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Who is Mark Kelly? What to know about astronaut career of censured senator
Updated Jan. 8, 2026, 6:16 a.m. ET
Before he found himself a target of the Trump administration as a U.S. senator, Mark Kelly was a veteran NASA astronaut who flew to space on four separate missions in a decade.
Sen. Kelly, D-Arizona, was recently issued a formal censure courtesy of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth for his role in a video telling service members they "can refuse illegal orders."
Kelly was first elected to office in 2020, about nine years after he retired from both the Navy and NASA.
Prior to his career as a public servant, Kelly, 61, was a Navy fighter pilot who saw combat and also an astronaut who piloted – and even commanded – space shuttle missions to orbit.
Pete Hegseth censures US Senator Mark Kelly
Hegseth's censure of Kelly, announced Monday, Jan. 5, on X, comes after the Arizona senator became one of six Democratic lawmakers who drew the Trump administration’s ire by recording a video in November telling service members they “can refuse illegal orders.”
Hegseth, the defense secretary, had originally threatened to court-martial Kelly, a retired Navy captain, before opting for a formal censure and initiating proceedings aiming to demote Kelly in retirement.
In response, Kelly blasted Hegseth in a statement posted to X, calling him "the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history."
Mark Kelly is a retired NASA astronaut
Kelly, a formal naval officer who flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, was selected in 1996 to train to become a NASA astronaut.
Kelly ultimately retired from both the Navy and NASA in 2011 – the same year that his wife, Gabby Giffords, a former Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, was shot and nearly killed in an attempted assassination. He was first elected in 2020 as a U.S. senator.
Kelly has traveled on space shuttles, been to International Space Station
During his astronaut career, Kelly flew on four NASA space shuttle missions between 2001 and 2011, spending a total of 50 days in space and traveling more than 20 million miles, according to his senate biography.
Kelly's final spaceflight in 2011 to the International Space Station was also the last for Endeavor – one of the shuttles under NASA's now-iconic program to transport crew and cargo from Earth to orbit.
For three decades, the shuttles flew 135 missions critical to helping astronauts reach space, constructing the ISS and launching, recovering and repairing satellites.
Mark Kelly's twin brother Scott Kelly is also a NASA astronaut
Kelly was initially selected as an astronaut in the same NASA class as his identical twin brother Scott Kelly.
Scott Kelly, also a retired naval aviator, flew on four missions of his own between 1999 and 2015 ‒ the last of which helped etch his name in NASA history.
In March 2016, Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned from a nearly yearlong mission at the International Space Station, where they spent 340 days in low-Earth orbit.
At the time, the mission gave Scott Kelly the record for the NASA astronaut with the most consecutive days in space.
The record has since been surpassed by NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Frank Rubio – who spent 355 days and 371 days in space, respectively.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/07/mark-kelly-astronaut-nasa-censure/88064381007/
https://x.com/SecWar/status/2008189258528665898
https://x.com/SenMarkKelly/status/2008215189275963870
https://pjmedia.com/robert-zimmerman/2026/01/07/president-trump-and-nasa-administrator-isaacman-please-take-the-crew-off-of-artemis-2-n4948016
President Trump and NASA Administrator Isaacman: Please Take the Crew Off of Artemis II
6:26 PM on January 07, 2026
It is now very evident that Congress, President Donald Trump, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman are firmly committed to getting Americans back on the lunar surface as quickly as possible, and to do so using both NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule.
Congress has demanded in legislation that both the rocket and capsule fly on a minimum of three lunar missions. Trump has repeatedly reiterated his insistence that we beat China back to the Moon by landing Americans there by 2028.
And Isaacman has said publicly since his confirmation that the fastest way to meet Trump's goals is by using both SLS and Orion.
According to the present plan, the next mission, Artemis II, will launch no later than April 2026, with SLS sending an Orion capsule carrying four astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth.
Artemis III will then follow in 2028, landing three astronauts on the lunar surface. This tight schedule is necessary in order to meet Trump's desire to achieve that new American manned landing by 2028 — ahead of the Chinese — and thus setting the groundwork for the initial components of a permanent manned base by 2030.
I am writing now to plead with both President Trump and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to please reconsider this schedule. Take the crew off the Artemis II mission in the spring, and fly it as an unmanned mission around the Moon.
I am suggesting this because right now it appears that NASA, the President, and Congress are all repeating the same mistakes NASA made in 1967 with the Apollo 1 launchpad fire that killed three astronauts, as well as in 1986 with the space shuttle Challenger disaster that killed seven astronauts.
In both cases, there were clear and obvious engineering issues that said both the Apollo capsule and the space shuttle were not ready to fly, but the pressure of schedule convinced managers at NASA to look the other way, to place those scheduling concerns above fundamental engineering principles.
In both cases, people died when the engineering issues were ignored.
It presently appears that the same circumstances exist today with Orion: serious engineering issues that everyone is ignoring because of the need to meet an artificial schedule.
First, some background: In 2022, on the Artemis I mission, Orion was launched unmanned around the Moon and back to Earth.
Upon return, however, engineers discovered that the capsule's heat shield had not performed as expected and, in fact, showed significant damage, with the loss of large chunks. After two years of review, engineers were still unsure of the root cause of the problem, though they had theories.
Replacing the heat shield with a different design would add years to the schedule. To keep its schedule, NASA managers decided in late 2024 that by changing the capsule's flight path as it entered the Earth's atmosphere, they could reduce the stress on the shield, thus avoiding that long delay.
An Inspector General report issued only a few months earlier, however, challenged this strategy, most ominously:
No matter the path forward, like with any engineering system, changes to the heat shield design or its operational use can lead to unintended consequences and introduce residual risks.
For instance, altering Orion’s reentry path can create more stressing conditions that exacerbate the char loss phenomenon or introduce new failures or unknowns into the system.
Without understanding the residual effects of introducing design and operational changes, it will be difficult for the Agency to ensure that the mitigations or hardware changes adopted will effectively reduce the risks to astronaut safety.
The report added, "In our judgment, the unexpected behavior of the heat shield poses a significant risk to the safety of future crewed missions."
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The inspector general was not alone in his concerns. Many engineers, both in and out of NASA, have raised these questions.
In response, NASA has done everything it can to hide its own August 2024 heat shield report, issued by some of those engineers.
When the agency was required to release the report due to Freedom of Information requests, it finally did so but literally redacted every word. All the public got was 61 pages that were almost all covered with black boxes.
A risky heat shield, however, is not the only issue. Orion's environmental system, the equipment that provides the astronauts with the air they will breathe, has never been tested in flight.
NASA is going to test it for the first time on Artemis-2, using those four astronauts as guinea pigs. If a private company like SpaceX had dared to suggest NASA fly astronauts on a Dragon capsule with a similar untested environmental system, NASA would have automatically balked.
