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XRISM Finds Chlorine, Potassium in Cas A
Dec 08, 2025
The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant glows in X-ray, visible, and infrared light in this Jan. 8, 2024, image that combines data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble, Webb, and Spitzer space telescopes.
A study by the XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft has made the first-ever X-ray detections of chlorine and potassium from the wreckage; a paper about the result was published Dec. 4, 2025, in Nature Astronomy.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/xrism-finds-chlorine-potassium-in-cas-a/
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/xrism/nasa-jaxa-xrism-finds-elemental-bounty-in-supernova-remnant/
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/a-hot-and-fiery-decade-for-kilauea/
A Hot and Fiery Decade for Kīlauea
Dec 09, 2025
Of the hundreds of active volcanoes that NASA satellites have observed since the early 2000s, Kīlauea stands out.
It's one of the world's leading emitters of thermal infrared energy, according to observations from the Aqua and Terra satellites.
(Other top emitters include Bárðarbunga in Iceland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Nyiragongo.)
This chart shows the volcano's daily average spectral radiance from 2016 to 2025, underscoring its frequent activity and variability.
The chart draws on data from MODVOLC, an automated volcano monitoring system developed by scientists at the University of Hawai'i.
The system processes observations of all the world's volcanoes from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensors and detects thermal anomalies, or "hot spots," on a daily basis.
Here, Kīlauea's spectral radiance is shown, depicting the amount of energy emitted in a specific direction, from a specific area, at a specific wavelength.
From 2016 to 2018 (left side of the chart), Kīlauea showed low but continuous activity due to relatively gentle, long-lived eruptions at two separate vents.
At Halema‘uma‘u (below), the summit crater, a previously unstable lava lake had stabilized and grown to cover about 42,000 square meters (452,000 square feet).
This made it the world's second-largest lava lake, surpassed only by Nyiragongo's. Kīlauea's lava lake frequently sloshed, spattered, and sometimes overflowed, sending lava across the crater floor and producing many low-level thermal anomalies.
At the same time, lava poured from Puʻu ʻŌʻō (above), a cone farther down the mountain in the East Rift—a geologically active area where eruptions are most likely.
In this period, lava spilling from Puʻu ʻŌʻō sometimes formed "breakout" flows that drained all the way to the coastline and built a delta at Kamokuna as lava entered the sea.
On April 30, 2018, the situation changed abruptly. Signaling the end of Kīlauea's longest and most voluminous known outpouring of lava in 500 years, Puʻu ʻŌʻō's crater floor collapsed, and Puʻu ʻŌʻō stopped erupting.
Magma moved through underground conduits farther east into the Lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) rather than flowing south down the hillside and into the sea, as it had since 1983.
A few days later, the ground split open in Leilani Estates, and lava flows bulldozed and burned whole neighborhoods in the densely populated subdivision.
By the time the three-month LERZ eruption wound down, an outpouring of more than 320,000 Olympic-sized pools of lava had destroyed 700 homes and caused up to $1 billion in economic losses.
So much lava spread across the surface at once that the eruption pushed the volcano's spectral radiance to more than ten times the 2016 baseline.
That was enough to cause a large spike in Earth's total thermal emissions from volcanoes, according to one global analysis from researchers based in Italy.
After the big 2018 LERZ eruption, Kīlauea was quiet for a few years.
In 2019, a new water lake formed (below) in the area where Halema‘uma‘u's lava lake had existed, and it slowly deepened until December 2020, when a new eruption at the summit quickly boiled off the water.
Over the next three years, a series of five small eruptions in Halema‘uma‘u gradually refilled the lava lake.
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Then, starting in December 2024 (below), events took an unexpected turn.
Even more intense surges of activity began to occur in Halema‘uma‘u every few weeks, usually in the form of huge lava fountains that lasted for several hours, contributing to the spikes on the right side of the chart.
One recent eruptive episode, the 37th since December 2024, produced fountains that soared up to 1,000 feet (300 meters), while plumes of particles and volcanic gases swirled into "volnados" that wowed onlookers in November 2025.
On December 6, 2025, the 38th episode produced a lava fountain that sprayed beyond Halemaʻumaʻu's rim and destroyed a U.S. Geological Survey camera site.
"The height of the fountaining we've started to see at Halema‘uma‘u is amazing," said Ian Flynn, a volcanologist at the University of Pittsburgh. Scientists are seeing a surge in volatile-rich magma coming from the volcano since December 2024.
This means the magma has more dissolved gases, causing it to rise and "fizz" as it erupts from the surface, much like a shaken bottle of soda, he added.
According to MODVOLC data, these frequent spikes in activity often push Kīlauea's spectral radiance to double or triple the baseline levels prior to the 2018 eruption.
It's unclear what Kīlauea's future will bring.
For the past 200 years, relatively gentle effusive eruptions have dominated, but the geologic record makes clear that Kīlauea cycles into periods of more explosive eruptions, as occurred between 1500 and 1800, when groundwater mixed with magma and made eruptions much more violent.
It is unknown when a similar transition will occur, but whatever happens, scientists will analyze how new developments compare to the volcano's past behavior.
Such analysis would be impossible without decades of thermal observations from MODIS and data processing systems like MODVOLC and MIROVA (the Near Real Time Volcanic Hot Spot Detection System), a similar tool developed at the University of Turin.
These tools allow researchers and anyone else to freely access and analyze thermal activity observed by MODIS for all the world's active volcanoes.
As Terra and Aqua age and grow closer to the end of their missions, both the MODVOLC and MIROVA teams are updating their systems to ingest data from a newer generation of sensors called VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) to ensure that they can continue building long-term datasets for individual volcanoes.
"Long-term datasets and monitoring tools like these are powerful and absolutely critical," said Flynn.
"They make it possible to study, on a global scale, how volcanic activity is changing over long periods and to better predict the thermal precursors of eruptions."
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Artemis Accords Five-Year Anniversary Celebration 🖖
December 8, 2025
There will be a “Artemis Accords Five-Year Anniversary Celebration” here in Washington DC on Thursday, December 11th, 8:30 am – 10:30 am ET Hosted by the Meridian International Center at the Meridian House.
I’ll be there but I will try and post a live webcast link in advance. Registration. —- Program below.
Opening Keynote: Amit Kshatriya, NASA Associate Administrator
Mike Gold, Redwire President of Civil and International Space (former NASA Associate Administrator of Space Policy and Partnerships) will serve as moderator for the panels.
Panel 1: The Founding of the Artemis Accords
Participants:
Dr. Scott Pace, former Executive Secretary of the National Space Council and current Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington Univerisry;
Gabriel Swiney, former Civil Space Legal lead for the Department of State and current Director of the Office of Space Commerce’s Policy, Advocacy, and International Division;
Dr. Bhavya Lal, former NASA Acting Chief of Staff and Senior White House Appointee, and current Professor at the RAND School of Public Policy, and
Yosuke Kaneko, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
This panel will also include a brief recorded video interview with Talal Kaissi, former space attaché from the UAE Embassy and current Acting Group Chief and Global Affairs Officer at G42.
Panel 2: The Commercial View of the Artemis Accords
Participants:
Eddie Seyffert, Director of Civil Space for Blue Origin;
Wendy Williams, Vice President and General Manager of Launch and Exploration for Northrop Grumman;
Alicia Brown, Executive Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation; and
Allen Cutler, President of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration
Panel 3: The Future of the Artemis Accords
Participants:
Valda Vikmanis, Department of State Director of the Office of Space Affairs;
Kathleen Karika, NASA Senior Advisor;
Annabelle Dullin, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; and
Linda Dao, Counsellor for Space Affairs, Canadian Space Agency (waiting for final confirmation);
This panel will also include a brief recorded message from the bridge of the USS Enterprise 🖖
Keynote: Jacob Helberg, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment (waiting for final confirmation)
https://nasawatch.com/artemis/artemis-accords-five-year-anniversary-celebration/
https://meridian.org/announcement/artemis-accords-5th-anniversary-celebration-reflections-and-the-road-ahead/
https://astrobiology.com/2025/12/search-for-life-should-be-top-science-priority-for-first-human-landing-on-mars-says-new-report.html
https://nasawatch.com/space-science-news/new-academy-report-science-on-mars/
https://www.nationalacademies.org/publications/28594
Search for Life Should Be Top Science Priority for First Human Landing on Mars, Says New Report
December 9, 2025
A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identifies the highest priority science objectives for the first human mission to Mars, and says searching for evidence of existing or past life on Mars should be the top priority.
