TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
December 13, 2025
Orion and the Ocean of Storms
On December 5, 2022, a camera on board the uncrewed Orion spacecraft captured this view as Orion approached its return powered flyby of the Moon. Beyond one of Orion's extended solar arrays lies dark, smooth, terrain along the western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum. Prominent on the lunar nearside Oceanus Procellarum, the Ocean of Storms, is the largest of the Moon's lava-flooded maria. The lunar terminator, the shadow line between lunar night and day, runs along the left of this frame. The 41 kilometer diameter crater Marius is top center, with ray crater Kepler peeking in at the edge, just right of the solar array wing. Kepler's bright rays extend to the north and west, reaching the dark-floored Marius. By December 11, 2022 the Orion spacecraft had returned to its home world. The historic Artemis 1 mission ended with Orion's successful splashdown in planet Earth's water-flooded Pacific Ocean.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Pre-History Wall, Electric Mosquitos, Coronal Hole | S0 News and frens
Dec.13.2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPDv7ct3Ewo
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/1999751135125717468
https://www.jhuapl.edu/news/news-releases/251212-center-geospace-storms-mage-model
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/hong-kong-news/article/319249/Passenger-captures-stunning-aurora-from-New-York-to-Hong-Kong-flight
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/forms-of-aurora-arcs-curtains-corona/
https://spaceweather.com/
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
Comet 3I/ATLAS is getting greener and brighter as it approaches Earth, new images reveal
December 12, 2025
New telescope images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS confirm that the mysterious object has gotten brighter and greener since its close approach to the sun in late October.
This increase in activity could portend new, bright outbursts of cometary material as 3I/ATLAS careens toward its closest encounter with Earth next week.
Taken on Nov. 26 with the Gemini North telescope atop Hawaii's dormant Mauna Kea volcano, the new images capture the comet in one of its most active phases yet.
Recently heated by intense solar radiation, ice on the comet is sublimating and spewing into space along with tons of dust, forming a bright, cloudy atmosphere (a coma) around the comet's main body and a long, glowing tail behind it.
To capture this view, the team observed 3I/ATLAS using four filters (blue, red, orange and green), and found that gas in the comet's coma now emits a faint greenish hue, which wasn't the case several months ago.
Why is 3I/ATLAS going green?
Don't rush to blame little green men for the comet's new greenish glow.
Among the gases spilling out of 3I/ATLAS is diatomic carbon (C2) — a molecule of two carbon atoms that emits a greenish light, according to a statement from the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, which operates the Gemini North telescope along with its twin Gemini South telescope in Chile.
Many solar system comets give off a similar green hue when activated by the sun, including last year's "Mother of Dragons" comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and the recently discovered Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN).
However, it's noteworthy that 3I/ATLAS appeared distinctly redder when it was first observed by Gemini South in late August, months before its close flyby of the sun, according to NOIRLab.
This is evidence that 3I/ATLAS is releasing new molecules into space as it heats up, offering fresh hints into its mysterious makeup.
Is another outburst coming?
As the comet approaches its closest point to Earth on Dec. 19 (coming within a comfortable 170 million miles, or 270 million kilometers, of our planet), we may be in for even more surprises.
"What remains unknown is how the comet will behave as it leaves the Sun's vicinity and cools down," NOIRLab representatives wrote in the statement.
"Many comets have a delayed reaction in experiencing the Sun's heat due to the lag in time that it takes for heat to make its way through the interior of the comet.
A delay can activate the evaporation of new chemicals or trigger a comet outburst."
3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object ever discovered, after 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
The comet was detected in late June as it was speeding through our solar system at an estimated 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h), zooming by on a hyperbolic (U-shaped) orbit that will never bring it through our neighborhood again.
3I/ATLAS is probably the largest and, very likely, the oldest interstellar object seen so far.
While it shows many intriguing features — including large, sun-facing jets and signs of being irradiated by its billions of years spent in interstellar space — the vast majority of astronomers and space agencies agree that it is a typical comet — and not an artificial piece of alien technology, as some viral claims have suggested.
Dozens of observatories and spacecraft around the solar system have been closely monitoring 3I/ATLAS to better understand its size, trajectory, composition and origins.
Studying it in depth could reveal new details about the mysterious frontier of our galaxy and how some of the earliest star systems in the Milky Way formed.
https://www.livescience.com/space/comets/comet-3i-atlas-is-getting-greener-and-brighter-as-it-approaches-earth-new-images-reveal
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/3i-atlas-is-green-after-perihelion-234efe6fedbb
https://medium.com/@earthexistclothing/3i-atlas-cassandra-unclassified-799785fc42ca
https://medium.com/@earthexistclothing/3i-atlas-cassandra-unclassified-part-2-cc97e297b489
https://x.com/EarthExist/status/1999669930766278685
https://x.com/EarthExist/status/1999670467976921374
https://x.com/EarthExist/status/1999659229804707866
https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1999453597478846875
https://x.com/KalopaStars/status/1999855124777484691
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/1999607199665148266
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuizZReQcjY (Stefan Burns: The Craziest 3I/ATLAS "Coincidence" Yet 🤯 The Cosmic Synchronicity of GRB250702b & 3I/ATLAS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkF3E5dcDMc (Ray's Astrophotography: Comet 3I ATLAS – We May Be WRONG ABOUT THIS - I Took a PICTURE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBqHTj1p9ho (Dobsonian Power: NEW ESA 3I/ATLAS PICTURE IS GOLD!)
crunch time
Watch 4K ISS Earth Views | This Week in Orbit | 04 - 10 December 2025
December 13, 2025
Welcome to This Week in Orbit, your weekly escape to watch Earth from space.
Enjoy 15 minutes of relaxing, inspiring 4K footage of Earth captured by Sen’s cameras on the International Space Station.
This episode features views of: moonrises, city lights, coastlines, rivers, deserts, atmospheric rivers, spacecraft, and a rare look at Soyuz MS-27 from orbit.
Sit back, breathe, and enjoy the best window seat in the universe.
💫 About This Week in Orbit
This Week in Orbit is a weekly visual journey around Earth filmed from the International Space Station.
Watch as continents drift below, storms illuminate the night, and coastlines shine against deep space. All filmed by Sen in continuous, real-time 4K resolution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni9Iqp3-MYs
https://www.sen.com/
NASA’s TRACERS Spacecraft Begin Preliminary Science Data Collection
December 12, 2025
NASA’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission has started collecting preliminary science data, including tandem measurements that are key to the mission’s science goals.
One of the two satellites, Space Vehicle 2, completed commissioning and is fully operational. The other satellite, Space Vehicle 1, is also operating with some limitations following an issue earlier this summer that caused intermittent contact with the spacecraft.
The TRACERS mission launched on July 23, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Following successful signal acquisition from Space Vehicle 2, the satellite underwent a commissioning period where mission controllers ensured the satellite is healthy, communicating properly, and in proper orbital position.
The mission team conducted recovery efforts for the other spacecraft when an issue with the power subsystem resulted in a loss of communication with Space Vehicle 1.
Once communication was re-established, the mission team oriented the spacecraft towards the Sun to an angle that allowed the solar panels to generate more power.
All data indicates that the battery on Space Vehicle 1 is no longer functioning properly, so the vehicle will always need to receive sufficient sunlight to power its systems during active science data collection.
With these parameters, the mission team re-targeted the mission’s science data collection to focus on Earth’s southern polar cusp, rather than the northern polar cusp as was originally planned.
This allows Space Vehicle 1 to collect sunlight and power up its systems on Earth’s dayside before it reaches its target area, maximizing the science data that the satellite can collect on each orbit.
“The TRACERS team, together with their spacecraft operators at Millennium, need to be commended for their outstanding efforts in starting science data collection with Space Vehicle 1,” said Reinhard Friedel, TRACERS program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“This has re-established a path for TRACERS as it works to achieve its original science goals that require tandem observations in the Earth’s cusps.”
Both spacecraft are now collecting limited, routine tandem measurements at Earth’s southern polar cusp with multiple instruments to understand how particles from space stream into our planet’s atmosphere during space weather events.
Full assessment of the impacts to the mission’s science goals continues as the mission team develops a new operational plan to commission the instruments on Space Vehicle 1 within the new mission constraints.
The TRACERS mission launched to study magnetic reconnection and its effects in Earth’s atmosphere.
Magnetic reconnection occurs when the Sun’s magnetic field is embedded in continuous outpouring of electrical charged particles, or solar wind, and collides into Earth’s magnetic shield.
This interaction builds up energy that can cause the magnetic field lines to snap and explosively fling away nearby particles at high speeds directly into our atmosphere.
Understanding magnetic reconnection and space weather will help scientists better predict geomagnetic storms and the effects of other space weather phenomena that can affect the safety of astronauts as well as power grid and communication systems.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/tracers/2025/12/12/nasas-tracers-spacecraft-begin-preliminary-science-data-collection/
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/tracers/
NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim to Discuss Eight-Month Space Station Mission
Dec 12, 2025
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will recap his recent mission aboard the International Space Station during a news conference at 3:30 p.m. EST Friday, Dec. 19, from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Watch the news conference live on NASA’s YouTube channel. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
Media interested in participating in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.
