TYB
NASA Targets Artemis II Rollback on Wednesday
February 23, 2026 7:54PM
Due to weather, NASA now is targeting early Wednesday, Feb. 25, to roll the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II off the launch pad and back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Cold temperatures and high winds are expected Tuesday, and rolling on Feb. 25, gives teams enough time to complete preparations at the launch pad that were limited today by high winds in the area.
The approximately 4-mile trek is expected to take up to 12 hours. Once back in the VAB, teams will immediately begin work to install platforms to access the area of the helium flow issue.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/23/nasa-targets-artemis-ii-rollback-on-wednesday/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/21/nasa-troubleshooting-artemis-ii-rocket-upper-stage-issue-preparing-to-roll-back/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8yfzvhKy4s
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/mars-science-laboratory/curiosity-rover/nasas-curiosity-rover-sees-martian-spiderwebs-up-close/
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/curiosity-surveys-the-boxwork-region/
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/curiosity-studies-nodules-on-boxwork-formations/
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Sees Martian ‘Spiderwebs’ Up Close
Feb 23, 2026
For about six months, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has been exploring a region full of geologic formations called boxwork, low ridges standing roughly 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) tall with sandy hollows in between.
Crisscrossing the surface for miles, the formations suggest ancient groundwater flowed on this part of the Red Planet later than scientists expected.
This possibility raises new questions about how long microbial life could have survived on Mars billions of years ago, before rivers and lakes dried up and left a freezing desert world behind.
The boxwork formations look like giant spiderwebs when viewed from space. To explain the shapes, scientists have proposed that groundwater once flowed through large fractures in the bedrock, leaving behind minerals.
Those minerals then strengthened the areas that became ridges while other portions without mineral reinforcement were eventually hollowed out by wind.
Until Curiosity arrived at this region, however, no one could be sure what these formations looked like up close, and there were even more questions about how they were made.
Unpacking boxwork
Although Earth also has boxwork ridges, they’re rarely taller than a few centimeters and are usually found in caves or in dry, sandy environments.
The Curiosity team wanted to get a close look at the Martian formations and gather more data. This posed a real challenge for rover drivers:
They needed to send instructions to Curiosity, an SUV-size vehicle that weighs nearly a ton (899 kilograms), so that it could roll across the tops of ridges not much wider than the rover itself.
“It almost feels like a highway we can drive on. But then we have to go down into the hollows, where you need to be mindful of Curiosity’s wheels slipping or having trouble turning in the sand,” said operations systems engineer Ashley Stroupe of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which built Curiosity and leads the mission.
“There’s always a solution. It just takes trying different paths.”
For scientists, the challenge is piecing together how such a vast network of boxwork could exist on Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain the rover has been ascending.
Each layer of the mountain formed in a different era of Mars’ ancient, changing climate. The higher Curiosity goes, the more the landscape bears signs that water was drying out over time, with occasional wet periods that saw the return of rivers and lakes.
“Seeing boxwork this far up the mountain suggests the groundwater table had to be pretty high,” said Tina Seeger of Rice University in Houston, one of the mission scientists leading the boxwork investigation.
“And that means the water needed for sustaining life could have lasted much longer than we thought looking from orbit.”
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Previous orbital imagery included one crucial piece of evidence: dark lines running across the “spiderwebs.”
In 2014, it was proposed that these lines might be what are known as central fractures, where groundwater seeped through rock cracks and allowed minerals to concentrate.
Investigating the ridges up close, Curiosity found that these lines are in fact fractures, lending weight to that hypothesis.
The rover also discovered bumpy textures called nodules, an obvious sign of past groundwater that has been spotted many times by Curiosity and other Mars missions.
Unexpectedly, these nodules were not found near the central fractures, but along a ridge’s walls and the hollows between them.
“We can’t quite explain yet why the nodules appear where they do,” Seeger said. “Maybe the ridges were cemented by minerals first, and later episodes of groundwater left nodules around them.”
Roving laboratory
A major part of Curiosity’s science centers on rock samples collected by the rock-pulverizing drill on the end of the rover’s robotic arm. The resulting powder can be trickled into complex science instruments in the vehicle’s body for analysis.
Last year, three samples from the boxwork region — one from a ridgetop, one from bedrock within a hollow, and one from a transitional area before Curiosity reached the ridges — were collected by the drill and analyzed with X-rays and a high-temperature oven.
The X-ray analyses found clay minerals in the ridge and carbonate minerals in the hollow, providing additional clues to help understand how these features formed.
The mission recently collected a fourth sample, which was analyzed with a special technique reserved for the most intriguing science targets: After the pulverized rock went into the rover’s high-temperature oven, chemical reagents reacted with the sample to conduct what is called wet chemistry.
The resulting reactions make it easier to detect certain organic compounds, carbon-based molecules important to the formation of life.
Sometime in March, Curiosity will leave the boxwork formations behind. The whole region is part of a layer on Mount Sharp enriched in salty minerals called sulfates, which formed as water was drying out on Mars.
Curiosity’s team plans to continue exploring this sulfate layer for many miles in the coming year, learning more about how the ancient Red Planet’s climate changed billions of years ago.
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https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/science-enabling-technology/technology-highlights/technology-originally-developed-for-space-missions-now-integral-to-everyday-life/
Technology Originally Developed for Space Missions Now Integral to Everyday Life
Feb 24, 2026
In the 1980s, sensors used to produce high-quality images for space science (including the amazing images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope) and other applications employed charge coupled device (CCD) technology.
Dr. Eric Fossum was originally hired at JPL in 1990 to advance CCD technology for use in interplanetary space missions, but he ended up advancing another technology called complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology for that purpose and much more. While at JPL, Fossum took advantage of a technique commonly used for CCDs and applied it to CMOS sensors to develop the first CMOS active pixel image sensor.
This development began a chain of events that led to the present use of CMOS technology not only in space science missions, but also in billions of cameras in smartphones, webcams, automobiles, and medical devices used worldwide.
A new technology emerges…
In 1990, CCDs were the primary technology used to generate high-quality images. CCD sensors consist of arrays of pixels that convert light into electric charges.
The charge from each pixel is transferred step-by-step to an output amplifier at the corner of the sensor and converted to a voltage that represents the brightness of the light received at the corresponding pixel.
The data from all the pixels is then aggregated to generate an image. While CCD cameras can produce very high-quality images that are suitable for scientific use, they require a lot of power and an efficient charge transfer process to be effective.
CMOS sensors, on the other hand, have signal amplifiers within each pixel and signals can be read directly from each pixel instead of being transferred long distances to an amplifier for conversion.
CMOS sensors therefore require less voltage to operate than CCDs and issues with the charge transfer process such as radiation susceptibility are greatly reduced.
Although CMOS sensors existed in the 1990s, they produced too much noise to produce high-quality images required for science applications.
To reduce the signal noise typical of CMOS sensors at that time, Fossum applied a technique that was often used in CCD devices.
This technique—called “intra-pixel charge transfer with correlated double sampling”—enables a double measurement of a pixel’s voltage without and with the light-generated charge.
Subtracting the values of these two samples enables noise to be suppressed, improving the signal-to-noise ratio.
The next steps
Soon several companies signed Technology Cooperation Agreements with JPL and partnered with Fossum and his colleagues to develop the promising new technology. In 1995,
Fossum and co-worker Dr. Sabrina Kemeny licensed the technology from CalTech and founded a company called Photobit to develop CMOS sensors. In 1996, Fossum left JPL to work at Photobit full time.
The Photobit, team further refined the CMOS technology to get it closer to CCD capabilities, reduce power requirements, and make manufacturing cheaper.
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Shortly thereafter, CMOS cameras started to be used in webcams, “pill cams” (small, swallowable devices that incorporate a tiny camera to take thousands of high-resolution images of the digestive tract), and other applications.
In 2001 Photobit was acquired by Micron Technology, a larger company that devoted even more resources to development of CMOS technology.
With the subsequent explosion of the cell phone industry, by 2013 more than a billion CMOS sensors were manufactured each year, and today that number has grown to about seven billion per year.
Where are these sensors now?
