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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
June 26, 2025
The Seagull Nebula
An interstellar expanse of glowing gas and obscuring dust presents a bird-like visage to astronomers from planet Earth, suggesting its popular moniker, the Seagull Nebula. This broadband portrait of the cosmic bird covers a 3.5-degree wide swath across the plane of the Milky Way, in the direction of Sirius, alpha star of the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major). The bright head of the Seagull Nebula is cataloged as IC 2177, a compact, dusty emission and reflection nebula with embedded massive star HD 53367. The larger emission region, encompassing objects with other catalog designations, is Likely part of an extensive shell structure swept up by successive supernova explosions. The notable bluish arc below and right of center is a bow shock from runaway star FN Canis Majoris. Dominated by the reddish glow of atomic hydrogen, this complex of interstellar gas and dust clouds with other stars of the Canis Majoris OB1 association spans over 200 light-years at the Seagull Nebula's estimated 3,800 light-year distance.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Axiom Mission 4 Astronauts Enter Station, Begin Research Mission
June 26, 2025
At 8:14 a.m. EDT on Thursday, the hatch opened between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station following the arrival of Axiom Mission 4.
NASA’s live coverage will continue through welcome remarks from the crew.
The spacecraft docked at 6:31 a.m. to the space-facing port of the space station’s Harmony module.
Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary now are aboard the space station after launching at 2:31 a.m. on June 25, on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 4.
The private astronauts plan to spend about two weeks aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission of science, outreach, and commercial activities.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/06/26/axiom-mission-4-astronauts-enter-station-begin-research-mission/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/06/26/axiom-mission-4-astronauts-dock-to-station-inside-dragon/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvOKNBvXhz4 (Ax-4 Mission | Approach & Docking)
https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/statement-from-director-john-ratcliffe-about-intelligence-on-irans-nuclear-program/
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-digs-into-structural-origins-of-disk-galaxies/
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-121#section-id-2
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/540/4/3493/8169912
NASA’s Webb Digs into Structural Origins of Disk Galaxies
Jun 26, 2025
Present-day disk galaxies often contain a thick, star-filled outer disk and an embedded thin disk of stars. For instance, our own Milky Way galaxy’s thick disk is approximately 3,000 light-years in height, and its thin disk is roughly 1,000 light-years thick.
How and why does this dual disk structure form? By analyzing archival data from multiple observational programs by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is closer to answers, as well as understanding the origins of disk galaxies in general.
The team carefully identified, visually verified, and analyzed a statistical sample of 111 edge-on disk galaxies at various periods — up to 11 billion years ago (or approximately 2.8 billion years after the big bang).
This is the first time scientists have investigated thick- and thin-disk structures spanning such vast distances, bridging the gap between observers probing the early universe and galactic archaeologists seeking to understand our own galaxy’s history.
“This unique measurement of the thickness of the disks at high redshift, or at times in the early universe, is a benchmark for theoretical study that was only possible with Webb,” said Takafumi Tsukui, lead author of the paper and a researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra. “Usually, the older, thick disk stars are faint, and the young, thin disk stars outshine the entire galaxy. But with Webb’s resolution and unique ability to see through dust and highlight faint old stars, we can identify the two-disk structure of galaxies and measure their thickness separately.”
Image: A Sample of Galaxy Disks (NIRCam)
Data Through Thick and Thin
By analyzing these 111 targets over cosmological time, the team was able to study single-disk galaxies and double-disk galaxies. Their results indicate that galaxies form a thick disk first, followed by a thin disk.
The timing of when this takes place is dependent on the galaxy’s mass: high-mass, single-disk galaxies transitioned to two-disk structures around 8 billion years ago.
In contrast, low-mass, single-disk galaxies formed their embedded thin disks later on, about 4 billion years ago.
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“This is the first time it has been possible to resolve thin stellar disks at higher redshift.
What’s really novel is uncovering when thin stellar disks start to emerge,” said Emily Wisnioski, a co-author of the paper at the Australian National University in Canberra.
“To see thin stellar disks already in place 8 billion years ago, or even earlier, was surprising.”
A Turbulent Time for Galaxies
To explain this transition from a single, thick disk to a thick and thin disk, and the difference in timing for high- and low-mass galaxies, the team looked beyond their initial edge-on galaxy sample and examined data showing gas in motion from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and ground-based surveys.
By taking into consideration the motion of the galaxies’ gas disks, the team finds their results align with the “turbulent gas disk” scenario, one of three major hypotheses that has been proposed to explain the process of thick- and thin-disk formation.
In this scenario, a turbulent gas disk in the early universe sparks intense star formation, forming a thick stellar disk. As stars form, they stabilize the gas disk, which becomes less turbulent and, as a result, thinner.
Since massive galaxies can more efficiently convert gas into stars, they settle sooner than their low-mass counterparts, resulting in the earlier formation of thin disks.
The team notes that thick- and thin-disk formation are not siloed events: The thick disk continues to grow as the galaxy develops, though it’s slower than the thin disk’s rate of growth.
How This Applies to Home
Webb’s sensitivity is enabling astronomers to observe smaller and fainter galaxies, analogous to our own, at early times and with unprecedented clarity for the first time.
In this study, the team noted that the transition period from thick disk to a thick and thin disk roughly coincides with the formation of the Milky Way galaxy’s thin disk.
With Webb, astronomers will be able to further investigate Milky Way-like progenitors — galaxies that would have preceded the Milky Way — which could help explain our galaxy’s formation history.
In the future, the team intends to incorporate other data points into their edge-on galaxy sample. “While this study structurally distinguishes thin and thick disks, there is still much more we would like to explore,” said Tsukui.
“We want to add the type of information people usually get for nearby galaxies, like stellar motion, age, and metallicity. By doing so, we can bridge the insights from galaxies near and far, and refine our understanding of disk formation.”
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VA processes more than 2M disability claims in record time
June 24, 2025 9:31 am
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that it processed more than 2 million disability benefits claims for Veterans in fiscal year 2025, faster than ever before.
VA achieved this milestone more than a month faster than the all-time record reached in FY 2024. At this pace, VA will surpass the previous record number of completed disability claims by more than 14% this year.
VA has already awarded more than $120 billion in compensation and pension benefits to Veterans and survivors in FY 2025.
Since President Trump took office, VA has reduced the inventory of backlogged disability claims by more than 74,000.
Veterans are also getting their claims processed more quickly — the average wait time for a Veteran’s claim to be processed fell from 141.5 days on Jan. 20, 2025, to 131.8 days on June 21, 2025.
“VA has reduced the claims backlog and has processed these claims faster than ever for a simple reason: we’re focused on getting results for Veterans,” VA Secretary Doug Collins.
“We are just getting started in our mission to help Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors get the care and benefits they’ve earned.”
VA encourages all Veterans to visit VA.gov to learn more and apply for the care and benefits they deserve.
https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-processes-more-than-2m-disability-claims-in-record-time/
NASA, Australia Team Up for Artemis II Lunar Laser Communications Test
Jun 26, 2025
As NASA prepares for its Artemis II mission, researchers at the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland are collaborating with The Australian National University (ANU) to prove inventive, cost-saving laser communications technologies in the lunar environment.
Communicating in space usually relies on radio waves, but NASA is exploring laser, or optical, communications, which can send data 10 to 100 times faster to the ground.
Instead of radio signals, these systems use infrared light to transmit high-definition video, picture, voice, and science data across vast distances in less time.
NASA has proven laser communications during previous technology demonstrations, but Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to attempt using lasers to transmit data from deep space.
To support this effort, researchers working on the agency’s Real Time Optical Receiver (RealTOR) project have developed a cost-effective laser transceiver using commercial-off-the-shelf parts.
Earlier this year, NASA Glenn engineers built and tested a replica of the system at the center’s Aerospace Communications Facility, and they are now working with ANU to build a system with the same hardware models to prepare for the university’s Artemis II laser communications demo.
“Australia’s upcoming lunar experiment could showcase the capability, affordability, and reproducibility of the deep space receiver engineered by Glenn,” said Jennifer Downey, co-principal investigator for the RealTOR project at NASA Glenn.
“It’s an important step in proving the feasibility of using commercial parts to develop accessible technologies for sustainable exploration beyond Earth.”
During Artemis II, which is scheduled for early 2026, NASA will fly an optical communications system aboard the Orion spacecraft, which will test using lasers to send data across the cosmos.
During the mission, NASA will attempt to transmit recorded 4K ultra-high-definition video, flight procedures, pictures, science data, and voice communications from the Moon to Earth.
Nearly 10,000 miles from Cleveland, ANU researchers working at the Mount Stromlo Observatory ground station hope to receive data during Orion’s journey around the Moon using the Glenn-developed transceiver model.
This ground station will serve as a test location for the new transceiver design and will not be one of the mission’s primary ground stations.
If the test is successful, it will prove that commercial parts can be used to build affordable, scalable space communication systems for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
“Engaging with The Australian National University to expand commercial laser communications offerings across the world will further demonstrate how this advanced satellite communications capability is ready to support the agency’s networks and missions as we set our sights on deep space exploration,” said Marie Piasecki, technology portfolio manager for NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program.
As NASA continues to investigate the feasibility of using commercial parts to engineer ground stations, Glenn researchers will continue to provide critical support in preparation for Australia’s demonstration.
Strong global partnerships advance technology breakthroughs and are instrumental as NASA expands humanity’s reach from the Moon to Mars, while fueling innovations that improve life on Earth.
Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
The RealTOR project is one aspect of the optical communications portfolio within NASA’s SCaN Program, which includes demonstrations and in-space experiment platforms to test the viability of infrared light for sending data to and from space.
These include the LCOT (Low-Cost Optical Terminal) project, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, and more. NASA Glenn manages the project under the direction of agency’s SCaN Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nasa-australia-team-up-for-artemis-ii-lunar-laser-communications-test/
https://www.nasa.gov/communicating-with-missions/
Jeff Bezos Courts Trump for NASA Contracts Amid Fallout with Musk
Jun 26, 2025, 03:07 AM
Amazon AMZN +1.07% ▲ founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly lobbying U.S. President Donald Trump for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and defense contracts amid the controversial fallout between him and Elon Musk.
