late bread repost
Galactic Magnetic Reversal, Sun is Waking Up | S0 News and frens
Feb.25.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVk0j-I6juY
https://www.bas.ac.uk/science/impact/
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Ganymede_aurora_study_links_moon_and_Earth_space_weather_999.html
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/map-the-earths-magnetic-shield-with-the-space-umbrella-project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWiBJgri53Q (Stefan Burns: You Won't Believe What's Happening in the Night Sky on February 28th…)
https://x.com/SunWeatherMan/status/2026506378148458579
https://x.com/SunWeatherMan/status/2026376461549187150
https://x.com/schumannbot/status/2026658470015980008
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
The sun hasn't looked like this since 2022, what's going on?
February 24, 2026
The sun's visible disk has been perfectly free from sunspots for the first time since June 2022, suggesting the current solar cycle might be heading toward its quieter phase.
Sunspots are cooler areas on the sun's surface that appear darker compared to their surroundings. These solar blemishes are caused by intense magnetic fields that prevent heat from the star's interior from rising to the surface.
When the tangled magnetic field lines around these spots burst, the sun emits solar flares and coronal mass ejections of dense plasma that can cause geomagnetic storms on Earth.
The sun follows an approximately 11-year cycle during which its activity ebbs and flows. During the solar maximum, sunspots are a constant presence and flares and coronal mass ejections occur almost daily.
During the minimum, on the other hand, the sun may go for months without a single sunspot.
The current solar cycle, the 25th since records began, peaked in 2024. The last time the sun's face was perfectly spotless was on June 8, 2022, more than 1,355 days ago.
It seems that this spotless state may have only lasted for two days, though. On Tuesday, (Feb. 24), some eagle-eyed observers began to spot a newly-emerging active region.
It's also possible that other sunspots exist on the sun's surface, but are not currently visible to observers on Earth and have rotated away from the view of Earth-orbiting satellites.
Although the slowdown in the sun's production of sunspots is likely signaling that the current solar cycle is waning, solar activity is not expected to reach its next minimum before 2030, according to the UK Met Office.
During the last solar minimum between 2018 and 2020, the sun went for 700 days without a spot, according to spaceweather.com.
For now, this spotless day on the sun offers a brief lull in activity, but it's too early to say whether it signals a longer-term slowdown in solar storms and aurora displays.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/sun/the-sun-hasnt-looked-like-this-since-2022-whats-going-on
these last couple months have been insane, bursting with winning
C/2026 A1 comet brighter than Venus to be visible to naked eye: When and where to watch this celestial wanderer in the sky
Last Updated: Feb 25, 2026, 11:19:00 AM IST
The comet was first spotted by amateur astronomers Alain Maury, Georges Attard, Daniel Parrott, and Florian Signoret, whose initials form the "MAPS" acronym.
What makes this discovery extraordinary is the distance at which it was first detected: 2.056 astronomical units (over 300 million kilometers) from the Sun.
This is a record-breaking distance for a sungrazing comet and hints that the object possesses a massive nucleus, estimated at approximately 2.4 kilometers wide.
C/2026 A1: Perilous Journey of the Kreutz Family
C/2026 A1 is a member of the Kreutz sungrazing family, a group of comets believed to be fragments of a massive parent body over 100 km wide that shattered centuries ago.
Unlike standard comets, these objects dive deep into the solar atmosphere. On April 4–5, 2026, MAPS will reach its perihelion, skimming a mere 118,681 miles (191,000 kilometers) above the Sun’s surface.
This extreme proximity causes intense solar heat to sublimate ices into gas, creating a brilliant glow, but it also risks shredding the comet apart entirely.
Sungrazing comet: Potential for a Rare Daylight Spectacle
If the comet manages to hold together during its close encounter, it could brighten so dramatically that it becomes visible during the daytime with the naked eye. Observers may witness a unique turquoise tail formed by exotic gases.
Astronomers compare its potential to the famous C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), which survived a similar passage in 2011 and became as bright as the planet Venus.
Even if it fragments, solar observatories like SOHO are expected to capture spectacular imagery of its fiery dive through the corona.
Comet C/2026 A1: Viewing Tips for Observers in India
For skywatchers in India, the best chances for a glimpse will occur in early April, specifically in the southern regions. The comet will likely appear low in the southwest sky approximately 30 to 45 minutes after sunset.
While it may be visible to the naked eye, using binoculars or small telescopes is recommended to help cut through the solar glare near the horizon. Observers in northern India may find viewing more challenging due to potential horizon obstructions and clutter.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/c/2026-a1-comet-brighter-than-venus-to-be-visible-to-naked-eye-when-and-where-to-watch-this-celestial-wanderer-in-the-sky/articleshow/128771145.cms
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/comet-wierzchos-vaults-into-the-march-evening-sky
https://www.astronomy.com/uncategorized/feb-25-1976-comet-west-reaches-perihelion/
https://x.com/cosmosarcive/status/2026514836495208526
Extra Avi Loeb
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/are-we-visited-by-extraterrestrials-04ea91541d7a
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/why-do-we-exist-dc3907fca529
Rare planetary parade on February 28 as six planets gather in the evening sky
February 25, 2026
t’s time for skywatchers to get ready to witness a rare coming-together of planets in the evening sky this week. On February 28, 2026, six planets will be visible, almost grouped together as seen from the Earth.
This rare planetary parade can be best experienced by enthusiasts if they manage to get just a few conditions and timing perfectly right. Technically, six planets—Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune—would be visible in the sky.
However, all six won’t be equally easy to see, and visibility might also depend on geographical location, as well as factors like weather or pollution.
When, where, and how to look
According to NASA, the rare planetary parade will be visible on February 28, 2026, and the ideal period to view Venus, Mercury, Saturn, and Neptune would begin 30 minutes after sunset and last for roughly 45 minutes.
They will appear in the west during twilight, with Venus and Mercury closest to the horizon and Saturn slightly higher above them. Neptune, too, would be close to Saturn, but it would be extremely difficult to detect without at least a 6-inch (15-centimeter) telescope.
In the southern sky, Jupiter will shine bright and steady as a whitish point of light that does not twinkle like nearby stars.
Roughly halfway between Jupiter and the cluster of planets near the horizon, the three stars of Orion’s Belt could be spotted, and they can work as a good visual guide in the evening sky.
Like Neptune in this parade, Uranus, too, would require binoculars or a small telescope to locate it. As an alternative, simply follow Orion’s Belt, and Uranus would be seen sitting just below the Pleiades star cluster in the constellation Taurus.
