TYB
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-space-weather-drill-simulates-carrington.html
Space weather drill simulates Carrington-level solar storm, challenging satellite safety and mission control response
October 24, 2025
No communication or navigation, faulty electronics and collision risk. At ESA's mission control in Darmstadt, teams faced a scenario unlike any before: a solar storm of extreme magnitude.
Fortunately, this nightmare unfolded not in reality, but as part of the simulation campaign for Sentinel-1D, pushing the boundaries of spacecraft operations and space weather preparedness.
Before every ESA launch, mission teams undergo a rigorous simulation phase which rehearses the first moments of a satellite in space, while preparing mission control for any anomaly.
Since mid-September, teams at ESA's European Space Operations Center (ESOC), in Darmstadt, Germany, have been immersed in simulations for Sentinel-1D, scheduled for launch on 4 November 2025.
To model one of the most extreme scenarios, simulation officers drew inspiration from the infamous Carrington event of 1859, the strongest geomagnetic storm ever recorded.
The exercise replicated the effects of a catastrophic solar storm on satellite operations to test the team's ability to respond without satellite navigation and under severe electronic disruption.
"Should such an event occur, there are no good solutions. The goal would be to keep the satellite safe and limit the damage as much as possible," says Thomas Ormston, Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager for Sentinel-1D.
This campaign included a rare activation by ESA's Space Weather Office of its Space Safety Center, inaugurated in 2022 as part of ESA's growing commitment to space safety.
ESA's Space Debris Office and the spacecraft operation managers of other ESA Earth-orbiting missions also joined the exercise to enhance realism, simulating cross-mission impacts and coordination.
This dazzling solar flare was captured by the ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission on 30 September 2024. Credit: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI Team
Getting hit by a rogue wave
The time is 22:20 and everything is going according to plan. After a successful launch and separation, mission control awaits satellite signal acquisition. Minutes later, a noisy transmission reaches mission control. Something is off.
The spacecraft, along with others in orbit, has been hit by a solar flare. Traveling at the speed of light, this electromagnetic wave has reached our planet only eight minutes after erupting from the sun.
The simulation team has modeled a massive, X45-class flare, with intense X-ray and ultraviolet radiation disrupting radar systems, communications, and tracking data.
Galileo and GPS navigation functionalities are now offline, while ground stations, especially in polar regions, have lost tracking capabilities due to peak radiation levels.
Moments later, Earth is hit by a second wave, this time composed of high-energy particles, including protons, electrons, and alpha particles.
These particles, accelerated to near-light speeds, have taken 10 to 20 minutes to reach our planet, and are starting to disturb onboard electronics with bit flips and potential permanent failures.
"The solar flare took team members by surprise. But once they regained composure, they knew a countdown had begun. In the next 10 to 18 hours, a coronal mass ejection would strike, and they had to brace for it," says Gustavo Baldo Carvalho, Lead Simulation Officer of Sentinel-1D.
Riding the CME
Fifteen hours after the solar flare, the third and most destructive phase started: a massive coronal mass ejection—hot plasma of charged particles—traveling at speeds of up to 2,000 km/s struck Earth and triggered a catastrophic geomagnetic storm.
On the ground, beautiful auroras were visible as far south as Sicily while the storm collapsed the electric grid and provoked damaging surges of electrical current in long metallic structures such as power lines and pipelines.
1/2
2/2
In space, satellites struggled as well. The storm caused Earth's atmosphere to swell, increasing satellite drag in low-Earth orbit and pushing them out of their usual trajectories. Mission controllers faced multiple collision warnings with space debris and other spacecraft.
"Should such a storm occur, satellite drag could increase by 400% with local peaks in atmospheric density. This not only affects collision risks but also shortens satellite lifetimes due to increased fuel consumption to compensate for the orbit decay," says Jorge Amaya, Space Weather Modeling Coordinator at ESA.
"An event of such magnitude would severely degrade the quality of conjunction data, making collision predictions increasingly difficult to interpret as probabilities shift rapidly.
In this context, decision-making becomes a delicate balance under significant uncertainties, where an avoidance maneuver to reduce the risk of one potential collision could slightly increase the risk of another," explains Jan Siminski, from the ESA Space Debris Office.
Radiation levels also surged, damaging electronics and materials. Single-event upsets became even more frequent, impairing systems and shortening operational life. GNSS signals degraded further, star trackers went blind and battery charging events added to the chaos.
"The immense flow of energy ejected by the sun may cause damage to all our satellites in orbit.
Satellites in low-Earth orbit are typically better protected by our atmosphere and our magnetic field from space hazards, but an explosion of the magnitude of the Carrington event would leave no spacecraft safe," says Jorge.
Halloween 2003 will live forever in the annals of solar history. In the space of two weeks centred around the spooky celebration, solar physicists witnessed the most sustained bout of solar activity since satellites took to the skies. Credit: ESA/NASA
Training for the 'big one'
"This exercise has been an opportunity to expand a simulation training campaign and involve many other stakeholders across ESOC, covering all types of missions and operational parties.
Conducting it in a controlled environment gave us valuable insights into how we could better plan, approach and react when such an event occurs. The key takeaway is that it's not a question of if this will happen but when," says Gustavo.
ESA's Space Safety Center played a central role in the exercise and is a key asset in Europe's preparedness for extreme solar storms.
The simulation will provide critical insights for the constitution of European-wide space weather operational services, helping refine procedures and improve resilience.
"Simulating the impact of such an event is similar to predicting the effects of a pandemic: we will feel its real effect on our society only after the event, but we must be ready and have plans in place to react in a moment's notice.
This exercise was the first opportunity to address such a major event and to include the reaction of the ESA Space Weather Office into the established ESA operations," says Jorge.
"The scale and variety of the impacts pushed us and our systems to the limit, but the team mastered the challenge and that taught us that if we can manage that we can manage any real-life contingency," concludes Thomas.
Infrastructure for the future
Beyond testing space weather resilience in operations, simulations like this highlight the urgent need to improve European ability to forecast space weather events.
