TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
February 13, 2026
NGC 147 and NGC 185
Dwarf galaxies NGC 147 (left) and NGC 185 stand side by side in this deep telescopic portrait. The two are not-often-imaged satellite galaxies of M31, the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5 million light-years away. Their separation on the sky, less than one degree across a pretty field of view toward the constellation Cassiopeia, translates to only about 35 thousand light-years at Andromeda's distance, but Andromeda itself is found well outside this frame. Brighter and more famous satellite galaxies of Andromeda, M32 and M110, are seen much closer to the great spiral. NGC 147 and NGC 185 have been identified as binary galaxies, forming a gravitationally stable binary system. But recently discovered faint dwarf galaxy Cassiopeia II also seems to be part of their system, forming a gravitationally bound group within Andromeda's intriguing population of small satellite galaxies.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjGIa3sI2qo
Comet MAPS Will Hit The Sun April 4th | S0 News and frens
Feb.13.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdqDAlY2_yQ
https://starlust.org/comet-c-2026-a-1-maps-is-plunging-directly-toward-the-suncurrent-location-and-trajectory/
https://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/2026A1
https://quantumzeitgeist.com/prediction-helium-traces-solar-flares-unlock/
https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/see-it-fireball-night-sky-illinois-indiana-kentucky-ohio-wisconsin
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/weather/annular-solar-eclipse-creates-rare-ring-of-fire-february-17-2026-date-total-totality-corona-next/507-e5c0778b-a00f-4187-9a1c-5c3d58c0af25
https://www.space.com/live/aurora-forecast-northern-lights-possible-tonight-feb-12
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2026/02/13/valentines-day-aurora-alert-12-states-on-watch-for-northern-lights/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx3Elz554ZM (Sabine Hossenfelder: Physicist Publishes Method For Communicating With Parallel Universes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2XuSmjZ8H8 (Stefan Burns: Once Antarctica's Volcanoes Wake Up, Everything Changes…)
https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2022045827737481493
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/2022057248219181203
https://x.com/SchumannBotDE/status/2022310162107646127
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
might be some kind of happenings
NEET INTEL
@neetintel
BREAKING: OSINT accounts cannot tell if a major US nuclear exercise is ongoing or not
12:29 PM · Feb 11, 2026
https://x.com/neetintel/status/2021683086350528579
https://www.youtube.com/@neetintel
https://www.cvobserver.com/2026/02/13/cern-physicists-detect-anomaly-that-defies-standard-model-predictions/
CERN Physicists Detect Anomaly That Defies Standard Model Predictions
February 13, 2026
At CERN, the air frequently hums with an odd silence, as though the machines are holding their breath.
Something unexpected has begun to emerge deep beneath Geneva, where protons regularly collide at almost the speed of light.
Now, physicists researching these high-energy collisions must deal with anomalies for which they were never adequately prepared by conventional textbooks.
The muon, which has long been regarded as an electron’s dependable but somewhat heavier cousin, is one of the most fascinating.
Scientists are now forced to halt due to its behavior, which was recently shown to deviate from theoretical expectations by 5.2 sigma.
This footnote is not insignificant. Physicists refer to a result with that degree of statistical weight as discovery-grade.
If true, this type of discovery has the potential to change our perception of the tiniest moving components in reality.
It’s not only the muons, though.
According to reports, the Higgs boson, which was previously the Standard Model’s crown jewel, is acting strangely in its decay patterns.
It has been branching into combinations that imply something else is hiding behind the curtain rather than following the expected script and decaying into well-known, well-understood particles.
Even though this behavior is currently being carefully examined, it is getting harder and harder to explain with current physics.
Another strong piece of evidence, tucked away between pages of recent internal briefs, is that exotic particles like pentaquarks and tetraquarks are no longer uncommon flukes.
A richer subatomic rainforest than previously thought is suggested by their repeated finding in the LHC. The model that dominated particle physics for decades does not easily accommodate these odd quark pairings.
During a lab tour, I recall an Italian researcher remarking, “This is where theory goes to retire,” as he looked at a scatter plot with subtle variances.
I was struck by how casually he stated it, as though he were trying to avoid the gravity of what that narrative may entail.
Despite its sophisticated formulas and high predictive power, the Standard Model was never intended to be the last word.
The interaction between particles is remarkably obvious—until it isn’t. Notably, there is no gravity. Dark energy and dark matter are regarded as incidental.
Furthermore, one of the model’s more unsettling silences is still the strange mass of neutrinos.
1/2
The stillness is beginning to dissipate.
To find patterns that the human eye would overlook, researchers are using extremely effective machine learning algorithms that have been trained on petabytes of data.
Finding “soft unclustered energy patterns”—whispers in the noise that can indicate a “hidden valley” as some refer to it—is one such technique.
According to this theory, there is a whole parallel sector of particles and forces that interacts with known matter only weakly.
Physicists have greatly decreased the likelihood of overlooking weak, non-conforming interactions by utilizing this method.
This type of data-driven analysis is incredibly successful in transforming ambiguous anomalies into signals that can be replicated.
CERN has also broadened its theoretical framework by forming strategic alliances with research teams in North America and Asia, adding predictions that previously appeared too speculative for serious investigation.
Leptoquarks, particles that would unexpectedly link the behavior of leptons and quarks, are suggested by certain theories.
Others envision changed gravity frameworks, additional dimensions, or even unidentified bosons. Every possibility prompts a fresh path of inquiry and serves as a reminder that science benefits more from ambiguity than from certainty.
The transparency culture is one area that has significantly improved. Teams now share datasets, publish their models, and encourage external scrutiny, in contrast to previous decades when audacious assertions were frequently guarded.
In this new era of teamwork, advancement happens more quickly. Researchers have greatly accelerated the process by incorporating anomaly detection directly into the LHC’s real-time analysis, which enables them to make adjustments to experiments virtually instantly.
As labs around the world closed or reduced their operations during the epidemic, CERN covertly updated its detectors and used new technologies to reprocess historical data.
That intentional pause was quite helpful. It gave physicists a chance to take stock, think, and be ready for this chapter—one of transformation rather than confirmation.