Improving our understanding of the effects of Mars’ environment on humans, plants, and animals; water cycles; geologic records; and dust storms are also among the 11 science priorities named in the report.
The report presents four possible campaigns for human exploration of Mars, each encompassing a sequence of three missions linked to specific science objectives.
For each campaign, the report describes which science objectives could be met, the likely roles of crew members, and the campaign’s strengths and weaknesses for meeting scientific goals.
“The first human landing on Mars will be the most significant moment for human space exploration since we first set foot on the moon over 50 years ago,” said Linda T. Elkins-Tanton, director of the University of California, Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory; principal investigator, NASA Psyche mission; and co-chair of the committee that wrote the report.
“Our report puts science at the center of what will be a remarkable achievement, and outlines the incredible knowledge we’ll have the opportunity to glean about our place in the universe, the potential habitability of Mars, and so much more.
Science Objectives
In order of priority, the report names the following as the science objectives that a human mission to Mars should pursue:
Search for Life — Determine if evidence can be found on Mars of existing or extinct life, the planet’s habitability, or indigenous prebiotic chemistry.
Water and CO2 on Mars — Characterize the planet’s water and CO2 cycles to understand how they may have evolved.
Mars Geology — Characterize and map the geologic record to reveal Mars’ evolution.
Impact on Crew — Determine the impact of the Martian environment on crew physiological, cognitive, and emotional health, and on team dynamics.
Dust Storms — Determine what controls the onset and evolution of the major dust storms that make Mars’ atmosphere so variable.
Explore Resources — Characterize the Martian environment for in situ resource utilization and processing needs, with an early focus on water and propellants, ultimately to explore materials that support permanent habitation.
Effect of Mars on Genomes and Reproduction — Determine whether the Martian environment affects reproduction or the functional genome across multiple generations in at least one plant species and one animal species.
Understanding Microbes — Determine if microbial population dynamics and the distribution of microbial species in biological systems are stable on Mars, and are not detrimental to astronaut health and performance.
Martian Dust — Characterize the effects of Martian dust on the human body and on hardware.
Plants and Animals in an Ecosystem — Determine the impact of the Martian environment on plant and animal physiology and development across multiple generations, as part of an integrated ecosystem of plants, microbes, and animals.
Radiation Sampling — Characterize radiation at key locations in the crew habitat and at astrobiological sampling sites, both to contextualize sample collection and improve our estimates of the risk to future missions.
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Four Campaigns for Mars Science
The top-ranked campaign, which could achieve every science objective named in the report, would include a human landing lasting 30 sols (Mars days, which are slightly longer than an Earth day), an uncrewed cargo delivery, and a longer 300-sol mission.
Each of these landings would occur at a single site in an exploration zone approximately 100 kilometers in diameter, and with specific features such as ancient lava flows and known dust storms.
Field measurements would require a wide suite of science instruments to be brought to Mars, as well as drilling and meteorological equipment, with more detailed investigations being conducted in a Mars habitat laboratory and further study of samples brought back to Earth.
The second-ranked campaign seeks to optimize achieving the measurements that are the most needed in common across all the science objectives.
This approach offers a campaign with looser needs for a specific landing site, as some measurements could be achieved at a range of possible landing sites.
The third-ranked campaign focuses on searching for life on Mars, the top-ranked science priority.
This campaign would focus on selecting a site where deep drilling to liquid water would be possible — followed by core collection and initial analysis of samples on Mars.
The bulk of the samples would be returned to Earth for further study of habitability and past and present life on Mars.
The fourth uses three short missions at different locations on Mars to achieve a variety of the top science objectives, and would enable exploration of widely varying environments.
The report suggests three possible types of sites that could be selected for this campaign: an area with igneous and impact melt geology; a site with sedimentary rocks to search for evidence of ancient life or prebiotic processes; and glaciers located within a dust-storm-forming region of Mars.
“By imagining different ways that priority science could be pursued during actual human missions, our report shows there are many different options for humans to explore Mars and achieve great scientific breakthroughs,” said committee co-chair Dava Newman, Apollo Program Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Importantly, it also offers a synergistic review of science priorities enhanced by human exploration.”
Recommendations for NASA
The report offers recommendations for NASA that would help the agency lay the groundwork for meeting scientific objectives.
For example, to enable many of the scientific and exploration objectives for investigating regions on Mars that could possibly support life and to protect the scientific integrity of the results, NASA should continue to collaborate on the evolution of currently limiting planetary protection guidelines, the report says.
NASA should also include a surface laboratory on Mars in its mission plans, return samples to Earth from every human mission to Mars, and start a recurring summit on teaming between humans, robotic exploration tools, and artificial intelligence to support Mars missions.
The study — undertaken by the Committee for a Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars — was sponsored by NASA.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine.
They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.
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A celestial oasis? NASA's Perseverance Rover discovers evidence of tropical rainfall on Mars
Updated: 05:16 EST, 9 December 2025
Bizarre 'bleached' rocks on the surface of Mars suggest that the Red Planet was once a tropical oasis, a new study reveals.
Scientists at Purdue University in Indiana have analysed photos of fragments of bleached clay, found by NASA's Perseverance rover.
The fragments – which range from pebbles to boulders – suggest the Red Planet was warm and wet for millions of years.
In fact, Mars may have been like the tropical regions of Earth such as the Amazon rainforest of South America and the Guinean Forests of West Africa.
And they offer further evidence that the planet once had the right conditions to support life.
Briony Horgan, professor of planetary science at Purdue University, called the rocks 'probably some of the most important outcrops we’ve seen'.
'We think these [rocks] could be evidence of an ancient warmer and wetter climate where there was rain falling for millions of years,' she said.
NASA missions have already found evidence that Mars was much wetter and warmer billions of years ago, so the bright fragments could offer insight into how Mars came to its current barren state.
According to the researchers, the rocks were found at the Jezero Crater, a 28-mile impact basin on Mars that held liquid water billions of years ago.
Initial examinations by the Mars rover’s SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments were used to compare the kaolinite to similar rocks found on Earth.
The analysis shows the fragments are made of kaolinite, a white clay mineral that typically forms on Earth under tropical conditions.
Kaolinite forms on Earth after rocks and sediment are leached of all other minerals by millions of years of a wet, rainy climate.
So the fact they're on Mars suggests the red planet once supported wet oases much like those on Earth – humid with heavy rainfall.
'Right now, the evidence in these rocks really points toward these kinds of ancient warmer and wetter environments,' said Professor Horgan.
'When we think about the possibility of these rocks on Mars representing a rainfall-driven environment, that is a really incredible, habitable place where life could have thrived if it were ever on Mars.'
There's no major kaolinite formation nearby where the fragments could have potentially originated and moved from, perhaps due to weather.
The rocks are scattered throughout the mission path Perseverance has followed since landing at the Jezero crater nearly five years ago.
Jezero crater used to contain a lake about twice the size of Lake Tahoe – so the researchers think the rocks are 'clearly recording an incredible water event'.
'Maybe they were washed into Jezero’s lake by the river that formed the delta,' said Professor Horgan.
'Or maybe they were thrown into Jezero by an impact and they’re just scattered there – we’re not totally sure.'
Rocks like these are 'so hard to form because they need 'so much water', according to the researchers, which is paradoxical to how Mars looks now.
Our neighbouring planet is of course a dry, dusty, cold and desert-like environment with a very thin atmosphere, around 95 per cent of which is made up of CO2.
Today, water on Mars is found in the form of water-ice just under the surface in the polar regions as well as in briny water, which seasonally flows down some hillsides and crater walls.
However, scientists are in agreement that liquid water was once far more ubiquitous on Mars – which could have once resembled Earth with blue oceans and lush green lands.
About 4.3 billion years ago, the Red Planet had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 450 feet (137 meters) deep, according to NASA.
Fast forward to 3.5 billion years ago, and this water was more scarce – channeled around the planet between crater lakes via rivers, much like on Earth today.
Liquid water was last on Mars perhaps as recently as 2 billion years ago, before the Martian atmosphere was lost and the liquid water evaporated.