Media wishing to participate by phone must contact the Johnson newsroom no later than two hours before the start of the event.
To ask questions by phone, media must dial into the news conference no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of the call. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
Kim returned to Earth on Dec. 9, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky. He logged 245 days as an Expedition 72/73 flight engineer during his first spaceflight.
The trio completed 3,920 orbits of the Earth over the course of their nearly 104-million-mile journey. They also saw the arrival of nine visiting spacecraft and the departure of six.
During his mission, Kim contributed to a wide range of scientific investigations and technology demonstrations.
He studied the behavior of bioprinted tissues containing blood vessels in microgravity for an experiment helping advance space-based tissue production to treat patients on Earth.
He also evaluated the remote command of multiple robots in space for the Surface Avatar study, which could support the development of robotic assistants for future exploration missions.
Additionally, Kim worked on developing in-space manufacturing of DNA-mimicking nanomaterials, which could improve drug delivery technologies and support emerging therapeutics and regenerative medicine.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-astronaut-jonny-kim-to-discuss-eight-month-space-station-mission/
https://www.youtube.com/live/pRBx5t3Hi8s
Space Balance and Stem Cell Research Wrap Up Week on Station
December 12, 2025
The Expedition 74 crew wrapped up the week exploring how the body balances itself in space and growing stem cells to improve health.
Meanwhile, ongoing cargo operations and lab maintenance rounded out the schedule aboard the International Space Station.
Scientists are investigating how a crew member’s sense of balance, movement, posture, and visual stability adapts to living in weightlessness.
They are looking at potential space-caused changes to the brain’s network, or vestibular system, when interpreting motion, position, and equilibrium in space. Results may improve astronaut training and benefit therapies for patients on Earth.
NASA Flight Engineer Chris Williams wore virtual reality goggles on Friday and responded to visual cues sent from a computer operated by NASA Flight Engineer Zena Cardman.
The duo worked inside the Columbus laboratory module as doctors on the ground remotely guided the astronauts during the vestibular portion of the CIPHER human research experiment.
Williams later worked out for the exercise portion of the CIPHER study, this time looking at his cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, and endurance.
Cardman treated and preserved stem cells growing in space to demonstrate their superiority to those manufactured on Earth and advance a wide range of patient therapies including regenerative medicine.
Roscosmos Flight Engineers Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev also explored how a crew member’s vestibular system adapts to microgravity for their space agency’s Virtual experiment.
They took turns wearing a different set of virtual reality goggles that tracked their vision helping researchers understand a crew member’s sensory interactions in weightlessness.
Roscosmos scientists will also use the data to train crews for future missions and prepare them for the return Earth’s gravity.
Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui installed six material sample carriers inside the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock on Friday for robotic installation on the outside of the orbital outpost next week.
The carriers house materials that will be exposed to space radiation, extreme temperature changes, and more to benefit a variety of Earth and space industries.
Station Commander Mike Fincke of NASA spent the end of the week on cargo and maintenance.
Fincke first loaded cargo for disposal inside JAXA’s HTV-X1 cargo craft that will depart the station’s Earth-facing port on the Harmony module in late January.
Afterward, he replaced pipes in the Tranquility module’s waste and hygiene compartment, also known as the space station’s bathroom.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov kicked off his day on orbital plumbing maintenance before moving on and photographing scientific hardware for analysis on the ground.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/12/12/space-balance-and-stem-cell-research-wrap-up-week-on-station/
NASA Satellite Data Could Soon Lead to Safer Bridges Worldwide
December 12, 2025
Researchers are turning to satellite data to monitor the world’s longest bridges.
Due to high costs and logistical challenges, fewer than 1 in 5 bridges extending 492 feet (150 meters) or more have systems installed to track structural changes that might be harbingers of damage or danger.
Satellites could more than triple the portion of bridges globally that are actively being monitored for safety and structural health, researchers say.
In a study in Nature Communications, researchers evaluated the feasibility of using a pair of European Space Agency satellites that make up the Sentinel-1 constellation to gather high-resolution radar data from bridges.
They found that a data analysis technique known as Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MT-InSAR) can reveal structural displacements as small as a few millimeters.
Though tiny, comparable to the thickness of a dime, these small shifts can be evidence of structural weakness.
The researchers hope to soon begin using data from the recently-launched NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite, jointly operated by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation.
NISAR will collect higher resolution data than the Sentinel satellites, which researchers expect will provide more meaningful information for civil engineers keeping an eye on long-span bridges.
On-site inspections and sensors installed on bridges remain crucial for monitoring structural health.
But including spaceborne SAR monitoring could expand regular oversight from less than 20% of the 744 long-span bridges worldwide to more than 60%, the researchers say.
Satellite data will be particularly useful in remote regions where installing traditional sensors and conducting on-site inspections can be prohibitively expensive.
NISAR will systematically gather imagery of nearly every bridge in the world twice every 12 days.
This comprehensive radar time series will make it possible to identify and track subtle changes not only to bridges but also other infrastructure, such as dams, railways, buildings, and levees.
NASA’s free and open data policy means that anyone can use NISAR data to evaluate infrastructure.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/science-news/2025/12/12/satellites-keep-bridges-safer/
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/nisar/
Ancient Death Valley Lake Reappears
Dec. 12, 2025
Lake Manly, a pluvial lake, is visible in dark blue in the center of this Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) false-color corrected reflectance image of the Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, California.
The HLS image was captured on Dec. 10, 2025, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) aboard the Landsat 8 platform.
Death Valley has experienced the wettest fall on record, as 2.41 inches of rain fell between September and November, which is more than what the area typically gets in a year. The record rainfall has caused several inches of water to accumulate.
The comparison above shows Nov. 7, 2025, on the left and Dec. 10 on the right, showing the accumulation of rain in the ancient lake bed. Swipe the center bar left and right to see the lake emerge in the Dec. 10 image.
The false color reflectance (Bands 7-5-4, Shortwave Infrared) imagery layer reveals how much water is present in plants and soils, as water absorbs in shortwave infrared wavelengths.
This imagery layer can be used to distinguish between cloud types like water clouds versus ice clouds, snow, and ice, which appear white. Vegetation is in shades of green, soils and urban areas are in shades of brown, and water is dark blue/black. Freshly burned areas appear red.
Visit Worldview to visualize near real-time imagery and historical imagery from NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS); find more imagery in our Worldview weekly image archive.
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/worldview-image-archive/ancient-death-valley-lake-reappears
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/worldview-image-archive
NASA’s Webb, Curiosity Named in TIME’s Best Inventions Hall of Fame
Dec 12, 2025
Two icons of discovery, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Curiosity rover, have earned places in TIME’s “Best Inventions Hall of Fame,” which recognizes the 25 groundbreaking inventions of the past quarter century that have had the most global impact, since TIME began its annual Best Inventions list in 2000. The inventions are celebrated in TIME’s December print issue.
“NASA does the impossible every day, and it starts with the visionary science that propels humanity farther than ever before,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“Congratulations to the teams who made the world’s great engineering feats, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Mars Curiosity Rover, a reality.
Through their work, distant galaxies feel closer, and the red sands of Mars are more familiar, as they expanded and redefined the bounds of human achievement in the cosmos for the benefit of all.”
Decades in the making and operating a million miles from Earth, Webb is the most powerful space telescope ever built, giving humanity breathtaking views of newborn stars, distant galaxies, and even planets orbiting other stars.
The new technologies developed to enable Webb’s science goals – from optics to detectors to thermal control systems – now also touch Americans’ everyday lives, improving manufacturing for everything from high-end cameras and contact lenses to advanced semiconductors and inspections of aircraft engine components.
Meanwhile on Mars, the unstoppable Curiosity rover, NASA’s car-size science lab, has spent more than a decade uncovering clues that the Red Planet once could have supported life, transforming our understanding of our planetary neighbor.
These NASA missions continue to make breakthroughs that have reshaped our understanding of the universe and our place in it.
Curiosity has also paved the way for future astronauts: Its Radiation Assessment Detector has studied the Martian radiation environment for nearly 14 years, and its unforgettable landing by robotic jetpack allowed heavier spacecraft to touch down on the surface — a capability that will be needed to send cargo and humans to Mars.
To compile this “Hall of Fame” list, TIME solicited nominations from TIME editors and correspondents around the world, paying special attention to high-impact fields, such as health care and technology.
TIME then evaluated each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, continued efficacy, ambition, and impact.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory.
Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.
Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-curiosity-named-in-times-best-inventions-hall-of-fame/
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Helps Map Sun’s Outer Boundary
December 12, 2025
With the help of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, astronomers have made the first continuous, two-dimensional maps of the outer edge of the Sun’s atmosphere.
At this boundary, which scientists call the Alfvén surface, solar material escapes from the Sun to become the solar wind, a million-mile-per-hour stream of particles that flows outward in all directions across the solar system, striking planets, spacecraft, and anything else in its way.
Published Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, results using Parker Solar Probe’s Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) instrument show that this boundary grows larger, rougher, and spikier as the Sun becomes more active during its 11-year solar cycle.