What makes the February 28 alignment special
This six-planet alignment is the first of its kind in more than half a year, following the last similar occurrence in August 2025.
And while Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are often seen in the night sky, lineups featuring Venus are extra special, considering how the planet is only visible for a couple of months at a time when it reaches elongation (greatest separation from the Sun).
Moreover, parades featuring more than four planets are not annual events.
Because planets orbit our Sun in a disc-shaped plane of which we have an edge-on view, the planets appear along a line or arc across the sky. This line is referred to as the ecliptic or ecliptic plane.
There’s also a lunar treat in the sky on the same evening as the parade. On February 28, the 92% illuminated waxing gibbous Moon will drift close to the Beehive Cluster, a bright group of about a thousand stars 577 light-years away from Earth.
Shortly after that, on March 3, observers will be treated to the Blood Worm Moon, which will be the last one of its kind until 2028.
https://starlust.org/rare-planetary-parade-on-february-28-as-six-planets-gather-in-the-evening-sky/
March 3 'Blood Moon' is your last chance to see a total lunar eclipse until 2028
February 24, 2026
The Blood Worm Moon on March 3, 2026, is going to be the last total lunar eclipse that we will see anywhere on our planet until New Year’s Eve 2028.
This total lunar eclipse will be one of the most widely visible astronomical events of the year, uniting observers under one grand crimson canopy. So, skygazers, mark your calendars and take note of the details of the event.
What is a total lunar eclipse?
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Full Moon is entirely covered by the Earth’s umbral shadow, the central, darkest, and innermost part of the shadow that completely blocks direct sunlight. Indirect sunlight illuminates the Moon, but it passes through the Earth’s atmosphere.
The atmosphere filters most of the blue light via a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering, and the remaining red, orange-ish light falls on the Moon. This results in the striking red color of the cold, rocky body during totality. The Saros cycle dictates the occurrence of eclipses.
What is a Saros?
Eclipses recur over the Saros cycle, a celestial period of approximately 18 years, 11 days, and 18 hours (6,585) used to predict solar and lunar eclipses by tracking the Sun, Earth, and Moon's returns to nearly identical positions.
Two eclipses with one Saros between them share similar geometry, occurring at the same node (the point at which the Moon's orbit intersects Earth's plane), with the Moon at nearly the same distance from our planet at the same time of the year.
Eclipses in a Saros repeat over centuries, with 70 or more events. NASA’s table explains that the March lunar eclipse falls within Saros 133, the last lunar eclipse of which is scheduled for June 29, 2819.
Eclipse phases and duration
The 2026 total lunar eclipse will last over 5 hours from start to end, with the penumbral phase starting at 8:44 UTC (3:44 am EST) and ending at 14:23 UTC (9:23 am EST).
The totality, or the phase of complete coverage of the lunar surface by Earth’s central shadow, will last nearly an hour from 11:04 UTC (6:04 am EST) to 12:03 UTC (7:03 am EST).
The partial eclipse, meanwhile, will last from 9:50 UTC (4:50 am EST) to 13:17 UTC (5:17 am EST).
Visibility
Totality will be visible in the evening of March 3 from eastern Asia and Australia and throughout the night in the Pacific. Observers in North and Central America and western South America will have to get up early in the morning to experience the event.
Residents of Central Asia and South America will only get to view the partial eclipse, while Europe and Africa will be completely deprived of any visibility.
Totally safe to watch with your unaided eye, without any eclipse glasses, the best show will be at a spot away from city lights, in the dark night sky. Binoculars and a telescope will enhance the experience and enable spotting the nuances of the Moon.
So, find clear horizons in your city and watch our natural satellite illuminate the sky with its rusty coppery hue for the last time in a while.
Next total lunar eclipse after March 3
After next week's event, people around the world will get to observe a total lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve in 2028—that's a nearly three-year gap.
On December 31, 2028, around 80 percent of the world's population will be able to experience the massive celestial event.
With over 71 minutes of totality and more than three hours of partial visibility, the eclipse will grace the skies in Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia and parts of North America, per NASA.
Red Panda Koala
@RedPandaKoala
🚨 A few years ago Dave Navarro posted this after hanging out with Knapp and Corbell
“We talked about some things tonight that l'd love to share, but I'm afraid it's still classified.
All I can say is you may not wanna make any plans March 3rd 2026!
Well, you wont actually have a choice.”
What does he know?!
7:39 PM · Feb 24, 2026
https://starlust.org/march-3-blood-moon-is-your-last-chance-to-see-a-total-lunar-eclipse-until-2028/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWiBJgri53Q (You Won't Believe What's Happening in the Night Sky on February 28th…)
https://x.com/RedPandaKoala/status/2026502165272138115
https://www.instagram.com/davenavarro/
Human Research, Advanced Tech Keep Crew Busy Before Dragon Departs
February 25, 2026 10:40AM
Human research, advanced robotics, and experimental workout gear filled the schedule for the Expedition 74 crew aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday.
The orbital residents also continued packing a SpaceX Dragon with science experiments and space hardware for its departure on Thursday.
Flight Engineers Jessica Meir of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) kicked off their shift together answering a questionnaire about their sleep quality and collecting their saliva samples for analysis.
Researchers will use the biomedical data to understand the stress and behavioral risks during a spaceflight, devise meditation and relaxation techniques for crews, and improve the experience of a long-term mission.
Meir then collected and processed her blood samples with assistance from NASA Flight Engineer Jack Hathaway for the Venous Flow study that examines the risk of space-caused blood clots.
Next, Meir inspected and cleaned the Enhanced European Exploration Exercise Device, an advanced, compact all-in-one workout device being tested for use on deep space missions.
Adenot partnered with Hathaway at the end of their shift loading hardware packed with research samples into a SpaceX Dragon scheduled to undock from the orbital outpost’s Harmony module at 12:05 p.m. EST on Thursday.
NASA Flight Engineer Chris Williams started his shift inside the Kibo laboratory module installing and configuring a pair of small robotic arms.
The advanced robotic technology is demonstrating precision mobility and experiment automation in microgravity to reduce astronaut workloads.
Williams then joined Meir in the Tranquility module and replaced components on the advanced resistive exercise device that mimics free weights on Earth.
Station Commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, attached to electrodes, pedaled on an exercise cycle for a cardiovascular assessment while Flight Engineer Sergei Mikaev monitored and assisted.