NASA says: 'Mars appears to have had a watery past, with ancient river valley networks, deltas, and lakebeds, as well as rocks and minerals on the surface that could only have formed in liquid water.
'Some features suggest that Mars experienced huge floods about 3.5 billion years ago.'
The new study has been published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15363561/NASA-Perseverance-Rover-tropical-rainfall-Mars.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02856-3
Supreme Court Declines Review of NASA Contractor Overbilling Case
December 8, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to weigh in on a lawsuit alleging that a NASA contractor inflated labor costs, leaving intact the Sixth Circuit and lower court dismissals after the federal government opted not to intervene.
Whistleblower Seeks Relief After Years of Legal Battle
Ohio-based USN4U LLC, owned by a former Wolf Creek Federal Services employee, petitioned the high court to revisit the Sixth Circuit’s ruling.
The appeals court had upheld the dismissal of USN4U’s False Claims Act lawsuit, which claimed Wolf Creek overcharged the government for labor under contracts at the NASA Glenn Research Facility in Cleveland.
USN4U argued the Sixth Circuit’s decision clashed with the Supreme Court’s 2023 Polansky ruling, which emphasized that district courts must consider a whistleblower’s “substantial time and money” commitment before dismissing a case.
The company also contended the appellate court improperly sanctioned interference with prosecutorial discretion, violating the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers.
Supreme Court Leaves Dismissal in Place
As is customary, the Supreme Court offered no explanation for declining the case.
Attorney Warner Mendenhall of Mendenhall Law Group, representing USN4U, expressed frustration, highlighting the extensive resources invested.
“We wish the court had recognized the significant effort relators put into these cases,” Mendenhall told Law360.
“To have your legs taken out from under you after hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars is deeply disappointing.”
Discovery Reveals $1.3 Million Overpayment
The lawsuit traces back to 2017, when USN4U alleged Wolf Creek intentionally inflated labor estimates.
After the government declined to intervene in 2019, the district court dismissed the case in 2020 for failure to state a claim.
Two years later, the Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded for discovery.
During fact and expert discovery between June 2022 and August 2023, USN4U reported incurring hundreds of attorney hours and tens of thousands in expert costs.
The findings suggested that while Wolf Creek billed for 45,798 labor hours across 658 jobs, it had actually incurred only 22,929 hours, resulting in $1.3 million in overpayments by the government.
Government Moves to Dismiss, Courts Agree
U.S. District Judge Dan A. Polster later ordered the government to decide whether to take over the case or move for dismissal, citing concerns about USN4U acting as a federal representative.
In November 2023, the government filed to dismiss, arguing that it would otherwise face substantial oversight obligations. The judge granted the motion, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed in March.
Representation
USN4U is represented by Warner Mendenhall of Mendenhall Law Group.
The government was represented by Maxwell A. Baldi of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Wolf Creek’s counsel included Philip S. Kushner, Michael R. Hamed, and Brandon Mordue of Kushner & Hamed Co. LPA.
https://usaherald.com/supreme-court-declines-review-of-nasa-contractor-overbilling-case/3/
Someone Turned Off NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive? Why?
December 9, 2025
The NSSDCA (NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive) website and database (nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov) – managed at NASA Goddard has been blocked from public access since before the government shutdown.
NSSDCA represents NASA’s most complete collection of information on all spacecraft and has been maintained and updated since the mid-1960s.
The website also has other generally useful pages unrelated to the database, but these are all blocked as well. Here is what it looked like before it was turned off.
NASA’s Education website points to it as an educational resource. Why did a useful, albeit benign, public-facing resource like this go dark?
https://nasawatch.com/itweb/someone-turned-off-nasa-space-science-data-coordinated-archive-why/
https://web.archive.org/web/20250731150237/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Chinese astronauts install debris shield on space station
December 9, 2025
Astronauts from China's Shenzhou-21 mission have completed a spacewalk to install a debris protection device on the country's space station.
Taikonauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang carried out the extravehicular activity on Tuesday with support from the station's robotic arm and ground researchers.
Their tasks included inspecting and photographing the porthole of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft return capsule, installing the space debris protection device, and replacing the multilayer cover of a temperature control adapter.
According to the mission plan, the Shenzhou-21 crew will conduct further extravehicular activities for personnel and payloads, perform scientific experiments and technical tests during their orbital stay, and may implement protective measures for the damaged porthole on the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft if necessary.
On November 5, authorities announced the Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft had likely been struck by tiny space debris, causing a crack and forcing a delay in its return to Earth.
On November 14, astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie returned safely aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft instead.
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/china-news/article/318900/
'Space junk' confirmed to be satellite
December 9, 2025
THUNDER BAY — A de-orbiting satellite caught the attention of thousands of residents in Northwestern Ontario.
At approximately 7:10 p.m., shortly after the Parade of Lights began, a streak of light was seen descending toward Lake Superior.
“This could prove beneficial for understanding what we can do and improve in the future for satellite, satellite safety and satellite controls,” said Brendan Roy, president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
The unidentifiable flying object was confirmed to be a Starlink satellite de-orbiting as a result of solar activity, Roy said.
“Those solar flares, which have produced some great images for northern lights, is also not so good for earthbound satellites,” he said.
“In this case, it’s likely (that) what's happened that the satellite got fried from the solar storm and was de-orbited as a safety measure.”
Currently, Starlink has a safety policy in place to de-orbit all satellites that aren't fully under their control, Roy said.
“This is to make sure that the airspace over the planet is safe for future astronauts and other spacecraft,” he said.
Space junk pollution that includes satellites is expected to be seen more frequently as time goes on, he said.
“That's going to be a huge problem and it's only going to get worse,” he said.
A number of other Chinese companies and Amazon are planning to launch more satellites into space, creating pollution, Roy said.
“They're launching tens of thousands of satellites, and this is going to be a problem for astronomers trying to see the night sky, learning about what's going on out there,” he said.
“It affects professional astronomers equally as it does amateur astronomers because those satellites are bright enough to come up in their astrophotos and just ruin the shot.”
Currently, a proposal is in place to place mirrors on satellites, which would compromise the night sky, Roy said.
“You'll get a night that's bright like the full moon every night, which is bad for astronomy and bad for the environment,” Roy said.
The increase in de-orbiting events is a concern, Roy said.
“There's more satellites and they're at more risk in the orbit with the sun being active,” he said. Currently, Starlink loses three to four satellite every month and the number is sure to increase, Roy said.
“You add several more companies with the same thing and you're going to see 30 or 40 events a month, which can pose a risk to people on the ground and in the air as these events become more frequent,” he said.
If a satellite is fried while in orbit, the company operating it loses full control over it, losing the ability to land safely, Roy said. “It's going to come down where it wants to come down,” he said.
Satellites, due to their size and nature don’t have any air for resistance, he said.
“When they come in without a plan, you just have a big box that's not aerodynamic and it just comes apart, it can't handle the stresses of re-entry,” he said.
Satellites de-orbiting without knowledge are the most concerning, Roy said.
“It's the ones that we don't know about that we're concerned about. So, another major solar flare event could bring down several more without knowledge,” he said.
In most de-orbiting cases, the satellite will cause a scene like at the Parade of Lights, where residents will see something spectacular, he said.
“This is essentially electronic material that's breaking up, so you have electronics, the fuels on board, breaking up and then melting and landing on the ground.”
“The same stuff that that's in your phones, in your laptops, if it's not properly disposed of, it can be dangerous to people, it can be dangerous to pets.”
The exact location of the satellite is unknown, he said.
“Thunder Bay was pretty much near the centre line of this event,” he said.
“We have observations as far east as Sault Ste. Marie and as far west as Winnipeg for this event, and all the way into southern Wisconsin.”
Satellites aren’t risk free, Roy said. ”They do provide a very good service to the country, and we do need them, but they need to be done like everything else in a responsible way,” he said.
https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/space-junk-confirmed-to-be-satelite-11596713
Raytheon, AWS Partner to Advance AI-Driven Space Operations
December 9, 2025, 7:21 am
Raytheon, an RTX business, has partnered with Amazon Web Services to modernize satellite data processing and mission control operations.
How Does the Raytheon-AWS Collaboration Expand Customer Capabilities?