Scientists have been using other solar observatories, such as the NASA/ESA (European Space Agency) Solar Orbiter and NASA’s Wind, to begin mapping the boundary between the Sun’s atmosphere and the solar wind.
However, Parker Solar Probe gets closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft in history — so close that it repeatedly flies through this boundary, providing direct validation of the maps and showing how the boundary changes as the Sun’s activity varies.
Knowing exactly where this critical boundary is could help scientists answer big questions about the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona, and help us understand how solar activity impacts the rest of the solar system, including life on Earth and our technology.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/science-news/2025/12/12/nasas-parker-solar-probe-helps-map-suns-outer-boundary/
A Rare Gourd
Dec 12, 2025
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured an uncommon sight – the death of a low-mass star – in this image of the Calabash Nebula released on Feb. 3, 2017.
Here, we can see the star going through a rapid transformation from a red giant to a planetary nebula, during which it blows its outer layers of gas and dust out into the surrounding space.
The recently ejected material is spat out in opposite directions with immense speed — the gas shown in yellow is moving close to a million kilometers an hour.
Astronomers rarely capture a star in this phase of its evolution because it occurs within the blink of an eye – in astronomical terms. Over the next thousand years the nebula is expected to evolve into a fully-fledged planetary nebula.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/a-rare-gourd/
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/nasa-announces-plan-to-map-milky-way-with-roman-space-telescope/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLpktwTTeWI
NASA Announces Plan to Map Milky Way With Roman Space Telescope
Dec 12, 2025
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has released detailed plans for a major survey that will reveal our home galaxy, the Milky Way, in unprecedented detail. In one month of observations spread across two years, the survey will unveil tens of billions of stars and explore previously uncharted structures.
“The Galactic Plane Survey will revolutionize our understanding of the Milky Way,” said Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“We’ll be able to explore the mysterious far side of our galaxy and its star-studded heart. Because of the survey’s breadth and depth, it will be a scientific mother lode.”
The Galactic Plane Survey is Roman’s first selected general astrophysics survey — one of many observation programs Roman will do in addition to its three core surveys and Coronagraph technology demonstration.
At least 25% of Roman’s five-year primary mission is reserved for astronomers worldwide to propose more surveys beyond the core programs, fully leveraging Roman’s capabilities to conduct groundbreaking science.
Roman is slated to launch by May 2027, but the team is on track for launch as early as fall 2026.
While ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) retired Gaia spacecraft mapped around 2 billion Milky Way stars in visible light, many parts of the galaxy remain hidden by dust.
By surveying in infrared light, Roman will use powerful heat vision that can pierce this veil to see what lies beyond.
“It blows my mind that we will be able to see through the densest part of our galaxy and explore it properly for the first time,” said Rachel Street, a senior scientist at Las Cumbres Observatory in Santa Barbara, California, and a co-chair of the committee that selected the Galactic Plane Survey design.
The survey will cover nearly 700 square degrees (a region of sky as large as about 3,500 full moons) along the glowing band of the Milky Way — our edge-on view of the disk-shaped structure containing most of our galaxy’s stars, gas, and dust. Scientists expect the survey to map up to 20 billion stars and detect tiny shifts in their positions with repeated high-resolution observations.
And it will only take 29 days spread over the course of the mission’s first two years.
Cosmic Cradles
Stars are born from parent clouds of gas and dust.
Roman will peer through the haze of these nesting grounds to see millions of stellar embryos, newborn stars still swaddled in shrouds of dust, tantrumming toddler stars that flare unpredictably, and young stars that may have planetary systems forming around them.
Astronomers will study stellar birth rates across a wide range of masses and stitch together videos that show how stars change over time.
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“This survey will study such a huge number of stars in so many different stellar environments that we’ll be sampling every phase of a star’s evolution,” Street said.
Observing so many stars in various stages of early development will shed light on the forces that shape them. Star formation is like a four way tug-of-war between gravity, radiation, magnetism, and turbulence.
Roman will help us study how these forces influence whether gas clouds collapse into full-fledged stars, smaller brown dwarfs — in-between objects that are much heavier than planets but not massive enough to ignite like stars — or new worlds.
Some stars are born in enormous litters called clusters. Roman will study nearly 2,000 young, loosely bound open clusters to see how the galaxy’s spiral arms trigger star formation.
The survey will also map dozens of ancient, densely packed globular clusters near the center of the galaxy that could help astronomers reconstruct the Milky Way’s early history.
Comparing Roman’s snapshots of clusters scattered throughout the galaxy will enable scientists to study nature versus nurture on a cosmic scale.
Because a cluster’s stars generally share the same age, origin, and chemical makeup, analyzing them allows astronomers to isolate environmental effects very precisely.
Pulse Check
When they run out of fuel, Sun-like stars leave behind cores called white dwarfs and heavier stars collapse to form neutron stars and black holes. Roman will find these stellar embers even when they’re alone thanks to wrinkles in space-time.
Anything that has mass warps the underlying fabric of the universe. When light from a background star passes through the gravitational well around an intervening object on its journey toward Earth, its path slightly curves around the object.
This phenomenon, called microlensing, can temporarily brighten the star. By studying these signals, astronomers can learn the mass and size of otherwise invisible foreground objects.
A separate survey — Roman’s Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey — will conduct deep microlensing observations over a smaller area in the heart of the Milky Way.
The Galactic Plane Survey will conduct repeated observations over a shorter interval but across the whole center of the galaxy, giving us the first complete view of this complex galactic environment.
An unobscured view of the galaxy’s central bar will help astronomers answer the question of its origin, and Roman’s videos of stars in this region will enable us to study some ultratight binary objects at the very ends of their lives thanks to their interactions with close companions.
“Compact binaries are particularly interesting because they’re precursors to gravitational-wave sources,” said Robert Benjamin, a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and a co-chair of the committee that selected the Galactic Plane Survey design.
When neutron stars and black holes merge, the collision is so powerful that it sends ripples through the fabric of space-time.
“Scientists want to know more about the pathways that lead to those mergers.”
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If only we could deploy interceptors with dashcams.
Spacecraft from Chinese launch nearly slammed into Starlink satellite, SpaceX says
December 12, 2025
One of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites just dodged a bullet in orbit.
That bullet was one of the nine spacecraft that launched atop a Chinese Kinetica 1 rocket on Tuesday (Dec. 9) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
It zoomed dangerously close to a Starlink satellite, according to SpaceX, which was none too pleased with the close shave.
"As far as we know, no coordination or deconfliction with existing satellites operating in space was performed, resulting in a 200-meter close approach between one of the deployed satellites and STARLINK-6079 (56120) at 560 km altitude.
Most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators — this needs to change," Michael Nicolls, vice president of Starlink engineering at SpaceX, said via X on Friday evening (Dec. 12).
Kinetica 1 is a 100-foot-tall (30 meters) solid-fuel rocket operated by CAS Space. The company, which is based in Guangzhou, responded to Nicolls' post, saying that it did its due diligence as the launch services provider (LSP) but is looking into the incident nonetheless.
"Our team is currently in contact for more details. All CAS Space launches select their launch windows using the ground-based space awareness system to avoid collisions with known satellites/debris.
This is a mandatory procedure. We will work on identifying the exact details and provide assistance as the LSP," CAS Space said via X on Friday night.
"If confirmed, this incident occurred nearly 48 hours after payload separation, by which time the launch mission had long concluded. CAS Space will coordinate with satellite operators to proceed.
This calls for re-establishing collaborations between the two New Space ecosystems," the company added in another X post a few hours later.
Tuesday's Kinetica 1 launch lofted "six Chinese multifunctional satellites, an Earth-observation satellite for the UAE [United Arab Emirates}, a scientific satellite for Egypt and an educational satellite for Nepal," according to China Daily.
Nicolls' post did not specify which of these spacecraft zoomed close to the Starlink satellite.
The coordination that Nicolls cited is becoming more and more important, for Earth orbit is getting more and more crowded. In 2020, for example, fewer than 3,400 functional satellites were whizzing around our planet.
Just five years later, that number has soared to about 13,000, and more spacecraft are going up all the time.
Most of them belong to SpaceX. The company currently operates nearly 9,300 Starlink satellites, more than 3,000 of which have launched this year alone.
Starlink satellites avoid potential collisions autonomously, maneuvering themselves away from conjunctions predicted by available tracking data.
And this sort of evasive action is quite common: Starlink spacecraft performed about 145,000 avoidance maneuvers in the first six months of 2025, which works out to around four maneuvers per satellite per month.
That's an impressive record. But many other spacecraft aren't quite so capable, and even Starlink satellites can be blindsided by spacecraft whose operators don't share their trajectory data, as Nicolls noted.
And even a single collision — between two satellites, or involving pieces of space junk, which are plentiful in Earth orbit as well — could spawn a huge cloud of debris, which could cause further collisions.