As I read a synopsis of Higgs decay anomalies, I stopped and felt a glimmer of admiration for both the particle and the patient intellect who were attempting to unravel its mysteries.
There is cautious optimism even among experienced physicists. These findings are dispersed throughout multiple systems, timelines, and decay mechanisms, in contrast to previous anomalies that diminished when examined.
They are durable because of their diversity. They bear the weight of a field gradually turning in the direction of something new, even though it is not yet definitive.
Now, the most progressive voices ask: What if the Standard Model is intentionally flawed rather than flawed? Similar to a comprehensive map of a single continent, it is helpful but constrained if you believe there are still islands and oceans to map.
We might see a change in the next few years from validating preexisting theories to creating audacious, comprehensive frameworks. Long written off as speculative, supersymmetry might make a comeback.
Experimentation with AI support may become the new norm. Furthermore, if these patterns persist, the next big discovery may not be a new particle but rather a whole different perspective on the ones we already know.
2/2
they should've named it NCSWIC
Juice Spacecraft Set to Observe Rare Interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas
Last updated: February 13, 2026
A billion-dollar spacecraft designed for the exploration of Jupiter and its icy moons has diverted its attention to a fascinating interstellar phenomenon: a rare visitor from another star system.
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, also known as Juice, was launched in 2023 by the European Space Agency (ESA) and is currently on an eight-year journey to observe Jupiter’s atmosphere, magnetosphere, and its largest moons, which are considered potential habitats for life.
In an unexpected turn of events last summer, astronomers identified a comet, designated 3I/Atlas, as it made its way through our solar system.
Unlike typical comets, which are bound by the sun’s gravity, 3I/Atlas revealed that it had formed around another star.
This marked only the third recorded instance of an interstellar object passing through our solar system, prompting scientists to devise a plan for Juice to observe this unique celestial body.
Traveling at an impressive speed of approximately 220,000 kilometers per hour and measuring about 2.6 kilometers in diameter, 3I/Atlas’s trajectory indicated its non-native origin.
By late October 2025, it had approached within approximately 210 million kilometers of the sun. Observing the comet from Earth proved challenging due to its proximity to the sun, which obscured ground-based observations.
However, Juice’s position, tens of millions of kilometers away, offered a clearer view, presenting a remarkable opportunity for researchers.
Paul Hartogh, the principal investigator of Juice’s Submillimetre Wave Instrument (SWI), expressed excitement about this unexpected opportunity, describing it as a “gift” for planetary scientists.
Comets are often viewed as time capsules, preserving the chemical signatures from their formation. Understanding the composition of interstellar comets like 3I/Atlas can provide insights into whether our solar system is typical compared to others in the universe.
Particularly valuable to scientists are isotopic ratios, which offer clues about the environment where a comet formed.
For instance, the ratio of deuterium to ordinary hydrogen in water can indicate the location within a planetary system where the comet originated.
Hartogh previously made high-precision measurements of these ratios in a Jupiter-family comet using the Herschel space observatory.
Excitingly, the trajectory of 3I/Atlas suggests it may have originated from the thick disk of the Milky Way, an ancient layer of stars that predates the more familiar flat plane where our solar system resides.
This finding could make 3I/Atlas not just an interstellar visitor, but also a messenger from a much earlier chapter in the galaxy’s history.
The first confirmed interstellar visitor, 1I/ʻOumuamua, passed through in 2017, but it lacked the visible features characteristic of comets, leading to various debates and speculations, including the possibility of it being a relic from an alien civilization.
In contrast, 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019, displayed typical cometary features and provided the first opportunities to study the materials found around other stars.
During 3I/Atlas’s closest approach, the ESA activated five of Juice’s instruments to gather data about the comet from various perspectives.
Built for the conditions of the outer Solar System, Juice had to adapt to the strong solar radiation encountered closer to the sun, utilizing its large high-gain antenna to shield sensitive components.
While current information gathered from the mission is being processed and is expected to be released soon, the overarching narrative suggests that interstellar visitors may become more common.
With advancements in robotic surveys and detection technologies, astronomers are progressively identifying such celestial wanderers, leading experts like Hartogh to believe that we may be entering a new era where observing interstellar objects could become routine.
https://news.ssbcrack.com/juice-spacecraft-set-to-observe-rare-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas/
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/academic-harassment-1c2b5effdca7
https://www.dagens.com/science/nasa-telescope-reveals-3i-atlas-sprays-building-blocks-for-life-across-space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRtu3eBES3o (Avi Loeb: Hubble Saw Something Strange Around 3I/ATLAS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjwzHQqNKQc (Ray's Astrophotography: Comet 3I ATLAS – Why It Looks Familiar - I took a picture)
https://x.com/coreyspowell/status/2022196441272529268
https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20251109_131937_d020b5f5984edbd4
https://x.com/konstructivizm/status/2022119280947687826
https://x.com/CrazySwedeX/status/2022061625080188997
https://x.com/Ammar1176708/status/2022132082604933616
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Reaches Orbit, News Conference at 6:45 a.m. EST
February 13, 2026 5:56AM
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, and their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft have reached orbit, and the nosecone has opened.
The crew will spend roughly the next 34 hours to rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station.
A postlaunch news conference will be held at 6:45 a.m. EST at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the following participants:
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy
Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
Julianna Scheiman, director, NASA Science and Dragon Programs, SpaceX
NASA will air the postlaunch news conference on the agency’s YouTube channel.
Follow along Crew-12’s journey posted on the mission blog, @NASAKennedy and @spacestation on X, or NASA Kennedy and International Space Station on Facebook.
The flight is the 12th crew rotation with SpaceX to the orbiting laboratory as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Crew-12 will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as benefit people on Earth.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/02/13/nasas-spacex-crew-12-reaches-orbit-news-conference-at-645-a-m-est/
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/commercial-crew-program/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCM-Kwq91cc (Launch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw7KDYTfdmM (Post Launch Conference)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8M5mj-5piY (Highlights)
ULA's Vulcan rocket completes mission for US Space Force despite 'significant performance anomaly'
February 13, 2026
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket successfully launched the USSF-87 mission on Thursday, according to a recent press release by the SSC (Space Systems Command) of the United States Space Force (USSF).