The billionaire’s space exploration company, Blue Origin, is vying for contracts against Musk’s SpaceX and is seeking to capitalize on the current rift between the frenemies.
The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp has also met with Susie Wiles, Trump’s Chief of Staff, to secure more contracts for the company.
Currently, SpaceX holds a larger share of the lucrative government contracts market, having recently signed a $5.9 billion Space force deal for 28 flights, while Blue Origin was awarded $2.4 billion for seven launches.
Blue Origin and SpaceX Compete for Space Contracts
Notably, SpaceX is currently far ahead of Blue Origin in the race. Musk’s space exploration company has successfully launched numerous rockets.
SpaceX was also instrumental in bringing back stranded astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, safely to Earth.
Additionally, SpaceX’s Dragon rocket regularly transports both astronauts and vital supplies to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
After the public showdown between Musk and Trump, the president decided to withdraw Musk’s nominee for the head of NASA and replaced him with his own choice.
Trump also threatened to cancel billions of dollars’ worth of government contracts with SpaceX to reduce the budget deficit.
In the meantime, Bezos is trying to get into Trump’s good books by inviting him to his star-studded wedding, though Trump is not expected to attend.
However, a bigger challenge awaits Blue Origin: demonstrating the company’s ability to successfully launch multiple rockets to space.
So far, the company has conducted only one mission, in January 2025, where its New Glenn rocket achieved a successful flight to orbit on the first attempt.
The second attempt, originally planned for Spring, did not take place, and Blue Origin is now targeting a mid-August launch.
Meanwhile, SpaceX has committed to 170 launches in 2025, including flights for its Starlink satellite services.
https://www.tipranks.com/news/jeff-bezos-courts-trump-for-nasa-contracts-amid-fallout-with-musk
Likely Saturn-Mass Planet Imaged by NASA Webb Is Lightest Ever Seen
Jun 25, 2025
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have captured compelling evidence of a planet with a mass similar to Saturn orbiting the young nearby star TWA 7.
If confirmed, this would represent Webb’s first direct image discovery of a planet, and the lightest planet ever seen with this technique outside the solar system.
The international team detected a faint infrared source in the disk of debris surrounding TWA 7 using Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument).
The distance between the source and TWA 7 is estimated to be about 50 times the distance of Earth from the Sun.
This matches the expected position of a planet that would explain key features seen in the debris disk. The results published Wednesday, June 25 in the journal Nature.
Image: TWA 7 (MIRI + VLT Image)
Using MIRI’s coronagraph, the researchers carefully suppressed the bright glare of the host star to reveal faint nearby objects.
This technique, called high-contrast imaging, enables astronomers to directly detect planets that would otherwise be lost in the overwhelming light from their host star.
After subtracting residual starlight using advanced image processing, a faint infrared source was revealed near TWA 7. The team ruled out an object in our solar system that happened to be in the same part of the sky as the source.
While there is a very small chance that it is a background galaxy, the evidence strongly points to the source being a previously undiscovered planet.
The source is located in a gap in one of three dust rings that were discovered around TWA 7 by previous ground-based observations.
The object’s brightness, color, distance from the star, and position within the ring are consistent with theoretical predictions for a young, cold, Saturn-mass planet that is expected to be sculpting the surrounding debris disk.
"Our observations reveal a strong candidate for a planet shaping the structure of the TWA 7 debris disk, and its position is exactly where we expected to find a planet of this mass," said Anne-Marie Lagrange, CNRS researcher at the Observatoire de Paris-PSL and Université Grenoble Alpes in France, lead author of the paper.
“This observatory enables us to capture images of planets with masses similar to those in the solar system, which represents an exciting step forward in our understanding of planetary systems, including our own,” added co-author Mathilde Malin of Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
Initial analysis suggests that the object — referred to as TWA 7 b — could be a young, cold planet with a mass around 0.3 times that of Jupiter (about 100 Earth masses, or one Saturn mass) and a temperature near 120 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius).
Its location aligns with a gap in the disk, hinting at a dynamic interaction between the planet and its surroundings.
Debris disks filled with dust and rocky material are found around both young and older stars, although they are more easily detected around younger stars as they are brighter.
They often feature visible rings or gaps, thought to be created by planets that have formed around the star, but such a planet has yet to be directly detected within a debris disk.
If verified, this discovery would mark the first time a planet has been directly associated with sculpting a debris disk, and could offer the first observational hint of a “trojan disk” — a collection of dust trapped in the planet’s orbit.
TWA 7, also known as CE Antilae, is a young (about 6.4 million years old) red dwarf star located about 34 light-years away in the TW Hydrae association. Its nearly face-on disk made it an ideal target for Webb’s high-sensitivity mid-infrared observations.
The findings highlight Webb’s ability to explore previously unseen, low-mass planets around nearby stars. Ongoing and future observations will aim to better constrain the properties of the candidate, verify its planetary status, and deepen our understanding of planet formation and disk evolution in young systems.
These observations were taken as part of the Webb observing program 3662.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/likely-saturn-mass-planet-imaged-by-nasa-webb-is-lightest-ever-seen/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09150-4
https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/program-information?id=3662
NASA to grow habitats in space for explorers using bricks made from mycelium
June 26, 2025
Space habitats made of mycelium by NASA
NASA advances its research to grow habitats in space for explorers and researchers using bricks made from mycelium.
Called Mycotecture Off Planet, a team of researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, led by Lynn Rothschild, develops the project, which has recently received funding from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program to continue their work.
The NASA team’s goal is to create mycelium-made habitats out of Earth that can be grown rather than delivered fully built to save weight and space on rockets and make it easier to set up safe shelters once astronauts arrive on the Moon or Mars.
Instead of launching large buildings, astronauts would take a lightweight, flat-packed structure made with dormant fungal materials, and once they land, they would add water to the structure.
Biomaterial project enters the third and final phase
By adding the liquid, the root-like network of mycelium would ‘wake up,’ and it would begin to grow and shape itself around the structure. Over time, the fungi would fill out the form and harden into a safe, livable shelter.
The whole system would be contained, meaning there’s no risk of the fungi spreading uncontrollably or harming the surrounding environments.
This project has already made a lot of progress in earlier phases of development, with the team having created several types of materials made from fungi, built sample structures, and tested how the materials perform in simulated space environments.
They’ve even added features like radiation shielding to make the habitats safer for humans and have also drawn up detailed plans for what a fungal moon habitat could look like.
Aside from using the mycelium habitats in space, NASA’s project could be useful on Earth since fungi could help clean water through filtration or extract useful minerals from wastewater and support efforts to fight climate change and pollution.
The team has now reached Phase III, which is the final and most advanced phase in the NIAC program, and from here, they expect to focus on improving the material’s strength, durability, and safety.
They also plan to begin preparing the technology for future tests in low Earth orbit, the region just outside Earth’s atmosphere where satellites and the International Space Station orbit, and if all goes well, the fungi-based habitat system could be used on commercial space stations, future Moon bases, and eventually even on Mars.
https://www.designboom.com/technology/nasa-grow-habitats-space-explorers-bricks-mycelium-06-26-2025/
Mike Witt Is Leaving NASA
June 25, 2025
Mike Witt, NASA’s Senior Agency Information Security Officer (SAISO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Cybersecurity and Privacy is leaving the agency shortly. Best wishes, Mike.
https://nasawatch.com/personnel-news/mike-witt-is-leaving-nasa/
NASA Rocket Launch From Wallops Island May Be Visible Across MD
Wed, Jun 25, 2025 at 9:11 pm ET
WALLOPS ISLAND, VA — A sounding rocket carrying dozens of student and faculty experiments will launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, Thursday morning as part of NASA’s RockOn and RockSat-C student flight programs.
The launch window for the mission is 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. EDT, Thursday, June 26, through Sunday, June 29.
The launch may be visible across the Chesapeake region, weather permitting. The National Weather Service forecast is for clear skies and calm winds Thursday morning.
The annual student mission, “RockOn,” is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on a Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket.
For local launch enthusiasts, the Wallops Visitor Center’s launch viewing area will open at 5 a.m. for a launch viewing event.
The launch viewing area features five sets of bleachers along the marsh with a clear view of the launch pad and range control audio playing on loud speakers across the grounds.
For those interested in viewing the launch in person, viewing locations on Chincoteague Island include Robert Reed Park, Curtis Merritt Harbor, and the Beach Road causeway between Chincoteague and Assateague islands.
The Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Atlantic beaches also provide good viewing locations.
For those outside the local and regional viewing area, a livestream of the mission will begin 15 minutes before launch on the Wallops YouTube channel.
Launch updates also are available via the Wallops Facebook page.
https://patch.com/maryland/across-md/nasa-rocket-launch-wallops-island-may-be-visible-across-md
https://www.facebook.com/nasa.wallops/
https://www.youtube.com/live/-MC4Zqvvt54
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasas-chandra-shares-a-new-view-of-our-galactic-neighbor/
https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2025/m31/
NASA’s Chandra Shares a New View of Our Galactic Neighbor
Jun 25, 2025
The Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31 (M31), is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way at a distance of about 2.5 million light-years.
Astronomers use Andromeda to understand the structure and evolution of our own spiral, which is much harder to do since Earth is embedded inside the Milky Way.
The galaxy M31 has played an important role in many aspects of astrophysics, but particularly in the discovery of dark matter.
In the 1960s, astronomer Vera Rubin and her colleagues studied M31 and determined that there was some unseen matter in the galaxy that was affecting how the galaxy and its spiral arms rotated.
This unknown material was named “dark matter.” Its nature remains one of the biggest open questions in astrophysics today, one which NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is designed to help answer.
This new composite image contains data of M31 taken by some of the world’s most powerful telescopes in different kinds of light.
This image includes X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) XMM-Newton (represented in red, green, and blue); ultraviolet data from NASA’s retired GALEX (blue); optical data from astrophotographers using ground based telescopes (Jakob Sahner and Tarun Kottary); infrared data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, the Infrared Astronomy Satellite, COBE, Planck, and Herschel (red, orange, and purple); and radio data from the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (red-orange).
