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The Palisades and Eaton Fires, Los Angeles, California
Jan 17, 2025
The image comparison above shows the resulting burned areas from the devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires in Los Angeles, California.
The left "A" side displays January 2, 2025, and the right "B" side displays January 12, 2025.
Move the center swipe bar left and right to compare and contrast the unburned vegetation (in green) with the burned areas (in red).
The Palisades Fire is in the lower left portion of the map, and the Eaton Fire is in the upper right portion of the map.
The comparison of the Palisades Fire above shows January 7, 2025, on the left "A" side and January 12, 2025, on the right "B" side.
Move the center swipe bar to the right to see where the Palisades Fire began on January 7 as a bright glowing red area, with clouds to the east.
Move the center swipe bar to the left to see the extent of red burned area from the Palisades Fire.
The the burned area from the Palisades Fire actually reached the burned area of early December 2024's Franklin Fire in Malibu.
Also visible in the image is the slight difference in color between the brighter red burned area of the wildland areas in the hilly region and the darker red color of the burned area of the developed Pacific Palisades near the ocean in the right portion of the burned area near Santa Monica.
The contrast between the wildland burned area and the developed burned area is also evident with the Eaton Fire, where the wildland fire occurred in the hilly areas of the Angeles National Forest and is visible as a brighter orange red, whereas the burned area of Altadena is a darker red/brown.
As of the morning of Friday, January 17, the Palisades fire has burned 23,713 acres and is only 31% contained, and the Eaton fire has burned 14,117 acres and is 65% contained.
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/worldview-image-archive/palisades-eaton-fires-los-angeles-california
https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Jan 17, 2025
The Stone of Hope, a granite statue of civil rights movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is seen in this image from Jan. 5, 2025.
The statue is part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington.
Dr. King inspired millions to answer the righteous call for racial equality and to build a world where every person is treated equally, with dignity and respect.
NASA is committed to innovate for the benefit of humanity and to inspire the world through discovery.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/martin-luther-king-jr-memorial/
Snoop Frogg
NASA Kennedy Ground Systems Prepping Hardware for Artemis II, Beyond
Jan 17, 2025
Teams with NASA are gaining momentum as work progresses toward future lunar missions for the benefit of humanity as numerous flight hardware shipments from across the world arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first crewed Artemis flight test and follow-on lunar missions.
The skyline at Kennedy will soon see added structures as teams build up the ground systems needed to support them.
Crews are well underway with parallel preparations for the Artemis II flight, as well as buildup of NASA’s mobile launcher 2 tower for use during the launch of the SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1B rocket, beginning with the Artemis IV mission.
This version of NASA’s rocket will use a more powerful upper stage to launch with crew and more cargo on lunar missions.
Technicians have begun upper stage umbilical connections testing that will help supply fuel and other commodities to the rocket while at the launch pad.
In summer 2024, technicians from NASA and contractor Bechtel National, Inc. completed a milestone called jack and set, where the center’s mega-mover, the crawler transporter, repositioned the initial steel base assembly for mobile launcher 2 from temporary construction shoring to its six permanent pedestals near the Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building.
“The NASA Bechtel mobile launcher 2 team is ahead of schedule and gaining momentum by the day,” stated Darrell Foster, ground systems integration manager, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program at NASA Kennedy.
“In parallel to all of the progress at our main build site, the remaining tower modules are assembled and outfitted at a second construction site on center.”
As construction of the mobile launcher 2’s base continues, the assembly operations shift into integration of the modules that will make up the tower.
In mid-October 2024, crews completed installation of the chair, named for its resemblance to a giant seat.
The chair serves as the interface between the base deck and the vertical modules which are the components that will make up the tower, and stands at 80-feet-tall.
In December 2024, teams completed the rig and set Module 4 operation where the first of a total of seven 40-foot-tall modules was stacked on top of the chair.
Becthel crews rigged the module to a heavy lift crane, raised the module more than 150-feet, and secured the four corners to the tower chair.
Once complete, the entire mobile launcher structure will reach a height of nearly 400 feet – approximately the length of four Olympic-sized swimming pools placed end-to-end.
On the opposite side of the center, test teams at the Launch Equipment Test Facility are testing the new umbilical interfaces, which will be located on mobile launcher 2, that will be needed to support the new SLS Block 1B Exploration Upper Stage.
The umbilicals are connecting lines that provide fuel, oxidizer, pneumatic pressure, instrumentation, and electrical connections from the mobile launcher to the upper stage and other elements of SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
“All ambient temperature testing has been successfully completed and the team is now beginning cryogenic testing, where liquid nitrogen and liquid hydrogen will flow through the umbilicals to verify acceptable performance,” stated Kevin Jumper, lab manager, NASA Launch Equipment Test Facility at Kennedy.
“The Exploration Upper Stage umbilical team has made significant progress on check-out and verification testing of the mobile launcher 2 umbilicals.”
The testing includes extension and retraction of the Exploration Upper Stage umbilical arms that will be installed on mobile launcher 2.
The test team remotely triggers the umbilical arms to retract, ensuring the ground and flight umbilical plates separate as expected, simulating the operation that will be performed at lift off.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/nasa-kennedy-ground-systems-prepping-hardware-for-artemis-ii-beyond/
NASA Posts Touching Tribute to the Late David Lynch
Jan 17, 2:02 PM EST
"We will see you in our dreams."
