TYB's
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
April 3, 2025
The Da Vinci Glow
A 26 hour old Moon poses behind the craggy outline of the Italian Dolomites in this twilight mountain and skyscape. The one second long exposure was captured near moonset on March 30. And while only a a sliver of its sunlit surface is visible, most of the Moon's disk can be seen by earthshine as light reflected from a bright planet Earth illuminates the lunar nearside. Also known as the Moon's ashen glow, a description of earthshine in terms of sunlight reflected by Earth's oceans illuminating the Moon's dark surface was written over 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. Of course earthshine is just the most familiar example of planetshine, the faint illumination of the dark portion of a moon by light reflected from its planet.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
An Alabama rocket is set to carry NASA's new mini space shuttle
April 3, 2025 at 5:47 AM CDT
An aerospace contractor that builds rockets here in Alabama is gearing up for a historic blastoff maybe next month.
United Launch Alliance is working with another company that wants to send a small version of NASA’s space shuttle on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Here's more on the so- called Dream Chaser and how Alabama fits in…
Members of the press gathered at NASA's Kennedy Space Center back in May of 2021 the location was the shuttle landing facility that was the runway where the first ever commercial winged spacecraft would glide to a stop after each mission in orbit.
Former astronaut Janet Kavandi was on hand for the event.
“Four years I landed here all three times. So I love this place. It bring back, brings back such fond memories, and really can't get wait to get back here and the new vehicle, which you see behind us here.
This inflatable looks a lot like the real thing, only the real thing's a little bit bigger than that,” she said.
The inflatable behind Kavandi was a mock up of a vehicle from Sierra space where the former astronaut serves as president. This vehicle is called Dream Chaser.
It's a miniature version of NASA's Space Shuttle. This mini Space Shuttle has a big job. It will deliver up to 12,000 pounds of cargo to space to resupply the International Space Station.
Four years after this briefing at the Kennedy Space Center, Dream Chaser is being prepared for its first launch, but this launch couldn't happen until a critical question was answered.
“We had to go find a launch vehicle that was capable,” said Angie Wise, She's the Chief Safety Officer at Sierra space. Her company needed to find the right rocket to carry its mini space shuttle to orbit.
“So what we need is a couple of things, enough mass to orbit. When we're taking up 12,000 pounds of cargo plus the weight of the vehicle. We need something that can get that amount of mass into space,” Wise stated.
Sierra space found the rocket it needed in Decatur Alabama. The United Launch Alliance builds a type of rocket called Vulcan at its Decatur factory.
Wise says Vulcan was just what the doctor ordered to get Dream Chaser and its cargo to the International Space Station. ULA lost a recent contract to fly missions for the new branch of the US military called Space Force.
The deal went to SpaceX, which is run by Elon Musk wise, says that didn't change her company's mind about using the Vulcan.
“They have an amazing history, and we are even willing to go on those previous flights, even if it helps prove out so that they can take on more Space Force missions.
So if we need to be the proving ground, we have high confidence in it, and if it continues to help our the our government to go put more payloads in space, we think that's amazing too,” said Wise.
Not only will dream chaser launch on an Alabama built rocket, but it could land here too.
Sierra space worked out a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration and Huntsville International Airport to use the facility as a possible landing spot.
After Dream Chaser missions wise, says she has personal history with the Rocket City.
“I personally lived there for thirteen years, and so we know that that is an amazing opportunity to go into a location with the people who are just used to being around space hardware<’ said Wise.
“We are always open to looking for more space ports, because, again, it's really comes down for Mission Assurance.
More landing opportunities gives us a better opportunity to return whenever we want to return, or potentially bring cargo specifically to different locations.”
“It was just a cool vehicle, and it's going to do some great things in its future,” said John Elbon, ULA’s Chief Operating Officer at the 2021 press briefing at Kennedy Space Center, which marked the start of the first mission of Dream Chaser.
Elbon said the cargo resupply mission is just the beginning for the shuttle.
“It's been a huge motivation, inspiration for the people at United Launch Alliance to be a part of something new and exciting like that, a winged vehicle that's going to go to Space Station, deliver cargo, eventually deliver people, and then return here to the Kennedy Space Center,” he said.
Wise confirmed that Sierra space still has its eyes on Dream Chaser delivering humans to space in the future.
For now, all that matters to Alabama is a safe trip to orbit aboard its homemade Vulcan rocket, which could mean more business in the future for the ULA factory near Decatur.
https://www.apr.org/news/2025-04-03/an-alabama-rocket-is-set-to-carry-nasas-new-mini-space-shuttle
NASA Update on the Size Estimate and Lunar Impact Probability of Asteroid 2024 YR4
April 2, 2025
Since near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 was first discovered in December 2024, NASA and the worldwide planetary defense community have continued to observe the asteroid, which was ruled out as a significant impact risk to Earth.
New infrared observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have decreased the uncertainty of the asteroid’s size and 2024 YR4 is now estimated to be 174-220 feet (53-67 meters), about the size of a 10-story building.
The previous size estimate of 131-295 feet (40-90 meters) was derived from visible light measurements from ground-based telescopes.
Experts at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have updated 2024 YR4’s chance of impacting the Moon on Dec. 22, 2032 from 1.7% as of late February to 3.8% based on the Webb data and observations from ground-based telescopes.