ESA's Space Safety program is developing the Distributed Space Weather Sensor System (D3S). This series of space weather satellites and hosted payloads will monitor different space weather parameters around Earth and provide an unmatched source of data, ready to protect Europe's citizens and critical infrastructure.
Further from Earth, ESA's Vigil mission will pioneer a revolutionary approach by observing the "side" of the sun from Lagrange Point 5, unlocking continuous insights into solar activity.
To be launched in 2031, Vigil will detect potentially hazardous solar events before they come into view as seen from Earth, giving us advance knowledge of its specificities and offering invaluable time to protect spacecraft and ground infrastructure.
2/2
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/cosmic-black-swan-trojan-horse-harvard-scientists-shocking-warning-about-3i-atlas-1749924
https://x.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/1981769075706802329
https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/two-spacecraft-will-pass-right-through-comet-3i-atlas-tail
https://www.ladbible.com/news/science/3iatlas-comet-aliens-space-ufo-latest-643772-20251024
https://eadaily.com/en/news/2025/10/25/interstellar-object-3iatlas-can-make-an-obert-maneuver
https://www.ufonews.co/post/3i-atlas-encounter-imminent-with-space-probes
https://www.ufonews.co/post/3i-atlas-timing-is-too-perfect-to-be-coincidence-latest-update
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/baba-vanga-alien-prediction-2025-interstellar-object-3i/atlas-sparks-debate-among-physicists-and-space-researchers/articleshow/124802415.cms
https://www.space.com/astronomy/comets/comet-3i-atlas-blasts-a-jet-towards-the-sun-in-new-telescope-image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5leKSMyF_4 (Dobsonian Power: NEW NASA PICTURES OF 3I/ATLAS! Oct 25, 2025)
A Cosmic 'Black Swan' or Trojan Horse? Harvard Scientist's Shocking Warning About 3I/ATLAS
24 October 2025, 9:19 PM BST
Is it a harmless visitor from another star, or something far more sinister disguised as a natural phenomenon?
The debate surrounding the Manhattan-sized interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has taken a dark turn, with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb issuing a stark warning:
we must consider the possibility that this cosmic traveller is an extraterrestrial 'Trojan horse,' a 'black swan event' whose arrival could have profound implications for humanity.
Loeb's alarming assessment comes just days after the NASA-backed International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) initiated an emergency monitoring campaign in response to the object's increasingly bizarre behaviour.
While official statements maintain there is no threat, Loeb argues that the object's sheer scale and unpredictable nature demand a level of vigilance and even defence planning that goes far beyond scientific curiosity.
The Immense Scale of 3I/ATLAS: A Thousand Times More Massive
Professor Loeb, who has maintained from the object's July discovery that an alien origin should not be ruled out, detailed his concerns on 'Elizabeth Vargas Reports.'
His primary worry lies in the staggering size of 3I/ATLAS. Based on data from the James Webb Space Telescope, he infers the object could weigh an astonishing 33 billion tonnes
'It's at least a thousand times more massive than the previous interstellar objects we've seen', the astrophysicist declared.
'And the question is, why is such a giant object delivered to our inner solar system, when we saw only small ones before?'
This statistical anomaly, finding such a colossal visitor so early in our search for interstellar objects, is a key piece of evidence fueling Loeb's unease.
A Cosmic 'Black Swan' or Trojan Horse? Loeb's Warning About 3I/ATLAS
Loeb urged the international community to consider 3I/ATLAS as a potential 'black swan event.' This term describes a high-impact occurrence that is difficult to predict but seems inevitable in hindsight.
He fears the object might appear 'natural at first' but could ultimately reveal itself to be something entirely different, 'like a Trojan Horse.'
1/2
To illustrate the uncertainty, Loeb used a striking analogy. He compared humanity's encounter with 3I/ATLAS to a 'blind date.'
'You often assume that the dating partner would be very friendly,' he explained, 'but you have to worry about serial killers, as well.'
This stark comparison underscores his belief that we cannot simply assume benign intentions from an unknown entity arriving from interstellar space.
The Anomalous Behaviour Fuelling Fears About 3I/ATLAS
Loeb's concerns are rooted in a growing list of anomalies that defy easy explanation within conventional cometary science. These include:
The Anti-Tail: For months, the object displayed a jet of particles pointing towards the Sun, the opposite of a normal comet tail.
Strange Emissions: It was observed venting a plume containing four grams of nickel per second, with no corresponding iron. The specific compound suggested, nickel tetracarbonyl, is primarily known from industrial manufacturing on Earth.
Non-Gravitational Acceleration: The object appears to be deviating from a purely gravity-dictated path, suggesting some other force is acting upon it.
Suspicious Trajectory: Its path brings it unusually close to Jupiter, Venus, and Mars, raising questions about potential 'fine-tuning' or reconnaissance.
In a provocative paper published in July, Loeb explored the hypothesis that 3I/ATLAS could be an active, intelligent alien probe, potentially with malign intentions.
While NASA's official stance remains that the object poses no threat, the IAWN's activation of a monitoring campaign acknowledges the unprecedented nature of the situation.
The campaign, running from November 27, 2025, through January 27, 2026, aims to refine tracking methods specifically for this object.
The Approaching Test for 3I/ATLAS
Currently, 3I/ATLAS is just days away from its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion on October 29), after which it will temporarily slip out of view. Loeb believes this could be a critical moment.
If the object uses the Sun's gravity for a slingshot manoeuvre to change speed or trajectory in a non-gravitational way, it would strongly support the artificial origin theory.
'If 3I/ATLAS is a massive mothership, it will likely continue along its original gravitational path and ultimately exit the Solar system,' Loeb shared in a recent Sunday blog post.
