TYB
keep them doggies rollin'
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
December 31, 2025
HH-222: The Waterfall Nebula
What created the Waterfall Nebula? The origin is still being researched. The structure, officially designated Herbig-Haro 222, appears in the region of NGC 1999 in the Great Orion Molecular Cloud complex. The elongated gaseous stream stretches about ten light years but appears similar to a long waterfall on Earth. Recent observations indicate that HH-222 is likely a gigantic gaseous bow shock, similar to a wave of water caused by a fast-moving ship. The origin of this shock wave is thought to be a jet outflow from the multiple star system V380 Orionis off the lower left of the frame. Therefore, gas does not flow along the waterfall, but rather the entire structure moves toward the upper right. The Waterfall Nebula lies about 1,500 light years away toward the constellation of Orion. The featured image was captured earlier this month from El Sauce Observatory in Chile.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Solar Watch, Cali Quake Warning, LIVE TONIGHT | S0 News and frens
Dec.31.2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LbnlmJABIo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmeefUKgN6o (Tamitha Skov: A Solar Storm Might Cartwheel for Earth on New Years | Solar Storm Forecast 30 December 2025)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCEMvTmT0S8 (MrMBB333: NEW information on the amazing 'Sun Sphere'!)
https://orbitaltoday.com/2025/12/31/china-launches-the-next-gen-fengyun-4c-meteorological-satellite/
https://www.earth.com/news/proba-3-creates-solar-eclipses-in-space-to-study-the-sun/
https://europeanspaceflight.com/commission-approves-new-members-for-space-surveillance-and-tracking-programme/
https://www.eurasiareview.com/30122025-swri-led-study-provides-insight-into-oscillations-in-solar-flares/
https://www.space.com/stargazing/new-years-eve-sky-heres-what-to-look-out-for-on-the-final-night-of-2025
https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2006209692435882385
https://x.com/SchumannBotDE/status/2006380136359137707
https://x.com/SolarObserverX/status/2006143477105508626
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
Michael Bradbury
@MrMBB333
THE SAME UNUSUAL RADAR SIGNAL APPEARED AGAIN — SPANNING THOUSANDS OF MILES
Less than 48 hours ago, radar detected a highly linear feature spanning 4,000+ miles — from the Pacific, across Central America and the Caribbean, into the Atlantic.
What stood out wasn’t just the distance.
It was the consistency.
The signal stayed narrow and sharply defined instead of spreading, fading, or evolving like normal weather.
No broad storm system lined up with it. No familiar precipitation patterns explained why it held together so precisely.
Radar anomalies happen — but features this long, straight, and persistent deserve a closer look.
No conclusions.
No assumptions.
Just observation.
Watch closely and decide for yourself.
Last edited 11:22 AM · Dec 30, 2025
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/2006083596357099977
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/if-3i-atlas-is-a-comet-then-its-anti-tail-jet-should-not-include-streaming-gas-beyond-5-000-743fe74e1419
https://medium.com/@davidsereda/from-3i-atlas-angles-to-angels-in-the-heavens-above-5b24267e779d
https://www.sci.news/astronomy/vlt-spectral-portrait-3i-atlas-14457.html
https://usaherald.com/forensic-review-of-december-image-of-3i-atlas-reveals-features-that-resist-standard-cometary-explanations/
https://astrobiology.com/2025/12/university-of-canterbury-team-led-study-of-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTATMBx0iJY (Dobsonian Power: LIVE 3I/ATLAS WITH A BIG TELESCOPE!)
https://x.com/drew4worldruler/status/2006372947640918446
https://x.com/3IATLASEXPOSED/status/2006159712497152432
https://x.com/chimura_/status/2006151880586457373
https://x.com/denverastro/status/2006017436961698058
https://x.com/IvanXatell/status/2006304179766104533
https://x.com/NightSkyNow/status/2006059930286231766
https://x.com/KirkDBorne/status/2006229659877282178
If 3I/ATLAS is a Comet, then Its Anti-Tail Jet Should Not Include Streaming Gas Beyond ~5,000 kilometers
December 30, 2025
During the past two months after perihelion, the anti-tail jet from the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS was observed to extend out to a distance of several hundred thousand kilometers towards the Sun.