In an event reminiscent of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket’s recent mission, despite an anomaly early in flight, it ended up delivering critical payloads to orbit.
The launch occurred at 4:22 am EST on February 12, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, marking the second National Security Space Launch for the Vulcan rocket.
The primary payload of the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) was inserted roughly 6.5 hours after liftoff.
ULA’s Vulcan System Program Director Stephen Burke praised all teams involved for their efforts, stating, “We’re proud of everyone and the work they’ve done to make today’s launch a success and increase America’s warfighting capability.”
Gary Wentz, the ULA vice president of Atlas and Vulcan Programs, said that during the early stages of the flight, "a significant performance anomaly" was observed in one of the rocket's four solid motors.
"Despite the observation, the Vulcan booster and Centaur performed nominally and delivered the spacecraft directly to geosynchronous orbit,” he added in a statement released by the company.
About the measures being taken for future security missions, he said, “The integrated U.S. government and contractor team is reviewing the technical data, available imagery, and establishing a recovery team to collect any debris.
We will conduct a thorough investigation, identify the root cause, and implement any corrective action necessary before the next Vulcan mission.”
The primary payload, GSSAP, built by Northrop Grumman, serves as a high-performance sensor for the US Space Command’s Space Surveillance Network in near-geosynchronous orbit.
It enhances timely detection, characterization, and attribution of disturbances in the geosynchronous environment and will aid in its protection.
USSF-87 also carried research, development, and training systems that Guardians will use for the refinement of tactics and procedures for precision on-orbit maneuvers.
These payloads are meant to advance space technology and support current and future US Space Force programs. SSC, which falls under USSF, is the custodian of a $15.6 billion annual space acquisition budget for the US Department of War.
Space Systems Command’s System Delta 80 directed the mission, executing the US Space Force’s core function of space access in partnership with the 30th and 45th Space Launch Deltas.
The command develops resilient launch infrastructure to maintain America’s leadership in space technology and science. Delta 80 works with joint forces, industry, academia, and allies to protect US strategic advantages.
ULA has been a key player in helping deliver US space programs ever since it was founded in 2006.
Vulcan Centaur, developed by ULA as a heavy-lift replacement for the Atlas V (which launched Amazon’s Kuiper Satellites), Delta II, and Delta IV rockets, meets the demands of a National Security Space Launch, which is what the USSF-87 mission was.
This success underscores ongoing progress in reliable national security launches despite technical troubles.
ULA is amongst the many commercial partners of NASA for its upcoming Artemis II mission as well, having collaborated on the construction of the important ICPS component of the SLS rocket, which will help launch humans to the Moon in more than half a century.
https://starlust.org/ul-as-vulcan-rocket-completes-mission-for-us-space-force-despite-significant-performance-anomaly/
https://www.ssc.spaceforce.mil/Newsroom/Article-Display/Article/4405392/u-s-space-forces-space-systems-command-and-united-launch-alliance-successfully
https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/missions-details/2026/02/12/ula-vulcan-rocket-successfully-launches-the-future-of-defense
https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/2021893224907083949
https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/13/ula_vulcan_centaur_anomaly/
Find the Twins: Gemini Constellation
Feb 13, 2026
The night skies of February are filled with beautiful star patterns, and so this month we take a closer look at another famous constellation, now rising high in the east after sunset: Gemini, the Twins!
If you’re observing Orion, then Gemini is easy to find: just look above Orion’s “head” to see Gemini’s “feet.”
Or, make a line from brilliant blue-white Rigel at the foot of Orion, through its distinct “Belt,” and then on through orange Betelgeuse. Keep going, and you will end up between the bright stars Castor and Pollux, the “heads” of the Gemini Twins.
While not actually related – these stars aren’t bound to each other and are almost a magnitude apart in brightness – they do pair up nicely when compared to their surrounding stars. Take note: more than one stargazer has confused Gemini with its next-door neighbor constellation, Auriga.
The stars of Auriga rise before Gemini’s, and its brightest star, Capella, doesn’t pair up as strikingly with its second most brilliant star as Castor and Pollux do.
Star-hop to Gemini from Orion using the trick above if you aren’t sure which constellation you’re looking at.
Pollux is the brighter of Gemini’s two “head” stars - imagine it has the head of the “left twin” - and is located about 34 light-years away from our Solar System.
Pollux even possesses a planet, Pollux b, with a mass over twice that of Jupiter. Castor - the head of the “right twin” - by contrast, lies about 51 light-years distant and is slightly dimmer.
While no planets have been detected, there is still plenty of company as Castor is actually a six-star system! There are several deep-sky objects to observe as well.
You may be able to spot one with your unaided eyes, if you have dark skies and sharp eyes: M35, a large open cluster near the “right foot” of Gemini, about 3,870 light-years away.
It’s almost the size of a full Moon in our skies! Optical aids like binoculars or a telescope reveal the cluster’s brilliant member stars. Once you spot M35, look around to see if you can spot another open cluster, NGC 2158, much smaller and more distant than M35 at 9,000 light-years away. Another notable object is NGC 2392, a planetary nebula created from the remains of a dying star, located about 6,500 light-years distant. You’ll want to use a telescope to find this intriguing, faint, fuzzy object located near the “left hip” star Wasat.
Gemini’s stars are referenced quite often in cultures around the world, and even in the history of space exploration. NASA’s famed Gemini program took its name from these stars, as do the appropriately named twin Gemini North and South Observatories in Hawaii and Chile.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/night-sky-network/gemini-constellation/
Sunlight Extracts Oxygen From Regolith Using Solar Chemistry
Feb 13, 2026
NASA’s Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project completed an important step toward using local resources to support human exploration on the Moon.
The CaRD team performed integrated prototype testing that used concentrated solar energy to extract oxygen from simulated lunar soil, while confirming the production of carbon monoxide through a solar-driven chemical reaction.
If deployed on the Moon, this technology could enable the production of propellant using only lunar materials and sunlight, significantly reducing the cost and complexity of sustaining a long-term human presence on the lunar surface.
The same downstream systems used to convert carbon monoxide into oxygen can also be adapted to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and methane on Mars.