The Roscosmos cosmonauts then split up their day with semiconductor research, an artificial intelligence investigation, and photographic inspections of windows on the Zvezda service module.
Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev closed out an automated photography session that imaged Earth landmarks in a variety of wavelengths during the crew’s sleep shift.
The two-time station visitor then spent the rest of his day servicing the Nauka science module’s ventilation system and inventorying hardware located in the Zarya module.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/02/25/human-research-advanced-tech-keep-crew-busy-before-dragon-departs/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/02/24/crew-packs-dragon-for-thursday-departure-keeps-up-human-research/
NASA Artemis II Rocket Rolls Back to Vehicle Assembly Building
February 25, 2026 9:32AM
Editor’s Note: The launch director gave the “go” for rollback at 9:28 a.m. EST followed by first motion 10 minutes later.
NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission began rolling off the launch pad at 9:38 a.m. EST, Feb. 25, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Rolling from Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA Kennedy is expected to take up to 12 hours.
Once it arrives, technicians will establish platforms to diagnose the helium flow issue to the rocket’s upper stage and fix it. A livestream of the rollback will be streamed on the agency’s YouTube channel.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/25/nasa-artemis-ii-rocket-rolls-back-to-vehicle-assembly-building/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/24/first-motion-set-for-artemis-ii-rollback/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCrPD7tfcr0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCGeeCIzBs4
NASA’s Webb Examines Cranium Nebula
Feb 25, 2026
Two heads are better than one in the latest images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which reveal new detail in a mysterious, little-studied nebula surrounding a dying star.
Nebula PMR 1 is a cloud of gas and dust that bears an uncanny resemblance to a brain in a transparent skull, inspiring its nickname, the “Exposed Cranium” nebula. Webb captured its unusual features in both near- and mid-infrared light.
The nebula was first revealed in infrared light by a predecessor to Webb, NASA’s now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope, more than a decade ago. Webb’s advanced instruments show detail that enhances the nebula’s brain-like appearance.
Image: Exposed Cranium Nebula (NIRCam and MIRI Images)
The nebula appears to have distinct regions that capture different phases of its evolution — an outer shell of gas that was blown off first and consists mostly of hydrogen, and an inner cloud with more structure that contains a mix of different gases.
Both Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) show a distinctive dark lane running vertically through the middle of the nebula that defines its brain-like look of left and right hemispheres.
Webb’s resolution shows that this lane could be related to an outburst or outflow from the central star, which typically occurs as twin jets burst out in opposite directions.
Evidence for this is particularly notable at the top of the nebula in Webb’s MIRI image, where it looks like the inner gas is being ejected outward.
While there is still much to be understood about this nebula, it’s clear that it is being created by a star near the end of its fuel-burning “life.” In their end stages, stars expel their outer layers. It’s a dynamic and fairly fast process, in cosmic terms.
Webb has captured a moment in this star’s decline. What ultimately happens will depend on the mass of the star, which is yet to be determined. If it’s massive enough, it will explode in a supernova.
A less massive Sun-like star will continue to shed layers until only its core remains as a dense white dwarf, which will cool off over eons.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory.
Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.
Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-examines-cranium-nebula/
https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/observations-of-the-exposed-cranium-nebula/
XRISM’s Science
February 25,. 2026
XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) is designed to transform our understanding about some of the universe’s hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity.
It uses high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy to determine the chemical makeup of distant objects, revealing new insights about the physics of the cosmos.
XRISM’s Resolve instrument builds up a picture of how bright a source is in various X-ray energies — the equivalent of colors of visible light — and lets astronomers identify chemical elements by their unique X-ray fingerprints, called spectra.
XRISM’s other instrument, called Xtend, is an X-ray imager that performs simultaneous observations with Resolve, providing complementary information.
Understanding the chemical composition of the universe over time
Stars that are at least eight times more massive than the Sun end their lives in enormous explosions called supernovae.
When this happens, the outer layers of the star are expelled outward at high speed where they will interact with the interstellar medium — the tenuous gas and dust that lies between the stars of a galaxy.
This hot ball of glowing gas is called a supernova remnant and can emit X-rays.
The explosion releases the material forged inside the star during the main stages of its life. Elements like carbon, oxygen, magnesium, and iron are released into the star’s surroundings after being trapped inside for thousands to millions of years.
Additional elements are created in the explosion itself. As this material expands into space, the new elements will mix with interstellar clouds, enriching the stellar factories that will produce future generations of stars and planets.
XRISM’s spectra are so detailed that for the brightest supernova remnants, astronomers should be able to separate the material racing away from us on the far side of the expanding shell from that moving toward us on the near side.
This gives scientists a detailed 3D picture of where elements are made and how they are distributed in the explosion.
Revealing the structure and evolution of the universe
Galaxy clusters are groups of hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are all gravitationally bound to each other.
In visible light, a galaxy cluster appears as individual galaxies gathered in the same region of the sky. However, in X-rays, it will shine brightly as a single source of hot gas that fills the entire cluster.
The hot gas in galaxy clusters comes from supernova explosions in the early universe. By looking at this X-ray-emitting gas in clusters at different distances — or different ages of the universe — astronomers can trace star formation over cosmic time.
XRISM can determine properties of the hot gas, such as its turbulence, which will tell us about the history of the cluster — mergers and interactions that have gone on between the galaxies.
XRISM’s data is transforming our view from a single, static snapshot of the cluster into a dynamic picture of the motions of the gas.
Investigating how matter and energy moves in strong gravity
Nothing, not even light, can escape a black hole. Its chaotic environment, however, can be quite bright and provide information about the structures near the black hole.
As material falls toward a black hole, it settles into a hot, bright, rapidly spinning accretion disk. Above and below the disk there is sometimes a super-heated plasma of electrons called the corona.
The black hole can also power a pair of high-speed particle jets that blast away from it in opposite directions.
XRISM is observing both supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies and their smaller, stellar-mass cousins that are dotted around every galaxy.
The high-resolution spectra from XRISM can see the dynamics of the material around black holes in greater detail than previous telescopes, giving us information about how it moves.
This gives scientists insight into how gravity works in extreme conditions that can not be replicated on Earth.
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/xrism/science/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1mpHBAXh1c
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4812-4819: Back Into the Hollows
Feb 24, 2026
Earth planning date: Friday, Feb. 20, 2026
This has been a pretty routine week for Curiosity. As was mentioned last week, we're now in the final phase of the boxwork exploration campaign.