In a previous calculation reported here and here, I showed that dust particles with a radius of order 10 micron could be dragged to a velocity of hundreds of meters per second by gas near their launch base and then reach a scale of several hundred thousand kilometers before being decelerated by solar radiation pressure.
Will the outflowing gas accompany these dust particles out to the same distance or get pushed back more forcefully?
Whereas the main pushback on dust stems from radiation pressure by sunlight, the main pushback on gas originates from the solar wind.
Before being slowed-down, the mass density of the outflowing gas in the jet, D_j, declines inversely with the square of distance, d:
D_j=Mdot/(2piV*d²),
where Mdot and V are the mass loss rate and velocity of the sunward jet.
The total mass loss was estimated from data obtained by the Webb telescope before perihelion (as reported here) at a value of Mdot~150 kg/s and most likely grew by a factor of a few near perihelion.
I therefore adopt an enhanced value of Mdot~500 kg/s for the post-perihelion anti-tail.
1/2
In the context of 3I/ATLAS being a natural comet, volatiles from ices heated by sunlight yield a maximum outflow speed of the gas that is comparable to the thermal speed of the dominant constituent of CO2 molecules, V=0.2 km/s, as dictated by the surface temperature of ~200 degrees Kelvin at the current heliocentric distance of 3I/ATLAS of about twice the Earth-Sun separation (AU).
This gives the gas mass density of the anti-tail as a function of distance from 3I/ATLAS:
D_j~(1.6x10^{-17} g/cm³)/(d/5,000 km)²
The solar wind carries about 3x10^{-14} solar masses per year per 4*pi steradian and flows at a speed of about v~500 km/s, providing a wind mass density at a heliocentric distance of ~2 AU:
D_w~3x10^{-24} g/cm³.
The jetted gas is expected to be stopped at a distance from 3I/ATLAS where its ram pressure (1/2)D_jV² is balanced by the ram-pressure of the solar wind, (1/2)D_wv². This occurs at a stopping distance:
d_s~5,000 km.
Interestingly, this is roughly the traverse radius of the glowing halo (coma) around the nucleus of 3I/ATLAS in the images of 3I/ATLAS (including the Hubble Space Telescope images listed here).
As the solar wind sweeps up the gas, it carries it together with sub-micron dust particles away from the Sun along the tail of 3I/ATLAS.
However, the large dust particles above 10-microns continue to stream along the anti-tail out to a scale that is ~10 times longer in the direction of the Sun.
On that scale, the jet is expected to be gas-free if 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet where gas is launched at a speed dictated by the sublimation of CO2 ice on the surface of a natural rock and limited to ~200 meters per second.
This result presents a clean test for the nature of 3I/ATLAS: if it is a natural comet, then the anti-tail jet should not include streaming gas beyond a distance of 5,000 kilometers from the nucleus.
At distances much larger than 5,000 kilometers from 3I/ATLAS as a comet, the anti-tail should be composed primarily of a stream of 10-micron dust particles with no streaming gas.
However, if the launch speed of the anti-tail jet is set by a technological thruster, then the extent of the streaming gas could reach much larger scales towards the Sun:
-
For chemical-propellant thrusters with an exhaust speed of V=5 km/s, the streaming gas could extend out to d=25,000 kilometers.
-
For ion thrusters with an ejection speed of V=90 km/s, the streaming gas could extend out to d=100,000 kilometers.
The existence of streaming gas along the anti-tail can be tested through tagging a molecular tracer like CO2 or CO along the axis of the anti-tail jet and plotting the spatial profile of the tracer relative to scattered sunlight from dust inside the jet.
Here’s hoping that such data will be collected by ground-based telescopes, like Keck, VLT or ALMA, or by space observatories like SPHEREx or the Webb telescope.
Science is a learning experience. The best way to learn is by observing nature rather than forcing it to a popular narrative.
2/2
champagne uncorking.gif
Curiosity Sends Holiday Postcard from Mars
Dec 30, 2025
Team members working with NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover created this “postcard” by commanding the rover to take images at two times of day on Nov. 18, 2025, spanning periods that occurred on both the 4,722nd and 4,723rd Martian days, or sols, of the mission.