Each type of light reveals new information about this close galactic relative to the Milky Way.
For example, Chandra’s X-rays reveal the high-energy radiation around the supermassive black hole at the center of M31 as well as many other smaller compact and dense objects strewn across the galaxy.
A recent paper about Chandra observations of M31 discusses the amount of X-rays produced by the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy over the last 15 years.
One flare was observed in 2013, which appears to represent an amplification of the typical X-rays seen from the black hole.
These multi-wavelength datasets are also being released as a sonification, which includes the same wavelengths of data in the new composite.
In the sonification, the layer from each telescope has been separated out and rotated so that they stack on top of each other horizontally, beginning with X-rays at the top and then moving through ultraviolet, optical, infrared, and radio at the bottom.
As the scan moves from left to right in the sonification, each type of light is mapped to a different range of notes, from lower-energy radio waves up through the high energy of X-rays.
Meanwhile, the brightness of each source controls volume, and the vertical location dictates the pitch.
This new image of M31 is released in tribute to the groundbreaking legacy of Dr. Vera Rubin, whose observations transformed our understanding of the universe.
Rubin’s meticulous measurements of Andromeda’s rotation curve provided some of the earliest and most convincing evidence that galaxies are embedded in massive halos of invisible material — what we now call dark matter.
Her work challenged long-held assumptions and catalyzed a new era of research into the composition and dynamics of the cosmos.
In recognition of her profound scientific contributions, the United States Mint has recently released a quarter in 2025 featuring Rubin as part of its American Women Quarters Program — making her the first astronomer honored in the series.
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Visual Description
This release features several images and a sonification video examining the Andromeda galaxy, our closest spiral galaxy neighbor.
This collection helps astronomers understand the evolution of the Milky Way, our own spiral galaxy, and provides a fascinating insight into astronomical data gathering and presentation.
Like all spiral galaxies viewed at this distance and angle, Andromeda appears relatively flat. Its spiraling arms circle around a bright core, creating a disk shape, like a large dinner plate.
In most of the images in this collection, Andromeda’s flat surface is tilted to face our upper left.
This collection features data from some of the world’s most powerful telescopes, each capturing light in a different spectrum.
In each single-spectrum image, Andromeda has a similar shape and orientation, but the colors and details are dramatically different.
In radio waves, the spiraling arms appear red and orange, like a burning, loosely coiled rope. The center appears black, with no core discernible.
In infrared light, the outer arms are similarly fiery. Here, a white spiraling ring encircles a blue center with a small golden core. The optical image is hazy and grey, with spiraling arms like faded smoke rings.
Here, the blackness of space is dotted with specks of light, and a small bright dot glows at the core of the galaxy. In ultraviolet light the spiraling arms are icy blue and white, with a hazy white ball at the core.
No spiral arms are present in the X-ray image, making the bright golden core and nearby stars clear and easy to study.
In this release, the single-spectrum images are presented side by side for easy comparison. They are also combined into a composite image.
In the composite, Andromeda’s spiraling arms are the color of red wine near the outer edges, and lavender near the center.
The core is large and bright, surrounded by a cluster of bright blue and green specks. Other small flecks in a variety of colors dot the galaxy, and the blackness of space surrounding it.
This release also features a thirty second video, which sonifies the collected data. In the video, the single-spectrum images are stacked vertically, one atop the other.
As the video plays, an activation line sweeps across the stacked images from left to right. Musical notes ring out when the line encounters light.
The lower the wavelength energy, the lower the pitches of the notes. The brighter the source, the louder the volume.
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Waning Crescent Moon
Jun 25, 2025
NASA astronaut Bob Hines took this picture of the waning crescent moon on May 8, 2022, as the International Space Station flew into an orbital sunrise 260 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of the United States.
Since the station became operational in November 2000, crew members have produced hundreds of thousands of images of our Moon and Earth through Crew Earth Observations.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/waning-crescent-moon/
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/jpl/john-casani-former-manager-of-multiple-nasa-missions-dies/
John Casani, Former Manager of Multiple NASA Missions, Dies
Jun 25, 2025
During his work on several historic missions, Casani rose through a series of technical and management positions, making an indelible mark on the nation’s space program.
John R. Casani, a visionary engineer who served a central role in many of NASA’s historic deep space missions, died on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at the age of 92.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Lynn Casani, in 2008 and is survived by five sons and their families.
Casani started at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in 1956 and went on to work as an electronics engineer on some of the nation’s earliest spacecraft after NASA’s formation in 1958.
Along with leading the design teams for both the Ranger and Mariner series of spacecraft, he held senior project positions on many of the Mariner missions to Mars and Venus, and was project manager for three trailblazing space missions: Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini.
His work helped advance NASA spacecraft in areas including mechanical technology, system design and integration, software, and deep space communications.
No less demanding were the management challenges of these multifaceted missions, which led to innovations still in use today.
“John had a major influence on the development of spacecraft that visited almost every planet in our solar system, as well as the people who helped build them,” said JPL director Dave Gallagher.
“He played an essential role in America’s first attempts to reach space and then the Moon, and he was just as crucial to the Voyager spacecraft that marked humanity’s first foray into interplanetary — and later, interstellar — space.
That Voyager is still exploring after nearly 50 years is a testament to John’s remarkable engineering talent and his leadership that enabled others to push the boundaries of possibility.”
Born in Philadelphia in 1932, Casani studied electrical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
After a short stint at an Air Force research lab, he moved to California in 1956 and was hired to work at JPL, a division of Caltech, on the guidance system for the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency’s Jupiter-C and Sergeant missile programs.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first human-made Earth satellite, alarming America and changing the trajectory of both JPL and Casani’s career.
With the 1958 launch of Explorer 1, America’s first satellite, the lab transitioned to concentrating on robotic space explorers, and Casani segued from missiles to spacecraft.
One of his jobs as payload engineer on Pioneer 3 and 4, NASA’s first missions to the Moon, was to carry each of the 20-inch-long (51-cm-long) probes in a suitcase from JPL to the launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where he installed them in the rocket’s nose cone.
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At the dawn of the 1960s, Casani served as spacecraft systems engineer for the agency’s first two Ranger missions to the Moon, then joined the Mariner project in 1965, earning a reputation for being meticulous.
Four years later, he was Mariner project manager. Asked to share some of his wisdom in a 2009 NASA presentation, Casani said, “The thing that makes any of this work … is toughness.
Toughness because this is a tough business, and it’s a very unforgiving business. You can do 1,000 things right, but if you don’t do everything right, it’ll come back and bite you.”
Casani’s next role: project manager for NASA’s high-profile flagship mission to the outer planets and beyond — Voyager.
He not only led the mission from clean room to space, he was first to envision attaching a message representing humanity to any alien civilization that might encounter humanity’s first interstellar emissaries.
“I approached Carl Sagan,” he said in a 2007 radio interview, “and asked him if he could come up with something that would be appropriate that we could put on our spacecraft in a way of sending a message to whoever might receive it.”
Sagan took up the challenge, and what resulted was the Golden Record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
Once Voyager 1 and 2 and their Golden Records launched in 1977, JPL wasted no time in pointing their “engineer’s engineer” toward Galileo, which would become the first mission to orbit a gas giant planet.
As the mission’s initial project manager, Casani led the effort from inception to assembly. Along the way, he had to navigate several congressional attempts to end the project, necessitating multiple visits to Washington.
The 1986 loss of Space Shuttle Challenger, from which Galileo was to launch atop a Centaur upper-stage booster, led to mission redesign efforts before its 1989 launch.
After 11 years leading Galileo, Casani became deputy assistant laboratory director for flight projects in 1988, received a promotion just over a year later and then, from 1990 to 1991, served as project manager of Cassini, NASA’s first flagship mission to orbit Saturn.
Casani became JPL’s first chief engineer in 1994, retiring in 1999 and serving on several nationally prominent committees, including leading the investigation boards of both the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander failures, and also leading the James Webb Space Telescope Independent Comprehensive Review Panel.
In early 2003, Casani returned to JPL to serve as project manager for NASA’s Project Prometheus, which would have been the nation’s first nuclear-powered, electric-propulsion spacecraft.
In 2005, he became manager of the Institutional Special Projects Office at JPL, a position he held until retiring again in 2012.
“Throughout his career, John reflected the true spirit of JPL: bold, innovative, visionary, and welcoming,” said Charles Elachi, JPL’s director from 2001 to 2016.
“He was an undisputed leader with an upbeat, fun attitude and left an indelible mark on the laboratory and NASA. I am proud to have called him a friend.”
Casani received many awards over his lifetime, including NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal, the Management Improvement Award from the President of the United States for the Mariner Venus Mercury mission, and the Air and Space Museum Trophy for Lifetime Achievement.
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https://www.nasa.gov/missions/mars-2020-perseverance/perseverance-rover/nasas-perseverance-rover-scours-mars-for-science/
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Scours Mars for Science
Jun 25, 2025
On June 3, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover ground down a portion of a rock surface, blew away the resulting debris, and then went to work studying its pristine interior with a suite of instruments designed to determine its mineralogic makeup and geologic origin.
“Kenmore,” as nicknamed by the rover science team, is the 30th Martian rock that Perseverance has subjected to such in-depth scrutiny, beginning with drilling a two-inch-wide (5-centimeter-wide) abrasion patch.
“Kenmore was a weird, uncooperative rock,” said Perseverance’s deputy project scientist, Ken Farley from Caltech in Pasadena, California.
“Visually, it looked fine — the sort of rock we could get a good abrasion on and perhaps, if the science was right, perform a sample collection.
But during abrasion, it vibrated all over the place and small chunks broke off. Fortunately, we managed to get just far enough below the surface to move forward with an analysis.”
The science team wants to get below the weathered, dusty surface of Mars rocks to see important details about a rock’s composition and history.
Grinding away an abrasion patch also creates a flat surface that enables Perseverance’s science instruments to get up close and personal with the rock.
Time to Grind
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, each carried a diamond-dust-tipped grinder called the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) that spun at 3,000 revolutions per minute as the rover’s robotic arm pushed it deeper into the rock.