We're currently making our way toward the eastern contact of the boxwork formation with the surrounding geology, which we plan to drive along before turning our attention to the southern contact.
That will likely be our last opportunity to directly interrogate the boxwork area before we continue our adventure up the slopes of Mount Sharp.
Along the way, we've been performing our usual investigations of the geology that we encounter at our parking locations.
As always, this includes contact science on bedrock targets close to the rover, ChemCam LIBS observations of targets slightly further afield, and a number of ChemCam RMI and Mastcam mosaics.
These mosaics include observations deeper into the “Tapiche” hollow where we're parked and the “Los Flamencos” ridge to its south, which we plan on investigating closer in the coming week.
Mars continues to move deeper into its dusty season, so the environmental science group filled this week's plan with a typical assortment of atmospheric monitoring activities to track dust devils and the amount of dust in the atmosphere, as well as several Navcam cloud movies.
So far this dusty season the atmosphere over Gale Crater appears to be behaving much like it does most years, with no signs of imminent dust storms.
It's now been almost eight years (four Mars years) since the last time that a global dust storm swept across the planet, so we're keeping a close eye on the possibility of another one occurring this year.
https://science.nasa.gov/blog/curiosity-blog-sols-4812-4819-back-into-the-hollows/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260225081147.htm
NASA Wallops to Support Rocket Lab Launch
February 24, 2026 6:42PM
A Rocket Lab suborbital rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia Feb. 25, during a window extending 4-7 p.m. EST. Backup days are Feb. 26-28, 4-7 p.m.
The Wallops Visitor Center will not be open to the public for launch viewing. The rocket launch may be visible from the Chesapeake Bay region.
A launch livestream will be provided by Rocket Lab on their YouTube channel. For the latest updates on launch, follow Rocket Lab’s social media channels.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/wallops/2026/02/24/nasa-wallops-to-support-rocket-lab-launch/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MXAzzSgRFE
New Volunteer Data from 143 Observatories Unveils the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
Feb 24, 2026
On April 8, 2024, volunteers participating in NASA’s Eclipse Megamovie citizen science project all around the United States hurried to photograph the solar eclipse with the latest, greatest equipment, capturing groundbreaking images of the Sun’s corona.
Now, the Eclipse Megamovie team has released the remarkable new dataset that resulted from this effort — the first-ever, white-light eclipse dataset with calibration frames, spanning more than a cumulative hour and a half of observations of the solar corona.
This data, which includes 52,469 total photographs uploaded by project volunteers, is now live: https://eclipsemegamovie.org/database.
The data include contributions from 143 unique, mobile, volunteer-led “observatories” – people with cameras charged with taking precise images of the eclipse, taking extra steps to allow the painstaking calibration required to reveal how the corona evolves from one person's view to the next.
Researchers around the world can now use these observations to identify solar jets leaving the Sun's surface and study how solar plumes grow and develop.
The public can also peruse and download all of this data, which is highly accessible and searchable by observatory name and location.
"Thank you for all you do and have done for us,” said Eclipse Megamovie volunteer Jessi McKenna. “Everyone in the group has been amazingly supportive of each other.
And those who are running things are always so obviously appreciative of everyone who has contributed to the project."
The files include data at three different levels of processing, from raw (level 1) data to calibrated (level 3) data, in a format called FITS, or Flexible Image Transport System. It is the standard astronomical data format used by NASA and the International Astronomical Union.
Of the 143 unique observatories involved, 28 observatories had clear skies, sufficient calibration frames, and enough unique exposure times to create calibrated level 3 images.
The Eclipse Megamovie team at Sonoma State University and the University of California, Berkeley and collaborators at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center began working together long before the eclipse to construct this database, together with EdEon STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) Learning programmer Troy Wilson.
But crucially, Eclipse Megamovie 2024 was made possible because of hundreds of volunteers who journeyed into the path of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse with their cameras, patience, and curiosity.
https://science.nasa.gov/get-involved/citizen-science/new-volunteer-data-from-143-observatories-unveils-the-2024-total-solar-eclipse/
https://eclipsemegamovie.org/database
Landslide and Avalanche Debris Litter Hubbard Glacier
Feb 25, 2026
On December 6, 2025, a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the remote St. Elias Mountains, a highly glaciated range that spans the Yukon-Alaska border.
The quake shook the landscape beneath Hubbard Glacier, sending ice and rock careening down the range’s steep slopes. The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite offered some of the earliest views of the changed landscape.
Geophysicist Eric Fielding and colleagues at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) typically use satellite data to map the displacement of the ground after major earthquakes strike land.
But in this region, such maps—known as interferograms—are not possible because the ground lies buried beneath a layer of glacial ice that’s at least 700 meters (2,000 feet) thick. “The cryosphere is covering up the geosphere,” Fielding said.
Instead, clues to the earthquake’s destructive power lay strewn atop the ice surface. The shaking on December 6 unleashed landslides and avalanches that swept debris onto lower, flatter stretches of the glacier.
The debris is visible in radar imagery acquired by NISAR on December 8, two days after the quake (right). For comparison, the NISAR image on the left shows the same area on November 26, a week and a half before the quake.
Where the slides have deposited rock, snow, and other debris, surfaces have become rougher, which scatters more energy back toward the sensor and makes those areas appear bright in the December 8 image (the roughest areas are shown in dark green).
Areas with smooth surfaces reflect little of the radar’s energy directly back to the satellite sensor, so these parts of the images appear dark (shown in purple).
Note that there are some exceptionally rough, green surfaces beyond the new slide areas that remain relatively unchanged between the two images.
The largest slide in the scene appears to be cascading down the flank of Mount King George, but it’s far from the only one. Numerous others scar the surrounding terrain, including areas to the west along the slopes of Mount Logan, Canada’s tallest mountain.
Alex Gardner, a glaciologist at JPL and member of the NISAR science team, reviewed the images with Fielding. “The sheer number and magnitude of avalanches and landslides is astounding,” Gardner said. “I’ve personally never seen anything like this before.”
A separate preliminary analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey identified more than 700 potential landslides and snow avalanches, with an especially high concentration northwest of the epicenter along the fault rupture.
Follow-up flights by the Yukon Geological Survey on December 12 provided a closer look, showing some slopes remained actively unstable, with dust still hanging in the air, and widespread damage to glacial ice.