There is still a 96.2% chance that the asteroid will miss the Moon. In the small chance that the asteroid were to impact, it would not alter the Moon’s orbit.
After mid-April, asteroid 2024 YR4 will be too far and faint to be observed by ground-based telescopes but Webb will observe the asteroid again in either late April or early May.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/planetary-defense/2025/04/02/nasa-update-on-the-size-estimate-and-lunar-impact-probability-of-asteroid-2024-yr4/
Artemis Astronauts & Orion Leadership Visit NASA Ames
Apr 02, 2025
As NASA prepares to send astronauts to the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, research, testing, and development at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley has played a critical role.
Recently, Ames welcomed Artemis II astronauts Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Orion leaders Debbie Korth, deputy program manager, and Luis Saucedo, deputy crew and service module manager, to tour Ames facilities that support the Orion Program and celebrate the achievements of employees.
The group started their visit at the Arc Jet Complex, where researchers use extremely hot, high-speed gases to simulate the intense heat of atmospheric reentry before visiting the Sensors & Thermal Protection Systems Advanced Research Laboratories.
The team works to develop sensors and flight instrumentation that measure heat shield response throughout a mission.
These systems were used to develop and test Orion’s thermal protection system to ensure the safety of astronauts during future missions.
After the successful return of the Artemis I Orion spacecraft, Ames research was essential when analyzing unexpected charring loss on the heat shield.
The visit culminated in an award ceremony to honor employees with outstanding performance and a legacy of service to the Orion Program.
Thirty-two employees were honored for their individual or team contributions.
“The Ames workforce has played an important role in developing, testing, and validating the Orion spacecraft’s thermal protection system as well as supporting its software and guidance, navigation, and control,” said Eugene Tu, NASA Ames center director.
“I’m pleased to see their contributions recognized and celebrated by program leadership and two of the astronauts whose safety and success were in mind when ensuring these systems are safe, reliable, and the highest quality possible.”
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/artemis-astronauts-and-orion-leadership-visit-nasa-ames/
Station Orbiting Higher to Welcome Next Crew Mission
April 2, 2025
The International Space Station is orbiting higher today after the Progress 91 cargo craft fired its thrusters for over 17 minutes while docked to the Zvezda service module.
The reboost places the orbital outpost at the correct altitude for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft and its three crew members next week.
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexander Zubritsky will lift off aboard the Soyuz MS-27 at 1:47 a.m. on April 8 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will orbit Earth twice before docking to the Pirs docking compartment just over three hours later. The trio will stay in space for an eight-month research mission.
Less than two weeks after the new crew’s arrival, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit will return to Earth with Expedition 72 Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner, both Roscosmos cosmonauts.
The veteran crewmates will board the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship, undock from the Rassvet module, and parachute to a landing in the steppe of Kazakhstan less than three-and-a-half hours later ending a seven-month mission.
JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi will take over command of the space station from Ovchinin the day before he leaves with Pettit and Vagner.
Expedition 72 will end and Expedition 73 will officially begin the moment the Soyuz MS-26 undocks from Rassvet.
Onishi stayed focused on lab upkeep on Wednesday first installing an air quality monitor in the Zarya module, with assistance from Pettit, then organizing food packs stowed in the station’s U.S. segment. Pettit cleaned crew quarters and installed airflow sensors in the Harmony module.
Ovchinin worked throughout Wednesday gathering items for return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-26 that he will command during the ride back to Earth.
Vagner spent his day with fellow cosmonaut Kirill Peskov checking electronic systems in the Nauka science module.
Peskov also conducted a hearing test then installed hardware to image Earth’s nighttime atmosphere in ultraviolet wavelengths.
NASA Flight Engineer Anne McClain spent part of her day servicing life support gear and collecting water samples from an oxygen generator in the Unity and Destiny modules.
She also tested streaming and downlinking ultra-high-definition video from a camera aboard the Kibo laboratory module.
NASA Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers also spent her day on lab maintenance first inspecting and cleaning the ventilation system in the Destiny lab module.
Next, she recorded the acoustic environment and measured the temperature and humidity of life support equipment in the Destiny and Harmony modules.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/04/02/station-orbiting-higher-to-welcome-next-crew-mission/
X-ray Clues Reveal Destroyed Planet
Apr 02, 2025
This image of the Helix Nebula, released on March 4, 2025, shows a potentially destructive white dwarf at the nebula’s center: this star may have destroyed a planet.
This has never been seen before – and could explain a mysterious X-ray signal that astronomers have detected from the nebula for over 40 years.
This view combines X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (magenta), optical light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (orange, light blue), infrared data from the European Southern Observatory VISTA telescope (gold, dark blue), and ultraviolet data from GALEX (purple) of the Helix Nebula.
Data from Chandra indicates that this white dwarf has destroyed a very closely orbiting planet.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/x-ray-clues-reveal-destroyed-planet/
Lagniappe for April 2025
Apr 02, 2025
Explore Lagniappe for April 2025 featuring:
NASA-Sponsored FIRST Robotics Welcomes Teams to Magnolia Regional
NASA Leaders Visit Representatives
Blood Moon in South Mississippi
New beginnings feel a lot like the month of April. It is the heart of spring and the season that symbolizes growth and renewal.
April is the perfect time to break free from old routines and try something new.
If you have landed here in this website corner of our digital world, consider this your open invitation to continue ahead on the journey with NASA Stennis by following us on social media.