Two wire brushes then swept the resulting debris, or tailings, out of the way. The agency’s Curiosity rover carries a Dust Removal Tool, whose wire bristles sweep dust from the rock’s surface before the rover drills into the rock.
Perseverance, meanwhile, relies on a purpose-built abrading bit, and it clears the tailings with a device that surpasses wire brushes: the gaseous Dust Removal Tool, or gDRT.
“We use Perseverance’s gDRT to fire a 12-pounds-per-square-inch (about 83 kilopascals) puff of nitrogen at the tailings and dust that cover a freshly abraded rock,” said Kyle Kaplan, a robotic engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
“Five puffs per abrasion — one to vent the tanks and four to clear the abrasion. And gDRT has a long way to go. Since landing at Jezero Crater over four years ago, we’ve puffed 169 times.
There are roughly 800 puffs remaining in the tank.” The gDRT offers a key advantage over a brushing approach: It avoids any terrestrial contaminants that might be on a brush from getting on the Martian rock being studied.
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Having collected data on abraded surfaces more than 30 times, the rover team has in-situ science (studying something in its original place or position) collection pretty much down.
After gDRT blows the tailings away, the rover’s WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) imager (which, like gDRT, is at the end of the rover’s arm) swoops in for close-up photos.
Then, from its vantage point high on the rover’s mast, SuperCam fires thousands of individual pulses from its laser, each time using a spectrometer to determine the makeup of the plume of microscopic material liberated after every zap.
SuperCam also employs a different spectrometer to analyze the visible and infrared light that bounces off the materials in the abraded area.
“SuperCam made observations in the abrasion patch and of the powdered tailings next to the patch,” said SuperCam team member and “Crater Rim” campaign science lead, Cathy Quantin-Nataf of the University of Lyon in France.
“The tailings showed us that this rock contains clay minerals, which contain water as hydroxide molecules bound with iron and magnesium — relatively typical of ancient Mars clay minerals.
The abrasion spectra gave us the chemical composition of the rock, showing enhancements in iron and magnesium.”
Later, the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) and PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) instruments took a crack at Kenmore, too.
Along with supporting SuperCam’s discoveries that the rock contained clay, they detected feldspar (the mineral that makes much of the Moon brilliantly bright in sunlight).
The PIXL instrument also detected a manganese hydroxide mineral in the abrasion — the first time this type of material has been identified during the mission.
With Kenmore data collection complete, the rover headed off to new territories to explore rocks — both cooperative and uncooperative — along the rim of Jezero Crater.
“One thing you learn early working on Mars rover missions is that not all Mars rocks are created equal,” said Farley. “The data we obtain now from rocks like Kenmore will help future missions so they don’t have to think about weird, uncooperative rocks.
Instead, they’ll have a much better idea whether you can easily drive over it, sample it, separate the hydrogen and oxygen contained inside for fuel, or if it would be suitable to use as construction material for a habitat.”
Long-Haul Roving
On June 19 (the 1,540th Martian day, or sol, of the mission), Perseverance bested its previous record for distance traveled in a single autonomous drive, trekking 1,348 feet (411 meters).
That’s about 210 feet (64 meters) more than its previous record, set on April 3, 2023 (Sol 753).
While planners map out the rover’s general routes, Perseverance can cut down driving time between areas of scientific interest by using its self-driving system, AutoNav.
“Perseverance drove 4½ football fields and could have gone even farther, but that was where the science team wanted us to stop,” said Camden Miller, a rover driver for Perseverance at JPL.
“And we absolutely nailed our stop target location. Every day operating on Mars, we learn more on how to get the most out of our rover. And what we learn today future Mars missions won’t have to learn tomorrow.”
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Unveiling the Grand Finale: NASA Spacecraft’s Stunning Last Images Before Saturn’s Plunge
June 26, 2025
Exploring Saturn has captivated scientists and enthusiasts alike, especially since the launch of the Cassini spacecraft in 1997.
This mission provided unprecedented insights into Saturn’s complex system of rings and moons, marking a significant milestone in planetary exploration.
6 Key Takeaways
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Close-up views of Saturn began in 1979
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Cassini mission launched in 1997 for detailed study
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Titan shows Earth-like features, potential for life
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Grand Finale involved daring dives into Saturn
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Cassini's plunge protected moons for future exploration
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Final data sent before spacecraft's destruction
After years of anticipation, Cassini arrived at Saturn on July 1, 2004, following gravity assists from Venus, Earth, and Jupiter.
Its findings, particularly regarding Titan and Enceladus, have reshaped our understanding of these celestial bodies, especially evident in the data collected before its dramatic plunge into Saturn on September 15, 2017.
Cassini’s exploration raises intriguing questions about the potential for life beyond Earth. How do the conditions on moons like Titan compare to early Earth? What secrets do the rings hold about the formation of our solar system?
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Cassini discovered lakes and rivers on Titan, suggesting Earth-like conditions.
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The Grand Finale phase allowed for unprecedented close-up observations of Saturn.
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Data from Cassini’s final dives enhanced our understanding of Saturn’s magnetic fields.
As we continue to explore the cosmos, the legacy of Cassini inspires future missions that may uncover even more about our solar system’s mysteries. What new discoveries await US in the depths of space?
https://news.faharas.net/343758/the-grand-finale-the-last/
Space-grown muscle tissues reveal rapid aging-like decline in microgravity
June 26, 2025
Sarcopenia, which is a progressive and extensive decline in muscle mass and strength, is common with aging and is estimated to affect up to 50% of people aged 80 and older.
It can lead to disability and injuries from falls and is associated with a lower quality of life and increased mortality. Apart from lifestyle changes, there is no current clinical treatment for sarcopenia.
Space flight with the associated absence of gravity and limited strain on muscles causes muscle weakness, a prominent feature of sarcopenia, within a short period of time, providing a time-lapse view on age-related atrophy-associated changes in the muscle.
This relatively short window of time in space provides a microgravity model for muscular aging and opens opportunities for studying sarcopenia, which normally takes decades to develop in patients on Earth.
To understand the changes of muscle in microgravity, Siobhan Malany, Maddalena Parafati, and their team from the University of Florida, U.S., engineered skeletal muscle microtissues from donor biopsies and launched them to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX CRS-25.
The microtissues were taken from both young, active donors and from aged, sedentary donors and cultured in an automated mini-lab, which, besides regular feeding and monitoring of cultures, also enabled electrical stimulation to simulate exercise.
On Earth, the contraction strength of microtissues from young, active individuals was almost twice as much as the strength of tissues from older, sedentary individuals.
After only two weeks in space, muscle strength trended to decline in the young tissues and was now more comparable to the strength of old tissues.
A similar trend was seen for the muscle protein content, which was higher in young microtissues on Earth compared to old microtissues but decreased in microgravity to levels measured in old tissues.
Further, space flight changed gene expression, particularly in the younger microtissues, and disturbed cellular processes related to normal muscle function. Interestingly, electrical stimulation could mitigate these changes in gene expression to some extent.
"Using electrical pulses to trigger real-time muscle contractions in space, we can simulate exercise and observe how it helps protect against rapid muscle weakening in microgravity," said Siobhan Malany, one of the lead researchers.
"This technology advancement offers insight into how we might preserve muscle health during long-duration space missions and, ultimately, how to combat age-related muscle loss here on Earth."
This study shows that sarcopenia-related muscle decline can be modeled within a relatively short period in space and paves the way for follow-up studies on causes and potential treatments for sarcopenia from aging or space travel.
https://phys.org/news/2025-06-space-grown-muscle-tissues-reveal.html
https://www.cell.com/stem-cell-reports/fulltext/S2213-6711(25)00154-7
First ‘FireSat’ satellite delivers thermal images
June 26, 2025
WASHINGTON — Muon Space has released the first thermal infrared images from its FireSat Protoflight satellite, marking a milestone for the company’s dedicated wildfire detection constellation.
The images, captured using a six-channel multispectral infrared instrument, demonstrate the satellite’s ability to detect and measure thermal signatures from space.
The satellite, built by the California-based startup Muon Space, launched March 14 aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-13 mission.
The first light images show urban heat islands and airport runway activity in Sydney, Australia; lava fountains at Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano; and gas flares at Libya’s Sarir oil field complex.
“These first light images confirm that our IR sensors are operating as designed and collecting high-quality data,” said Dan McCleese, chief scientist of Muon Space.
Unlike visual cameras, the FireSat sensor sees heat. Every pixel in the image corresponds to a temperature reading on the ground.
That allows it to detect everything from subtle shifts in water temperature to the roaring heat of active volcanoes — and crucially, the telltale signs of an emerging wildfire.
The FireSat initiative is led by the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance (EFA) in partnership with Muon Space, with financial support from Google Research, the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, and other environmental organizations.
Three additional satellites are scheduled for launch in 2026, with plans to build a constellation of more than 50 satellites by 2030.
The goal is to be able to observe every point on Earth at least twice daily, with wildfire-prone regions receiving more frequent coverage. At full operational capacity, the satellites would provide 20-minute revisit times globally.
The FireSat constellation seeks to address limitations in current wildfire detection methods, which typically rely on ground reports, aircraft patrols, or general-purpose satellites with limited temporal and spatial resolution.
The constellation will serve first responders, land management agencies and research institutions studying fire behavior and climate impacts.
https://spacenews.com/first-firesat-satellite-delivers-thermal-images/
https://www.space.com/technology/cosmic-images-from-the-worlds-largest-digital-camera-are-so-big-they-require-a-data-butler
https://rubinobservatory.org/
Cosmic images from the world's largest digital camera are so big they require a 'data butler'
June 26, 2025
The amount of data that will be collected by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which released its fabulous first-light images this week, will far outweigh what any telescope before it managed to deliver.
This has led astronomers to take a step into cloud computing — as well as enlist the help of seven brokers and a data butler.
Once it is fully up and running, the Rubin Observatory (funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation–Department of Energy) will be collecting 20 terabytes of data each night.
