>THE FED SHOULD LOWER ITS RATE!!!
Been waiting since covid, literally.
It cant come soon enough.
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
May 2, 2025
Young Star Cluster NGC 346
The most massive young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud is NGC 346, embedded in our small satellite galaxy's largest star forming region some 210,000 light-years distant. Of course the massive stars of NGC 346 are short lived, but very energetic. Their winds and radiation sculpt the edges of the region's dusty molecular cloud triggering star-formation within. The star forming region also appears to contain a large population of infant stars. A mere 3 to 5 million years old and not yet burning hydrogen in their cores, the infant stars are strewn about the embedded star cluster. This spectacular infrared view of NGC 346 is from the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRcam. Emission from atomic hydrogen ionized by the massive stars' energetic radiation as well as molecular hydrogen and dust in the star-forming molecular cloud is detailed in pink and orange hues. Webb's sharp image of the young star-forming region spans 240 light-years at the distance of the Small Magellanic Cloud.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Hubble Images a Peculiar Spiral
May 02, 2025
A beautiful but skewed spiral galaxy dazzles in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image.
The galaxy, called Arp 184 or NGC 1961, sits about 190 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Camelopardalis (The Giraffe).
The name Arp 184 comes from the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies compiled by astronomer Halton Arp in 1966. It holds 338 galaxies that are oddly shaped and tend to be neither entirely elliptical nor entirely spiral-shaped.
Many of the galaxies are in the process of interacting with other galaxies, while others are dwarf galaxies without well-defined structures.
Arp 184 earned its spot in the catalog thanks to its single broad, star-speckled spiral arm that appears to stretch toward us.
The galaxy’s far side sports a few wisps of gas and stars, but it lacks a similarly impressive spiral arm.
This Hubble image combines data from three Snapshot observing programs, which are short observations that slotted into time gaps between other proposals. One of the three programs targeted Arp 184 for its peculiar appearance.
This program surveyed galaxies listed in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as well as A Catalogue of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations, a similar catalog compiled by Halton Arp and Barry Madore.
The remaining two Snapshot programs looked at the aftermath of fleeting astronomical events like supernovae and tidal disruption events — like when a supermassive black hole rips a star apart after it wanders too closely.
Since Arp 184 hosted four known supernovae in the past three decades, it is a rich target for a supernova hunt.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-images-a-peculiar-spiral/
NASA’s Chandra Diagnoses Cause of Fracture in Galactic “Bone”
May 01, 2025
Astronomers have discovered a likely explanation for a fracture in a huge cosmic “bone” in the Milky Way galaxy, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and radio telescopes.
The bone appears to have been struck by a fast-moving, rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar. Neutron stars are the densest known stars and form from the collapse and explosion of massive stars.
They often receive a powerful kick from these explosions, sending them away from the explosion’s location at high speeds.
Enormous structures resembling bones or snakes are found near the center of the galaxy.
These elongated formations are seen in radio waves and are threaded by magnetic fields running parallel to them.
The radio waves are caused by energized particles spiraling along the magnetic fields.
This new image shows one of these cosmic “bones” called G359.13142-0.20005 (G359.13 for short), with X-ray data from Chandra (colored blue) and radio data from the MeerKAT radio array in South Africa (colored gray).
Researchers also refer to G359.13 as the Snake.
Examining this image closely reveals the presence of a break, or fracture, in the otherwise continuous length of G359.13 seen in the image. The combined X-ray and radio data provides clues to the cause of this fracture.
Astronomers have now discovered an X-ray and radio source at the location of the fracture, using the data from Chandra and MeerKAT and the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array.
A likely pulsar responsible for these radio and X-ray signals is labeled. A possible extra source of X-rays located near the pulsar may come from electrons and positrons (the anti-matter counterparts to electrons) that have been accelerated to high energies.
The researchers think the pulsar likely caused the fracture by smashing into G359.13 at a speed between one million and two million miles per hour.
This collision distorted the magnetic field in the bone, causing the radio signal to also become warped.
At about 230 light-years long, G359.13 is one of the longest and brightest of these structures in the Milky Way.