The panoramas were captured at 4:15 p.m. on Sol 4,722 and 8:20 a.m. on Sol 4,723 (both at local Mars time), then merged together.
Color was later added for an artistic interpretation of the scene with blue representing the morning panorama and yellow representing the afternoon one.
The resulting “postcard” is similar to ones the rover took in June 2023 and November 2021. Adding color to these kinds of merged images helps different details stand out in the landscape.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/curiosity-sends-holiday-postcard-from-mars/
NASA’s Chandra Rings in New Year With Champagne Cluster
Dec 30, 2025
Celebrate the New Year with the “Champagne Cluster,” a galaxy cluster seen in this new image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes. Astronomers discovered this galaxy cluster Dec. 31, 2020.
The date, combined with the bubble-like appearance of the galaxies and the superheated gas seen with Chandra observations (represented in purple), inspired the scientists to nickname the galaxy cluster the Champagne Cluster, a much easier-to-remember name than its official designation of RM J130558.9+263048.4.
The new composite image shows that the Champagne Cluster is actually two galaxy clusters in the process of merging to form an even larger cluster.
Multimillion-degree gas in galaxy clusters usually takes on an approximately circular or moderately oval shape in images, but in the Champagne Cluster it is more widely spread from top to bottom, revealing the presence of the two colliding clusters.
Two clumps of individual galaxies making up the colliding clusters can be seen toward the top and bottom of center. (The image has been rotated clockwise by 90 degrees so that North points to the right.)
The hot gas outweighs the combined mass in all of the hundred-plus individual galaxies in the newly forming cluster. The clusters also contain even larger amounts of unseen dark matter, the mysterious substance that pervades the universe.
In addition to the Chandra data, this new image contains optical data from the Legacy Surveys (red, green, and blue), which consists of three individual and complementary surveys from various telescopes in Arizona and Chile.
The Champagne Cluster is a member of a rare class of merging clusters, which includes the well-known Bullet Cluster, where the hot gas in each cluster has collided and slowed down, and there is a clear separation between the hot gas and the most massive galaxy in each cluster.
By comparing the data with computer simulations, astronomers came up with two possibilities for the history of the Champagne Cluster. One is that the two clusters already collided with each other over two billion years ago.
After the collision the two clusters traveled outward and then were pulled back toward each other by gravity, and are now heading into a second collision.
The other idea is that a single collision occurred about 400 million years ago, and the two clusters are now traveling away from each other after that collision.
Researchers think further studies of the Champagne Cluster can potentially teach them how dark matter reacts to a high-speed collision.
A paper describing these results recently appeared in The Astrophysical Journal and is available online. The authors of the paper are Faik Bouhrik, Rodrigo Stancioli, and David Wittman, all from the University of California, Davis.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasas-chandra-rings-in-new-year-with-champagne-cluster/
Upcoming Webinar: An Overview of the National Civil Applications Center
Dec. 31, 2025
Join CSDA on Jan. 14, 2026, to learn how the National Civil Applications Center (NCAC) and the Civil Applications Committee (CAC) can support research and disaster applications.
An upcoming webinar hosted by NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program provides the CSDA user community with an overview of the National Civil Applications Center (NCAC) and the Civil Applications Committee (CAC).
These organizations complement CSDA by connecting national and commercial space-based remote sensing resources to civil science, research, federal operations, and disaster response.
NCAC analyzes satellite data from the U.S. intelligence community and Department of Defense to support public safety, environmental monitoring, hazard science, and Earth system research.
NCAC also receives and facilitates federal civil collection requirements for tasking across national and commercial imagery contracts.
Through the CAC, NCAC provides the administrative and policy framework that enables federal civil agencies to access imagery from U.S. National Imagery Systems and unclassified commercial satellite providers — at no cost to federal civil agencies — for appropriate scientific, operational, and disaster-related applications.
Webinar participants will gain insight into:
The mission, roles, and authorities of NCAC and CAC
How NCAC-supported national and commercial satellite data complement NASA CSDA holdings
Examples of how these resources support research, operational monitoring, and disaster response
How CSDA users can engage with NCAC Source Operations and submit collection requirements
This session is intended to help the CSDA user community better understand the broader federal remote sensing ecosystem and identify opportunities to leverage NCAC and CAC resources alongside CSDA data to support science, research, operations, and disaster applications.