Much of the debris that settled atop the region’s glacial ice is likely being transported toward the ocean by the glaciers' ongoing seaward flow, which acts as a natural "conveyor belt."
For example, a tributary glacier of Hubbard north of Mount King George, which had previously moved at a sluggish pace, entered a surging phase in November before the earthquake.
It is now moving downslope at what Gardner described as “breakneck speeds” of up to 6,000 meters per year (about 50 feet per day).
Although the region is uninhabited, the slides and damaged ice could pose new hazards for mountaineers and other expeditions, USGS noted in a December 18 update.
The town of Yakutat, Alaska, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the epicenter, is a common staging point for people exploring the area.
NISAR observations are expected to provide imagery to support future natural disaster response efforts.
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/landslide-and-avalanche-debris-litter-hubbard-glacier/
NASA’s PACE Satellite Provides New Pollution Measuring Product
February 24, 2026
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, known for measuring tiny organisms in the ocean and particles in the atmosphere, has a new capability: it can track nitrogen dioxide pollution.
Nitrogen dioxide is a harmful air pollutant produced from burning fossil fuels and wood. The trace gas can also react with sunlight and oxygen to make ground-level ozone, which is harmful to people, animals, and plants.
Researchers can now use this new product to pinpoint emission sources as small as an individual factory or vehicle pollution from specific highway corridors, supporting efforts to reduce health risks, optimize urban and transportation planning, and protect agricultural productivity.
The PACE Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) measures a continuous spectrum of light — from ultraviolet through visible to near-infrared light. Like the ocean organisms, nitrogen dioxide has a unique spectral fingerprint which OCI can detect.
To track nitrogen dioxide, scientists tapped into the capabilities of another Earth-observing satellite.
The Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite monitors air quality and specializes in measurements such as nitrogen dioxide, but at a lower spatial resolution than OCI.
Using TROPOMI data, scientists trained PACE to measure amounts of nitrogen dioxide, allowing for emission monitoring at finer scales than other satellite data sets.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/science-news/2026/02/24/nasas-pace-satellite-provides-new-pollution-measuring-product/
https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search?q=PACE%20OCI%20TRGAS
Stealth Project Hail Mary Town Hall At NASA JPL?
February 24, 2026
OK. This is cool – the sort of thing NASA PAO ought to try to be doing – given the free earned PR they can get and the synergy that can emerge from real science and entertainment.
But so far NASA has said nothing about this – and it happens tomorrow. Is this just an internal JPL thing or is the entire agency going to be watching – but only internally?
Oh yes, since the whole idea is to try and cross leverage NASA and the movie – which is getting massive advance PR – one would think that this would be on NASA TV for the rest of us ~300 million taxpayer/potential ticket buyers.
No mention is made at the official movie account at @projecthailmary (but the unofficial @HailMaryLogs does) nor is there any mention at the JPL website or NASA’s main website or the NASA Live schedule or the NASA YouTube channel or the NASA+ scheduled events page or @NASA on X etc. etc. Oh well.
https://nasawatch.com/entertainment/stealth-project-hail-mary-town-hall-at-nasa-jpl/
https://x.com/HailMaryLogs/status/2026224561088262322
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0XN3-n-2Lo
Let’s Do Some Astrobiology Outreach, NASA
February 24, 2026
One of the most awe inspiring things NASA does is Astrobiology – the search for life elsewhere in the universe. Yet despite this astonishing work, the NASA Astrobiology program is a scattered mess and stumbles upon itself to engage the public.
And it can’t even link NASA’s few stories on this topic to their own program. Oh yes: the White House talks about this topic now and it is likely to get mentioned in the State of the Union speech tonight – one way or another.
The trailer for Apple TV’s “For All Mankind” season 5 trailer just dropped – and they open with a prime task: “our mission is to find life”. Here’s a chance to expand NASA’s reach beyond the usual suspects – and maybe even make a few converts.
Why not have weekly chats about this? What’s accurate and what is not – and why. The future of Mars Sample Return and the presidential mandate to go to Mars would seemingly be ample rationale for doing so. Just sayin’.
https://nasawatch.com/astrobiology/lets-do-some-astrobiology-research-nasa/
NASA Study to Analyze Fermented Food Samples from Space
Feb 25, 2026
Certain nutrients critical for human health lack the shelf life needed to span multi-year missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA’s BioNutrients-3 is part of an experiment series testing ways to use microorganisms to produce these nutrients in space and on demand.
The on-demand nature of this experiment is similar to making nutrient-dense fermented foods on Earth, such as how milk is transformed by good bacteria into yogurt. But in this case, there is a focus on producing specific types and quantities of nutrients essential for future space explorers.
Samples from BioNutrients-3, along with other valuable experiments, are set to return from the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft supporting the company’s 33rd commercial resupply mission for NASA.
The spacecraft is set to depart the space station on Thursday, Feb. 26 for its return to Earth. Watch NASA’s live coverage of the undocking and departure starting at 11:45 a.m. EST on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.
Once the samples return to Earth, the science team at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley will perform analysis procedures.
Results from this study can help NASA develop methods to produce vital nutrients that could support human deep space exploration as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign.
NASA’s BioNutrients-3 is part of the Synthetic Biology project, which is funded by the Game Changing Development program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-study-to-analyze-fermented-food-samples-from-space/
Exclusive: Charter Space Launches an Insurance Brokerage
February 25, 2026
Charter Space is done dipping its toes in the insurance market—opting instead to cannonball in.
Charter launched its own insurance brokerage this week—the Charter Interplanetary Risk Corporation (CIRC)—to help space companies secure coverage for their missions and underlying businesses.
The new nationally-licensed brokerage builds on years of developments Charter made in the space insurance realm.
Charter has spent most of its 5 years in business optimizing mission management software, aiming to help space companies build complex spacecraft and reduce manual admin time.
In 2024, the company announced that it would be using its data and expertise on spacecraft components and development to help inform insurance underwriters of the risks associated with various space missions.
In partnerships with some of the world’s largest space insurers, Charter’s aim was to lower underwriting costs, and open the door for more space businesses to gain coverage.
Now, CIRC will act on behalf of businesses to directly facilitate policy placements, earning a commission on policies placed through the brokerage.
How it works: The process sounds as simple as your typical car insurance ad, with “quotes in just one-click,” according to Charter’s website.
Users of Charter’s Ubik mission management software can secure coverage in as little as two weeks, according to the company, while customers outside the system can expect the process to take two to six months.