Indeed, the nightmare scenario, known as the Kessler syndrome, is a debris cascade that makes it difficult or impossible to operate satellites in parts of the final frontier.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/spacecraft-from-chinese-launch-nearly-slammed-into-starlink-satellite-spacex-says
https://x.com/cas_space/status/1999674146934992994
https://x.com/cas_space/status/1999747246771032181
Watch the Geminid meteor shower peak tonight from the comfort of home with this free livestream
December 13, 2025
You can tune in to see live views of the Geminid meteor shower as it peaks overnight on Dec. 13-14, thanks to a free livestream hosted by the Virtual Telescope Project.
The annual shower occurs as Earth passes through the debris-strewn orbit of the wandering asteroid (3200) Phaethon.
The livestream is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) on Dec. 13 on The Virtual Telescope Project's YouTube channel, weather permitting.
Under perfect dark-sky conditions, you could see up to 150 meteors per hour near the peak, although most viewers will see fewer, especially from light-polluted areas.
If clouds conspire to ruin your view — or if you live in the southern hemisphere, where the shower isn't visible at all — the Virtual Telescope Project's Livestream will help ensure that you won't miss out on one of the most impressive natural light shows of the year.
The stream is set to run until dawn and will feature views from the organization's super-wide-angle all-sky camera located in Manciano, Italy, which, according to Virtual Telescope Project founder Gianluca Masi, is one of the darkest sky regions in the country.
How to look for Geminids
Look for Geminid meteors streaking away from a point of origin close to the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini, which rises above the eastern horizon a few hours after sunset and remains visible throughout the night.
As such, Geminid shooting stars can be spotted from mid-evening until dawn. Moonlight shouldn't spoil the show too badly this year, though a 26%-lit waning crescent moon rises an hour or two after midnight, which may make viewing slightly more challenging in the hours preceding sunrise.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/watch-the-geminid-meteor-shower-peak-tonight-from-the-comfort-of-home-with-this-free-livestream
https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2025/12/09/2025-geminid-meteor-shower-online-observation-13-dec-2025/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss4cq9lzG8c
Restoration advances: Tent removed after months protecting spy plane at U.S. Space & Rocket Center
Updated: 11:51 AM CST December 10, 2025
Workers have removed the inflatable tent that has sheltered the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Lockheed Martin A-12 Oxcart aircraft during a months-long restoration project – a significant step in the refurbishment of one of aviation's most secretive Cold War legends.
The rare spy plane, which typically stands as a prominent display at the Huntsville museum, was relocated to an open parking lot and placed under the protective canopy while undergoing extensive restoration work.
The temporary structure shielded the aircraft from weather and environmental damage during the delicate process.
Complete Restoration
The restoration involved stripping the aircraft down to its titanium skin before applying fresh primer, new paint, and updated markings. Despite the comprehensive work, the plane will retain its original appearance.
A USSRC spokesperson told FOX54 plans for its new display location are being finalized and that information will be shared soon.
A Piece of Aviation History
The A-12 at the Space & Rocket Center is the seventh of only 12 ever built by Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works division in California.
The aircraft was dedicated at the center on Feb. 1, 1991, and previously underwent repainting in 2017.
It remains on loan from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
The Secret Precursor to the SR-71
The A-12 served as the classified predecessor to the famous SR-71 Blackbird, sharing nearly identical dimensions and shape with its better-known successor.
Both aircraft measure over 100 feet long with 55-foot wingspans and weighed between 120,000 and 140,000 pounds when fully fueled.
While the SR-71 holds numerous aviation records, the smaller and lighter A-12 actually flew faster and higher, reaching speeds of Mach 3.29 (2,171 mph) and altitudes of 96,250 feet.
However, because the A-12's existence remained classified for decades, it holds no official records.
CIA's Secret Weapon
All A-12 aircraft were CIA assets, flown exclusively by 11 former U.S. Air Force pilots recruited for the clandestine program. Between 1962 and 1968, these CIA pilots and seven Lockheed test pilots completed nearly 2,900 sorties, logging more than 5,000 flight hours.
During its operational period, A-12s flew 29 surveillance missions over North Vietnam, North Korea, and Laos/Cambodia between May 31, 1967, and May 8, 1968. The U.S. Air Force's SR-71 assumed these reconnaissance duties in 1968, after which the seven remaining A-12s entered non-flyable storage for over two decades.
The completion of this restoration ensures that this piece of Cold War history will continue to inspire visitors and preserve the legacy of one of aviation's most remarkable achievements.
https://www.rocketcitynow.com/article/news/local/restoration-advances-tent-removed-after-months-protecting-spy-plane-at-us-space-rocket-center/525-5e756112-9dbc-4f4c-8ad6-18d4f659d301
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjjqJVCcnIs
https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/innovation/technology/mining-robots-and-nuclear-batteries-a-look-inside-the-moons-billion-dollar-future
Mining, Robots, And Nuclear Batteries: A Look Inside The Moon’s Billion-Dollar Future
Dec 13, 2025, 0:00 AM
he Moon is having a moment. Once a distant scientific outpost, it is now projected to grow into a $170 billion economy over the next two decades, driven by mining water ice for rocket fuel and harvesting helium-3 for quantum computing and fusion energy.
Helium-3, valued at up to $20 million per kilogram, is the most commercially promising resource, Stirling Forbes, founder of Europe’s space trade consulate Forbes-Space, told Forbes Middle East.
He said governments and private companies are accelerating plans to establish permanent bases on the lunar surface, robotic industries, and critical cislunar infrastructure, with the first commercial operations possible in the 2030s.
“We’re witnessing the Moon evolve from a purely scientific outpost into a functional industrial frontier,” said Viktor Shpakovsky, an analyst in lunar commerce, a deep tech angel investor, and a partner at Beyond Earth Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on frontier technologies with both terrestrial and space applications. “The focus is shifting from planting the flag to building the foundation.”
That foundation is rapidly taking shape, powered, quite literally, by nuclear batteries, robotic scouts, fuel made from lunar ice, and a surge of government and commercial missions determined to claim a foothold in cislunar space.
Powering the Moon’s dark side
One of the biggest challenges on the lunar surface is the 14-day night, where temperatures plummet and solar panels become nearly useless. Zeno Power aims to solve this with nuclear batteries.
“Zeno’s role is to power the next era of lunar missions,” said A.C. Charania, the company’s senior vice president for Space Business Development.
“Our nuclear batteries provide reliable power through the two-week lunar night… We see our systems as a backbone for the lunar economy.”
Unlike traditional radioisotope generators, Zeno uses isotopes such as strontium-90 and americium-241 paired with high-efficiency Stirling engines, making the technology more scalable.
The company is on track to deliver its first nuclear battery to the lunar surface by 2027, with applications ranging from warming rovers to powering beacons, instruments, and eventually human habitats.
According to Charania, a sustainable lunar presence requires “persistent power, 24/7, 365 days a year… Nuclear power is the foundation that makes that permanence possible.”
Why everyone suddenly wants a piece of the Moon
Some of the motivations for lunar expansion are scientific. Much of it, in reality, is geopolitical.
“It is capabilities and competition,” said Rich Cooper, Space Foundation vice president for Strategic Communications. With more nations entering space, the Moon has become a proving ground. “Being the first in anything is a distinction like no other.”
Shpakovsky said today’s lunar push is driven by geopolitics and national prestige, with commercial opportunities coming later once infrastructure matures.
Resources accelerate the urgency. Water ice, found mainly at the poles, enables air, drinking water, and rocket fuel. “If you can access that most precious resource, you can produce air, water, and the hydrogen needed for fuel,” Cooper said.
Shpakovsky noted that “in the near term, water ice and oxygen extracted from regolith are the most valuable. They support life and can be converted into fuel.” As for helium-3 mining for fusion? “A long-term vision,” he said.
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The first lunar industries
The earliest phase of the lunar economy will rely heavily on robotics.
“The Moon is primarily a robotic environment and will remain so for the foreseeable future,” Shpakovsky said. Missions like Firefly Aerospace’s deliveries under NASA’s CLPS program provide crucial data on terrain, lighting, and dust, which will help shape future industrial activity.
Cooper called such missions “essential parts of that economic ecosystem,” demonstrating that commercial companies can support not only science but eventually crews and infrastructure.
Oliver Mende, PwC Middle East director for Digital Economy and SpaceTech, said early lunar development will remain publicly funded, creating near-term opportunities for Earth-based suppliers.
“Making the Moon a true extension of our habitat and economic system will require investments in transport, communication, energy, and utilities infrastructure,” he said.
He cautioned that while helium-3 and rare earth elements are promising, the commercial case is still uncertain and depends on solving technical challenges.
What a lunar city will look like
Forget gleaming sci-fi metropolises. Early outposts will be small, functional, and modular.
“None of this in the early years will be expansive,” Cooper said. Habitats will be linked modules surrounded by storage depots, rovers, and power stations.
Every crew member, he added, will need to be capable of repairing or maintaining equipment in an environment “absolutely hostile to life.”
AI-driven simulations, autonomous robots, and 3D printing with lunar soil will be essential. “There are no hardware stores on the Moon,” Cooper joked. “But an appropriate 3D printer can do that for you.”
Navigation and communications infrastructure, effectively “Lunar GPS,” is also emerging.
Xona Space Systems’ Pulsar constellation aims to extend precision navigation beyond Earth, while NASA and commercial partners are testing laser communications that could transform landings and equipment deployment.
