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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
June 4, 2025
A Milky Road to the Rubin Observatory
Is the sky the same every night? No the night sky changes every night in many ways. To better explore how the night sky changes, the USA's NSF and DOE commissioned the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Cerro Pachón, Chile. In final testing before routine operations, Rubin will begin to explore these nightly changes slight differences that can tell us much about our amazing universe and its surprising zoo of objects. With a mirror over 8 meters across, Rubin will continually reimage the entire visible sky every few nights to discover new supernovas, potentially dangerous asteroids, faint comets, and variable stars – as well as mapping out the visible universe's large-scale structure. Pictured, the distant central band of our Milky Way Galaxy appears to flow out from the newly operational observatory. Taken last month, the featured picture is a composite of 21 images across the night sky, capturing airglow on the horizon and the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy on the lower left.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
NASA: Glacier Collapse Buries Swiss Village
June 4, 2025
On the afternoon of May 28, 2025, an avalanche of rock and ice from the Birch Glacier (Birchgletscher) in southwestern Switzerland roared into the valley below.
Debris buried most of the village of Blatten and dammed the Lonza, causing the river to flood. The event occurred after rock from a crumbling mountain peak built up on the glacier, which likely contributed to its ultimate collapse.
The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured the image above of avalanche debris in the Lonza river valley on May 29, 2025, the day after the landslide.
For comparison, the image below, acquired with the OLI on Landsat 8, shows the same area approximately one year before the slide, on June 19, 2024.
The path of the debris flow descends the southern side of the valley from a peak called Kleiner Nesthorn toward Blatten.
The event was so powerful that debris continued as much as 240 meters (790 feet) up the opposite valley wall.
Rock and ice from the avalanche extended 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) down the valley, damming the river behind it and flooding part of the village.
Scientists have been monitoring the Birch Glacier since it released several damaging avalanches in the 1990s.
While the steeper upper portions of the glacier have thinned in the past decade, the ice near the glacier’s end has thickened by up to 15 meters (50 feet), likely because it had been covered and insulated by rock.
Many glaciers in the Alps, including some of the range’s largest, are melting and thinning.
Instability on the rocky slopes above the glacier became apparent in mid-May, prompting people to evacuate Blatten by May 19.
Observers noted frequent rockfalls from Kleiner Nesthorn and a noticeable buildup of debris on the lower part of Birch Glacier.
By May 27, the day before the catastrophic event, the glacier had sped up significantly, moving downhill at an estimated 10 meters (33 feet) per day, according to an ETH Zürich report.
Scientists are still investigating what factors contributed to the event. However, some think that the added pressure from fresh rockfall on the glacier caused melting at its base.
An increase in meltwater can cause glaciers to lose friction with the ground and slide more easily. Areas of permafrost at higher elevations may have also played a role.
If permafrost melts, more water can reach rock layers and destabilize slopes, but scientists note they cannot yet link permafrost with the rockfall in this event.
A glacial collapse of this magnitude is unusual for the Swiss Alps, researchers say, and it is relatively rare for massive slides to come from gently sloping glaciers.
But similar rock-ice avalanches in Tibet, the Caucasus, and other mountainous regions in the past 25 years have garnered more scientific scrutiny because of their threats to communities.
https://snowbrains.com/nasa-glacier-collapse-buries-swiss-village/
The states where NASA spends the most money on science
June 4, 2025
NASA spends hundreds of millions of dollars per state on average annually through its scientific missions, a recent analysis shows.
Why it matters: The space agency's science efforts bear the brunt of the cuts in the Trump administration's proposed budget, down nearly 50% to $3.9 billion.
The big picture: Science represents about 30% of NASA's overall budget and includes missions like space telescopes, robotic probes and satellites that gather data about Earth's changing climate.
While not always as headline-grabbing as human spaceflight, NASA's science activity has greatly enhanced our scientific understanding of both Earth and our celestial neighborhood.
By the numbers: California (About $3 billion), Maryland ($2 billion), Texas ($614 million), Virginia ($612 million) and Alabama ($586 million) saw the most NASA science spending on average annually across fiscal 2022-2024, per data from The Planetary Society, a pro-space nonprofit.
Each is home to major NASA facilities, such as California's Ames Research Center and Maryland's Goddard Space Flight Center, which houses the NASA Center for Climate Simulation providing supercomputing resources for climate modeling.
The numbers represent obligations involving "research grants, contracts and cooperative agreements," the group says.
Zoom in: Missions on the chopping block in Trump's NASA budget include the New Horizons spacecraft (first launched to study Pluto and now in the outer solar system) and Mars Sample Return, an ambitious joint American-European plan to collect Martian soil samples gathered by the Perseverance rover and bring them to Earth for further study.
Nearly 20 active science missions would be canceled in total, the Planetary Society says, representing more than $12 billion in taxpayer investments.
What they're saying: A chief concern, Planetary Society chief of space policy Casey Dreier tells Axios, is that already paid-for probes and telescopes would be deactivated even though they're still delivering valuable data, wasting taxpayer dollars already spent to launch and run them.
"This is the part where you get pennies on the dollar return," Dreier says. "They keep returning great science for the very fractional cost to keep the lights on. And a lot of these will just be turned off and left to tumble in space."
Between the lines: Trump's proposed NASA science cuts fit into a broader pattern of pulling resources away from scientific endeavors and data collection, especially involving climate change.
The White House has also proposed major cuts and culled staff at agencies like NOAA, and is pulling federal funding for climate-related research.
The bottom line: Congress, not the president, sets NASA's budget — but Trump's proposal suggests he believes the agency should be focused on human spaceflight rather than a broader scientific mission.
https://www.axios.com/2025/06/04/nasa-science-spending-trump-budget
Musk Says SpaceX Revenue Will Near $16 Billion in 2025
June 3, 2025
SpaceX is on track to record another significant revenue increase this year, Elon Musk said, continuing a growth streak at the world’s busiest rocket launcher.
Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive, said Tuesday on X that the Texas-based company is expected to generate about $15.5 billion in revenue in 2025.
Privately held since Musk founded it in 2002, SpaceX doesn’t publicly disclose its financial results, making information about its performance rare.
In 2022, SpaceX’s annual revenue totaled $4.6 billion, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Late last year, SpaceX was valued at $350 billion.
The company has two main business lines that have stoked revenue growth in recent years. One is its launch operation, which revolves around its Falcon 9 rocket.
The partially reusable vehicle has emerged as the global workhorse, frequently used for U.S. government missions and by private satellite operators.
SpaceX’s launch business has been helped by the company’s focus on reusability, as well technical problems that have delayed several competing rockets.
The company’s other major business is Starlink—a low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation that provides subscribers on the ground with high-speed internet connections.
Starlink has driven a major part of the recent revenue gains at SpaceX, according to analysts tracking the company. Quilty Space, a consulting firm, estimates Starlink revenue is set to grow to $12.3 billion this year from $7.8 billion in 2024.
Starlink has won household subscribers from competing satellite services, built up a growing government business and reeled in blue-chip corporate clients, like United Airlines and Deere.
SpaceX continues to invest heavily in vehicle development and infrastructure efforts.
A good part of its cash is flowing toward Starship, the deep-space vehicle the company has been testing in flight since 2023 and hopes to one day use for missions to Mars.
Bret Johnsen, finance chief at SpaceX, said at an industry event in March that getting Starship prepared for Mars was a huge endeavor.
He said SpaceX continued to spend its own funds on research and development for the roughly 400-foot-tall vehicle, which the company has called the most powerful rocket ever built.
In his post Tuesday, Musk said “commercial revenue” at SpaceX would exceed the entire budget of NASA next year.
The White House, where Musk worked until recently, has proposed cutting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration budget to $18.8 billion for its next fiscal year from nearly $25 billion currently.
NASA’s funds flow to a far-reaching set of scientific and exploration endeavors, and SpaceX is a major contractor at the agency. Musk said about $1.1 billion of the company’s expected revenue this year would come from NASA.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/musk-says-spacex-revenue-will-near-16-billion-in-2025/ar-AA1G1HLz
Axiom Mission 4 Targets Launch No Earlier than Tuesday, June 10
June 3, 2025
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 8:22 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 10, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4.
This shift allows teams to account for predicted inclement weather during the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft transport in addition to completing final processing of the spacecraft ahead of launch.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot.
The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
The crew will lift off aboard Dragon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/06/03/axiom-mission-4-targets-launch-no-earlier-than-tuesday-june-10/
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/space-news/2025/06/03/nasa-moves-launch-date-for-next-axiom-private-mission-amid-weather-concerns/
https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax4
Sols 4556-4558: It’s All in a Day’s (box)Work
Jun 03, 2025
Earth planning date: Friday, May 30, 2025
When you are scheduled to participate in Science Operations for the rover’s weekend plan, you know it’s going to be a busy morning! Assembling the activities for Friday through Sunday (Sols 4556 through 4558) was no exception.
I participated on this shift as the “keeper of the plan” for the geology and mineralogy theme group where I worked with members of the science and instrument teams to compile a set of observations for the rover to complete over the weekend.
The rover continues to drive over a surface of shallow, sometimes sand-filled depressions that are separated by raised ridges — informally known as the “boxwork structures.”
On this Friday, we were tasked with assessing the ground in our immediate vicinity to determine if the low-lying bedrock in the hollows was suitable for drilling.
With a focus on packing the plan with remote sensing activities to understand the bedrock around us, we used the ChemCam laser to analyze the chemistry of two bedrock targets, “La Tuna Canyon” and “Cooper Canyon,” that were also documented by Mastcam.
ChemCam and Mastcam also teamed up to image an interesting dark ridge nearby named “Encinal Canyon.”
Mastcam created stereo mosaics to document the nature of the candidate drill sites that were near the rover, in addition to the “Blue Sky Preserve” stereo mosaic that beautifully captured the nature of the boxwork structures in front of us.
The environmental theme group included some of their favorite activities in the plan to monitor the clouds, wind, and the atmosphere.
Curiosity has successfully completed numerous long drives (about 20+ meters, or 66 feet and beyond) in the past several weeks but this weekend the rover got a bit of a reprieve — the rover will drive approximately 7 meters (about 23 feet) to get situated in front of a possible drill site.
I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing what unfolds on Monday!
https://science.nasa.gov/blog/sols-4556-4558-its-all-in-a-days-boxwork/
America’s First Spacewalk
Jun 03, 2025
NASA astronaut Ed White, pilot of the Gemini IV mission, floats in space on June 3, 1965, while performing the first spacewalk by an American.
As White floated outside the spacecraft, he used a Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit, informally called a “zip gun.”
The device, seen in White’s right hand in this image, expelled pressurized oxygen to provide thrust for controlling his movements outside the capsule.
“You look beautiful, Ed,” remarked fellow crew member astronaut James A. McDivitt, who remained inside the spacecraft, as he began taking pictures of White tumbling around outside his window.
“I feel like a million dollars,” White said. “This is the greatest experience. It’s just tremendous.”
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/americas-first-spacewalk/
https://youtu.be/CwQPaoYZgp0?si=d9RCIhAysTAhx2YV
https://www.nasa.gov/sounds-from-beyond/
Sounds from Beyond
June 4, 2025
First Audio Recording of Sounds on Mars
This recording was made by the SuperCam instrument on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on Feb. 19, 2021, just about 18 hours after landing on the mission’s first sol or Martian day.
The rover’s mast, holding the microphone, was still stowed on Perseverance’s deck, and so the sound is muffled, a little like the sound one hears listening to a seashell or having a hand cupped over the ear. Just a little wind can be heard.