SpaceX, however, didn't suggest such a thing because it knew it was a foolish idea.
Similarly, if SpaceX had offered a similar improvisation for a questionable Dragon heat shield, NASA would have said, "No!" most emphatically.
Yet the agency is driving ahead with a manned Artemis II, despite these real concerns. Schedule has once again trumped engineering, with the real possibility that doubtful engineering could once again end up killing some American astronauts.
And so, I beg both President Trump and Jared Isaacman to reconsider their plans. Put aside the schedule so NASA can test on Artemis II both the capsule's environmental system as well as its revised re-entry trajectory without risking any lives.
If both work this spring, the change will simply mean delaying the Artemis program by one flight. Artemis III can do the manned lunar fly-around in 2028, and Artemis IV can do the landing a year or two later.
That extra time will also give both SpaceX and Blue Origin the time they need to properly develop their manned lunar landers. Rather than press them to fly before they are ready, give them that breathing space to get things right, before risking people on their ships.
I admit this delay might give China a chance to land on the Moon before NASA, but so what? The United States has already landed on the Moon six times! We don't have to prove anything.
More importantly, based on all indications, it is very unlikely that China will be ready to do its own landing by 2030. The risk of getting beaten by the Chicoms, even with this suggested year or two delay, is slim at best.
Let engineering and good common sense dictate what happens. Do that, and we will not only get back to the Moon successfully, we will do it in a more robust manner, making the establishment that that lunar base more likely, and much sooner.
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Earth is twinkling: Nasa astronaut captures New Year fireworks over Azerbaijan
Jan 8, 2026 13:56 IST
Nasa astronaut Chris Williams, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), has shared a mesmerising video of New Year's fireworks over Baku, Azerbaijan, twinkling like fireflies against Earth's dark canvas.
Posted on X, the footage captures the vibrant bursts lighting up the Caspian Sea coastline as the station orbited into 2026 just after midnight local time.
Williams described the serendipitous moment: practising nighttime photography from an ISS window at the end of his workday on New Year's Eve, he spotted the unexpected sparkle below his planned targets.
Using a Nikon Z9 camera with a 400mm lens, Williams quickly recorded the display, realising the station had crossed into the new year.
"I had just finished passing over my targets when I noticed something funny – the city below me was twinkling!" he wrote.
The video shows clusters of multicoloured explosions radiating from Baku's center, resembling a cosmic light show from 250 miles above.
This rare vantage blends human celebration with the silence of space, highlighting the ISS's unique perspective on global events.
Azerbaijan's capital marked 2026 with elaborate fireworks along the Baku Boulevard and Flame Towers, drawing massive crowds despite the winter chill.
The event featured synchronised pyrotechnics, lasers, and drones, symbolising renewal amid regional economic growth from oil and tourism.
Williams' capture echoes past ISS imagery, like Earth lights during festivals, but stands out for its timing, ringing in the year from orbit.
Such observations aid crew photography training and Earth science, monitoring urban light pollution and atmospheric effects on fireworks.
Williams, part of Expedition 74, joins peers like Mike Fincke amid recent mission hiccups, including a postponed spacewalk due to a medical concern.
https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/earth-is-twinkling-nasa-astronaut-captures-new-years-fireworks-over-azerbaijan-2848632-2026-01-08
https://x.com/Astro_ChrisW/status/2008965721544372494
https://www.iflscience.com/us-just-killed-nasas-mars-sample-return-mission-so-what-happens-now-82148
US Just Killed NASA's Mars Sample Return Mission – So What Happens Now?
January 8, 2026
Congressional supporters of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission have buckled to pressure from the Trump administration to kill the centerpiece of NASA’s exploration plans over the next decade.
Although the compromise bill released this week only officially covers this year’s expenditure, few people think the mission will be revived in the next few years.
There have been enough signs this was likely, and contingency planning must be well underway, but so far, alternatives to the project remain uncertain.
Despite the improved sophistication of instruments carried to Mars since the Viking Landers added water to Martian soil in the 1970s, many experiments require equipment that would be prohibitively expensive to send 90 million kilometers (56 million miles), let alone touch down safely.
If we really want to know what Mars rocks contain, particularly possible signs of biological activity, we need to bring them back here to study.
Recognition of this saw the Mars Sample Return mission declared NASA’s highest planetary science priority back in 2011. The first part of the mission has already happened and been a major success.
The Perseverance Mars Rover has collected samples of the most interesting rocks and dust it has encountered and stored them in 33 sample tubes.
However, estimated costs have blown up for the mission plan to land on Mars, retrieve the canisters, and return to orbit to rendezvous with the Earth Return Orbiter, which would bring the samples back to Earth.
In 2024, NASA acknowledged that the original design for collecting the cannisters was unaffordable at $11 billion, and put out a call for suggestions for a way to do it more cheaply.
An adjusted version had a new estimate of $7 billion, but faced both skepticism that the price was realistic and the challenge of squeezing into NASA’s budget when other projects were also suffering overruns.
Proposals that some people claim would be cheaper still have been submitted. For example, Dr Robert Zubrin founded the Mars Society in 1998 to promote the idea of exploring the Red Planet.
He has been pushing a design he says will get the samples for a fraction of the cost of NASA’s plan. Zubrin claims it is only the desire to collaborate with other space agencies that has tied NASA to expensive options, but has won little support.
Proponents of alternative retrieval missions will presumably continue to put them forward. If they can’t convince NASA administrators or Congress that their prices are realistic, they can always try to interest private sponsors.
So far, however, for all the billionaires hyping Mars as a priority, no one has shown a serious interest in retrieving the samples out of their own pocket.
The MSR is expensive and high-profile enough that it has become the subject of Congressional negotiations, which have played out in spending bills, rather than being left to administrators to sort out.
In the context of the Trump administration’s aim to cut NASA’s budget by almost half, however, its prospects have been bleak for a while.
Scientists who have devoted their careers to the MSR are understandably distressed. “This is deeply disappointing,” Dr Victoria Hamilton, chair of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, told Science.
“When we’ve got memos coming out saying we want to be the dominant power in space, I wonder how we leave something this ambitious behind.”
The compromise spending bill does include $110 million for “Mars Future Missions.” This will explore goals such as better ways to land on Mars, an ongoing challenge given the lack of atmosphere to slow spacecraft down.
Past missions have tried a variety of approaches; identifying the best one for an object heavy enough to take off again will be useful for an MSR in the distant future.
In the shorter term, the same work might allow landers that might carry more powerful analytic instruments to do the research on site.
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Free from water damage, Perseverance’s caches should survive erosion from dust storms for a long time, so that if technology improves or priorities change, the MSR could be revived in years or even decades' time.