The CMOS technology Dr. Fossum originally developed has not only enabled space science, it has been infused into devices we depend on every day, dramatically and positively transforming many aspects of our lives.
Virtually all digital still and video cameras, including those on cell phones, employ them. In addition, CMOS technology is used in automotive electronics, webcams, sports cameras, industrial equipment, security cameras including doorbells, and cinematography cameras, and for medical and dental imaging, among many other applications.
In addition to dominating the commercial and consumer market, CMOS imagers have been used as engineering cameras to enable the entry, descent, and landing of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, in the camera onboard the OCO-3 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3) mission that monitors the distribution of carbon dioxide on Earth, and as scientific imagers on NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission that is revolutionizing our understanding of the Sun.
CMOS imagers are on their way to Jupiter’s moon, Europa, on the agency's Europa Clipper mission, and a delta-doped ultraviolet version with tailored response is under development for use on the upcoming UVEX (UltraViolet EXplorer) mission that will provide insight into how galaxies and stars evolve.
CMOS imagers are routinely used in monitoring the launch and deployment of CubeSats and SmallSats.
They were recently used to monitor the deployment of Pandora, a small satellite that will characterize exoplanet atmospheres and their host stars; BLACKCAT (the Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope), a small X-ray telescope; and the SPARCS (Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat) mission designed to monitor and characterize the stellar flares of low-mass stars in ultraviolet to provide context for the habitability of exoplanets in their system.
NASA is also developing descendants of this technology for use in missions that will search for life beyond Earth like its Habitable Worlds Observatory.
In recognition of the impact this CMOS technology has had, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has named Dr. Fossum the recipient of the 2026 Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering “for innovation, development, and commercialization of the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel image sensor ‘camera-on-a-chip.’”
The NAE bestows this award biennially to honor an engineer “whose accomplishment has significantly impacted society by improving the quality of life, providing the ability to live freely and comfortably, and/or permitting the access to information.”
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Satanic Rituals performed at US Military bases, NASA, and the U.S. Government
Feb 20, 2026
Satanic Rituals, NASA, and the U.S. Government.
Aleister Crowley, Jack Parsons, L. Ron Hubbard, etc
Why are so many military intelligence officers, NASA scientists, elites, and other government employees involved in Satanism? One of the most important pieces to the puzzle of the "phenomenon" and presence of these "beings" is the connection to sigils and alters.
The most important people in the field know this but do not speak mainstream about it, why? Why aren't they communicating this aspect of the overall picture? Is it to hide the true nature of what these "beings" really are?
Why didn't the U.S. government want the public to know they they were performing Satanic rituals to make contact with these "entities?"
And, if there is nothing to it, and just a bunch of Satanic members performing sex Magick and other ritualistic practices, which involve children, then why is it still so important, and why are they still doing it and keeping it such a secret?
Even when it comes to MKULTRA, Epstein, and the ritualistic abuse of children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uhF-gJmGrI
https://x.com/RyushinMalone17
explains the "moon baby" thing around the 12 minute mark
Young ‘Sun’ Caught Blowing Bubbles by NASA’s Chandra
Feb 23, 2026
For the first time, a much younger version of the Sun has been caught red-handed blowing bubbles in the galaxy, by astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The bubble – called an “astrosphere” – completely surrounds the juvenile star. Winds from the star’s surface are blowing up the bubble and filling it with hot gas as it expands into much cooler galactic gas and dust surrounding the star.
The Sun has a similar bubble around it, which scientists call the heliosphere, created by the solar wind. It extends far beyond the planets in our solar system and protects Earth from cosmic radiation.
This is the first image of an astrosphere astronomers have obtained around a star similar to the Sun. It shows slightly extended emission, rather than a single point of light as seen for other such stars.
“We have been studying our Sun’s astrosphere for decades, but we can’t see it from the outside,” said Carey Lisse of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who led the study, which published [day of week] in the Astrophysical Journal.
“This new Chandra result about a similar star’s astrosphere teaches us about the shape of the Sun’s, and how it has changed over billions of years as the Sun evolves and moves through the galaxy.”
The star is called HD 61005 and is located about 120 light-years from Earth, making it relatively close.
HD 61005 has roughly the same mass and temperature as the Sun, but it is much younger with an age of about 100 million years, compared to the Sun’s age of about 5 billion years.
Because it is so young, HD 61005 has a much stronger wind of particles blowing from its surface that travels about 3 times faster and is about 25 times denser than the wind from the Sun.
This amplifies the process of astrosphere bubble-blowing and mimics how our Sun was behaving several billion years ago.
“We are impacted by the Sun every day, not only through the light it gives off, but also by the wind it sends out into space that can affect our satellites and potentially astronauts traveling to the Moon or Mars,” said co-author Scott Wolk of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA).
“This image of the astrosphere around HD 61005 gives us important information about what the Sun’s wind may have been like early in its evolution.”
Astronomers have nicknamed the HD 61005 star system the “Moth” because it is surrounded by large amounts of dust patterned similarly to the shape of a moth’s wings when viewed through infrared telescopes.
The wings are formed from material left behind after the formation of the star, similar to the Kuiper Belt in our own solar system.
Observations of these wings with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope showed that the interstellar matter surrounding HD 61005 is about a thousand times denser than that around the Sun.
Since the 1990s, astronomers have been trying to capture an image of an astrosphere around a Sun-like star.
Chandra was able to detect the astrosphere around HD 61005 because it is producing X-rays as the stellar wind runs into cooler local interstellar medium dust and gas that surrounds the star.
The dense local galactic environment, combined with Chandra’s high-resolution X-ray vision, the strong stellar wind, and the star’s proximity, all helped create a strong X-ray signal, allowing discovery of an astrosphere around HD 61005.
It has a diameter about 200 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
“There’s a saying about a moth being drawn to a flame,” said co-author Brad Snios, formerly of CfA and now at MITRE, a non-profit that participates in federally funded research.
“In the case of HD 61005, the ‘Moth’ can’t easily escape from the flame because it was born around it and might be sustained by a disk around it.”
The Sun not only likely passed through a phase of development similar to HD 61005 when it was younger, it also likely traveled through a denser region of dust and gas than where the Sun is currently located, strengthening the connection with HD 61005.
“It is amazing to think that our protective heliosphere would only extend out to the orbit of Saturn if we were in the part of the galaxy where the Moth is located, or, conversely, that the Moth would have an astrosphere 10 times wider larger than the Sun’s if it were located here,” Lisse said.
HD 61005 is not visible from Earth with the unaided eye, but it is close enough that skywatchers could see it using binoculars.
The first hints of X-ray emission from the Moth’s central star were based on a brief, one-hour-long Chandra observation of HD 61005 in 2014. In 2021, astronomers observed HD 61005 for almost 19 hours, which allowed the detection of the extended astrospheric structure.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/young-sun-caught-blowing-bubbles-by-nasas-chandra/
https://www.militaryaerospace.com/uncrewed/news/55359366/nasa-ames-meeting-to-shape-framework-for-routine-autonomous-multi-aircraft-operations
NASA Ames meeting to shape framework for routine autonomous multi-aircraft operations
Feb. 23, 2026
Key Highlights
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The working group aims to enable routine, autonomous multi-aircraft operations by addressing safety, regulatory, and operational challenges.
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Key focus areas include modeling human workload, developing safety validation methods, and identifying regulatory gaps for beyond visual line of sight flights.
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Subgroups are working on task allocation, system design, safety metrics, and standards to support scalable and safe multi-aircraft management.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-sponsored Routine Autonomous Multi-Aircraft Operations Working Group is advancing efforts to enable routine, autonomous, multi-aircraft operations in the national airspace by identifying and addressing technical, operational, and regulatory barriers to scale.
Formerly known as the m:N Working Group, this body brings together stakeholders from government, industry, and academia to determine how multiple human operators can safely oversee multiple autonomous aircraft in shared airspace environments.
Uncrewed aircraft systems are evolving as a transformational technology with applications ranging from urban air taxis and cargo delivery to disaster response, firefighting, and military logistics.
To realize that potential and support expected fleet growth, operators must be able to scale safely from one-to-one control models to supervisory control of multiple aircraft.