Perseverance Rover’s SuperCam Records Wind on Mars
This recording was made on Feb. 22, 2021, on the fourth sol (Martian day) by the SuperCam instrument on NASA’s Perseverance rover after deployment of the rover’s mast.
It provides a different overall sound than the SuperCam audio recording from the mission’s first sol.
Some wind can be heard, especially around 20 seconds into the recording. Rover background sounds have been removed.
First Acoustic Recording of Laser Shots on Mars
This is the first acoustic recording of laser impacts on a rock target on Mars from March 2, 2021, the 12th sol (Martian day) from Perseverance’s SuperCam instrument. The sounds of 30 impacts are heard, some slightly louder than others.
Variations in the intensity of the zapping sounds will provide information on the physical structure of the targets, such as its relative hardness or the presence of weathering coatings.
The target, Máaz (“Mars” in Navajo), was about 10 feet (3.1 m) away.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter in Flight
For the first time, a spacecraft on another planet has recorded the sounds of a separate spacecraft. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its SuperCam microphone to listen to the Ingenuity helicopter on April 30, 2021 as it flew on Mars for the fourth time.
With Perseverance parked 262 feet (80 meters) from the helicopter’s takeoff and landing spot, the mission wasn’t sure if the microphone would pick up any sound of the flight.
Even during flight when the helicopter’s blades are spinning at 2,537 rpm, the sound is greatly muffled by the thin Martian atmosphere.
It is further obscured by Martian wind gusts during the initial moments of the flight. Listen closely, though, and the helicopter’s hum can be heard faintly above the sound of those winds.
Scientists made the audio, which is recorded in mono, easier to hear by isolating the 84 hertz helicopter blade sound, reducing the frequencies below 80 hertz and above 90 hertz, and increasing the volume of the remaining signal.
Some frequencies were clipped to bring out the helicopter’s hum
NASA’s Perseverance Records a Martian Dust Devil
This audio shows the results of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover using its SuperCam microphone to record the sounds of a Martian dust devil – the first time any such recording has been made.
The dust devil passed directly over Perseverance on Sept. 27, 2021, the 215th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Perseverance Rover Records Puffs and Pings of Gaseous Dust Removal Tool
Perseverance Rover Records Puffs and Pings of Gaseous Dust Removal Tool (filtered)
This recording was made by the Perseverance Mars rover on February 9, 2022 (Sol 346). The puffs and pings of the rover’s Gaseous Dust Removal Tool (gDRT) were collected using a microphone on the rover’s chassis.
The gRDT has a tank of nitrogen gas and is used during sample collection to blow the dust away and reveal the fresh rock surface underneath.
Sounds of Perseverance Mars Rover Driving – Sol 16 (16 minutes)
Listen to 16 minutes of raw, unfiltered sounds of the Perseverance Mars rover traveling in Jezero Crater. The noise generated by the interaction of the rover’s wheels and suspension with the surface can be heard, along with a high-pitched scratching noise.
Perseverance’s engineering team continues to evaluate the source of the scratching noise, which may either be electromagnetic interference from one of the rover’s electronics boxes or interactions between the rover mobility system and the Martian surface.
The entry, descent, and landing microphone was not intended for surface operations and had limited testing in this configuration before launch.
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Sounds of Perseverance Mars Rover Driving – Sol 16 (90-second highlights)
NASA engineers combined three segments from the raw audio file recorded while the Perseverance Mars rover rolled across a section of Jezero Crater on sol 16 of the mission.
Sections 0:20-0:45, 6:40-7:10, and 14:30-15:00 were combined into this 90-second highlight clip. There has been processing and editing to filter out some of the noise.
Sounds of Mars from InSight Lander
“Dinks and donks” from InSight’s seismometer
A recording of “dinks and donks,” strange sounds created by friction inside of InSight’s seismometer, called SEIS.
Scientists aren’t entirely sure what causes each of these sounds, by they are created by parts inside the seismometer contracting as they cool down, especially during sunset.
These were recorded on just after sundown on July 16, 2019 (Sol 226).
Magnitude 3.3 marsquake from July 25, 2019
A recording of a magnitude 3.3 marsquake from InSight’s seismometer, called SEIS. This quake was recorded on July 25, 2019 (Sol 235).
Far below the human range of hearing, this sonification from SEIS had to be sped up and slightly processed to be audible through headphones.
Magnitude 3.7 marsquake from May 22, 2019
A recording of a magnitude 3.7 marsquake from InSight’s seismometer, called SEIS. This quake was recorded on May 22, 2019 (the 173rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission).
Far below the human range of hearing, this sonification from SEIS had to be sped up and slightly processed to be audible through headphones.
Sounds of InSight’s robotic arm
A recording of sounds created by InSight’s robotic arm as its camera scanned the surface of Mars on March 6, 2019, the 98th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Also captured are wind gusts and “dinks” produced by friction inside of InSight’s seismometer, called SEIS.
Raw Sounds from InSight’s Seismometer on Mars (full length)
A subwoofer or earphones are needed to hear this clip. Listen to raw, unprocessed data from the seismometer on NASA’s InSight spacecraft of vibrations caused by wind moving over the solar panels on Mars.
The sounds were recorded by two of the three short-period sensors on the seismometer (SEIS).
Raw Sounds from InSight’s Seismometer on Mars (short clip)
A subwoofer or earphones are needed to hear this clip. Listen to raw, unprocessed data from the seismometer on NASA’s InSight spacecraft of vibrations caused by wind moving over the solar panels on Mars.
The sounds were recorded by two of the three short-period sensors on the seismometer (SEIS).
More Audible Sounds from InSight’s Seismometer on Mars
Listen to data from the seismometer on NASA’s InSight spacecraft of vibrations caused by Martian wind moving over the lander’s solar panels.
In this version, the data have been processed to raise the frequencies by two octaves to make them more audible.