For the moment, Perseverance and Curiosity will continue their journeys, conducting what analysis they can with the instruments they have, and Perseverance still has a few tubes to store any particularly promising rocks.
The more interesting the samples look, the greater the pressure to bring them back. However, if the rocks described last year as step 1 on NASA’s Confidence of Life scale were not enough to save the MSR, it’s hard to see what will.
“A rock with a potential biosignature is awaiting return now,” Professor Bethany Ehlmann of the University of Colorado, Boulder, noted to Science.
What happens next?
If all the money MSR would require is spent on other space exploration projects, several missions currently in limbo could all go ahead.
That could include Perseverance-style rovers visiting parts of Mars we have yet to explore, seizing the window for a Uranus orbiter and the habitable worlds observatory.
A spacecraft that would wait in orbit until the chance came to intercept a future interstellar visitor like 3I/ATLAS has also attracted great enthusiasm, and would require a small fraction of the MSR’s budget.
Competition between these ideas will intensify, but in the current environment, it is far from certain that much of the MSR savings will go into space exploration of any sort, although this year’s budget is surprisingly positive.
The Earth Return Orbiter is being built by the European Space Agency (ESA), and work on it is more advanced than the lander. ESA is exploring ways to avoid wasting what has been done by turning the orbiter into another mission to study Mars from above.
The Chinese National Space Administration also wants to collect Mars samples and, barring accident, is now almost certain to get them first. However, their version involves simply picking up whatever rocks are handy after touching down in 2031, and blasting straight back up.
If Mars has signs of life, they’re unlikely to be widespread, so the chances of getting the right rocks this way are low. The same goes for other questions Perseverance’s samples might answer.
Martian geology is diverse, and collecting from a single landing site means getting a narrow slice, and not necessarily the best bits.
Before China’s mission, some planetary scientists’ hopes rest with the Japanese Space Agency’s plan to grab a sample from Mars's moon Phobos.
With a fraction of Mars gravity, it’s much easier to grab samples from something that small, and this could contain Martian material thrown up by asteroid impacts.
Meanwhile, enthusiasts may talk a big game about building permanent bases or even cities on Mars, but the inability to retrieve a few rocks shows how distant those goals remain.
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https://www.space.com/space-exploration/former-ceo-of-google-spearheads-4-next-gen-telescopes-3-on-earth-and-1-in-space
https://www.schmidtsciences.org/schmidt-observatory-system/
Former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, spearheads 4 next-gen telescopes — 3 on Earth and 1 in space
January 8, 2026
On Wednesday (Jan. 7), scientists made a major announcement at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society: Four next-gen telescopes have secured private funding, and they should roll out at a very rapid pace.
Three are ground-based scope arrays and one is a space observatory named Lazuli that would have 70% more collecting area than the Hubble Space Telescope. If all goes to plan, Lazuli could launch as soon as 2029.
"We're going to do it in three years, and we're going to do it for a ridiculously low price," Pete Klupar, executive director of the Lazuli project, said during the conference.
The announcement comes from Schmidt Sciences, a philanthropic organization forged by Wendy Schmidt and Eric Schmidt, the latter of whom was CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011.
It's notable for a philanthropic organization to be the driving force behind so many big astronomy projects — with specific costs yet to be revealed — for a couple of reasons.
For one, the Trump administration has become notorious over the last year for undermining science in different ways, like slashing science organization budgets (including NASA's, though Congress is fighting those cuts) and laying scientists off in hefty swaths at a time.
"Between the congestion of space and the tightening of government budgets, a storm of possibilities is formed," Klupar said.
"If we stick to traditional timelines, we lose generations of data. On the other hand, we can't be slapdash. We must move forward, but we must not compromise on our mission success."
If everything works out, Lazuli will become the first privately funded space telescope in history.
This is a big deal because, while we've seen commercial interests clearly permeate the space sector over the last several years, they haven't so much aligned with what some may call "science for science's sake" these days — at least not as strongly as the Schmidt Observatory System appears to.
Jeff Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin, for instance, has been taking paying customers to the edge of space since 2021, and Elon Musk's SpaceX still has its eye on landing humans on Mars.
The first private lunar lander made a touchdown on the moon just last year, and even climate-focused companies have sent private satellites to space in order to monitor our planet's health.
But a powerful space telescope being funded without government assistance still seems like a shift.
"One of the reasons why we're better is because we have one shareholder. This eliminates analysis paralysis," Klupar said. "We've proven this model works in commercial spaceflight.
It's been proven in the small [satellite] revolution. Now we're investigating how to apply those lessons to large-aperture astronomy."
To get into some specifics with Lazuli: The telescope will have a 3.1-meter-wide (10.2 feet) mirror, meaning it should capture 70% more light than the iconic Hubble Space Telescope.
It is expected to provide quick observations across both near-infrared and optical wavelength bands, and will be placed into a lunar-resonant orbit, a known cost-effective and stable orbit option.
The telescope will have three instruments: a wide-field optical imager, an integral field spectrograph and a high-contrast coronagraph.
Scientists are especially excited about the coronagraph, because this instrument can be used to directly image exoplanets.
"There's a lot of technology that we're going to demonstrate on Lazuli that will complement what [NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope] is doing and help us find the path most quickly and efficiently to get to Earth-like planets around sun-like stars," Ewan Douglas of the University of Arizona said during the conference.
The other two instruments are really cool as well; they can both be used to dissect secrets of the cosmos, like the mystery of the universe's expansion rate (popularly called the Hubble Tension) and help with supernova modeling.
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The three ground-based telescope projects that will be part of the Schmidt Observatory System include the Argus Array, the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA) and the Large Fiber Array Spectroscopic Telescope (LFAST).
The Argus Array, slated to be operational as early as 2028, will survey the sky in visible light with 1,200 small-aperture telescopes that work together to offer a combined collecting area equivalent to an 8-meter-class telescope.
According to a description on the Schmidt Sciences website, Argus will offer an "instantaneous field of view of 8,000 square degrees" while scanning the sky and enable "exploration of the transient universe on approximately second-long timescales."
"When a multi-messenger event is detected, optical surveys have to slew to that position and start tiling over the uncertainty region.
Argus takes a different approach with an overwhelmingly large field of view that eliminates the need to tile," Nicholas Law of the University of North Carolina said during the conference.
(A “tile” in this case refers to one section of the sky covered by a detector. “Tiling” means combining different tiles to increase the accuracy of measurements.)
"In our fastest operation mode, we can take images as fast as once per second,” Law said.
The Deep Synoptic Array, meanwhile, will be built in Nevada and consist of 1,656 1.5-meter aperture telescopes and span an area of 20 kilometers by 16 kilometers (12.4 by 9.9 miles).
Its specialty will be scanning the sky in radio bands, which can reveal radio sources like galaxy centers or black holes otherwise obscured by things like interstellar dust that can make them hard to detect in other wavelengths.