Analyzing this data, it will issue 10 million alerts to astronomers, all of which will be managed by what are known as "brokers" that filter the huge number of alerts into something more manageable.
"In terms of data, we're at least an order of magnitude bigger than previous telescopes," University of Edinburgh computer scientist George Beckett, who is the U.K. Data Facility Coordinator for Rubin, told Space.com.
Over the next 10 years, Rubin's Legacy Survey of Space and Time will collect about 500 petabytes of data, equivalent to half a million 4K-UHD Blu-ray disks.
Once collected by the telescope, the data will get transmitted along a dedicated network link between Rubin, which is located in Chile, and a data center at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California.
From SLAC, a copy of all the raw data will be sent to the IN2P3 computing facility in Lyon, France, and some of the data will also be sent to a U.K.-based distributed computing network.
The processing of the data will be shared between these three data centers, with SLAC contributing 35%, IN2P3 taking on 40% and the UK 25%. (There's also a modest data center in Chile, which hosts the Rubin Observatory, to support Chilean astronomers.)
Not only do the multiple data centers provide redundancy so data can't be lost in an accident, but they also can support each other if one data center is falling behind on the processing.
That's because what really counts for astronomers is getting the important data out quickly, so they can follow up on interesting alerts as soon as possible.
"My biggest challenge is having astronomers constantly demanding their data!" joked Beckett.
This vast amount of data will be a precious resource for astronomers not only in the here and now, but also decades into the future.
So, how does one go about searching through it all?
Beckett draws an analogy with searching for a photograph taken on your smartphone.
"Your phone is probably full of pictures you've taken over the past five or 10 years, and finding that one picture from two years ago usually involves flicking through and it is a bit of a piecemeal approach," he said.
"Now imagine that your phone has 1.5 million photos and they're all 10,000 pixels wide, you haven't got a chance of just flicking through them."
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Bringing this analogy back to the Rubin dataset, the solution, Beckett says, is to provide accessible descriptions of all those images in a way that astronomers can find what they are searching for with relative ease.
That's one of the reasons why Rubin's data handling is different compared to that of previous telescopes, with which astronomers could download pockets of data that they need without too much complexity.
The dataset for Rubin is simply too big to download — so it's all kept in the "cloud."
The Rubin dataset is managed by a service called the Data Butler. It records all the metadata, which is the data about the data — time, date, sky coordinates, what's in the image and so on.
"An astronomer can come up with pretty much any query they want written in astronomy terms talking about astronomical objects, timescales or coordinate systems, and the Data Butler fetches what they need," said Beckett.
That's for longer-term research, but there's also the transients, the moving objects, the things that go bump in the night that set off alerts to prompt astronomers to chase them up before the transients fade away.
These include supernovas, kilonovas that produce gravitational waves, novas, flare stars, eclipsing binaries, magnetar outbursts, asteroids and comets moving across the sky, quasars, and much more besides, possibly even new types of object never seen before.
Rubin will produce an estimated 10 million alerts each night, releasing each alert within two minutes of it being detected by the telescope: Even with the help of Data Butler, how can astronomers possibly sift through all those to find the most important ones to follow-up on?
There are seven brokers, operated by scientists in different countries, which will process the full 10 million alerts (and two more brokers with specific science goals that will only work on a subset of the 10 million daily alerts).
For example, there's a Chilean broker called ALeRCE, standing for Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events, and ANTARES, the Arizona–NOIRLab Temporal Analysis and Response to Events Systems.
The U.K. broker is called Lasair (pronounced LAH-suhr, meaning 'flame' or 'flash' in Scottish and Irish Gaelic) and focuses on transients.
Think of the brokers as a set of filters that astronomers can choose to help sift through the alerts and pick out the ones that they're most interested in.
Some of the brokers use machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, but more traditional modeling methods are also used for quickly processing the data.
"Astronomers can sign up to a broker, describe the kind of things they're interested in, and hope that with appropriate descriptions the 10 million alerts each night will be filtered down to maybe two or three," said Beckett.
It's not that the other 9,999,998 alerts are not of value — maybe they're just not the thing the astronomer is interested in, or perhaps they're not unique enough to demand dedicated follow-ups, but they do add to the statistics for each type of object.
Rubin will survey a quarter of the Southern Hemisphere sky every night, seeing everything and missing nothing. One might think that it is the survey to end all surveys, that there will never be a bigger survey that will produce more data.
However, Beckett also works on the data management team for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which is a huge array of radio telescopes in South Africa and Australia, and the techniques developed for Rubin and the lessons learned are going into making the data handing for the SKA run a lot smoother.
"The size of Rubin's dataset will be swamped by the SKA, which will be an order of magnitude again larger than Rubin," said Beckett.
There's always a bigger fish!
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On this day in space! June 26, 1954: NACA Research Station Moves to new base
June 26, 2025
On June 26, 1954, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics — basically pre-1958 NASA — moved their headquarters to a brand new facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
More than 200 employees moved to what they called the High-Speed Flight Station. Before the big move, they were cramped inside a small hanger in Edwards' South Base.
But the new location provided a fully functional research facility where a lot of early rocket tests went down. And it housed the X-1 program that created the first supersonic jets.
https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html
https://spacenews.com/nasas-acting-leadership-planning-new-agency-structure/
NASA’s acting leadership planning new agency structure
June 26, 2025
WASHINGTON — NASA’s acting administrator expects to decide on a new “top-level” structure for the agency within weeks, but a Senate-confirmed administrator may not be in place until next year.
Agency leadership, including acting administrator Janet Petro, held a town hall for NASA employees June 25. The town hall webcast was not open to the public but a recording of it was obtained by SpaceNews and separately posted online.
At the town hall, Petro said she was working on a reorganization of the agency that could change how the agency is structured and alter lines of reporting within it.
“I expect to finalize the top-level structure for this agency within weeks,” she said. “Right now, we’re weighing several approaches, and we’ve been working on this since early March.”
One approach would be to organize the agency through mission directorates, an approach that would appear similar to its current structure.
A second would be “center-centric” and revolve around its field centers. A third approach would be a “product line model,” although she did not elaborate on what she considered NASA’s product lines.
That reorganization would be at the top level of NASA and not go below the center level, she said.
“After we’ve selected this high-level structure, then we will begin to define those details of the organization at the lower level, and then we’ll make sure our operating procedures and our governance reflect what is needed for each part of the agency to succeed.”
Regardless of the approach, Petro indicated that much of the work currently done at NASA Headquarters will be moved to the field centers.
“We’re considering moving most functions currently being performed in D.C. out to where the work is being executed, and refocusing the work done in D.C. to setting strategic direction and engaging with our external partners,” she said.
Waiting for a new administrator
A month ago, most expected Petro, director of the Kennedy Space Center and NASA’s acting administrator since President Trump took office Jan. 20, to no longer be leading the agency.
The Senate was moving to confirm the administration’s nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, with a vote expected in early June.
That changed suddenly May 31, though, when President Trump announced he was withdrawing the nomination, a move widely seen as linked to the falling out between Trump and Elon Musk, the SpaceX chief executive who had advocated for Isaacman.
Petro said she would remain the acting head of NASA for the foreseeable future. “I want you to know that I will continue to lead NASA until a new leader is installed, and I take that responsibility to heart.” That could take until next year.
“I think the best guess would tell you that it’s hard to imagine it happening before the next six months, and could perhaps go longer than that into the eight- or nine-month range,” Brian Hughes, NASA chief of staff, said at the town hall.
He added that it could go faster if the president nominates someone “and the administration asks for bumping ahead of the Senate process to make it faster.”
When Trump announced he was pulling Isaacman’s nomination, he said he would soon announce a new nominee “who will be Mission aligned.”
Nearly a month later, the White House has not announced a NASA administrator nominee.
Budget cuts and potential layoffs
Much of the town hall, including questions submitted by NASA employees, raised concerns about the agency’s budget and a potential for layoffs, known as a reduction in force or RIF.
NASA’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal would cut the agency’s overall budget by nearly 25%, with steeper cuts in areas like science and space technology.
It also foresees reducing the agency’s civil servant workforce by a third, or about 6,000 people.
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Agency leaders defended the proposal, arguing it was part of broader efforts by the government to reduce spending.
“It’s also a time when we face the reality of being a nation with $36 trillion of debt. This is why NASA is being challenged to focus on its core mission and work within tighter fiscal restraint,” said Hughes.
They noted that, as representatives of the executive branch, they could not advocate for changes to the budget proposal.
Vanessa Wyche, acting associate administrator, said the agency would look for ways to stretch its budget through partnerships: “How do we partner with others to increase what we have and do more with it?”
Petro defended the proposal’s science budget, which would reduce spending by 47% to $3.9 billion. “You know, there’s still $4 billion.
There’s a lot of science that can still be done with $4 billion,” she said. A review of the budget by The Planetary Society found that the proposal would cancel more than 40 science projects, including standalone missions and contributions to other missions.
“NASA is a member of the executive branch of government, and so it’s not our job to advocate, but let’s try to look at this in a positive way. We’ve still got a lot of money. Let’s see how much mission we can do,” she said.
Agency officials did not rule out the budget and workforce reductions could lead them to consider closing centers.
“I don’t think we’re there yet to answer that question, but it is actively a part of the conversation we’re having as we go step by step through this,” Hughes said in response to a question about closing or consolidating centers.
Officials also said they were not planning any layoffs at this time. The agency is conducting a second round of a deferred retirement program after 900 employees took part in the first round earlier this year.
Casey Swails, NASA deputy associate administrator, said 1,500 employees have signed up for this second round ahead of a July 25 deadline.
She said NASA did not plan to offer another buyout after the deadline for this opportunity closes, but emphasized that NASA was not planning layoffs.
“I know there’s a lot of concern about RIFs,” she said. “We’re not planning for a RIF, and we’re doing everything we can to avoid going down that path.”
Many agency employees are privately skeptical of those claims, noting that the buyouts so far are only a fraction of the proposed workforce reductions in the budget.
Petro added that contractors will likely face layoffs. “85% of our budget goes out the door to contractors. So, with a reduced budget, absolutely, our contractors will also be impacted.
