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Moderately strong M8.8 solar flare erupts from Active Region 3981
Monday, February 3, 2025
A moderately strong solar flare measuring M8.8 erupted from Active Region 3981 at 03:58 UTC on February 3, 2025.
The event started at 03:52 and ended at 04:04 UTC.
There were no radio signatures that would suggest a coronal mass ejection (CME) was produced during this event.
Radio frequencies were forecast to be most degraded over SE Asia and Australia at the time of the flare.
Region 3981 is moving toward the center of the solar disk, increasing the likelihood of Earth-directed solar flares in the coming days.
This event follows multiple M-class solar flares since the end of January, with the strongest being M6.7 on January 31, and M5.1 and M4.1 on February 2.
It was followed by M1.0 from the same region at 04:32 UTC today, M3.1 at 05:47 UTC, M2.5 at 07:44, and M1.4 at 09:13 UTC.
The NOAA forecast calls for a 60% chance of M- and 15% of X-class solar flares through February 5.
https://watchers.news/2025/02/03/moderately-strong-m8-8-solar-flare-erupts-from-active-region-3981/
https://www.solarham.com/
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/apollo/trump-administration-removes-moon-rock-from-white-house-oval-office
Trump administration removes Apollo moon rock from White House Oval Office
Feb 3, 2025
Whether President Donald Trump still supports returning astronauts to the lunar surface remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain — the moon no longer has a place in his White House.
A moon rock, which for the past four years has been on display in the Oval Office, was removed as part of the Trump administration's redesign of the West Wing's most high-profile room.
A NASA spokesperson confirmed the moon rock is being returned to the space agency in an email to collectSPACE.com.
The lunar sample, which was brought back to Earth by the last Apollo astronauts to walk on the moon in 1972, was intended as a symbol of the ongoing research being conducted by NASA as it prepares for future missions "to the cislunar orbit and beyond," as a plaque on the display's base read.
"We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars," said Trump as part of his inaugural address on Jan. 20.
That the newly sworn-in president did not also mention the moon raised some questions, given that it was during his first term in office that NASA was directed to refocus its efforts on landing astronauts there.
Some of Trump's current advisors, including SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, have expressed support for a direct to Mars approach.
That said, Trump's choice for NASA Administrator, billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman, said in response to his nomination that "Americans will walk on the moon and Mars" (his comments, though, preceded the president's address).
Whether the moon rock's removal had anything to do with Trump's plans for the future of U.S. human spaceflight is unknown.
Photos show that an urn that was previously on display during Trump's first term has been returned to the bookshelf where the 0.7-pound (333-gram) lunar sample sat.
The rock may have been removed given its connection to the past administration, though a portrait of Benjamin Franklin added by President Joe Biden also as a nod to his focus on science remains).
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"We loved seeing the moon rock in the Oval Office and we know that you asked to have it put in there," NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman said to Biden during a 2023 visit to the White House in Washington, DC.
Wiseman is assigned to command NASA's Artemis II mission, which is planned as the first crewed flight to the moon since the end of the Apollo program.
"The closest I came to the moon was my moon rock here," said Biden while giving a tour of the Oval Office to Wiseman and his three crewmates.
"Fifty years later, it's a big deal." "I am so damn proud and envious of what you're about to do — really and truly," said Biden.
Biden was the second president to display a moon rock in the Oval Office.
The first, Bill Clinton, requested that an Apollo 11 sample remain at the White House after it was brought there for a 30th anniversary commemoration of the first moon landing in 1999.
It sat at the center of the room until he left office in January 2001.
"I put the moon rock on the table and for the next two years, when we had Republicans and Democrats in, or people on two sides of any issue, and they'd start really, really getting out of control, I'd say, 'Wait, wait, wait — you see that moon rock, it is 3.6 billion years old.
Now we're all just passing through here and we don't have very much time, so let's just calm down and figure out what the right thing to do is.' And it worked every single time," said Clinton in a 2015 National Geographic interview.