To put this into context, there are more than 800 stars within that distance from Earth. G359.13 is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, near the center of the Milky Way.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasas-chandra-diagnoses-cause-of-fracture-in-galactic-bone/
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024MNRAS.530..254Y/abstract
NASA Astronauts McClain and Ayers Reenter Station and Complete Spacewalk
May 1, 2025
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers concluded their spacewalk at 2:49 p.m. EDT. The total time was 5 hours and 44 minutes.
It was the third spacewalk for McClain and the first for Ayers, and the 275th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
McClain and Ayers completed their primary objectives, including relocating a space station communications antenna and the initial mounting bracket installation steps for an IROSA that will arrive on a future SpaceX commercial resupply services mission.
Additionally, the astronaut pair completed a pair of get ahead tasks, including installing a jumper cable to provide power from the P6 truss to the International Space Station’s Russian segment and another to remove bolts from a micrometeoroid cover.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/05/01/nasa-astronauts-mcclain-and-ayers-reenter-station-and-complete-spacewalk/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-spherex-space-telescope-begins-capturing-entire-sky/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26351-spherex-scans-the-sky/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26352-spherexs-dust-cloud-reveal/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuO-u9airpA
NASA’s SPHEREx Space Telescope Begins Capturing Entire Sky
May 1, 2025
After weeks of preparation, the space observatory has begun its science mission, taking about 3,600 unique images per day to create a map of the cosmos like no other.
Launched on March 11, NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory has spent the last six weeks undergoing checkouts, calibrations, and other activities to ensure it is working as it should.
Now it’s mapping the entire sky — not just a large part of it — to chart the positions of hundreds of millions of galaxies in 3D to answer some big questions about the universe.
On May 1, the spacecraft began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day for the next two years to provide new insights about the origins of the universe, galaxies, and the ingredients for life in the Milky Way.
“Thanks to the hard work of teams across NASA, industry, and academia that built this mission, SPHEREx is operating just as we’d expected and will produce maps of the full sky unlike any we’ve had before,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“This new observatory is adding to the suite of space-based astrophysics survey missions leading up to the launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Together with these other missions, SPHEREx will play a key role in answering the big questions about the universe we tackle at NASA every day.”
From its perch in Earth orbit, SPHEREx peers into the darkness, pointing away from the planet and the Sun.
The observatory will complete more than 11,000 orbits over its 25 months of planned survey operations, circling Earth about 14½ times a day.
It orbits Earth from north to south, passing over the poles, and each day it takes images along one circular strip of the sky.
As the days pass and the planet moves around the Sun, SPHEREx’s field of view shifts as well so that after six months, the observatory will have looked out into space in every direction.
When SPHEREx takes a picture of the sky, the light is sent to six detectors that each produces a unique image capturing different wavelengths of light.
These groups of six images are called an exposure, and SPHEREx takes about 600 exposures per day.
When it’s done with one exposure, the whole observatory shifts position — the mirrors and detectors don’t move as they do on some other telescopes.
Rather than using thrusters, SPHEREx relies on a system of reaction wheels, which spin inside the spacecraft to control its orientation.
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Hundreds of thousands of SPHEREx’s images will be digitally woven together to create four all-sky maps in two years.
By mapping the entire sky, the mission will provide new insights about what happened in the first fraction of a second after the big bang. In that brief instant, an event called cosmic inflation caused the universe to expand a trillion-trillionfold.
“We’re going to study what happened on the smallest size scales in the universe’s earliest moments by looking at the modern universe on the largest scales,” said Jim Fanson, the mission’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
“I think there’s a poetic arc to that.”
Cosmic inflation subtly influenced the distribution of matter in the universe, and clues about how such an event could happen are written into the positions of galaxies across the universe.
When cosmic inflation began, the universe was smaller than the size of an atom, but the properties of that early universe were stretched out and influence what we see today.
No other known event or process involves the amount of energy that would have been required to drive cosmic inflation, so studying it presents a unique opportunity to understand more deeply how our universe works.
“Some of us have been working toward this goal for 12 years,” said Jamie Bock, the mission’s principal investigator at Caltech and JPL. “The performance of the instrument is as good as we hoped.
That means we’re going to be able to do all the amazing science we planned on and perhaps even get some unexpected discoveries.”
Color Field
The SPHEREx observatory won’t be the first to map the entire sky, but it will be the first to do so in so many colors. It observes 102 wavelengths, or colors, of infrared light, which are undetectable to the human eye.
