day.

Preparations, rehearsals, briefings and team photos complete, mission control is GO for launch!

>>21719249

oops

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/10/Mission_control_GO_for_Hera_launch

>>21719249

SpaceX will launch Europe's Hera asteroid probe on Oct. 7: Watch it live

SpaceX will launch Europe's Hera spacecraft toward the asteroid Dimorphos for a post-impact evaluation on Monday (Oct. 7), and you can watch the liftoff live.

The European Space Agency's Hera mission will visit Dimorphos — the asteroid that NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft knocked off course in September 2022.

Hera will assess the aftermath of that impact and study both the surface and internal structure of the asteroid in greater detail.

The main Hera spacecraft and its two partner cubesats, named Milani and Juventas, are set to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Monday (Oct. 7) at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

You can watch the launch live here at Space.com, courtesy of ESA, or directly via the agency.

Dimorphos is a moonlet of the near-Earth asteroid Didymos.

The binary asteroid system was previously visited by NASA's DART spacecraft, which intentionally collided with Dimorphos in 2022 and changed its orbit around Didymos as a demonstration of a planetary defense technique designed to change the trajectory of a potentially hazardous asteroid.

If all goes well, Hera will arrive at Dimorphos in late 2026.

The spacecraft will evaluate the size and depth of the crater created by DART, as well as the efficiency of the impact.

Hera will also deploy two cubesats to study the internal structure, surface minerals and gravity at Dimorphos.

This data will help researchers better understand how the impact affected the asteroid and, in turn, provide valuable information for future asteroid deflection missions.

https://www.space.com/esa-hera-mission-spacex-launch-livestream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O13Sp00Ltlw

>>21719355

https://x.com/elonmusk

Brightness of first Chinese broadband constellation satellites alarms astronomers

October 5, 2024

The first satellites of a Chinese broadband constellation are significantly brighter than those of Western systems, posing a new challenge for astronomers.

In a paper posted on the arXiv preprint server Sept. 30, a group of observational astronomers reported on observations of a set of 18 Qianfan, or “Thousand Sails,” satellites launched in August.

The satellites are the first of a constellation that may ultimately consist of more than 14,000 satellites.

The study found that the brightness of the satellites ranges from magnitude 8 when low in the sky to magnitude 4 when nearly overhead.

That makes the satellites, at those higher elevations, bright enough to be seen by the naked eye — which can see objects down to magnitude 6 in dark skies — and well above the threshold of magnitude 7 recommended by professional astronomers it mitigate interference with major groundbased observatories.

“Qianfan satellites are brighter than magnitude 6 except when observed at low elevations in the sky,” the astronomers note in the paper.

“So, they will adversely impact professional and amateur astronomical activities unless the operators mitigate their brightness.”

The study analyzed the change in brightness of the satellites as a function of elevation and found it fit well with a model with a large flat-panel antenna facing towards the Earth and a solar array pointing away from the Earth.

That matched limited public information about the design of the spacecraft.

The paper added there was no evidence that the satellites incorporated measures like mirrors to reflect light away from the Earth, as SpaceX has incorporated on Starlink satellites.

The astronomers involved in the study, some of whom are affiliated with the International Astronautical Union’s Centre for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS), said they did the study to raise awareness and hope to prompt changes in the design of later Qianfan satellites.

“SpaceX made changes to the design of their Starlink satellites because early observations demonstrated that their Generation 1 spacecraft would impact astronomy.

That is our motivation for reporting early results for Qianfan,” they wrote. Later Starlink satellites now approach the magnitude 7 recommendation by CPS.

It is unclear whether and how Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, the developer of the Qianfan satellites, will respond to the study.

A spokesperson representing CPS did not respond to questions Oct. 3 about whether the center had any contact with Chinese industry or government officials about the brightness of the satellites.

During a session of an American Astronomical Society meeting in January, representatives of CPS said their contacts with China has been limited, primarily at meetings of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

The Qianfan satellites represent just some of the latest challenges facing astronomers.

AST SpaceMobile announced Oct. 4 that it had deployed the large phased array antenna on the first of five BlueBird satellites launched Sept. 12 to provide direct-to-device services.

The antenna, about 65 square meters in area, is among the largest commercial antennas in low Earth orbit, and its size has raised concerns about its brightness among astronomers.

Radio astronomers, meanwhile, have reported interference at low frequencies from Starlink satellites.

A study published in September based on data collected by the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope found that Starlink “v2 mini” satellites were producing signals far stronger that astronomical sources.