In the wake of celebrated surrealist director David Lynch's death at the age of 78, NASA has joined the throngs of mourners celebrating the life of the "Mulholland Drive" and "Blue Velvet" auteur.
"Keep your eye on the donut," the space agency wrote in a post on X-formerly-Twitter, "and not on the hole."
That simultaneously mundane and profound statement, published in one of Lynch's transcendental meditation books, was accompanied by an image of a black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy that resembled the delicious fried dough pastry at the heart of so many scenes in "Twin Peaks."
Most of Lynch's work — save for his 1984 adaptation of "Dune" starring a young Kyle MacLachlan — took place on terra firma. Still, he encouraged everyone to "explore the otherworldly and the unknown," as NASA so aptly put it in its post.
"We will focus not on the loss, but on what we gained from the years we shared this planet with you," the space agency shared. "We will see you in our dreams."
The latter half of that tear-jerking homage is reminiscent of comments the "Twin Peaks" creator made in a rare 2023 interview with the BBC.
Conducted after the passing of composer and longtime Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti the year prior, the interviewer noticed that the director kept referring to his old friend in the present tense — and the response was flooring.
"You have to keep Angelo alive," Lynch said. "I believe life is a continuum, and that no one really dies, they just drop their physical body and we'll all meet again, like the song says."
"It's sad but it's not devastating if you think like that," he continued. "Otherwise, I don't see how anybody could ever, once they see someone die, that they'd just disappear forever and that's what we're all bound to do."
"I'm sorry but it just doesn't make any sense," the lifelong transcendental meditation enthusiast said. "It's a continuum, and we're all going to be fine at the end of the story."
Viewed through that lens, Lynch is merely further along the continuum than the rest of us — and there's no doubt that those whose lives he touched will indeed be seeing him in their dreams.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-david-lynch-tribute
https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1880014378444952035
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/cowvr-tempest-v10-datasets-available-first-public-release
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/tools/earthdata-search
https://github.com/podaac/data-subscriber
COWVR and TEMPEST V10 Datasets Available in First Public Release
Jan 17, 2025
NASA's Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) released the first three Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer (COWVR) and Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems (TEMPEST) datasets produced by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The COWVR and TEMPEST instruments are passive microwave radiometers installed on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Space Test Program - Houston 8 (STP-H8) technology demonstration mission.
The project aims to demonstrate a lower-cost, lighter-weight sensor architecture for providing microwave data, with the primary objective of ocean surface vector wind products and tropical cyclone intensity tracking for the Department of Defense (DoD).
The datasets include:
COWVR STP-H8 Surface Wind Vector and Column-Integrated Atmospheric Water Measurements Version 10.0 (COWVR_STPH8_L2_EDR_V10.0): This Level 2 dataset from the COWVR instrument provides geolocated surface wind vectors, precipitable water vapor, and integrated cloud liquid water, as well as the microwave brightness temperatures used to derive them.
COWVR STP-H8 Antenna and Microwave Brightness Temperatures Version 10.0 (COWVR_STPH8_L1_TSDR_V10.0): This Level 1 dataset from the COWVR instrument provides calibrated, geo-located antenna temperature and brightness temperatures, along with the sensor telemetry used to derive those values. Brightness temperatures are derived from the microwave band frequencies 18.7 gigahertz (GHz), 23.8 GHz, and 34.5 GHz. (Note: This product is best suited for a calibration/validation user or sensor expert.)
TEMPEST STP-H8 Antenna and Microwave Brightness Temperatures Version 10.0 (TEMPEST_STPH8_L1_TSDR_V10.0): This Level 1 dataset from the TEMPEST instrument includes satellite-based observations of calibrated, geo-located antenna temperature and brightness temperatures, along with the sensor telemetry used to derive those values. Brightness temperatures are derived from the microwave band frequencies 87, 164, 174, 178 and 181 GHz. (Note: This product is best suited for a calibration/validation user or sensor expert.)
Version 10.0 is the first unrestricted public release of these data, which are named as such to be consistent with the internal version numbering of the project team prior to release.
These datasets cover the period from January 2022 to the present, with forward streaming planned until August of 2025.
Both the Level 1 and Level 2 datasets provide data in HDF5 format, with roughly one file per hour (the orbital period of the International Space Station is approximately 90 minutes).
Delivering Data Faster and More Frequently
Developed by JPL and launched into space on December 21, 2021, COWVR and TEMPEST are passive microwave radiometers deployed on the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) of the ISS for a three-year mission.
From their perch on the ISS, COWVR and TEMPEST will provide crucial data that scientists use to forecast weather and climate.
COWVR is responsible for measuring the speed and direction of winds blowing over the ocean surface, while TEMPEST observes the vertical distribution of water vapor and moisture in the atmosphere.
Such measurements are vital to weather prediction, as heat and moisture from the ocean influences atmospheric conditions and winds play a key role in driving ocean currents and distributing masses of warm air.
Better insight into how these processes interact is key to more accurate forecasting, but getting the requisite data to study them can be difficult.
From 2003 to 2020, measurements of ocean surface wind vectors, rain rates, and total precipitable water were primarily obtained by the WindSat instrument aboard the DoD’s Coriolis satellite.
Traveling in Sun-synchronous orbit, WindSat had an equatorial crossing time of 6 p.m. and a revisit time of 8 days.