Moon rocks have also made brief visits at the White House.
During Trump's first term in office, a different Apollo 17 rock was on display for the 2017 signing of Space Policy Directive 1, which instructed NASA to send astronauts back to the moon and then on to Mars.
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https://spacenews.com/nasa-pauses-work-of-science-groups-citing-trump-executive-orders/
NASA pauses work of science groups, citing Trump executive orders
February 3, 2025
NASA has directed a set of science committees to pause their work, citing recent Trump administration executive orders, a move that canceled one meeting and put planning for others on hold.
NASA Headquarters sent memos Jan. 31 to the leaders of several committees, known as “analysis groups” or “assessment groups,” that provide input to the agency’s astrophysics and planetary science divisions.
The memo said NASA needed to determine if the groups’ activities complied with new executive orders.
“As NASA continues to review and ensure compliance with presidential actions, we are requesting that you please pause all meetings and activities of Planetary Science Analysis/Assessment Groups,” stated one memo, send to leaders of several planetary science groups.
A similar memo was sent to leaders of astrophysics groups.
The memos cited at least six executive orders and memos, primarily addressing the administration’s efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government as well as “gender ideology extremism.”
It also cited one executive order on “Unleashing American Energy” that revoked Biden administration executive orders related to climate change.
The groups, often known as AGs, are not formal advisory committees governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, but do provide findings about the state of NASA’s astrophysics and planetary science programs that are transmitted to the agency.
The AGs also discuss science topics in their fields and get updates on the status of current and planned missions and related programs.
The first AG affected by the pause is the Mercury Exploration Assessment Group (MExAG), which was scheduled to hold its annual meeting Feb. 4-6 at the Applied Physics Lab (APL).
It was the first in-person meeting for the group, established in 2020 and which had met only virtually.
“The MExAG steering committee is heartbroken that our first in-person meeting was cancelled due to this,” said Mallory Kinczyk, an APL geologist and member of the MExAG steering committee, in a post on social media Feb .2.
The hybrid meeting, with in-person and virtual attendance options, had more than 200 registrants at the time the NASA memo came out, said another scientist, Ed Rivera-Valentin, on social media, about a third of whom planned to be there in person.
The meeting expected to have a large contingent of scientists from Europe and Japan participating to discuss science from the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury.
The meeting, spanning two and a half days, largely planned to discuss Mercury science, such as results from BepiColombo’s flybys of Mercury, as well as discussions of concepts for future missions.
It did not include any topics that would clearly run afoul of recent executive orders on DEI or climate change.
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Other AGs are considering if their meetings will be affected.
In a memo late Jan. 31, Carol Paty and Morgan Cable, co-chairs of the Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG), said that to comply with the NASA directive they were putting on hold plans for their own community meeting, scheduled for late February in Tucson, Arizona, as well as a town hall planned for the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference outside Houston in mid-March.
“We anticipate cancelling the OPAG community meeting if no guidance is provided by the end of next week,” or Feb. 7, they wrote.
In another memo, Vicky Hamilton, chair of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), said the group was putting on hold planning for its next meeting, a hybrid in-person/virtual event at the end of April. Two committees of the group will also pause their activities.
The pause of the AGs is the latest in a scattershot implementation of executive orders and directives since President Trump took office Jan. 20 that has confused and dismayed researchers and others.
While NASA proceeded with a public meeting of its Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel on Jan. 30, the National Science Foundation postponed a public meeting of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee Jan. 30-31, a group that provides input to NSF, NASA and the Department of Energy on astrophysics topics.
However, the Office of Space Commerce announced Jan. 29 it would hold a meeting of its advisory body, the Advisory Committee on Excellence in Space (ACES), on March 5.
NASA has started to implement directives related to the DEI orders, such as restricting funding for initiatives associated with DEI.
That includes a program called Here to Observe, or H2O, that linked NASA planetary science missions with students from underrepresented institutions, offering outreach and mentorship.