CIRC will act as a full system of record, eventually taking all of that information to insurance providers to streamline quotes and coverage.
Like a good Charter: CIRC aims to provide space companies with access to full end-to-end policies, including:
Pre-launch coverage on manufacturing, integration, test campaigns, and hardware transport;
Launch coverage;
On-orbit policies, including property and casualty insurance to protect against in-space hardware failures or liability caused to customers or other third-parties.
CIRC has a minimum insurable asset value of $2M, but the brokerage isn’t just focusing on the sci-fi side of things.
CIRC also aims to offer space companies the full gamut of commercial coverage options, including workers compensation, property and equipment coverage, general liability, cyber liability, technology E&O, and directors and officers liability.
“By brokering faster access to better insurance options through CIRC, we’re removing friction, accelerating deals, and empowering more companies to pursue ambitious missions with confidence,” Charter CEO Yuk Chi Chan told Payload.
The bottom line: Charter has estimated that as many as 97% of operational satellites in orbit are flying uninsured. With tens of thousands of new sats projected to launch before 2030, there’s a lot of paperwork ahead.
CIRC has hired a team of space sector and insurance vets to churn out space-policies. The company expects that by handling all of the workload traditionally placed on satellite operators, and 90% of the manual work for underwriters, it can foster an influx of newly insured sats and drive down insurance premiums.
“CIRC is a space-exclusive brokerage with a singular focus on the space industry,” Charter’s new SVP of Insurance Operations Amanda Lipps told Payload via email.
“This enables better advice…more competitive premiums, improved insurability, and comprehensive insurance coverage available that can grow and scale.”
All CIRC needs now is a catchy jingle.
https://payloadspace.com/exclusive-charter-space-launches-an-insurance-brokerage/
R-36 Orb: The forbidden space weapon hidden behind ‘alien’ sightings
Feb 25, 2026 08:34 AM EST
In the spring of 1967, a series of unusual sightings began to grip the Soviet Union.
From the rural landscapes of Ukraine to the robust Caucasus Mountains, thousands of citizens reported seeing massive, glowing crescent shapes gliding silently through the evening sky.
The sightings were so consistent and widespread that they sparked a national UFO craze. Local newspapers shared eyewitness accounts, and amateur research groups formed to track the “visitors.”
However, the truth behind these strange lights was far more terrestrial and dangerous.
A weapon hiding in plain sight
While people searched the skies for aliens, the Soviet military was secretly testing a revolutionary and controversial delivery system for nuclear warheads: the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS).
Known as the R-36 Orb inside the military, the weapon was designed to bypass American defenses by launching a warhead into low Earth orbit and then “dropping” it onto a target from an unexpected direction.
The mysterious crescent shapes were actually the physical footprint of these tests. When the R-36 Orb reached the end of its orbit, it fired retro-rockets to slow down for re-entry.
In the thin upper atmosphere, the exhaust from these engines spread out into a wide, curved trail. Since the tests happened at dusk, the setting sun lit up these exhaust particles, making them glow against the dark sky.
The intelligence race
The timing of these tests raised diplomatic concerns for the Kremlin. At the time, the Soviet Union had signed the Outer Space Treaty, which prohibited the placement of weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
While Soviet citizens wondered about extraterrestrials, U.S. intelligence was already piecing the puzzle together. By November 1967, the U.S. Department of Defense publicly accused Moscow of building an orbital nuclear strike weapon.
On realizing that UFO reports were giving Western intelligence clues about rocket technology, the Soviet government abruptly restricted media coverage of the sightings, and later tests were moved to times when the sun wouldn’t light up the exhaust plumes.
A legacy of secrecy
The FOBS program finally came to an end after more than a decade of operation. A small fleet of these orbital missiles was stationed in silos until 1983, when they were finally dismantled under the terms of the SALT II treaty.
The mystery of the crescents was not made public until decades later. Comparisons with modern rocket launches, such as those by SpaceX, have since confirmed the science behind the 1967 sightings.
Infrared footage of today’s rockets performing “boost-back” burns shows the same crescent-shaped pressure waves that once terrified the Cold War observers.
Today, the “Great Soviet Crescent” stands as a reminder of a time when science fiction and military reality mixed during the space race.
What felt like an encounter with the unknown was actually the glowing exhaust of the world’s first orbital nuclear weapon.
https://interestingengineering.com/military/soviet-fobs-space-weapon-ufo-mystery
'The Space Force is my baby': Trump lauds military space in State of the Union but skips Artemis 2 moon crew namedrop
February 25, 2026
President Donald Trump just gave the longest State of the Union address in recorded history, a speech filled with examples of the United States' leadership status in the world, but it omitted one possible point of pride: NASA's upcoming Artemis 2 moonshot, America's first lunar flight with astronauts in over 50 years, which didn't even get a mention.
Trump's speech on Tuesday night (Feb. 24) lasted more than 107 minutes, setting a new record for presidential addresses before Congress.
But there wasn't a lot for space fans to sink their teeth into, even though NASA's Artemis 2 astronaut crew was there in person.
The president did laud the U.S. Space Force, the military branch that was established in December 2019, during Trump's first term in office.
"This is a different fighting force than we had years ago, when we fought to tie," Trump said about 90 minutes into Tuesday's State of the Union (SOTU) speech.
"It's a great fighting force. I'm so proud of it. Look at Space Force. The Space Force is my baby, because we did that. My baby's becoming so important."
He then discussed the U.S. military's capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month. The Space Force apparently played a key role in that mission, which was known as Operation Absolute Resolve.
There was just one other mention of the final frontier in Tuesday night's SOTU, the second of Trump's second term in office. It occurred near the end, as Trump waxed poetic about what America has achieved over the first 250 years of its history.
"Together, we mastered the world's mightiest industries, shattered history's monstrous tyrannies, and we liberated millions from the chains of fascism, communism, oppression and terror," Trump said.
"Americans lifted humanity into the skies on the wings of aluminum and steel, and then we launched mankind into the stars on rockets powered by sheer American will and unyielding American pride."
The president ended his address without mentioning NASA's Artemis 2 mission, which will launch four astronauts around the moon as soon as April 1. It will be the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 back in 1972.
That omission is somewhat surprising, because the Artemis 2 astronauts — NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency — attended the SOTU as guests of Mike Johnson (R-La.), Speaker of the House of Representatives.