It is time to say goodbye to the Lagniappe publication as we know it, but do not worry. All of the great news about the center and its frontline activities still will be available, just in a new way – via our social media platforms!
Gator wants you to feel more connected than ever as we continue to help power space dreams in south Mississippi. Moving forward, join NASA Stennis in our digital playground for even more of that extra-something special.
This playground is not limited to only fun, or making new friends, or learning new stuff.
Whether you are on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or X, there is a place, and space, for all of that and more.
As we close out the website edition of NASA Stennis Lagniappe, we turn the page and look forward to new possibilities ahead.
Let’s keep building one connection at a time because here at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site, it is more than just content.
It is where the NASA Stennis team will continue building on its proven expertise in all areas of work, and where you will have a front row seat to experience it unfold.
So, click the links below to become a NASA Stennis follower today. Then, invite your friends to become followers as well.
CONTENTS
Gator Speaks
NASA Stennis Top News
NASA-Sponsored FIRST Robotics Welcomes Teams to Magnolia Regional
Center Activities
NASA Leaders Visit Representatives
NASA Space Flight Awareness Program Recognizes Stennis Employees
Blood Moon in South Mississippi
U.S. Senator’s Staff Visit NASA Stennis
NASA Stennis Hosts Leadership Class
NASA Stennis Interns Tour Site
Rocket Test Group Visits NASA Stennis
NASA in the News
Employee Profile: Rebecca Mataya
Additional Resources
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/stennis/lagniappe-for-april-2025/
NASA Webb Explores Effect of Strong Magnetic Fields on Star Formation
April 02, 2025 10:00AM
Follow-up research on a 2023 image of the Sagittarius C stellar nursery in the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has revealed ejections from still-forming protostars and insights into the impact of strong magnetic fields on interstellar gas and the life cycle of stars.
“A big question in the Central Molecular Zone of our galaxy has been, if there is so much dense gas and cosmic dust here, and we know that stars form in such clouds, why are so few stars born here?” said astrophysicist John Bally of the University of Colorado Boulder, one of the principal investigators.
“Now, for the first time, we are seeing directly that strong magnetic fields may play an important role in suppressing star formation, even at small scales.”
Detailed study of stars in this crowded, dusty region has been limited, but Webb’s advanced near-infrared instruments have allowed astronomers to see through the clouds to study young stars like never before.
“The extreme environment of the galactic center is a fascinating place to put star formation theories to the test, and the infrared capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provide the opportunity to build on past important observations from ground-based telescopes like ALMA and MeerKAT,” said Samuel Crowe, another principal investigator on the research, a senior undergraduate at the University of Virginia and a 2025 Rhodes Scholar.
Using Infrared to Reveal Forming Stars
In Sagittarius C’s brightest cluster, the researchers confirmed the tentative finding from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) that two massive stars are forming there.
Along with infrared data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission, as well as the Herschel Space Observatory, they used Webb to determine that each of the massive protostars is already more than 20 times the mass of the Sun. Webb also revealed the bright outflows powered by each protostar.
Even more challenging is finding low-mass protostars, still shrouded in cocoons of cosmic dust. Researchers compared Webb’s data with ALMA’s past observations to identify five likely low-mass protostar candidates.
The team also identified 88 features that appear to be shocked hydrogen gas, where material being blasted out in jets from young stars impacts the surrounding gas cloud.
Analysis of these features led to the discovery of a new star-forming cloud, distinct from the main Sagittarius C cloud, hosting at least two protostars powering their own jets.
“Outflows from forming stars in Sagittarius C have been hinted at in past observations, but this is the first time we’ve been able to confirm them in infrared light.
It’s very exciting to see, because there is still a lot we don’t know about star formation, especially in the Central Molecular Zone, and it’s so important to how the universe works,” said Crowe.
Magnetic Fields and Star Formation
Webb’s 2023 image of Sagittarius C showed dozens of distinctive filaments in a region of hot hydrogen plasma surrounding the main star-forming cloud.
New analysis by Bally and his team has led them to hypothesize that the filaments are shaped by magnetic fields, which have also been observed in the past by the ground-based observatories ALMA and MeerKAT (formerly the Karoo Array Telescope).
“The motion of gas swirling in the extreme tidal forces of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, can stretch and amplify the surrounding magnetic fields. Those fields, in turn, are shaping the plasma in Sagittarius C,” said Bally.
The researchers think that the magnetic forces in the galactic center may be strong enough to keep the plasma from spreading, instead confining it into the concentrated filaments seen in the Webb image.
These strong magnetic fields may also resist the gravity that would typically cause dense clouds of gas and dust to collapse and forge stars, explaining Sagittarius C’s lower-than-expected star formation rate.
“This is an exciting area for future research, as the influence of strong magnetic fields, in the center of our galaxy or other galaxies, on stellar ecology has not been fully considered,” said Crowe.
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-115
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-explores-effect-of-strong-magnetic-fields-on-star-formation/
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8889
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9d0b
Senate schedules confirmation hearing for Isaacman’s nomination to lead NASA
April 3, 2025
The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator next week after a push by industry, and even some members of the committee, to take up the nomination.
The committee announced late April 2 that it hold a confirmation hearing for Isaacman on April 9 at 10 a.m. Eastern. The hearing will also consider the nomination of Olivia Trusty to be a member of the Federal Communications Commission.