Audio of Juno’s Ganymede Flyby
Hear radio emissions collected during Juno’s June 7, 2021, flyby of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.
Listen to the sounds of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket roaring to life and lifting off from the launch pad for the first time.
The Moon rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft atop, launched the Artemis I test flight from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:47 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022.
As the rocket launched, NASA launch commentator Derrol Nail said, “We rise together, back to the Moon – and beyond.”
Artemis I was the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon.
With Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface and establish long-term exploration at the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars.
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Kepler-16 b: (Almost) a Real-life Tatooine
June 3, 2025
A moody scene from “Star Wars” – Luke Skywalker watching a double sunset on his home world of Tatooine – seemed to gain a real-life analog with the announcement of a stunning discovery in 2011.
A planet dubbed Kepler-16 b, some 245 light-years from Earth, was found to orbit two stars.
It was one of more than 2,700 confirmed exoplanets – planets beyond our solar system – credited to NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, which retired in 2018 but still holds the record for most exoplanets found.
The Kepler-16 double stars would appear in the sky of such a planet.
As so often happens in the collision of science and science fiction, the analogy isn’t quite what it seems. Kepler-16 b is a gas giant (not a giant desert), about the size of our own Saturn.
That means no solid surface to stand on and gaze moodily at the double sunset.
Still, Kepler-16 b remains a rare and historic discovery. It is known as a “circumbinary” planet, tracing a wide orbit around a “binary” – two-star – system.
An observer on solid ground – say, on the surface of a hypothetical moon orbiting the planet – would indeed cast two shadows: a deeper one from the larger of the two stars, a somewhat fainter shadow from its smaller, reddish companion.
A “year” on Kepler-16 b, once around the star, would last 229 days, similar to our own system’s Venus at 225 days.
Only about a dozen of Kepler’s confirmed exoplanet discoveries are circumbinaries; the first to emerge out of data from TESS (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), in 2019, was another gas giant called TOI-1338 b.
The two stars in the circumbinary system found by TESS – Kepler’s successor and now NASA’s premier planet-hunter – are somewhat similar to the Kepler-16 stars: one larger, Sun-like star and one much smaller red dwarf.
https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/other-stars-other-worlds/kepler-16-b-almost-a-real-life-tatooine/
NASA Kennedy Digs Latest Robot Test
04 Jun 2025 3:02 am
NASA's RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) undergoes testing to extract simulated regolith, or the loose, fragmental material on the Moon's surface, inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27.
Ben Burdess, mechanical engineer at NASA Kennedy, observes RASSOR's counterrotating drums digging up the lunar dust and creating a three-foot berm.
The opposing motion of the drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars.
With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could later be broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence.
The primary objective was testing the bucket drums that will be used on NASA's IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator).
The RASSOR robot represents an earlier generation technology that informed the development of IPEx, serving as a precursor and foundational platform for the advanced excavation systems and autonomous capabilities now being demonstrated by this Moon-mining robot.
https://www.miragenews.com/nasa-kennedy-digs-latest-robot-test-1471557/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-kennedy-digs-latest-robot-test/
Mysterious object caught on video over Frankfort identified as fireball by NASA expert
Tue, June 3rd 2025 at 12:35 PM
BENZIE COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) – Viewer Lorraine Carlson sent in this video of what appears to be something falling out of the sky sometime Monday, May 23, in Frankfort.
While it’s unclear exactly what the object is, NASA Meteoroid Environments Office Lead William Cooke said the video corresponds with a fireball that flew over Wisconsin that same day. Cooke said that object was moving around 80,000 mph.
https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/mysterious-object-caught-on-video-over-frankfort-identified-as-fireball-by-nasa-expert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLc-hIuBvOU
NASA Image Reveals Wildfire Haze Over US So Big It Can Be Seen From Space
Jun 03, 2025 at 11:10 AM EDT
Anew satellite image released by NASA has captured dramatic clouds of smoke and dust from the wildfires that have ravaged parts of Canada.
The plumes from some blazes were so thick and widespread that they could be seen from a viewpoint in space well beyond that of the moon.
The image was taken on May 31 by NASA's EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera) on the DSCOVR satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
EPIC is positioned a million miles from the Earth's surface, around four times farther than the orbit of the moon.
(For comparison's sake, most polar orbiting satellites observe the Earth fat an altitude of less than 621 miles.)
The satellite image captures smoke mostly from the fires in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The plumes extend north across Nunavut, Canada's largest and northernmost territory, and toward the coast of Greenland and south across the United States.
A patch of smoke is also visible over the Atlantic Ocean near Europe, while "the hazy air west of Africa is not smoke but dust that has blown westward from the Sahara Desert," NASA notes.
More than 180 wildfires were reported to have burned across Canada on Sunday, with air quality and visibility worsening in Canada and in some U.S. states along the border.
This marks the first instance of excessive Canadian wildfire smoke descending into the U.S. since 2023 when wildfires worsened air quality to dangerous levels for millions in the northeast.
Air quality has degraded in several parts of the U.S., including in Michigan, which issued an advisory last week, warning residents that "conditions maybe unhealthy for sensitive groups and there is a possibility that hourly levels could reach the unhealthy range for a short period of time."
On Monday, an advisory was also issued in Minnesota warning residents that the air quality is expected to reach a level that is "hazardous for everyone." The advisory is in effect until Wednesday.
The jet stream has sent the plumes further south, with an image captured by NASA's VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-21 satellite showing smoke reaching northern Florida.
Over 25,000 residents have been evacuated across three Canadian provinces as dozens of wildfires remained active Sunday.
A state of emergency was declared in Manitoba last week, where by Saturday around 17,000 people had been evacuated, along with 1,300 in the Alberta province.
About 8,000 in the Saskatchewan province were relocated, with leaders warning the figure may rise, the Associated Press reported Sunday.
The wildfire season in Canada runs from late April to August, but fires can occur at any time of the year.