RTX said Thursday the collaboration aims to strengthen national security by leveraging cloud-based tools and artificial intelligence for space missions, combining Raytheon’s mission expertise with AWS technologies to streamline decision-making and enhance operational agility.
Raytheon will utilize AWS’ AI and machine learning services, including Amazon SageMaker, Bedrock and Outposts, to enhance mission data processing, enable scalable management, strengthen software-driven satellite command and control, and support hybrid operations at on-premises and edge locations.
What Are Raytheon & AWS Leaders Saying About the Partnership?
“This collaboration with AWS empowers our teams to accelerate responsible AI innovation, increase agility while maintaining the highest levels of security, optimize resources, and strengthen systems to drive effective results for our customers,” said Erich Hernandez-Baquero, vice president of space intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at Raytheon.
“This collaboration unites the security, reliability, and higher levels of availability from AWS with Raytheon’s space systems expertise to create new possibilities for our customers in the space industry,” said David Appel, vice president of U.S. federal at Amazon Web Services.
https://www.executivebiz.com/articles/raytheon-aws-ai-space-operations
Rare 'sunglint' transforms Alabama River into a giant 'golden dragon' — Earth from space
December 9, 2025
This incredible astronaut photo captured a unique glimpse of Alabama's eponymous river cosplaying as a golden Chinese dragon.
The metallic hue of the serpentine waterway is the result of a rare optical phenomenon that is only visible from space.
The Alabama River is a 318-mile-long (512 kilometers) waterway that stretches from the state's capital, Montgomery, past cities like Birmingham and Selma, and into Mobile Bay, where it drains into the Gulf of Mexico.
The section of the river in the photo features a large U-shaped bend, known as Gee's Bend, that surrounds the small town of Boykin, which is renowned for its "vibrant folk art" that is displayed across the country, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.
The river's unusual glow is the result of a rare phenomenon, known as a sunglint, which occurs when sunlight perfectly reflects off a still body of water toward an observer in space, like a massive liquid mirror.
This is similar to how the surface of an ocean or lake sparkles when light bounces off it during a sunset — except the only people who can see it are astronauts.
The golden color of the sunglint helps provide greater contrast between water and land, highlighting a series of flooded zones.
When combined with the river's larger bends, this makes the waterway look surprisingly like a dragon from Chinese mythology, netizens pointed out at the time.
The head of the dragon (located on the left of the image) is represented by the flooded zones of the artificial William "Bill" Dannelly Reservoir, which was created in the 1960s by partially damming the river.
This 27-square-mile (70 square kilometers) reservoir generates hydroelectric power via a dam and has also become a popular fishing spot for people looking to catch crappie, bass and catfish.
The river's water levels rose higher than initially expected following the dam's construction, causing the waterway to permanently spill over into surrounding floodplains, such as at Chilatchee Creek (towards the bend in the dragon's tail) and around Gee's Bend, according to Earth Observatory.
Most bodies of water usually take on a silvery, mirror-like appearance when illuminated by sunglints, making the Alabama River's golden glow particularly noteworthy.
The unusual golden color is likely the result of atmospheric scattering of the reflected light by aerosols, dust and haze. This scatters blue wavelengths of light, giving the remaining light a more yellow hue.
Astronauts are always on the lookout for sunglints, especially over the ocean, because they can reveal hidden natural phenomena, such as gyres and internal waves, as well as human activities, such as ship wakes and oil slicks, according to the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/rivers-oceans/rare-sunglint-transforms-alabama-river-into-a-giant-golden-dragon-earth-from-space
The Subaru Telescope just made its 1st discoveries: a 'failed star' and an exoplanet
December 9, 2025
While our ability to view distant worlds with advanced telescopes has come a long way in a short time, we can still only photograph a tiny fraction of the planets throughout our cosmos with the technology we have today.
However, astronomers in Hawaii just spotted a pair of exciting discoveries — a huge exoplanet and a brown dwarf — using Japan’s Subaru Telescope, which sits atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.
These new celestial discoveries represent the first findings from OASIS (Observing Accelerators with SCExAO Imaging Survey), a program that relies on the Subaru Telescope, as well as data from other sources.
"The program uses measurements from two European Space Agency missions — Hipparcos and Gaia — to identify stars being tugged by the gravity of unseen companions," a spokesperson from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) wrote in a statement.
The exoplanet that the astronomers found is called HIP 54515 b. It's 271 light-years away from Earth and orbits a star in the Leo constellation.
NAOJ says the planet is almost 18 times the mass of Jupiter and that it orbits its star from a vantage point that’s roughly the same as Neptune's distance from the sun.
The brown dwarf, called HIP 71618 B, is 169 light-years away in the Bootes constellation. The term "brown dwarf" refers to a curious celestial object that has a mass somewhere between a planet and a star.
Scientists often call brown dwarfs "failed stars," because these objects form in a similar way to stars but never accumulate quite enough mass to make the cut.
The discovery of the brown dwarf is especially exciting, because it has the right properties to test out NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will launch in 2026 or 2027.
To test the Roman Space Telescope, NASA needs an object with pretty tight specifications. NAOJ says this brown dwarf checks all the boxes.
"Roman will carry out a technology demonstration to test coronagraph systems that future telescopes will need to photograph Earth-like planets around other stars — planets that are ten billion times fainter than their host stars," NAOJ wrote.
So, with this new discovery, NAOJ says, Roman will have the right candidate for a technology demonstration.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/the-subaru-telescope-just-made-its-1st-discoveries-a-failed-star-and-an-exoplanet
https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2025/20251204-subaru.html
U.S. Space Force accepts Long-Range Discrimination Radar, marking major step in missile defence
December 9, 2025
The U.S. Space Force’s Combat Forces Command (CFC) has formally taken operational acceptance of the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), a solid-state long-range system, following the completion of its trial period on 4 December 2025.
The move represents a significant step for the service’s Missile Warning, Tracking and Targeting mission by improving interceptor accuracy, reducing reaction time, and strengthening deterrence against ballistic missile threats.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) concluded LRDR’s operational trial that same day, clearing the radar for CFC’s use at Clear Space Force Station in Alaska.
The system combines solid-state radar technology with ballistic missile defence algorithms to support both missile warning and Space Domain Awareness, though only the missile warning element has been accepted so far, with SDA trials still to follow.
Engineered for precision discrimination, the radar can separate lethal from non-lethal objects in crowded operating conditions.
It increases the chances of successful interception by searching, tracking and distinguishing multiple long-range threats at once, and by providing detailed track, discrimination and hit assessment data to the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Fire Control System.
The LRDR’s design supports a wide field of view and multiple missions, aided by advanced radar technology that improves performance, efficiency and reliability.
Its adaptable architecture allows future upgrades without major modification, while continuous threat monitoring keeps the system operational even during maintenance.
“LRDR’s precision reliability enhances the efficiency of U.S. missile intercept capabilities by quickly and accurately detecting missile threats at extended ranges,” said Col. Jared Hoffman, assistant deputy commander for CFC’s Operations, Plans, Training and Force Development.
“This operational acceptance signifies a critical milestone in bolstering U.S. national security and missile warning, tracking and targeting capabilities, and I am incredibly honoured to be working alongside the talented men and women who will be maintaining and operating this critical radar.”
Under the long-term arrangement, the MDA will continue to fund research, development, testing, evaluation and major upgrades, while CFC will handle operations, routine maintenance and support equipment sustainment.
The 13th Space Warning Squadron at Clear SFS will maintain the radar, and daily operations will be carried out by the 7th Space Warning Squadron through remotely located contract operators at Beale Air Force Base and Cheyenne Mountain, using the C2BMC sensor manager.
The 7th Space Warning Squadron will operate the radar alongside US Space Command in support of US Northern Command’s homeland defence mission.
This arrangement is intended to help protect the United States and its allies by strengthening early warning and tracking capabilities against missile threats.
Mission Delta 4, based at Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado, oversees strategic and theatre missile warning through three constellations of overhead persistent infrared satellites and two types of ground-based radars.
It provides cueing to missile defence forces, delivers battlespace awareness to commanders, manages weapon system architectures and ensures operations remain intelligence-led, cyber-resilient and focused on innovation.
https://defence-industry.eu/u-s-space-force-accepts-long-range-discrimination-radar-marking-major-step-in-missile-defence/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBhJTemSKaA
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office
December 9, 2025
SpaceX is preparing for the launch of a national security payload for the nation’s secretive spy satellite agency, the National Reconnaissance Office.