The emissions, found in several bands between 56 and 161 megahertz, were not linked to the broadband payloads on those satellites, which operate at much higher frequences, but instead are likely unintended emissions from spacecraft electronics.

“Humanity is clearly approaching an inflection point where we need to take action to preserve our sky as a window to explore the universe from Earth.

Satellite companies are not interested in producing this unintended radiation, so minimizing it should also be a priority in their sustainable space policies,” said Federico Di Vruno, spectrum manager of the Square Kilometer Array Observatory and co-director of CPS, in a statement. “Starlink is not the only big player in LEO, but they have a chance to set the standard here.”

https://spacenews.com/brightness-of-first-chinese-broadband-constellation-satellites-alarms-astronomers/

https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.20432

https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/h1rk9ljkjl

James Van Allen: The scientist who reached into space

October 5, 2024 11:10

"James Van Allen was one of the greatest and most accomplished American space scientists of our time, and few researchers had such a wide range of expertise in so many scientific disciplines," said Michael Griffin, NASA administrator, following Van Allen's death in 2006.

"NASA’s path of space exploration is far more advanced today because of Dr. Van Allen’s groundbreaking work."

Van Allen is mainly remembered today for his discovery of the magnetic belts that shield Earth from radiation, now known as the Van Allen belts.

But his contributions to science extended far beyond this discovery – from enhancing our understanding of the solar system to advancing international cooperation in space exploration.

Carpentry and glassblowing

James Van Allen was born on September 7, 1914, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. His father, like his grandfather, was a lawyer and ensured that his four sons received a broad education.

He would read books and magazines to them every evening after dinner. James, the second of the four, developed an early interest in science and technology, devouring popular science magazines and constructing various devices, including simple engines and a Tesla coil that produced sparks of lightning and made his hair stand on end - much to his mother’s alarm.

He was a brilliant student, graduating from his local high school as the top of his class. Van Allen himself testified that he excelled not only in mathematics and science but also in Latin and particularly in carpentry classes.

In 1931, he began studying for a bachelor's degree at the local college, where both his parents and older brother had also attended.

He enrolled in every science course offered by the college, focusing primarily on physics and chemistry, with some courses in astronomy and geology.

At college, Van Allen was mentored by physics professor Thomas Working in Poulter's lab, he not only honed his scientific knowledge but also gained hands-on skills in crafts such as welding, machining, soldering, and glassblowing.

His talent for building laboratory instruments quickly became evident. When Poulter joined a research expedition to Antarctica, Van Allen constructed a seismograph for the team and conducted field tests on other instruments.

Poulter even wanted him to join the expedition, but Van Aleen’s family opposed the idea, arguing that he was too young. After graduating with honors, Van Allen pursued a master's and Ph.D. in physics at the University of Iowa.

For his master’s thesis, he designed an instrument to measure minute changes in crystals, and for his doctoral work, he shifted to the emerging field of nuclear physics, investigating how radiation generates hydrogen isotopes.

At the age of 25, Van Allen completed his doctorate and became a research associate at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington.

There, he continued his work in nuclear physics while also exploring fields like geomagnetism and atmospheric physics, which would greatly influence his future work.

Proximity fuze

In 1940, as the winds of war from Europe began to reach the United States, Van Allen joined a group of researchers working on developing a proximity fuze—designed to detonate a bomb's warhead within a certain distance of the target without requiring a direct hit.

This type of fuze was crucial for various types of ammunition, including anti-aircraft guns, torpedoes, and depth charges.

Shortly after the U.S. entered World War II in late 1941, he joined the Navy's ordnance lab, where he continued developing the fuze, which was based on measuring the distance to a metallic target using radio waves and was primarily intended for naval anti-aircraft munitions.

Later, he volunteered for active service in the Navy, focusing on improving the fuze, maintaining fuzes on front-line units, and training naval gunners in their use. He also served as a gunnery officer on a ship and participated in several battles.

After the war, Van Allen took a research position in applied physics at Johns Hopkins University, near Washington, D.C.

He studied the upper atmosphere, partly using V-2 rockets—the first ballistic missiles developed in Nazi Germany.

Several of these rockets, along with their developers led by Wernher von Braun, were brought to the U.S. in a secret operation.

The rockets were used for both military development and research purposes.

At the same time, Van Allen was involved in the development of another rocket, the Aerobee, which was much smaller and cheaper than the German rocket but nearly as effective.