So far this year, 1,586 fires have scorched more than a million hectares of Canada, according to a report on June 1 by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center.
Last year, the country saw 1,343 fires burn less than half a million hectares by the same date.
https://www.newsweek.com/nasa-satellite-space-image-canada-wildfires-smoke-dust-2080289
NOAA expects up to 5 major hurricanes in 2025: 'Be prepared'
June 3, 2025
Many people are still recovering from devastating storms during the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season even as this year's season began this week on June 1.
And like last year's, the 2025 hurricane season is anticipated to be busier than normal.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 every year, and before it begins, forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), part of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service, share their thoughts on what type of storm activity we could see.
For the 2025 season, CPC researchers forecast that chances sit at 60% that it will be "above normal," with the number of named storms between 13 to 19 (where wind speeds get up to a minimum of 39 mph, or 63 kph).
Of those named storms, six to ten are anticipated to reach hurricane strength (winds of at least 74 mph, or 119 kph), and between three to five will develop into major hurricanes.
Major hurricanes are defined as those that grow to at least Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, meaning sustained winds reach a minimum of 111 mph (179 kph).
Typically, for a hurricane season to be "normal," there will be 14 named storms, where seven strengthen into hurricanes and three are major.
These storms have the potential to impact millions of people, NOAA leaders say.
"As we witnessed last year with significant inland flooding from hurricanes Helene and Debby, the impacts of hurricanes can reach far beyond coastal communities," Laura Grimm, acting NOAA Administrator, said in a statement.
"NOAA is critical for the delivery of early and accurate forecasts and warnings, and provides the scientific expertise needed to save lives and property."
To determine how busy the season could be, forecasters consider a variety of factors.
This year, the prediction was made based on a persistence of neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions, ocean temperatures trending above average, the likelihood of weak wind shear, and a possibility of increased activity from the West African monsoon (this is where hurricanes in the Atlantic primarily originate).
With the continuation of elevated ocean temperatures and decreased trade winds, there's more energy available to fire up tropical systems and less of a chance storms will be disrupted or "torn apart" while they are forming.
Also, with the possibility that the West African monsoon will shift to the north, this would set the stage for the production of tropical waves that can turn into powerful and long-duration systems in the Atlantic.
NOAA leaders stress that the 2024 season should serve as a reminder of why forecasting is so vital to ensure that as many people are as prepared as possible during hurricane season.
"In my 30 years at the National Weather Service, we've never had more advanced models and warning systems in place to monitor the weather," Ken Graham, NOAA's National Weather Service Director, said in a statement.
"This outlook is a call to action: be prepared. Take proactive steps now to make a plan and gather supplies to ensure you're ready before a storm threatens."
It is important to note that the outlook NOAA puts out every season refers specifically to the development of storms, and it is not a prediction for landfalling storms.
There will be another update in early August from NOAA's CPC to the seasonal outlook, which will account for how the season is progressing, which also takes place just before the climatological peak of the season.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/noaa-expects-up-to-5-major-hurricanes-in-2025-be-prepared
https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-predicts-above-normal-2025-atlantic-hurricane-season
'Starship in space': See amazing photos from SpaceX megarocket's Flight 9 test mission
June 3, 2025
SpaceX's Starship megarocket tends to put on a show, and its latest test flight was no exception.
That mission, the ninth ever for the roughly 400-foot-tall (122 meters) Starship, lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas last Tuesday (May 27).
Flight 9 delivered some amazing visuals, which we saw live courtesy of SpaceX's launch webcast — and after the fact as well, via video clips and photos the company posted on X.
One post on Saturday (May 31) shared four pictures, along with a caption that was short and sweet: "Starship in space."
One of those photos was taken not long after the megarocket reached the final frontier; the Gulf of Mexico and the shoreline near Starbase are clearly visible, as is the plume that Starship generated during launch.
Another shot was snapped just after separation of the vehicle's two elements — the Super Heavy booster and Ship upper stage.
This photo, taken from within Ship's engine bay, shows Super Heavy falling away, orange flame licking at its top, with the blue curve of Earth in the background.
It was the second return to Earth for this particular Super Heavy; it first flew this past in January, on Starship's Flight 7.
On that flight, the booster returned to Starbase, where it was caught by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms about seven minutes after liftoff.
There was never going to be a third launch for this Super Heavy. SpaceX conducted a number of in-flight experiments with the booster last Tuesday and therefore steered it toward a "hard splashdown" in the Gulf of Mexico for safety's sake.
The vehicle didn't make it to the water in one piece on Flight 9, however; it broke apart about six minutes and 20 seconds post-launch, just after beginning its landing burn.
Ship suffered a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" on Flight 9 as well. The upper stage reached space on a suborbital trajectory, but it did not splash down softly off the coast off Western Australia as planned.
The vehicle began tumbling about 30 minutes after launch, apparently due to a propellant leak, SpaceX representatives said during the Flight 9 webcast.
"Contact with Starship was lost approximately 46 minutes into the flight, with all debris expected to fall within the planned hazard area in the Indian Ocean," SpaceX wrote in a Flight 9 recap.
SpaceX is developing Starship — the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built — to help humanity settle Mars, among other ambitious goals.
The company plans to get the giant rocket back on the launch pad soon, to continue working out its kinks and get it closer to operational status.
"Data review is underway, and new improvements will be implemented as work begins to prepare the next Starship and Super Heavy vehicles for flight," the company wrote in the Flight 9 recap.
"Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable, but every lesson learned marks progress toward Starship’s goal of enabling life to become multiplanetary."
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/starship-in-space-see-amazing-photos-from-spacex-megarockets-flight-9-test-mission
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1928826217853235394
https://www.space.com/stargazing/fred-espenak-astronomys-mr-eclipse-dies-at-71
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YkMLEu_2nI
Fred Espenak, astronomy's 'Mr. Eclipse', dies at 71
June 3, 2025
Astronomy has lost one of its most assiduous calculators of eclipses with the passing of astronomer Fred Espenak.