Through a technique called spectroscopy, the telescope separates the light into wavelengths — much like a prism creates a rainbow from sunlight — revealing all kinds of information about cosmic sources.
For example, spectroscopy can be harnessed to determine the distance to a faraway galaxy, information that can be used to turn a 2D map of those galaxies into a 3D one.
The technique will also enable the mission to measure the collective glow from all the galaxies that ever existed and see how that glow has changed over cosmic time.
And spectroscopy can reveal the composition of objects. Using this capability, the mission is searching for water and other key ingredients for life in these systems in our galaxy.
It’s thought that the water in Earth’s oceans originated as frozen water molecules attached to dust in the interstellar cloud where the Sun formed.
The SPHEREx mission will make over 9 million observations of interstellar clouds in the Milky Way, mapping these materials across the galaxy and helping scientists understand how different conditions can affect the chemistry that produced many of the compounds found on Earth today.
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NASA, ISRO Aiming to Launch NISAR Earth Mission in June 2025
May 1, 2025
NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are targeting June 2025 for launch of the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite mission.
The first mission to carry both L-band and S-band radar, NISAR will scan nearly all of Earth’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days.
The mission will measure changes in the planet’s terrestrial ecosystems, growth and retreat of its ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice, and deformation of its crust.
Launch services will be provided by ISRO, using the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mark II rocket that will carry the spacecraft into low Earth orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/nisar/2025/05/01/nasa-isro-aiming-to-launch-nisar-earth-mission-in-june-2025/
NASA’s TRACERS Mission Now Targeting No Earlier Than Summer for Launch
May 1, 2025
NASA’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) now is targeting no earlier than summer 2025 for launch in order to give the mission spacecraft team additional time to prepare.
The mission is a pair of satellites that will study how the solar wind — the continuous stream of ionized particles escaping the Sun and pouring out into space — interacts with and enters Earth’s magnetosphere, the region around Earth dominated by our planet’s magnetic field.
Researching this interaction is critical for understanding and eventually predicting how energy from our Sun transfers into our planet and potentially impacts space- and ground-based assets.
The TRACERS spacecraft will lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
After launch, the twin satellites will fly about 341 miles above Earth through a narrow region in Earth’s magnetic field known as polar cusps, where solar wind is funneled into our atmosphere in a concentrated way.
The TRACERS mission will fly through the northern polar cusp several times a day to study where and how often a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection happens at the outer edges of Earth’s magnetic field.
Magnetic reconnection, an explosive transfer of energy that can happen when two magnetic fields meet, happens throughout space but is of special relevance where the solar wind first meets Earth’s magnetosphere, a region known as the magnetopause.
A reconnection event can shoot solar wind particles, normally diverted around our planet, directly into our atmosphere at high speeds.
These particles ignite the beautiful northern and southern lights but also create potentially hazardous conditions for astronauts and sensitive satellites and can damage key infrastructure on the ground, affecting communication signals and aviation.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/tracers/2025/05/01/nasas-tracers-mission-now-targeting-no-earlier-than-summer-for-launch/
Next NASA Balloon Flight-Ready, Awaits Launch Opportunity
May 1, 2025
The second scientific balloon in NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign is now flight-ready and awaits a next launch opportunity from the agency’s dedicated mid-latitude launch site at Wānaka Airport, New Zealand.
This will be the second and final balloon to launch for the campaign.
The 18.8-million-cubic-foot (532,000-cubic-meter) helium-filled balloon will travel the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitude band on a planned mission of up to 100 days to further test the super pressure balloon technology.
The stadium-sized balloon will carry several piggyback missions of opportunity, or smaller payloads, including:
Compact Multichannel Imaging Camera (CoMIC), led by University of Massachusetts Lowell, will study and measure how Earth’s atmosphere scatters light at high altitudes and will measure airglow, specifically the red and green emissions.
High-altitude Infrasound from Geophysical Sources (HIGS), led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, will measure atmospheric pressure to collect signals of geophysical events on Earth such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
These signals will help NASA as it develops the ability to measure seismic activity on Venus from high-altitude balloons.
Measuring Ocean Acoustics North of Antarctica (MOANA), led by Sandia National Laboratories and Swedish Institute of Space Physics, aims to capture sound waves in Earth’s stratosphere with frequencies below the limit of human hearing.