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>>21719528

Balloons and rockets

Van Allen developed instruments that were installed on rockets in order to measure cosmic radiation, ultraviolet radiation, ozone concentration, air currents, and particles in the upper atmosphere (ionosphere), as well as advanced photographic equipment.

Most of the launches took place in New Mexico, but he also organized research expeditions, launching Aerobee rockets from ships near the equator and other regions to study the atmosphere at different latitudes.

“The national effort in high altitude research during those early free-wheeling and spirited days was characterized by many failures and many noteworthy successes," Van Allen later wrote.

"Substantial advances in knowledge were achieved in atmospheric structure, ionospheric physics, cosmic rays, high altitude photography of large areas of the cloud cover and surface of the earth, geomagnetism, and the ultraviolet and x-ray spectra of the sun."

In 1951, Van Allen returned to the University of Iowa, where he was invited to head the physics department.

Despite a limited research budget, he continued advanced atmospheric research using an innovative approach: repurposing small surplus military rockets for research. These rockets were launched from an altitude of 15 kilometers, carried by large balloons.

This method, known as "rockoons"—a combination of rockets and balloons—allowed the rockets to reach altitudes of about 75 kilometers, providing valuable data from the scientific instruments installed in place of their warheads.

Van Allen theorized that near the poles, the Earth's magnetic field channels particles from the solar wind into the atmosphere. In the early 1950s, he conducted numerous launches of such rockets in northern regions, such as Greenland.

In 1953, he and his students were able to detect electrons from solar radiation responsible for the Northern Lights phenomenon. Later, they carried out similar measurements in the far southern latitudes.

The year of the satellites

Towards the end of his time at Johns Hopkins in 1950, Van Allen proposed the idea of international scientific cooperation.

He suggested establishing the International Geophysical Year as a framework for conferences and joint meetings among scientists from around the world, including those on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

These events eventually took place in 1957-58, and within the framework of the Geophysical Year, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite in history, Sputnik 1.

The United States, meanwhile, faced several setbacks before successfully launching its own satellite about three months later.

The first American satellite, Explorer 1, carried, among other instruments, a Geiger counter developed by Van Allen to measure radiation in space.

The measurements produced unexpected results – radiation levels appeared to decrease at high altitudes, contrary to researchers' expectations.

A more advanced counter on Explorer 3, launched two months later (following the failed launch of Explorer 2), solved the mystery: the intense radiation had "overloaded" the counter on the first satellite, causing it to stop functioning.

The findings confirmed Van Allen's prediction of a natural radiation belt surrounding the Earth.

The Pioneer spacecraft, launched toward the Moon in late 1958, did not reach its destination but confirmed the existence of a second, outer radiation belt.

Both belts, now known as the Van Allen Belts, provide significant protection to Earth from charged particles in solar radiation.

It was later revealed that the Russian satellite Sputnik 2, launched in late 1957 before the American satellites, not only carried the first dog into orbit but also measured radiation levels.

The satellite reached a high enough altitude to perform the measurement over the Southern Hemisphere. It transmitted the data in real-time, which was received in Australia.

However, the data could not be deciphered since the key was held by the Russians. The Australians opted not to send the data to the Soviet Union due to the Russians' refusal to share their scientific findings.

As a result, the discovery remained credited to Van Allen, although the Russians insisted for many years on calling the radiation belts "Vernov belts," after physicist Sergei Vernov, who might have discovered them.

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>>21719530

A nice livelihood

In the summer of 1958, Van Allen participated in the "Argus" experiment, during which the United States detonated three nuclear bombs in space over the course of several days.

A satellite (Explorer 4) equipped with Van Allen's measuring instruments examined the effects of this radiation on the magnetic belts.

The experiment demonstrated that these belts also provide protection against radiation, and that the atomic explosions increased the radiation flux within the belts, creating an artificial aurora.

In May 1959, Van Allen appeared on the cover of Time magazine, which extensively covered his findings and work, describing him as "a key figure in the Cold War’s competition for prestige."

After the Russians beat the Americans to launching a man into space, U.S. President Kennedy announced his plan to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.

Van Allen initially supported the Apollo program, hoping that in addition to the historic landing, it would also yield significant scientific results.

However, he later changed his mind, stating that the program's primary value was as a television spectacle and that unmanned space missions offered far more scientific value at a lower cost.

Despite his reservations, Van Allen continued working with NASA, developing instruments for numerous research satellites.

His devices, primarily radiation detectors, were integrated into several groundbreaking missions: Mariner 2, the first spacecraft to approach Venus; Mariner 4, which conducted the first flyby of Mars; the Pioneer spacecraft, which were the first to study Jupiter up close; and the Voyager spacecraft, which visited the outer planets on their journey to the edge of the solar system.