The announcement relieves some of the impatience and anxiety in the space industry, which has largely supported Isaacman’s nomination.
President Trump announced his intent to nominate Isaacman in December, before taking office, and formally submitted the nomination Jan. 20.
The committee, though, had not scheduled a hearing even as it took up nominations at other agencies.
Supporters of Isaacman have argued his background as a businessman and as a private astronaut make him ideal to lead NASA at a time when the agency is expected to rely even more on commercial capabilities.
“I think he’s got all the tools to be what could be the most consequential NASA administrator given the era in which we live in now,” Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator in the first Trump administration, said of Isaacman at a conference in March.
Nearly 30 former NASA astronauts signed a letter, publicly released March 21, calling for the Senate Commerce Committee to hold a confirmation hearing “as soon as practical” on the nomination.
“Jared will be able to apply his vision and business acumen to make NASA a continued leader and fulfill its mission of exploration, inspiration, and discovery while expanding commercial opportunities that benefit all Americans,” they wrote.
As Isaacman awaits confirmation, NASA is facing significant changes from the new administration, from the “fork in the road” buyout that led about 900 agency civil servants to leave and the closure of three offices at NASA Headquarters that eliminated 23 jobs.
There are also concerns of larger layoffs at the agency and threats of significant budget cuts in the administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.
“I believe these actions will have devastating consequences for both the country and for NASA, and they’ve been proposed or considered while a nominee for a new NASA administrator is still awaiting confirmation,” said Rep. George Whitesides (D-Calif.), vice ranking member of the House Science Committee, during an April 1 hearing on NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
He called on Congress to block “further structural or budgetary changes” at the agency until the Senate confirms an administrator.
“In the meantime, I urge the acting NASA leadership to uphold the longstanding precedent of deferring large decisions, such as this, until permanent leadership is confirmed by the Senate.”
Isaacman has been in Washington in recent days for one-on-one meetings with senators, a standard part of the confirmation process before a formal hearing.
That included Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), who chairs the committee’s subcommittee on aviation, space and innovation, as well as the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on commerce, justice and science, which funds NASA.
Moran said in an April 1 social media post that he met with Isaacman and discussed topics such as exploration and “a shared desire to beat our adversaries back to the Moon” as well as work on science and technology at NASA.
“I am eager for the Commerce Committee to quickly conduct a confirmation hearing on his nomination to lead NASA,” Moran stated.
While the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing April 9, the earliest it would likely formally vote on sending the nomination to the full Senate is the week of April 28, as the Senate will be on a two-week break in mid-April.
https://spacenews.com/senate-schedules-confirmation-hearing-for-isaacmans-nomination-to-lead-nasa/
https://nasawatch.com/congress/jared-isaacmans-confirmation-hearing/
https://x.com/JerryMoran/status/1907200300668027270/history
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/4/senate-commerce-announces-hearing-for-nasa-fcc-nominees
Novel nuclear rocket fuel test could accelerate NASA's Mars mission
April 2, 2025
A team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, joined by university students, recently traveled to The Ohio State University Research Reactor to conduct a novel experiment on nuclear thermal rocket fuel coatings—one that could help propel NASA's astronauts to Mars faster and more efficiently.
"Our experiment aimed to test a fuel coating technique and evaluate if it can withstand the intense environment of a nuclear thermal rocket," said Brandon Wilson, an R&D staff member in ORNL's Nuclear and Extreme Environment Measurement group.
"Testing materials at exceptionally high temperatures is a first and a crucial step toward helping NASA mature and qualify nuclear fuels for manned space exploration using nuclear thermal propulsion technology."
Nuclear thermal propulsion, or NTP, is a potentially game-changing technology for NASA's crewed missions to Mars in the 2040 timeframe.
NTP engines use a nuclear reactor to heat hydrogen to ultra-high temperatures and then expel the heated hydrogen through a nozzle, which generates thrust and moves the rocket through space more efficiently than a traditional chemical rocket.
In effect, NTP engines could drastically reduce transit times to Mars while reducing overall mission costs and the effects of radiation and zero gravity on astronauts.
However, developing and testing materials to withstand conditions unlike anything else on Earth has remained a challenge.
ORNL has pioneered a technique to coat fuel and reactor core materials in zirconium carbide, which can protect these critical components from hydrogen infiltration and corrosion without impacting the reactor's neutronics.
To test this coating under the combined effects of high temperature and high radiation, researchers in the lab's Nuclear and Extreme Environment Measurement group designed the In-Pile Steady-State Extreme Temperature Testbed (INSET), a specialized high-temperature furnace designed to operate within a nuclear reactor.
A second iteration of INSET is now the only available technology that can rapidly heat materials from room temperature to 2,200 degrees Celsius in about five minutes while allowing for quick handling after neutron irradiation.
Developed at ORNL with significant design contributions from University of Tennessee graduate student Emily Hutchins, INSET 2.0 is a cost-effective option for conducting multiple experiments both inside and outside a reactor.
Because of its versatile design, INSET can be used to evaluate any research reactor with a port diameter greater than eight inches, offering unmatched versatility for high-temperature materials testing.
INSET was used to perform irradiation testing of coated surrogate particles at The Ohio State University Research Reactor.
There, four different nuclear thermal rocket fuel sample surrogates coated in zirconium carbide were placed in INSET and irradiated for two days under repeated temperature cycling.