In fact, they’re probably the bigger driver that will be impacted.”
Congress has yet to take up the budget proposal, with House appropriators scheduled to advance a commerce, justice and science spending bill that funds NASA in early July.
As in past years, the appropriations process will extend beyond the start of the 2026 fiscal year on Oct. 1, meaning that NASA and other agencies will begin the fiscal year on a continuing resolution (CR) maintaining funding at 2025 levels.
Hughes said that even though NASA’s 2025 funding is significantly higher than the 2026 proposal, the agency would consider operating at those lower levels during the CR.
“If we were to wait for all of the congressional process to unfold and get to final resolution to make any movements or do anything, it would probably be considered irresponsible,” he argued.
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Live streams please!
Space Delta 1 Changes Command at Vandenberg SFB
June 26, 2025
VANDENBERG SFB, Calif. — U.S. Space Force’s Space Delta 1 held a change of command ceremony Wednesday, June 25, as Col. Peter C. Norsky relinquished command to Col. Krista N. St. Romain. Maj. Gen. Timothy A. Sejba, Commander of Space Training and Readiness Command, presided over the ceremony.
Space Delta 1 is responsible for foundational training across the Space Force, including Basic Military Training, Officer Training Course, initial skills training for space, intelligence, and cyber specialties, and the onboarding of civilian Guardians.
During Norsky’s two-year command, Delta 1 executed several major initiatives:
• Launched the Officer Training Course within one year, accelerating a process typically requiring four to five years.
• Expanded enlisted space training capacity, with secure facilities under construction to double classified classroom space.
• Led the development of the Enlisted Training Course for space, intelligence, and cyber pipelines.
• Established Guardian-specific culture within BMT, including the first Guardian-centric graduation events and creation of the Family Pinning Ceremony.
• Set conditions for training officers and civilians, including leading the Guardian Civilian Optimization Course.
“Colonel Norsky took the charge to build a training pipeline from the ground up and delivered—on time, with clarity of vision, and always with the Guardians in mind,” said Sejba.
Reflecting on the transition, Norsky said, “Through the dedication of this team, Delta 1 has become the Gateway to the Space Force, and I’m proud of how far we’ve come in establishing a unique identity for our service.”
St. Romain arrives from the Joint Staff, where she served as Deputy Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, she previously commanded the 614th Combat Training Squadron and held operational and academic leadership positions across the space domain.
“I’m honored to take command of Delta 1,” said St. Romain. “Training is not just where we start—it’s how we prepare Guardians to lead, operate, and innovate in a contested domain.”
Delta 1’s mission continues to evolve as the Space Force increases throughput requirements and shifts toward service-owned training across the branch.
https://www.starcom.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4227051/space-delta-1-changes-command-at-vandenberg-sfb/
USSPACECOM DCOM highlights strategic partnerships at Prague Security Space Conference
June 26, 2025
Lt. Gen. Thomas James, U.S. Space Command deputy commander, attended the Prague Security Studies Institute’s 8th Prague Space Security Conference in the Czech Republic, June 15-17.
While at the conference, James participated in the “Annual Update on Military Partnerships” panel alongside Brig. Gen. Marcin Górka, Poland’s director of the Innovation Department, Ministry of National Defense, and Maj. Gen. Michael Traut, commander of German Space Command.
To frame the discussion on capabilities and integration with partners, James highlighted USSPACECOM commander Gen. Stephen Whiting’s three moral responsibilities:
defend the Nation and the joint force from space-enabled attack by others; deliver space capabilities to the joint force, the Nation and our allies across all levels of competition and conflict; and protect and defend the space systems critical to the joint force and our modern way of life against the threats now arrayed against us.
To illustrate the importance of assured space access, he shared a personal story from his time as a helicopter pilot during Desert Storm.
“That was my first experience with space-based [capabilities], in a way that had a tremendous impact on the way that we fought that very short war. But part of the time, when I had that [GPS] capability, I felt safer.
I had terrain that was trying to kill us, we had an enemy that was trying to kill us, and I had something that was giving me a way out that could help me, and my teammates, fight and be effective and safe.
And then it disappeared, and I learned what it meant to protect and defend our access to capability,” he said.
James emphasized that space is foundational to how the U.S. and its allies fight across joint, allied, and interagency operations.
As adversaries develop the ability to deny or disrupt access to these systems, he stressed the need to stay ahead of the threat.
“The biggest thing we have to deter China, I think, is our partnerships right now,” he said.
He cited the command’s “Elements of Victory” framework, highlighting the importance of integrating and synchronizing effects with allies, commercial industry and academia.
These partnerships, he said, must be built and exercised before conflict arises. “I think we’re making some good headway… but integration needs to be done ahead of time. You can’t wait until conflict — and we see that all the time,” he said.
Achieving space superiority, he argued, means more than outpacing adversaries, it requires ensuring freedom of maneuver for allies while denying the same to others.
“We continue to work with the idea that we can control the timing and tempo that the allies and the joint force need to maneuver in space… and prevent an adversary from doing the same to their advantage,” he said.
Efforts like Multinational Force – Operation Olympic Defender reflect this shift from dialogue to real operational planning and execution. James concluded by underscoring the strategic value of comprehensive partnerships across sectors.
“I think that with our allies, with industry, with that commercial, with the economic portion of it—how we bring that to bear and fight… comprehensively—is the way we’re going to stay ahead of our adversaries.
And shy of doing that well and aggressively… we need strategic partnerships that immediately show productive results.”
The Prague Space Security Conference series, launched in 2011, and has become a leading high-level trilateral space security gathering.
Eight international conferences have convened to date, involving leading space policymakers, senior military and civil government officials, industry leaders, and distinguished non-governmental organizations and academia representatives, from Europe, the U.S. and Japan.
USSPACECOM, working with allies and partners, executes, and integrates military spacepower into multi-domain global operations in order to deter aggression, defend national interests, and when necessary, defeat threats.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4226926/usspacecom-dcom-highlights-strategic-partnerships-at-prague-security-space-conf/
Iran’s supreme leader declares victory over Israel and US
26 Jun, 2025 12:54
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday congratulated his nation with what he called a victory over Israel and the United States following 12 days direct military hostilities.
The confrontation began when Israel killed top Iranian commanders and launched strikes on its nuclear sites.
The ensuing exchange of long-range attacks culminated in a US intervention, during which bunker-busting bombs were deployed on Iran’s fortified Fordow facility and two other sites.
In a nationally televised address, Khamenei claimed Iran’s retaliatory strikes had left Israel “practically knocked out and crushed,” compelling the US to step in and protect it.
“The US regime entered the war directly because it felt that if it didn’t, the Zionist regime [Israel] would be completely destroyed.
It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing,” Khamenei said, challenging Washington’s assertion that its bombing mission had crippled Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Khamenei also commended Iran’s retaliatory strike on a US military base in Qatar. The attack reportedly followed a warning to the Qatari authorities and caused no damage.
The supreme leader described it as “a slap in the face” to Washington, warning that Tehran could target “key US centers in the region” if provoked again.
The remarks marked Khamenei’s first public statement since the US airstrikes. Iran and Israel reached a cease-fire agreement on Tuesday, with US President Donald Trump publicly pressuring Israel to halt its military operations.
Israel has maintained that its initial actions were preemptive, aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied pursuing such weapons and says it will not abandon its right to peaceful nuclear energy.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported having seen no evidence that Iran was actively building a nuclear weapon. Tehran has announced it will suspend all cooperation with the UN agency in light of the recent escalation.
https://www.rt.com/news/620572-khamenei-remarks-israel-us/
Ukraine deliberately exterminating civilians in Donbass – Moscow
26 Jun, 2025 11:58
Ukrainian forces are deliberately committing atrocities against civilians in Donbass, including mass killings of the elderly and drone strikes on residential homes, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
Zakharova delivered the remarks on Thursday while speaking at a conference on the “atrocities and war crimes by the Kiev regime in Dzerzhynsk,” a city some 30km north of Donetsk that was liberated by Russian troops in February.
The conference featured a report including testimonies from over 30 civilians recounting the “genocide” policies pursued by Ukrainian troops while they controlled the city.
The event was organized by the Public Tribunal on the Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis, which includes representatives of civil society from 35 countries worldwide.
Zakharova noted that the testimonies detail “horrific episodes of neo-Nazi atrocities and confirms terror against the civilian population.”
“This is not an accident, but an inherent flaw – the hallmark of the Kiev authorities. It is a deliberate policy that has already been elevated to the level of state doctrine,” she stressed.
The spokeswoman pointed to evidence of mass killings, which included “executions of the elderly and children,” adding that other atrocities included drone strikes on civilian homes.
She went on to praise the tribunal as a “forensic body that documents the truth the West refuses to hear.”
The body, Zakharova added, “is doing what international human rights organizations should be doing if they had remained true to their mission.
It shows that all the crimes we are talking about have specific perpetrators, clients, and patrons.”
Among the document cases was a story by one witness, who recounted a deadly drone attack in the city: “When we were evacuating, the Armed Forces of Ukraine dropped bombs on us.
They sent a kamikaze drone to search for us… I received six shrapnel wounds… My father and grandmother died.”
Another witness recalls an incident in which an elderly woman went out to feed kittens, but was killed by a grenade dropped from a Ukrainian UAV.
One local resident also suggested that the Ukrainians “killed a lot of people just because [they] needed a picture” to be circulated in the media and used to falsely accuse Russia of strikes on civilians.
Russian officials have said that Moscow will do everything in its power to bring those responsible for the Ukrainian atrocities to justice.
https://www.rt.com/russia/620568-ukraine-deliberately-exterminating-civilians-donbass/
Russian woman arrested for leaking military secrets to Ukraine – FSB
26 Jun, 2025 16:15
A Russian woman suspected of treason has been detained in Novorossiysk, a major port city on the Black Sea in southern Russia, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Thursday.
The agency said she gathered and sent information on Russian military assets to Ukrainian intelligence.
The FSB stated that the suspect worked on a civilian vessel in the ports of Novorossiysk and Sochi.