Learn more and register for the National Civil Applications Center: Connecting Space-Based Resources to Civil Science, Research, and Disaster Applications webinar.
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/upcoming-webinar-overview-national-civil-applications-center
https://nasaevents.webex.com/webappng/sites/nasaevents/meeting/register/310f87e9fd9a4f44bcf44945d61b1ef2
NASA’s New Chief Hints Iconic Space Shuttle Might Not Be Moving to Texas After All
Tue, December 30, 2025 at 8:20 AM PST
The great Texas space shuttle saga has taken a new twist: Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead NASA, indicated that the space shuttle Discovery may not move from its retirement home in a Smithsonian museum to Houston after all despite a Texas lawmaker push over the past year to make it happen.
The effort to shift Discovery from its hangar in Chantilly, Va., an annex of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, was previously described as a “heist” by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois in July—that same month, the move was enshrined into law by the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which provided $85 million to transfer the shuttle to the Space Center Houston museum within 18 months.
Yet in a recent interview with CNBC, Isaacman said that whether the spacecraft can be moved remained to be seen.
“My job now is to make sure that we can undertake such a transportation within the budget dollars that we have available and, of course, most importantly, ensuring the safety of the vehicle,” Isaacman said. NASA and the Smithsonian have estimated that moving Discovery would cost at least $120 million.
If it turns out not to be possible, he added, then NASA could ultimately move a different vehicle to Houston. “We’ve got spacecraft that are going around the moon with Artemis II, III, IV and V.
One way or another, we’re going to make sure that Johnson Space Center gets their historic spacecraft,” Isaacman said.
Space scientists and legal experts previously decried Discovery’s move in interviews with Scientific American as a “theft” and “a vanity project.” Others expressed concern that the Texas museum would not be able to properly house and maintain the spacecraft.
“Such a move would be a waste of money—a vanity project that is apt to destroy a near-priceless American treasure,” Matthew Hersch, a fellow in legal history at New York University School of Law and an associate of the Harvard University Department of the History of Science, told Scientific American.
“The removal of Discovery from the Smithsonian Institution would be a theft, by the federal government, of a $2-billion artifact from a private museum that owns it and has been maintaining it properly for over a decade,” he said.
Discovery was first launched in 1984, completing 39 missions to space—more than any of the four other space shuttles NASA built that went to space—including a mission to loft the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit in 1990.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/nasa-chief-hints-iconic-space-162000042.html
NASA Needs A Drone Detector At Kennedy Space Center
December 31, 2025
NASA is seeking proposals for a new system to help spot and identify drones that may be flying over the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The space agency recently put out a call for proposals for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) detection and analysis services, which NASA is hoping to put into action by April 2026.
The purpose of the system will be “to make rapid and critical decisions to protect NASA personnel, the public, launch vehicles, flight hardware, critical high value assets, and security interests,” according to the contract listing.
It will have both fixed and mobile sensors.
The move comes shortly after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it was banning new foreign-made drones and drone components, citing national security concerns.
Eyes on the skies
Kennedy Space Center is NASA’s primary launch site, including for the Space Launch System rocket that will carry the Artemis missions to the Moon, and houses facilities for research and commercial space ventures.
“All UAS flights over KSC property, whether inside or outside the security perimeter, are restricted and only occur with the approval of KSC Flight Operations,” NASA wrote in its proposal.
It’s not clear whether the agency has faced recent threats from drones, or if this is a precautionary move to protect its launch assets.
It’s also not clear what kind of drone detection systems are in use at the neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, home to classified military activities.
The drone detection system would detect and identify unknown UAS within a distance of at least 46 miles (64 kilometers), provide threat analyses, real-time detection and alerting capabilities, according to the call for proposal.
The recent ban on foreign-made drones stems from a defense bill that passed last year, which called for a review of the national security risks posed by the flying vehicles.
In late 2024, there was a surge of reports of drones seen flying over New Jersey, but most experts say people were simply confused by traditional aircraft.