Now, COWVR and TEMPEST are filling the data gap left by WindSat’s departure, and revisiting locations within the ISS’s orbit with greater frequency.
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According to PO.DAAC Data Engineer Dean Henze, the release of these first dataset from COWVR and TEMPEST is significant, as co-located measurements of wind vectors and integrated water measurements at the air-sea interface will be immensely beneficial for both weather forecasting and climate research.
"Having these co-located wind and water data allows users to circumvent the uncertainties scientists may encounter when trying to combine wind and atmospheric data from instruments on different satellites," he said.
“Also, because these instruments are on the ISS, which is not in Sun-synchronous orbit, they will pass over the same locations at different times of the day.
This is helpful for filling in some of the time-of-day gaps when conducting research or observing storms, particularly in the middle latitudes.”
The ISS moves above the planet in low-Earth orbit, traveling from west to east about 16 times per day between 52° North and South latitude.
This means the majority of COWVR’s and TEMPEST’s observations will be over areas in the mid-latitudes and the tropics, which are prone to storms, and revisit them more frequently.
Further, because COWVR and TEMPEST will use NASA’s Tracking and Data Reply Satellite System (TDRSS) to send their data back to Earth, scientists and forecasters can receive COWVR and TEMPEST data in near real-time.
"The more frequent measurements and low latency data offered by these instruments can be fed into storm tracking systems and weather models at a faster rate, which allow scientists to update their forecasts more often," said Henze.
“This will be very beneficial in the mid-latitudes and in the tropics where there are a lot of storms.”
About the STP-H8 Mission
The goal of the DoD-sponsored STP-H8 mission is to demonstrate new low-cost microwave sensor technologies for weather applications.
The COWVR instrument is no bigger than a minifridge and TEMPEST is even smaller—about the size of a cereal box.
Yet, while they might be small in size, these instruments are tasked with a big job: making the same high-quality atmospheric observations as weather satellites many times their size at a fraction of the cost.
To make that happen, the Air-Sea interface and Atmospheric Profile observatory (ASAP) Science Working Group (SWG) formed in 2021 to advance research and applications with COWVR and TEMPEST data, as the simultaneous measurements of air-sea interface and atmospheric profiles present significant advantages for research and applications in storm forecasting, air-sea interactions, climate sciences, and model improvements.
With support from NASA, the ASAP-SWG plans to develop additional water vapor profile, precipitation rate, and ice water path data products using the STP-H8 mission observations.
A list of the anticipated products from COWVR and TEMPEST is available on the STP-H8 mission website.
Data Access
COWVR and TEMPEST instrument data from January 2022 to the present are being reprocessed by the COWVR-TEMPEST Project Team and ingested by PO.DAAC, NASA’s designated archive and distribution center for the STP-H8 mission data, as they become available.
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NASA Assigns Mary Beth Schwartz, David Korth to Johnson Center Posts
January 17, 2025
NASA has announced the appointments of Mary Beth Schwartz as head of center operations directorate at the Johnson Space Center and David Korth as deputy for Johnson’s safety and mission assurance directorate.
Schwartz, who has been working with NASA for almost 20 years after starting as an intern, was the immediate former deputy of Johnson’s center operations directorate, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Her previous positions in the agency include senior chair of the payload safety review panel for the International Space Station and Space Shuttle programs.
She also worked as manager of safety and mission assurance business office and led its budget consolidation and integration functions.
A graduate of bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Houston, Schwartz has received the NASA Exceptional Service medal the NASA Honor and Silver Snoopy awards.
Vanessa Wyche, Johnson Space Center director, cited Schwartz’s “unique perspective” in focusing center operations not only on mission and customer goals but also employee experience.
“I appreciate her vision for the organization, commitment to the mission and overall genuine respect of the workforce,” she said.
Korth’s Background
Wyche also acknowledged Korth’s track record meriting his appointment as Johnson’s safety and mission assurance directorate deputy, calling him an “outstanding leader and engineer” with a full grasp on the agency’s safety procedures.
“His leadership will ensure the center continues its safety-first ideology,” Wyche commented.
Korth has worked at NASA for over 17 years and held the role of deputy manager of the ISS Avionics and Software Office before his new appointment.
He also previously served as deputy manager of the ISS Systems Engineering Office where he concurrently headed procurement for the NASA commercial destination program.
His NASA career started in 1998 as an engineer in the ISS operations planning group, bringing with him over eight years of experience in the Houston-based aerospace company Barrios Technology.
He also previously worked part-time for five years as an adjunct mathematics instructor at Lee College.
Korth has earned several career recognitions, including a Rotary National Award for Space Achievement, two NASA Outstanding Leadership medals and a NASA Exceptional Achievement medal.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in statistics from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
https://executivegov.com/2025/01/nasa-johnson-center-new-appointments/
https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-names-mary-beth-schwartz-as-director-center-operations-directorate/
https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-names-david-korth-as-deputy-safety-and-mission-assurance-directorate/
https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/nasa-scientists-engineers-receive-presidential-early-career-awards/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2025/01/14/president-biden-honors-nearly-400-federally-funded-early-career-scientists/
NASA Scientists, Engineers Receive Presidential Early Career Awards
Jan 17, 2025
President Biden has named 19 researchers who contribute to NASA’s mission as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
These recipients are among nearly 400 federally funded researchers receiving the honor.