The integrated prototype brought together a carbothermal oxygen production reactor developed by Sierra Space, a solar concentrator designed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, precision mirrors produced by Composite Mirror Applications, and avionics, software, and gas analysis systems from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston led project management, systems engineering, testing, and development of key hardware and ground support systems.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/sunlight-extracts-oxygen-from-regolith-using-solar-chemistry/
I'm just now getting around to Isaacman's interview from yesterday and for whatever reason there is a black mark on his brow / forehead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv9-p3Ari-A
Stonebreen’s Beating Heart
Feb 13, 2026
Edgeøya, an island in the southeastern part of the Svalbard archipelago, is defined by stark Arctic expanses and rugged terrain. Still, even here—halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole—life persists, from mosses to polar bears.
The southern lobe of Stonebreen, a glacier that flows from the Edgeøyjøkulen ice cap into the Barents Sea, gives the landscape a different kind of life. Its ice pulses like a heart.
The apparent heartbeat comes from the ice speeding up and slowing down with the seasons. This animation, based on satellite data collected between 2014 and 2022, shows how fast the glacier’s surface ice moves on average during each month.
In winter and spring, the ice flows relatively slowly (pink); by late summer, it races toward the sea at speeds exceeding 1,200 meters per year in places (dark red). In summer 2020, speeds reached as high as 2,590 meters per year (23 feet per day).
In general, summer speedups are caused by meltwater that percolates from the surface down to the base of the glacier, where the ice sits on rock, explained Chad Greene, a glaciologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
“When the base of a glacier becomes inundated with meltwater, water pressure at the base increases and allows the glacier to slide more easily,” he said.
Data for the animation are from the ITS_LIVE project, developed at JPL, which uses an algorithm to detect glacier speed based on surface features visible in optical and radar satellite images.
In 2025, Greene and JPL colleague Alex Gardner used ITS_LIVE data to analyze the seasonal variability of hundreds of thousands of glaciers across the planet, including Stonebreen.
Stonebreen is a surging glacier, a type that cycles between stretches of relatively slow movement and sudden bursts of speed when ice can flow several times faster than usual.
These surges can last anywhere from months to years. Globally, only about 1 percent of glaciers are surge-type, though in Svalbard, they are relatively widespread.
Before 2023, Stonebreen spent several years surging at high speeds after melting along its front likely destabilized the glacier, according to Gardner.
Even during this surging period, the ice followed a seasonal rhythm—speeding up in summer and slowing through the winter—all while continuing its faster overall flow toward the Barents Sea.
Since 2023, however, the glacier has all but slowed to a halt, with only a short stretch in the summer when meltwater causes Stonebreen to glide across the ground. It has entered a phase of quiet, or “quiescence,” which is a normal part of the cycle for surge-type glaciers.
These seasonal heartbeat-like pulses and longer-term variations in ice flow at Stonebreen and other glaciers worldwide can be explored using the ITS_LIVE app.
https://its-live.jpl.nasa.gov/app/index.html
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/stonebreens-beating-heart/
NASA Moon Mission Spacesuit Nears Milestone
Feb 12, 2026
The next-generation spacesuit for NASA’s Artemis III mission continues to advance by passing a contractor-led technical review, as the agency prepares to send humans to the Moon’s South Pole for the first time.
Testing is also underway for the new suits, built by Axiom Space, with NASA astronauts and spacesuit engineers recently simulating surface operations and tasks underwater to demonstrate safety and mobility.
The AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit), is designed to give astronauts increased flexibility and improved mobility for moonwalking, including bending down to collect geology samples and perform a variety of scientific tasks.
The suit features increased sizing options and adjustability to fit a wider range of crew members. It incorporates advanced life-support systems and enhanced protection to withstand the harsh lunar environment.
Axiom Space is also developing specialized tools and equipment for work on the lunar surface, allowing astronauts to more easily gather geology samples.
Now that Axiom Space has completed their technical review of the AxEMU, NASA will evaluate whether the spacesuit is ready for the agency’s Artemis III mission that will return American astronauts to the Moon.
A NASA-led critical design sync review, which is an agency-required technical evaluation, will confirm that the design’s hardware and systems are on track for final testing and delivery.
In parallel, Axiom Space has begun receiving parts for the first flight unit, which will be assembled later this spring.
“The completion of their internal review brings Axiom Space one step closer to delivering a next-generation lunar spacesuit,” said Lara Kearney, manager of the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“This achievement reflects our shared commitment to deliver a safe, capable lunar spacesuit that will enable astronauts to explore the Moon’s surface.”
NASA and Axiom Space have conducted over 850 hours of pressurized testing with a person inside the AxEMU.
Leading up to the review, teams conducted underwater and simulated lunar gravity tests of the AxEMU in facilities at NASA Johnson that demonstrate how the spacesuit’s capabilities will offer increased mobility as astronauts explore the Moon’s surface and prepare for missions to Mars.
These tests allow astronauts and engineers to become familiar with the spacesuit and practice moving and performing tasks in a simulated lunar gravity environment, which is one-sixth the gravity we experience on Earth.
Suit users have provided feedback on design, functionality, and safety.
Agency and Axiom Space teams recently finished the first series of test runs in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA Johnson. While in the 40-foot-deep pool, they weighted the AxEMU to match lunar gravity and assessed functionality and ease of movement.
Now, teams are in the middle of evaluating how well test subjects can perform tasks while wearing the spacesuit in different suit pressure levels in NASA Johnson’s Active Response Gravity Offload System facility.
The agency uses an overhead lift system that connects to a spacesuit to create a reduced-gravity environment allowing anyone in the suit to walk around in simulated lunar gravity.
Higher suit pressures reduce time to acclimate to the suits, enabling astronauts to spend more time walking on the lunar surface during Artemis missions.
Astronaut safety is NASA’s top priority for the Artemis campaign. Using more than 50 years of spacesuit expertise, NASA defined the technical and safety standards and requirements by which the next generation of lunar spacesuits are being built.
At key milestones in the spacesuit’s development, NASA has and will continue to verify the AxEMU and its system deliverables to ensure the risk to the Artemis crew members is understood and minimized.