He was also involved in developing the "Galileo" mission, a spacecraft launched in 1989 after many delays, which provided a wealth of information about Jupiter.

The mission was delayed so many times that in 1989, Van Allen remarked that the likelihood of him being alive when the spacecraft reached Jupiter was low.

However, when it arrived in 1995, he was 81 and actively participated in analyzing the findings. Throughout his career, he was the principal investigator on 24 space missions and contributed to many others.

In 1985, Van Allen retired from the University of Iowa but continued his research nearly until his death from heart failure in 2006, three weeks before his 92nd birthday.

He received numerous scientific awards and honors, and in 2012, NASA named the spacecraft sent to study the radiation belts in-depth after him.

Van Allen was also known as an excellent lecturer and mentor, as well as a kind and humorous person.

When asked in the early days of space exploration about the value of the field, he would often reply, "It provides me with a nice livelihood."

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People are obsessed with this otherworldly gas station near the Calif. border

Oct 6, 2024

On a trip to Death Valley National Park, a visitor can experience a lot of extremes: the hottest temperatures on the planet, the lowest point in North America, and the region’s driest climate.

And for those seeking an otherworldly encounter — or maybe a sandwich, some frozen yogurt or a full tank of gas — there’s the Area 51 Alien Center, just 40 miles outside of the park’s eastern entrance.

I had been hearing about the alien gas station for years, and especially about its strangely delicious attached cafe. So last week after a scenic drive through notoriously sweltering Death Valley, and with a serious craving for frozen yogurt, I entered the alien gas station into my GPS.

Soon enough, I was crossing the California border into Nevada, then pulling up to the legendary store.

From the look of the outside, with its lime-green facade featuring numerous alien designs (not to mention the bright pink Alien Cathouse Brothel next door), I already knew I was in for something ridiculous.

I stepped through the doors and into a universe where alien products had proliferated to an alarming degree.

There were alien plush toys, alien tequila bottles, alien back scratchers and alien jerky. Alien state IDs were available for just $2.49 a piece, and for $5, an alien Zoltar offered to read my mind.

One of the bestsellers, employee Jackie Garcia told me, were the Area 51 soil samples.

The samples are almost definitely not from actual Area 51 — the highly classified U.S. Air Force facility hidden in the nearby desert, where believers are sure that aliens are being held. But the vials apparently fly off the shelves for $3.99 plus tax.

Working in an alien gas station can be pretty amusing, Garcia told me, particularly when customers show up in alien costumes or with inflatable aliens in tow.

They come from all over the world, she said, sometimes dropping off coins and bills from their countries to be displayed on the walls.

And they rarely leave without purchasing several alien-related souvenirs.

The most passionate customers often do Nevada’s entire alien circuit, which includes the Extraterrestrial Highway, the Little A’Le’Inn Motel in Rachel, Nevada, and the Alien Research Center, another store where thousands of alien enthusiasts gathered in 2019 for Storm Area 51, an event started by a viral Facebook post.

(Of the 100 people who gathered at the perimeter hoping to invade the facility, none followed through and only two managed to get arrested.)

It was around that same time that Garcia got her job at the alien gas station. Back then, owner Raman Sharma had just taken over the place.

Although the store was already alien-themed, Garcia said, Sharma took it up a notch by ordering a whole lot more alien inventory and making the whole place look a lot nicer.

Soon, people obsessed with aliens were showing up all the time.

Garcia remembers feeling skeptical back then of the folks who held up the line making her watch UFO videos and claiming they were proof of aliens.

“I was like, who would believe this crap?” she said. But over time, and after hearing story after story, Garcia started wondering if maybe there was something to the hype.

Talking about aliens was making me hungry, so I headed through the store to the cafe in the back, where I debated getting a Martian Melt with pastrami and caramelized onions or a Close Encounter Club piled high.

Ultimately, the heat got the best of me, and I settled on self-serve frozen yogurt. There were six flavors to choose from.

As I pushed the lever for French vanilla, I was surprised to watch a yellow liquid spray into my cup.

An alien might be willing to drink this, I imagined, but not me. I dumped it out and started fresh with the pistachio flavor, then loaded it with gummy bears, sprinkles and chocolate sauce.

The frozen yogurt was tasty, but nothing special. My curiosity in tacky alien tourist attractions, however, had been piqued.