Established in 1996 by the National Science and Technology Council, the PECASE Award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers who are beginning their research careers.
The award recognizes recipients’ potential to advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge and their commitment to community service, as demonstrated through professional leadership, education or community outreach.
“I am so impressed with these winners and what they have accomplished,” said Kate Calvin, chief scientist, NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“They have made valuable contributions to NASA science and engineering, and I can’t wait to see what they do in the future.”
The following NASA recipients were nominated by the agency:
Natasha Batalha, NASA Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, California – for transformational scientific research in the development of open-source systems for the modeling of exoplanet atmospheres and observations
Elizabeth Blaber, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York – for transformative spaceflight and ground-based space biology research
James Burns, University of Virginia, Charlottesville – for innovative research at the intersection of metallurgy, solid mechanics and chemistry
Egle Cekanaviciute, NASA Ames Research Center – for producing transformational research to enable long-duration human exploration on the Moon and Mars
Nacer Chahat, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southern California – for leading the innovation of spacecraft antennas that enable NASA deep space and earth science missions
Ellyn Enderlin, Boise State University, Idaho – for innovative methods to study glaciers using a wide variety of satellite datasets
David Estrada, Boise State University, Idaho – for innovative research in the areas of printed electronics for in space manufacturing and sensors for harsh environments
Burcu Gurkan, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio – for transforming contemporary approaches to energy storage and carbon capture to be safer and more economical, for applications in space and on Earth
Elliott Hawkes, University of California, Santa Barbara – for highly creative innovations in bio-inspired robotics that advance science and support NASA’s mission
John Hwang, University of California, San Diego – for innovative approach to air taxi design and key contributions to the urban air mobility industry
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James Tuttle Keane, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory – for innovative and groundbreaking planetary geophysics research, and renowned planetary science illustrations
Kaitlin Kratter, University of Arizona, Tucson – for leadership in research about the formation and evolution of stellar and planetary systems beyond our own
Lyndsey McMillon-Brown, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio – for leadership in photovoltaic research, development, and demonstrations
Debbie Senesky, Stanford University, California – for research that has made it possible to operate sensing and electronic devices in high-temperature and radiation-rich environments
Hélène Seroussi, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire – for leading the cryosphere science community in new research directions about the role of ocean circulation in the destabilization of major parts of Antarctica’s ice sheets
Timothy Smith, NASA Glenn Research Center – for achievements in materials science research, specifically in high temperature alloy innovation
Mitchell Spearrin, University of California, Los Angeles – for pioneering scientific and technological advancements in multiple areas critical to NASA’s current and future space missions including rocket propulsion, planetary entry, and sensor systems
Michelle Thompson, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana – for research in planetary science and dedication to training the next generation of STEM leaders
Mary Beth Wilhelm, NASA Ames Research Center – for achievements in science, technology, and community outreach through her work in the fields of space science and astrobiology
The PECASE awards were created to highlight the importance of science and technology for America’s future.
These early career awards foster innovative developments in science and technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, provide recognition to the scientific missions of participating agencies, and enhance connections between research and challenges facing the nation.
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Cornwall space engineer says AI to become ‘real helper’ of humanity in future
Sat 18 January 2025 at 7:13 am GMT-8
An engineer in Cornwall who pioneered space communications in the UK has said Artificial Intelligence is to become a “real helper” of humanity in the years to come.
Ian Jones is the founder and chief executive of the Goonhilly Earth Station Limited, the world’s first private “deep space operator”, which helps organisations like NASA and ESA, as well as some private companies, to communicate with their space crafts in deep space – all from the Goonhilly Downs site near Helston.
The 62-year-old engineer, who was made an OBE during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday for “services to Space Communications”, said the UK should look more into the benefits AI can bring the country, its people and its economy in the future, as he himself is moving into the field.
Speaking after the ceremony, Mr Jones said: “It’s really astonishing what’s happening in AI now.”
Commenting on Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement earlier this week that the Government has plans to make the UK an AI “superpower”, Mr Jones said: “I think that in the UK, we’ve been looking at the potential problems that AI could bring.
“Actually, the lens that we should be looking through is what benefits we can get from AI. “It’s using the knowledge that AI has.
“AI by now has read every book and has read every page on the internet, and so, it has the ability to really help and inform us, to move more quickly, and to use that capability to get ahead – and to help others to get ahead.”
Mr Jones with his OBE at Windsor Castle (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA) He added: “I think it’s going to be a real helper.
Obviously there are concerns about it getting ahead very quickly, but actually, AI is very good at following rules.
“So, if you set the rules and you give it a set of documents to abide by, it will do so really, really well.”
Asked about the risks of AI being used for malicious reasons – such as the illegal or invasive collection of personal data, or the use of AI to create “deepfakes” – Mr Jones said: “I think that’s right – but you could say that of very many things.
“For example, the telephone can be used for great good or it can be used for bad, the internet can be used for great good or bad – AI is the same.
“So the point is: yes, you need regulations and you need rules and laws that we obey, or are held into account by if we don’t.
“But that shouldn’t stop up from using those tools and using them for good, for growth, and to really make our lives better.
“We live in an amazing time where, for most of the world, we don’t want for too many things – and yes, we know that there are exceptions.
“But all of these things have come through technological advances. “As the population of the Earth grows, we need to use technology to help this growing population.”