Some have noticed changes to the NASA website as well.
A 2023 article from NASA’s history office about NASA’s 1978 astronaut class, which included the first female, Black and Asian-American astronauts, was accessible as recently as Jan. 25 but returned error messages by Jan. 29, according to The Internet Archive.
It’s unclear why this article is no longer available, as others about the shuttle program and its astronauts remain online, although it makes a passing reference to diversity.
“As a legacy of the diversity represented in the astronaut Class of 1978, during the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon,” states the final sentence of the piece.
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Rep. Crow ‘deeply concerned’ that Buckley Space Force Base facilities being used for ICE operations
Updated: Feb 3, 2025 / 08:21 AM MST
Nearly a week after U.S. Northern Command began providing facilities at Buckley Space Force Base at the request of the Department of Homeland Security for immigration operations, a U.S. representative for Colorado is investigating.
Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat representing Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, released a statement about Buckley Space Force Base being used for “mass deportation efforts.” The 6th District includes much of Aurora and all of the military base.
“I am deeply concerned about reports that Buckley Space Force Base in my district will be used for mass deportation efforts,” Crow said in a statement through his office on Sunday.
“Pulling our military into politicized and contentious domestic immigration enforcement dishonors the service of our troops and distracts them from the important work of defending our nation.”
According to a statement provided by U.S. Northern Command, the facilities were provided to “enable U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stage and process criminal aliens within the U.S. for an operation taking place in Colorado.”
USNORTHCOM said last week that no military personnel would be involved in the operation. Instead, the facility will be staffed by “ICE senior leaders, special agents, and analysts, as well as members of DHS Components and other federal law enforcement agencies.”
A USNORTHCOM spokesperson told FOX31 that ICE’s facility requirements include a temporary operations center, staging area and a temporary holding location for the receiving, holding and processing of undocumented immigrants.
Crow has lengthy military service to his name, having enlisted in the National Guard during high school and joining the active-duty Army after graduating from college. He eventually became an Army Ranger and received a Bronze Star.
Crow has been vocal about his concerns stemming from initiatives the Trump Administration has begun to employ.
On Jan. 30, he held a meeting with local immigration groups “to discuss President Trump’s executive orders and their impact on our schools, businesses, and places of worship.”
He echoed his concerns previously stated on social media in his statement released Sunday.
“Perhaps most disturbingly, it could force our service members to assist in the detention and deportation of peaceful members of the community,” Crow wrote.
“The President is threatening to go after our neighbors, family members, business owners and friends in order to create a narrative that most immigrants are violent criminals. This is simply not true.
“My community and our military can expect my vigorous oversight and, if warranted, my opposition as a member of Congress,” Crow said.
His statement comes about a week after a Drug Enforcement Administration’s raid in Adams County wherein ICE agents detained 49 people and ultimately arrested 41 people who the agency said were in the country illegally.
The raid was the result of a months-long investigation by the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division.
The RMFD has been investigating drug trafficking by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua since “last summer,” according to DEA RMFD Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen.
https://kdvr.com/news/politics/rep-crow-deeply-concerned-that-buckley-space-force-base-facilities-being-used-for-ice-operations/
https://crow.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-crow-statement-on-buckley-space-force-base-being-used-for-mass-deportation-efforts
Lukoil Refinery and Gazprom Plant Hit by Massive Ukrainian Drone Attack
Feb 03, 2025, 9:30 AM CST
The biggest refinery in southern Russia and a major gas processing plant controlled by Gazprom were hit by a massive attack of Ukrainian drones on Monday, officials from Ukraine and Russia said.
Lukoil’s refinery in Volgograd, which is southern Russia’s biggest with 300,000-bpd processing capacity, was hit, regional governor Andrey Bocharov said on Telegram.
“As a result of the falling debris, non-spreading fires broke out on the site of an oil refinery, which were quickly localized,” the governor added.
Separately, drones hit a Gazprom gas processing plant in the Astrakhan region in Russia, a Ukrainian security official told Reuters.