The flight will also likely see the the final Falcon 9 booster recovery at Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral.
The mission, dubbed National Reconnaissance Office Launch 77 (NROL-77), includes at least one payload, which the intelligence-gathering agency only describes as being “designed, built, and operated by NRO.”
Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 2:16 p.m. EST (1916 UTC).
The launch will follow a north-easterly trajectory upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour before launch.
SpaceX is using Falcon 9 first stage booster B1096. This will be its fourth launch after previously flying NASA’s IMAP, Amazon’s Kuiper Falcon 01 and Starlink 6-87.
Nearly eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1096 will target a return to the Florida Peninsula with a touchdown at Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2).
If successful, the will be the 16th touchdown at LZ-2 and the 547th booster landing to date for SpaceX.
Executing a contract
The NROL-77 mission is the second NRO mission launched by SpaceX as part of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract awarded in August 2020.
The contract was broken up to assign missions between SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) over five order years for specific missions.
This is the first mission that comes from Order Year 5 that was announced on Oct. 31, 2023. It was one of ten missions assigned to SpaceX that year, which has a combined value of $1.236 billion.
The NSSL Phase 2 contract is an acquisition partnership managed by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space.
Some missions though, like the NROL-146 mission and other flights supporting the NRO’s so-called proliferated architecture satellite constellation, are funded through other avenues that are part of the agency’s classified budget.
“When considering our launch cadence and need for tailorable mission assurance, the NRO recognized that we needed a bridge between Phase 2 to Phase 3 – Lane 1,” an NRO spokesperson said in a statement to Spaceflight Now back in May 2024. “This resulted in some missions being procured outside of NSSL.”
The NRO said in its press kit that NROL-77 is its tenth and final launch of 2025, nine of which flew on Falcon 9 rockets:
Jan. 09 – NROL-153
Jan. 14 – Transporter-12 (rideshare payload)
Mar. 14 – Transporter-13 (rideshare payload)
Mar. 20 – NROL-57
Mar. 24 – NROL-69
Apr. 12 – NROL-192
Apr. 16 – NROL-174 (launched on Minotaur 4 rocket)
Apr. 20 – NROL-145
Sep. 22 – NROL-48
Dec. 09 – NROL-77
End of an era
The planned landing of B1096 at LZ-2 may very well wrap up SpaceX’s time using this site as a landing location for its Falcon boosters.
In an effort to increase access to launch providers at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Delta 45 decided all launch providers need to return their rocket boosters to landing sites at their launch pads.
SpaceX has been taking the necessary steps to shift its recovery infrastructure away from LZ-1 and LZ-2. The company’s lease for these sites ends on Dec. 31, 2025.
SpaceX received the environmental approvals needed to move forward with a landing pad near (SLC-40) and has been making constructing that facility over the course of 2025.
The company is also looking to add a landing pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX needs two landing zones in order to recover the side boosters of a Falcon Heavy rocket.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/12/09/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-classified-payload-for-the-national-reconnaissance-office/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSLH8L42da4
https://www.spacex.com/launches/nrol77
Star Trek Online trots out space reindeer for Q’s Winter Wonderland
December 9, 2025 11:30 AM
As Star Trek Online faces a more hopeful future as it comes home to Arc Games and Cryptic, it seems the perfect time to take a break from interstellar conflict and enjoy a peaceful (if quirky) trip to Q’s Winter Wonderland for this year’s holiday event.
“Q invites personnel of all ranks, allegiances, species, cosmological variances, and molecular stabilities (or lack thereof) to ring in the holiday season, and visit his Winter Wonderland for fun, frivolity, and prizes,” the team said.
A large assortment of winter-themed activities returned for the event, including ice staking, Klingon ice fishing (it’s a thing), and something called “The Kramp’lhri.”
By participating in at least one of these a day, players easily can work toward a free Tier 6 starship, the Fek’Ihri Vok’Tar Temporal Science Vessel. Be the first on your block to own one!
Other rewards this year include an assault weapon that literally shoots fireballs, twinkling lights on your starship’s weapons, winter sweaters, the ability to summon ancient spirits to “consume your prey” (it’s another thing), and six vanity pets that are clearly space reindeer. One even has a very shiny nose.
The event closes out on January 7th.
https://massivelyop.com/2025/12/09/star-trek-online-trots-out-space-reindeer-for-qs-winter-wonderland/
https://www.playstartrekonline.com/en/news/article/11579088
Trump urges Zelensky to ‘start accepting’ peace proposals
9 Dec, 2025 11:58
US President Donald Trump has called on Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to start accepting peace proposals, noting that Russia has a much stronger negotiating position and will likely overwhelm Kiev’s forces in the long run.
In an interview with Politico on Monday, Trump pointed out that Russia is “a much bigger country” and currently has the “upper hand” in the conflict.
“At some point, size will win. And this is a massive size,” Trump said, insisting that Zelensky should start reading the latest draft of the US peace proposal.
Trump said that to his knowledge, the Ukrainian leader still hasn’t examined the latest US peace plan even though Zelensky’s top officials “loved the proposal.”
“A lot of people are dying. So it would be really good if he’d read it,” Trump said, suggesting that the Ukrainian leader was responsible for stalling the settlement process.
“He’s gonna have to get on the ball and start accepting things,” Trump stated, adding that Zelensky is currently “losing.”
READ MORE: Ukraine claims it can eavesdrop on Kremlin officials
Trump also suggested it is an “important time” for Ukraine to hold an election, noting that it’s been too long since a vote has been held and that the Ukrainian people deserve a choice.
“They haven’t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore,” he said.
Trump’s initial 28-point peace plan was leaked to the media last month.
It involved requirements for Kiev to withdraw its forces from Russia’s Donbass region, pledge not to join NATO, and limit the size of its armed forces. Kiev vehemently rejected the proposal.
Since then, the US plan has undergone several changes with input from Russia and Ukraine. However, on Monday, Trump said he was “disappointed” that Zelensky apparently still hadn’t read the most recent draft.
Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out abandoning former Ukrainian territories and has insisted that Kiev “deserves a dignified peace.”
Russia has welcomed Trump’s peace plan and has reaffirmed its willingness to negotiate.
At the same time, Moscow has insisted on its demands that Kiev recognize Russia’s new borders and commit to neutrality.
https://www.rt.com/news/629213-us-ukraine-playing-ball/
‘Explosions Inside Russia Will Continue’: SBU Confirms Drone Strike on Russian LPG Terminal
Dec. 9, 2025, 11:20 am
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) confirmed on Tuesday that its drones struck a liquefied gas terminal in Russia’s port of Temryuk on Dec. 5, causing a massive fire that burned for three days.
Temryuk port, located on the Temryuk Bay of the Sea of Azov and operated by the Mechel group, is a key export hub for liquefied hydrocarbon gas (LPG) in southern Russia. The port also handles oil shipments, as well as general, bulk and grain cargo.
The operation was carried out by the “Alpha” unit and targeted the facilities of Maktren-Nafta, a company that handles liquefied gas shipments, sources in Ukraine’s special services told the Kyiv Post.
The strike ignited a large fire in the terminal’s tank area, burning more than 20 of its 30 storage tanks, each holding 200 cubic meters of fuel.
The drones also destroyed several railway tank cars, an intermediate fuel container and a loading platform. The fire covered about 3,000 square meters.
Maktren-Nafta transfers liquefied gas from railcars and tank containers onto specialized gas carrier ships. The terminal, built in 2008, can handle up to 400,000 tons of liquefied gas per year.
The SBU source said Ukraine will continue targeting Russia’s oil and gas infrastructure, arguing that revenue from the sector helps fund the war. “Explosions inside Russia, at facilities that support the war, will continue,” the source said.
Port Fire Reported Shortly After Dec. 5 Strike
Russian officials acknowledged a fire at the port soon after the Dec. 5 attack, but did not specify the cause.
The Operational Headquarters of the Krasnodar region said elements of the port infrastructure were damaged during what it described as an attack by “UAVs of the Kyiv regime.”
Authorities reported no casualties, saying staff had been evacuated as a precaution.