INterim Dynamics Instrumentation for Gondolas (INDIGO), led by NASA’s Balloon Program Office at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility, will measure the shock of the gondola during the launch, termination, and landing phases of flight.
Sensor Package for Attitude, Rotation, and Relative Observable Winds – 7 (SPARROW-7), led by NASA’s Balloon Program Office, will demonstrate relative wind measurements using an ultrasonic device designed for the balloon float environment that measures wind speed and direction.
The teams stand ready to proceed while they wait for the right weather conditions for launch.
Meanwhile, the first balloon flight of the campaign continues to circle the globe. The balloon is nearing its next mission milestone as it approaches one full rotation of the Southern Hemisphere.
The public is encouraged to follow real-time tracking of the balloons’ paths on the agency’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility website. Launch and tracking information will be shared across NASA’s social media platforms and the NASA Wallops blog.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/wallops/2025/05/01/next-nasa-balloon-flight-ready-awaits-launch-opportunity/
https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/newzealand/wanaka.htm
NASA surveys giving detailed pictures of changing North American Arctic
Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 16:26
A new paper from NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment is offering insights into the evolution of wildfire activity, thawing permafrost, and changing ecosystems in Alaska and Canada over the past seven years.
“Arctic amplification, the warming of the Arctic nearly four times faster than the global mean has accelerated change in the northern high latitudes, leading to the “borealization” of the tundra and rapid transformation of permafrost-affected ecosystems,” the paper published in the journal Nature.
From 2017 to 2023, NASA’s team used airborne imaging technology to collect more than 1,700 flight lines covering over 120,000 square kilometres.
The high-resolution datasets were used to monitor vegetation, map wetlands, and assess wildfire damage.
In the Mackenzie Delta region, the study identified areas with high methane emissions, illustrating the impact of thawing permafrost.
The data also helped track changes influencing sea level rise, atmospheric conditions, and global carbon storage.
The findings will contribute to ongoing research the paper and will inform future projects, such as NASA’s upcoming Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) mission, the paper said.
Data from ABoVE is also expected to assist in calibrating satellite sensors designed to monitor the Earth’s surface, the researchers said.
The report also notes that changing Arctic conditions are affecting infrastructure and local communities.
Thawing ground is increasing the risk of erosion, landslides, and flooding, with many northern communities already confronting interruptions to traditional land use and wildlife patterns.
Researchers say the observation program will continue to be important to better understand the pace and impact of climate-driven changes in the Arctic and how they are set to influence ecosystems and climate conditions elsewhere in the world.
https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2025/05/01/nasa-surveys-giving-detailed-pictures-of-changing-north-american-arctic/
Janet Petro NASA Update
May 1, 2025
This week marked 100 days in President Trump’s Administration – 100 days of pressing forward on bold goals while continuing our tradition of exploring, innovating, and inspiring for the benefit of all.
When we take a step back, the progress we’ve made together is clear.
We’ve maintained continuous operations aboard our orbiting laboratory, the International Space Station, rotating crews and bringing our astronauts home safely.
We’ve advanced technologies that will play critical roles at the Moon and Mars. We’ve made major progress on Artemis II, stacking the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and preparing Orion as our crew continues to train for their mission.
And across our science and research portfolios, we’re delivering results every single day that ensure America’s continued leadership in air and space.
Each milestone is a direct reflection of your dedication, and I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished together so far.
And we didn’t slow down this week:
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers currently are outside the space station on a spacewalk to relocate an antenna that communicates with visiting spacecraft and install a mounting bracket ahead of rolling out a new set of solar arrays in the future.
These new arrays will boost power generation by up to 30%, strengthening the space station’s capabilities for years to come.
We signed a new agreement with Magna Petra Corp. to give NASA’s Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSOLO) technology another Moon shot. MSOLO first demonstrated its capabilities earlier this year on the Intuitive Machines 2 mission.
On this nest flight, launching no earlier than 2026 on a commercial rover, MSOLO will seek to measure low molecular weight volatiles – and may even help detect rare isotopes like Helium-3. Developing and flying technologies like MISOLO is how we lay the groundwork for future missions and enable U.S. leadership on the Moon.
At NASA Johnson, our Artemis II crew – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen – continued prep for their flight next year, including launch scenario training and a long-duration flight suit fit check for Glover. Meanwhile, at NASA Kennedy, teams have integrated the interim cryogenic propulsion stage that will send Orion around the Moon with the SLS rocket.