NASA’s spacesuits contract is managed by the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program which serves as the agency’s program to develop next-generation spacesuits, human-rated rovers, and spacewalking tools, along with all required spacewalking support systems that will enable astronauts to survive and work outside the confines of a spacecraft to explore on and around the Moon.
As part of a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA’s Artemis astronauts will use these new spacesuits, along with advanced landers and rovers, to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to prepare for future human exploration of Mars.
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nasa-moon-mission-spacesuit-nears-milestone/
https://asgardia.space/en/news/Whats-New-in-Space-66
What's New in Space?
Pis 16, 10Feb 13, 26
Exploring the universe hardly ever keeps dead on time, but any progress helps in gaining greater insight into its structure.
Read about the pinnacle events and discoveries of recent days in our regular column, ‘What's New in Space?’
Artemis 2 mission launch has moved to March 2026
The second piloted mission launch as part of the Artemis lunar programme has been rescheduled for March 2026. The reason for delay is a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket tank failure being revealed in test filling.
The experts detected a sharp increase in liquid hydrogen leaks through pipe junctions with under a minute before completing countdown when put to the test from late January to early February.
And besides that, certain problems occurred with ensuring pressurisation of the Orion spacecraft hatches.
NASA has not yet announced a new date for the propellant-feed system retesting. Meanwhile, the crew set off for home, having completed the pre-flight quarantine.
The mission itself will last approximately ten days, during which the Orion spacecraft will perform low Earth orbital insertion manoeuvres, then travel to the Moon, close passing Earth's natural satellite at an altitude of approximately 10,000 km, before returning to Earth.
Scientists specify Jupiter shape and size
The updated information following NASA’s Juno mission extension makes it possible to improve the data on the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. A recently published study has provided updated data on the gas giant size.
The resulting data is crucial for studying Jupiter’s internal processes and atmospheric phenomena, despite its revealed slight reduction in diameter. The planet's equatorial width now measures 142,976 km, whereas the polar axis is 133,684 km.
Compared to the previous calculations, based on Voyager and Pioneer mission observations conducted half a century ago, both figures have decreased by 8 and 24 kilometres, respectively.
This indicates that the planet is slightly more compressed along its rotational axis than originally thought.
The data collected by the Juno probe during regular Jupiter rendezvous significantly improved the measurement accuracy.
Scientists succeeded in determining more accurately the location of boundaries between the atmosphere layers and the planet's deep interior patterns due to changes in signal transmitted by the spacecraft to Earth.
The latest measurements marked Jupiter’s ellipticity, demonstrating a significant difference between the equator and pole size. Jupiter deviates from a perfect sphere much more than our planet.
Earth oblateness is only 0.33%, while for Jupiter, this figure reaches an impressive 7%. The emerging data plays an important role in studying Jupiter’s structure, wind circulation nature, and the history of the solar system formation.
Blue Origin puts New Shepard on hold to speed up lunar programme
Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has announced the interruption of the New Shepard suborbital rocket project for at least two years. This move will focus on accelerating the national human lunar mission programme.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has recently confirmed being in talks with aerospace corporations Blue Origin and SpaceX regarding accelerating the efforts to send astronauts to the lunar surface.
According to the company’s official statement, the decision reflects Blue Origin’s commitment to the national goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent human presence there.
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As a reminder, New Shepard is the first reusable space vehicle capable of vertical landing.
To date, it has completed 38 flights, launched 98 people into orbit, and delivered more than 200 scientific and research payloads to orbit for students, scientific institutions, research organisations, and NASA.
A ‘cold Earth’ has been discovered around another star
An international team of researchers from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Denmark has discovered a new planet, HD 137010 b, located approximately 146 light-years away.
It may be a candidate for a habitable world outside the solar system. The ongoing analysis of data, collected by the Kepler space telescope decommissioned in 2018, contributed to the discovery.
Planet HD 137010 b is similar to Earth in size and composition, although its conditions are more like the extremely cold Mars.
If further studies confirm the presence of water and a proper atmosphere, it will become one of the closest known planets suitable for studying living environments beyond our solar system.
There is, however, a certain problem. The planet is located on the edge of the habitable zone. The star in this system belongs to the same spectral class as our Sun, but it’s cooler and dimmer.
Thereby, the planet receives only a third of the solar radiation. As a result, its average surface temperature does not exceed -68°C, making the environment harsher than that on modern Mars, where the average temperature is around -65°C.
For now, the discovery remains speculative, and scientists will need to conduct detailed observations to confirm the planet's status as a candidate.
China’s major advance in lunar exploration: effective tests of new boosters and spacecraft
On 11 February 2026, China took a quantum leap in working up human lunar missions, having successfully tested the emergency escape system of the test article of its Mengzhou interplanetary spacecraft.
The test was conducted on Hainan Island using an experimental version of the Long March 10 booster.
The Mengzhou spacecraft’s test version showed the mission-critical crew rescue system’s normal performance. The capsule successfully returned to Earth, landing softly in the targeted area.
A key difference between the new spacecraft and its predecessors is the inclusion of its own solid-fuel engines ensuring crew rescue in an emergency, whereas the early egress system operated on the principle similar to that used on Russian Soyuz series vehicles.
Only the Long March 10 booster’s first stage, targeted at reusability, took part in testing.
The first stage demonstrated the ability to re-ignite its engines and land back on Earth under the control, proving out the design readiness for reuse.
The fully operational booster configuration will be a three-stage design equipped with additional booster modules.
China's new Mengzhou spacecraft will be produced in two versions: a seven-seat version for orbital missions and a smaller-crew version for long-distance space travel, including a trip to the Moon.
China's challenge is to land the first Chinese citizen on the Moon no later than 2030.
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>orb lady's handler
Earth from Space: Sending love from above
13/02/2026
For Valentine’s Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission sends love from space, capturing the heart-shaped oasis of Faiyum, just south of Cairo, Egypt.
Zoom in or click on the circles to explore this image at its full resolution.
This false-colour image was processed using Sentinel-2’s near-infrared channel, which highlights vegetation in red, so that the Nile Delta and the Fayum Oasis appear in red – a red flower with a natural heart.