We can report at least one relevant siting: KSC’s Visitor Center is reportedly running a holiday drone show featuring 600 autonomous aircraft.
https://gizmodo.com/nasa-needs-a-drone-detector-at-kennedy-space-center-2000704323
Big Bear glows with big stars
Dec. 31, 2025
Recently, the Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of a dwarf galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.
Markarian 178 (Mrk 178) is one of over 1500 "Markarian galaxies," a class defined by their unusually strong ultraviolet emission first catalogued by Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian.
This small, cloud-like galaxy is dominated by clusters of young, hot, blue stars, yet it also contains a striking red-tinged region.
This reddish glow is the signature of something dramatic happening inside: a population of massive, short-lived Wolf–Rayet stars whose powerful stellar winds carve their imprint directly into the galaxy's spectrum.
What is it?
Wolf-Rayet stars are in a brief, turbulent phase of their lives.
Having exhausted the hydrogen in their cores, they shed their outer layers in violent stellar winds, producing strong emission lines—particularly from ionized hydrogen and oxygen—that appear red in specialized Hubble filters.
Wolf–Rayet stars live only a few million years, so their presence indicates that new stars formed very recently. Yet astronomers were initially puzzled as Mrk 178 has no obvious large neighboring galaxies that could have triggered such activity.
It's a puzzle that continues to be a focus for many astronomers.
Where is it?
Mrk 178 is located around 13 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
Why is it amazing?
Galaxies like Mrk 178 resemble the small, rapidly star-forming galaxies that populated the young cosmos. Studying them today provides clues to how the first galaxies built up their mass and how heavy elements spread through the universe.
As Hubble and ground-based telescopes continue to probe its structure and history, this glittering blue dwarf will help illuminate some of the most powerful forces shaping our cosmos.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/galaxies/big-bear-glows-with-big-stars-space-photo-of-the-day-for-dec-31-2025
SpaceX shatters its rocket launch record yet again — 167 orbital flights in 2025
December 31, 2025
Surprise, surprise: SpaceX shattered its single-year launch record again in 2025.
Elon Musk's company has now set a new mark six years in a row, and the numbers are getting pretty silly. The record has risen from 25 orbital liftoffs in 2020 to 31 (2021) to 61 (2022) to 96 (2023) to 134 (2024) and, now, to a whopping 167.
That's a launch almost every other day, a staggering cadence that leaves other companies — and entire nations — in the dust.
Indeed, SpaceX launched nearly twice as many orbital missions as China did this year, and the company's 2025 output represented about 85% of the United States' total tally.
All 167 of those launches were conducted by SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9, which features a reusable first stage.
(There were no liftoffs by the powerful Falcon Heavy, which hasn't flown since October 2024.) And those Falcon 9 boosters came back to Earth for a safe landing on all but three occasions.
Two of the exceptions were launches in January and October that sent massive Spainsat NG communications satellites to geostationary transfer orbit.
These were heavy lifts for the Falcon 9 first stage, which didn't have enough fuel left over for a return to Earth. The other non-landing was a failed attempt, suffered during the launch of a batch of Starlink internet satellites on March 3.
The booster actually touched down successfully on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean as planned that day, but it tipped over after a fire broke out near its base and damaged a landing leg.
Speaking of Starlink missions: They dominated SpaceX's manifest this year, making up 123 of the 167 Falcon 9 launches.
Together, those missions lofted more than 3,000 satellites for the Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of more than 9,300 active spacecraft.
SpaceX notched a number of other milestones during this very busy year. For example, the company pulled off its 500th rocket landing and 500th launch of a used rocket in 2025.
And it repeatedly extended the record for most launches by a single Falcon 9 booster, which currently stands at 32.
The 167 Falcon 9 missions weren't SpaceX's only liftoffs this year, though. The company also launched five suborbital test flights of Starship, a fully reusable vehicle that's the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built.
SpaceX lost at least one of the megarocket's two stages during the first three Starship flights of the year, but the most recent two, in August and October, were unalloyed successes.
We should see a lot more Starship action in 2026, including the stainless-steel vehicle's first orbital flight — and maybe, if things go exceedingly well, an uncrewed trip to Mars.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/spacex-shatters-its-rocket-launch-record-yet-again-167-orbital-flights-in-2025
New Year 2026 Live - New Year Fireworks Around The World
December 31, 2025
Watch live for the best New Year 2026 Countdown featuring stunning new year fireworks live from around the world! Watch as iconic cities like Sydney, London and New York light up the skies to welcome 2026 with unforgettable celebrations.