Aptima Inc. in Woburn, Mass., under a NASA award, is applying its expertise in human-autonomy teaming to support the initiative.
The company facilitated the Working Group's biannual meeting in July at NASA Langley Research Center and is supporting the upcoming meeting 3-5 March at the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.,, where participants will develop technical white papers and address challenges associated with enabling multi-aircraft operations.
Humans in the loop
A central focus of the effort is determining the minimal number of human operators, m, who can safely oversee growing numbers of autonomous aircraft, N, without cognitive overload, underload, or degraded performance.
Scaling operations across domains will require one operator controlling multiple aircraft, known as 1:N, or multiple operators managing multiple aircraft, known as m:N.
During flight, operators may need to hand off aircraft at different phases, such as takeoff or landing, or in response to mechanical failures or changing airspace density, conditions that can increase workload and require redistribution of tasks or assets.
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Subgroups
The Interventions and Exceptions subgroup is developing modeling and simulation methods to validate the safety of m:N operations by quantifying when human operators must intervene.
Large-scale scenario simulations are intended to help fleet operators assess safety performance before seeking certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems subgroup is identifying regulatory gaps in autonomous multi-aircraft operations, particularly related to beyond visual line of sight flight.
The effort aims to provide policymakers with technical information aligned with evolving Advanced Air Mobility concepts and emerging operational use cases.
The Scalable Remote Crew Design Considerations subgroup is focused on best practices for task allocation, role definition, and handoffs among remote crew members in multi-aircraft operations.
This includes lessons learned for operator procedures, original equipment manufacturer system design, and third-party service provider integration.
The m:N Validation and Verification subgroup is developing an evaluation framework and associated metrics for workload, system performance, and safety to support scalable operational approval.
The System of Systems Design subgroup is defining baseline considerations for robust management of multi-aircraft operations in fully integrated, non-segregated airspace environments.
A proposed new standard under development within ASTM International aims to provide a flexible framework for analyzing and implementing autonomy in aviation by focusing on how autonomy affects the role of the human operator rather than defining rigid levels of automation.
From a military perspective, the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Center highlighted challenges in managing multiple systems under contested conditions, including jamming and operational disruptions.
Officials emphasized the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning into human-machine interfaces, with a long-term vision of humans and autonomous agents operating as peer partners.
The Working Group ultimately seeks to produce technical insights and operational data to inform the evolution of future standards and regulatory frameworks supporting routine, autonomous, multi-aircraft operations across civil and defense domains.
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quite the pickle indeed
https://nasawatch.com/astrobiology/petition-save-nasas-genelab/
Petition: SAVE NASA’s GENELAB
February 23, 2026
The other day NASA press Secretary Bethany Stevens @NASASpox said “We continue to embrace President Trump’s open science commitment as an agency.
We have fostered open science since our inception so that the public can build upon our innovations. We continue to make all NASA data publicly available, and welcome public participation using our data.”
Meanwhile NASA SMD is looking to exactly the opposite and cut funding for access to that very same data.
According to an online petition “We are urging NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Directorate to reverse the 2025 reductions to the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) and GeneLab, including the GeneLab Sample Processing Laboratory (SPL).
OSDR is NASA’s primary source for understanding space biology, containing a shared library and lab system housing nearly 600 studies across 45 species.
Over 1,000 researchers worldwide have produced more than 160 published papers using OSDR data, mostly through volunteer effort, multiplying the return on investment.
The cuts also threaten the SPL, which provides the consistent methods needed to compare biological results across missions, and training programs for hundreds of students for careers in space science.
Decades of NASA-funded work is at risk. Restoring funding is essential to protect that investment and keep future astronauts safe.” More below.
We, the undersigned, respectfully request that the Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Directorate reverse the 2025 reductions to OSDR and GeneLab and restore all essential components, including the GeneLab Sample Processing Laboratory (SPL).
OSDR represents a critical long-term investment in NASA’s space biology and space health enterprise.
It serves as the Library of Alexandria for space biosciences, integrating GeneLab data from the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) and irreplaceable biospecimens housed in the NASA Biological Institutional Scientific Collection (NBISC).
Together, these resources enable rigorous cross-mission analyses and support both fundamental discovery and mission-relevant biomedical risk reduction on earth and in space.
As of 2026, OSDR curated nearly 600 studies and more than 1,000 datasets spanning 45 species and over 80 standardized assay types. Reductions in funding and staffing have already begun to degrade data quality, user support, and long-term data reusability.
Without timely intervention, the value of decades of NASA-funded biological research will continue to erode, directly impacting the agency’s ability to derive actionable knowledge.
BPS investments in OSDR enabled the development of the Analysis Working Group (AWG), a global community of more than 1,000 researchers. Since 2018, AWG members have contributed to more than 160 peer-reviewed publications, preprints, and theses.
These outputs are generated entirely through volunteer scientific efforts and present substantial advancements in scientific knowledge.
AWG analyses directly increase the return on investment of past missions and inform future mission design, and outcomes that depend on OSDR leadership.
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Discoveries enabled by OSDR have directly advanced the understanding of spaceflight health risks, including mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysregulation, kidney pathology, neurological alterations and biomarkers of aging and frailty.
Nearly half of global investigations in space biology and space health have utilized OSDR data, reflecting its central role in next-generation analytical approaches.
The GeneLab Sample Processing Laboratory (SPL) is essential to this ecosystem. SPL provides standardized, mission-consistent sample processing using uniform protocols, instrumentation, and expert personnel.
This standardization enables valid cross-mission comparisons and high-powered meta-analyses across inherently rare spaceflight datasets.
Without SPL, datasets become increasingly fragmented, statistical power is reduced, and the ability to identify systemic biological risks is compromised.
OSDR serves as a primary workforce-development and community-engagement platform for space biology.
Training programs, including GeneLab for High Schools, GeneLab for Colleges and Universities, and the AI/ML for Space Biology curriculum have reached hundreds of students and educators, strengthening the pipeline of future contributors to NASA science.
Reductions to OSDR disproportionately impact early-career researchers and undermine long-term workforce sustainability.
The OSDR community has demonstrated strong commitment to NASA’s mission. In 2025, AWG members across approximately 40 states coordinated advocacy efforts to support NASA and BPS during anticipated federal funding reductions.
The successful modernization of ALSDA data within OSDR demonstrates the program’s capacity to transform legacy datasets into mission-relevant analytical assets.
A similar approach is urgently needed for NASA human astronaut data, which remains difficult to locate, access, and reuse. Integration of astronaut data with OSDR’s model-organism datasets is essential for translational interpretation and operational relevance.
OSDR’s existing infrastructure, standards, and community adoption position it uniquely to support this future requirement.
At a time of renewed international competition in space exploration, reductions to core scientific infrastructure introduce avoidable risk. Congress has provided a budget capable of sustaining NASA science.
We therefore respectfully urge BPS leadership to reaffirm its commitment to open science and to restore funding for the Sample Processing Laboratory, science oversight, data curation and processing, data systems, visualization tools, AWG community support, and training programs.
The 2025 reductions to OSDR have materially exceeded sustainable levels. Restoring this capability is essential to preserving prior mission investments, enabling future discovery, and ensuring NASA’s continued leadership in space biology and space health.
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https://www.axios.com/2026/02/24/mike-johnson-state-of-the-union-guests-artemis
https://www.speaker.gov/2026/02/24/speaker-johnson-announces-state-of-the-union-guests-2/
https://mikejohnson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2849
Mike Johnson's SOTU guest list
Feb 24, 2026
House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) guests at the State of the Union on Tuesday night will include the crew of NASA's Artemis II lunar spaceflight mission, Axios has learned.
The big picture: Lawmakers often use their guest lists to raise visibility for priorities and causes that are important to them and their districts.
Johnson wants to highlight Louisiana's manufacturing role in the Artemis program and draw attention to the upcoming mission, which centers on a return to the Moon.
The rocket stage was constructed at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, also known as "America's Rocket Factory."
Driving the news: "It is my privilege to welcome these brave and courageous astronauts as my guests at the State of the Union Address," Johnson said in a statement first shared with Axios.