The red triangle of Egypt’s fertile Nile Delta stands in contrast to the surrounding desert of northeast Africa. This difference is shaped by the Nile River, whose life-giving waters have long transformed the arid land into a lush agricultural landscape.
With less than 3% of Egypt's land suitable for agriculture, the Delta is an important farming region. A patchwork of fields appears in various shades of red, reflecting different crops and growth stages. Key produce includes cotton, rice and sugar cane.
Urban areas stand out in grey, the largest being Cairo, Egypt’s capital, at the base of the Delta. Zooming in, the Pyramids of Giza can be spotted on the rocky plateau at the city’s southwestern edge.
The crisp boundary between the red vegetation and the yellow–brown desert makes it easy to trace the river’s course and reveals variations in the topography.
The cultivated area extends farther west of the Nile, where flatter terrain allows for easier irrigation compared to the higher ground to the east.
Around 100 km southwest of Cairo lies the red, heart-shaped Faiyum Oasis – a vast natural depression.
Unlike other Egyptian oases, which depend primarily on groundwater, Faiyum is fed directly by the Nile waters through the Bahr Yussef canal.
To its north, the dark expanse of Lake Qaroun – now saline – marks the remains of what once was a much larger freshwater lake.
On the right side of the image, the Suez Canal stretches from Port Said on the Mediterranean coast to the Gulf of Suez, the northwestern arm of the Red Sea.
As one of the world’s most important waterways, the Suez Canal provides a direct link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.
This image was generated using multiple scans captured by Copernicus Sentinel-2 between July and December 2025.
By selecting cloud-free pixels over time, such clear high-resolution mosaics can be created, which are especially valuable to overcome the persistent challenges of limited visibility owing to cloud cover.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/02/Earth_from_Space_Sending_love_from_above
Space Force, Aiming to Double in Size, Blows Past Recruiting Goal
Feb. 12, 2026
To meet growing demand for national security space capabilities, the Space Force’s top enlisted leader says it needs to double in size.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna told lawmakers Feb. 11 that the service’s current force of 10,000 uniformed Guardians isn’t enough to meet the Space Force’s evolving mission requirements and to confront increasing threats from adversaries like China and Russia.
“To effectively fulfill our national mandate, we must increase our infrastructure and double our size,” he said during a Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee hearing.
“This critical expansion is not only necessary, but entirely achievable.”
The Space Force has already surpassed its recruiting goals for fiscal 2026, Bentivegna said, and was at 125 percent of its goal after just five months.
That includes 912 recruits who either have already entered basic military training or were enrolled in the delayed entry program as of Feb. 11, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
The Space Force’s recruiting goal is a small fraction of that of the other military services: just 730 recruits in 2026, down from 800 new recruits in fiscal 2025, which the service successfully met last year.
By contrast, the Air Force’s goal for 2026 is nearly 33,000. But the Air Force also has more than 30 times as many Airmen as the Space Force has Guardians, so proportionately, the difference is small.
A variety of factors go into setting baseline recruiting goals, the most important being needs of the service.
Other factors, including recruiting and training capacity and propensity to serve are also factors. The Space Force has met or exceeded its recruiting goals every year since its establishment in late 2019.
“We’ll keep building on this momentum as America’s Space Force continues to grow into the future,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman wrote in a social media post.
Were Congress to authorize more personnel, Bentivegna said, there are ample qualified recruits to fill those spots.
The Space Force established its own recruiting squadron for the first time in 2025, to help accelerate its growth.
The Air Force Accessions Center continues to manage recruiting for both the Air Force and Space Force, but until then, there was not a dedicated Space Force unit.
“Recruitment for the Space Force has been phenomenal,” Bentivegna said.
“We have more individuals who want to commission and/or enlist into the Space Force than we can take in right now, which is why doubling the size is something I think is absolutely achievable.”
Bentivegna’s call for a larger Space Force echoes that of other service leaders in recent months.
Speaking in January at an event hosted by Space News and Johns Hopkins University, Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Shawn N. Bratton said he expects that in the next five to 10 years, the Space Force’s active duty and civilian forces will at least double.
The service currently has 5,000 civilians, but lost a lot of talent last year as a result of job cuts imposed by the Trump administration.
Space Force budgets have increased substantially, along with its missions, since its first independent budget in fiscal 2021.
That first budget was $15.4 billion, but spending has grown to nearly $40 billion in fiscal 2026, including the baseline budget request and additional funds in the reconciliation bill known as the Big Beautiful Bill Act that Congress approved last summer.
If President Donald Trump’s vision for a $1.5 trillion defense budget in fiscal 2027 comes to fruition, that budget will grow even more.
While Bratton and the service believe there’s a case for doubling or tripling the Space Force budget, he said some of that money should be invested in building out the infrastructure to sustain new and existing missions.
“I worry more now about the people and the infrastructure side of that equation than I do just how much is in the appropriations bill,” Bratton said Jan. 22. “We’re bringing on a lot of work.
Do I have the program offices on the acquisition side to develop those capabilities and field them? Do we have the test and training infrastructure to really wring those capabilities out?
Do I have … not only the number of Guardians, but do I have the places to operate from?”
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-aiming-to-double-in-size-blows-past-recruiting-goal/
Russia announces huge Arctic oil discovery
13 Feb, 2026 10:11
Russian energy major Gazprom Neft has discovered a new oil field on the Yamal Peninsula that is the largest discovered in the region in three decades, according to a company release.
The new find is located in the Arctic zone of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, home to the world’s largest natural gas reserves but also a region with significant oil potential.
Drilling and exploration are challenging, however, as the peninsula is almost entirely covered by permafrost.
The field is part of a large oil and gas cluster in the southern part of the peninsula, according to the company. It was discovered after three years of exploration, including 2D and 3D seismic surveys and geological and hydrodynamic modeling.
An appraisal well drilled to a depth of 2.7 km produced commercial flows of low-sulfur, low-viscosity oil, gas, and condensate. Estimated geological reserves are 55 million tons, the company’s press release stated.
The field was named after Aleksey Kontorovich, one of the founders of the Russian scientific school of oil and gas geology and organic geochemistry.