Experience different countries ringing in the new year with unique and spectacular fireworks shows from every corner of the globe.
🎆 Stream Running Order:
Auckland, New Zealand
Sydney, Australia
Brisbane, Australia
Bangkok, Thailand
Mumbai, India
Dubai, UAE
Athens, Greece
Munich, Germany
London, United Kingdom
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
New York Ball Drop, USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFeqnIjewlM
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
@NASAAdmin
Leading the world in scientific discovery, pursuing the space economy and making final preparations for America's return to the moon… 2025 was a strong year for NASA and I am incredibly proud of the team, but this is just the beginning.
Quote
NASA
@NASA
In 2025, we kept the space economy booming, advanced science from the Sun to distant stars—and much more.
Next year, our @NASAArtemis astronauts will fly around the Moon, preparing for lunar landings and paving the way to Mars. Learn more about our milestones and what's to come!
8:28 AM · Dec 30, 2025
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2006039744220713444
https://x.com/NASA/status/2006033463829283214
Space Forge Ignites 1,000°C Furnace in Orbit for Purer Semiconductors
January 1, 2026 1:05 am
UK firm Space Forge has successfully activated a microwave-sized factory in orbit, demonstrating that its furnace can reach temperatures of approximately 1,000°C.
This milestone brings space-based semiconductor production closer to reality.
Space Conditions Enable Superior Semiconductors
Space Forge aims to manufacture materials for semiconductors used in electronics, communications, and transport systems. The weightless environment allows atoms to form perfectly ordered three-dimensional structures.
The natural vacuum of space also prevents contaminants from entering the manufacturing process. CEO Josh Western said semiconductors produced in orbit can be up to 4,000 times purer than those made on Earth.
“These components will be used in 5G towers, EV chargers, and modern aircraft,” Western added. The company emphasised that these conditions are impossible to replicate in terrestrial factories.
Plasma Ignition Confirms Furnace Capability
Since launching its ForgeStar-1 satellite aboard a SpaceX rocket, Space Forge has tested its systems from mission control in Cardiff. Payload operations lead Veronica Viera shared images of plasma glowing inside the furnace.
She described the moment as “one of the most exciting of my life,” noting that generating 1,000°C plasma is essential for the manufacturing process.
The plasma strike proves the satellite can achieve the extreme temperatures needed for advanced semiconductor production.
The demonstration represents the first time a commercial satellite has generated plasma in low Earth orbit for material growth purposes.
Scaling Production for the Future
Following the successful test, Space Forge plans to develop a larger space factory capable of producing material for 10,000 chips. The company aims to integrate orbital crystal growth with terrestrial processing.
A critical next step is returning the manufactured material safely to Earth. Space Forge is developing a heat shield named Pridwen, inspired by King Arthur’s legendary shield, to protect the payload during atmospheric re-entry.
The hybrid model will allow space-grown seeds to be scaled at the Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), complementing existing supply chains.
Advanced Materials and Technology
ForgeStar-1 will focus on wide- and ultrawide-bandgap materials including gallium nitride, silicon carbide, aluminium nitride, and diamond. These materials underpin power electronics, advanced communications, quantum systems, and high-performance computing.
On Earth, the growth of these crystals is limited by defect formation and thermal instability. Space conditions, however, provide stable thermal environments and eliminate convection, allowing cleaner, higher-quality crystal growth.
The satellite will perform parameter sweeps to map plasma behaviour and collect data for designing future space factories. This will guide the scaling of commercial semiconductor production in orbit.
Industry and Expert Perspectives
Libby Jackson, head of space at the Science Museum, said in-space manufacturing is now possible and has economic potential. “By proving the technology, it opens the door for products that benefit everyone on Earth,” she said.
The development represents an early example of commercial orbital manufacturing. Other companies are exploring similar approaches for pharmaceuticals, artificial tissues, and advanced materials.
Space Forge’s demonstration sets a precedent for private-sector space manufacturing, showing that industrial processes can now occur beyond Earth’s surface.