It's expected to be operational by 2029.
"The DSA is unprecedented. It's an order of magnitude more service speed than any telescope, current or planned," Gregg Hallinan of the California Institute of Technology said during the conference.
"To put it in context, every radio telescope ever built has detected about 10 million radio sources. We'll double that in the first 24 hours."
And finally, the LFAST telescope was described during the conference as "the telescope made out of many more telescopes."
It's made of 20 modules with a combined collecting area equal to a telescope with a 3.5-meter (11.5 feet) mirror, according to the Schmidt Sciences website.
"We just heard about two facilities that are mostly designed to do surveys. And LFAST is a facility that we are building to do follow-up," Chad Bender of the University of Arizona said during the conference.
"Because it's scalable, we can build it out as needed to support the science."
Another unique feature of LFAST is that it's an optical telescope without any large domes. "Domes are very expensive," Bender said.
"But we still have to protect the mirrors — they're optical quality mirrors. So, we're building little mini domes — little cylinders, or canisters — around each telescope that fit within the frame."
"The questions that we're trying to answer are: How do we get bigger apertures, and how do we do it cheaper, and how do we do it faster?" Bender said.
Those questions seem to apply to the entire principle of Schmidt Sciences' observatory system project.
"This is an experiment in accelerating astrophysics discovery: What happens when we get technology into the hands of astronomers more quickly?"
Arpita Roy, lead of the Astrophysics & Space Institute at Schmidt Sciences, said during the conference. "Our mandate, as we see it, is to build the enabling layer and open it up to all of you, to populate it with the science that will bring us into the next decade."
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Vera C. Rubin Observatory discovers enormous, record-breaking asteroid in first 7 nights of observations
January 8, 2026
Scientists analyzing the first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have discovered the fastest-spinning asteroid in its size class yet.
The record-breaking space rock, called 2025 MN45, is larger than most skyscrapers on Earth at about 2,300 feet (710 meters) wide.
The massive rock completes a rotation in about 113 seconds — making it the fastest-spinning known asteroid over 1,640 feet (500 meters) in diameter.
The research, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters Wednesday (Jan. 7), is part of an asteroid survey aimed at improving our understanding of how these small bodies formed and evolved.
The study is the first peer-reviewed paper from the Rubin Observatory's LSST Camera — the largest digital camera in the world — which will repeatedly scan the Southern Hemisphere's night sky over 10 years to create an unprecedented time-lapse movie of the universe.
Rocks that roll
Asteroids are essentially large space rocks, and many are remnants of how our solar system appeared early in its 4.5 billion-year-old history, before the evolution of planets and moons.
Therefore, by studying asteroids, scientists can figure out how our solar system changed over the eons.
Scientists found 2025 MN45 using the preliminary data release from the Rubin Observatory, which has already revealed thousands of previously unknown asteroids around the solar system after just seven nights of observations.
(The 10-year LSST survey has yet to formally begin, but is expected to start in the next few months.)
The asteroid's remarkably fast spin excited the team, as it provides clues about the ancient rock’s composition.
"Clearly, this asteroid must be made of material that has very high strength in order to keep it in one piece," Sarah Greenstreet, an assistant astronomer at the National Science Foundation's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, said in a statement.
"It would need a cohesive strength similar to that of solid rock."
"This is somewhat surprising," added Greenstreet, who also leads a Rubin working group about near-Earth objects and interstellar objects, "since most asteroids are believed to be what we call 'rubble pile' asteroids, which means they are made of many, many small pieces of rock and debris that coalesced under gravity during solar system formation or subsequent collisions."
Thousands more to come
In general, fast-spinning asteroids could have reached that state after a collision with another space rock, the study team said. It is also possible that 2025 MN45 is a remnant of a much larger asteroid that was shattered by a cosmic crash.
Most asteroids in the solar system are in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. But most fast-spinning asteroids that astronomers have observed are much closer to Earth, simply because they are easier to see, the study authors noted.
2025 MN45 is a main-belt object, where most asteroids (as they are loose piles of rubble) must take at least 2.2 hours to rotate in order to avoid fragmentation. Anything that rotates faster than that "must be structurally strong," they wrote.
That said, 2025 MN45 is not the only fast spinner in the main asteroid belt.
In addition to 2025 MN45, Rubin's first dataset includes 16 "super-fast" rotators, each of which has a rotational period of between 13 minutes and 2.2 hours, as well as two "ultra-fast" rotators with spins of less than two minutes each.
All of these asteroids are also longer than 100 yards (90 m), and all but one of the newfound asteroids lives in the main belt.
The commissioning data from Rubin, which was released last June, underwent a deeper look in the new paper, which was also discussed Wednesday at a news conference at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix.
The huge set of observations has about 1,900 never-before-seen asteroids, according to the statement. There will be many more to come when Rubin formally begins its 10-year survey of the sky in the coming months.
https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/vera-c-rubin-observatory-discovers-enormous-record-breaking-asteroid-in-first-7-nights-of-observations
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae2a30
Iconic ‘Annie the Dragon’ property hits the market on Florida's Space Coast
Updated: 5:42 PM EST Jan 7, 2026
A piece of property that was once home to a beloved dragon is now on the market.
"It was sculpted in 1971 and became a big part of Space Coast mythology," said Jamie Dandridge.
"Annie," the dragon, isn’t real, although at one point she did breathe fire thanks to a gasoline tank. The sculpture sat at the edge of a more than 5,700-square-foot mansion. Over time, she became a nostalgic sight for boaters.
"They were a very prominent family — the people who owned it in the ’70s and ’80s — and a lot of friends and family members would pull up by boat. It was really meant for kids to go in the dragon, hang out there and play," Dandridge said.
Annie was destroyed during a bad storm in the early 2000s, and for years, the property has sat in disrepair.
Dandridge, the current listing agent, said the property is on the market for $4.5 million.
"The current owner had plans to build a 7,000-square-foot house here, and he has offered to still do that for the buyer who wants the whole package," Dandridge said.
The raw land plus a new home would bring the price tag to $7 million.
As for Annie, an artist is ready to bring her back for an additional $1 million if the new owner is interested. The buyer would also be able to provide creative input.
"It’s an amazing opportunity to own one of the rarest, most private and exclusive estates on the Space Coast," Dandridge said.
https://www.wesh.com/article/annie-the-dragon-property-hits-market-florida-space-coast/69938636
https://asgardia.space/en/news/Whats-New-in-Space-64
What Does the Coming Year Hold for Us in Space?
Aqu 8, 10 Jan 08, 26
2026 turns out to be quite an eventful year for global space exploration.
Human spaceflights, challenging interplanetary missions, and the launch of new orbital platforms keep waiting in the offing.
'What's New in Space?" corner profiles some key space events to make account for the year.