Additional exploration will be carried out to better understand the geological structure and production potential and to develop an extraction plan.
“This discovery – the largest for Yamal in the last 30 years – confirms that our country’s resource base is far from fully explored,” Aleksandr Dyukov, chairman of the board of Gazprom Neft, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“In the Arctic zone, Eastern Siberia, and many other territories, opportunities remain to discover new large and ultra-large hydrocarbon deposits.”
Dyukov noted that the project will help achieve the goals of Russia’s Energy Strategy to 2050, in which Arctic development is a priority, and pledged that the company will continue geological exploration across all its operating regions.
In Russia, oil fields are considered “large” if recoverable reserves range from 30 to 300 million tons, but for most European countries a field the size of Kontorovich would be enormous.
Many European countries have far smaller total reserves than this field alone.
Poland’s recently discovered Wolin East field has recoverable reserves of 22 million tons – less than half of Kontorovich – making it the largest in Polish history and Europe’s biggest discovery in the past decade.
https://www.rt.com/russia/632399-gazprom-new-oil-field/
Kremlin announces dates of new Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks
13 Feb, 2026 11:13
Russia, the US, and Ukraine will hold a new round of peace talks in Switzerland next week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has announced.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Peskov said the negotiations to settle the Ukraine conflict will take place in a trilateral format on February 17 and 18.
He added that Moscow’s delegation will be led by Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who has already participated in several rounds of talks.
Peskov did not provide details on the specific Ukraine-related agenda. However, he noted that Russia hoped to continue discussing economic cooperation with the US but cautioned that any deals are contingent on progress towards the Ukraine settlement.
The last round of trilateral talks took place in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, last week. The Russian delegation was headed by Admiral Igor Kostyukov, the chief of the country’s military intelligence, and included other defense officials.
The US side was represented by American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, while the Ukrainian delegation was headed by national security chief Rustem Umerov.
Peskov described the Abu Dhabi talks as “constructive but difficult,” while Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said the territorial issue remains the “main question” of the negotiations, adding that other issues also remain unresolved.
Moscow has insisted that any sustainable settlement will only be possible if Ukraine withdraws from the areas still under its control in Donbass – which voted to join Russia in 2022 – commits to remaining outside NATO, and agrees to demilitarization and denazification.
Russia has also demanded that Kiev recognize its new borders, including Crimea. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out territorial concessions.
https://www.rt.com/russia/632407-europeans-scratching-kremlin-doors/
other RT
https://www.rt.com/russia/632404-stubborn-zelensky-bad-deal/
https://www.rt.com/russia/632373-zelensky-election-referendum-plan/
https://www.rt.com/russia/632385-ukraine-russian-literature-ban/
wrong link
>https://www.rt.com/russia/632407-europeans-scratching-kremlin-doors/
<https://www.rt.com/russia/632413-ukraine-peace-talks-switzerland/
https://www.rt.com/russia/632378-newsmax-ukraine-us-media-expansion/
Newsmax Ukraine: Why a MAGA-aligned US network wants a Kiev newsroom
12 Feb, 2026 19:12
Newsmax, the US conservative TV brand closely associated with President Donald Trump’s media ecosystem, has signed a licensing deal to launch a Ukrainian language service in Kiev.
Expected to go live in the first half of 2026, media executive Lyudmila Nemyria has been approved as general producer.
Her family ties connect the venture to Ukraine’s opposition political networks at a moment when parts of the Trumpworld have openly explored “alternatives” to Vladimir Zelensky.
The launch: a conservative US giant enters Ukraine
Newsmax, founded in 1998 by Christopher Ruddy, a longtime friend and unofficial adviser to Trump, has long positioned itself as a right-wing alternative to mainstream US media like CNN and MSNBC.
Known for its pro-MAGA stance, the network gained prominence during the 2020 US election by amplifying claims of voter fraud and criticizing Ukraine aid.
In 2025, Newsmax deepened its ties to Trumpworld through a collaboration with Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social.
Newsmax is a slickly produced operation, indistinguishable at first from its conservative competitors.
Around the clock, platinum blonde anchors serve up culture war content to the MAGA base, while a rotating cast of lawmakers, White House officials, and right-wing pundits dissect the news of the day.
The network primarily caters to an ‘America First’ base, but has employed establishment Republicans like US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in the past.
Newsmax Ukraine will reportedly operate under a licensing agreement, with a local editorial team producing news, analysis, and socio-political programming – on top of Ukrainian-language rebroadcasting.
The channel wants to transmit via cable, satellite, and digital platforms in Ukrainian, English, and Russian, potentially reaching millions in a country where media consumption remains fragmented and highly politicized.
Ruddy’s decision to launch in Ukraine is a part of his efforts to expand into Europe and the Middle East, according to a December 2025 company statement.
Ukraine’s media chessboard: where would Newsmax land?
Since 2022, Ukraine’s media system has been radically centralized. Major national TV channels were absorbed into the monolith United News (Yedyni Novyny) telethon, coordinated by Zelensky’s presidential administration.
This 24/7 broadcast, involving outlets from groups such as 1+1 Media (associated with oligarch Igor Kolomoysky), StarLightMedia (oligarch Viktor Pinchuk), Inter Media Group, and others, promotes official wartime messaging, government officials, and unity narratives.
Independent political talk shows and competing prime-time news programs largely disappeared from national broadcast TV, the single most powerful medium for reaching audience in the country.
Since then, Telegram, YouTube, and online news platforms have become primary sources of political information for many Ukrainians.
Critics argue the telethon has evolved into a tool favoring Zelensky and his Servant of the People party, limiting opposition voices while channels linked to political rivals such as Pyotr Poroshenko or formerly pro-Russian figures, have faced restrictions or bans.
While media control in Ukraine is largely taboo in the Western press, in 2024 Reporters without Borders warned that “Surveillance, threats to be enlisted in the army, increased control by the authorities…
Political pressure and obstacles are mounting on the Ukrainian media.”
Essentially, Zelensky controls the strongest institutional media bloc. But Newsmax does not challenge him head-on.
Rather, it slots into the interstitial space between his wartime messaging, opposition survivorship and Western conservative skepticism toward “forever war.”
