TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
January 5, 2025
Rocket Launch as Seen from the International Space Station
Have you ever seen a rocket launch – from space? A close inspection of the featured time-lapse video will reveal a rocket rising to Earth orbit as seen from the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian Soyuz-FG rocket was launched in November 2018 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying a Progress MS-10 (also 71P) module to bring needed supplies to the ISS. Highlights in the 90-second video (condensing about 15-minutes) include city lights and clouds visible on the Earth on the lower left, blue and gold bands of atmospheric airglow running diagonally across the center, and distant stars on the upper right that set behind the Earth. A lower stage can be seen falling back to Earth as the robotic supply ship fires its thrusters and begins to close on the ISS, a space laboratory that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023. Astronauts who live aboard the Earth-orbiting ISS conduct, among more practical duties, numerous science experiments that expand human knowledge and enable future commercial industry in low Earth orbit.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG)
January 3, 2025
The electricity for NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is provided by a power system called a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG.
Essentially a nuclear battery, an MMRTG uses the heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238 to generate about 110 watts of electricity at the start of a mission.
Besides generating electrical power, the MMRTG produces heat. Some of this heat can be used to maintain the rover's systems at the proper operating temperatures in the frigid cold of space and on the surface of Mars.
This device, seen here before fueling and testing at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory, has "fins" that radiate excess heat.
MMRTGs are provided to NASA for civil space applications by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The radioisotope fuel is inserted into the MMRTG at the DOE's Idaho National Laboratory before the MMRTG is shipped to the launch site.
Electrically heated versions of the MMRTG are used at JPL to verify and practice integration of the power system with the rover.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/441839/
SpaceX to test vehicle upgrades and payload deployment on next Starship flight
January 4, 2025
SpaceX plans to test several upgrades to its Starship vehicle on its next test flight, scheduled for as soon as Jan. 10, as well as conduct the first payload deployments from it.
SpaceX outlined its plans for the seventh test flight of the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle in a Jan. 3 statement.
It confirmed previous comments by the company that the flight would be the first of a block upgrade of the Starship upper stage.
“The upcoming flight test will launch a new generation ship with significant upgrades, attempt Starship’s first payload deployment test, fly multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster,” the company stated.
Among the upgrades to Starship are changes to the forward flap design to reduce heating as well as expanded propellant tanks with 25% greater volume from the previous design.
The vehicle also incorporates a “complete redesign” of its avionics with new computers, antennas and power distribution system.
Other changes involve the vehicle’s thermal protection system, with “latest generation” tiles and a layer underneath that will provide protection in the event of damaged or missing tiles.
Some tiles will be deliberately removed to stress-test vulnerable areas, while the vehicle will test some metallic tile options, some incorporating water cooling.
Those and other changes are intended to prepare for future flights where SpaceX will attempt to land the Starship upper stage back at the launch site.
The Super Heavy booster for the mission will be the first to use previously flown hardware, a single Raptor engine that was first flown on the fifth Starship/Super Heavy test flight in October.
That flight was highlighted by a successful return and “catch” of the booster at the launch site. SpaceX said will attempt another catch of Super Heavy on the upcoming launch.
The Starship upper stage will fly a suborbital profile like several recent flights, with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
While in space, though, Starship will perform its first payload deployment, releasing 10 “Starlink simulators” similar in mass and size to next-generation Starlink satellites.
Those mass simulators will not remain in orbit, reentering on suborbital trajectories similar to Starship.
Deploying what SpaceX calls “V3” Starlink satellites will be a key use of Starship once it begins orbital flights.
“With unparalleled payload capacity and full reusability, Starship will be able to deploy our more advanced V3 Starlink satellites, revolutionizing global connectivity,” SpaceX said in a recent “2024 Progress Report” on Starlink.
The V3 Starlink satellites, weighing about two tons each and designed specifically to launch on Starship, will each have one terabit per second of downlink capacity,
10 times that of the V2 Mini Starlink satellites SpaceX currently launches, and 160 gigabits per second of uplink capacity, 24 times that of V2 Mini satellites, according to that report.
Each V3 satellite will also have nearly four terabits per second of backhaul capacity using both radiofrequency and laser links.
SpaceX, in its statement about the next Starship flight, did not give a launch date.
However, airspace restrictions have been published for launch opportunities daily from Jan. 10 through Jan. 16.