Johnson said the crew — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — "will embark on this historic journey carrying forward the hopes and dreams of all humanity."
The details: Artemis II will take the four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby this year as NASA eyes its next chapter of space exploration, including a long-term presence on the Moon and future trips to Mars.
It's the first time in more than 50 years that NASA will be sending astronauts around the Moon.
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Claire Lai (Jointly hosted with Rep. Chris Smith): “Jimmy Lai has devoted his career to championing democracy in Hong Kong, steadfastly fighting for the freedoms we too often take for granted in America.
Today, however, he sits in a Chinese prison cell for simply defending free speech and speaking out against the totalitarian repression of the Chinese Communist Party. As I made clear in my address to Parliament in the United Kingdom, America is determined to secure Jimmy’s release.
Alongside my friend, Rep. Chris Smith, I will be proud to co-host his daughter, Claire Lai, who has shown extraordinary courage in the face of her father’s unjust imprisonment, as my guest for President Trump’s State of the Union address.”
“My wife, Marie, gave Claire her ticket to the State of the Union, because we are so deeply inspired by her courageous and tenacious campaign to obtain the release of her father—the Hong Kong free speech and religious liberty hero—Jimmy Lai,” Rep. Smith said.
“She and her brother, Sebastien—who testified at a 2023 congressional hearing I chaired on Jimmy Lai—have been absolutely amazing in their past and ongoing appeal to Xi Jinping to release their dad.
They love and respect their father so much, which further inspires us all to act—including President Trump, who has raised Jimmy Lai’s unjust incarceration numerous times.
Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen: “After years of meticulous planning and preparation, NASA is poised to launch its first crewed mission to venture around the moon in more than half a century.
The Artemis II Crew – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen – will embark on this historic journey carrying forward the hopes and dreams of all humanity.
It is my privilege to welcome these brave and courageous astronauts as my guests at the State of the Union Address.”
Hanan Lischinsky: “On May 21, 2025, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were murdered on the streets of Washington, D.C. These two young diplomats of the Israeli Embassy, devoted to the cause of peace and to one another, had their futures stolen in a violent act of antisemitism.
Yaron’s brother, Hanan Lischinsky, has shown remarkable courage in shedding light on the extremism that took his brother’s life. I am honored to invite him as my guest for President Trump’s State of the Union address.”
Ziba Murat: “In 2018, Dr. Gulshan Abbas was forcibly detained and arrested by the Chinese Communist Party in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region days after her family member spoke out about the CCP’s heinous treatment of Uyghur Muslims.
As we continue to shine an international light upon China’s human rights abuses and call for the release of all those unjustly detained, it is my honor to invite Dr. Abbas’ daughter – Ziba Murat – as my guest at President Trump’s State of the Union Address.”
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Shirley Brock-Dennis, Kambreigh Smith: “It is my profound honor to host Shirley Brock-Dennis and Kambreigh Smith – the respective mother and fiance of Vivian Police Officer Marc Brock – as my guests for the State of the Union address.
In November, Officer Brock was tragically killed in the line of duty. He was an extraordinary young man who touched countless lives through his service and volunteer activities, and his passing is a somber reminder of the tremendous risks our law enforcement officers take every single day.
I am grateful that Shirley and Kambreigh will join us and help share Officer Brock’s story with the nation.”
Damon Magee: “I am honored to welcome Damon Magee to the U.S. Capitol as my guest for the President’s State of the Union address.
Damon and his wife, Tammy, are the proud biological parents of two grown children, the adoptive parents of two, foster parents of one, and devoted foster care and adoption advocates in North Louisiana.
The Magees represent just one of millions of families who will greatly benefit from Republicans’ historic pro-family tax policies – including the doubled Child Tax Credit and enhanced Adoption Tax Credit – which strengthen, support, and encourage families nationwide.”
Trotter Hunt: “I am glad Trotter Hunt will be joining us for President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Trotter and his team at Hunt, Guillot & Associates are a driving force for large-scale business development, domestic investment, and American energy production in North Louisiana.
Republicans’ Working Families Tax Cuts directly support American economic development and growth for businesses like HGA by restoring immediate expensing of research and development and eliminating burdensome regulations to restore American energy dominance.”
Michael Knowles: “Michael Knowles is one of America’s most influential commentators on politics and culture and a major asset to the conservative movement.
As an author, podcaster, and commentator, Michael has done exceptional work advancing our cause and speaking truth with clarity and conviction.
It’s my distinct honor to host him at the Capitol for President Trump’s State of the Union Address.”
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NGC 1637 (Hubble WFC3 and Webb NIRCam images)
23/02/2026
For the first time, astronomers have used images from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to identify a supernova progenitor that could not be seen by any other telescope: a red supergiant that was located in a nearby galaxy.
The supergiant’s surroundings were surprisingly dusty - dusty enough to render it invisible to the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Forty million years ago, a star in a nearby galaxy exploded, spewing material across space and generating a brilliant beacon of light.
That light traveled across the cosmos, reaching Earth on 29 June 2025, where it was detected by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae.
Astronomers immediately turned their resources to this new supernova, designated 2025pht, to learn more about it.
But one team of scientists instead turned to archives, seeking to use pre-supernova images to identify exactly which star among many had exploded. And they succeeded.
Images of galaxy NGC 1637 taken by the James Webb Space Telescope showed a single red supergiant star located exactly where the supernova now shines.
This represents the first published detection of a supernova progenitor by Webb. The results were published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
“We’ve been waiting for this to happen – for a supernova to explode in a galaxy that Webb had already observed.
We combined Hubble and Webb data sets to completely characterize this star for the first time,” said lead author Charlie Kilpatrick of Northwestern University in the United States.
The case of the missing red supergiants
By carefully aligning Hubble and Webb images taken of NGC 1637, the team was able to identify the progenitor star in images taken by Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) in 2024.
They found that the star appeared surprisingly red – an indication that it was surrounded by dust that blocked shorter, bluer wavelengths of light.
“It’s the reddest, most dusty red supergiant that we’ve seen explode as a supernova,” said graduate student and co-author Aswin Suresh of Northwestern University.
This excess of dust could help explain a long-standing problem in astronomy that could be described as the case of the missing red supergiants.
Astronomers expect the most massive stars that explode as supernovas to also be the brightest and most luminous. So, they should be easy to identify in pre-supernova images. However, that hasn’t been the case.
One potential explanation is that the most massive aging stars are also the dustiest. If they’re surrounded by large quantities of dust, their light could be dimmed to the point of undetectability.
The Webb observations of supernova 2025pht support that hypothesis. “I’ve been arguing in favor of that interpretation, but even I didn’t expect to see it as extreme as it was for supernova 2025pht.
It would explain why these more massive supergiants are missing because they tend to be more dusty,” said Kilpatrick.
Carbon “burps”
The team was not only surprised by the amount of dust, but also by its composition.
Applying computer models to the Webb observations indicated that the dust is likely carbon-rich, when astronomers would have expected it to be more silicate-rich.
The team speculates that this carbon might have been dredged up from the star’s interior shortly before it exploded.
“Having observations in the mid-infrared was key to constraining what kind of dust we were seeing,” added Suresh.
The team now is working to look for similar red supergiants that may explode as supernovas in the future.
[Image description: An image labeled “SN 2025pht in NGC 1637, Hubble WFC3 2024 + Webb NIRCam 2024”. The majority of the image shows a face-on spiral galaxy speckled with myriad blue and red stars.
The yellowish core of the galaxy forms a fuzzy oval tilted to the upper right. About halfway from the core to the edge of the image at about 4 o’clock, a small region is outlined with a white box.
A shaded, nearly transparent white triangle extends to a pullout at upper right labeled “before explosion”, with short lines forming a crosshair that points to a red star at the center.
Below this are three more square images, all with crosshairs at the same location. 1) Hubble August 2024, with nothing visible in the crosshairs, 2) Webb October 2024, with a red star in the crosshairs, 3) Hubble July 2025, with a blue supernova in the crosshairs.]