During this time, she allegedly initiated contact with a pro-Ukrainian terrorist group, which the FSB said is controlled by Ukrainian intelligence services.
The woman is accused of collecting details regarding the locations of Russian Navy vessels and air defense sites and sharing them with her Ukrainian handlers.
”No damage was allowed to be inflicted on military equipment or personnel of the Russian Armed Forces due to timely measures taken,” the statement reads.
The FSB’s branch in Krasnodar Region has opened a criminal case under the article for high treason. The woman has been placed in pretrial detention. The offense carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The agency has also shared a video of the woman’s arrest. In the clip, when confronted about passing information about military facilities to a foreign government, she said she “didn’t see anything terrible in it.”
The video also included a recorded confession in which the woman said she was contacted by a representative of Ukrainian intelligence.
“He offered me monetary compensation for cooperation. I agreed. Later, he gave me tasks to collect information about the locations of military facilities in Novorossiysk, Sochi, and Sevastopol,” she said.
The suspect stated that she sent the information to a person named ‘Maxim’ via Telegram and acknowledged her guilt.
In a separate message, the FSB warned that Ukrainian intelligence services are increasingly using Telegram and WhatsApp to recruit Russian citizens for reconnaissance and sabotage activities.
Earlier on Thursday, the Russian security services reported the arrest of another woman in St. Petersburg who has also been charged with collecting data on Russian military personnel on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence and aiding in the organization of an act of terrorism.
The woman allegedly helped establish the residences of Russian servicemen, as well as their vehicles and those of family members “for the purpose of preparing and carrying out terrorist attacks against them,” the FSB said.
The suspect faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
https://www.rt.com/russia/620584-fsb-woman-arrested-novorossiysk/
Russian soldiers returned from Ukrainian captivity – MOD (VIDEO)
26 Jun, 2025 15:22
A group of Russian servicemen has been returned from territories controlled by Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.
The exchange took place in accordance with the agreements reached by Moscow and Kiev in Istanbul earlier this month, the ministry said.
In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the ministry shared a video of the Russian soldiers holding Russian flags and boarding a bus to begin their journey home.
The servicemen are currently in Belarus where they are said to be receiving all the necessary psychological and medical assistance.
They will all later be transported to Russia for further treatment and rehabilitation, the ministry said.
The statement added that a number of Ukrainian prisoners of war were sent back to Ukraine in exchange.
The ministry did not disclose the exact number of troops returned by each side. Kiev also refrained from disclosing any numbers. One source has told RT, however, that the exchange was equal.
Russian Ministry of Defense
Thursday’s swap is the latest in a string of exchanges conducted by Russia and Ukraine since their latest direct talks in Istanbul on June 2.
The previous exchange took place last Friday and another one was conducted the previous day.
The humanitarian exchanges since the June 2 negotiations have also included repatriation of the remains of slain soldiers.
Russia has returned the remains of over 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers and received 57 in return.
https://www.rt.com/russia/620583-russian-soldiers-return-from-captivity/
Ukraine’s economy on brink of collapse – WaPo
26 Jun, 2025 14:04
Ukraine’s economy is teetering on the edge of a complete collapse as it faces the possibility of a drastic decrease in Western aid and fading chances of a ceasefire anytime soon, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing Ukrainian officials and US analysts.
Many Ukrainians had hoped for a swift end to the conflict after US President Donald Trump took office.
However, those expectations have crumbled as his push for a settlement has stalled, threatening to pull down Ukraine’s already fragile economy, the article says.
The Ukrainian economy remains afloat largely due to extensive Western financial backing.
However, officials and analysts interviewed by the paper warn that current aid levels may not be enough to sustain the state in the near future.
According to the Post, the only significant investment initiative in sight is a deal that gives the US priority access to Ukrainian natural resources, but it is still years away from implementation.
Encouraged by Trump’s pledges, private investors initially positioned themselves for a post-conflict reconstruction boom, but the optimism soon soured due to the slow progress towards peace.
“The ceasefire was at the heart of all economic forecasts, that it could come somewhere in mid-2025,” a senior Ukrainian official told WaPo.
“A positive impact on the economy this year is no longer being considered,” he added, noting, though, that 2026 remains a potential turning point.
Last week, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky appealed to Western donors for $40 billion annually in budgetary support.
Western aid is predominantly being used to cover education and social welfare expenses. However, Ukrainian officials told the outlet that next year the mechanism will only cover about half of Kiev’s most urgent needs.
Moreover, Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko warned that even if the conflict ends soon, the government would likely have to cut billions in expenditures, although experts warn that Kiev has little scope to reduce costs in healthcare or education.
In May, Marchenko warned that Ukraine would be unable to repay its foreign creditors in the next 30 years. He added, however, that Kiev intends to continue borrowing. Ukraine's public debt is approaching 100% of GDP.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Ukraine would collapse within weeks without continued Western military and financial support.
https://www.rt.com/russia/620580-ukraine-economy-brink-collapse/
🚀 Ax-4 Travels Below the ISS | 7 Minutes of 4K Footage from Sen
26 June 2025
Watch 4K footage as SpaceX’s Ax-4 Dragon spacecraft travels below the International Space Station before docking, captured by Sen’s ultra-high-definition cameras onboard the ISS on 26 June 2025.
This historic moment marks the debut flight of Axiom Space’s newest Dragon capsule, carrying a pioneering international crew:
🇮🇳 Shubhanshu Shukla – Test pilot, India
🇵🇱 Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski – Mission Specialist, Poland
🇭🇺 Tibor Kapu – Mission Specialist, Hungary
🇺🇸 Peggy Whitson – Commander, USA
Ax-4 is Axiom Space’s fourth private mission to the ISS, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 in partnership with NASA and SpaceX.
📡 Footage captured by Sen – streaming Earth and space in continuous 4K from the ISS. Watch on our channel now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6qgYaonQeA
Explosions Rock Moscow as 50 Drones Target Russian Regions, Vnukovo Flights Diverted
June 26, 2025, 8:56 am
Explosions were heard early Thursday morning, June 26, in Moscow and the surrounding region, as Russian authorities reported a large-scale drone attack.
According to the Russian Telegram channel Mash, blasts were heard in several areas, including Didovsk in the Istrinsky district, Zelenograd, and Moskovskiy in New Moscow.
“In just five minutes, at least five explosions were heard in the sky,” the channel reported.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that air defenses had shot down two drones approaching the city.
In response, operations at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport were temporarily restricted under the “Carpet” plan – a protocol activated during airborne threats.
Five flights were rerouted to Sheremetyevo Airport, Mash added.
Later in the morning, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems had intercepted and destroyed 50 Ukrainian aircraft-type drones in total:
23 over the Kursk region
11 over the Rostov region
6 over the Bryansk region
3 over the Belgorod region
3 over the Moscow region (including the two targeting Moscow)
2 over the occupied Crimea
1 each over Mordovia and the Kaluga region
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, from 10:00 p.m. on June 25 until the morning of June 26, Russian forces launched an attack on Ukraine using 41 Shahed strike drones and various types of simulator UAVs.
The main targets were frontline areas in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
“As of 08:00, air defenses had neutralized 24 enemy Shahed UAVs and other drones across the east, south, and north of the country.
Eight were shot down with firepower, and 16 were suppressed or lost due to electronic warfare,” the report stated.
Hits of Russian attack drones were recorded in seven different locations.
As reported by Kyiv Post on June 25, a Ukrainian drone strike damaged a major Russian defense facility overnight in the city of Taganrog, according to Ukrainian security officials. The facility is reportedly tied to Moscow’s military drone production.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said the explosion struck the Atlant-Aero plant, which he described as an important part of Russia’s military-industrial complex.
According to Kovalenko, the plant manufactures key components for Orion combat drones, as well as electronic warfare systems and control technologies used in FPV strike drones and loitering munitions.
The attack came during a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes overnight, with Russian officials reporting drone activity across several regions, including Rostov, which borders Ukraine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 22 drones over multiple areas, including the occupied Crimean Peninsula, and at least 7 over the Rostov region.
Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar confirmed that the strike caused damage in Taganrog. He reported that two residential buildings, a sports complex, and a school had been affected.
In the nearby city of Azov, a grain storage facility and an industrial site were also reportedly hit.
Drone warfare has become increasingly central in the conflict since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine has concentrated its efforts on targeting Russian military infrastructure, while Moscow continues to carry out widespread drone, missile, and rocket attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, often using Iranian-made Shahed drones in combination with ballistic and cruise missiles.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/55212
https://dronexl.co/2025/06/26/udot-drone-save-utah-red-canyon-arches/
https://udot.utah.gov/connect/2025/06/23/udot-uses-drones-lidar-to-monitor-100-year-old-southern-utah-arches-over-sr-12/
UDOT’s Drone-Powered Mission to Save Utah’s Red Canyon Arches
June 26, 2025
Picture this: two century-old arches, carved from southern Utah‘s red rock, standing proud over State Route 12.
These are the Red Canyon Arches, iconic gateways to what’s now Bryce Canyon National Park. Built in 1925, they’ve welcomed travelers for generations.
But time and nature are tough on even the toughest landmarks. Cracks, erosion, and the rumble of traffic below threaten their future.
Enter the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) with a high-tech rescue plan: drones and LiDAR. This isn’t just cool tech—it’s a lifeline for history.
Drones and LiDAR: A High-Tech Lifeline for Historic Arches
Since 2019, UDOT has been using drones to monitor these arches, ensuring they don’t crumble and endanger drivers on SR-12. The secret sauce? LiDAR, a laser-based tech that creates insanely detailed 3D models.
Drones zip around, snapping thousands of 2D photos and collecting LiDAR data to map every nook and cranny of the arches. This isn’t your average drone hobbyist stuff—this is precision engineering to preserve a piece of Utah’s soul.
RIEGL RiCOPTER-M and DJI Phantom: The Dream Team
UDOT’s drone fleet is no joke. They’re rocking the RIEGL RiCOPTER-M, a beast designed for high-precision LiDAR scanning.
This drone is like the Swiss Army knife of aerial tech—rugged, versatile, and built to handle complex missions like mapping historic structures.