Heliophysics landed on Merriam-Webster’s list of trending words this week – a well-earned moment that shows how your work is resonating beyond our community and capturing public imagination.
Our data is shedding light on the cosmic origins of gold. New research suggests flares from highly magnetized neutron stars may be a major source of heavy elements like gold and platinum – connecting our science to some of the universe’s most powerful events.
We launched a new citizen science project inviting volunteers to help classify galaxies observed by our James Webb Space Telescope, helping scientists answer questions about how the shapes of galaxies have changed over time, what cause the changes, and why.
NASA’s X-59 team is currently conducting “aluminum bird” ground testing, an innovative, cost-effective method of evaluating its flight systems by using the actual aircraft as a testbed instead of building a separate, simplified one.
The testing team fed simulated flight data into the aircraft’s systems, so the X-59’s hardware and software could react as if airborne – without ever leaving the ground.
Finally, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation gave strong bipartisan support April 30, by voting to advance President Trump’s nominee to lead NASA, Jared Isaacman, to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote.
The date for that vote has not yet been set, but we expect it soon.
Embrace the Challenge,
Janet
https://nasawatch.com/ask-the-administrator/janet-petro-nasa-update-may-1-2025/
NATIONAL SPACE DAY | First Friday in May
May 2, 2025
NATIONAL SPACE DAY
National Space Day dedicates the first Friday in May to the extraordinary achievements, benefits, and opportunities in the exploration and use of space.
The goal of the observance is to promote math, science, technology, and engineering education in young people, The hope is to inspire them to pursue a career in science, especially a career in space-related jobs.
#NationalSpaceDay
Careers in space involve a wide range of specialties. Going to space requires many working parts, and that's not just the parts that go into space. All kinds of engineers build the equipment, computers and make the computations.
Accountants and public relations manage the books and the press. Meteorologists, chemists, physicists, and biologists analyze data and doctors monitor the health of the astronauts. As preparations are underway, photographers and writers record the events.
While we've only been exploring space for less than 60 years, we continue to learn so much. Imagine all the roles in space you can fill. While we've named a few here, how many more careers can you name? Do you know which one is yours?
HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL SPACE DAY
Teachers, students, space-related organizations, groups, and agencies hold celebrations, demonstrations, and educational programs each year.
The day has grown rapidly in recent years and is celebrated worldwide as International Space Day. Join an event near you. Other ways to celebrate include:
Build a model rocket and launch it.
Watch your favorite launch. Is it the Hubble Space Telescope, Apollo 11, or SpaceX Falcon 9?
Look for the International Space Station as it orbits the Earth.
Get involved by sharing your knowledge and skills, too! Host an event and share your experiences. Share your favorite space pictures using #NationalSpaceDay
NATIONAL SPACE DAY HISTORY
In 1997, Lockheed Martin Corporation created National Space Day as a one-day event. In 2001, due to its extreme popularity, former astronaut and senator John Glenn expanded Space Day to International Space Day.
https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-space-day-first-friday-in-may
Eric Schmidt apparently bought Relativity Space to put data centers in orbit
May 2, 2025 6:45 AM
In the nearly two months since former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt acquired Relativity Space, the billionaire has not said much publicly about his plans for the launch company.
However, his intentions for Relativity now appear to be increasingly clear: He wants to have the capability to launch a significant amount of computing infrastructure into space.
We know this because Schmidt appeared before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce during a hearing in April, speaking on the future of AI and US competitiveness.
Among the topics raised then was the need for more electricity—both renewable and non-renewable—to power data centers that will facilitate the computing needs for AI development and applications.
Schmidt noted that an average nuclear power plant in the United States generates 1 gigawatt of power.
"People are planning 10 gigawatt data centers," Schmidt said. "Gives you a sense of how big this crisis is. Many people think that the energy demand for our industry will go from 3 percent to 99 percent of total generation.
One of the estimates that I think is most likely is that data centers will require an additional 29 gigawatts of power by 2027, and 67 more gigawatts by 2030. These things are industrial at a scale that I have never seen in my life."
AI applications consume an enormous amount of computing power. A single ChatGPT query consumes approximately 10 times more energy than a Google search does.
The US energy industry is not well prepared for this kind of dramatic growth in energy demand, as power consumption over the last decade has increased by about 0.5 percent a year. Data centers also consume significant amounts of water for cooling.