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/02/NGC_1637_Hubble_WFC3_and_Webb_NIRCam_images
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Discovery_and_Preparation/Advancing_research_and_development_of_Large_Space_Structures
Advancing research and development of Large Space Structures
24/02/2026
Launched in 2024, the Discovery Campaign 'New Approaches for Large Space Structure Construction, Maintenance, and Recycling Technologies, (LATTICE)' aims to develop foundational building blocks that will enable the European space sector to move today's single-use-and-dispose spacecraft towards reusable, efficient, affordable, and sustainable large space infrastructure. Twelve activities are now under way and are already yielding the first interesting results.
Due to the physical limitations of heavy-lift launch vehicle fairings, Large Space Structures (LSS) are designed as segmented payloads intended for in-space assembly and integration. Innovative ideas are needed to construct, maintain, and recycle these assets in space through the use of fully autonomous robotic systems. The aim of the LATTICE campaign is to advance the understanding of the lifecycle of Large Space Structures and to be fully aware of the capabilities and limitations as we move towards a more sustainable and re-usable space infrastructure.
Iga Szczesniak, Space Innovation Engineer in the Advanced Concepts and Studies Office explains: “LATTICE is exactly the kind of initiative Discovery & Preparation was designed for: mapping out uncharted territory early so that Europe is ready when the time comes to build. By investing now in the foundational technologies for Large Space Structures, we are shaping the innovation landscape that future missions will draw on."
The LATTICE campaign led to 69 idea submissions. Of these, 5 studies, 4 early technology developments, and 3 co-sponsored research activities were selected. The selected ideas address a wide range of critical aspects related to construction, maintenance and operations of future Large Space Structures, including system-level concepts, advanced robotic assembly techniques and AI, Large Space Structure modelling, and inspection and repair concepts. An overview of each activity can be found below.
STUDIES
B4LSS – In-space bonding to assemble, repair and maintain Large Space Structures
Research is being carried out by a team at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, Germany, on the behaviour of photopolymer adhesives for in-situ repair and maintenance in space.
Photopolymer adhesives can be applied in liquid and cured with UV light, creating strong bonds that will help mend cracks, apply patches, reinforce joints and even assemble LSSs.
SpaceAlign: Trustworthy robotics for Large Space Structures
SpaceAlign is a project being developed by the Danish Technological Institute, developing robotics for the construction, maintenance and recycling of LSS. It is centred around four main objectives:
developing robotic self-adaptation techniques for modular LSS assembly and disassembly;
integrating trustworthiness checkers and runtime verification to ensure operational resilience;
promoting sustainable recycling of LSS components;
engaging stakeholders through open-access simulations.
The Lunar Gateway is a good use case example of this study, in which robotics can autonomously assemble the Gateway from modular components, manage solar power arrays and facilitate its eventual decommissioning.
Dynamic property estimation and control of Large Space Structures during in-space assembly
A team from Northumbria University (UK) is studying how to measure the dynamic properties of LSS at various assembly stages.
This approach permits the prediction of final dynamic properties of the fully assembled structure, detect any deviations from the pre-set design properties, and find mitigations during assembly to ensure the final structure matches the design specifications.
REALISE2: Robotics-enabled assembly of large in-orbit structures with embedded electronics
Researchers at the University of Trieste are investigating the feasibility of LSS assembly via a modular framework designed for robotic integration.
Central to this architecture is a structure-traversing robot that utilises integrated rails on the modular components for locomotion and assembly.
The components will also include embedded sensors and house the electrical distribution system, providing power and data throughout the structure.
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The components will consist of links and nodes which will be connected via built-in structural/electrical connectors.
Additional connectors will be placed along the structure, which will provide mechanical and electrical connection to functional modules as in habitats, battery modules or scientific equipment.
SKYWALKER: Safe reinforcement learning for multi-step robotic crawling and navigation on Large Space Structures
SKYWALKER is a project being developed by Aalborg University in Denmark, in which autonomous robotic locomotion is being investigated within the LSS environment.
Using deep reinforcement learning, the robotic arm will adaptively plan and execute multi-step movements through trial-and-error learning, handling unpredictable conditions, complex structures, and dynamic environments without extensive modelling.
Ultimately, this adaptable robotic navigation system will significantly reduce the need for human intervention in space operations.
EARLY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
LOFT: Loose fit clamp technique for assembly of Large Space Structures
LOFT is a project led by UK based company Satellite Applications Catapult, which will develop advanced design and engineering technologies within a comprehensive structural geometry and analysis framework for robotically assembled LSS.
The project uses a loose-fit design system: a multi-scale, multi-fidelity digital workflow that explores component geometry and assembly logics, facilitating the design of various types of LSS.
The workflow will also integrate design-for-reuse strategies to address logistics and decommissioning.
Optimised Structure, Targeted, Assembly using, Robots with Reinforcement Learning (OSTAR-RL)
The OSTAR-RL project employs Reinforcement Learning to derive optimal assembly trajectories based on a multi-variable constraint set.
This framework accounts for both structural design parameters and robotic system limitations (e.g. power margins and docking interfaces) to facilitate fully autonomous, end-to-end LSS assembly.
The ultimate goal of the OSTAR-RL project is to demonstrate how autonomous systems can minimise human input into complex assembly sequences whilst providing an efficient and safe operating process.
Intelligent TSN Interfaces Aggregator
The Intelligent Space Ethernet Time Sensitive Network (TSN) Interfaces Aggregator is a device that will gather traffic from multiple devices of different interface technologies and protocols, such as control signals, avionics, health-status and monitoring cameras.
Being developed by ITTI, Poland, the proposed device will have additional functions like data processing and network monitoring. It will allow rapid validation of robotic setups without costly re-engineering of several device interfaces during ground tests.
It will also bring necessary flexibility for the TNS network deployed on LEO during Large Space Structures assembly.
ShearScope – Towards passive shearography for on-orbit non-destructive inspection
The feasibility of passive shearography inspection and the development of a concept prototype for ground laboratory tests is being evaluated by a team at TU DELFT.
Sherography is a non-destructive testing method that detects microstrain-level surface irregularities induced by external excitations such as heat or vibration, captured by cameras under laser illumination.
It allows for the identification of small yet critical defects, including closed cracks and kissing bonds.
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Prior to the start of the project, the team had already extended the application of shearography to detecting sub-millimetre and deep defects and inspecting curved geometries, which are capabilities often beyond commercial instruments.
ShearScope aims to build on these advances, contributing to more reliable, energy-efficient, and autonomous on-orbit inspection of space structures.
CO-SPONSORED RESEARCH
ECHO2: End-to end control for handling operations in orbit
ECHO2 is being developed by a team from the University of Malaga.
The research is focused on end-to-end visuomotor pipeline that assists robotic systems to autonomously inspect, diagnose, and repair diverse components, regardless of their shape or orientation, without markers or standardised interfaces.
To validate this technology, the team will demonstrate robotic inspection and repair tasks on a scaled-down mock-up of an LSS on a free-floating testbed.
A robotic arm will autonomously inspect, diagnose, and, as necessary, plan a course of action to repair components of varying sizes and shapes, demonstrating the robot's ability to execute complex, long-horizon tasks without human intervention.
Innovative Modelling, in-situ Identification and active Control methods for In-Orbit Manufacturing, Assembly and Operation of large antennas (MICIOMAO)
At ISAE-SUPAERO in France, a team is developing an end-to-end in-orbit assembly scenario of a large antenna. By using modelling and control of large flexible structures and antenna technology, the project will focus on:
Manufacturing and assembly of a large lightweight antenna structure
Design an Attitude and Orbital Control algorithm that takes into account all gravitational, thermal, radiation, structural flexibility (including fuel sloshing effects) when assembling the antenna and which adapts accordingly to the variation of the spacecraft inertia
Propose a set of actuators and sensor to assure the alignment of each assembled module and to actively mitigate vibration after assembly
Propose an innovative in-situ identification of the antenna structure by directly using the diagnostic of the radio-frequency received/transmitted signal.
I-TRAILS – Integrated Tile and Rail Assembly for In-orbit Large Structures
A team from the Cranfield University (UK) is developing adaptable stackable tiles that provide both structural integrity to the LSS and a means for robotic locomotion to assembly robots.
Each adaptable tile can accommodate several payloads, from mirrors to solar panels, and includes a built-in rail system.