According to Mr Jones, AI could be used in a variety of fields, including not only space communications, but healthcare and administration.
He said: “It’s things like, when you go to a doctor, you get your doctor’s opinion.
“But if your doctor could use AI to get the massed knowledge of all doctors, and then use that to inform their opinion, I think that that’s a really good thing to do.
“Ultimately people are making the decisions, but they are being guided by a much broader base of knowledge.
“And I think, particularly over the next few years, it’s going to make a massive difference to how we can be productive and help each other to grow.”
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister unveiled plans to expand use of AI in a bid to boost growth.
He conceded there would be “teething problems” involved in the process but insisted changes would help revolutionise creaking public services and turn around Britain’s economy.
The Government also said it will “take forward” all 50 recommendations made by tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, who was commissioned by Science Secretary Peter Kyle in July to come up with a plan to identify AI opportunities.
Among the proposals are greater use of the technology in the public sector to enable workers to spend less time doing administrative tasks and more time delivering services, as well as a series of AI “growth zones” around Britain to help speed up planning approvals for data centres and improve access to the energy grid.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/cornwall-space-engineer-says-ai-151313409.html
Unique Moment Space Rock Strikes Driveway Captured on Camera
Jan 17, 2025 at 12:11 PM EST
ARing doorbell camera has captured the moment a meteorite hit a driveway in Canada.
Newsweek has contacted the University of Alberta for comment via email.
According to the University of Alberta, the footage marks the first time the sound of a meteorite hitting Earth has ever been recorded.
In July, Joe Velaidum, who lives on Prince Edward Island, a Canadian province in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, noticed a small fragment of space rock on his property after walking his dogs. This week, he shared footage of the rock's impact with media outlets.
Velaidum returned from walking his dogs to find mysterious dust particles in his driveway. After reviewing his security footage and seeing a rock come flying out of nowhere, he suspected it was a meteorite.
The homeowner sent about 7 grams of the rock to Chris Herd, a curator of the University of Alberta's meteorite collection and professor in its science faculty, via the university's Meteorite Reporting System.
Herd confirmed that the rock was a meteorite after visiting the site and collecting more samples. He later concluded that Velaidum's clip was the first of its kind.
The meteorite likely broke off from an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, Herd said.
The rock can be seen briefly in only one frame of the video, indicating its speed, the University of Alberta said. A cloud of dust can be seen rising from the ground where the rock falls.
In a news release issued by the University of Alberta on Monday, Herd said: "As the first and only meteorite from the province of PEI, the Charlottetown Meteorite sure announced its arrival in a spectacular way.
No other meteorite fall has been documented like this, complete with sound. It adds a whole new dimension to the natural history of the Island."
He added in a separate statement: "It's really awesome. It's actually the first and only meteorite ever found on the Island, and what a way to make that discovery.
Every time that this happens, it's a new sample from space. It's from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, so it's come a long way."
Velaidum told CBC News: "The shocking thing for me is that I was standing right there a couple of minutes right before this impact.
If I'd have seen it, I probably would've been standing right there, so it probably would've ripped me in half."
He told CTV News: "We need to be reminded that the lives that we lead are just a small part of this celestial drama that's so much bigger than we can possibly imagine."
https://www.newsweek.com/space-rock-meteorite-driveway-prince-edward-island-2016785
https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1879951504406446177?
FAA requiring investigation into SpaceX Starship's Flight 7 explosion
January 17, 2025
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is requiring an investigation into what went wrong during the seventh-ever test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket yesterday (Jan. 16).
The launch, from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas, went well at first. Starship got off the pad successfully, and its two stages — the Super Heavy booster and Ship spacecraft — separated on time. And the giant booster came back to Starbase, where it was caught by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms.
Ship was less successful, however. The flight plan called for the upper stage to deploy 10 dummy satellites about 17.5 minutes after liftoff and splash down in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Western Australia 50 minutes later. But that didn't happen; the 171-foot-tall (52 meters) craft exploded about 8.5 minutes after launch, raining debris over the Atlantic Ocean near the Turks and Caicos islands.
Today (Jan. 17), the FAA announced that it's requiring a mishap investigation into the incident, to determine its root cause and implement corrective actions.
That work may not take too long. SpaceX has already identified a likely proximate cause, according to company founder and CEO Elon Musk — a propellant leak, which led to a fire in Ship's aft section.
Ship's explosion had some real-world impact beyond creating a dramatic sky show, according to the FAA.
While no injuries have been reported, the agency "is working with SpaceX and appropriate authorities to confirm reports of public property damage on Turks and Caicos," FAA officials wrote in an emailed statement today.
"During the event, the FAA activated a Debris Response Area and briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location," the agency added. "Several aircraft requested to divert due to low fuel levels while holding outside impacted areas."
SpaceX will lead the mishap investigation, but the FAA must approve the company's final report, according to the agency, which grants launch licenses for U.S. vehicles.
"A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," the agency wrote in today's statement.
SpaceX wants to get Starship back on the pad quickly.
The company intends to make big strides this year on the megarocket, which it's developing to help humanity settle Mars, among other exploration feats.