The coming weeks promise to be pivotal in unravelling the true nature of this enigmatic visitor
2/2
International Attention on 3I/Atlas goes into High Gear
Oct 25, 2025
Exopolitics Week in Review
00:00:00 – Topics
00:01:25 – Welcome Introduction
00:02:00 – JP (US Army ret.) describes in detail his medbed experience at a hidden facility at Eglin AFB in Oct 2025. https://t.co/F8yhmcnSNY
00:03:24 – Former NRO operative blew the whistle in 2001 regarding Satanists controlling UFO Programs https://exopolitics.org/former-nro-operative-blew-the-whistle-in-2001-regarding-satanists-controlling-ufo-programs/
00:06:10 – An Oct 17, 2025, report released by Dr. Steven Greer on the BUGA Sphere dated it to be 12,560 years old. https://t.co/qh7fdu4n1G
00:07:36 – Prof Avi Loeb points out that the highest resolution photos of 3I/Atlas have still not been released by NASA, and that no international protocols exist in case a black swan event occurs. https://x.com/maniaUFO/status/1979789019061039457
00:08:54 – Very happy to announce the release of 20th Anniversary Edition of Exopolitics: Political Implications of the Extraterrestrial Presence. https://t.co/yeiEcNEZSx
00:13:03 – Excellent update by Cristina Gomez on 3I/Atlas and preliminary evidence from two observatories that it is transmitting the Fibonacci sequence. https://t.co/fLxfGxqluA
00:14:39 – Global Revolution will lead to Apocalyptic Disclosures on Inner Earth, Giants & UFOs https://t.co/OO9Wmu4TbV
00:14:54 – A notice was issued to the world’s astronomical community concerning the start of an international campaign to track 3I Atlas from Nov 27 through to Jan 26. https://t.co/hMXOpYHxwh
00:16:23 – NASA Quietly Activates Planetary Defense Network for 3I/ATLAS Without Saying a Word https://x.com/UAPWatchers/status/1980765776006013243
00:17:01 – Two peer reviewed scientific papers analyze astronomical data from 1952 showing a line of up to five UFOs in Earth orbit. https://t.co/Kw5sgLfiae
00:18:42 – Past Life Memories and Ancient Space Arks – Starseed Revelations 3 https://t.co/PeuMW3MzaR
00:21:14 – Stefan Burns does an excellent job in analyzing the powerful solar reaction to 3I Atlas in terms of massive CMEs https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1981714966596968646
00:23:40 – New York Post article discusses the International Asteroid Warning Network launching an emergency defense alert (probe) https://t.co/FUmcPDLWlH
00:25:52 – Disclosure Truth Apocalypse Coming Webinar is Today! https://www.crowdcast.io/c/disclosuretruthapocalypse
https://exopolitics.org/international-attention-on-3i-atlas-goes-into-high-gear/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoTGv1zUxFQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3FpgvizYrc (Stefan Burns: 3I/ATLAS's Orbit UNCHANGED by Massive Ongoing Solar Explosions 💥 Latest Breaking Updates Oct 24, 2025)
https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49xYpHw3L5E (JP's MEDBED full experience Oct 18, 2025)
A New Galileo Project Observatory is Celebrated on the Joe Rogan Experience and NASCAR
October 24, 2025
In September, 2024, two distinguished visitors showed up at the front door of my home.
They were Jim Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of the Madison Square Garden enterprises, accompanied by Jane Rosenthal, CEO and executive chair of Tribeca Enterprises.
They made an offer that I couldn’t refuse: build a state-of-the art Galileo Project Observatory on top of Sphere in Las Vegas.
Sphere is an entertainment arena funded at a construction cost of 2.3 billion dollars.
The venue seats 17,600 people and has unprecedented immersive video and audio capabilities, including a set of LED displays totaling 16,000 by 16,000 pixels over a full hemisphere (but still short by a factor of 13 from the 3.2 gigapixels imaged by the Rubin Observatory camera in Chile), speakers with beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies and shaking seats.
The venue’s exterior features an exosphere with 54,000 square meters of LED displays, making it the largest screen in the world. Sphere measures 112 meters high and 157 meters wide.
Sphere opened to the public on September 29, 2023, a year before Jim and Jane visited my home.
The venue was inaugurated with a performance by the Irish rock band U2 and most recently featured a unique screening of an immersive 4D version of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
Just as the AI production of The Wizard of Oz started screening at the end of September 2025, the Galileo research team, led by Ezra Kelderman, Alex Delacroix, Lily Kuan and Eric Masson, completed the installation of all-sky camera arrays in the infrared and visible bands on top of Sphere. The arrays were placed at the highest point above the LED displays of the exosphere and appear from above as a freckle on top of the perfect outer skin of Sphere.
During the installation process, I had the privilege of climbing all the way up to the top of Sphere with Galileo team members for the installation of the Galileo Observatory.
The experience was exhilarating. I told my team members: “If you can make it to the top of Sphere, you’ll make it anywhere.”
In addition to the observatory on top of Sphere, the Galileo team installed two other copies of it located 10 kilometers away — at the two corners of the base of a triangle.
Operating the three observatory units simultaneously provides images of objects in the sky from different directions, enabling them to measure their distance, velocity and acceleration through the method of triangulation.
Using machine learning algorithms, the data analysis team of the Galileo Project will search for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) which lie outside the performance envelopes of human made technologies, such as drones, helicopters, airplanes or satellites.
We hope to analyze exquisite data on a few million objects per year in search of UAPs over Las Vegas. One thing is clear: “What happens over the sky of Vegas, will not stay in Vegas.”
On October 24, 2025, I publicly announced the Galileo observatory on top of Sphere at the Joe Rogan Experience podcast (soon accessible on YouTube and Spotify).
Tomorrow, October 25, 2025, I will be attending the NASCAR car race at the Kevin Harvick Speedway in Bakersfield, California, where the racer Alex Malycke features the Galileo Project, 3I/ATLAS, and my image on his race car.
Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to drive this car with a suit and helmet at the practice before the race.
In academia, I often feel like attending a race in which the participants misbehave. Under these circumstances, I can only hope for a new guest who will improve the situation.
Here’s hoping that the Galileo Project Observatory on Sphere will spot an extraterrestrial guest of higher intelligence than displayed in terrestrial academia.