Launch of NASA Artemis II piloted mission
Artemis II is the first piloted mission of the eponymous initiative and the first human lunar flyby in over half a century, since the legendary Apollo 8.
The launch is scheduled no earlier than 5 February 2026, but the exact launch window will depend on many factors. After completing mobile platform and ground infrastructure testing, the team will move on to the run-up final stage.
The mission objective is to conduct a comprehensive study of the Moon’s far side rather than the Orion spacecraft feasibility demonstration.
The crew will take lunar surface photo and video recording, capturing the unique geological formations—from impact craters to solidified lava beds.
This data will contribute significantly to designing next stages of the Artemis initiative, the Artemis III lunar touchdown mission in particular.
On 20 December 2025, NASA successfully completed a countdown demo test—the so-called ‘F-day’ rehearsal—for the Artemis II crew.
The test took place at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and included the launch day line-oriented procedure workout.
NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reed Weisman, and Christina Cook, along with the Canadian Space Agency representative Jeremy Hansen, tested the Orion capsule landing and egress cycles while wearing full EVA space suits.
The test proved the operability of the mission-essential ground systems and communications channels.
Although the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket had not yet been installed on the launch pad by that point, the specialists simulated virtually the entire pre-launch operations cycle.
Green light for JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission
Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), announced at the International Astronautical Congress in Australia in September 2025 that the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is in the final stages of testing and is preparing for launch in 2026.
The project's primary task is to return the Martian moon Phobos samples to Earth. The return of the module with the regolith onboard is scheduled for 2031.
The mission also includes putting into operation a small robotic rover, Idefix, developed in France and Germany.
The rover is designed to explore and evaluate the regolith condition, support the main module in collecting samples, and ensure a safe landing within approximately 100 days.
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In addition to returning samples, the MMX mission addresses fundamental scientific challenges: studying the Martian moon formations and refreshing the intrasolar planet formation proto-history.
The data obtained will help scientists to have a better grip of the evolution of Mars and its moons, Phobos and Deimos.
The project also serves as a testing ground for key engineering solutions: interplanetary return technologies, small-body sampling methods, and new communications systems.
Thus, the MMX mission could become an important step toward future interplanetary expeditions.
SpaceX’s Super Heavy V3 launch endeavours for 2026
At the Economist Space Summit, SpaceX Vice President of Launch Operations Kiko Dontchev announced the Starship V3 space vehicle's first test flight scheduled for early 2026.
In his phrase, the new Super Heavy V3 booster would be delivered to the test site shortly.
The timeline is subject to change depending on the results of preliminary tests, but the overall forecast remains optimistic.
Meanwhile, the company works on Ship 39, the first representative of the Starships new generation to be used alongside the Super Heavy Booster 19 on the twelfth test flight.
Both stages will undergo a series of tests at the Massey’s Test Facility.
Furthermore, SpaceX highlighted the declaration to send Starship to Mars as early as late 2026. The spacecraft is expected to carry the humanoid robot Optimus, developed by Tesla.
The mission objective is to lay the technological foundation for future human expeditions that may take place in 2029-2031.
However, the implementation directly depends on the success of unpiloted flights, including testing in-orbit refuelling and confirming system robustness.
Elektro-L No. 5 satellite launch shifts to 2026
Launching the Proton-M carrier rocket carrying the Elektro-L No. 5 hydrometeorological satellite, first scheduled for 15 December 2025, was postponed till February 2026 due to technical issues. Roscosmos officially confirmed the information.
When placed into geostationary orbit, the satellite will come into the Elektro-L series of satellites, providing highly detailed Earth surface imaging in the optical and infrared spectra.
The previous satellite of the kind was successfully launched in February 2023.
The launch will also be the final one using the DM-03 upper-stage rocket to be made from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The DM booster 300th launch will mark the passing of an era: further on, launchers equipped with these upper stages will start off exclusively from the Vostochny and Plesetsk cosmodromes.
Delaying launch of Haven-1, the first private orbital station
Founded in 2021, Vast plans to become the first private organisation to launch its own station, Haven-1, into orbit.
The 10.1-metre-long, 14-tonne structure, with an internal volume of 80 cubic metres, is designed for short-term missions of up to 30 days with a crew of four astronauts.
Haven-1 will be the first stage of the larger Haven-2 programme, supported by NASA CLD initiative oriented to developing commercial orbital stations to replace the ISS.
The company has already completed a series of tests, including leak and pressure checks. Despite the positive results, the Haven-1 launch was postponed till May 2026 due to certain delays in manufacturing and subsequent testing.
The first crewed flight to the station aboard the Vast-1 spacecraft is scheduled for June or July 2026. The project is meant to be an important step in establishing commercial infrastructure in low-Earth orbit.
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China's Chang'e-7 lunar mission
China gears up for launching one of the longest robotic lunar missions, Chang'e-7, approved in September 2022.
The launch is scheduled for August 2026 from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre. The approximately 8.2-tonne spacecraft will carry new scientific instruments into orbit, replacing the sample-return equipment from previous missions.
The main task is to explore the Moon's south pole and look for water indicators. About a week after the launch, the spacecraft will enter the polar near-lunar orbit.
The Shackleton Crater region has been selected as the preferred landing site, as it enjoys long periods of sunlight, which is critical for long-term exploration.
An upgraded navigation system inherited from the Chang'e-5/6 missions will provide for the landing. The surface analysis will last for approximately two months.
Gaganyaan-2 uncrewed mission
The first uncrewed test launch of the Gaganyaan-2 initiative will make a core event in 2026 for the Indian Space Agency (ISRO) and will open a door to India's first-ever piloted mission in 2027.
As part of the initiative, the plans are underway to send three Indian astronauts into low-Earth orbit and then return them to Earth.
The unpiloted flight will serve as a final rehearsal for the mission. The fully automated spacecraft will deliver the humanoid robot Vyomitra, unveiled by ISRO in 2024, into orbit. It will test life support systems, control interfaces, and emergency response scenarios.
Furthermore, the mission will test key elements of the future mission: the LVM-3 heavy-lift launch vehicle, the spacecraft manoeuvring performance, its resistance on entering the atmosphere, and the safe capsule recovery procedure after splashdown.
PLATO mission prepares for final tests before launch
The European Space Agency’s PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) spacecraft is scheduled to launch in December 2026, to be performed by the Ariane 6 booster.
The spacecraft will undergo comprehensive vibroacoustic and cryovacuum pre-launch tests.
PLATO carries 26 highly sensitive cameras capable of detecting subtle changes in star brightness that indicate the presence of exoplanets.
The cameras are cooled to approximately -80°C to improve accuracy; they allow for simultaneous observation of over 150,000 stars. The mission objective is to search for terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of soliform stars.