"The ship and booster for Starship’s eighth flight test are built and going through prelaunch testing and preparing to fly as we continue a rapid iterative development process to build a fully and rapidly reusable space transportation system," SpaceX wrote yesterday in a post-Flight 7 blog post.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/faa-requiring-investigation-into-spacex-starships-flight-7-explosion
https://www.space.com/stargazing/major-telescope-makers-hit-by-class-action-lawsuit-over-alleged-price-fixing
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/if-you-purchased-a-telescope-from-january-1-2005-to-september-6-2023-you-may-be-entitled-to-a-payment-from-a-32-million-class-action-settlement-302317577.html
https://www.telescopesettlement.com/case-documents.aspx
Major telescope makers hit by class action lawsuit over alleged price fixing
January 17, 2025
Skywatchers who purchased telescopes from leading suppliers may be entitled to a payment from a $32 million class action settlement.
The settlement is a result of a lengthy legal saga involving telescope manufacturers controlled by Chinese family firms Synta Technologies and Ningbo Sunny, which, according to allegations in available documents, actively conspired to monopolize and divide up the U.S. amateur telescope market to fix prices and push out competitors.
The brands covered in the class action include the popular Celestron, Meade, Olivon and Sky-Watcher telescopes, which have for years been a mainstay of the U.S. amateur astronomer essential toolkit.
Users have until May 20, 2025, to claim compensation from the settlement, which has been approved by the U.S. District Court in San Jose in November.
Telescopes bought between Jan. 1, 2005, and Sept. 6, 2023, are covered by the settlement including those made by Suzhou Synta Optical Technology, Nantong Schmidt Opto-Electrical Technology, Synta Canada International Enterprises, Pacific Telescope Corp, SW Technology Corporation, Sunny Optical Technology and Sunny Optics, in addition to the above-mentioned brands.
The alleged illegal conduct of companies addressed in this class action was first exposed by the 2016 lawsuit brought forward by the now defunct California-based telescope maker Orion Technologies.
The lawsuit, ultimately won by Orion in 2019, accused Taiwan-headquartered telescope manufacturer Synta Technology of conspiring with its main competitor — China-headquartered Ningbo Sunny — to monopolize the U.S. amateur telescope market and push Orion out of competition.
The class action documents describe close connections between the companies, directly or indirectly controlled by Synta Technologies owner David Shen and his family.
According to the available documents, Synta Technology helped Ningbo Sunny acquire the popular U.S. telescope maker Meade in 2013, having itself acquired America's most popular telescope distributor Celestron in 2005.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission blocked previous attempts by Celestron and other telescope producers to acquire Meade due to antitrust concerns, stating such mergers would have created monopoly conditions in the market for telescopes.
Ningbo Sunny, however, managed to circumvent the rules by concealing its links to Synta.
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Following the acquisition, Synta and Ningbo Sunny agreed to divide the telescope market and not compete against each other with Synta focusing on the higher-end amateur telescope market through Celestron and Ningbo Sunny targeting the lower-cost market through Meade products, the documents state.
In the absence of competition, American astronomy enthusiasts have paid hundreds of millions of dollars for overpriced products during the two decades, in which the conspirators controlled the market, the documents allege.
The class action complaint, available online via the Telescopes Antitrust Litigation Indirect Purchaser Actions Settlement website, states that "several former competitors of Synta and Ningbo Sunny have sold off or shut down their telescope businesses" as they were "unable to achieve needed sales volumes and margins."
The latest victim in the telescope manufacturer extinction wave is Orion, which, despite its successful lawsuit against Synta and Ningbo, abruptly ceased operations in July 2024.
The Meade brand hadn't survived either, having been bought by Orion from Ningbo Sunny in 2021. The website of Olivon is also no longer accessible.
The Telescopes Antitrust Litigation Settlement Administrator hasn't responded to Space.com's repeated emails and neither has Celestron.
Sky-Watcher, which sells telescopes made by Synta Technologies, said the firm "continues to dispute all the claims and deny any wrongdoing."
The spokesperson said, however, that the firm wanted to "put the issue behind us" and considered the settlement to be a business decision "in the best interest of the company, the industry and our customers."
Because the parties reached a settlement, the court will not be deciding whether the alleged conspirators have breached U.S. anti-trust laws.
However, in the earlier Orion case, the United States District Court in the Northern District of California found the Chinese firms in breach of the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, which prohibit anti-competitive business practices.
The judge ordered Ningbo Sunny to pay $50.4 million to Orion while Synta settled for just $500,000 before the case went in front of the jury.
The class action settlement final approval hearing is set for early April, after which class members will be able to access compensation.
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It wasn’t a meteorite: The European Space Agency identified the object that flew over Spain on Saturday
January 18, 2025
Something pretty extraordinary happened over Spain on a Saturday night recently. What folks first thought was a meteorite turned out to be a fragment from a comet.
This caught the eyes of scientists and sky-watchers alike, showing just how lively our solar system is and hinting at what it could mean for us here on Earth.
How did they spot it?
The European Space Agency (ESA) was key in spotting this cosmic visitor. Their bolide camera nailed down the exact moment at 22:46 UTC (or 0:46 Sunday in Spain).
The object zipped by at an eye-popping speed of 45,000 meters per second—that’s about 100,662 mph! It burned up at an altitude of 37.28 miles, leaving nothing behind.
It was quite the spectacle, lighting up the Spanish sky and catching the attention of many people and cameras.
Even with its brightness, no one saw it coming before it hit our atmosphere—highlighting how tough it can be to track these speedy objects.
What did the experts find out?