The experiment team included Wilson, Hutchins, and Bryan Conry, an ORNL post-doc research associate, as well as Pavel Shilenko, a cadet at West Point.
Hutchins and Shilenko were the primary operators of the experiment, setting up the INSET furnace and recording data throughout the two-day test.
"I am exceptionally proud of Emily and Pavel," said Wilson. "Their contributions to this project produced an important milestone for this research, in addition to a learning experience that I hope will shape their future as leaders in nuclear science and engineering."
Later this spring, the team will conduct post-irradiation analysis at ORNL to assess the coatings' performance and their ability to protect the fuel under operational conditions.
"The findings from this experiment will represent a crucial step in advancing nuclear thermal propulsion technology for future human space exploration," said Wilson.
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-nuclear-rocket-fuel-nasa-mars.html
>We have the technology, we rebuilt him, better, stronger, faster…
Slide some of that shit this way, Mr Prez
The Starliner fiasco was a lot worse than NASA made it sound, astronauts reveal
Apr 2nd, 2025 6:00PM EDT
What was meant to be a triumphant crewed test flight for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft nearly became a catastrophe.
And new revelations from NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams show the mission, which launched in June 2024, faced far more serious issues than the agency initially let on.
The Starliner mission to the International Space Station suffered multiple technical failures, including malfunctioning thrusters and leaks, just to name a few of the problems.
All of this nearly prevented the spacecraft from docking with the International Space Station.
While the public heard about some of these hiccups, a recent interview between the astronauts and Ars Technica paints a far more alarming picture—one where returning to Earth wasn’t always guaranteed.
“I don’t know that we can come back to Earth at that point,” Wilmore admitted to Ars, recalling a moment mid-mission when the crew realized they were down to a single layer of fault tolerance.
“I don’t know if we can. And matter of fact, I’m thinking we probably can’t.”
With four out of 28 critical reaction control thrusters offline, one more failure would have left them unable to control the spacecraft’s movement at all—a dangerous bid for a spacecraft approaching a space station with other occupants aboard it.
However, according to Wilmore, NASA overrode Starliner’s flight rules and didn’t tell the astronauts about this right away.
The agency had, supposedly, begun waiving established safety protocols to continue with docking procedures, even as the crew manually controlled a sluggish and unresponsive spacecraft in orbit.
These Starliner problems weren’t just isolated to docking, either. The mission was originally planned for a week but stretched into nine months as further issues delayed the capsule’s return trip.
The astronauts eventually came back aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, while the Starliner was sent home empty in September—a decision that reportedly sparked outrage from Boeing execs when NASA first made it.
Boeing’s Starliner program was already years behind schedule when it launched in 2024. Not to mention it was billions over budget. In light of these new discoveries, though, it now faces increased scrutiny.
NASA and Boeing say they’re working through the spacecraft’s in-flight anomalies and hope to attempt another crewed mission no earlier than late 2025. But after this flight’s close call, confidence in the Boeing-built spacecraft is shakier than ever.
Back before its launch, I wrote that it might be time for NASA to bail on Starliner for good due to its problems, and that opinion still stands. It’s one thing for a test flight to encounter problems—that’s the nature of testing.
But when safety protocols are quietly dropped mid-mission, and the astronauts themselves question whether they’ll make it back, it’s just not a good look for the agency, and the public deserves far more transparency if we’re going to support missions like this going forward.
Sure, the astronauts may take some of the blame for Starliner’s problems. Ultimately, it was the big wigs at NASA that decided to put Starliner in the air despite all the warning signs.
https://bgr.com/science/the-starliner-fiasco-was-a-lot-worse-than-nasa-made-it-sound-astronauts-reveal/
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/the-harrowing-story-of-what-flying-starliner-was-like-when-its-thrusters-failed/
What does Antarctica look like from polar orbit? Astronaut reveals the truth in breathtaking video
Apr 03, 2025 07:07 AM IST
Entrepreneur and adventurer Chun Wang, a private astronaut, shared a video that shows the unmatched beauty of Antarctica from space.
Four private astronauts made history after they saw the North and South Poles with their own eyes. Launched into space in SpaceX's Fram2 mission, they have been capturing incredible sights of the Earth from space.
One of them, Chun Wang, shared a mesmerising video that has stunned the world. It shows how Antarctica looks from above 460 km.
“Hello, Antarctica,” he wrote. “Unlike previously anticipated, from 460 km above, it is only pure white, no human activity is visible,” he added.
The video was captured when the crew opened the Dragon's Cupola, a domed, all-glass observation window on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The cupola gives astronauts panoramic views of space and Earth.
How did social media react?
An individual posted, “This is incredible. Are you taking high-resolution photos as you pass and making them available for viewing?
That mountain looking region… I could look at details of that for hours.” Another added, “Absolutely incredible.” A third commented, “Amazing view from up there!” A fourth wrote, “Breathtaking! Thanks for sharing.”
Meet SpaceX's Fram2 astronauts:
Four private astronauts are orbiting the Earth from pole to pole after SpaceX's Fram2 mission was successfully launched. This is the first-ever human spaceflight to circle Earth over its poles.
Wang is a cryptocurrency magnate and Mikkelsen is a filmmaker. While Rogge works as an engineer and scientist, Phillips is an adventurer and guide who has led ski expeditions to the poles.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/what-does-antarctica-look-like-from-polar-orbit-astronaut-reveals-the-truth-in-breathtaking-video-101743642515788-amp.html
https://twitter.com/satofishi/status/1907345866421395867
Sorry, the video was dubbed in German for some reason.