The European Space Agency and a consortium of scientific and industrial partners realise the project. OHB, Thales Alenia Space, and Beyond Gravity are responsible for assembly and integration, while the leading European research centres are in charge of scientific equipment.
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AFA’s Mitchell Institute Launches ‘America 250’ Podcast Series
January 8, 2026
AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies launched “America 250: The Air & Space Power Story,” a new short-form podcast series highlighting how every U.S. state has contributed to the history and development of these domains.
Timed with the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary of independence, the series explores each state’s most iconic connection to the Air Force and Space Force, focusing on tangible places, people, and innovations that remain part of local communities today.
Episodes feature conversations with AFA Mitchell Institute experts and tie to places and things everyday Americans can visit in their communities.
“As we reflect on our nation’s heritage, it’s crucial to recognize that who we are as a country has been fundamentally shaped by airpower and spacepower,” said Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
“It’s an honor to help share some of these stories and connect them to the various states where the history was made.”
“Airpower and spacepower is a human story, so many of these episodes will focus on Airmen, Guardians, and innovators,” said Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.), President & CEO of the Air & Space Forces Association.
“This has always been, and will always be, a national endeavor.”
The first episode highlights Delaware and its connection to pioneering airlift concepts developed during World War II, as well as the team who invented the spacesuits that Apollo astronauts wore on the moon.
“America 250: The Air & Space Power Story” will be released weekly and is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
https://www.afa.org/afas-mitchell-institute-launches-america-250-podcast-series/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwa-lsEwdOuRybPx8N4xWODVM1KRHS7La
https://youtu.be/QisO6MabvTM?si=iFHK3OtymlSvpddH
What is Pituffik Space Base, the only US military base in Greenland, and why does it matter?
Updated: Jan 08, 2026, 15:05 IST
Strategic Heart of Arctic Defence
Following a high-profile military operation in Venezuela, the White House confirmed on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump is again exploring ways to acquire Greenland, including potentially using the US military.
This marks a revival of his long-standing ambition to bring the strategically vital Arctic island under control of the US, despite facing strong objections from European allies and Denmark, which asserts Greenland’s sovereignty.
Amid these development, Pituffik Space Base, the only US military installation on the island becomes an important topic of discussion.
About the base
Pituffik Space Force Base lies on Greenland’s northwest coast and is the northernmost Department of Defense facility. The base is hosting advanced radar and satellite tracking systems that supports US and NATO early warning capabilities.
Greenland covers nearly 8,40,000 square miles of which, more than 80 per cent is covered either by the ice cap or smaller glaciers.
Origins and Historical Context
The American presence in Greenland traces back to World War II, when the US began establishing airfields under agreement with Denmark to prevent German occupation.
Pituffik itself originated under secret construction in 1951 as a Cold War airbase (then known as Thule Air Base) designed to house and refuel long-range bombers bound for Soviet targets.
For almost nine months of the year, the base is locked in by ice, although it remains accessible by plane throughout the year. For three months there is no sunlight.
Renaming and Cultural Recognition
In 2023, Thule Air Base was officially renamed as Pituffik Space Base, to 'recognize Greenlandic cultural heritage and better reflect its role in the US Space Force', the military said in a press release.
It also symbolises a shift in narrative from purely strategic Cold War functions toward modern space domain awareness.
Strategic Location and Operations
Pituffik’s remote position, about 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle and about 932 miles from Greenland's capital Nuuk, gives it unparalleled vantage for monitoring northern air and space approaches. It is locked in ice for much of the year.
Its facilities include the world’s northernmost deep-water port and an airfield operational year-round despite extreme conditions. The 12th Space Warning Squadron operates radar for missile detection and defence, while the satellite tracking detachment supports global space operations.
Defence Agreements and Sovereignty
Pituffik base exists today due to agreements between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark, specifically addressing mutual defense.
These accords permit the US to maintain the installation while respecting Danish sovereignty over Greenland. Any expansion of US military presence requires consultation with both Copenhagen and Greenlandic authorities.
Geopolitical Significance
Approximately 150 US air force and space force personnel are stationed at Pituffik, alongside Danes and Greenlanders according to The Guardian. Pituffik has regained prominence amid heightened Arctic competition.
As nations such as Russia and China increase their polar activities, Greenland’s location becomes strategically vital for national and allied defence. Pituffik contributes to monitoring Russian movements and emerging Arctic sea routes opened by climate change.
https://www.wionews.com/photos/what-is-pituffik-space-base-the-only-us-military-base-in-greenland-and-why-does-it-matter-1767861687942/1767861687949
https://breakingdefense.com/2026/01/overwatch-from-space-cyber-ops-foundational-to-maduro-mission/
‘Overwatch’ from space, cyber ops foundational to Maduro mission
January 07, 2026 3:41 pm
Gen. Dan Caine, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, on Jan. 3 gave a shout-out to the roles played by US Space Command and US Cyber Command in Operation Absolute Resolve.
Just as it is for all Joint Force missions, space support was essential to the success of the US military’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to US Space Command (SPACECOM).
“Spacepower not only underpins the military’s ability to shoot, move, and communicate as designed, but delivers layered effects as overwatch which, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. [Dan] Caine mentioned on January 3rd, ensured the Joint Force’s freedom of maneuver during Operation Absolute Resolve,” a command spokesperson told Breaking Defense Tuesday.
Overwatch is a military tactic where one or more units provide protection for those units executing an attack. This includes, for example, supplying information on the location of enemy radar and troops, as well as covering fire.
While stressing that no specific details about the mission could be divulged due to “operational security,” the SPACECOM spokesperson explained that space-based capabilities such as positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and satellite communications (SATCOM) are “foundational to all modern military activities.
“As such, to protect the Joint Force from space-enabled attack and ensure their freedom of movement, U.S. Space Command possesses the means and willingness to employ combat-credible capabilities that deter and counter our opponents and project power in all warfighting domains,” the spokesperson added.
Caine gave a shout-out to SPACECOM during a Jan. 3 press conference with US President Donald Trump for its role in the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“As the night began, the helicopters took off with the extraction force, which included law enforcement officers, and began their flight into Venezuela at 100 feet above the water.
As they approached Venezuelan shores, the United States began layering different effects provided by SPACECOM, CYBERCOM [US Cyber Command] and other members of the interagency to create a pathway overhead,” he said.
John Shaw, former SPACECOM deputy, told Breaking Defense today the level of coordination between SPACECOM and the rest of the Joint Force has been increasing over time — underpinning the success of recent US military operations.
“The integration of space into joint warfighting has reached a new apogee. We saw this with Midnight Hammer last year, with spectacular results of an operation on a global scale that relied highly on space capabilities, and now we’ve seen it with Absolute Resolve: the coordination between US Space Command, US Southern Command and US Special Operations Command appears to be at an all time high,” he said.