And the Artemis program, which aims to establish one or more bases near the moon's south pole in the next five years or so, is another one of Trump's babies:
It was established in December 2017, during his first term. Back then, the president said he wanted Artemis astronauts to land on the moon by late 2024, which he envisioned would be the tail end of his second term in office.
That didn't happen, of course. The program has experienced multiple delays over the years, including one that was announced just this past weekend.
NASA had been gearing up to launch Artemis 2 as soon as March 6, but a glitch with the mission's Space Launch System rocket is forcing team members to roll the vehicle off the launch pad for troubleshooting.
That rollback, which will occur on Wednesday (Feb. 25), pushes the Artemis 2 liftoff back to April 1 at the earliest.
The Artemis 2 quartet — who went into quarantine on Friday (Feb. 21) to prep for their flight, only to leave it a day later — didn't get much screen time during Tuesday night's speech.
The only spaceflyer we saw on TV in NBC's broadcast was U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who flew four space shuttle missions during his days as a NASA astronaut.
The Trump administration, by the way, recently censured Kelly — a former Navy fighter pilot with 39 combat missions under his belt — over his participation in a video that urged U.S. servicemembers not to obey illegal orders.
Kelly has sued the Pentagon and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over that censure campaign.
Last year's State Of The Union speech had a slightly spacier feel to it. During that speech, Trump said that Americans "will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars."
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/the-space-force-is-my-baby-trump-lauds-military-space-in-state-of-the-union-but-skips-artemis-2-moon-crew-namedrop
Aliens DO exist – they just haven't visited Earth, NASA veteran claims
Updated: 05:37 EST, 25 February 2026
Aliens exist – they just haven't visited Earth, a NASA veteran has claimed.
Dr Gentry Lee has worked at the US space agency since 1968, when he first got involved with the Viking mission to Mars.
He has since spent more than half a century designing probes to land on distant planets – but argues Earth has not yet been visited by other–worldly beings.
'There exists nothing today that says any alien or any alien machine has ever landed on the planet Earth,' he told the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Phoenix.
'If you believe otherwise, you are being misled.'
According to the expert, in every case of a supposed UFO sighting or alien encounter, there is likely a simpler explanation for those phenomena.
But when it comes to distant planets, life has 'just got to be there somewhere'.
He added: 'We are going to find life of some kind somewhere else. The odds are overwhelming.'
Scientists generally believe that the best candidates for alien life are 'Earth–like' worlds orbiting distant stars in other parts of the galaxy.
One such contender is the Earth–sized planet TRAPPIST–1e, located just 40 light–years from Earth, which is located safely within its star's habitable 'Goldilocks zone'.
Another promising candidate is the planet K2–18b, which some studies suggest could be teeming with life.
Located 124 light–years from Earth in the constellation of Leo, K2–18b is a giant world covered entirely by oceans – making it what scientists call a 'Hycean world'.
Even in our own solar system, Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan could have the right conditions for life to emerge and thrive.
Dr Lee also said that space scientists must be prepared to find alien forms that are very different from the life found on Earth.
He said that all life on our planet – 'you, me, an elephant, slime mould, bacteria' – relies on DNA to reproduce.
He added: 'Extraterrestrial biologists would come to the Earth and would go back and report: "Not a terribly interesting planet. All life is the same. All of it reproduces in the same way using the same major [DNA] molecule."'
Mr Lee is currently chief engineer for the Solar System Exploration Directorate at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
He oversaw the engineering of the Curiosity rover for Mars, the Dawn mission to two asteroids, the Juno mission to Jupiter and the Grail mission to the moon.
Speaking to promote a new documentary, called Spaceman, Dr Lee said that space telescopes such as Kepler had studied a significant 'slice' of the galaxy in our neighbourhood of the Milky Way and found huge numbers of planets orbiting other stars.
'If the slice of the heavens that Kepler looked at is representative [of the whole Milky Way], and we have no reason to believe it's not, then there are close to a trillion planets in our galaxy alone,' he said.
'So you can go through all the probabilities of life forming [on some of them] and sooner or later you say, it's just gotta be there somewhere.'
Yesterday, NASA gave a hilarious response to President Trump following his demand for UFO files – dashing hope for an extraterrestrial breakthrough.
Earlier this month, the hunt for life beyond Earth took an unexpected twist when Barack Obama claimed aliens are real.
The former president later went on to clarify he was not talking about extraterrestrial forms visiting Earth, and that he believes life must instead exist somewhere in the 'vast cosmos'.
But his comments prompted Donald Trump to lash out at his predecessor for allegedly sharing 'classified information'.
The President said he has directed his Secretary of War to release all government files related to aliens, extraterrestrial life and UFOs.
NASA finally responded to his demands – but it crushes any hope that a collection of spooky documents are about to be released.
'We continue to embrace President Trump's open science commitment as an agency,' NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens wrote on X.
But she added: 'As [NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman] has said, there are certainly things he's come across in the job that he can't explain… but they relate more to unnecessarily costly programs than they do to extraterrestrial life!'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15590735/Aliens-exist-visited-Earth-NASA-veteran.html
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/site/research/glee/
https://www.rt.com/russia/632974-ukraine-nuclear-capability-explainer/
https://www.rt.com/russia/633003-ukraine-nuclear-weapons-un-nebenzia/
Arming Ukraine with nukes: Western elites have ‘lost touch with reality’
24 Feb, 2026 15:22
Ukraine could become a partial nuclear power as its Western backers desperately seek to avoid NATO’s defeat in a proxy war against Russia – at least according to Moscow’s intelligence services.
The claim
On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) warned that elements in the British and French governments who have “lost touch with reality” are considering a gross breach of their commitments under the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty on nuclear weapons.
Officials in London and Paris are allegedly weighing options to support Kiev as it refuses concessions to Russia and reportedly prepares for up to three more years of hostilities funded by Western Europe.
According to the SVR, the options include arming Ukraine with a nuclear capability through the “covert transfer of relevant European-made components, equipment, and technologies” that Kiev could claim as domestically developed, or through the direct supply of a French submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead.
Another option, the SVR said, is pushing Kiev to build a ‘dirty bomb’ – a non-nuclear device designed to contaminate territory with radioactive material, long considered a nightmare scenario for terrorist attacks.
Russian officials have for years identified a Ukrainian dirty bomb as a major threat, citing Kiev’s ready access to necessary components.
Did Ukraine really ‘give up its nukes’?
Ukrainian officials often claim their nation once possessed the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal and gave it up for false security promises.