This rail allows assembly robots to move efficiently along the structure without additional support elements, reducing complexity and enhancing the robustness of the robotic operations.
Integrated interfaces in the tiles ensure electrical, data, and mechanical connectivity across units, minimising robotic operations for harnessing and assembly.
This modular system enables rapid, cost-effective LSS assembly, with tiles that can be reconfigured or expanded to meet mission needs.
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Incomplete remains of world's 'youngest' impact crater spotted lurking in Chinese forest — Earth from space
February 24, 2026
This striking satellite photo shows a recently uncovered meteor crater in China that is likely the youngest impact structure on Earth and the largest in its wider age bracket. The horseshoe-shaped depression is also only the second impact crater ever discovered in the country.
The Yilan crater is an incomplete, nearly circular impact crater located in the Lesser Xing'an (also spelled Khingan) mountain range of China's Heilongjiang province, around 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) northwest of the town of Yilan.
It is approximately 1.15 miles (1.85 km) across at its widest point, and its ringed walls reach up to 500 feet (150 meters) above the crater floor.
Chinese researchers discovered that the incomplete ring was an impact crater in mid-2021, around three months before this photo was taken.
Until then, it had largely gone unnoticed because it is surrounded by thick forests. Although locals knew about the structure, they called it Quanshan, meaning "circular mountain ridge," which suggests they had no idea of its extraterrestrial origins.
However, when the research team dug up to 1,440 feet (440 m) beneath the crater's floor, they found "shocked quartz, melted granite, glass containing holes formed by gas bubbles, and tear-drop-shaped glass fragments" — all clear signs that a sizable space rock had slammed down there, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.
Carbon dating revealed that the crater formed sometime between 46,000 and 53,000 years ago, meaning it could be the youngest of the roughly 200 major impact craters on Earth.
Until this discovery, the most widely accepted "youngest major crater" on Earth was Barringer Crater (also known as Meteor Crater) in Arizona, which dates back 50,000 years, according to the Lunar and Planetary Institute.
Given the uncertainty around the Yilan crater's age, researchers cannot be sure that it is younger than Barringer Crater, although it is thought likely.
The Yilan crater is also the largest of any impact crater under 100,000 years old, so it beats another record previously held by Barringer Crater, which is around 0.75 mile (1.2 km) across.
As you can see in the satellite photo, the southern third of the crater's rim is missing. Researchers are unsure exactly when or how this section of the crater's rim disappeared.
However, sediment found on the crater's floor hints that there was formerly a lake within the crater, which strongly suggests that the structure was once fully intact, according to the Earth Observatory.
Chinese craters
The Yilan crater is the first impact crater to be discovered in China since the 1.1-mile-wide (1.8 km) Xiuyan crater in Liaoning province, which dates back to between 330,000 and 1.1 million years ago, was confirmed in 2009.
Given how large China is — around the same size as the U.S. by land area — it has long been a mystery as to why more impact craters haven't been found there. However, others have been uncovered following the discovery of the Yilan crater.
In September 2023, scientists discovered a third Chinese crater, around the same size as the Yilan crater. Carved into the summit of a mountain near the North Korean border, the crater dates back at least 150 million years.
Then, in October 2025, scientists confirmed a fourth impact structure, dubbed the Jinlin crater, on a mountain near Zhaoqing in China's Guangdong province.
This crater is only around 3,000 feet (900 m) wide and may date to as recently as the current epoch, known as the Holocene, which began 11,700 years ago, according to Sci News, although its age is unconfirmed.
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/incomplete-remains-of-worlds-youngest-impact-crater-spotted-lurking-in-chinese-forest-earth-from-space
Supercomputer simulations reveal Red Giant Secrets
February 24, 2026
Supercomputer simulations reveal how stellar rotation drives chemical mixing in red giant stars by amplifying internal waves, finally explaining surface composition changes observed by astronomers since the 1970s.
High-resolution 3D modeling confirms that rotating stars transport material across internal barriers 100 times more effectively than non-rotating counterparts. This solves the long-standing mystery of declining carbon ratios on stellar surfaces.
Researchers used the Texas Advanced Computing Center and the Trillium supercomputer to test the rotation hypothesis. These results help predict the future evolution of our own Sun as it expands.
Understanding supercomputer simulations reveal
Supercomputer simulations reveal that stellar rotation amplifies internal gravity waves to drive chemical transport across stable barrier layers in red giant stars.
This mechanism increases mixing efficiency by over 100 times, matching observed surface composition changes.
3D hydrodynamical models identify rotation as the crucial missing factor for explaining how core nuclear burning products reach a star’s exterior envelope.
This breakthrough clarifies a mystery puzzling astronomers for decades.
The barrier between interior and surface
Stellar rotation is crucial for transporting elements across the stable layer that acts as a barrier between a star’s burning core and its surface.
Furthermore, supercomputer simulations reveal that internal waves, though previously thought weak, become powerful mixing agents when amplified by the star’s rapid rotation, effectively matching observed surface composition changes in UVic research.
Analyzing stellar mixing efficiency
Rotating red giants demonstrate mixing rates exceeding non-rotating models by 100-fold, directly correlating with faster spin speeds.
This data aligns with decades of observations regarding the carbon-12 to carbon-13 surface ratio recorded since the 1970s.
Proving that rotation-driven waves facilitate chemical transport allows for more accurate models of stellar nucleosynthesis and aging.
Additionally, supercomputer simulations reveal that these internal gravity waves are capable of penetrating the wave-dominated barrier layer, bridging the gap between core physics and observable surface data for researchers.
Advanced computing hardware and Trillium
Accessing the Trillium supercomputing cluster, launched in August 2025, provided the necessary parallel processing power for these intensive 3D hydrodynamical tests.
Researchers can now quantitatively test hypotheses that were previously impossible to verify due to limited computing abilities available in previous decades.
Universal applications of fluid dynamics
Computational techniques developed for stellar interiors apply to diverse natural flows.
Researchers model atmospheric dynamics and terrestrial ocean current simulations using these 3D methods.
Shared infrastructure helps simulate large-scale human blood flow research accurately.
Hydrodynamical simulations track how materials move within complex three-dimensional environments.
Implications and what comes next
Future studies will explore various rotation profiles to see if this wave-mixing enhancement occurs in other stars. These findings help astronomers refine the predicted evolution of our Sun.
Conclusion
Rotation is essential for solving the chemical transport conundrum in aging stars.
Because supercomputer simulations reveal this 100-fold mixing increase, astronomers can now accurately predict the Sun’s ultimate fate.
https://nasaspacenews.com/2026/02/supercomputer-simulations-reveal/
SpaceX Doubleheader
Starlink Mission
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is targeting the launch of 29 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app.
This will be the 10th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-69, CRS-32, GPS III-7, USSF-36, and five Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-6-110
Starlink Mission
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is targeting the launch of 25 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app.
This is the 11th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SDA T1TL-B, SDA T1TL-C, and eight Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
There is the possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-17-26
Space Force to Assume Control of Army’s Wideband Satcom Operational Management System
February 23, 2026
The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Software Engineering Center will transition ownership, operation and maintenance of the Wideband Satellite Communications Operational Management System, or WSOM, to the U.S. Space Force in fiscal year 2026.
CECOM SEC has been working with the Portfolio Acquisition Executive Command and Control, Program Manager Integrated Enterprise Network, Product Manager Wideband Enterprise Satellite System, Space Systems Command and Space Operations Command for over a year to plan the transition, the Army said Thursday.
Why Is the Space Force Taking Over WSOM?
The transition complies with the 2020 directive issued by David Norquist, who served as the 34th deputy secretary of war from 2019 through 2021, to consolidate satellite planning, payload control, and related modernization and software sustainment activities under the Space Force.
The Space Force has already assumed responsibilities for the Wideband Global Satcom and the Defense Satellite Communications System from the Army in 2022 and the Joint Tactical Ground Station missile warning system mission in 2023.
What Is Next for CECOM SEC?
CECOM SEC, which has been involved in military satellite operations since 1983, will continue to provide software support for other satcom initiatives across the Department of War.
The Army said the center will support the 52 Modernization program, which upgrades and extends the service life of Earth terminals.