“There is a likely a strong correlation between the success of these two recent operations and the integration of space capabilities to achieve this phenomenal success.”
Further, Shaw said these successes are “evidence that Space Command’s organic integration into joint warfighting is reaching a higher maturity level, but also demonstrates that other combatant commands and joint warfighting organizations themselves are organically integrating space into their operations more effectively than ever before.”
While the space support functions provided by SPACECOM are often taken for granted, Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, explained that they are critical for planning and executing all military missions.
“We haven’t heard much about how SPACECOM was specifically used, but I think it is safe to assume they played a major supporting role in several ways.
SPACECOM would have been directly involved in setting up secure SATCOM links for forces, monitoring and overcoming any attempts at GPS jamming or spoofing, and monitoring for any missile launches that could threaten our aircraft or ships in the region.”
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Further, he said the two key Intelligence Community agencies responsible for space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) — the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) that operates American spy satellites and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) that provides analyses based on space-based ISR data — also no doubt had a hand in ensuring Operation Absolute Resolve’s success.
“The NRO and NGA likely played a major role in surveilling and mapping the compound Maduro was captured in (especially since SOF [Special Operations Forces] were training on a mockup of this compound in Kentucky), and NGA would have helped develop detailed maps of the area SOF could use to plan their routes and backup routes,” Harrison said.
“Signal Intelligence satellites also likely played an important role in mapping the air defense radars and communications systems Venezuela used to defend the area so that our aircraft could effectively knock these systems offline before they could pose a threat,” he added.
CYBERCOM’s Role
During the Jan. 3 press conference, Caine also indicated that non-kinetic effects were used by CYBERCOM to suppress Venezuelan defenses, with Trump further mentioning that “the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have. It was dark, and it was deadly.”
CYBERCOM deferred to the Defense Department for comment related to the command’s role in Operation Absolute Resolve, and the Defense Department told Breaking Defense in an email that it had “nothing to provide due to operational security.”
When Breaking Defense asked the White House for comment, a spokesperson deferred to Caine’s comments in his Saturday address.
Though neither Caine or Trump elaborated on what exactly turning the lights out meant, some experts speculated that the command was able to deploy tactics affecting the Venezuelan capital’s power grid, including cutting off internet access.
“Well, it was dark because it was night, but apparently it was also dark because it seemed CYBERCOM turned off all the lights. This is the way that modern wars are fought, especially if you’re in the United States, and we operate very well in darkness,” Emily Harding, vice president of the defense and security department at the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said during a virtual event Jan. 5.
Anthony Vinci, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and former NGA chief technology officer for capabilities, told Breaking Defense Tuesday that he agreed that CYBERCOM could have used offensive tactics to shut down the power grid in Caracaras.
However, he also speculated that someone on the ground with access to the power grid’s controls could have been responsible.
Nonetheless, Vinci said, such tactics will likely continue to be used by the US military in future conflicts.
“Bottom line, I think that infrastructure is now on the table for warfighting,” he said.
Further, Trump and Caine’s address over the weekend also suggested that electronic warfare tactics may have been used to disrupt Venezuela’s air defense systems. As Caine said, “the joint air component began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems.”
Lauryn Williams, CSIS deputy director of the strategic technologies program, and Taylar Rajic, an associate fellow there, told Breaking Defense in an email Jan. 5 that Caine’s comments “indicate the combined operations led to suppressed air defenses, disrupted communications and internet outages, and GPS jamming all to cripple Venezuela’s ability to coordinate any meaningful response.”
By using such tactics the US “should also absolutely expect our main cyber adversaries — China, Russia, North Korea, Iran — to learn as much as they can about the United States’ use of offensive cyber against Venezuela and apply those learnings domestically,” they added.
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Air Force, Space Force Introduce First Acquisition Portfolios in Reform Push
Jan. 8, 2026
The Department of the Air Force announced seven new mission area-focused portfolio acquisition executives for the Air Force and Space Force, some of the department’s first steps to implement Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sweeping acquisition reforms.
A central element of Hegseth’s plan to transform the way the Pentagon buys and fields weapons and platforms is the creation of portfolio acquisition executives to replace the current program executive office structure, which many view as siloed and inefficient.
PAEs will combine several programs within a single mission area and, as proposed by the Pentagon, will report directly to the service acquisition executive. They will also have authority to move funds between programs and adjust requirements based on evolving needs.
The DAF on Jan. 8 revealed the first tranche of PAEs for the Air Force and Space Force. The Air Force’s first five PAEs are:
fighters and advanced aircraft
command, control, communications, and battle management
nuclear command, control, and communications
propulsion
weapons
The Space Force will initially implement just two PAES—one for space access and one for space-based sensing and targeting.
The services didn’t indicate who will be leading each portfolio and didn’t offer a timeline for when they will roll out additional PAEs.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told reporters in December the department has identified most of the portfolios but is still working to align the new structure with the right resources and support.
In the Jan. 7 statement he said funding and authority are key to successfully implementing the new approach.
“We will ensure that every one of our Portfolio Acquisition Executives, and the teams that support them, has the three things they need to succeed: the authority, the resources, and the talent to execute their mission,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the Space Force’s acting acquisition executive, said the Space Force views acquisition as a “warfighting function” and will pursue rapid development and procurement with discipline.
“Speed with discipline is our mantra,” he said in the statement. “We continue to empower our acquisition corps to be experts who can manage risk and deliver capability through rapid, iterative cycles.”
Purdy told reporters at the Spacepower Conference in December that while the new PAE structure will help streamline program management of efforts that are currently “scattered” throughout the Space Force, there’s risk it could create new “seams” between those missions.
The service plans to utilize Space Systems Command’s System of Systems Integration Office to manage that.
“No one can possibly own an entire kill chain, an entire element, there’s data in the cloud, there’s transports, there’s all sorts of elements,” Purdy said. “And so you know there’s going to have to be strong seam management.”
Statutory Changes
Hegseth’s acquisition reform agenda, which he rolled out in early November, was well received on Capitol Hill and across industry.
The strategy called for the elimination of the Joint Capabilities and Integration Development System and directs the military services to adopt a commercial-first mindset and drive more competition into their development and production programs.
Many of the initiatives can be implemented without congressional approval but some elements—including the essential authorities PAEs need to shift funding and adjust requirements—will need sign-off from lawmakers.
While Congress has endorsed the idea of portfolio management, some experts have said congressional appropriators are hesitant to give the services more authority at a moment where perceived executive overreach has eroded trust between the Pentagon and lawmakers.
The House and Senate are currently negotiating a final Omnibus Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, and PAE authorities are expected to be a sticking point.
Elaine McCusker, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and acting DOD comptroller during President Donald Trump’s first term, told Air & Space Forces Magazine in November that while authorizers may be able to help “institutionalize” the Pentagon’s changes, the appropriators play a key role in providing the funding structure to support those shifts.