Russia says that a fire was contained at the Gazprom processing plant.
Ukraine has intensified attacks with drones on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks.
For example, Ukraine last week hit with drones an oil refinery near Nizhny Novgorod in western Russia, announcing a second hit at a Russian oil refinery in less than a week.
Units of Ukraine’s defense intelligence, in cooperation with other components of the defense forces, struck on the night of January 29 Lukoil’s Norsi refinery in Kstovo, in the region of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia’s sixth-largest city.
The strike at the Norsi facility was the second in less than a week, after Ukraine hit earlier in January a major Russian oil refinery in Ryazan, causing significant damage and disrupting operations.
The overnight attack set a 20,000-ton oil storage tank ablaze and damaged vital infrastructure, including a hydrotreater and railway loading rack.
This refinery, which processes 262,000 bpd—nearly 5% of Russia's refining capacity—ground to a halt.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and other energy infrastructure have become a fixture, with drones the weapon of choice for conducting the strikes.
As Ukraine continues to target refineries in Russia, some of these attacks have affected fuel product supply from Russian refineries and reduced crude processing rates.
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Lukoil-Refinery-and-Gazprom-Plant-Hit-by-Massive-Ukrainian-Drone-Attack.html
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/ukrainian-drone-strikes-hit-russian-oil-and-gas-facilities-during-overnight-attacks/ar-AA1ykZT0
Moldova reports airspace violation by unmanned drone
Update : 03.02.2025
ISTANBUL
A drone violated Moldova’s airspace early Monday before exiting shortly afterward, the country’s Defense Ministry claimed.
The ministry said the unauthorized flight was detected and monitored by the national army’s airspace control systems. The violation occurred between 12.30 and 12.45 am local time (2230-2245GMT).
According to the statement, the drone entered Moldovan airspace from the village of Pavlivka in Ukraine's southwestern Odesa region.
It further said that the drone followed a trajectory passing through the settlements of Carmanova, Maiac, and Grigoriopol, situated in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria – where Russian troops are reportedly present – before leaving along the same route.
“The unauthorized flight was detected and tracked by the National Army’s airspace monitoring systems,” the ministry said.
No further details were provided about the drone’s origin or purpose.
Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s Air Force claimed to have shot down 38 drones fired by Russia on the country overnight, while stating that an additional 25 UAVs failed to reach their targets.
After the start of the Ukraine war nearly three years ago, neighboring Moldova took in over 1 million Ukrainians fleeing the conflict.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/moldova-reports-airspace-violation-by-unmanned-drone/3470382
Stock hawk: New warehouse drone achieves 99.9% accuracy with inventory management
Updated: Feb 03, 2025 08:54 AM EST
Staci Americas – a third-party logistics (3PL) provider whose services include warehousing, order fulfillment, transportation and returns management – has deployed Corvus One Autonomous Inventory Management System.
The Corvus One Inventory Management System is aimed at more accurately and efficiently tracking and store materials in warehouses.
Staci Americas has deployed the system at its Georgia, and New Jersey warehouses for multi-client buildings.
The system performs scheduled lights-out flights nightly off-shift, ensuring any inventory discrepancies flagged by the Corvus One system.
The discrepancies are corrected pre-shift the next morning, allowing production and inbound teams to focus on their tasks without having to search for inventory.
It runs an inventory check round-the-clock without operator assistance from human counterparts.
“Being able to run inventory checks 24/7 without operator assistance has been a game changer.
The lights-out capability in the Corvus One system allows our inventory teams to correct discrepancies off-shift and pre-shift before production starts each day; limiting fulfillment delays and production impacts,” said Austin Feagins, Senior Director of Transformation and Solution Design, Staci Americas.
Corvus had released the updated version of its autonomous inventory management system in October 2024.
The upgrade allowed the company to fly its drone-powered system in a lights-out distribution center without any added infrastructure like reflectors, stickers, or beacons.