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/a-new-galileo-project-observatory-is-celebrated-on-the-joe-rogan-experience-and-nascar-633292917fb4
https://www.youtube.com/@joerogan
Sullivan, Schiff Introduce DOE–NASA Research Bill Strengthening U.S. Energy and Space Innovation
10.24.25
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) yesterday introduced the DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act to strengthen collaboration between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The bill encourages both agencies to share research, technology, and data—an effort designed to accelerate American innovation in science, energy, and space exploration.
“Alaska is where space and energy meet,” Senator Sullivan said. “We’re home to world-class launch facilities in Kodiak and leading micro-grid research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks—some of the most advanced in the country.
This bill helps ensure our state’s scientists, engineers, and students are part of the national mission to explore, innovate, and power the future. The Department of Energy brings unmatched research labs and supercomputing capabilities.
NASA brings world-leading space expertise. When they work together, it’s good for America—and it’s great for Alaska. I want to thank Rep. Begich for leading this effort in the House and look forward to working with Senator Schiff and our colleagues in the Senate to pass this legislation.”
“The partnership between the DOE and NASA is essential for the future development of scientific and energy innovations,” Senator Schiff said. “
I am proud to join Senator Sullivan and Representatives Begich and Whitesides in ensuring both agencies can collaborate to promote and contribute to a variety of programs, including wildfire mitigation — something that is critical to communities in California.”
The legislation authorizes DOE and NASA to formalize their partnership and focus on joint research in areas such as advanced computing, energy storage, materials science, and space-based observation.
Representatives Nick Begich (R-Alaska) and George Whitesides (D-Calif.) introduced companion legislation in the House.
https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-schiff-introduce-doenasa-research-bill-strengthening-us-energy-and-space-innovation
https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr1368/BILLS-119hr1368rfs.pdf
NASA’s Webb finds ‘moon factory’ beyond solar system
Updated on: 25 October,2025 10:54 AM IST
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first direct look at material within a disk encircling a massive exoplanet more than 625 light-years from Earth.
This carbon-rich disk may serve as a kind of workshop where moons take shape. Because moons are thought to outnumber planets across our galaxy, and some could even host life, studying how they form is key to understanding planetary systems as a whole.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made the first direct measurements of the chemical makeup and physical conditions inside a possible moon-forming disk surrounding a massive exoplanet.
This carbon-rich disk, found around the planet known as ‘CT Cha b’ about 625 light-years from Earth, could be a birthplace for new moons, although none were detected in the current Webb observations.
Watching how planets and moons form is essential to understanding how planetary systems evolve throughout the galaxy. Scientists believe moons may be far more common than planets, and some could even offer conditions suitable for life.
Only now, with advanced observatories like Webb, are researchers beginning to directly observe these early stages of formation.
400
No. of known moons in our solar system
https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/nasas-webb-finds-moon-factory-beyond-solar-system-23600109
'Unseen photos' from space restored after years lying hidden in NASA vault
Friday 24 October 2025 at 8:06pm
A set of 'unseen' images taken from some of the first manned missions into space have been restored after being locked in a NASA vault in Houston.
The photographs, including the first ever selfie taken in space by Buzz Aldrin, have been digitally remastered and made public in a new exhibition at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire.
It's the painstaking work of Andy Saunders - regarded as one of the world's foremost experts in digitally restoring NASA images.
The photographs taken from footage of the Gemini and Mercury space missions have been restored using various state of the art enhancement techniques.
Saunders, from Culcheth in Cheshire, said "It almost feels like archaeology - like brushing the dust off an ancient artefact and revealing something that we've never seen before, even back in the day.
"This film was locked away in this frozen vault in Houston for half a century.
"Now we have access and can get back to the original film - these high resolution scans. Just applying some time and some digital processing to reveal what was always inherent in that film, which we can now do."
Mr Saunders, already a best-selling author detailing the Apollo missions, used scans from the original NASA films, as well as stacking techniques, to remaster the images for a new book about the Mercury and Gemini missions.
Project Mercury, was the first human spaceflight programme of the United States, running from 1958 to 1963. Its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Union.
Project Gemini, which ran from 1964 to 1966, aimed to test equipment and train astronauts and ground crew for the future Apollo missions.
The images have been described as 'deeply personal' photographs, detailing what are often the forgotten missions into space in the early 1960s.
"What went on these missions is probably more impressive than perhaps the moon landings - certainly in terms of the pace of development and the techniques they were proving.
"Could we keep people in space alive long enough for a trip to the moon and back? Can we exist outside a spacecraft? Can you eat in space?"
The exhibition and accompanying book 'Gemini and Mercury Remastered', are not just about beautiful imagery, they also tell the story of bravery and ingenuity shown by the very first astronauts in space.
"The human drama that unfolded during these missions was just incredible. "We can now climb on board these tiny spacecraft and see these pioneers as never before.
"We can see their anticipation before launch; we can see exhaustion; their focus; their hands on the controls; earth reflected in the visors; their awe and wonder as they look out of the window at these incredible things that no-one had seen before.
"So to see the people and comprehend the risk I think is what people will be surprised about."
https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2025-10-24/unseen-photos-from-space-restored-after-years-lying-hidden-in-nasa-vault
https://www.jodrellbank.net/
https://x.com/1940Andy
Satellite photos show White House East Wing demolished to make way for Trump ballroom
October 24, 2025
A satellite image captures the demolition of the historic East Wing of the White House in order to make room for a planned new ballroom.
The image was taken by Planet's SkySat satellite constellation on Oct. 23, 2025 from high above the White House in Washington, D.C.
It shows the East Wing of the White House reduced to a pile of rubble as construction continues on the new Trump ballroom, a planned 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) event space that will have room for over 900 guests.
When complete, the ballroom will be nearly twice the size of the White House itself. The addition will cost $300 million, according to the Associated Press.
President Trump issued a statement via social media that says the ballroom is "being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies," as well as by the President himself.
According to a list provided by the White House, donors include a number of individual donors as well as corporations such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Lockheed Martin, who manufacture the Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis program.