CECOM SEC will also work on the Modernization of Enterprise Terminals program to replace up to 80 aging strategic satcom terminals globally.
https://www.executivegov.com/articles/army-space-force-wsom-satcom-transition
>and the FDA just cleared the first human trial!
y'all got any more of them reversals and regressions?
https://www.ssc.spaceforce.mil/Newsroom/Article-Display/Article/4411899/space-systems-command-funds-five-fight-tonight-solutions-to-pressing-ussf-chall
Space Systems Command Funds Five Fight Tonight Solutions to Pressing USSF Challenges
Feb. 23, 2026
A containerized backup gateway/GEP (ground entry point) and four other technological solutions to pressing U.S. Space Force challenges were announced as the winners of Space Systems Command’s (SSC) “Fight Tonight” competition Feb. 12, 2026.
The competition, now in its fourth consecutive year, encourages military and civilian employees to identify technologies that build upon U.S. Space Force (USSF) capabilities or introduce new ones.
“SSC’s annual workforce innovation competition clearly showcases the level of talent our team brings to the table not just once a year, but every single day,” said USSF Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, SSC commander.
“The increased collaboration we see each year as the Fight Tonight program continues to grow really demonstrates that partnership is necessary for maintaining space superiority.”
In this year’s competition, SSC, the capability acquisition arm of USSF, teamed with the service’s innovation arm, SpaceWERX, to rapidly accelerate novel technology adoption by leveraging Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI), the pathway created to transition smaller-scale, operational-level capabilities into U.S. Space Force or Department of the Air Force programs.
The overall Fight Tonight competition winner tackled a new technology that builds upon the Small Business Innovation Research Phase II effort to form a containerized backup gateway/GEP (ground entry point) that is hidden in plain sight, transportable, and resilient while simultaneously able to quick switch MilComm (& other) satellites in various orbits.
“Fight Tonight” entrants were competing for a total potential funding pool of up to $24 million for eligible SBIR Phase II initiatives, with SSC putting forward up to $12 million in funding and SpaceWERX matching up to $2 million per project.
SSC’s Business Innovation Office served as the organizers and managers of the campaign.
Capt. Erin Lindsey, chief of business innovation, said the eight finalist teams presented projects that had already showed promise as a SBIR Phase 1 project and the competing teams were now looking to see if they could be scaled and accelerated with TACFI funding.
Teams were encouraged to look at a SpaceWERX roster of eligible projects covering alternative position, navigation and timing; the USSF Digital Spaceport of the Future; Tactically Responsive Space; and Sustained Space Maneuver.
For the final round in January, eight finalist teams presented their ideas to Fight Tonight’s team of judges including SSC’s Lt. Gen. Garrant; Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, military deputy, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force and service acquisition executive for space within the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and integration; and Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, commander, U.S. Space Force Combat Forces Command.
This year’s competition winner, Global Backup Gateway (GoBaG), was presented during the finals competition by Daniel Godwin in SSC’s SYD 88 and Capt. Michael Cumming in SYD 84.
“Our current ground entry points for WGS and missile warning/tracking need to keep pace with our proliferated space architectures,” Cumming said. “If one goes down, we're looking at extended operational impacts across the theater.”
“Generals,” Cumming said in his pitch, “We have to do better [with ground infrastructure] and we have a solution.”
The system expands upon the SBIR Phase II to provide a resilient, low observable backup, mil Ka-Band, GEP or TT&C (telemetry, tracking and control) terminal. This Fight Tonight effort increases the number of embedded high-performance Rx phased arrays.
“We're not just improving ground infrastructure, this is about ensuring our most critical missions, the ones that save lives and deter adversaries, have resilient, flexible, distributed ground architecture,” Cumming said.
The four other winning projects which will also receive funding are:
Advanced Command and Control Extension for Space Systems (ACCESS) - Infinity Systems Engineering, presented by Matthew Navarro, SYD 831 during the finals competition.
“We stand ready to scale access into a usable capability focused on solving urgent GPS resiliency needs and challenges and expanding the PNT SA (Position Navigation Timing Situational Awareness),” Navarro pitched.
“GPS in general is critical to our national defense,” Navarro said. “We don’t want to leave realizable PNT capabilities on the table.” Navarro referred to PNT SA messages for civil and military users to help monitor NAV signal performance, which he said also happens to be CFC's number one PNT priority.
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ACCESS, a Cloud-based, cyber-secure mission management and command control solution, can help to extend the GPS control capabilities through a lot of existing plug-and-play interfaces.
The open architecture and flexible innovation would increase Space Force’s PNT Situational Awareness, Rapid Warfighter Effects (e.g. near real-time spot beam tasking, zero age of data, extended autonomous navigation), and integration of the GPS crosslink constellation into OCX and Space Date Network’s MILNET.
Echo 2 AI for Decision Superiority - Velocity Explorations Inc., presented by Wuan Perkins, SSC/S6 and Lt. Feiyu Xue, SSC 2 SLS/DOB.
Echo is an AI-powered Command & Control (C2) tool that listens, interprets, and synthesizes human communications and operational data in real time, turning unstructured voice and text as well as disconnected data into actionable insights.
“Each launch involves up to 30 operators who monitor a multitude of channels,” Perkins explained. “No human can effectively process that much live information at once. Echo allows our operators the mental space to do what humans do best: critically think and problem-solve.
Post launch, each operator conducts a review that can take up to six hours. Echo dramatically streamlines that: using conservative operated validated assumptions, Echo returns over 150,000 hours every year, the equivalent of adding 75 operators to launch operations without increasing manpower or risk. And that return grows as each launch cadence grows.”
“On console, I monitor multiple voice channels while tracking my mechanical system's readiness for launch,” Xue said. “Miscommunication can be the difference between mission success and failure during anomalies.
As an on-console operator, ECHO delivers live transcriptions of summaries that describe anomalies and alert operators immediately. The system also provides historical documentation, making every launch a searchable record that operators can instantly reference for review of previous examples.”
Already validated across Space Launch, Mission Assurance, Naval, and Tactical Operations, Echo delivers a real-time common operational picture that accelerates decision-making and enhances situational awareness.
With Fight Tonight funding, Echo is ready to scale from proven prototypes to a fielded capability that transforms how the U.S. military commands, controls, and wins.
Refueling Pods / Propellant Orbit Delivery (POD) - Katalyst Space Technologies, presented by Capt. Ginny Weinert, SYD 80.
The Propellant Orbital Delivery (POD) will create a proliferated network of interoperable refueling pods to deliver any propellant on any OTV and to be installed by any robotic spacecraft for additional deltaV (measure of the change in velocity a spacecraft must undergo to complete a mission) for any prepared asset on the front lines, enabling additional maneuvering for sustainable space superiority.
“Sustained space maneuver is crucial for the fight,” Weinert said. “Senior leaders deliberate how space craft maneuver because every maneuver expends a satellite's fuel and effectively shortens its life.
The propellant orbital delivery uses a game-changing approach with existing tech to plug-and-play with what SSC already uses.”
High-value space assets become unusable once fuel has been spent. Replacement is prohibitively expensive. POD offers a single, flexible solution that integrates disparate technologies such as fuel type and refueling interfaces.
POD envisions creating a space highway featuring refueling stations to allow for greater number of dynamic movements in space per spacecraft via complete refueling of an asset in orbit.
“POD is compatible on any orbit with any OTV, any robotic servicer and all SSC approved refilling interfaces and this modular solution will service and scale immediate needs for space maneuver warfare by next year,” Weinert said.
Cyber Research On-Orbit (CROO) - Proof Labs, presented by Grant Huang within SSC’s Space Systems Integration Office and Joseph “Dan” Trujillo, Air Force Research Laboratory.
CROO is an AI/ML driven cyber protection software that analyzes subsystem telemetry and onboard software activities to detect and respond to cyber intrusion. CROO protects the entire attack surface, including firmware and the operating system of satellites.
Geographic assignment of threats both in orbital regions and terrestrial regions will allow USSF to identify aggressors. CROO also will enable machine-speed cyber defense aligned with Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2).