Forbes warned that building sustainable lunar infrastructure is far from easy. “Processing tons of frozen regolith in permanently shadowed craters at -200°C, while keeping machinery and people safe, is one of the most hostile industrial environments imaginable,” he said.
He emphasized that NASA may be today’s anchor customer, but sustainable markets must extend far beyond government contracts.
He expects the 2030s to bring permanent bases, commercial mining revenue, and broader infrastructure supporting deeper space ventures.
When does this become a real economy?
Not yet. But soon.
“At this stage, it is still government-driven and geopolitical,” Shpakovsky explained to Forbes Middle East. “A true commercial lunar economy… will take another decade of real infrastructure.”
Cooper is more bullish: “The global space economy is now $613 billion. At its current pace, it could cross $1 trillion by 2032. The lunar economy is the next expansive step.”
Charania sees similar momentum from the power perspective: “Reliable, long-duration power will be one of the most sought-after capabilities.”
Pilot extraction projects could start in the 2030s, with larger-scale fuel production by the 2040s. But the race is well underway.
As Shpakovsky puts it, “we are witnessing the Moon become part of a broader cislunar infrastructure.” Not science fiction, but the early days of a very new kind of economy.
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Israel signs 10-year strategic space agreement with NASA
Updated on: 13 December,2025 10:08 AM IST
"We are now committed to the next national goal: training the first Israeli female astronaut."
Israel's Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Gila Gamliel signed a ten-year strategic space agreement with NASA.
The signing took place as part of an official working visit to NASA headquarters in Washington, where the minister met with the top leadership of the American agency and discussed with them the promotion of launching the first Israeli woman into space, and joint projects on the moon and deep space, including: the Artemis joint flagship projects, the MARE experiment, the launch of the ULTRASAT satellite, experiments on the International Space Station, and collaborations in education.
"NASA is our largest strategic partner in space, and the signing of the decade-long agreement reflects confidence in our scientific ability to jointly lead scientific and technological innovation from the Moon to space station research," said Gamliel.
"We are now committed to the next national goal: training the first Israeli female astronaut."
https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/israel-signs-10-year-strategic-space-agreement-with-nasa-23607549
https://www.aninews.in/news/world/middle-east/israel-signs-10-year-strategic-space-agreement-with-nasa20251213063427/
Hegseth, Senior Leaders Attend Spacecom Relocation Ceremony
Dec. 12, 2025
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth joined numerous members of Congress and a handful of senior military officials today to mark the official relocation of U.S. Space Command from Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
Prior to assisting in unveiling three large signs denoting that the future Spacecom headquarters will be built on site at Redstone Arsenal, Hegseth delivered brief remarks in support of its relocation.
"Air Force Secretary [Troy Meink] made the right choice recommending to me [and] recommending to [President Donald J. Trump] that this is the place to continue to establish space dominance — right here in Alabama," Hegseth said.
Along with Meink's support, building the new Spacecom headquarters at Redstone Arsenal — which is adjacent to the city of Huntsville — was also championed by the previous two Air Force secretaries, according to U.S. Rep. Mike Rodgers of Alabama's 3rd District, who also spoke briefly at the ceremony.
Hegseth said that, along with the values of peace through strength and putting America first, the Trump administration and the War Department also view using common sense as crucial to success.
"It's common sense that this is precisely where Space Command should be; it's common sense that we need to move rapidly and expeditiously, and we will," he said.
"We are deadly serious in committing to cutting every piece of red tape and bureaucracy to get this headquarters established as quickly as humanly possible," he added.
Hegseth noted that today's relocation ceremony was more than just symbolic and served as a recognition that ground needs to be broken for Spacecom's new headquarters quickly, so it can be built and provided with the people and capabilities it needs as soon as possible.
"Because first it was 'He who controls the skies,' [and] now it's 'He who controls the space domain' understands what the future of warfare will look like, and who controls that dominance," he said.
"That's why I'm here today; because the quicker we establish this, the more robust the capabilities are, the more likely we are to deter the next conflict and — if necessary — stand prepared to overwhelmingly defeat our enemies," he continued.
Trump officially announced the relocation of Spacecom — which is one of the U.S. military's 11 unified combatant commands — to Alabama, Sept. 2, 2025.
The command was initially created in September 1985 before being disestablished in October 2002, and its forces and responsibilities were transferred to the U.S. Strategic Command.
Trump reestablished the command in August 2019 during his first term.
https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4359288/hegseth-senior-leaders-attend-spacecom-relocation-ceremony/
https://www.war.gov/Multimedia/Videos/videoid/990017/
https://www.al.com/news/2025/12/alabama-exactly-where-space-command-should-be-secretary-of-war-hegseth-says-during-redstone-visit.html
https://yellowhammernews.com/u-s-secretary-of-war-visits-huntsville-to-mark-future-permanent-space-command-hq-site-in-alabama/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4GhIktOApI
Space Test Course awards graduates master’s degrees for first time
Dec. 12, 2025
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – The graduating class of Space Test Course 25A were the first to earn master’s degrees through the program Dec. 6, 2025, marking an historic achievement as the course continues to expand and deliver on its mission.
Originally designed as a three-month short course which began in January 2021, STC is now a year-long, graduate accredited course of study, fully integrated with U.S Air Force Test Pilot School’s flight test curriculum.
The program’s graduates will receive a Master of Science in Flight Test Engineering – Space Test Concentration, a 40-credit hour degree accredited through Air University.
The new accreditation comes after four years of curriculum development and partnership with the Air Force’s Flight Test Course, TPS, and Air University, and mirrors how other TPS graduates receive a Master of Science in Flight Test Engineering upon completion of their courses.
“Looking back at where the STC began in 2021 and comparing that to where we are today is amazing,” said Dr. Andrew Freeborn, who has been with the program since its inception.
“The explosive growth in quantity and quality of the students’ educational experience is a testament to the dedication and commitment of a fantastic team here at Edwards, the strong partnership we have with Delta 12, Space Training and Readiness Command, and headquarters USSF, as well as several interagency and industrial partners around the country.”
The development highlights the importance of the Space Force’s professional testers. It also ensures Guardians receive education that keeps up with the fast-paced rate of change of the capabilities they’re required to test.
The STC’s focus is to produce adaptive, critical thinking test leaders to conduct full-spectrum test and evaluation of space-domain systems.
The intent is to provide students with a broad base of technical knowledge to prepare them for future Test and Evaluation (T&E) projects that span a variety of technical areas. STC accomplishes this with an integrated curriculum.
Approximately two-thirds of the academic offerings at TPS, including test foundations, mission systems, and test leadership, are shared by STC and FTC students.
The remaining third is made up of “domain sciences” that are unique to the different courses; FTC gets material on flight sciences and STC receives lessons on astronautical sciences.
Lt. Col. David Heinz, Air Force TPS deputy commandant and STC director, explained how the courses’ integration and rigorous academic evaluation reflects how Guardians and Airmen are improving education systems to better prepare service members in the future.
“Conferring the master’s degree to the recent STC graduates acknowledges the academic intensity of the education that the students received and is a testament to the dedication of the faculty and staff who built out the course over the past four years,” said Heinz.
“This was truly a joint effort between the USAF and USSF and is a shining example of how we can continue to partner to win.”
Col. Sacha Tomlinson, Delta 12 commander, spoke on how the changes to STC also gets after recent initiatives to empower the acquisition workforce to rapidly deliver capabilities and modernize test infrastructure.
“The value of the STC to our service is immeasurable,” she said. “It produces the test professionals we need to lead our test forces to meet the challenges laid out in Department of War’s acquisition reform, accelerate war-winning capabilities to our warfighters, and ensure the only ones surprised in combat are our adversaries.”
STC graduates support the service’s ability to lead combat-credible evaluation of the USSF enterprise and associated weapon systems.
Reflecting on the impact of the course, Freeborn stated, “Conferring the degree is recognition of the rigor of the program and the hard work and perseverance of the students who strive to graduate from STC and take their place as leaders of the T&E community.”
https://www.starcom.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4358659/space-test-course-awards-graduates-masters-degrees-for-first-time/
US sets out condition for Ukraine security guarantees – Axios
13 Dec, 2025 13:46
The administration of US President Donald Trump is willing to offer Kiev NATO-style and Congress-approved security guarantees if it agrees on territorial concessions to Russia, Axios reported on Saturday, citing sources.
Ukraine has rejected any concessions and has called instead for a ceasefire – a proposal Moscow has dismissed as a ploy to win time and prolong the conflict.
The outlet cited unnamed US officials as saying that negotiations on security guarantees from the US and EU nations to Ukraine had made “significant progress.”
An Axios source claimed that Washington wanted a guarantee “that will not be a blank check … but will be strong enough,” adding: “We are willing to send it to Congress to vote on it.”
The package proposal, the official continued, would entail territorial concessions, with Ukraine “retaining sovereignty over about 80% of its territory” and receiving “the biggest and strongest security guarantee it has ever got,” alongside a “very significant prosperity package.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow is open to discussing a security guarantees framework on condition that it will not be aimed at Russia.