The Nemyria-Timoshenko axis: family ties to Ukraine’s opposition powerhouse
The real intrigue starts with the Newsmax Ukraine leadership: Lyudmila Nemyria, a Ukrainian journalist and media manager, has been appointed as general producer.
She will oversee strategy, editorial policy, and operations, and is reported to hold a 15% stake in Newsmax Ukraine LLC (a Poland-registered firm is holding 85%).
Nemyria, formerly a presenter at Ukrlife TV until 2023, now runs the popular YouTube channel NemyriaLive with over 160,000 subscribers.
Her background in socio-political content makes her a natural fit, but it’s her personal connections that take this from a business deal to a potential influence play.
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Lyudmila Nemyria is married to Grigory Nemyria, a prominent member of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, representing the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, led by the opposition politician Yulia Timoshenko.
Grigory, a historian-turned-politician, served as deputy prime minister under Timoshenko during her 2007-2010 premiership. He’s often described as her “personal minister of foreign affairs” and her unofficial ambassador to the EU and US.
Their partnership dates back years: Grigory was a key adviser during Timoshenko’s 2010 presidential run and stood by her during her 2011-2014 imprisonment on politically motivated charges.
Yulia Timoshenko herself is a polarizing figure in Ukrainian politics – a former prime minister (2005, 2007-2010) and gas tycoon whose populist style has earned her both fervent supporters and accusations of corruption.
Her Batkivshchyna party remains a major opposition force, often criticizing Zelensky’s handling of the war with Russia and US aid dependency.
The March 2025 meetings: sounding out a Zelensky ouster
The plot thickens with events from March 2025, when tensions between the Trump administration and Zelensky reached a boiling point.
Following a disastrous February 2025 White House meeting, where Trump accused Zelensky of being a “dictator without elections” and demanded new polls despite wartime martial law, US aid and intelligence sharing were briefly suspended.
This freeze, lasting about a week, weakened Ukrainian forces, particularly in the Kursk region, and highlighted Trump’s impatience with prolonged American involvement in the war.
Amid this fallout, Politico Europe reported that four senior Trump aides held secret talks with Zelensky’s political rivals, including Timoshenko and members of Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party.
The discussions allegedly focused on restarting presidential elections to potentially oust Zelensky, whom Trump allies viewed as an obstacle to a Russia-friendly peace deal.
Timoshenko, spotted in Washington for Trump’s January 2025 inauguration, confirmed contacts with US officials, saying she “negotiates with all our allies.”
She and Poroshenko denied plotting against Zelensky, but the meetings fueled speculation of American meddling.
Why Ukraine? Motivations behind the move
Why would a MAGA-aligned network like Newsmax invest in Ukraine now? Several factors suggest this is less about market expansion and more about strategic influence.
Newsmax has historically echoed Trump’s skepticism of aid to Ukraine, portraying it as wasteful and Zelensky as ungrateful.
A local channel could promote similar views domestically, questioning Zelensky’s legitimacy and potentially weakening support for continued resistance to peace efforts.
Besides, through the Nemyrias, Newsmax gains a direct line to Timoshenko’s network. If elections canceled by Zelensky resume post-ceasefire, this could amplify her comeback bid.
Timoshenko has indicated interest in running, and her populist appeals could resonate in a war-weary Ukraine.
From a MAGA perspective, Trumpworld sees Ukraine as a bargaining chip in US-Russia relations.
With content in Russian and English, it could target diaspora audiences and international stakeholders, countering pro-Zelensky media like the Kyiv Independent.
Newsmax’s multilingual approach could fill gaps left by sanctioned Russian outlets, while Ruddy’s Trump ties might secure favorable deals in a post-Trump aid landscape.
What to watch next: the telltales
If you want to observe whether Newsmax Ukraine launch is a play of influence, here are some pressure points to watch that could reveal intent:
Who funds production beyond basic operations? Watch out for sponsors, “partners,” foundations, state-linked advertisers.
Guest pipeline. Which Ukrainian politicians, ex-officials, and security figures become regulars?
Distribution. Where the channel lands – cable packages, YouTube reach, Telegram repost networks?
Editorial fingerprints. Watch out for consistent frames on elections, negotiations, corruption, mobilization, and Western aid conditions. How might it cover Timoshenko’s party or Zelensky’s policies?
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Russian military retaliates for Kiev’s ‘terrorist attacks’ – MOD
12 Feb, 2026 22:34
The Russian military has launched a series of major strikes targeting Ukrainian military facilities as well as related energy infrastructure, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said in a statement on Thursday.
The attack came a day after Ukrainian forces launched a massive strike involving hundreds of drones as well as HIMARS missiles and glide bombs targeting civilian infrastructure in several Russian regions.
Most of the projectiles were intercepted, according to the Defense Ministry. However, at least six civilians, including a woman, were injured by shrapnel and blast waves in Belgorod Region, Russia, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The Russian response on Thursday involved air- and land-based long-range weapon systems as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to the ministry. The attack reportedly targeted Ukrainian drone production and storage facilities, as well as infrastructure used for military needs.
Russian forces struck a total of 147 locations, including a Ukrainian airfield, military infrastructure facilities, bases, and foreign mercenary camps, the Defense Ministry said, without elaborating on the exact targets.
Ukrainian media said the strikes hit the nation’s capital, Kiev, as well as the central city of Dnepropetrovsk and the Black Sea port city of Odessa.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko blamed the attacks for the ongoing energy crisis in the capital, where thousands of buildings remain without heating. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky previously said the mayor only had himself to blame for the low level of preparedness for these types of emergencies.
Ukraine has experienced power disruptions for weeks, as Moscow aims to disable its arms production capacity to curb deep strikes against Russian civilian targets.
Last month, Moscow agreed to temporarily suspend strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure as a gesture of goodwill at the request of US President Donald Trump to facilitate peace talks.
Ukraine, however, has not scaled down its cross-border attacks. In January alone, Ukrainian attacks killed at least 79 civilians, including three children, and injured 378 people, according to Moscow.
https://www.rt.com/russia/632388-russia-retaliatory-strikes-ukraine/