The drone system uses computer vision and generative artificial intelligence (AI) to make sense of its environment.
The autonomous drones can operate in very narrow (minimum width of 50 inches), and very wide aisles.
The drones have obstacle detection ability, which allows them to hover around without collision.
They can also ascend or fly lower to avoid humans, other robots, forklifts, or objects lying on the ground.
They use barcode scanning to read any barcode symbology in any orientation placed anywhere on the front of cartons or pallets.
cont.
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/corvus-drone-powered-inventory-management
https://blog.corvus-robotics.com/autonomous-warehouse-inventory-drones
Ukraine’s Robot Wars – Ground Drones Emerge From Shadows
February 3, 2025, 2:24 pm
The success of aerial and seaborne drones in the war in Ukraine has captured the headlines but their ground-based cousins are also poised to exert their influence on the battlefield.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation, reported at the end of November how around 100 Ukrainian-manufactured unmanned ground systems (UGS) drones had been exhaustively tested for use in combat at the Brave1 testing ground.
The drones were designed to fulfill a wide range of combat and support functions including medical evacuation, logistics resupply, remote assault missions, minelaying, and kamikaze attack vehicles.
The majority of these were first-person view (FPV) guided vehicles that relied on good communications to fulfill their missions.
As with their air and seaborne counterparts, the emergence of Russian battlefield electronic warfare (EW) has proven to become an obstacle to their utility.
However, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are swinging the pendulum back toward improving their effectiveness.
The two most recent examples to capture the military issues commentator’s eye come from Estonia and Germany, with their manufacturers promising to step up their deliveries to Ukraine.
ARX Robotics has announced that it has begun series production of its AI-augmented autonomous Gereon UGS drone.
ARX said it intends to deliver the first 30 units, funded by the German government, to Ukraine’s armed forces this month.
It is also in the process of opening a project support office in Ukraine according to the CEO of ARX Ukraine Ihor Korniolov.
The latest version of the Gereon is designed to navigate autonomously as it transports ammunition and other supplies to the front line and evacuates wounded soldiers from combat zones reducing the risks for Ukrainian personnel.
It is said to be able to transport payloads of up to 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) over difficult terrain.
Several units were sent to Ukraine last summer after which the ARX CEO, Roberta Randerath said, “We don’t want to just supply our German solutions.
In the context of a war that, unfortunately, has been ongoing for three years, Ukrainians have gained significant know-how in modern combat tactics.
We hope to transfer this knowledge, which will allow us to improve our systems and save lives.”
cont.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/46492
Revolutionary cargo drone completes first hover test
Feb 3, 2025
Pipistrel Aircraft has announced the successful completion of the first hover flight for its Nuuva V300, a hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft designed for long-range logistics and specialized defense operations.
The milestone brings the company closer to deploying its autonomous cargo drone, which promises to revolutionize aerial deliveries with a 600-pound payload capacity and a 300-nautical-mile range.
The Nuuva V300 represents a leap forward in hybrid-electric propulsion, combining eight battery-powered electric motors for vertical takeoff with an internal combustion engine for forward flight.
This dual-power system enhances fuel efficiency, minimizes maintenance costs, and provides greater operational flexibility.
The aircraft’s design allows it to carry up to three Euro pallets (EPAL) through a nose-loading fuselage, offering a streamlined solution for cargo logistics, humanitarian aid, and defense applications.
According to Pipistrel, the Nuuva V300 can be pre-programmed for autonomous missions via its integrated ground station, allowing for fully automated operation.
A triple-redundant flight control system, developed in collaboration with Honeywell, ensures reliability and safety throughout its missions.
Beyond logistics, the Nuuva V300 is expected to support search and rescue operations, ship-to-shore resupply, and disaster relief missions.
Its ability to operate in remote or conflict-prone regions makes it a valuable asset for military and humanitarian organizations.
As noted by the company, with its low operational costs and advanced hybrid propulsion, the Nuuva V300 offers a compelling alternative to traditional cargo aircraft and helicopters.