He added that Moscow believes Washington to be “genuinely interested in a fair settlement that… safeguards the legitimate interests of all parties.”
The Axios report also said the US viewed as “progress” recent remarks by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky suggesting Ukraine could hold a referendum on territorial concessions, particularly those concerning Donbass.
Moscow, however, has stressed that Donbass – which overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in 2022 – is sovereign Russian territory, and Ukrainian troops will be pushed out of the region one way or the other.
It also suggested that Zelensky’s referendum play was a ploy to prolong the conflict and gain time for patching up the Ukrainian army.
Moscow insists that a sustainable peace could only be reached if Ukraine commits to staying out of NATO, demilitarization and denazification, limits the size of its army, and recognizes the new territorial reality on the ground.
https://www.rt.com/news/629413-us-condition-ukraine-security-guarantees/
https://www.rt.com/news/629378-ukraine-zelensky-expert-stevan-gajic/
Starlink Mission
December 13, 2025
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is targeting the launch of 27 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app.
This is the ninth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SDA T1TL-B, SDA T1TL-C, and six Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
There is the possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-15-12
Explosions reported at Russian oil refinery amid drone attack
December 13, 2025 1:36 am
Explosions were reported in Russia's Saratov Oblast overnight on Dec. 13 amid a drone attack on an oil refinery.
Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin said on Telegram that civilian infrastructure had been damaged and that there were casualties, though he did not specify how many.
Earlier, he warned that the region was facing the threat of a drone strike.
Several Telegram channels published images and videos, shared by local residents, that appeared to show explosions at the Saratov oil refinery.
The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the strike nor comments made by Russian officials.
The Saratov refinery is located in southwestern Russia, about 150 kilometers (100 miles) from the border with Kazakhstan and nearly 600 kilometers (370 miles) east of the front line in Ukraine.
The facility is owned by Russian state oil giant Rosneft and has a processing capacity of about 140,000 barrels of crude per day, producing more than 20 petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and bitumen.
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted the refinery this fall, with strikes reported on Nov. 14 and Nov. 28.
Ukraine regularly launches long-range drone strikes against industrial and military sites inside Russia, with oil refineries among frequent targets as they fund and supply Moscow's war effort.
https://kyivindependent.com/explosions-reported-at-russian-oil-refinery-amid-possible-drone-attack/
other Russia and Ukraine
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/12/13/ukrainian-drones-kill-2-in-saratov-a91433
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4069150-sbu-drones-strike-russian-oil-production-platforms-in-caspian-sea-again-source.html
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4069184-drone-operators-destroy-russian-shelters-antiaircraft-gun-on-southern-axis.html
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4069290-air-defense-forces-destroy-417-russian-drones-four-iskanderk-missiles-and-nine-kalibr-missiles.html
https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/russian-forces-continue-to-terrorize-odesa-1765599853.html
https://kyivindependent.com/from-target-to-teacher-ukraines-energy-sector-is-preparing-europe-for-drones/
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/66158
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/66034
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/ukrainians-sue-us-chip-firms-for-powering-russian-drones-missiles/
Netanyahu, Katz say Raad Saad killed in response to explosion that lightly wounded two IDF reservists
December 13, 2025 6:13 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz in a joint statement say that top Hamas commander Raad Saad was killed in response to the injury of two troops by an explosive in southern Gaza today.
“In response to the activation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded our forces today in the Yellow Zone of the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the elimination of the terrorist Raad Saad,” the statement reads.
Netanyahu and Katz say that Saad “was one of the architects of the October 7 massacre and in recent days had been engaged in restoring the terror organization and in planning and carrying out attacks against Israel, as well as rebuilding an attack force, in blatant violation of the ceasefire rules and Hamas’s commitments to respect President [Donald] Trump’s plan.”
“Instead of advancing disarmament, he was engaged in rearmament for acts of terror,” they say.
Netanyahu and Katz add that “anyone who raises a hand against Israel and harms IDF soldiers, his hand will be cut off in Gaza and anywhere else.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-katz-say-raad-saad-killed-in-response-to-explosion-that-lightly-wounded-two-idf-reservists/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-confirms-targeting-key-hamas-member-in-gaza-city-strike-said-to-be-top-commander-raad-saad/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/3-said-killed-in-idf-strike-in-gaza-city-israeli-official-says-prominent-hamas-figure-targeted/
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skwxd1jg11e
other Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-confirms-postponing-strike-on-hezbollah-site-as-lebanese-army-conducts-searches/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-it-killed-terror-operative-who-crossed-yellow-line-in-south-gaza-yesterday/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/unifil-and-lebanese-army-said-searching-alleged-hezbollah-site-after-idf-evacuation-warning/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/teen-said-seriously-wounded-by-idf-drone-in-gaza-city-coastal-area/
https://www.ynetnews.com/opinions-analysis/article/bk68qzszzg
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-december-13-2025/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-israel-agreed-to-us-demand-to-pay-for-massive-gaza-rubble-clearing-operation/
Yemen : Three Shabwa Defense Soldiers Killed in Drone Strike on Aareen Camp
2025-12-13 07:46:59
Shabwa — Three soldiers from the Shabwa Defense Forces were killed and several others wounded late Thursday in a drone attack targeting Aareen Camp, launched from the direction of Marib province, according to government sources in Shabwa.
The sources noted that the strike came just days after elements affiliated with the Islah Party, the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, were removed from the camp a move that has fueled speculation and accusations over the identity and motives of the perpetrators.
They added that the targeting of Shabwa Defense Forces appears to signal an attempt to reshuffle military influence in the region, particularly amid escalating tensions among local factions and efforts by some groups to reclaim positions lost in recent months.
Local authorities stressed that the incident was not isolated, but part of a recurring pattern of attacks on security and military sites using drones.
The assault occurred less than 24 hours after a soldier was killed and two others injured in a suicide drone explosion that struck a checkpoint in the Musaynah area of Shabwa, an attack that was at the time attributed to Al-Qaeda in Yemen.
https://yemenonline.info/politics/11055
China's Jetank 'Air UAV Carrier' Drone Successfully Completes First Flight
13 Desember 2025, 21:00
JAKARTA - China's Jetank unmanned aerial vehicle, dubbed the "air UAV carrier," completed its maiden flight in Shaanxi Province, Northwest China on Thursday, with experts highlighting the aircraft's large size and its potential to carry a large number of smaller unmanned aerial vehicles.
This successful flight marks a new breakthrough in China's large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, reported the People's Daily, citing the China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC).
Its wide spread is expected to accelerate industrial chain integration and innovation, provide new momentum for the development of high-quality low-lying economy, and promote innovation and improvement in the aviation industry, according to the People's Daily, quoted from Global Times (11/12).
As a large versatile UAV platform developed domestically, Jetank adopts the design concept of "universal platform with modular mission payload".
Built on the basis of independently developed integrated technological innovations, this drone has a large payload capacity, a high maximum flight altitude, a wide speed range, and short take-off and landing capabilities, the report said.
The Jetank drone is 16.35 meters long, has a wingspan of 25 meters, a maximum take-off weight of 16 tons, a payload capacity of 6,000 kilograms, a durability of 12 hours, and a cruising range of 7,000 kilometers, placing its performance among the top products of its kind, reported the People's Daily.
With the modular mission payload, the People's Daily continued, the Jetank drone can be widely adapted for various civilian applications, including transporting heavy supplies and providing proper logistical support to mountainous and remote island areas; quickly restoring communications and delivering disaster relief equipment during emergencies; and conducting geographical surveys, disaster assessments, and mineral exploration.
This drone can also help survey cultural heritage, maritime law enforcement, forest fire suppression, and other national economic sectors.
The Jetank heavy unmanned aerial vehicle was first introduced at the 2024 China Airshow in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, South China.
According to a previous report from China Central Television (CCTV) News, Jetank's unmanned aerial vehicle also has military applications.
This drone has eight weapon mounting points and can carry a 1,000-kilogram class guided bomb, air-to-air missile, air-to-ground missile, anti-ship missile, and cruise ammunition.
The drone also has an open architecture and is equipped with a mission pod that can be quickly replaced.
By replacing the modular mission payload, the aircraft can switch mission types within two hours to meet operational requirements such as parachuting and air transport, information support and countermeasures, as well as attack and support missions.
With its capabilities, Jetank is suitable for military and civilian use including systematic operations, transportation support to emergency rescue.
Another flagship feature of the Jetank UAV is the integration of a sophisticated isomerism nest module inside its fuselage.
Capable of accommodating hundreds of cruise munitions or small drones, this mission pod has earned Jetank the nickname "air UAV carrier," according to a CCTV News report.
Chinese military affairs expert who observed Jetank closely at the 2024 China Airshow Fu Qianshao highlighted the size of Jetank.
According to Fu, this large drone has a load capacity comparable to manned fighter aircraft or even bomber aircraft.
https://voi.id/en/news/542965
Ireland under threat from hybrid warfare, drones
13/12/2025 - 15:09 PM
The presence of drones during the recent visit of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy once again highlighted Ireland's security vulnerabilities.
Hybrid warfare, which includes cyberattacks, drone incursions, and disinformation, has long been considered a big threat to the State.