The construction has faced criticism from groups such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit organization devoted to preserving historic buildings and locations within the United States.
In a letter published Oct. 22, Carol Quillen, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Trust, urged the Trump Administration and the U.S. National Park Service to stop the demolition until the administration's plans could go through the "legally required public review processes."
Quillen also wrote that the National Trust is "deeply concerned that the massing and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself" and "may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, and lower, East and West Wings."
The East Wing of the White House was built in 1902 by President Theodore Roosevelt as a formal entrance for guests and visitors.
It was later expanded in 1942 under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration in order to conceal the construction of an emergency bunker. A small movie theater was added that same year.
In the 1930s, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt began using the East Wing to host guests, according to the New York Times, beginning a long tradition of the first ladies using the wing for official functions and their own offices.
First Lady Melania Trump has yet to issue a statement on the East Wing's demolition, and has declined requests for comment from media outlets.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/satellite-photos-show-white-house-east-wing-demolished-to-make-way-for-trump-ballroom
Dr. Avi Loeb to Newsmax: Schumer Shutdown Reaches Space
Saturday, 25 October 2025 11:11 AM EDT
Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Avi Loeb warned on Newsmax on Saturday that the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer-led government shutdown is now obstructing NASA's release of key imagery from a mysterious interstellar object, 3I-Atlas, calling the delay "terrestrial stupidity" rather than evidence of extraterrestrial secrecy.
The Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University Center for Astrophysics, Loeb, appeared on "America Right Now," where he said the latest clash in Washington has now reached into deep space.
Loeb described an unexplained object traveling through the solar system that has stunned scientists with what he called an extremely improbable flight path.
"Its trajectory is aligned with the plane of the planets around the sun, the so-called ecliptic plane," he said. "And the chance of that happening at random is 1 in 500. So the question arises as to whether its trajectory was designed by some intelligence.
"And it's coming very close to several planets, including Mars on October 2nd [in 2025] and then Jupiter on March 16th, 2026.
So the question is, is it planning to not only probe these planets, but perhaps even release probes that will visit the Earth? Or maybe it will maneuver when it comes closest to the sun on October 29th."
The Harvard scientist said that while NASA has already released Hubble and Webb imagery, the most critical photo captured by a government craft is now sitting unseen by the public.
"Well, we did see images from the Hubble Space Telescope, from the Webb telescope. So, NASA did release images in the past, but the best image is yet to come," Loeb explained.
"It was obtained on October 2nd, when the object was 30,000,000 kilometers away from Mars, and the high-res[olution] camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the very sharpest image of it with 30 kilometers resolution per pixel.
"And we really want to see that image. However, the claim is that because of the government shutdown, we are not able to see it. And it's already [been] three weeks since the image was taken.
"So I tend to assign this delay with rather than with extraterrestrial intelligence, with terrestrial stupidity. I mean, it's just the government shutdown."
Loeb said the timeline ahead is crucial and fast approaching.
"And a week later, there will be a mission that was launched by the European Space Agency called Juice that will be able to observe it.
And then on December 19th, 2025, that's just one week before Christmas, the object will come closest to Earth, and then we should get the best image from Earth of that object," he said.
"Finally, on March 16th, 2026, it will come closest to Mars. And there we have a spacecraft called Juno that hopefully will not only image it, but could use its radio antenna to try and detect maybe a radio signal from it."
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/avi-loeb-shutdown-nasa/2025/10/25/id/1231835/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uep2aQPB10I
Watch Japan's advanced new cargo spacecraft launch to the ISS for the 1st time today
October 25, 2025
Japan's new HTV-X cargo spacecraft will launch on its first-ever mission to the International Space Station today (Oct. 25), and you can watch the action live.
The robotic HTV-X is scheduled to lift off atop an H3 rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center today at around 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT and 9 a.m local Japan time on Oct. 26).
You can watch the launch live here at Space.com, courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), or directly via the agency. Coverage will begin about an hour before liftoff.
The HTV-X is the successor to JAXA's H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), also known as Kounotori (Japanese for "White Stork"), which flew nine missions to the International Space Station (ISS) between September 2009 and May 2020.
At 26.2 feet (8 meters) long, the new freighter is about 4 feet (1.2 m) shorter than its predecessor, but it can loft roughly the same payload mass to low Earth orbit (about 13,200 pounds, or 6,000 kilograms). The HTV-X also offers other advantages.
"HTV-X enhances transportation capabilities and adds the capability to provide various users with on-orbit demonstration opportunities for up to 1.5 years after leaving ISS until reentry," Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which builds the HTV-X for JAXA, wrote in a description of the vehicle.
The HTV-X's potential uses also extend beyond the ISS, according to JAXA.
The agency envisions it aiding "post-ISS human space activities in low Earth orbit" as well as possibly flying cargo to Gateway, the space station NASA may build in lunar orbit as part of its Artemis program.
HTV-X's debut will increase the stable of ISS cargo craft by one-third.
The currently operational freighters are Russia's Progress vehicle and Cygnus and Dragon, spacecraft built by the American companies Northrop Grumman and SpaceX, respectively.
Only Dragon is reusable; the others (including HTV-X) are designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere when their missions are over.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/watch-japans-advanced-new-cargo-spacecraft-launch-to-the-iss-for-the-1st-time-today
https://www.mhi.com/products/space/htv_x.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBEq84QrSEA
Fomalhaut, the 'solitary' star, announces the arrival of autumn in the night sky. Here's how to see it
October 25, 2025
As night falls on October evenings, glance toward the southeast horizon.
If there is one star that serves to announce the arrival of fall as the leaves have begun to turn, unquestionably that title would have to go to the brightest star within an otherwise dim and obscure star pattern.
That star pattern is Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish, which resides to the east and south of the zodiacal constellations of Capricornus the Sea Goat and Aquarius the Water Bearer.
It's a V-shaped figure of five stars; faint stars that in most cases, cannot be seen from mid-northern latitudes, for even when they are at their highest above the southern horizon, they are still too low to penetrate the ground haze.