Trujillo explained, “Through CROO, persistent real-time monitoring of satellite systems for indicators of compromise (IoCs) would ensure threats are detected at the earliest point of origin before they affect tactical users on the ground.”
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How's that work?
Does the tech use the parts?
For example, to replicate a new body, you would need skin and whatever other materials to manufacture that.
Saltzman details focus on speed, accepting risk, long-term force design
Feb. 24, 2026
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said, Feb. 23, the U.S. Space Force must accelerate how it builds and fields combat capability to maintain advantage in an increasingly contested space domain.
“We no longer have the luxury of pursuing perfection,” Saltzman said during his keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Warfare Symposium 2026.
“A system that’s good enough and delivered sooner provides real combat capability.”
Saltzman said speed is now a strategic requirement, not simply an efficiency goal.
As technological advances compress decision timelines and reshape the character of warfare, the Space Force must align development timelines with operational demands.
Rather than relying on compliance-driven requirements and sequential testing models built for a more permissive environment, the service is defining mission outcomes, implementing integrated testing and enabling incremental upgrades to field systems faster.
The goal is to deliver operational capability sooner and improve it through continued evaluation and operational learning.
The remarks follow a year of structural and operational developments.
Over the past 12 months, the Space Force activated Space Forces Southern and Space Forces Northern, completing service component alignment to each geographic combatant command.
Combat Forces Command continued to generate ready combat units for the joint force, and Guardians supported large-scale global exercises alongside allies and partners.
The service also expanded professional development programs. It launched a new Officer Training Course, established an Acquisition Initial Qualification Training Course, implemented a Captains’ Leadership Course, tailored basic military training for enlisted Guardians and expanded professional opportunities for civilian personnel.
In acquisition, the Space Force is establishing Portfolio Acquisition Executives to oversee risk and resources across portfolios, adopting integrated testing approaches and finding creative ways to deploy capabilities ahead of schedule.
“We aren’t just talking about theories or plans anymore,” Saltzman said. “We’re talking about real, operational, combat space effects.”
Saltzman said the service expects the space domain to grow more congested and competitive as advances in artificial intelligence and autonomous systems reshape the future operating environment.
In that context, he said failing to adapt presents greater risk than change. “There may be some risk in change,” Saltzman said, “but it pales in comparison to the risk of accepting the status quo.”
Processes designed to reduce risk in the past must evolve to remain effective, he noted. For a lean force, sustained adaptation is necessary to maintain advantage.
He said the changes underway represent structural adjustments in how the service prepares for sustained competition.
As the operating environment becomes more dynamic and technologically complex, the Space Force must design a force built for long-term resilience and operational relevance.
To provide long-term direction, Saltzman highlighted development of the “Objective Force,” a 15-year roadmap defining the systems, units, personnel and infrastructure required to achieve space superiority by 2040.
The Objective Force integrates intelligence assessments, technology trends and operational requirements to identify what the service must build, in what quantities and on what timelines.
It is intended to guide capability development, inform recruiting and training and align future investments.
“The Objective Force is our vision of how the Space Force must evolve over the next 15 years to achieve mission success,” Saltzman said. “It defines what we need and how much we need to win.”
He described the Objective Force as a framework updated annually and republished every five years to remain aligned with changes in the operating environment.
As the Space Force continues its seventh year, the service will continue adjusting how it generates forces and fields capability to meet a rapidly evolving threat environment.
Sustained adaptation remains central to maintaining U.S. advantages in space.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4413046/saltzman-details-focus-on-speed-accepting-risk-long-term-force-design/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4413422/aligning-air-space-power-operational-perspectives-at-the-afa-warfare-symposium/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4413083/secaf-opens-2026-afa-warfare-symposium-with-innovating-faster-acquisition-trans/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4412751/remarks-by-cso-gen-chance-saltzman-at-the-air-and-space-forces-association-2026/
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-briefing-stakeholders-2040-15-year-vision/
Moscow will respond if NATO gives nukes to ‘Nazi regime in Kiev’ – Medvedev
24 Feb, 2026 15:06
Russia would launch a nuclear response if NATO countries supplied atomic weapons to Ukraine, former President Dmitry Medvedev has warned.
Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, was commenting to RT on Tuesday on claims by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) that London and Paris are considering ways to provide nuclear weaponry or related components to Kiev.
“I will be blunt and state the obvious,” Medvedev said, adding that the reported intention by the UK and France to hand over nuclear capabilities to the “Nazi regime in Kiev” would change the situation entirely.
“This is a direct transfer of nuclear weapons to a country at war,” he stated.
According to the SVR, British and French officials are weighing the “covert transfer of relevant European-made components, equipment, and technologies to Ukraine,” and preparing an information campaign to portray any resulting capability as domestically developed.
“There should be no doubt whatsoever that in such a scenario Russia would be forced to use any means at its disposal, including non-strategic nuclear weapons, against targets in Ukraine that threaten our country,” Medvedev stated.
“And if necessary, against the supplier nations now implicated in a nuclear conflict with Russia. This is the kind of symmetrical response that the Russian Federation would be entitled to,” he added.
The SVR also alleged that another option under discussion was the provision of a complete French TN 75 nuclear warhead used on submarine launched ballistic missiles, or assistance in building a radioactive “dirty bomb” using conventional explosives and nuclear materials.
Kiev could seek “more advantageous terms” in any negotiations if it possessed such weapons, the SVR suggested, adding that Germany had “prudently refused” to participate.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the reported plans as “potentially very dangerous,” saying they would threaten the global non-proliferation regime.
Ukraine has argued that it gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees that later proved worthless. While a significant portion of Soviet nuclear forces were stationed in Ukraine, Kiev never controlled the missiles.
The 1994 Budapest Memorandums provided assurances – but not legally binding guarantees – to Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan that their territorial integrity would be respected after transferring Soviet nuclear weapons to Russia.
At the 2022 Munich Security Conference, shortly before the Ukraine conflict escalated, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky suggested Kiev could reconsider its non-nuclear status.
Moscow maintains that after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev, Ukraine’s new authorities breached the neutrality pledge underpinning its post-Soviet independence by making NATO membership a key foreign policy goal.
https://www.rt.com/news/632966-russia-response-ukraine-nukes/
NATO nations plotting to smuggle nuke into Ukraine – Russian intel
24 Feb, 2026 08:08
France and the UK are plotting to secretly arm Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on Tuesday.
According to the agency, British and French officials are considering the “covert transfer of relevant European-made components, equipment, and technologies to Ukraine,” and are laying the groundwork for an information campaign that would misrepresent the nuclear capacity as domestically developed.
The SVR claimed that another option under consideration is to provide Ukraine with a French TN 75 warhead, used in the nation’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
It added that Ukraine could also be encouraged to build a ‘dirty bomb’ – a conventional explosive device laden with radioactive materials designed to cause prolonged contamination of a territory.
“Kiev would be able to aspire to more advantageous terms of ceasing the hostilities if it possesses a nuclear or at least a so-called ‘dirty’ bomb,” the SVR said in a statement.
It added that fellow NATO member Germany “has prudently refused to take part in this dangerous venture.”
Officials in London and Paris appear to be losing “touch with reality,” the agency said, warning that responsibility for such a reckless operation would fall on them.
The Russian State Duma intends to vote on a formal resolution calling on lawmakers in the UK and France to investigate the SVR allegations, Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the warning was “potentially very dangerous” since the alleged plot poses a threat to nuclear non-proliferation.
Ukraine has long claimed that it gave up a nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees that later proved worthless. While a significant portion of Soviet nuclear forces were stationed in Ukraine, Kiev never controlled the missiles.
The 1994 Budapest Memorandums provided assurances – but not legally binding guarantees – to Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan that their territorial integrity would be respected after transferring Soviet nuclear weapons to Russia.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky suggested Kiev could reconsider its non-nuclear status at the 2022 Munich Security Conference, shortly before the conflict with Russia escalated.
Moscow argues that after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev, Ukraine’s new authorities breached the neutrality pledge underpinning its post-Soviet independence by making NATO membership a key foreign policy goal.
https://www.rt.com/russia/632954-nato-nations-could-transfer-nuclear-weapon-to-kiev/