After spotting it, ESA’s Planetary Defense Office teamed up with the Spanish National Research Council Library and Archives Network (CSIC) to dig deeper into what this thing was.
They concluded it was a small piece of a comet based on its flight path angle of 10 degrees relative to horizontal and its striking blue color, thanks to high magnesium levels.
At first, people called it a meteorite, but experts set things straight: “meteorite” is for fragments that actually hit Earth.
Since this burned up over the Atlantic Ocean without leaving any debris, there’s nothing left to study or collect.
They classified this event as a “superbolide,” which means it was super bright with a magnitude of -16±1, even brighter than a full moon.
These events are rare but remind us how dynamic our relationship with space is.
Should we be worried about more space stuff hitting us?
This incident has got ESA’s Planetary Defense Office looking into whether such events should concern us.
It serves as a reminder that space objects are always around us and highlights why we need to be ready for potentially dangerous ones.
They’re working hard to improve detection systems so we’re better prepared next time something like this happens.
ESA keeps tracking these impacts to help protect us from potential celestial threats.
So what exactly is all this space lingo?
To really get what happened, let’s break down some terms.
A “bolide” is basically an extra bright meteor shining brighter than any star you’d see at night.
A “superbolide,” though, lights up everything like daylight—a rare sight that makes these events unforgettable.
This fascinating event over Spain not only wowed those who saw it but also gave scientists involved in planetary defense some valuable lessons.
It shows why keeping an eye on space phenomena that might affect us is so important.
Reflecting on this brush with something extraterrestrial reminds us how connected we are with our cosmic surroundings.
Events like these show just how vast everything beyond Earth is while nudging humanity to stay alert and ready for whatever might come our way from above.
https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/01/it-wasnt-a-meteorite-the-european-space-agency-identified-the-object-that-flew-over-spain-on-saturday/
Report: Amazon Pauses US Drone Deliveries Following Crashes
Updated January 18, 2025
Amazon has paused US drone deliveries following a crash involving two drones in Arizona.
As Bloomberg reports, the drones reportedly crashed during rainy weather at the company’s testing facility in Pendleton, Oregon, in December.
In another incident in September, the company’s testers accidentally launched two test flights at once, causing the drones to collide.
The move means that Prime Air customers in Texas and Arizona, where these drone deliveries are commercially available at select locations, will face a pause while Amazon implements “critical software updates” across its drone fleet.
The drones in question are the new MK30s, which Amazon has said can fly higher than previous drones and make "super speedy deliveries even in situations like light rain, and hotter and colder temperatures."
This is just one of many recent setbacks for Amazon’s highly ambitious program, which at one point pledged to deliver 500 million packages by drone by 2030.
In April, Amazon paused the rollout of the program in its test city of Lockeford, California, home to just 3,500 people, saying the move would help it "prioritize our resources to continue growing the program."
Prime Air has also seen numerous high-profile executives exit, including Sean Cassidy, Prime Air’s director of safety, flight operations and regulatory affairs, CNBC reported in December.
Still, the project gained regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration in May for its drones to fly beyond the visual line of sight.
In October 2023, the company announced plans to integrate drone deliveries into its network in Italy and the United Kingdom and recently received a green light from the UK government.
Cost may also be a significant factor holding back the program’s long-term viability.
Internal documents leaked to Business Insider in 2022 revealed that the cost of delivering a single package could reach $63 by 2025.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/report-amazon-pauses-us-drone-deliveries-following-arizona-crash
Blackouts hit wide swathes of army-controlled Sudan after drone attacks
18 January, 2025
Most army-controlled areas in Sudan have been plunged into blackouts following drone attacks on power generation facilities by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, government officials and residents told Reuters.
The blackouts began on Monday after drone attacks on Merowe Dam, the country's largest, affected Sudan's northern state, while a technical issue affected the River Nile and Red Sea states.
The blackouts spread on Saturday after an overnight attack on the al-Shouk power station in the east of the country, putting Gedaref, Kassala, and Sennar states offline, the officials and residents said.
The affected areas cover the majority of areas still controlled by the army, which has been locked in an almost two-year-long war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which controls most of the western half of the country.
Electricity generation in most RSF-controlled areas has been disrupted in the fighting.
Areas impacted by the blackouts are housing millions of internally displaced people and straining living space and infrastructure.
"The attack on the power station led to the disruption of electricity to hospitals, schools, and water facilities, which threatens civilian lives, particularly in these difficult humanitarian circumstances," said human rights group Emergency Lawyers.
"These attacks do not only deprive civilians of their basic rights, they increase the risk of escalated violence," they added.
The war in Sudan has displaced more than 12 million people in total, and the global hunger monitor estimated this month that about 24.6 million people, or around half of all Sudanese, urgently need food aid through May.
Residents in the city of Omdurman, which is in the greater Khartoum area and is partly controlled by the army, reported that bakeries were shut down and that people had resorted to drawing water from the Nile River.
Engineers are working to restore operations at the Merowe power station but have not yet been successful, sources there said.
https://www.newarab.com/news/blackouts-hit-wide-parts-sudan-after-drone-attacks
chekt
'I've never been more thankful': Drone helps local family find dog missing for 30 hours
Fri, January 17th 2025 at 11:09 PM
A Highland County family's dog went missing for 30 hours.
Lina Sexton said that she was dog-sitting her son Jeffrey's white Siberian husky, Kilo, on Wednesday afternoon.