On April 15, 2025, Espenak announced on his Facebook page that he had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, his health was declining rapidly, and that he would immediately be entering hospice care.
Doctors determined that the disease had progressed too far for a lung transplant. He passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 1 at his home in Portal, Arizona. He was 71.
Fred was a well-known and highly regarded expert on eclipses, so much so, that he became almost as well known by his nom de plume, "Mr. Eclipse." He first got interested in astronomy when he was 8 years old.
"I was visiting my grandparents on Long Island when a neighbor boy invited me to see the moon through his new telescope. Just one look and I was hooked!
After a relentless six-month campaign, my parents conceded to my request and I received a 60 mm Tasco refractor for Christmas," Espenak wrote in his biography on Astropixels.com.
Fred first became attracted to eclipses, when, at the age of 9, he witnessed a partial eclipse of the sun from the New York metropolitan area.
Seven years later, on March 7, 1970, when the moon's dark shadow tracked along the Atlantic Seaboard, he was able to coerce his parents to borrow the family car where he traveled by himself to North Carolina and witnessed his very first total solar eclipse.
Initially, he expected it to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but when totality ended, Fred knew he had to see another total eclipse. Indeed, that 1970 eclipse would be the first of 31 totalities he would journey to see during his lifetime.
And yet, while Fred ultimately grew up to become a full-fledged astronomer, his professional research didn't actually involve eclipses.
He earned his bachelor's degree in physics at Wagner College in Staten Island and later obtained his master's degree in Ohio at the University of Toledo, based on studies he did at Arizona's Kitt Peak Observatory of eruptive and flare stars among red dwarfs.
Thanks to his background in physics and computer programing, Fred landed a job with a software company holding NASA contracts.
That led to his writing data analysis programs for satellites and a stint as a telescope operator for NASA's International Ultraviolet Explorer spacecraft.
From this, he was hired by the Infrared Astronomy Branch at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Fred's research focused largely on planetary atmospheres using an infrared spectrometer that he and his colleagues took first to Kitt Peak in Arizona and then to NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
He coauthored papers on winds on Titan, ethane in Jupiter's atmosphere, ozone on Mars, and hydrocarbons in the outer planets.
Fred retired in 2009. But he truly made his mark as a tireless calculator of eclipses of both the sun and moon. Up until 1994, the U.S. Naval Observatory routinely issued special circulars in advance of major solar eclipses.
When funding for these circulars came to an end, Fred picked up the eclipse baton and with the help of Canadian meteorologist Jay Anderson, produced their own eclipse circulars, funded under the auspices of NASA.
Together, they published 13 circulars which contained timings, for hundreds of locations, predictions for what the moon's edge would look like, and maps that showed the path of totality. Distribution of these free circulars ended with Fred's retirement from NASA.
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But it didn't stop there. Fred then turned to private publishing as well as setting up three websites, AstroPixels.com, MrEclipse.com, and EclipseWise.com which to this day all remain invaluable resources with extensive information about numerous celestial phenomena, including detailed maps and timing of past and future lunar and solar eclipses.
Fred gave public lectures on eclipses and astrophotography. Astronomical photographs taken by him have been published in National Geographic, Newsweek, Nature, and New Scientist.
For his astronomy and solar eclipse outreach, the International Astronomical Union named Asteroid 14120 Espenak after him in 2003.
Fred also teamed up with another remarkable eclipse calculator, his long-time mentor and friend, Jean Meeus of Belgium and together in 2006 they published the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses, which covers all types of solar eclipses from 2000 BC to AD 3000, and the similar Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses in 2009.
And many other eclipse guides — 30 in all — followed. Among them, the Guide for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2045 which highlights a long-duration (6+ minute) solar eclipse that crosses the United States from coast-to-coast.
Fred was also the progenitor of the U.S. Stamp which commemorated the "Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017."
And earlier, in 1997, Mongolia used an image of his eclipse track from a NASA Circular in a commemorative of the 1997 eclipse.
If you asked him which of his 31 eclipses was the most rewarding, he would point to the one that occurred over India in October 1995:
"I chanced to meet a high school chemistry teacher named Patricia Totten. Now I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to the fairer sex, so it took me a few years to fully appreciate this remarkable woman.
She shared my passion for eclipses, science and photography as we traveled the world together. Long story short, we eventually got married in 2006."
It was Pat who encouraged Fred to find a place with dark skies for a retirement home, so he bought property at Arizona Sky Village in Portal and spent most of his free time under the starry skies visible from his Bifrost Astronomical Observatory.
On a personal note, I first met Fred about 50 years ago at a function that was held at the Wagner College Planetarium in Staten Island, where he served as a volunteer.
At the time, I was doing something similar at the Hall of Science Planetarium in Flushing, N.Y. But it wasn't until years later, when Fred began, in earnest, to publish and circulate his eclipse bulletins, that I became aware of his expertise in eclipse calculations.
I owe him so much for helping me in my own attempts to educate the public about the phenomena of eclipses.
My greatest regret is that we never had the opportunity to spend time together in the moon's umbra. I'm sure it would have been a blast!
I wish you Godspeed my friend. I know you have taken a safe voyage and I hope to see you again someday.
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The Commercial Space Federation Announces the Creation of the Space Supply Chain Council (S2C2)
June 3, 2025
In an effort to strengthen advocacy for the U.S. space industry, the Commercial Space Federation (CSF) is proud to announce the creation of the Space Supply Chain Council (S2C2).
The new S2C2 will work to define industry sector priorities, recommend policy positions, and provide updates on specific topics that impact CSF members.
The S2C2 will bring together leading aerospace component manufacturers, assembly integration and test providers, software developers, and logistics and transportation companies.