This risk will significantly increase with Ireland due to take up the EU presidency. Ireland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July 1st to December 31st, 2026.
The Irish Navy was unable to shoot down the drones amid confusion over rules of engagement.
Cathal Berry, a former TD and deputy commander of the Army Ranger Wing, told the Irish Examiner: "Ireland has no authority to shoot anything down out there unless there’s a direct threat to the ship itself.
“There was no direct threat to the ship, so normal rules of engagement apply. Anyone is entitled to fly helicopters or aircraft around in international waters, international airspace.
"And the main mission had already been achieved — president Zelenskiy has safely landed in Dublin Airport.”
Mr Berry said that LÉ William Butler Yeats lacked the ability to neutralise the drones, even if it needed to do so.
“There’s no soft kill option on the naval ship. The weapons on board are over 50 years old. They’re all second-hand, and most of the sighting systems are WW2 vintage.
“So the only option they have is to pump a big load of lead up into the sky into the flight path and the approach route into Dublin Airport, which would be absolutely ridiculous and irresponsible.”
https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/ireland-under-threat-from-hybrid-warfare-drones-1841595.html
Two flights redirected at Oslo Airport after drone spotted near runway
December 13, 2025 06:29 PM GMT+03:00
Two incoming flights at Oslo Airport were temporarily redirected Saturday after a drone was spotted flying near the facility, prompting a brief security response that has since been resolved with police taking control of the device and its operator.
The aircraft approaching Gardermoen were rerouted to an alternate runway after the unmanned aerial vehicle was observed in the vicinity of the airport's western runway, according to operations manager Rune Isaksen. Authorities immediately contacted the drone pilot and secured both the equipment and the individual responsible.
Airport officials redirect traffic as precaution
Avinor press officer Karoline Pedersen confirmed that airport personnel alerted police as soon as the drone was detected near the restricted area. The redirection of the two planes was executed as a standard safety protocol, she explained.
"This meant that we redirected two incoming planes to another runway," Pedersen said, emphasizing that operations quickly stabilized with "no major drama."
Five-kilometer exclusion zone enforced around facility
Oslo Airport maintains a five-kilometer exclusion zone where drone flights are prohibited, and officials notify law enforcement whenever unauthorized devices are detected within this perimeter. Pedersen noted that investigators have not yet determined the drone's exact proximity to the runway during the incident.
Air traffic at the airport has returned to normal operations following the brief disruption.
The incident comes amid a pattern of unauthorized drone flights in European airspace. In recent months, drones allegedly connected to Russia have violated Polish and Romanian airspace and disrupted airports and military installations, though Russian authorities have denied any involvement in such activities.
https://www.turkiyetoday.com/world/two-flights-redirected-at-oslo-airport-after-drone-spotted-near-runway-3211303?
UFO Gatekeepers - Rep. Luna, Burchett & Burlison Reveal A Plan To Fight Back
December 13, 2025
Opponents of UFO/UAP transparency have worked overtime to make life miserable for members of Congress who have demanded answers and honesty.
Those House members who have been at the forefront of efforts to get straight answers about hidden programs and unauthorized spending have encountered fierce opposition, warnings to back off, and a brick wall of outrageous secrecy from agencies they are constitutionally authorized to oversee.
Is the all-too-brief era of public hearings into UFO truth finished? Those murky agencies - the architects of the secrecy - certainly hope so.
Three of the principal champions for UAP transparency in the House admit that more hearings into UFO matters are unlikely to produce the breakthroughs the public expects.
But if future hearings are off the table, what’s next?
In this extraordinary episode of WEAPONIZED, Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp are honored to speak with three transparency warriors - Representatives Anna Paulina Luna, Tim Burchett, and Eric Burlison - to hear about the obstacles they’ve faced, why they’ve been thwarted in their efforts to speak with first-hand witnesses, surreptitious intimidation tactics, veiled threats, the possibility of presidential disclosure, and their under-the-radar plans for moving forward.
As Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Chairman of the Task Force on Government Secrets, put it: “Why are they blocking us if it’s not real?”
Good question.
https://www.weaponizedpodcast.com/
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/congresswoman-anna-luna-claims-interdimensional-beings-are-real-warns-powerful-forces-inside-1762248
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhh1u9_MEUU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bm9FTSUQro (Tim Burchett tells Eric Burlison: "We've been shown stuff we cannot discuss." - Psicoactivo #737)
https://x.com/JeremyCorbell
https://x.com/g_knapp
Is the Hour of the Time finally upon us?
New NASA Administrator to reveal truth about UFOs and ET Life?
December 13, 2025
Exopolitics Today – Week in Review
00:00:00 – Topics
00:01:52 – JP goes into more detail about his experience inside a biodome first discussed in Update #34 released on June 6, 2024. https://youtu.be/Lcr9DzQKI_I
00:03:41 – U.S. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna says she was shown information inside a SCIF about “interdimensional beings” that connect to ancient texts removed from the Bible, like the Book of Enoch https://x.com/NightSkyNow/status/1997078086156947514
00:06:24 – An independent analysis of a leaked pair of Cassandra images of 3I/Atlas show they have similar morphological features to images released by amateur astronomers. https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1997473105959092677
00:09:03 – Dr. Michael Salla. JP Army Insider Dani Henderson GSIC. Frequency Wars. https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1997853831703765098
00:10:12 – Bosnian Pyramids, ET Communication and Miracle Healing https://t.co/FwaGByfWgZ
00:11:47 – NHI needed “Meat, biological resources and blood” and they negotiated with USSR too. Agreements continue with Russia today https://x.com/i/status/1998090992860168479
00:12:55 – Met with Tyler Kiwala and Aaron Kuhn from Journey to Truth and went on a Kayak adventure through the mangroves of Key West, FL. https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1998313075582406722/photo/1
00:14:17 – Dr. Horace Drew makes an important about leaked Cassandra photos. If they are fake, how were they able to accurately depict how 3I/Atlas would look like in recent Dec photos? https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1998315993832071582
00:16:43 – Jared Isaacman is on the verge of confirmation as NASA Administrator. Will he reveal what NASA knows about UFOs and visiting extraterrestrial life? https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1998317287124635937
00:17:53 – Lily Nova on Seed Vaults, Starships & Secret Landings https://x.com/i/status/1998542831523103191
00:22:13 – The Society for UAP Studies wants to make UFO research “a recognized academic field rather than merely a frontier science.” https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1998687990323769528
00:24:27 – Interview Teaser: Deep State tracks starseeds and begins disruptive activities at very young ages to prevent them achieving their potential. https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1999029590816337974
00:26:23 – Connecting with the Higher Self is Key for Genuine ET Communications https://t.co/TFU7tefmg9
00:28:11 – My interview with Tyler and Aaron of Journey to Truth on the State of UFO Disclosure, JP ET contacts, James Rink, Exopolitics, etc. https://youtu.be/aP2yk6tGhM4
00:29:02 – Leaked photos of 3I/Atlas dating as far back as Jan 2025 were likely taken by a classified telescope and released by insiders. https://x.com/RedCollie1/status/1999233739474501908
00:32:24 – Here’s a very interesting breakdown of the different ET starseeds incarnated on Earth and how these relate to UFO sightings associated with different ET visitors. https://x.com/Kabamur_Taygeta/status/1999272994351513706
00:36:01 – Russia’s past holds deep historical ties to the Tartarian civilization, a culture known for advanced energy systems, telepathic communication methods, and scalar-based technologies https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/1999480586675618039
https://exopolitics.org/new-nasa-administrator-to-reveal-truth-about-ufos-and-et-life/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwv5oUJKqDI
https://x.com/MichaelSalla
https://www.youtube.com/@JPjpJP1/videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP2yk6tGhM4 (Journey To Truth Podcast: EP 401| Dr. Salla | State of Disclosure | James Rink | JP Unmasked | Galactic Envoy |Trump & ETs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6FDMze9LO4 (Dr. Michael Salla. JP Army Insider Dani Henderson GSIC. Frequency Wars. Humility. Healing + More)
China's Hidden BLACK Area 51 Bases are Insane
Dec 12, 2025
Explore China's hidden "Area 51" bases like Lop Nor and Hainan, where they secretly test stealth jets, hypersonic missiles, and wild UFO tech—mirroring America's Groom Lake mystery and sparking a hidden tech race for world power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCLKP1CACL8
https://x.com/maxabusa
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/12/12/lawmaker-questions-wyoming-adjutant-general-over-presence-of-ufos/
Lawmaker Questions Wyoming Adjutant General Over Presence Of UFOs
December 12, 2025
Halfway through a Wyoming legislative committee’s four-week budget-planning marathon Friday, a top lawmaker asked the state’s adjutant general about the prevalence of unidentified flying objects overhead, which the government now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
Wyoming Adjutant General Greg Porter’s answer was that he couldn’t field that question in public.
“I’m asking if you’ve had any incidents of UAPs over your airspace?” asked Senate Appropriations Chair Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, during Friday's meeting of the committee at the state Capitol in Cheyenne.
“For our air space, no. I’m aware of some other ones — near some other federal facilities — that I don’t think in open testimony here I could probably say much about that,” answered Porter.