Here is the full video with no dubbing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYjLX3Z_C3w
Mysterious Giant Cloud Ring Spotted in the Pacific Captured by NASA Satellite
April 2, 2025
A colossal and unusually symmetric cloud ring was captured by NASA’s Terra satellite hovering alone in the central Pacific Ocean, revealing a rare atmospheric event that continues to intrigue scientists.
Appearing as a near-perfect circle of cumulus clouds, this striking formation was discovered in satellite imagery dating back to 2014—but has only recently been highlighted as one of the most visually compelling examples of natural convection patterns ever recorded from space.
Hovering thousands of kilometers southwest of the Hawaiian Islands, the formation covered a jaw-dropping area nearly 280 miles wide.
While circular cloud structures aren’t unheard of, such a perfectly formed ring appearing in isolation over open ocean is exceptionally rare.
The discovery not only adds to our visual catalog of Earth’s upper-atmosphere behavior but also sheds light on the still-mysterious dynamics of weather cells in remote regions.
A 280-Mile-Wide Ring Formed by Convection
The image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite, shows a Rayleigh-Bénard convection cell in action—a meteorological process that occurs when warm air rises and cooler air sinks.
These cells often result in cloud formations shaped by the churning motion of air at different temperatures.
In this particular case, the phenomenon created what is known as a closed-cell cloud: a pattern in which clouds form densely at the center while the outer edges remain clear.
Unlike open-cell clouds, which resemble lacy honeycombs, closed-cell clouds are generally thicker and less common in such pristine isolation.
A Rare Solo Appearance in a Sky Usually Filled With Patterns
What makes this sighting stand out is the solitary nature of the cloud ring. Typically, these cells form in clusters, creating a repetitive patchwork across wide regions of the atmosphere.
The presence of a single, isolated cell suggests that the environmental conditions triggering this formation were hyper-localized.
According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, the likely cause was a patch of superheated ocean water or a small island radiating heat. The rising warm air generated cumulus clouds, which then released light rain.
This precipitation cooled the surrounding air, causing it to sink and spread outward. As it reached warmer surrounding air, it forced that air upward—resulting in a circular uplift that formed the iconic cloud ring.
The Intertropical Convergence Zone’s Subtle Influence
This rare ring appeared just south of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ICZ), a low-pressure equatorial region famous for constant thunderstorms and tropical downpours.
The ICZ could have subtly influenced the conditions that allowed the cell to develop, supplying both moisture and vertical instability.
Adding to the surreal quality of the image, sunlight bouncing directly off the ocean surface created a sunglint effect, making the water east of the cloud appear like a swirling mirror of molten silver.
This optical illusion only occurs when the sun’s angle perfectly aligns with a satellite’s lens, further elevating the visual impact of the scene.
A Phenomenon That Almost Went Unnoticed Until the Space Age
Cloud cells weren’t formally recognized until 1961, when NASA launched the TIROS-1 satellite—the first fully operational weather satellite.
Until that breakthrough, scientists had little idea of the structured and sometimes geometric behavior of Earth’s cloud systems when viewed from above.
Now, with decades of satellite data available, images like this provide key insights into large-scale weather dynamics that are invisible from the ground.
They not only enhance forecasting but also help refine our models for convection, precipitation, and ocean-atmosphere interactions.
https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/04/giant-cloud-ring-spotted-pacific-nasa/
https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteors-showers/how-a-mudball-meteorite-survived-space-to-land-in-the-jungles-of-central-america
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/maps.14337
How a 'mudball' meteorite survived space to land in the jungles of Central America
Apr 3, 2025
The pieces of a meteorite that fell in Costa Rica in 2019 are so unusual that scientists believe it had moved through space relatively unscathed — that is, until it encountered our planet.
This is in stark contrast to other typical meteorites that show the wounds of having been in numerous collisions before reaching Earth.
The meteorites were recovered from near the Costa Rican town of Aguas Zarcas, and are of a type referred to as 'mudballs', in the sense that they contain water-rich minerals. The findings have resulted in a reappraisal of these so-called mudball meteorites.
It had been assumed that their high content of water-rich minerals would make them structurally weaker than other types of meteorites, rendering them more susceptible to damage or burning.
But, "Apparently, [the presence of water-rich minerals] … does not mean they are weak," said Peter Jenniskens, a meteor astronomer from the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center in California, in a statement.
Scientists say the discovery rivals one of the largest discoveries of meteorites nearly 50 years prior.
"Twenty-seven kilograms [60lbs] of rocks were recovered, making this the largest fall of its kind since similar meteorites fell near Murchison in Australia in 1969," said Jenniskens.
The Murchison meteorite fall occurred just two months after the Apollo 11 mission.
The recovered pieces showed that evidence of having been altered by liquid water on its parent body before an impact smashed apart that parent body and sent the Murchison and, later, the Aguas Zarcas meteoroids spinning into space.
(Meteoroids are what we call meteorites when they are in space.)
Video camera footage shows the 2019 mudball meteor entering the atmosphere from the west-north-west direction over Costa Rica at a steep, almost vertical angle of 81 degrees, and at a velocity of 9 miles (14.6 kilometers) per second.