Those launches would take place in the late afternoon except for a morning launch Jan. 11.
https://spacenews.com/spacex-to-test-vehicle-upgrades-and-payload-deployment-on-next-starship-flight/
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-7
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-drone-rules-1.7418332
https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/drone-safety/drone-safety-videos/canada-s-new-drone-safety-rules
Canada's skies are opening to new drone rules in 2025
Jan 05, 2025 1:00 AM PST
New government regulations can be hard to get excited about — but not if you're a drone pilot like Ian Wills.
Transport Canada's updated rules, to be unveiled early this year, will lift restrictions on longer-distance flights for the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) or drone industry, making it simpler for pilots to take to the skies.
"The entire drone space is exploding," said Wills, president of Coastal Drone, a drone pilot training organization in Langley, B.C.
"They're evolving and getting more powerful and more capable and empowering people to do things that we can't even imagine yet."
Think large-scale drone deliveries, aerial inspections or vast overhead mapping or inspections.
It's the kind of lofty potential that people have talked about for years in Canada, but one that's really only made possible with these new regulations.
Don't expect Canada's skies to be filled with drones any time soon — the new laws won't come into effect until fall.
But it means for the first time Transport Canada will move away from a case-by-case application process for these flights.
It'll open up much of the country's skies to missions that fall under low-risk beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), where a drone flies out of the pilot's field of view, says Ryan Coates, executive director of remotely piloted aircraft systems for Transport Canada.
It will also mean more stringent rules for pilot certification and updated weight limits for drones.
The BVLOS rules will be most lax in low-risk or less-populated areas, meaning Canada's more remote communities could stand to gain the most from services that could be provided.
Updating rules
Previously, a pilot would need to apply to Transport Canada for special permission every time they wanted to fly their drone beyond their visual line of sight.
That meant tens if not hundreds of hours of paperwork, says Wills.
From the regulator's perspective, the application process, which involved a rigorous review and risk assessment, became incredibly time-consuming and eventually a barrier for many drone users, says Coates of Transport Canada.
The department realized the technology and industry was capable of taking on these flights en masse, says Coates — the laws just had to catch up to make it possible.
But all of this hasn't come out of nowhere.
In 2019, Canada became one of the first countries in the world to introduce rules for RPAs following a wave of close calls with people, their drones and restricted airspace.
The original regulations included restrictions like not operating drones while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or near airports.
Since then, Transport Canada has certified more than 107,000 drone pilots and registered about 100,000 RPAs — numbers the department says increase almost daily.
In that time, the technology has also become more capable and sophisticated, says Coates, intensifying the industry's calls to ditch the administrative burden and update the rules again.
"We always move faster than the regulators, right?" said Glen Lynch, CEO of Volatus Aerospace in Ontario.
Some commercial drone companies like Lynch's already get some leeway from the regulator to fly drones BVLOS, following years of experience in the aviation industry.
But this widespread change "is a whole new realm," he says.
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Drones replacing people?
That's not to say that any kind of drone will be able to be flown anywhere.
Transport Canada says pilots who want to do BVLOS must be certified and their drones will be required to have the technology and ability to detect and avoid other air traffic.
The RPAs will also need to weigh less than 150 kilograms and be flown over sparsely populated areas in uncontrolled airspace at low altitudes.
The new laws treat drones like aircraft, because they share the same space — and in some cases, some of the risks.
In Canada, the rules also apply equally to commercial drone pilots as they do to recreational ones, who are the largest cohort of drone pilots in Canada.
They might use their drones for simpler activities, like taking pictures or videos on a hike or vacation.
For those on the commercial side, the future use cases for BVLOS are impossible to fully realize just yet.
Lynch thinks of oil-and-gas pump jacks in Northern Saskatchewan, where drones could replace workers "in gummy rubber boots" driving out to inspect leaks or damage to a rig.
Or agriculture, where they could identify and spray sections of infected crops, all flown by a pilot in a totally different location.
A potential game-changer
But the potential isn't just about benefiting industry. It's also about people, says Dr. John Pawlovich, family physician and the University of British Columbia's chair in rural health.
"I see this as being a real game-changer for communities," he said.
Pawlovich is part of a pioneering pilot project that went through the sometimes infinitesimally slow and small steps of figuring out how to deliver medicine and supplies by drone from a pharmacy to Stellat'en First Nation in Northern B.C.