These organizations represent multiple links of a complex supply chain essential to the robust industrial base that enables U.S. leadership in space.
The S2C2 joins six existing industry councils at CSF on topics including launch and reentry, commercial low Earth orbit, space exploration, spaceports and infrastructure, remote sensing and analytics, and space situational awareness.
The S2C2 is actively seeking additional representative member organizations.
Its inaugural members include:
• Applied Aerospace provides precision structures and critical sub- systems for launch vehicles, spacecraft, aircraft, missile defense, and ground communications systems through a range of composite, metal, and polymer manufacturing techniques.
The company provides complete in-house design, fabrication, test, and delivery. www.appliedaero.space
• Stratasys is leading the global shift to additive manufacturing with innovative 3D printing solutions for industries such as aerospace, automotive, consumer products, and healthcare.
Through smart connected printers, polymer materials, and a software ecosystem Stratasys delivers solutions for every stage of the production cycle. www.stratasys.com
• National Air Cargo is a global leader in end-to-end logistics and freight forwarding solutions. National Airlines, the airline division of the company, is a U.S. FAA-certified Part 121 air carrier operating a fleet of wide-body freighters and passenger aircraft.
The National Airlines fleet includes nine Boeing 747-400 Freighters, Airbus A330-300 and A330- 200, and Boeing 757-200 aircraft. www.GoNational.com
The creation of the S2C2 comes at a pivotal time as U.S. policy and international trade relations are evolving at an accelerated pace under the new presidential administration.
“The Commercial Space Federation supports ongoing efforts to improve U.S. global leadership and economic competitiveness,” said CSF president Dave Cavossa.
“We look forward to working alongside the Administration, Congress, and government agencies to support evolving trade policy initiatives, while simultaneously representing the interests of the providers so vital to the U.S commercial space economy.”
About Commercial Space Federation
Founded in 2005, CSF is the voice of the commercial space industry, laying the foundation for improving access to space for scientists, students, civilians, as well as businesses.
Based in Washington, D.C., CSF advocates for policy, legislation, and regulations that promote growth, innovation, and competition.
As a consensus-based association, CSF has over 85 members from all sectors of the industry, including traditional aerospace companies, new space innovators, and space-oriented educational institutions.
CSF is a key resource for providing advice and counsel on space policy to Congress, the White House, and federal agencies.
https://spacenews.com/the-commercial-space-federation-announces-the-creation-of-the-space-supply-chain-council-s2c2/
https://commercialspace.org/
'A drone is circling over us!': Greek Coast Guard drone flies over Greta Thunberg's Gaza Flotilla
Updated: JUNE 4, 2025 15:22
The "Madleen" ship, sailing to the Gaza Strip as part of the international flotilla to break the blockade, broadcast a distress signal after spotting a drone flying over the ship on Tuesday night.
The hysterical call for help was unnecessary because the drone belonged to the Greek Coast Guard.
Activists on the flotilla to the Gaza Strip, including the Swedish pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg and "Game of Thrones" star Liam Cunningham, called on the international community to protect them after they identified a drone hovering over the "Madleen" ship.
According to the organizers, the incident occurred about 68 kilometers outside Greece's territorial waters, but it was later revealed that the drone was a "Heron" type belonging to the Greek Coast Guard, which left the area shortly thereafter.
The "Madleen," which departed on Sunday from Sicily, is carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, including baby formula, diapers, flour, rice, water filters, hygiene products, and medical equipment.
Several human rights organizations organized the flotilla to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The IDF is preparing for the arrival of the ship. IDF spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said at a press conference, "The IDF is prepared to operate on all fronts, including in the maritime arena," and added: "We will act accordingly."
What did the organizers of the flotilla say?
The organizers of the flotilla emphasized that it is a non-violent civilian initiative: "Together, we can open a maritime corridor for the people of Gaza," they said.
This flotilla is the coalition’s second attempt to sail to Gaza in recent months.
Last May, a previous attempt failed after the organization's ship "Conscience" was severely damaged while sailing in international waters near Malta.
The organization blamed Israel for the incident, but Israel neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-856519
https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1930017451041009863
US intel behind Ukrainian attack on Russian planes – ex-French spy
4 Jun, 2025 12:39
Ukraine would not have been able to remotely attack strategic Russian aircraft parked deep inside Russian territory without direct intelligence and satellite support from the US, a former officer in the French military has claimed.
Ukrainian drones struck airbases across Russia on Monday in a coordinated attack known as ‘Operation Spider’s Web’, targeting sites from Murmansk in the Arctic to Irkutsk in Siberia.
Kiev has claimed that around 40 Russian military aircraft were damaged or destroyed, including Tu-95 and Tu-22 long-range bombers. Moscow has not confirmed the claims, reporting that most of Kiev’s drones were shot down.
The strikes were reportedly carried out using commercial trucks rigged with explosive-laden drones that had been smuggled inside Russia.
Kiev’s operation involved piloting FPV drones thousands of kilometers from the front lines, Guillaume Ancel, a writer and former French army lieutenant colonel, told Le Monde on Wednesday.
“This is possible and conceivable only with the support of a powerful satellite communications system,” he said.
“Since the Ukrainians don’t have this mastery, if they were able to act remotely, it’s certainly thanks to the United States.”
Ancel suggested that Kiev “would not have been able to carry out the operation without information from American intelligence.”
While some in the West have hailed Ukraine’s latest drone operation, Stephane Audrand, an international risk consultant and reserve officer, has stressed that it would not actually have much of an impact.
Despite its spectacular nature, ‘Operation Spider’s Web’ “will not change the tactical balance of power on the ground or the course of the war, because these weapons are not used on the battlefield,” Audrand told Le Monde.
Throughout the Ukraine conflict, Moscow has described the hostilities as a Western proxy war against Russia and has condemned arms supplies to Kiev as counterproductive to the peace process.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also recently acknowledged the nature of the conflict, stating: “Frankly, it’s a proxy war between nuclear powers – the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia.”