Emergency services deployed 32 specialists and eight firefighting units to contain the blaze, officials said. Videos posted by eyewitnesses and reviewed by the independent outlet Astra appeared to show a gas terminal burning inside the port area.
Ukraine has intensified drone strikes on refineries, storage sites and export terminals, framing the campaign as part of a broader strategy to weaken Russia’s war economy.
Kyiv says the goal is to disrupt fuel supply chains for Russian forces and cut state revenues generated from oil exports.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that such operations will continue as long as Moscow wages war.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/65869
https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/12/09/ukraine-hits-russian-drone-base-in-donetsk-and-fuel-tanks-in-luhansk-oblast-video-map/
https://kyivindependent.com/sbu-drones-struck-liquefied-natural-gas-terminal-in-russias-temryuk-port-source-says/
other Russia and Ukraine
https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-update-2025-12-9/
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/12/09/ukrainian-drones-injure-14-in-russias-republic-of-chuvashia-a91375
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/12/09/russia-downs-3-drones-on-approach-to-moscow-2-a91388
IDF says it hit Hezbollah targets, including training site for elite Radwan Force
December 9, 2025 1:20 pm
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that it carried out a wave of overnight airstrikes in southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah sites, including a training facility used by the terror group’s elite Radwan Force.
According to the military, the Radwan Force “training and qualification compound” was used by the terror group to plan and advance attacks against Israel.
In addition, the IDF said it struck several buildings used by Hezbollah and a rocket-launching site in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that it carried out a wave of overnight airstrikes in southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah sites, including a training facility used by the terror group’s elite Radwan Force.
According to the military, the Radwan Force “training and qualification compound” was used by the terror group to plan and advance attacks against Israel.
In addition, the IDF said it struck several buildings used by Hezbollah and a rocket-launching site in southern Lebanon.
“The targets that were struck, and the military training conducted in preparation for activities against the State of Israel, constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and a threat to the State of Israel,” the military said.
Israel and the United States have pushed Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah in accordance with the terms of a ceasefire agreement signed a year ago that ended the war between Israel and the terror group, which began with daily cross-border attacks by the terror group in support of Hamas in Gaza.
Despite the truce, Israel has continued to strike Hezbollah targets, saying that under the terms of the November 2024 ceasefire, it is permitted to hit violations that pose a threat.
The IDF has recently intensified its attacks, including killing Hezbollah’s chief of staff in a rare strike in Beirut last month.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported “a series of (Israeli) raids targeting the Iqlim al-Tuffah region” near the towns of Azza, Rumin, and Jbaa, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the border with Israel.
“A number of houses were damaged” in JBaa, the NNA added.
Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon’s government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army is set to dismantle the group’s military infrastructure near the border by year’s end before tackling the rest of the country.
But Israel says it is moving too slowly, while Hezbollah strives to rearm itself following its devastating losses during the war.
Israel also launched a wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets last week.
In a meeting with French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun rejected “accusations claiming that the Lebanese army is not fully carrying out its role south of the Litani River,” about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Israel.
Lebanon “supports any audit conducted by the ceasefire monitoring committee regarding the procedures implemented south of the Litani,” Aoun added.
The five-member committee, which includes Lebanon, Israel, France, the US, and the UN peacekeeping force, is set to meet again with Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives on December 19.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told the Saudi Al Arabiya news outlet over the weekend that Hezbollah will not disarm unless Iran agrees that it should.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-it-hit-hezbollah-targets-including-training-site-for-elite-radwan-force/
https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1998324238780903524
other Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/scouring-massive-labyrinth-under-rafah-idf-just-missed-finding-hadar-goldins-body/
https://www.jfeed.com/news-israel/idf-hamas-tunnel-network-rafah
https://vinnews.com/2025/12/09/idf-fires-at-syrian-protesters-near-golan-heights-checkpoint-two-wounded/
https://vinnews.com/2025/12/09/idf-police-nab-six-suspected-drug-smugglers-on-egyptian-border-after-high-speed-chase/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/israeli-forces-foil-terror-network-125807945.html
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/UN-rejects-IDF's-'yellow-line'-as-new-border/65324088
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-december-9-2025/
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-879693
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/553517/afdil-partners-with-idf-genomic-laboratory
Suspected drone battery explosion kills 22 in Indonesia’s capital
Update : 09.12.2025
ISTANBUL (Not Constantinople)
A suspected drone battery explosion and a subsequent fire at a seven-story office building in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta left at least 22 people dead, including 15 women, on Tuesday, local media reported.
Twenty-two bodies had been found so far, including seven men and 15 women, said Central Jakarta police chief Susatyo Purnomo Condro, according to the Kompas TV.
"The victims were trapped in the seven-story building when the fire broke out this afternoon," Susatyo said, according to the Jakarta Globe.
Earlier, it was reported that authorities were continuing their search through the building, with a focus on the sixth floor, as access to it remained "particularly challenging."
More victims were still feared trapped.
According to the Tokyo-based Kyodo news agency, the site was likely "office of an Indonesian subsidiary of Japanese company Terra Drone Corp," which offers measurement, agricultural and other services using drones in Southeast Asia.
The fire is believed to have erupted after the explosion of a drone battery, quickly spreading to nearly the entire building, according to the Jakarta Globe. Emergency responders later evacuated the victims who ran to the rooftop.
A full forensic investigation will be launched once the fire is taken under control.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/suspected-drone-battery-explosion-kills-22-in-indonesia-s-capital/3766093
Cambodian rockets, drones, shells hit Thai border provinces
9 Dec 2025 at 10:51
Cambodian rockets, suicide drones and artillery shells hit three northeastern Thai provinces on Tuesday morning, the 2nd Army Region reported.
The Cambodian rockets were fired from BM-21 multiple rocket launchers, beginning about 4.50am.
In Surin, rockets hit Ta Khwai and Ta Muen areas in Phanom Dong Rak district and Chong Plot Tang and Chong Rayi areas in Kap Choeng district.
In Si Sa Ket, rockets struck Phra Wihan, Phu Makua, Sam Tae, Phu Phi and Chong Ta Thao areas in Kantharalak district.
Suicide drones and drones carrying small bombs hit locations in Surin and Ubon Ratchathani, including Chong An Ma areas in Phanom Dong Rak district of Surin and Hill 561 in Nam Yuen district of Ubon Ratchathani.
Cambodian artillery shells struck Phra Wihan, Phu Makua, Hill 600, Ban Phumi Charoen village, Chon An Ma, Chong Bok and Ta Khwai in Si Sa Ket, Surin and Ubon Ratchathani.
"Cambodia is trying hard to conquer the Phu Mukua area… Our side has responded with direct and indirect fire and still controls major locations… and has significantly damaged the opponent's capabilities," the 2nd Army said.
The 2nd Army also reported that on Monday its soldiers fired on a deserted building that housed scammers near Chong An Ma in Nam Yuen district of Ubon Ratchathani and destroyed anti-drone antenna towers in Phra Wihan and Huai Ta Maria areas in Kantharalak district, Si Sa Ket, as well as a supply gondola at Hill 350 near Ta Khwai temple ruins in Surin.
Soldiers also cleared a cashew plantation that encroached on Thai territory in Chong Rayi area, and occupied the ancient Prasat Khana temple in Kap Choeng district, Surin.
The 2nd Army said its operations targeted military infrastructure and command centres, arsenals and provision routes that threaten Thailand's security.
The 1st Army Region, which supervises eastern Thai provinces bordering Cambodia, reported that Cambodian troops fired rifle shots at Ban Nong Chan village in Khok Sung district of Sa Kaeo province about 1.40pm on Monday.
Thai soldiers responded to the attack and began an operation to take back the areas that Cambodians had illegally occupied in Bang Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaew villages of Khok Sung district and in Ban Khlong Pheng village of Ta Phraya district of Sa Kaeo.
At 5pm on Monday Thai soldiers retook an encroached area in Ban Nong Ya Kaew village, the statement said.
The 1st Army said it found new PMN-2 landmines that Cambodia had prepared for use. In addition, Cambodia directed heavy weapons-fire at houses in Ban Khok Thahan village in Ta Phraya district.
Late Tuesday morning RAdm Surasant Kongsiri, spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said Cambodia was continually provoking Thailand, firing weapons and planting landmines.
Thailand could no longer tolerate these persistent provocations and would have to respond.