Its LiDAR payload can capture data with pinpoint accuracy, creating 3D models that let engineers spot tiny cracks or shifts in the arches’ structure. It’s the kind of gear that makes drone nerds like us drool.
But wait, there’s more! UDOT’s own images show they’re also flying DJI Phantoms. These trusty workhorses are perfect for quick, agile flights to grab high-res photos.
The Phantom’s compact size and ease of use make it a go-to for capturing those 2D images that feed into the 3D modeling process.
It’s like pairing a sniper rifle (the RiCOPTER-M) with a reliable sidearm (the Phantom). Together, they’re collecting data that’s saving these arches from collapse.
This combo is genius. The RiCOPTER-M’s LiDAR scans give UDOT a detailed blueprint of the arches’ health, while the Phantom’s photos add visual context.
Engineers can track erosion, monitor cracks, and even predict how the arches will hold up against southern Utah’s harsh weather. It’s like giving these 100-year-old structures a high-tech doctor’s checkup.
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Why This Matters for Drone Pilots and Utah’s Future
So, why should you care? If you’re a drone pilot, this project is a masterclass in what our machines can do beyond epic landscape shots. UDOT’s work shows drones aren’t just toys—they’re tools for preserving history and keeping roads safe.
The Red Canyon Arches aren’t just pretty; they’re a symbol of Utah’s heritage. If they fall, it’s not just a loss of rock—it’s a loss of identity. Plus, falling debris on SR-12 could spell disaster for drivers. UDOT’s drone program is making sure that doesn’t happen.
This project also highlights how far drone tech has come. LiDAR used to be clunky and expensive, reserved for big-budget surveys.
Now, drones like the RiCOPTER-M, the Matrice 400, or even the DJI Zenmuse make it accessible, accurate, and efficient.
UDOT’s been at this since 2019, and they’re planning to install new sensors in fall 2025 to keep the data flowing. That’s forward-thinking.
It’s not just about saving the arches—it’s about proving drones can tackle real-world challenges.
As a pilot, I can’t help but geek out over the tech. Flying a Phantom over Utah’s red rock canyons?
That’s a dream gig. But imagining the RiCOPTER-M’s LiDAR slicing through the air, mapping every crack in those arches?
That’s next-level. It’s the kind of work that makes you proud to be part of the drone community.
A Pilot’s Take: my two cents on Utah’s Red Rock
Let me get personal for a sec. As an Ecuadorian UAV pilot and videographer, I’ve flown over volcanoes, jungles, and coastal cliffs.
But there’s something about Utah’s red rock that feels like home. Maybe it’s the rugged beauty or the way the landscape demands respect.
Seeing UDOT use drones to protect the Red Canyon Arches hits me right in the heart. It’s not just about tech—it’s about preserving a place that tells a story.
Back in Ecuador, I’ve seen how drones can map archaeological sites or monitor fragile ecosystems. UDOT’s project feels like a cousin to that—using cutting-edge tools to protect something timeless.
For you pilots out there, this is a call to action. Get inspired. Learn about LiDAR. Experiment with your Mavic, even a Mini can do photogrametry; or whatever rig you’ve got.
The tech UDOT’s using isn’t just for engineers—it’s for anyone who wants to push what drones can do. Next time you’re flying, think about how your skills could save a piece of history. Or at least, capture some killer footage of it.
So, here’s to UDOT, the Red Canyon Arches, and the drones keeping them standing tall. Let’s keep flying high, amigos. The sky’s not the limit—it’s just the start.
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Mystery deepens in Iraq after kamikaze drones strike radars - analysis
Updated: JUNE 26, 2025 16:46
Iraq’s authorities appear to be trying to downplay an incident that took place overnight between June 23 and 24 when several drones struck radar installations at key bases in Iraq.
The initial reports in Iraq said that drones had hit Camp Taji, a massive military base north of Baghdad. Another drone had struck a base called Imam Ali near Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.
Shafaq News in Iraq reported on June 25 that “on Wednesday, Iraqi authorities arrested activist Abbas al-Ardawi over a social media post alleging that Iraqi radar systems supported Israeli strikes on Iran.
Al-Ardawi, a commentator with over 90,000 followers on X and known for backing pro-Tehran factions, claimed in a now-deleted post that radar at the Taji base had assisted Israeli operations.”
Why is Iraq seeking to silence a commentator who is pro-Iranian? Iraq’s authorities are generally close to Iran.
Did the sensitivities of the recent Israel-Iran clashes between June 13 and June 24 lead Baghdad to crack down? Or did Ardawi say too much?
What is known about the drone attacks?
According to an article at The Long War Journal, “unknown actors, strongly thought to be Iran-backed Shiite militias, launched attacks on US and Iraqi bases throughout Iraq.”
The report went on to note that “Sabah al Numan, the military spokesman for Iraq’s prime minister, acknowledged the attacks in a statement released on the prime minister’s official X account.
‘Several small suicide drones targeted multiple Iraqi military sites and bases,’ Numan said. ‘The assault severely damaged radar systems at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, and Imam Ali Base in Dhi Qar Province. No human casualties were reported.’”
The LWJ report is interesting because it says, “According to Iraqi military sources speaking to Asharq al Awsat, the attack on Camp Taji destroyed a TPS77 long-range air radar.
At the Imam Ali Base, the drones struck an AN/TPQ36 mobile, short-range radar.” Iraqi forces supposedly were able to intercept drone attacks on four other places.
The drones were downed in some manner. “All of the targeted locations are exclusively military facilities under the control of the Iraqi security forces,” Numan had said. Iraq’s Prime Minister has also reportedly created a committee to look into the attacks.
The sites that were attacked include several airbases, including Camp Taji, Imam Ali, and Balad air base. The US used to have personnel at these sites, but most Americans redeployed from these bases in 2020 after a number of attacks by pro-Iranian militias.
The militias are familiar with the bases. However, the use of precision attack drones to hit radar installations indicates not only precision and planning, but also a desire to take out radars. Why would the pro-Iranian militias want to get rid of the radar installations.
Is it because they think the data is shared with US Central Command, and they know Israel is now a part of CENTCOM? Is it because they want to fly drones over Iraq with impunity, and they don’t want Iraq to know?
In the past, the militias have used drones to attack Israel. Kataib Hezbollah, one of the militias, even targeted Jordan in January 2024, killing three American service members. They have also targeted the Kurdistan autonomous region.
The story of the arrest of Ardawi presents a new piece of the puzzle.
“The Defense Ministry, responsible for his arrest, characterized al-Ardawi's statement as incitement, accusing him of defaming the security establishment and spreading unsupported allegations,” Shafaq noted.
“It stated that while freedom of expression is legally protected, it does not cover content that incites unrest or circulates baseless claims, particularly during periods of heightened regional tension, and urged media professionals and online users to act responsibly in their public messaging.”
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-859141
“Wild Hornets” flew into the stratosphere: a drone operating at an altitude of 11 km appeared in Ukraine
14:55 June 26, 2025
The Ukrainian group “Wild Hornets” has developed an interceptor drone capable of flying at an altitude of 11 kilometers.
“Wild Hornets” reported this on social networks. They posted a video of a drone flying at high altitude.
The fact that the drone can fly so high expands Ukraine’s capabilities in combating large Russian drones that conduct reconnaissance or strike at unreachable altitudes.
“11 km – at such altitudes airliners and Wild Hornets drones fly,” the developers noted.
The exact characteristics and appearance of the new high-altitude interceptor drone are not being disclosed for security reasons.
The developers note that the drone has not yet been codified by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Osint analyst Osinttechnical found out from the released footage that the drone flight took place over the Kherson region.
Recall that Sweden will finance the production of Ukrainian long-range drones based on the “Danish model.”
As reported, the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine showed which drones the Ukrainian military uses to attack military facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation that are located at long distances.
https://prm.ua/en/wild-hornets-flew-into-the-stratosphere-a-drone-operating-at-an-altitude-of-11-km-appeared-in-ukraine/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA-0LGbNCX4
France says it intercepted drones targeting Israel during Iran war
June 26, 2025, 1:42 pm
PARIS — France’s military took part in efforts to stop Iranian drones targeting Israel prior to this week’s ceasefire, the country’s defense minister Sebastien Lecornu said late on Wednesday.
“I can confirm that the French army intercepted fewer than 10 drones in the last few days during the different military operations conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Israel, either by ground-to-air systems or via our Rafale fighter jets,” Lecornu said during a parliamentary debate on the situation in the Middle East.
Early in the war, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France could help defend Israel against an attack from Iran “if in a position to do so.”
Iran, meanwhile, had threatened to retaliate against US, UK, and French bases in the Middle East if they helped stop strikes on Israel, though it did not carry out that threat.
Iran launched some 550 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel during the war, according to the IDF.
The vast majority of the drones, which are slower-moving but harder to track than missiles, failed to even make it to Israel’s borders.
Just one drone hit a populated area, a home in the northern town of Beit She’an, causing heavy damage but no injuries.
Most of the missiles were intercepted by Israeli and American air defenses at an interception rate of around 90 percent, similar to the rate in Iran’s April and October 2024 attacks on Israel.
At least 31 ballistic missile impacts were reported in populated areas or critical infrastructure sites, including a power station in southern Israel, an oil refinery in Haifa, a university in central Israel and a hospital in Beersheba. Dozens of other missiles struck open areas, without causing significant damage.
Israel has said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program, launched on June 13, was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel says it has recently taken steps toward weaponization.
Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel during the 12 days of war claimed the lives of 28 people — all but one of them civilians — and wounded over 3,000 people. A US-brokered ceasefire began on Tuesday, ending the fighting.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/france-says-it-intercepted-drones-targeting-israel-during-iran-war/
Israeli drone strike targets Bobcat vehicle in South Lebanon, causes several injuries
26-06-2025 | 03:47
A drone strike hit a Bobcat vehicle at the Baraachit–Chaqra junction in the Bint Jbeil district on Thursday, causing several injuries.
https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/lebanon-news/863910/israeli-drone-strike-targets-bobcat-vehicle-in-south-lebanon-causes-se/en