“Without statutory appropriation law changes, the budget will be out of alignment with the portfolio program management approach in the acquisition transformation strategy,” McCusker said.
“If that new management approach is going to be effective and last, the budget will have to support it.”
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-space-force-acquisition-portfolios-reforms/
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4372984/daf-puts-acquisition-on-wartime-footing-implementing-secwars-warfighting-acquis/
Orbital Warfare: The perseverance standard
Published Jan. 8, 2026
Space Base Delta 41 Public Affairs
SCHRIEVER SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) – In stoicism, a philosophy centered on self-control and resilience, it is often taught that whatever stands in your way becomes the way, and that challenge can stimulate both individual and collective growth.
According to the Combat Forces Command’s Year of the Company Grade Officer campaign, perseverance is defined by giving the team 100% each and every day, having faith in yourself and your team to persevere through any obstacle, and to reinforce that “leading to excellence is supposed to be tough … if it wasn’t anyone could do it.”
First Lt. Nickolas Violissi, 3rd Space Operations Squadron engagement team commander, responsible for planning, executing and debriefing on-orbit sorties — start to finish, has seen his fair share of challenges and takes pride in leading his team through the various obstacles they face in achieving their respective objectives.
“For 3 SOPS, our ops and test tempo is fast paced, and thus we must persevere through failure, through limited time and through limited knowledge,” Violissi said.
“As we push the limits of space and ourselves, quitting is not an option. Be it missed exercise objectives or test setbacks, we learn and adapt from these experiences rather than folding from them.”
One of four active-duty squadrons, 3 SOPS falls under the command of Mission Delta 9 - Orbital Warfare — whose purpose is to generate combat-ready orbital warfare forces and to provide combatant commanders with the combat power to defeat space and counterspace threats.
In 3 SOPS, sortie taskings are given through the mission planning cell to an engagement team. The engagement team commander then leads a team of five enlisted members who conduct rendezvous and proximity operations.
RPO is the ability or operation of two, or more, independent space objects that purposefully maneuver within proximity of each other. Through this process, the team oversees various critical tasks, including planning, analysis, maintenance and scheduling.
After receiving a MD 9 mission brief, 3 SOPS’ marching orders are clear … conduct full-spectrum orbital warfare to guarantee military freedom of action.
“Leading teams at the cutting edge of orbital warfare means owning the mission, grinding through complexity and staying in the fight when answers aren’t obvious,” Violissi said.
“With my NCOIC and four other enlisted Guardians, we operate every sortie as a unified team. This structure deliberately pushes junior officers to lead to the point of friction, making real decisions that shape real effects in the space domain.
“We become prepared by doing hard things … like lifting weights or running distances, we must exercise our resiliency muscles by doing that which is outside of our comfort zone.
Having a growth mindset — looking at everything as an opportunity to learn and grow — is what has helped me appreciate the long game rather than the ups and downs in the short term.
I am grateful to be a part of this mission and enjoy the challenge. In 3 SOPS, Guardians don’t wait for perfect conditions. We persevere, adapt and get the mission done.”
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4372661/orbital-warfare-the-perseverance-standard/
Zelensky asks US to kidnap Chechen leader
7 Jan, 2026 21:11
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has asked the US to kidnap the head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, claiming the move would send a strong message to President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky made the remarks on Wednesday, demanding that his Western backers put more “pressure” on Russia and arguing that it would help end the Ukraine conflict.
The Ukrainian leader suggested that the US could kidnap Kadyrov to supposedly speed up the negotiations process. Zelensky praised Trump’s action against Venezuela and the kidnapping of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.
“The whole world can see the result. They did it quickly. Well, let them carry out some kind of operation against Kadyrov… Maybe then Putin will see this and think about it,” Zelensky asserted.
The Chechen leader was quick to shoot back, accusing Zelensky of trying to disrupt the negotiation process rather than streamline it, while urging him to “man up” and take action on his own instead of hiding behind the Americans’ backs.
“The buffoon suggests the US authorities kidnap me. Mind you, he didn’t even threaten to do it himself, like a man would. He didn’t even attempt to entertain the thought. [Zelensky] cowardly hinted that he wouldn’t mind standing aside and watching from a safe distance,” Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel.
The US launched a surprise attack on Venezuela over the weekend, bombing the capital city Caracas and staging a special forces raid to capture Maduro and his wife.
The couple was then transferred to New York to face assorted criminal charges, including drug trafficking. Maduro has vehemently denied all the accusations, describing himself as a “prisoner of war.”
US President Donald Trump has openly asserted that Washington will “run” Venezuela until an “orderly transition” is achieved while threatening the interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, with an even “bigger price” to pay if she resists Washington’s demands.
The US has pledged to take control of Venezuelan oil exports, with Trump claiming the country’s interim authorities will “turn over” 30 to 50 million barrels of “high-quality, sanctioned oil” to Washington.
While Rodriguez has vowed that her country “will never return to being the colony of another empire,” she also signaled openness to “cooperation” with Washington.
https://www.rt.com/russia/630713-zelensky-us-kidnap-kadyrov/
the anthem is not what I was expecting
UK says it provided ‘support’ to US seizure of Russian tanker
7 Jan, 2026 19:42
The UK provided “enabling support” to the US military in seizing the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera, the British Defence Ministry has said.
The oil tanker was interdicted on Wednesday in international waters to the northwest of Scotland. The Pentagon claimed the vessel, formerly known as ‘Bella 1’, had been involved in alleged “violations of US sanctions.”
The UK assisted the US during the operation at Washington’s request, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
“Our UK Armed Forces showed skill and professionalism in support of a successful U.S. interception of the vessel Bella 1 while on its way to Russia. This action formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting,” it said.
Britain claimed the interdicted vessel has a “nefarious history” and allegedly acted as a “part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion.” The US, meanwhile, said the seizure of the tanker was related to the “blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil.”
Moscow has acknowledged the capture of the vessel. The country’s Transport Ministry stated that the Marinera had received a temporary permit to fly the national flag on December 24.
The ministry accused the US of violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which ensures freedom of navigation in international waters.
The tanker made international headlines late last year when it was first targeted by the US military after allegedly approaching Venezuela.
At the time, the ship’s crew refused to allow the US Coast Guard servicemen on board, heading to the Atlantic instead with US forces in pursuit. During the chase, the vessel changed its name and flag.
Shortly after the capture of the Marinera, the US said it seized another tanker in the Caribbean Sea, the ´Sophia´. The US military described the vessel as “a stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker.”
“The interdicted vessel, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea. The US Coast Guard is escorting M/T Sophia to the US for final disposition,” the US Southern Command has said.
https://www.rt.com/news/630707-uk-tanker-capture-support/