"Thai military operations will continue until Cambodia shows it wants peace," RAdm Surasant said.
Thai army spokesman Winthai Suvaree condemned Cambodia for firing rockets across the border, calling it a “violation of sovereignty and a serious threat to public safety.” He said Thailand’s military actions comply with international law.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has vowed to press on with the offensive to protect Thailand’s sovereignty and has ruled out talks until Cambodia fully halts its attacks.
The latest bout of violence followed five days of military clashes in July, the deadliest in recent history that left nearly four dozen people dead and displacing more than 300,000.
A ceasefire agreement was reached days later during talks in Malaysia and a peace accord was signed in October in a ceremony presided over by US President Donald Trump.
The agreement included deploying observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to help maintain peace.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3152973/cambodian-rockets-drones-shells-hit-thai-border-provinces
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501804285/2-cambodian-civilians-killed-in-thai-drone-strike-while-travelling-in-bus/
U.S. Army Europe, Africa Launches First Drone Warfighter Competition
Dec. 9, 2025
The multinational competition is designed to test and showcase unmanned aerial system operator capabilities, and serve as a visible culmination of experimentation, readiness and transformational warfighting initiatives to ensure participating U.S., allied and partner soldiers are trained, tested and ready to deploy modern UAS capabilities in complex operational environments.
"It's pretty exceptional that although we're competing, we're friends, we're partners, we're allies," said Army Brig. Gen. Terry Tillis, 7ATC commander, during the opening ceremony.
"There's a larger picture," Tillis added. "It's not just about flying UAS. It's about utilizing the UAS as integrated enablers to achieve desired effects.
It's about UAS facilitating the combined arms maneuvers of our ground forces into a position of advantage so they can seize and hold terrain."
Army units permanently stationed in Europe and competing in the drone warfighter competition include the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Joint Multinational Readiness Center, 7ATC; 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa; 2nd Cavalry Regiment, V Corps; and 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
Other units rotationally deployed to the European theater under V Corps who are also competing include the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division; 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division; and 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
International teams from Italy and Spain are also competing. Each team has two to six soldiers, including a short-range reconnaissance drone team and a first-person view drone team.
Teams are scored over three days of graded activities, including a written UAS knowledge exam and two training scenarios conducted on a variety of soldier skills within a time limit.
One area focuses on their tactical abilities to carry out an aerial reconnaissance and a strike mission using a variety of small UAS platforms against an enemy force in an urban environment, including establishing camouflage and security.
The second one tests aerial land navigation, accuracy and maneuverability of a first-person view drone through an obstacle course to clear and secure a trench, as well as team cohesion on decision-making during a call-for-fire mission.
Teams are using a variety of issued and self-built drones.
The top U.S. Army team will be announced at the end of the competition and go on to compete in the U.S. Army's Best Drone Warfighter Competition in 2026.
https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4355088/us-army-europe-africa-launches-first-drone-warfighter-competition/
Drone drops steak, crab legs, marijuana into South Carolina prison yard
December 9, 2025 12:36 pm
Corrections officers at a South Carolina prison intercepted a covert package dropped by a drone containing a selection of indulgent fare and banned substances.
Guards unwrapped the package to find steak, marijuana, crab legs, an abundance of cigarettes, and to spice it up, a tin of Old Bay seasoning.
The illicit meal was dropped into the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, S.C., by a drone, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said on X on Monday, with the caption, “seems some folks were planning an early holiday Old Bay crab boil and steak dinner along with their marijuana and cigarettes — all dropped by drone at Lee Cl.”
Prison officials said they are investigating and that no arrests have been made.
“I’m guessing the inmates who were expecting the package are crabby,” said prison spokesperson Chrysti Shain, The Associated Press reported.
Keeping contraband out of state prisons is an ongoing battle. Until drones came into play, people would throw or catapult items, including cellphones, drugs and other prohibited items, over the fence until the fences were raised and netting was added on top.
Flying a drone over a prison in South Carolina is a misdemeanour punishable by up to 30 days in jail, while dropping contraband into a prison is a felony that can lead to a 10-year prison sentence.
The problem also persists in Canada. In February last year, staff at Warkworth Institution, a medium-security prison southeast of Peterborough, Ont., seized an edged weapon, cellphones and accessories estimated to be worth $24,000.
“This seizure was the result of a suspected drone drop,” Mike Shrider, Correctional Service Canada’s regional communications manager, said.
It was the second reported drone incident at the prison that month. A few weeks prior, two people were arrested for flying a drone carrying cannabis and cellphones, according to the Ontario Provincial Police.
In Quebec and British Columbia, drone flyovers above prisons are also a regular occurrence.
Statistics from Quebec’s public security minister show staff reported 274 drones flying over provincial centres between January and March of this year, slightly more than three per day.
That doesn’t include the 10 federally-managed prisons in the province. The provincial figures show 195 of the 247 drones were seen dropping packages.
Most of them — 69 per cent — were reported as seized. The province also seized 896 cellphones.
https://twitter.com/SCDCNews/status/1998053315838345281
https://globalnews.ca/news/11569691/drone-prison-steak-marijuana-crab-south-carolina/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15363981/UFO-whistleblower-Donald-Trump-evidence-non-human-intelligence.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCHNf8cFm0Y
UFO whistleblower claims Trump was 'fully briefed' on alien hybrids living among humans
Updated: 14:45 EST, 8 December 2025
President Donald Trump has allegedly been 'fully briefed' on what the US government has been keeping secret about UFOs and alien life living among humans.
In a recent interview, whistleblower and retired US Air Force Major David Grusch claimed that Trump has received reports on crashed spacecraft and non-human remains retrieved by the US, the origins of these beings, and their intentions.
Grusch, a current advisor to Congress's UAP Task Force, said the president could soon become the 'most consequential leader in world history' by publicly disclosing what America has kept hidden about extraterrestrials.
'Members of this current administration are very well aware of this reality. Certainly, the current president is very knowledgeable on this subject,' Grusch told Fox News.
To this point, previous White Houses, the US military, and even NASA have all denied that humans have made contact with alien life or have ever recovered extraterrestrial technology from crashed UFOs.
No physical evidence has ever been presented publicly that would back up the stories by countless civilians, scientists, and military personnel over the decades, who claim to have seen or interacted with beings from another world.
However, Grusch said the US military has not only recovered UFOs and alien bodies, but he personally viewed intelligence reports, data, and even pictures of non-human bodies with his own eyes.
The whistleblower also allegedly told members of Congress that Trump was even briefed during his first term about the existence of multiple alien races and how one species has been crossbreeding with humans.
Grusch spent 14 years in the Air Force before working as an intelligence officer for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which builds and lunches surveillance satellites for the Pentagon.
From 2019 to 2021, he represented NRO on the UAP Task Force, but eventually became a whistleblower after allegedly learning that elements of the US government had prevented Congressional oversight on matters related to extraterrestrials.
In 2023, he testified before Congress, claiming that secret government departments had been running UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering programs for decades.
When asked if he would declassify the files about aliens on the Lex Fridman Podcast in September 2024, then-candidate Trump said: 'Sure, I’ll do that. I would do that. I’d love to do that. I have to do that.'
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Missouri congressman Eric Burlison previously echoed Grusch's statements, revealing the alleged existence of at least four alien species humans secretly know about.
Burlison added that Grusch had briefed the president on the existence of a race known as the 'Nordics,' which are generally human in appearance, with fair skin and blond hair, who have created alien-human hybrids.
'He [Grusch] said that the Nordic aliens are like a few hundred years more advanced than we are, but they're not super advanced,' Burlison said during an X space interview on June 27.
'He says that there are aliens that are crossbreeds living in the world,' the congressman added, noting that Grusch did not have an answer when asked how humans would be able to tell if someone was an alien hybrid.
Burlison, who appointed Grusch to the government's UAP committee, added that the Air Force veteran described another alien race called the Greys as being thousands of years more advanced than humans.
According to Grusch's reports, these aliens, who were shorter with grey skin and large black eyes, were responsible for sightings of craft that defied gravity and controlled technology using their minds.
As for whether these aliens were peaceful or coming to Earth with hostile intentions, Grusch revealed last month that the US has seen a 'mixed bag of activity.'
'We can't quite understand the intent of some of the sentients and why they're visiting. Could it be because we have interesting genetic material on Earth?