This steep angle allowed the meteor passed through less of Earth's atmosphere than it would have if it had approached on a shallower angle. That means more of the original meteoroid survived the fiery passage through the sky above Costa Rica.
Based on the incoming meteor's trajectory, "We can tell that this object came from a larger asteroid low in the asteroid belt, likely from its outer regions," said Jenniskens.
As it entered Earth's atmosphere, the rocky body is estimated to have been about 23.6 inches (60 centimeters) across.
Friction with the atmosphere generated heat that melted its surface, stripping away much of the rock in a process known as ablation as it began to burn up.
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"It penetrated deep into Earth's atmosphere, until the surviving mass shattered at 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) above the Earth's surface, where it produced a bright flash that was detected by satellites in orbit," said Jenniskens.
Those satellites were the Geostationary Operational Environment Satellites (GOES) 16 and 17 and their lightning detectors, which are Earth-observing satellites operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAO).
The fragments scattered themselves across the soft ground of Costa Rican jungle and grasslands, where they were subsequently found by meteorite hunters and volunteers. But the meteorites had a slightly unusual appearance.
"The Aguas Zarcas fall produced an amazing selection of fusion-crusted stones with a wide range of shapes," said meteor scientist Laurence Garvie of the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University.
"Some stones have a beautiful blue iridescence to the fusion crust."
The fusion crust is the glassy, melted surface of a meteorite after it has endured ablation.
Usually, meteorites have some flat sides, where they have broken apart as the result of stress fractures in the original meteoroid that were placed there by collisions in space with other meteoroids.
The rounded rather than flat shapes of the Aguas Zarcas meteorites suggested that the meteoroid had travelled through space relatively unscathed after being blasted off its parent body.
It has even been possible to calculate how long ago that was. Exposure to cosmic rays alters the composition of a meteoroid, so the degree of alteration tells us how long a meteoroid has been in space after breaking off its parent body.
"The last collision experienced by this rock was two million years ago," said cosmochemist Kees Welton of UC Berkeley, who led this part of the study.
"After getting loose, it took two million years to hit the tiny target of Earth, all the time avoiding getting cracked," added Jenniskens. This seems surprisingly recent, given the 4.6-billion-year history of the solar system.
"We know of other Murchison-like meteorites that broke off at approximately the same time [as Murchison], and likely in the same event, but most broke much more recently," said Welton, with the Aguas Zarcas meteorites exemplifying the point.
Perhaps it is appropriate that the last word goes to Gerado Soto of the University of Costa Rica in San José, who draws similarities with the Murchison meteorite fall and its closeness in time to Apollo 11.
"The fall of Aguas Zarcas was huge news in the country. No other fireball was as widely reported and then recovered as stones on the ground in Costa Rica in the past 150 years," he said.
"The recovery of Aguas Zarcas [meteorites], too, was a small step for man, but a giant leap in meteoritics."
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Powerful solar winds squish Jupiter's magnetic field 'like a giant squash ball'
April 3, 2025
A massive solar windstorm in 2017 compressed Jupiter's magnetosphere "like a giant squash ball," a new study reports.
The discovery stemmed from an unusual temperature pattern scientists observed in Jupiter's atmosphere using the Keck Observatory in Hawai'i.
Normally, Jupiter's powerful polar auroras inject significant heat into the gas giant's upper atmosphere near the poles.
These spectacular lights resemble those seen on Earth, where they're generated when energetic particles interact with our planet's magnetic field, but Jupiter's auroras are believed to proceed through a different mechanism and are far more intense and energetic.
When scientists from Reading University in England detected unexpectedly high temperatures stretching across half of Jupiter's circumference — reaching over 930 degrees Fahrenheit (500 degrees Celsius), significantly higher than the typical atmospheric background temperature of 660 degrees F (350 degrees C) — they were baffled.
"Typically, temperatures decrease gradually toward the equator, reflecting how auroral energy is redistributed across the planet," the team wrote in their paper, which was published today (April 3) in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
As "there are no known heating mechanisms capable of producing a feature with these temperatures outside of the auroral region," the team proposed that the superheated region was likely "launched" toward the equator from the poles.
To figure out how this might have occurred, the researchers combined ground-based observations from the Keck telescope with data from NASA's Juno spacecraft, which has been exploring Jupiter and its moons since 2016.
They traced the cause of this sudden heat displacement to a dense burst of solar wind that compressed Jupiter's enormous magnetosphere — a magnetic bubble surrounding the planet, shaped by its own magnetic field.
(Earth has one, too! In fact, life would not be possible without it.)
"We have never captured Jupiter's response to solar wind before — and the way it changed the planet's atmosphere was very unexpected," study lead author James O'Donoghue of the University of Reading said in a statement.
"This is the first time we've ever seen a thing like this on any outer world."
The compression of the magnetosphere by the solar wind appears to have intensified auroral heating at Jupiter's poles, causing the upper atmosphere to expand and spill hot gas typically confined to the poles down toward the equator, team members said.
"The solar wind squished Jupiter’s magnetic shield like a giant squash ball," O'Donoghue said. "This created a super-hot region that spans half the planet. Jupiter's diameter is 11 times larger than Earth's, meaning this heated region is enormous."
And such solar wind events are believed to hit Jupiter two to three times per month!
Scientists had previously thought that Jupiter's fast rotation would shield it from such effects, keeping auroral heating confined to the polar regions due to barriers created by the planet's strong winds.