Data centers in space
After seeing these comments by Schmidt, I reasoned that the former Google executive might have bought Relativity Space as a means to support the development of data centers in space.
Such data centers, ideally, would be powered by solar panels and be able to radiate heat into the vacuum of space.
"This probably helps explain why Schmidt bought Relativity Space," I commented on the social media site X after Schmidt's remarks. A day later, Schmidt replied with a single word, "Yes."
There are relativity few US launch companies that either have large rockets or are developing them. The options for a would-be space entrepreneur who wants to control their own access to space are limited.
SpaceX and Blue Origin are already owned by billionaires who have total decision-making authority. United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket is expensive, and its existing manifest is long already.
Rocket Lab's Neutron vehicle is coming soon, but it may not be large enough for Schmidt's ambitions.
That leaves Relativity Space, which may be within a couple of years of flying the partially reusable Terran R rocket.
If fully realized, Terran R would be a beastly launch vehicle capable of launching 33.5 metric tons to low-Earth orbit in expendable mode—more than a fully upgraded Vulcan Centaur—and 23.5 tons with a reusable first stage.
If you were a billionaire seeking to put large data centers into space and wanted control of launch, Relativity is probably the only game in town.
As Ars has previously reported, there are some considerable flaws with Relativity's approach to developing Terran R. However, none of these cannot be fixed with additional money, and Schmidt has brought that to the company over the last half-year.
Big problems, big ideas
Schmidt does not possess the wealth of an Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. His personal fortune is roughly $20 billion, so approximately an order of magnitude less.
This explains why, according to financial industry sources, Schmidt is presently seeking additional partners to bankroll a revitalized Relativity.
Solving launch is just one of the challenges this idea faces, of course. How big would these data centers be? Where would they go within an increasingly cluttered low-Earth orbit?
Could space-based solar power meet their energy needs? Can all of this heat be radiated away efficiently in space? Economically, would any of this make sense?
These are not simple questions. But Schmidt is correct that the current trajectory of power and environmental demands created by AI data centers is unsustainable.
It is good that someone is thinking big about solving big problems.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/05/eric-schmidt-apparently-bought-relativity-space-to-put-data-centers-in-orbit/
https://www.relativityspace.com/
New Polish Space Agency Chief Named After Abrupt Exit of Predecessor
May 2, 2025
Poland’s Minister of Development and Technology has announced the appointment of Dr. Marta Ewa Wachowicz as the new President of the Polish Space Agency (POLSA).
Her appointment comes less than a month after her predecessor was abruptly relieved of his duties.
On 19 February, a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage underwent an uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry over Poland. The stage broke apart, with fragments landing in various locations across the country.
Although the fragments caused no harm to people or property, the incident set off a political firestorm, with the Ministry of Development and Technology claiming that POLSA had failed to adequately warn the government about the re-entry.
In late February, POLSA President Grzegorz Wrochna was summoned to explain the incident to the Minister of Development and Technology.
A 28 February POLSA update revealed that information about the re-entry had been sent to the wrong email address.
POLSA faced another crisis in early March when the agency suffered a “cybersecurity incident” that forced it to disconnect its network from the internet.
This appeared to be the breaking point, as on 11 March, the Minister of Development and Technology officially announced Wrochna’s dismissal.
On 29 May, the Ministry of Development and Technology named Dr. Marta Ewa Wachowicz as the agency’s new President. Dr. Wachowicz holds a PhD in space physics and was involved in the establishment of POLSA in 2014.
Between 2015 and 2018, she led the Department of Strategy and International Cooperation at POLSA, working to support Poland’s space sector in international economic cooperation.
“True, Copernicus wasn’t a woman… but the new President of POLSA, the Polish Space Agency, is. And I’m incredibly proud of that,” said Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Paszyk in a statement.
“Today, I presented the appointment letter to Dr. Marta Ewa Wachowicz – an expert who knows the space sector inside and out.”
With Dr. Wachowicz now at the helm, one of her first duties will be managing Poland’s first mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for 29 May.
The mission will involve ESA astronaut reserve Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, who will be launched aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, managed by Axiom Space, on a private mission to the orbiting laboratory.
https://europeanspaceflight.com/new-polish-space-agency-chief-named-after-abrupt-exit-of-predecessor/