Journeying to a pharmacy can be difficult for Stellat'en members because of the weather or because some are in poor health.
It might sound elementary, he said, but there are many steps to consider, like how a drone could arrive at a pharmacy in time for a digital prescription to be made available.
The team was able to perform more than 1,200 test flights through special permission from Transport Canada at the time.
Updated BVLOS rules mean a project like that would be easier to expand to other remote communities, involving all kinds of valuable cargo.
For Pawlovich, it's the best example of how, with some consideration, the changes could improve the lives of people living in some of Canada's most remote places.
"This technology holds great promise to kind of close or eliminate the gap in access to medical supply."
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Drone hits energy infrastructure facility in Zaporizhzhia Region
05 January 2025, Sunday, 17:58
In the Zaporizhzhia District of the Zaporizhzhia Region, an enemy UAV hit an energy infrastructure facility.
The press service of the National Police in the Zaporizhzhia Region has reported this.
"In the Zaporizhzhia District, an energy infrastructure facility was damaged as a result of a UAV attack. There were no casualties," the report says.
Police officers recorded enemy shells hitting residential buildings of civilians, as well as damaging garages, outbuildings, property and vehicles of citizens.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on the night of January 5, the russian federation launched 103 Shahed strike UAVs and simulator drones of various types over Ukraine.
61 of them were shot down, another 42 were lost in location.
On the night of January 3, the russian occupiers attacked the territory of Ukraine with 93 Shaheds.
Air defense forces destroyed 60 drones, another 26 did not reach their targets.
Meanwhile, over the past four days, a missile and at least 25 Shaheds have been recorded flying over the territory of Belarus, including 13 UAVs on New Year's Eve.
https://ukranews.com/en/news/1056760-drone-hits-energy-infrastructure-facility-in-zaporizhzhia-region
https://zp.npu.gov.ua/news/politseiski-zadokumentuvaly-naslidky-cherhovykh-voiennykh-zlochyniv-skoienykh-okupantamy-na-terytorii-zaporizkoi-oblasti
Russia Says Downed Dozens of Ukrainian Drones Overnight
January 5, 2025
Russia said Sunday it downed dozens of Ukrainian drones overnight in a barrage that damaged homes and triggered air alerts.
Videos posted on social media appeared to show distant explosions in the southern Rostov region, while an air raid siren could be heard in the background.
"During the past night, 61 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defences," the Russian defence ministry said, adding most were intercepted over regions near the Ukrainian border.
Four airports briefly suspended traffic early Sunday for "safety" reasons, forcing at least eight planes to divert course, a spokesperson for Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said.
In the port city of Taganrog and surrounding area, falling debris from downed drones damaged civilian property, according to local Rostov region governor Yuri Slyusar.
"Windows were broken, roofs and walls of residential houses were damaged, cars were also affected," he said.
Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged almost daily drone attacks through the nearly three-year conflict, damaging civilian areas far from the frontline and depleting each other's air defences.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia sent 103 drones into its territory, 61 of which were shot down while 42 were "decoys".
"Several private houses were damaged in the Kharkiv region as a result of the fall of a damaged attack drone," it said.
Three people were wounded in the northeast Kharkiv region as a result of the attack, while four buildings were damaged, regional prosecutors said.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/01/05/russia-says-downed-dozens-of-ukrainian-drones-overnight-a87511
Russian drone attacks motorcyclist in Kherson
05.01.2025 17:20
A Russian drone dropped an explosive payload on a Kherson resident who was riding a motorcycle. The man suffered multiple injuries.
This was reported by the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Ukrinform learned.
"A 45-year-old man was taken to hospital with explosive and craniocerebral injuries, contusion, eye damage, and shrapnel wounds to his legs," the statement says.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, casualty toll of the Russian shelling of Kherson has increased to six.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3945324-russian-drone-attacks-motorcyclist-in-kherson.html
https://t.me/khersonskaODA/29513
Drone spotted over Puri's Jagannath Temple, probe underway
Jan 05, 2025 05:11 pm
A drone was seen hovering over the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha, early on Sunday morning.
The drone was first spotted at around 4:10am and stayed in the area for nearly half an hour.
The incident has raised major security concerns as the temple falls under a no-flying zone.
Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan has voiced his concerns over this breach of security.
Law Minister condemns security breach.
"Flying a drone over the temple is illegal and not acceptable," Harichandan said.