The lone star in question however, that is readily visible is Fomalhaut.
While there is excellent authority for calling it "Fo'ma-lo," as if it were a French word, the name is actually a corruption of the Arabic Fum al Hut, meaning the "Mouth of the Fish." As such, it might better be pronounced "Fo'mal-hawt."
Practically by itself
Look for it this week low toward the south at around 9:30 p.m. local daylight time. If you need help locating it, consider using a smartphone astronomy app.
Shining at magnitude +1.2, this bluish-white star is relatively close by at only 25 light-years away. It's almost twice as large as our sun and is about 16 times as luminous.
Fomalhaut is also part of a multiple star system, with two other fainter companion stars.
Some 2 degrees of arc (0.03 of a degree) southward from it, is a magnitude 6.5 dwarf star that seems to be sharing Fomalhaut's motion through space.
They are so far apart that it is hard to call them a binary system. Maybe these two stars are all that is left of a cluster that dissipated long ago.
But while it is not an overly bright star, it manages to stand out because it's the only truly bright star that dominates a considerably dull area of the sky around it.
Thus, it is easily seen and identified and is of great interest and value to navigators. As such, Fomalhaut is often referred to as "The Solitary One," primarily because it lies in such an empty region of the southern autumn skies.
For those living at mid-northern latitudes like New York, Chicago and Denver it is the southernmost of the visible first magnitude stars.
Acclaimed popular science writer Fred Schaaf notes that this star, "Stands like a lonely lighthouse beacon near the shore of the Great Celestial Sea of water constellations."
Martha Evans Martin wrote a popular guide to the night sky in 1907 (revised several times since) called "The Friendly Stars." Of Fomalhaut, she wrote:
"The loneliness of this star, adds to the somber signs of approaching autumn, and sometimes gives one a touch of melancholy."
Stellar aristocracy
Five thousand years ago in Persia, there were four stars that each ruled over its particular quadrant of the sky.
They were deemed "Royal Stars" that had the privilege of being among the guardians of heaven, and Fomalhaut was one of the chosen four. The other three were Aldebaran, in Taurus; Regulus in Leo; and Antares in Scorpius.
Draw a line between the two bright stars marking the right side of the Great Square of Pegasus (Scheat and Markab) and extending that line downward nearly four times the distance between those two stars will bring you to Fomalhaut.
Home to a planet … or comets?
Interestingly, in November 2008 astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope announced that they had apparently discovered an extrasolar planet orbiting Fomalhaut, possessing nearly three times the mass of Jupiter.
However, more recent analyses of existing and new observations utilizing the Spitzer Space Telescope indicate that the supposed planet may actually be nothing more than a knot of material within in an expanding, swirling disk — possibly a belt of comets — composed of gas and dust, that encircles Fomalhaut.
A little fish's claim to fame
Many of the old-time allegorical star atlases from the 17th and 18th century depicted the Southern Fish as a long, slim fish with an open mouth and usually shown drinking the water that was being poured from the great urn of Aquarius; no mean achievement for such a small creature.
That seemingly is what makes Fomalhaut so special; it's got a big personality for such a small fry.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/fomalhaut-the-solitary-star-announces-the-arrival-of-autumn-in-the-night-sky-heres-how-to-see-it
SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on its record 135th orbital mission of the year
Octtober 25, 2025
The records keep rolling in for SpaceX.
One of the company's Falcon 9 rockets lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base today (Oct. 25) at 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT; 7:20 a.m. local time), carrying 28 Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO).
It was the 135th orbital launch of the year for SpaceX, breaking a mark the company set in 2024.
All of SpaceX's orbital flights this year have been performed by Falcon 9s, which have now launched as many missions in the past 11 months as NASA's space shuttle flew in its 30-year history.
SpaceX has also launched five suborbital test flights of its Starship megarocket so far this year. In 2024, the company launched 132 Falcon 9 missions, two flights of the more powerful Falcon Heavy, and four Starship suborbital tests.
On today's flight, the Falcon 9 came back to Earth as planned, landing in the Pacific Ocean on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" about 8.5 minutes after liftoff. It was the 19th launch and touchdown for this particular booster, which is designated 1081.
The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying the 28 Starlink satellites toward LEO, where they will be deployed about an hour after liftoff.
SpaceX has notched a number of important milestones in the past week or so. For example, one recent mission launched the 10,000th Starlink satellite to orbit, and another was the record-breaking 31st flight of the Falcon 9 booster known as 1067.
And the Oct. 23 launch of the Spainsat NG-2 satellite was the 139th overall liftoff of the year for SpaceX, also a new record.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-starlink-launch-record-135th-orbital-launch-2025
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-11-12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub0DqULiKdY
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-10-21 (Starlink Mission Oct 26, 2025)
What did we capture on Earth this week? | This Week in Orbit | Earth From Space in 4K
Oct 25, 2025
Experience our planet in breathtaking 4K video captured from Sen’s cameras on the International Space Station.
This week’s journey reveals lightning storms, coastlines, deserts, cities, and mountain ranges from orbit. Watch a mesmerising and relaxing view of Earth from space.
🎥 Every scene is filmed continuously in real time by Sen’s orbiting cameras, bringing you the beauty of Earth as seen from space.
Whether you watch to unwind, meditate, or marvel at our home planet, this series offers a unique perspective.