Moscow has vehemently condemned Ukraine’s continued drone strikes into Russian territory in recent weeks, claiming that they undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed that the latest attacks are an attempt to derail the peace process.
https://www.rt.com/russia/618640-ukraine-attack-us-intel/
UK pledges 100,000 new drones for Kiev
4 Jun, 2025 11:31
The UK has pledged to supply 100,000 new drones to Ukraine by April 2026, in addition to the 10,000 UAVs it sent last year.
The announcement coincides with Britain’s newly unveiled Strategic Defense Review, which proposes steps to rearm its military in light of what it paints as a threat posed by Russia.
London has allocated £350 million ($470 million) from its £4.5 billion Ukraine military package to fund new drone deliveries to Kiev, according to a government statement on Wednesday.
UK Defense Secretary John Healey is expected to detail the initiative at the upcoming Ukraine contact group meeting in Brussels.
“Ukraine’s Armed Forces have demonstrated the effectiveness of drone warfare,” London stated, admitting that Kiev’s demand for UAVs has provided a boost to the UK’s economy.
It also unveiled plans to use Ukraine’s drone experience to train its own military. In order to “learn the lessons from Ukraine,” the UK would allocate over £4 billion for autonomous systems and drones for its armed forces.
Ukraine has carried out drone attacks, including against civilian sites in Russia, since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022.
The attacks have intensified since the renewal of peace talks between Moscow and Kiev in Istanbul.
Russia has claimed that Kiev’s Western backers, particularly the UK, France, and Germany, are pushing drone warfare in order to derail the talks and to serve their own political agendas.
London framed its new Strategic Defense Review as “a message to Moscow,” declaring Britain is “ready to fight, if required.”
The UK intends to spend £1.5 billion on new weapons plants, £6 billion on long-range arms, and £15 billion on nuclear warheads, among multiple other new expenses.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed claims it plans to attack Western Europe as “nonsense,” accusing the West of using scare tactics to justify shifting public funds toward military spending.
Moscow has warned that foreign involvement, including arms deliveries, would obstruct peace efforts and ultimately fail to stop Russia from reaching its military goals. Moscow has also criticized the UK’s and EU’s respective militarization drives, warning they risk triggering a broader conflict in Europe.
https://www.rt.com/news/618628-uk-drones-ukraine-delivery/
Ukraine’s strikes on Russian airfields risk escalation – Trump envoy
4 Jun, 2025 11:02
The recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian airfields reportedly hosting nuclear-capable bombers sharply increase the risk of escalation, Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, has warned.
On Sunday, Kiev launched a drone raid targeting airfields in five regions, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow. Officials in Kiev said that the attack was aimed at Russia’s strategic aviation.
Ukrainian media reports claimed that the airfields house Russian Tu-95 and Tu-22M strategic bombers, as well as an A-50 early warning and control plane.
Russian officials said that the “terrorist attack” was repelled with no casualties but that several aircraft caught fire.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Kellogg suggested that the attack was upping the stakes in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“The risk levels are going way up,” he explained. “When you attack an opponent’s part of their national survival system, which is their nuclear triad… that means your risk level goes up because you don’t know what the other side’s going to do.”
The envoy also noted that he was particularly concerned by reports – which were not confirmed by Moscow – that Ukraine also struck the Northern Fleet headquarters in Severomorsk, which would have meant that two of the three legs of Russia’s nuclear triad were under attack.
He added that when it comes to such kinds of attacks, “it’s not so much the damage you do on the triad itself… but it’s the psychological impact you have.”
Ukraine, according to the envoy, also wanted to show that it could “raise the risk level to levels that are basically, to me, they've got to be unacceptable.”
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported, citing sources, that Ukraine did not give advance notice to the US of the strikes, and that the two sides currently have no joint planning on operations inside Russian territory.
NYT sources also believe that Moscow will mount “a significant retaliation,” although specifics are yet unclear.
Following the attacks, Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, warned that a response was “inevitable.”
https://www.rt.com/news/618633-ukraine-strikes-airfields-escalation/
‘Illegitimate Kiev regime’ turning into terrorist organization – Putin
4 Jun, 2025 14:19
Facing heavy battlefield losses, the “illegitimate Kiev regime” has resorted to organizing terrorist attacks to try to intimidate Russia, President Vladimir Putin has said.
The recent acts of railway sabotage in Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk Regions were “undoubtedly a terrorist act,” Putin said.
He added that “the decisions to carry out such crimes were, of course, made in Ukraine” by the political leadership.
“The strike on the civilian population was intentional,” Putin said.
“And this only confirms our concern that the already illegitimate regime in Kiev, which once seized power, is gradually turning into a terrorist organization, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices to terrorists.”
The president accused Ukraine and its Western backers of having sought a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield. Now, he said, Kiev is shifting tactics amid mounting losses and setbacks along the front line.
Today, amid heavy losses and retreating along the entire line of contact, the Kiev leadership has turned to organizing terrorist acts in an attempt to intimidate Russia,” Putin said.
Despite this, he added, Ukrainian officials are requesting a pause in the fighting and proposing meetings at the highest level.
“But how can such meetings be held under these conditions?” Putin said. “What is there to talk about? Who conducts negotiations with those who rely on terror – with terrorists?”
The Russian leader emphasized that “power, for the [Kiev] regime, is apparently more important than peace, more important than human lives.”
The two train sabotage incidents took place on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. In the first, a bridge fell in front of a moving passenger train in Bryansk Region.
The second incident took place in Kursk Region, when a railway bridge collapsed under a moving freight train. In total, seven people died and 113 were injured.
Both attacks came shortly before the second round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul and amid a surge in Kiev’s drone raids into Russia, which Moscow says are aimed at derailing the peace process.
https://www.rt.com/russia/618651-kiev-regime-rejecting-peace/