I left the store thinking I’d like to experience more of the hokey alien-themed businesses that have sprung up near Area 51 on the Extraterrestrial Highway, and maybe even visit the perimeter of the secret base, just to see what all the fuss is about.

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/alien-gas-station-near-california-border-19814191.php

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/hyper-sport-jet-capsule-the-alien-pod-on-water-goes-hyper-with-transformable-interior-240750.html

Hyper-Sport Jet Capsule: The Alien Pod on Water Goes Hyper With Transformable Interior

6 Oct 2024, 00:30 UTC

The Jet Capsule has been around since 2010, when it was introduced as a digital concept like many other Lazzarini designs.

Unlike those, though, the Jet Capsule actually exists in physical form: the studio has built several prototypes already and probably already sold some units.

It's also been working on upgrading the basic model over the years, which brings us to the Hyper-Sport.

The Hyper-Sport is the hyper version of the Supersport variant introduced in November 2023.

As its name says, it's designed to deliver outstanding performance in a package that's guaranteed to get you noticed no matter what.

Like previous iterations, the Hyper-Sport also comes with a customizable layout where modularity serves to enhance functionality.

In its most simplistic understanding, the Jet Capsule is an enclosed dayboat whose interior can be styled as one (meaning, with a bed/sofa configuration, a kitchenette, and a restroom) or as a tender, with seating for as many as 10 passengers.

It can serve as a standalone daytime yacht or as a tender to a superyacht mothership, or be offered as a rental or for public transport by five-star service providers.

The Supersport variant of the Jet Capsule brought improvements in terms of weight and speed by means of carbon fiber components.

The Hyper-Sport ups the game on that with construction using vacuum-infusion molding and more than 70% carbon fiber for materials.

Exposed carbon is also used as a contrasting element in the rear door and the pilot's cockpit.

Slightly longer than its predecessor, with 8.15 meters (26.7 feet) of total length on water, the Hyper-Sport offers 18 square meters (193.7 square feet) of interior space and several standard interior layouts to choose from, like Taxi, Sport, Limousine, Private Jet, and Royal.

However, Lazzarini is open to designing an interior layout from scratch for clients, as long as they're willing to pay extra.

The unit toured in the video below is actually a Supersport model with a Hyper-Sport interior, which could mean that a Hyper-Sport prototype hasn't been completed yet.

It's specced with a pair of sofas facing each other and a couple of adjusting tables in the manner of a lounge.

However, these two sofas can join to form a bed – a single or a double one, depending on your needs.

The layout also features a corner kitchenette misleadingly described as a "kitchen" and the tiniest restroom, with just enough space for a toilet and a stand on which a sink will probably go at a later time.

The cockpit area has the pilot's chair and two more seats, and boasts panoramic windows and the carbon fiber cockpit.

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>>21719703

Given its compact dimensions that limit its functionality beyond daytime use, the Jet Capsule isn't a "yacht."

At the same time, its unique style prevents it from being described as a "boat," too – so the "jet capsule" name will have to do.

One of the upgrades of the Hyper-Sport model is photochromic glass on the two oversize lateral windows, which means they will tint darker in brighter sunlight, offering better visibility and enhanced comfort inside.

A 24,000 BTU AC system will also help with keeping interior temperatures down to a comfortable level on hot summer days.

Power comes from a standard supercharged V8 engine developing 640 hp and capable of taking the Hyper-Sport to a maximum speed of 38 knots (43.7 mph/70.3 kph) at full throttle.

Options include twin engines and twin jet drives for even better performance on water. Range is estimated at around 220 miles (354 km).

The Hyper-Sport Jet Capsule also comes with radar and night vision, a walkable and fully usable roof, and a small swim platform at the rear.

Used as a blank canvas and with a fully custom interior, it can be the most comfortable and family-friendly tender or dayboat, delivering the kind of performance few other tenders can and an exterior design that will definitely get you noticed.

The one thing that hasn't changed about the Jet Capsule all these years is its exterior design.

The earlier models of the Jet Capsule were more like floating bubbles that would best be described as adorable and cute.

Newer generations employ the same general design lines but are sleeker, more streamlined, and also angrier, thanks to stylistic choices that earned it the nickname of an alien pod on water.

Lazzarini believes that there is enough demand for this type of watercraft to warrant constant tweaking and improving.

Leadtime for a Hyper-Sport model is between 8 and 18 months depending on requirements, but there's no word on pricing.

Reports online say that a unit starts at around €100,000, so approximately $110,300 at the current exchange rate, but we've been unable to verify the figure.

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