We're a Jurassic Park tourist attraction for them. [It] could be a myriad of reasons,' he told Bret Baier of Fox News on November 21.
The UAP advisor added that the US was in a secret arms race with Russia and China, who have also captured and crashed alien spacecraft and have been working to reverse engineer the technology.
Although Grusch believed Trump may soon decide to release the classified reports on extraterrestrial programs and encounters, the president has previously said he was a skeptic when it comes to UFO conspiracies.
'People who are very smart and very solid have said they believe there is something out there, and you know it makes sense that there could be.
I've never been convinced, even despite that, you know, I just for some reason it's not my thing,' Trump told the Impaulsive podcast in June 2024.
Despite the skepticism, Grusch claimed that the White House was motivated to 'do the right thing' in terms of disclosing all the whistleblower information Congress has been investigating regarding UFOs.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment regarding the claims in Grusch's interview.
Grusch noted, however, that he and others have faced intimidation and threats of physical harm to stay quiet about the existence of alien life, but he did not name who has been behind the cover-up.
'I was physically threatened even before I sent in my intelligence community inspector general report under the previous administration,' the whistleblower alleged.
'I actually had to go and and seek legal protection that way because I was, you know, literally in fear both professionally and in my personal life.'
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>Those are called democrats
Reality Check with Ross Coulthart: Underwater UFOs”
Dec 8, 2025
Ross Coulthart and his team of investigators explore mysterious reports of an Underwater UFO Highway leading to unexplained sightings and stories in waters below and skies above these ocean depths worldwide.
Guests:
Ben Hansen, NewsNation Special Correspondent
Dennis Asberg, Ocean X founder
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN)
Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet (ret.), former head of NOAA
Thor Laizans, Boat Captain
"Silverado," UFO Researcher
Dr. Matthew Szydagis, Astroparticle physicist
Richard Dolan, Author "A History of USOs"
Chapters:
00:00 What is a USO?
04:00 Dennis Asberg and the Baltic Sea anomaly
09:40 Rep. Tim Burchett on underwater bases and his meeting with Pres. Trump
16:50 Tim Gallaudet tells NewsNation's Ben Hansen where to hunt for underwater UFOs
20:28 Oceanbotics cameras dive into the ocean
25:30 UFO Witness Thor shares his video & terrifying new story
34:31 Ben Hansen's plane vanishes above Los Angeles waters
40:31 Richard Dolan, author, on the USO mystery
https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/newsnation-to-present-a-new-special-reality-check-with-ross-coulthart-underwater-ufos-saturday-dec-6th-at-8-7c/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbvorziWMm8
https://x.com/rosscoulthart
UFO whistleblower advised Trump to appoint UAP ‘czar
Updated: Dec 9, 2025 / 01:36 PM CST
A newly released memo from a UFO whistleblower urged President Donald Trump to appoint an adviser dedicated to the issue of UAPs along with emerging technology that could affect national security.
Lue Elizondo joined NewsNation’s Ross Coulthart to discuss the memo, which he sent to Trump in early January, as the president was preparing to take office.
Elizondo has joined other high-profile whistleblowers in alleging the Pentagon is operating secret UFO programs, stating that the government has obtained technology and biological remains of nonhuman origin.
The Pentagon has disputed his statements.
In the memo to Trump, Elizondo focused on “Emerging All-Domain Technologies,” which include UAPs along with drone and surveillance advances from U.S. allies and adversaries.
He advised the president that he should appoint a “czar” to coordinate the response to EADTs, giving the example of drone incursions near military bases in New Jersey and Chinese surveillance balloons that entered American airspace to explain why such consolidation is needed.
Elizondo also spoke about UAPs, noting that a stigma against the subject has made serious investigation of unknown sightings a challenge.
Many reports of UAPs describe objects that operate in ways not possible with current technology and are often spotted near sensitive sites or by members of the military.
Elizondo’s recommendations for such a czar included coordinating the response to EADTs across government agencies, formulating national policy and advising the president on declassification of UAP records.
Trump has previously advocated for more transparency around UAPs, but it remains to be seen whether he will make policy changes regarding how the government handles UAP records or investigations.
https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/ufo-whistleblower-advised-trump-appoint-uap-czar/
https://www.newsnationnow.com/podcasts-newsnation/lue-elizondo-sends-uap-letter-to-president-trump-did-he-read-it/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T056kxi12cQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0dfmnCT66c (Russia, Pentagon, and whistleblowers: New revelations about UFOs and UAPs | Backscroll)
https://x.com/jamescfox/status/1996738274946437465
https://x.com/RedPandaKoala/status/1996752627858919863
Congressman Requests Trump Meeting on Underwater UFO Bases
December 8, 2025
Congressman Tim Burchett has gone on record stating he believes there are five or six underwater bases on Earth that are nonhuman.
According to Burchett, Navy officials told him about objects the size of football fields moving at 200 miles per hour beneath the waves. He has now requested a meeting with President Trump to discuss the matter.
These claims emerged during NewsNation’s special “Reality Check with Ross Coulthart” focusing on underwater UFOs. What makes the claims noteworthy is the source.
Burchett serves as co-chair of the bipartisan UAP caucus and has led multiple congressional hearings on the subject. He also worked on strengthening whistleblower protections following allegations made by David Grusch about a legacy crash retrieval program.
As someone who sits on committees with access to classified briefings, Burchett is not speculating from the outside. He is describing what officials are telling him behind closed doors.
During the NewsNation interview, Burchett explained that his conversations with pilots revealed sightings consistently occurred over water. A chance conversation with a former admiral about five or six deep water areas shifted his focus to underwater phenomena.
The speed of these objects raises significant questions. Water is roughly 800 times denser than air, and the fastest military submarines can only travel around 30 to 40 miles per hour.
If the reports are accurate, whatever is being detected operates far beyond current engineering capabilities.
Burchett has requested a 15-minute meeting with President Trump to discuss the underwater UFO issue directly. During the 2024 campaign, Trump indicated he would support more transparency on UAPs, and Burchett believes that commitment still stands.
The congressman has put faith in his personal relationship with the president, expressing confidence that if he can get Trump’s attention on this matter, real disclosure could finally happen.
Burchett has stated that nothing will change until someone in the White House says enough is enough and orders full disclosure. He believes Trump may be the president willing to do exactly that.
In a separate interview with Tucker Carlson in October 2025, Burchett elaborated further. He described these deep water areas as locations we know less about than the surface of the moon.
According to Burchett, Navy sources believe whatever is down there may have been present for thousands of years. His reasoning for why this technology does not belong to the United States or foreign adversaries is straightforward.
Pilots have reported near collisions with these objects, and Burchett argues the military would not risk its best pilots by putting unknown craft in their flight paths. He also pointed out that if Russia or China possessed this capability, they would not keep it secret. Russia would not be struggling in Ukraine, and China would already be dominant.
Burchett shared a particularly striking moment from his conversations with Navy officials. One official chose to leave his office through a back door to avoid being seen. Before leaving, the official looked at him and said, “Tim, they are real.”
When Ross Coulthart pressed Burchett directly on whether these underwater bases are nonhuman, Burchett confirmed that is his belief. He stated the United States does not have the capabilities to travel there or do anything else at those depths.
Burchett also addressed what he sees as a cover-up. According to his Tucker Carlson interview, he believes five or six major corporations have possession of retrieved technology.
The information has been so compartmentalized that most government employees genuinely know nothing. The technology was moved to private hands decades ago, which means Congress cannot use Freedom of Information Act requests to access it.
Burchett described being warned by colleagues to stop pursuing the issue, with one person telling him in a crowded hallway that he was kicking a hornets nest.
The Pentagon officially denies any knowledge of extraterrestrial engagement with Earth. However, according to Coulthart, members of Congress who receive classified briefings are making very different statements.
Coulthart described this as a funny game where the Pentagon categorically denies everything while congressmen come out of private hearings well informed with contradictory information. Coulthart went as far as calling this the biggest story in human history.
https://www.ufonews.co/post/congressman-requests-trump-meeting-on-underwater-ufo-bases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rhZRJRhEdA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOQiTnWFWfA (UFO Disclosure market odds soar as Ross Coulthart & Tim Burchett still lure Trump - Psicoactivo #731)