Following a Cowboy State Daily request for clarification on either the UAP presence or the reasons Porter declined to discuss them publicly, the adjutant general gave “no additional clarification,” the Guard’s spokesman said in a text message.
Salazar in a follow-up phone interview said he asked the question because news of UAPs frequenting U.S. military installations “has become more of a concern” following national media reports.
Eight Sheriffs Said …
Salazar’s question came during Porter’s presentation about a bill passed this year that gives Gov. Mark Gordon the authority to call in the National Guard if drones encroach upon critical infrastructure.
That followed weeks of mystery drone or flying object sightings in New Jersey — and in Wyoming.
Eight Wyoming sheriffs confirmed receiving reports of strange drone-like sightings, or seeing the objects themselves, in a series of January interviews with Cowboy State Daily.
Citing concerns about conflicts with federal agencies and laws, Gordon vetoed the bill when it reached his desk in March.
The Legislature overrode that veto to enact the law.
Can’t Blast Them Now
Porter told the Appropriations Committee on Friday that the Guard doesn’t have drone interdiction technology currently. If the department bought that equipment, it would likely be obsolete in 12-14 months, he said.
“Right now, none of the formations I have in Wyoming National Guard have a counter-UAS capability,” Porter said. “As we continue to look at that problem, it’s pretty significant.”
In comments similar to those of Gordon’s veto letter, Porter noted that the Federal Aviation Administration "really frowns on people taking out unmanned private drones, under any circumstances.”
It is a federal felony to destroy aircraft.
Wyoming’s new law says the Wyoming Attorney General’s office “shall” represent National Guard members or law enforcement officials caught in litigation over upholding the state’s law by fighting drones.
Porter continued: “There are some significant authorities that are out there that we’ve not been able to overcome yet in terms of the ability to interdict drones.”
Ultimately, said Porter, his department agreed with the governor that “we’re not going to pursue that (technology) at the moment.”
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Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, asked Porter if the Guard is at the “12-gauge shotgun” level of technology in this area.
“Yeah,” said Porter. “It is kinetic at that point, if we had to do it.”
The U.S. military is “talking every day about, ‘How do we deal with the drone threats?’” he added.
Just Glad They’re Gone
Among Wyoming sheriffs who saw strange objects in flight last winter, Niobrara County Sheriff Randy Starkey made headlines first.
He told Cowboy State Daily on Dec 13, 2024, that strange objects flew over his county in the Lance Creek area starting in late October 2024. They flew for about 45 minutes every night.
Starkey watched some of the flights himself.
Those continued into March or early spring, Starkey told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
“(Just as) they all of a sudden showed up — they all of a sudden disappeared,” he said. They only flew in the cold-weather months.
Starkey still has no answers about who sent them or what they were, he said.
“We never got anybody to come forward and say, ‘Yeah, that was us,” Starkey said.
“I’m just glad they’re gone,” he said. “(I spent) a lot of late nights.”
Not Since January, Ish
Besides Starkey, four of the eight sheriffs who interviewed about object sightings in December and January also spoke to Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
Those four all said they don’t know of any mysterious flight or mysterious drone reports placed after approximately late January.
Those sheriffs were:
• Johnson County Sheriff Rod Odenbach
• Weston County Sheriff Bryan Colvard
• Campbell County Sheriff Scott Matheny
• Washakie County Sheriff Austin Brookwell - who said "(the) last ones I think we found out were just agriculture drones."
Odenbach referenced a Thursday news report by the Buffalo Bulletin about a drone sighting over the town that had caused “concern.”
Buffalo Police Chief Sean Bissett, to whom Odenbach referred Cowboy State Daily, said that was just a recreational drone and officers spoke with its operator.
Three more sheriff’s offices, those of KC Lehr (Sublette County), John Grossnickle (Sweetwater County) and John Harlin (Natrona County) did not return Friday afternoon requests for comment by publication.
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Gordon’s veto in March, however, left Grossnickle with both understanding and concern.
On the one hand, the governor’s points over federal law conflicts were valid, the sheriff told Cowboy State Daily at the time.
On the other hand, he said, he still had flying objects and safety worries tied to them as of early March.
Sweetwater County residents and law enforcement both had seen strange objects flying in formation over critical infrastructure like the Jim Bridger power plant; and an air medical pilot saw one in the air that appeared to be surveying the ground below with a light, Grossnickle’s office said at the time.
UFOs Enter The Chat
UFOs, or UAPs, have cleared lore status and entered multiple congressional hearings.
Congress heard what CBS News called “stunning testimony” of pilots’ UAP sightings in September 2023.
The U.S. House Oversight Committee held a Sept. 9 hearing on protection for UAP whistleblowers.
Among other witnesses, the committee hosted a former geospatial intelligence specialist for the U.S. Air Force who told them he suffered retaliation after reporting a disturbing encroachment at the NASA hangar at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
In the summer of 2012, at 1:30 a.m. one morning, “I saw an approximately 100-foot-long equilateral triangle fly from near the NASA hangar on base and come within 100 feet of where I was standing,” wrote the specialist, Dylan Borland, in his opening remarks to the committee.
“This craft interfered with my telephone, did not have any sound, and the material it was made of appeared fluid or dynamic,” Borland added.
“I was under this triangular craft for a few minutes, and then it rapidly ascended to commercial jet level in seconds. It displayed zero kinetic disturbance, sound or wind displacement.”
Borland characterized himself as a “federal whistleblower, having testified … with direct firsthand knowledge of, and experience with, craft and technology that are not ours and are reportedly operating without congressional oversight.”
Borland was not alone.
Military veterans, a seasoned journalist, and a senior policy advisor for the Project on Government Oversight all pushed the committee to develop whistleblower protections in this area.
Most of those said they’d seen strange objects as well.
On Feb. 15, 2023, at about 7:15 p.m. off the Southern California Coast, U.S. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins saw a self-luminous, Tic Tac-shaped object emerging from the ocean, according to his account to the committee.
The object linked with three similar objects. All four departed simultaneously, in a “highly synchronized, near-instantaneous manner. No sonic boom or conventional propulsion signatures were observed,” Wiggins wrote.
The radar and video on the vessel Wiggins was serving detected the objects. “Location and time stamps are visible in the source video frames published by journalists,” he added.
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EXCLUSIVE: UAP Caucus Co-chair "meeting with Marco Rubio next week"
Dec 12, 2025
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) — Co-chair, Congressional UAP Caucus
Ask a Pol asks:
One more question from an Ask a Pol UAP subscriber — any update on the 15 minutes with President Donald Trump you told Ross Coulthart you were requesting?
Key Burchett:
“Not yet. I’ve asked for it,” Rep. Tim Burchett exclusively tells Ask a Pol UAP.
You haven’t?
“No. I’m meeting with Marco Rubio next week,” Burchett says. “I’m kind of moving up the chain a little bit.”
Are you going to talk to Rubio about UAP?
“A little bit, yeah,” Burchett says.
Caught our ear (per another public UAP hearing):
“My suggestion would be, let’s get some new information if we’re really going to do that,” Burchett says when asked about a second public UAP hearing in the 119th Congress.
https://www.askapoluaps.com/p/uap-caucus-meeting-with-marco-rubio
https://www.askapoluaps.com/p/another-public-uap-hearing-coming
https://x.com/AskaPol_UAPs
https://x.com/MattLaslo
Dying Area 51 Veterans Pleading With Trump to Save Them | The Truth of the Matter
Dec 12, 2025
The Truth of the Matter with Natasha Zouves
They served in silence at one of the most secretive military ranges in America. Now they say they’re dying in the shadows — because the government still won’t acknowledge they were there.
Congress quietly killed the one fix that could have helped America’s “Area 51 veterans” prove where they served — and get the care they say they’ve earned.
WATCH the original NewsNation Area 51 Investigation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xrDuyw_dPQ
These men and women served on the Nevada Test and Training Range, home to the site known globally as Area 51. Now, many are battling rare cancers.
But because their service is still classified and “data-masked,” they say the VA can’t verify and service connect their illnesses — and their claims stall.
After NewsNation’s reporting, Section 1066 was added to the Senate’s defense bill as their clearest path forward. Then, behind closed doors, it vanished from the final NDAA.
Dave Crete says the message from House leadership was simple: “You’re not that important.” He believes the government is trying to wait them out — as the memorial list grows from 446 names to 527.
Now they’re turning directly to President Trump, asking for an executive order. “This problem could be fixed with one beautiful signature,” Crete says. “Mr. President, we need your help.”
In this new conversation with Air Force veteran Dave Crete, he breaks down what happened, what Congress removed, what language made it into the final bill, and why the veterans say they don’t have time to wait until 2027.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuZyYxYVg1E
https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/military/area-51-veterans-cancer-dod-denies-they-were-there/
https://theinvisibleenemy.org/
https://x.com/natashanzouves
https://x.com/DaveCrete
Ross Coulthart - AARO / DoD UAP Footage Collection
December 13, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/@RossCoulthartInvestigates/videos
https://x.com/rosscoulthart
https://www.aaro.mil/
https://www.aaro.mil/UAP-Cases/Official-UAP-Imagery/