He added that strong legal action would be taken against the person who breached the security.
The Puri Superintendent of Police (SP) has formed teams to investigate this incident, with hopes to identify the individual responsible and seize the drone.
Investigation underway to identify drone operator.
"I hope that the person concerned will be identified and the drone will be seized," Harichandan added.
To avoid such incidents in the future, he said, the government is mulling deploying police personnel round the clock at four watchtowers surrounding the temple complex.
While a vlogger is suspected to have flown the drone, authorities haven't ruled out malicious intent.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/india/drone-sighting-raises-security-concerns-at-puri-temple/story
Walmart Ends DroneUp Partnership, Shifts Drone Delivery Strategy
January 5, 2025
Retail giant Walmart has terminated its partnership with drone logistics provider DroneUp, including divesting its stake in the company, marking a significant shift in its drone delivery approach.
The announcement comes shortly after DroneUp secured crucial FAA certification for expanded commercial operations.
The dissolution of this partnership, which began in 2021 following successful COVID-19 test kit delivery trials, highlights the persistent challenges facing commercial drone delivery services.
Despite initial optimism, the venture encountered substantial operational costs and logistical hurdles that proved difficult to surmount.
By August 2023, these challenges forced DroneUp to significantly reduce its operational footprint, ultimately restricting services to the Dallas market.
However, Walmart’s broader drone delivery ambitions remain intact.
The company recently announced an expansion of its drone delivery services across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, partnering with established providers Wing and Zipline.
This strategic pivot aims to serve up to 75% of the region, cementing Walmart’s position as the U.S. retailer with the most extensive drone delivery network.
The retail sector’s continued experimentation with drone delivery technology reflects both its potential and persistent challenges.
While DroneUp received its anticipated FAA certification, the economics of sustainable drone delivery operations remain complex.
A DroneUp spokesperson indicated the company would not cease operations entirely but would redirect its focus toward other initiatives.
This development occurs against the backdrop of evolving Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) regulations and ongoing industry efforts to establish economically viable drone delivery services.
The challenges faced by the Walmart-DroneUp partnership underscore the importance of scalable operations and sustainable cost structures in the emerging drone delivery sector.
The transition from experimental programs to commercially viable services continues to present significant hurdles for the drone delivery industry.
While technical capabilities advance and regulatory frameworks evolve, establishing profitable operations at scale remains a central challenge.
Walmart’s strategic shift toward partnerships with Wing and Zipline suggests that different operational models and technological approaches may be necessary to achieve viable commercial drone delivery services.
Industry analysts will be watching closely to see how DroneUp leverages its newly acquired FAA certification in its future endeavors, and how Walmart’s partnerships with Wing and Zipline might overcome the obstacles that challenged its previous drone delivery initiatives.
https://dronexl.co/2025/01/05/walmart-ends-droneup-partnership-drone-delivery/
Top Russian colonels ‘killed in Storm Shadow blitz’ on command post as Ukraine drone ambush ‘wipes out battalion chief’
Updated: 15:43, 5 Jan 2025
A PAIR of Vladimir Putin's top colonels have reportedly been eliminated in a dramatic Storm Shadow missile blitz by Ukraine.
The deadly drone ambush is said to have wiped out a Russian lieutenant and a battalion chief who were hiding out in a bunker in Kursk.
Lieutenant Colonel Valery Tereshchenko was targeted in the command post along with seven other senior officers.
One of these included Colonel Pavel Maletsky, 39, who is the commander of the 656th separate engineer-sapper battalion.
The fatal blast tore through the city of Lgov on December 30, with footage revealing the moment of the explosion.
Bright flashes of orange can be seen over the area where the command post was reportedly located before a giant fireball erupts.
The weapon used is thought to have been been supplied to Ukraine by the British.
Storm Shadow missiles have proved to be a key weapon in the West's arsenal as they continue to help their allies in Ukraine push back against Russia.
The 450kg rockets are capable of dodging Vlad's air defences with ease and precisely blast targets at a whopping 600mph.
The high-ranking casualties have only been revealed today as details of their funerals appeared to emerge.
Putin is yet to officially announce the deaths with Russian media staying quiet over the blast.
But a tribute to Tereshchenko has been posted by the Russian Officers' Ice Hockey League on Telegram.
They announced “with bitterness and sorrow in our hearts” Tereshchenko died in the missile strike.