However, the new findings challenge that assumption, revealing that even the solar system's largest planet is at the sun's mercy.
"We've studied Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in increasing detail over the past decade. These giant planets are not as resistant to the sun's influence as we thought — they're vulnerable, like Earth," O'Donoghue said in the statement.
"Jupiter acts like a laboratory, allowing us to study how the sun affects planets in general," he added.
"By watching what happens there, we can better predict and understand the effects of solar storms which might disrupt GPS, communications and power grids on Earth."
https://www.space.com/the-universe/jupiter/surprise-jupiters-powerful-magnetic-field-gets-squished-by-the-solar-wind
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1078491
Secretive Russian military satellites release mystery object into orbit
April 3, 2025
A trio of secretive Russian satellites launched earlier this year has released a mysterious object into orbit, sparking interest among space trackers and analysts.
The three satellites, designated Kosmos 2581, 2582 and 2583, launched on a Soyuz-2.1V rocket from Plesetsk cosmodrome early on Feb. 2 (GMT). Since then, the satellites, whose purpose is unknown, have displayed interesting behavior, while in a near-polar orbit roughly 364 miles (585 kilometers) above Earth.
In March, the satellites appeared to be conducting potential proximity operations, or maneuvering close to other objects in space, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and spaceflight activity tracker.
Following this, the U.S. Space Force cataloged a new object in orbit, which was possibly released by Kosmos 2581 on March 18.
Russia has provided no details about the satellites and their mission. Many Kosmos missions are classified.
The released object could be used for a number of objectives, including military experiments, such as satellite inspection or target practice, testing technology for docking or formation flying.
It may also be a scientific payload or even the result of an unintentional fragmentation, though this would usually result in numerous pieces of debris.
The Kosmos (or Cosmos) designation has been used by the Soviet Union and later Russia for a very wide range of military and scientific satellites since 1962.
The satellites have covered a range of apparent uses, some of which are experimental, secret, or part of military programs, including early ASAT (anti-satellite) tests and satellite inspection, reconnaissance and electronic intelligence.
Satellite trios flying in formation in orbit is not unusual. Both the United States (for example, the Naval Ocean Surveillance System) and China (Yaogan) have launched numerous sets of satellite triplets, many of which are thought to be for electronic intelligence purposes, along with other satellite series.
However, it remains to be seen what the three Kosmos satellites and their new companion will get up to in orbit.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/secretive-russian-military-satellites-release-mystery-object-into-orbit
https://x.com/planet4589/status/1902194648090558919
Russia, China target SpaceX’s Starlink in escalating space electronic warfare
April 3, 2025
As modern warfare becomes increasingly reliant on space-based networks, Russia and China are stepping up efforts to counter the dominance of commercial satellite constellations, particularly SpaceX’s Starlink.
The Secure World Foundation (SWF), a nonpartisan policy think tank, detailed these developments in its latest annual report which assesses global counterspace capabilities.
The report, “Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment,” released April 3, notes that Starlink has become a prime target for adversarial nations after demonstrating its military utility in Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Russia’s ‘Starlink Killer’
Ukrainian military units began experiencing Starlink outages in May 2024, which Ukrainian officials attribute to Russia “testing different mechanisms” with its electronic warfare systems, the report says.
SWF analysts highlight two key Russian systems: Tobol and Kalinka. Originally designed to protect Russian satellites from jamming, the Tobol system has been repurposed to disrupt satellite communications and navigation systems like GPS.
At least seven Tobol complexes are distributed across Russian territory, and leaked U.S. military documents suggest Russia has deployed at least three installations specifically to target Starlink signals over Eastern Ukraine.
More concerning to the U.S. and allies is Russia’s newer Kalinka system, dubbed the “Starlink Killer.”
This electronic warfare platform can reportedly detect and disrupt signals to and from Starlink satellites, with the specific goal of interfering with Ukrainian drones and military communications.
What makes Kalinka particularly worrisome is its alleged ability to detect terminals connected to Starshield, the military version of Starlink designed with enhanced security features, notes the report.
China’s Strategic Focus
While Russia’s electronic warfare efforts are battle-tested in Ukraine, China is making significant investments in similar capabilities with an eye toward potential future conflicts.
The report cites a 2022 study sponsored by China’s People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force that explicitly recommends developing counterspace capabilities to target commercial satellite constellations like Starlink in the event of armed conflict with the United States.
“Chinese military doctrine places heavy emphasis on gaining the initiative at the outset of conflict,” the report states. “This would likely involve attacks against satellite networks to disrupt adversaries’ access to communications and navigation.”
In the section of the report about cyber attacks on satellite systems, SWF says Starlink’s constellation of thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit has proven remarkably resilient to cyber intrusions.
The Secure World Foundation’s report also tracks counterspace developments in the United States, India, Australia, France, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, noting that while kinetic anti-satellite weapons continue to be researched and tested, non-kinetic methods like electronic warfare and cyber operations are already being actively deployed.
U.S. officials suggest that as reliance on space-based assets grows, the competition to control or deny access to space will only intensify, with commercial operators increasingly caught in the crossfire of geopolitical tensions.
https://spacenews.com/russia-china-target-spacexs-starlink-in-escalating-space-electronic-warfare/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FxYfoY9eqUew3xL2LD__xgHVIOFVvASA/view?pli=1