Pipistrel’s breakthrough in hybrid-electric VTOL technology could set a new standard for aerial logistics, paving the way for expanded commercial and defense applications.
https://defence-blog.com/revolutionary-cargo-drone-completes-first-hover-test/
The Upstate New York ‘UFO Home’ Discussed On Rogan Podcast
February 3, 2025
I'll be the first to admit I've always been a bit of a geek regarding the UAP/UFP phenomenon, and that's only intensified over the years.
Reputable Navy pilots have gone on the record disclosing wild stories about unidentified flying objects moving in directions that defy the law of physics, not to mention all the whistleblowers hinting at the US government's knowledge of crashed saucers and the actual capture of non-human life forms.
I'm probably a little more obsessed than the average person, so I seek out internet content that I can feed my brain to satisfy my hunger for answers.
And in doing so, I put on my tinfoil hat and watched a recent Joe Rogan podcast that featured two guests with alleged first-hand knowledge of the sort: Lenval Logan and Jason Sands.
Sands is a retired U.S. Air Force veteran and former legacy UAP program member, and Logan is a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence analyst and former UAP Task Force member. He is the CEO of Phenom LLC, which develops the Phenom app for reporting UAP and paranormal sightings.
At around the podcast's 2 hours and 22-minute mark, Rogan mentions how former "Honeymooners" star Jackie Gleason was obsessed with UFOs and built a home in Upstate New York modeled after a flying saucer; he even called it "The Mothership."
During the podcast, Rogan shared some photos of the Cortland Manor (about 2 hours south of Albany) home and appeared to reference an article written by a former colleague here at Townsquare Media named Steve King.
King's article about the home also included a wildly popular gallery of photos (see below) and some tidbits of information that might intrigue you, as they did Rogan and guests.
According to King, "Jackie Gleason, the actor famous for "The Jackie Gleason Show," "The Honeymooners," and "Smokey and the Bandit," had a lifelong interest in UFOs and spaceships.
So, it only makes sense that when we wanted to build an impressive home in New York, he made one that looked like a spaceship."
Drawing on his lifelong fascination with UFOs, the home and its adjacent cottage are round inside and out—down to the curved floorboards, windows, cabinets, bars, and furniture.
Robert Cika, a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright, was the architect behind the project.
Topped with a copper roof, the round house is the largest of the property’s three homes. Gleason affectionately nicknamed it "The Mothership."
The Mothership and Spaceship were constructed by a shipbuilder inside an airplane hangar, it was then disassembled and brought to the site. It took five years and $650,000 to build.
There are two other homes on the property. Trusses hold the house up; there are no supporting crossbeams because those would have had right angles.
Gleason said he made the home entirely circular because he wanted it to be “like a musical note that never ends.”
cont.
https://1045theteam.com/ixp/81/p/the-upstate-new-york-ufo-home-discussed-on-rogan-podcast/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ2YwE0R-xM
https://q1057.com/inside-jackie-gleasons-ufo-inspired-upstate-ny-spaceship-house/
UFO Fans Increasingly Active in Japan
2025/02/03-17:28
Tokyo, Feb. 3 (Jiji Press)–UFO fans are increasingly active in Japan, where lawmakers have called for official investigations and UFO events have attracted many visitors.
The trend, which followed U.S. developments including the establishment of a special organization to analyze eyewitness information and other data, "may reflect a sense of social anxiety," an expert says.
Some Japanese municipalities trying to take advantage of the mysteries of UFOs for regional revitalization are hoping for a return of the UFO boom.
The U.S. government refers to UFOs as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs.
In an interview on a popular podcast during the U.S. presidential election campaign last year, Donald Trump, who took office last month, emphasized the need to disclose information about UAPs.
In Japan, parliamentary members launched a nonpartisan group to study UAPs from the perspective of national security in June last year. The founders include Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
https://jen.jiji.com/jc/i?g=eco&k=2025020300446