"So, we put her out on the lead, and then I got a call from a neighbor that she got loose," said Sexton.
"I checked our security cameras, and the last time she was on the property was like at 2:48."
Sexton said that she, her son, and some of their friends from the city searched for Kilo on Wednesday.
"Until you couldn't see no more to search. It got dark," said Sexton.
Search efforts continued throughout the day on Thursday, with no trace of the Sexton's beloved husky.
"We just drove to all the little communities around here, we stopped by all the stores, and we went door to door to some houses," said Sexton.
It wasn't until 8:30 p.m. on Thursday that the search went from the ground to the air.
Zander Parshall is a volunteer firefighter and owner of Elite Deer Recovery. He said that Jeffrey called him on Thursday to see if he could help in the search for Kilo.
"This drone is equipped with a couple of things that make it optimal for finding lost pets. The first is a thermal camera," said Parshall.
That helped pinpoint the lost dog's location, which was about 400 yards from their home in a wooded area.
"We have about 10 inches of snow on the ground, and I lit up something that looked to be white, and I had seen the collar," said Parshall.
Parshall then showed Local 12 how the drone was able to find where Kilo was.
"Right there is Kilo, the thermal heat signature, and there's Jeffrey walking to her.
At that point, we were on the phone with him; he had my handheld thermal camera," Parshall said.
Jeffrey would be able to untangle Kilo's lead before they are eventually seen on the drone walking out of the woods together.
"Oh my God, I've never been more thankful for technology," said Sexton.
The Sextons did find out that Kilo sustained some injuries in the time he was lost.
"Four broken ribs and a collapsed lung," said Sexton. "The vet said she was hit by a car."
https://local12.com/news/local/never-been-more-thankful-drone-helps-family-find-dog-missing-30-hours-highland-county-siberian-husky-kilo-dog-puppy-dogs-animals-technology-volunteer-firefighter-elite-deer-recovery-oakley-cincinnati-ohio
Forbes: Russia promises soldiers 10-day leave for capturing Ukrainian “Baba Yaga” drones it can’t build
18/01/2025
Ukraine’s fleet of heavy drone bombers, known to Russian forces as Baba Yagas, are playing a crucial but often overlooked role in the war, Forbes reports.
These night bombers are inflicting significant casualties on Russian forces, though their impact is frequently underreported due to the challenges of interpreting thermal imagery footage.
“The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense acquired more than 2,000 heavy bomber drones through official channels last year,” technology journalist David Hambling writes, noting that the entire fleet costs approximately half the price of a single F-16 fighter jet, with each drone valued at around $20,000.
These unmanned aircraft, which include varieties such as the Vampire, R18, Nemesis, and Kazhan (Bat), carry substantial payloads of 20-40 pounds and can strike targets up to 12 miles away.
“They are frequently targeted: the Russians will attempt to locate their position by their radio emissions, or will follow the drone back to them with a quadcopter,” Hambling writes, highlighting the dangerous conditions under which Ukrainian drone teams operate.
OSINT analyst Andrew Perpetua suggests that the effectiveness of these night bombers is “being seriously underestimated” due to the difficulties in confirming kills from thermal imagery footage.
“Ukraine has pivoted to using heavy bomber drones to destroy vehicles, and posts tremendous numbers of losses per day using this method,” Perpetua notes on X.
The impact of these drones has been so significant that Russian forces have begun repurposing captured Ukrainian drones for their own use.
They are even “creating a supply chain to keep their trophy bombers in service,” according to OSINT analyst Roy.
The psychological impact on Russian forces is also notable. According to Hambling’s reporting, Russian soldiers can claim 10 days’ vacation for downing one of these drones, and folklore has emerged about the Baba Yagas “swooping down at night to carry away wounded Russian soldiers in their metal claws.”
While the full extent of the damage inflicted by these night bombers may not be known until after the war, Hambling’s report suggests they represent a significant advancement in Ukraine’s drone warfare capabilities and a crucial element of their military strategy.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/01/18/forbes-russia-promises-soldiers-10-day-leave-for-capturing-ukrainian-baba-yaga-drones-it-cant-build/
Elon?
Infrared drone locates missing teen with autism in Union City night search
January 17, 2025 7:59pm EST
UNION CITY, Ga. - First responders with a drone say they were able to quickly locate a missing teen with autism in Union City.
Through the lens of an infrared camera on a drone flying over a Union City subdivision, you can see the outline of heat signatures in a subdivision.
Clock was ticking for missing girl
What we know: The time was about midnight last Sunday.
They say the 14-year-old girl with autism had been missing for some time when the drone team arrived, consisting of Coweta County Sheriff’s Deputy Sam Smith and Coweta County firefighter, Lt. Chris Sims.
They say within 20 minutes, they picked up the heat signature of someone walking in a side yard of a home.
Within a few minutes, the drone shot shows a second person. That was a police officer sent to check on the heat signature to determine if it was the girl.
Drone teams can help 24/7
What they're saying: Coweta County says it has three Drone Response Teams who are on call and available there and to surrounding communities.
"So, in the case of endangered, missing persons, time is of the essence," said Cpl. Chris Ricketson of the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office.
"Luckily, we are fortunate enough to have good relationships with surrounding countries where it can utilize each other.
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/infrared-drone-locates-missing-teen-autism-union-city-night-search