He played a pivotal role in Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine since joining the Kremlin's ranks in October 2022.
He is reportedly due to be buried later today.
An apparent friend of Maletsky has also appeared to confirm the death of the colonel in the same attack.
Six other Russians were also killed alongside the two key players in Putin's war games, Ukrainian media have announced.
Another 22 servicemen are believed to have been injured in the blast.
The damaging deaths to the Kremlin come after another top Russian missile commander was blitzed by a Ukrainian revenge strike.
Captain Konstantin Nagayko, 29, is fighting for his life in a "critical condition" after his post in Russia's Ivanovo region was blasted, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.
It is said that Nagayko, who Kyiv has accused of war crimes, had to go through extensive surgeries after "all his vital organs were damaged".
UKRAINE'S PINPOINT ATTACKS
Russia has claimed that Ukraine has carried out a series of targeted assassinations since the beginning of the war back in February 2022.
General Igor Kirillov, 54, was killed after a bomb in his electric scooter blew him up outside his Moscow apartment.
Dramatic footage shows the moment the device detonated just seconds after the general and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov left his home.
Some 200g of TNT stuck to the scooter is believed to have been detonated remotely.
The FSB claims Kurbanov was offered $100,000 and European passports to carry out the assassination by Kyiv.
Volodymyr Zelensky's office later denied Ukrainian involvement in Kirillov's death.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, said: "Ukraine does not use methods of terrorist formats.
It comes after Darya Dugina, 30, the daughter of Alexander Dugin, dubbed "Putin's Rasputin" was killed in a car bomb attack.
In 2023 military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was also killed in a bombing attack in a café in central St Petersburg. Another 30 people were injured in the attack.
Daria Trepova, 26, who reportedly handed him a gold TNT-laden figurine of himself. now faces 20 years behind bars.
Meanwhile, naval captain Stanislav Rzhitsky, 42, was shot dead after a hitman tracked him down using a popular fitness app
He was jogging through the Russian city of Krasnodar when he was gunned down.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/32617928/top-russian-colonels-killed-storm-shadow-drone-ukraine/
Americans alarmed by ‘chemical fog’ spreading across the US: Phenomenon sparks bioweapon conspiracy theories after drone sightings
Sat, January 4, 2025 at 9:30 AM PST
New year, new conspiracy theories.
Parts of the US have been blanketed by a “mysterious” fog, sparking concern from locals who claim it has a “chemical” smell and exposure can result in flu-like symptoms.
A Florida resident told the Daily Mail that they felt sick after being outside in the fog for just 10 minutes.
“Within about an hour, I kept sneezing over and over for about three hours, and my eyes were really puffy,” the unnamed Floridian claimed.
“I got very warm and I felt like I had a fever, and my stomach was cramping.”
The Daily Mail reports that the occurrences have eerie echoes of “Operation Sea-Spray” — a secret biological warfare experiment conducted by the US Navy back in 1950.
At the time, serratia marcescens and bacillus globigii bacteria were sprayed over the San Francisco Bay area to determine how vulnerable a large American city may be to a bioweapon attack.
At least one American was killed and 10 others were seriously sickened.
Conspiracy theories have run rampant on social media as people in multiple states have reported a similar phenomenon, which comes after drone sightings in some areas of the country.
Footage online shows a flurry of particles floating within the fog, sparking fears that it is no ordinary weather event but rather, some sort of bio-weapon, users allege.
“Described as a thick, lingering blanket, the fog has left people sick—many experiencing sudden cold or flu-like symptoms after only brief exposure,” one person explained on X of the “so-called ‘chemical fogs’.”
“Dubbed ‘Fogvid-24,’ some victims have also reported an unexplained loss of energy.”
According to The Daily Mail, people on X have reported “strange smells” that burn their noses, speculating that the government “dumped a bunch of microbes on the country this week, in the form of fog.”
“It tastes and smells like after setting off a lot of fireworks. That sulfur smell,” one TikTok user wrote, adding that it is “freaking me out.”
Meanwhile, a Kansas resident also told the outlet that she saw “massive amounts of chemtrails” in her area preceding the onset of the fog.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/americans-alarmed-chemical-fog-spreading-173029805.html
https://www.tiktok.com/@david_bamber/video/7441930932703153454
Somewhere, perhaps.
Here's some other stuff.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2018/11/Progress_launch_timelapse_seen_from_space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip6VAKfTKyU