Mission and Safety Considerations
The spacecraft is set for controlled orbital decay. Its trajectory will be monitored alongside support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council, ensuring a safe end-of-life scenario.
Future missions will continue testing re-entry heat shields and scaling production, aiming for reusable and returnable satellite operations. These steps are essential for turning orbital manufacturing into a sustainable commercial model.
Final Thoughts
Space Forge has taken a decisive step toward creating space-grown semiconductors that are cleaner, purer, and higher-performing than terrestrial alternatives.
By combining orbital crystal growth with Earth-based scaling, the company is pioneering a new industrial frontier for global technology sectors.
https://colitco.com/space-forge-1000c-furnace-orbit/
China’s record-breaking hypergravity machine compresses space, time from century to days
Dec 31, 2025 09:08 AM EST
China has broken its own record in hypergravity research after completing construction of its multi-tonne centrifuge that can compress space and time.
CHIEF1900, built by Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group, is the newest hypergravity machine that surpasses the previous iteration CHIEF1300, which came online only in September this year.
Hypergravity research aims to understand the impact of gravitational forces stronger than those on Earth on materials and structures, such as plant and animal cells. To do this, scientists build massive centrifuges capable of simulating hypergravity conditions.
Hypergravity is measured in units of g-tonnes, where g is the gravitational acceleration, and tonnes is the mass being spun in the centrifuge. For clarity, the spin dryer in a household washing machine does the same job.
It puts the clothes under intense gravitational force using centrifugal motion. However, the maximum hypergravity experienced is no more than 2 g-tonnes. In comparison, CHIEF1900 simulates hypergravity of 1900 g-tonnes.
What is CHIEF1900?
CHIEF1900 is currently the world’s most powerful centrifuge. It succeeds the CHIEF1300, both built for the Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF) at Zhejiang University in eastern China.
CHIEF1300 became a record holder in September this year, beating the US-built centrifuge at the Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
With a capacity of 1,200 gtonnes, the US centrifuge led the world in hypergravity research until September this year when CHIEF 1300 came online.
Within months, CHIEF1300 is sitting in second place as CHIEF1900 takes the throne.
The CHIEF laboratory sits nearly 50 feet (15 m) below the Zhejiang University campus to minimize vibrations during operation.
The entire facility has a budget of 2 billion yuan (US$285 million) and encourages researchers from around the world, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Why compress space and time?
The facility is not just aimed at understanding hypergravity for instances when humans travel into space. Instead, creating hypergravity allows scientists to simulate real-world conditions at smaller scales.
For instance, creating a three-meter model of a dam wall and spinning it at 100g puts the same amount of stress on it as a 984-foot (300-meter) wall would in the real world.
This happens because all objects on Earth are subject to gravity and to the centrifugal force generated by the planet’s rotation.
By generating forces thousands of times stronger than the Earth’s gravity, machines such as CHIEF compress time and distance. This allows lab-based studies to investigate phenomena spanning decades or extending over kilometers.
Other real-world applications of this research can be to estimate how pollutants migrate through soil over multiple millennia or how high-speed rail tracks resonate with the ground – scenarios that are impossible to study in real time.
The job of building such a facility was a multidisciplinary one, requiring experts in environmental science, engineering, automation, and civil engineering to come together.
However, building at scales never attempted before brings its own set of challenges.
The research team needed to develop multiple components that could deal with high-speed movements and complex operating conditions from scratch. At high rotational speeds, the CHIEF centrifuges also generate substantial heat.
The team developed a vacuum-based temperature control system that uses a mix of coolant and air ventilation to dissipate the heat, the SCMP post said.
https://interestingengineering.com/science/china-hypergravity-machine-record
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338193/china-builds-record-breaking-hypergravity-machine-compress-space-and-time
General Chance Saltzman
@SpaceForceCSO
Closing out 2025 proud of what Guardians have built in six short years. 2026 will be another big year for America’s Space Force. We’re ready.
6:20 AM · Dec 31, 2025
https://x.com/SpaceForceCSO/status/2006369958046077370
Nick Shirley on PBD Podcast today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtGhpjrI6P8
they mentioned a link to it here
https://shirleydefense.com/products/quality-learing-center