🌎 Featured Locations (16–22 October 2025)
00:00 – Lightning over Buenos Aires, Argentina
00:20 – Approaching Senegal, Africa
00:40 – Portland and Mt Hood, Oregon, USA
01:00 – Canyonlands, Utah, USA
01:20 – Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
01:40 – Northern California & Pacific Ocean, USA
02:00 – Southern California Coastline, USA
02:20 – Baja California, Mexico
02:40 – Montreal & Quebec City, Canada
03:00 – Townsville, Queensland, Australia
03:20 – Bushfires across Queensland, Australia
03:40 – Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
04:00 – Lightning storms across the Caribbean
04:20 – Approaching Morocco, North Africa
04:40 – Benue River, Nigeria
05:00 – Finger Lakes, New York, USA
05:20 – New York City & Long Island, USA
05:40 – Kansas City & Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, USA
06:00 – The Grand Canyon & Meteor Crater, Arizona, USA
06:20 – Las Cruces, El Paso & Juarez, USA/Mexico
06:40 – Corrientes & Resistencia, Argentina
07:00 – Landscapes of Argentina
07:20 – Riyadh & the Arabian Desert, Saudi Arabia
07:40 – Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
08:00 – Mamoré River & Bolivia Agriculture
08:20 – Paraguay River, Concepción & Ciudad del Este, Paraguay
08:40 – Approaching Santiago & The Andes, Chile
09:00 – Vina del Mar & Santiago, Chile
09:20 – Dayton & Columbus, Ohio, USA
09:40 – Seattle, Mount Rainier, Hood & St Helens, USA
10:00 – Dallas, Texas, USA
10:20 – Sahara Desert, Libya
10:40 – Geology of Mali, Africa
11:00 – Alexandria & Cairo, Egypt
11:20 – SQM Salar Lithium Mining, Chile
11:40 – Canary Islands & Morocco, Atlantic Ocean
12:00 – Salton Sea, California, USA
12:20 – Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia & Delaware Bay, USA
12:40 – Approaching Peru, Pacific Ocean
15:00 – Credits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM7mk_nt48I
Without Jupiter, Earth may have spiraled into the sun long ago
October 24, 2025
Jupiter was shaping Earth's fate before our planet even existed, carving gaps in the early solar system that kept its building blocks from plunging into the sun, a new study finds.
Led by scientists at Rice University in Houston, the study suggests Jupiter's early growth cut off the flow of gas and dust toward the inner solar system, preventing the material that would one day form Earth, Venus and Mars from spiraling into the sun. In doing so, scientists say the planet's gravity not only stabilized the inner planets' orbits but also shaped the structure of the solar system, carving out rings and gaps that influenced how, and when, rocky bodies formed.
"Jupiter didn't just become the biggest planet — it set the architecture for the whole inner solar system," study co-lead Andre Izidoro, an assistant professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University, said in a statement.
"Without it, we might not have Earth as we know it." Using computer simulations, Izidoro and his colleagues modeled how Jupiter's rapid growth in its first few million years affected the swirling disk of gas and dust that surrounded the newborn sun.
The results show that Jupiter's massive gravity created ripples in the disk, disturbing the gas and forming ring-like bands of material that acted like "cosmic traffic jams," the statement says.
Scientists say those dense rings trapped small dust grains that would otherwise have spiraled into the sun, allowing them to clump together to form the rocky building blocks of planets.
According to the new study, as Jupiter grew and opened a wide gap in the disk, it effectively divided the solar system into inner and outer zones, preventing material from mixing freely between them.
This barrier preserved the distinct footprints of elements called "isotopic" signatures found in meteorites — one type from the inner solar system, another from the outer — while also creating new regions where planetesimals could form much later.
"Our model ties together two things that didn't seem to fit before — the isotopic fingerprints in meteorites, which come in two flavors, and the dynamics of planet formation," Baibhav Srivastava, a graduate student at Rice University who co-led the study along with Izidoro, said in the same statement.
The study also explains why some primitive meteorites formed millions of years later than the first solid bodies in the solar system.
These later-born meteorites, known as chondrites, are considered among the most pristine materials in existence because they contain tiny molten droplets, called chondrules, that preserve the chemical record of the solar system's earliest days.
"The mystery has always been: Why did some of these meteorites form so late, 2 to 3 million years after the first solids?" Izidoro said in the statement. "Our results show that Jupiter itself created the conditions for their delayed birth."
By shaping the disk and halting the inward flow of material, Jupiter likely caused a second generation of planetesimals to form later, some of which became the chondritic meteorites that still fall to Earth today, the study notes.
The same kinds of rings and gaps predicted in the team's models are now observed in young star systems with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, supporting the idea that giant planets sculpt their surroundings as they form.
"Our own solar system was no different," Izidoro said in the statement. "Jupiter's early growth left a signature we can still read today, locked inside meteorites that fall to Earth."
https://www.space.com/astronomy/jupiter/without-jupiter-earth-may-have-spiraled-into-the-sun-long-ago
https://news.rice.edu/news/2025/rice-planetary-scientists-link-jupiters-birth-earths-formation-zone
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ady4823
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/senators-cornyn-and-cruz-clap-back-against-smithsonian-space-shuttle-disassembly-claims-call-for-doj-investigation
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/eoAUuAT7PQC3uJ5eofeeMb/Cornyn-Cruz-Weber-Anti-Lobbying%20Act-DOJ-letter.pdf
Space shuttle Discovery fight continues as Texas senators rope Department of Justice into their tug-of-war with Smithsonian
October 24, 2025
A new front has opened in the battle over space shuttle Discovery, and the fight has made its way to the Justice Department.
The two Texas Senators trying to mandate the relocation of Discovery from the Smithsonian Institution's Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia to Texas, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and joined by Texas Representative Randy Weber, are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the Smithsonian for violations of the Anti Lobbying Act.
In a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate on Oct. 22, the lawmakers allege the Smithsonian has improperly used federal funds to oppose President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," (OBBBA) which orders the transfer of Discovery to Houston, the home of NASA's Johnson Space Center.
They accuse the Smithsonian of lobbying Senate and House committee staff, coordinating with journalists to generate coverage in favor of keeping the shuttle within the Smithsonian's collection and circulating inflated estimates of relocation costs.
The dispute traces back to the "Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act," introduced by the Senators in April. It failed in committee, but was later included as part of Trump's "big beautiful bill".
New language didn't specify Discovery, exactly, but instead directs the transfer of a human-flown "space vehicle" to a NASA center "involved in the administration of the Commercial Crew Program."
When the bill was signed on July 4, it set a deadline for the NASA administrator to select a vehicle, and laid out an 18-month window for the vehicle's relocation to Houston.