Vladimir Zelensky suggested at the 2022 Munich Security Conference that the decision could be reversed. The conflict with Russia escalated soon after the provocative remarks.
In reality, nuclear weapons were present on Ukrainian soil after the Soviet collapse but were never “Ukraine’s arsenal” – Kiev could not launch them.
The US pressured Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan to transfer the missiles to Russia, with three memorandums signed in Budapest in 1994.
In 2012, Minsk said the US and UK breached their commitment “to refrain from economic coercion” of Belarus made in Budapest, after they imposed unilateral sanctions. The rebuke was brushed off by the West.
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How desperate is Ukraine?
Kiev is under increasing pressure as Russia maintains advantages in frontline attrition and long-range strikes. Zelensky’s rhetoric mixes declarations of resolve, gratitude for foreign support, and complaints that it is insufficient. Still, he insists Ukraine is not losing.
Manpower shortages caused by mass desertion and public resistance to mobilization remain Ukraine’s biggest challenge. Zelensky’s solution: more money from the EU and UK.
“When it comes to people, Europeans can help us, if we switch our army – when we switch our army – from mobilization to contracts,” he told the BBC last week.
Russia can recruit enough volunteers because it pays troops better, so Europeans should put Ukrainian soldiers on a payroll, he argued.
Ukraine’s government is bankrolled by foreign donors and is facing bankruptcy by April unless the EU borrows €90 billion ($105 billion) to continue aid.
The EU’s loan plan, however, has been stalled due to Kiev’s ongoing spat with Hungary and Slovakia over their purchase of Russian crude.
Can Ukraine build nukes independently?
Desperation can drive invention, and going nuclear is achievable even for a small, relatively poor nation – as North Korea proves.
Soviet Ukraine was a technological powerhouse with its own nuclear reactors and a world-class rocket industry, suggesting an advantage.
But generational loss of expertise, wartime damage, and other factors lead Ukrainian officials to privately admit that claims of going nuclear are bluster. Even conventional military technology development has faltered.
The Flamingo cruise missile, resembling a UK-UAE weapon, was supposed to be the backbone of Ukraine’s deep-strike capability, with hundreds produced monthly. In reality, launches are so few they are celebrated as major achievements.
Zelensky’s explanation at this year’s Munich Security Conference: Russians destroyed production lines. Alternative speculation: domestic producer Fire Point is suspicious.
The firm is allegedly linked to Zelensky’s longtime associate Timur Mindich, who fled Ukraine last November hours before being charged with running a major graft scheme.
So is the nuclear warning real?
France and the UK smuggling a nuke to Ukraine sounds like a B-movie plot. So does a US president threatening to invade Greenland to protect it from Russia and China. These are strange times.
Given the EU has publicly demanded that Russia cap its army or face Brussels’ rejection of a Ukraine peace deal, we should be prepared for Western leverage attempts ranging from the ridiculous to the flagrantly irresponsible.
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Seven dead in Ukrainian drone raid on Russian fertilizer plant
25 Feb, 2026 09:46
Seven civilians have been killed and at least ten others injured in a Ukrainian drone raid on a chemical plant in Smolensk Region, western Russia, the country’s Investigative Committee reported on Wednesday.
The agency stated that the Ukrainian military used at least 30 UAVs in the attack on the facility.
The strike was previously reported by Smolensk Governor Vasily Anokhin on social media, stating that Ukrainian forces targeted the ‘Dorogobuzh’ plant, which produces nitrogen fertilizer, and that several employees “tragically died while performing their professional duties.”
Those injured in the attack have been taken to a healthcare facility, the governor said.
Schools in Smolensk, which is located near the Russia-Belarus border, have been switched to distance learning after the latest Ukrainian attack, while kindergartens have been shut down for the day for safety reasons, Anokhin added.
The governor also reported that the overnight strike caused several fires at the facility. Emergency workers have localized the flames, but in order to minimize possible threats to the population, the evacuation of residents of a nearby village is being considered.
The Russian Defense Ministry previously reported that a total of 69 Ukrainian drones had been downed overnight, including 14 above Smolensk Region and 24 over Bryansk Region.
Russian border regions have consistently been targeted by Ukrainian drones throughout the conflict, with Moscow accusing Kiev of “terrorism” and deliberately attacking civilians and critical infrastructure.
Earlier this month, the local authorities said a wave of Ukrainian strikes damaged energy infrastructure in Belgorod Region, leading to widespread power outages and disruption of heating and water supplies.
In response to the attacks on border areas and deeper into Russia, Moscow has targeted Ukraine’s defense-related infrastructure, including energy facilities. Russian officials insist the attacks never target civilians.
https://www.rt.com/russia/633015-ukraine-attack-smolensk-region/
West won’t deploy troops to Ukraine without Russian approval – Telegraph
25 Feb, 2026 11:30
Western European nations will not deploy troops to Ukraine without Russian consent, The Telegraph reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources.
The UK-French initiative to deploy troops to Ukraine has been promoted as a deterrent against Russia which could follow a potential peace deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has repeatedly rejected the idea of NATO countries stationing troops there.
A senior diplomatic source told the British newspaper that members of the pro-Kiev ‘coalition of the willing’ have privately conceded that they would “only send our troops if there’s Russian consent.”
Moscow’s warnings that foreign troops would be considered legitimate military targets are taken seriously, and given that risk, “you need to send a different kind of force,” the source said, adding that Russian opposition has had “a tremendous effect” on the discussions.
A European defense source described the proposed mission as “rather hypothetical.”
Some Western leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have previously claimed that Russia’s permission to station troops in Ukraine would not be required.
According to the press reports, however, the hypothetical deployment of European NATO countries’ troops would necessitate US security guarantees.
Moscow views the Ukraine conflict as a NATO proxy war against Russia.
After the 2022 escalation, Western nations sought to isolate Russia diplomatically, but the policy backfired on European NATO members after Washington shifted course under US President Donald Trump in order to pursue a negotiated resolution.
Hardliners in Europe continue to oppose negotiations with Russia. A diplomatic source cited by The Telegraph argued that governments seeking a say in peace terms give Putin a veto over their military strategy.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – widely believed to have derailed a diplomatic resolution four years ago – told the newspaper that the US-mediated talks “are completely abstract” and urged further escalation, calling for Tomahawk cruise missiles to be supplied to Ukraine.
https://www.rt.com/news/633022-nato-troops-ukraine-telegraph/
other RT
https://www.rt.com/russia/633030-budanov-kiev-valdai-strikes/