In their letter, lawmakers describe Houston as "the cornerstone of America’s human space exploration program," and say the city is "honored" to welcome Discovery.
However, the Smithsonian asserts it owns the space shuttle outright, and has raised serious concerns about the legalities of removing an artifact from the stewardship of the museum's national collection, not to mention the logistics and costs of physically moving the 122-foot-long (37-meter) orbiter across the country.
In a letter to Congress earlier this month, the Smithsonian said both it and NASA have determined that Discovery's relocation would require partial disassembly of the vehicle and that the minimum cost to do so could range from $120 million to $150 million — far higher than the $85 million allocated (but not yet appropriated) in the OBBA.
That estimate also doesn't include the cost of constructing a new facility in Houston to serve as the space shuttle's new home.
The Smithsonian was chosen as Discovery's final home more than 10 years ago. In a nationwide competition to determine where the remaining space shuttles would reside after the retirement of the fleet in 2011, educational institutions, museums, science facilities and space center complexes all submitted bids for consideration, including the Smithsonian and Johnson Space Center.
1/2
In the end, Atlantis was given to the Kennedy Space Visitors Center, in Florida, Endeavour to the California Science Center and Discovery to the Smithsonian.
According to the Institution, NASA handed over "all rights, title, interest and ownership" of Discovery to the museum in 2012.
With that paperwork in hand, the Smithsonian has stressed that it has the legal responsibility for the conservation and long-term stewardship over the shuttle.
Texas lawmakers rejected both the Smithsonian's cost estimates of transporting Discovery and the museum's legal claim of ownership.
Their letter to the DOJ cites "industry experts" that estimate the true cost to be more than 10 times less than the Smithsonian's projections, and disputes the position that the Institution is not a government entity.
Historically, the Smithsonian is recognized as a "trust instrumentality," an entity created by Congress to serve a public purpose, but one that operates outside the traditional structure of federal agencies.
The Institution receives two-thirds of its funding from the government, but operates independently in the care of its national collection, which is held in trust for the American public to protect its artifacts as a permanent, publicly owned legacy.
In their letter, Cornyn, Cruz and Weber ask the DOJ to determine whether Smithsonian personnel or funds were spent as a part of Institution efforts to obstruct implementation of the law.
"These activities raise significant concerns under the Anti-Lobbying Act, which prohibits the use of appropriated funds for communications intended to influence members of the public to pressure Congress regarding legislation or appropriations matters.
The Act also places limits on direct or indirect lobbying efforts funded by federal appropriations," the letter reads.
The lawmakers also expand their complaint to criticize Smithsonian leadership and the museum's exhibits for being part of "a politicized agenda that undermines its responsibilities as a federal government entity," over the Institution's depictions of slavery in American history and its inclusion of transgender women in the upcoming American Women's History Museum.
"This is a silly attempt to silence the Smithsonian from publicly defending their full and permanent 'right, title and interest' of Discovery," Joe Stief, founder of KeeptheShuttle.org, an independent group opposing the relocation, told Space.com in an Oct. 22 email.
The Smithsonian is governed by a Board of Regents.
The board's chancellor is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who presides over the Vice President of the United States, three members of the U.S. House of Representatives and three from the Senate, as well as nine citizen regents.
Stief said the lawmakers' complaint mirrors an earlier appeal to Chancellor and Chief Justice John Roberts in August, which drew no public response.
"While the Chancellor did not publicly take any actions after the August statement, it appears that Sen. Cornyn is hoping to find a more receptive audience at the Department of Justice," Stief said.
The lawmakers' own letter to the DOJ itself cites multiple court decisions recognizing the Smithsonian as a federal government entity — “a government institution through and through” — which is, "subject to federal law and entitled to government immunities."
With that distinction in mind, though, the Smithsonian's communications with Congress might not be considered lobbying, as the lawmakers' letter accuses.
According to guidance from the DOJ and the Government Accountability Office on the Anti-Lobbying Act, direct communications between federal entities and Congress about official business are treated as intragovernmental coordination, not lobbying, since the law targets public-pressure campaigns, not agency correspondence.
Still, whether a formal DOJ review in this instance would support the Texas lawmakers' views is unknown.
Such a review could test the authority of the Anti-Lobbying Act over hybrid Institutions, like the Smithsonian, that rely on a combination of federal and trust funding.
The Smithsonian has not commented on the lawmakers’ letter, and is unable to respond during the government shutdown.
2/2
Ukraine peace deal ‘reasonably close’ – Kremlin aide
25 Oct, 2025 00:06
Moscow, Washington, and Kiev are “reasonably close to a diplomatic solution,” President Vladimir Putin’s aide, Kirill Dmitriev, has said.
Dmitriev noted that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky recently changed his tone on a settlement and began talking about “battle lines” rather than insisting on a complete Russian withdrawal from all the territories Kiev still claims.
In an interview with CNN on Friday, Dmitriev, who was visiting the US for meetings with American officials, stressed that the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev “will have a diplomatic solution.”
His comments came after US President Donald Trump called off a summit with Putin in Budapest. Trump said the planned meeting “didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get” toward a settlement, while calling for an immediate halt to the fighting along the current front lines.
Both Putin and Trump suggested that the summit could eventually be organized at a later date.
Dmitriev said, “Russia really wants not just a ceasefire, but the final solution to the conflict.” He noted that Trump himself warned that a “ceasefire can always be broken.”
“It’s really a temporary solution,” he said, adding that pauses allow “many people… to do all sorts of rearmament and preparation for continuation of conflict.”
Dmitriev expressed confidence that Trump’s mediation efforts will ultimately succeed.
He contrasted Trump’s approach with that of former US President Joe Biden, arguing that maintaining dialogue with Moscow is preferable to pursuing a “strategic defeat of Russia,” which he said obviously failed.
Moscow has stated that a lasting settlement must address the root causes of the conflict and include guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO, along with the country’s demilitarization, denazification, and recognition of the territorial realities on the ground.
https://www.rt.com/russia/626942-russia-final-solution-ukraine-conflict/