TYB
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-unexpectedly-catches-comet-breaking-up/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc0dfrlA-ew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CMil2WXybk (3I/Atlas arrives at Jupiter & Jesus APPEARS to David Sereda in a BLINDING VISION OF LOVE & PEACE)
https://astrobiology.com/2026/03/isotopic-evidence-for-a-cold-and-distant-origin-of-the-interstellar-object-3i-atlas.html
https://www.iflscience.com/as-3iatlas-makes-a-close-approach-to-jupiter-astronomers-find-it-may-be-far-more-ancient-than-we-thought-82875
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/should-we-worry-about-interstellar-predators-25a7000eb305
NASA’s Hubble Unexpectedly Catches Comet Breaking Up
Mar 18, 2026
In a happy twist of fate, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope just witnessed a comet in the act of breaking apart.
The chance of that happening while Hubble watched is extraordinarily minuscule. The findings published Wednesday in the journal Icarus.
The comet K1, whose full name is C/2025 K1 (ATLAS)—not to be confused with interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS—was not the original target of the Hubble study.
“Sometimes the best science happens by accident,” said co-investigator John Noonan, a research professor in the Department of Physics at Auburn University in Alabama.
“This comet got observed because our original comet was not viewable due to some new technical constraints after we won our proposal. We had to find a new target—and right when we observed it, it happened to break apart, which is the slimmest of slim chances.”
Noonan didn’t know K1 was fragmenting until he viewed the images the day after Hubble took them.
“While I was taking an initial look at the data, I saw that there were four comets in those images when we only proposed to look at one,” said Noonan. “So we knew this was something really, really special.”
This is an experiment the researchers always wanted to do with Hubble. They had proposed many Hubble observations to catch a comet breaking up. Unfortunately, these are very difficult to schedule, and they were never successful.
“The irony is now we're just studying a regular comet and it crumbles in front of our eyes,” said principal investigator Dennis Bodewits, also a professor in Auburn University’s Department of Physics.
“Comets are leftovers of the era of solar system formation, so they’re made of ‘old stuff’—the primordial materials that made our solar system,” said Bodewits. “But they are not pristine—they've been heated; they've been irradiated by the Sun and by cosmic rays.
So, when looking at a comet’s composition, the question we always have is, ‘Is this a primitive property or is this due to evolution?’ By cracking open a comet, you can see the ancient material that has not been processed.”
1/2
Hubble caught K1 fragmenting into at least four pieces, each with a distinct coma, the fuzzy envelope of gas and dust that surrounds a comet’s icy nucleus.
Hubble cleanly resolved the fragments, but to ground-based telescopes, at the time they only appeared as barely distinguishable, bright blobs.
Hubble’s images were taken just a month after K1’s closest approach to the Sun, called perihelion. The comet’s perihelion was inside Mercury’s orbit, about one-third the distance of the Earth from the Sun.
During perihelion, a comet experiences its most intense heating and maximum stress. Just past perihelion is when some long-period comets like K1 tend to fall apart.
Before it fragmented, K1 was likely a bit larger than an average comet, probably around 5 miles across. The team estimates the comet began to disintegrate eight days before Hubble viewed it.
Hubble took three 20-second images, one on each day from Nov. 8 through Nov. 10, 2025. As it watched the comet, one of K1’s smaller pieces also broke up.
Because Hubble’s sharp vision can distinguish extremely fine details, the team could trace the history of the fragments back to when they were one piece. That allowed them to reconstruct the timeline.
But in doing so, they uncovered a mystery: Why was there a delay between when the comet broke up and when bright outbursts were seen from the ground? When the comet fragmented and exposed fresh ice, why didn’t it brighten almost instantaneously?
The team has some theories. Most of a comet’s brightness is sunlight reflected off of dust grains. But when a comet cracks open, it reveals pure ice.
Maybe a layer of dry dust needs to form over the pure ice and then blow off. Or maybe heat needs to get below the surface, build up pressure, and then eject an expanding shell of dust.
“Never before has Hubble caught a fragmenting comet this close to when it actually fell apart. Most of the time, it's a few weeks to a month later. And in this case, we were able to see it just days after,” said Noonan.
“This is telling us something very important about the physics of what's happening at the comet’s surface. We may be seeing the timescale it takes to form a substantial dust layer that can then be ejected by the gas.”
The research team is looking forward to finishing the analysis of the gases to come from the comet. Already, ground-based analysis shows that K1 is chemically very strange—it is significantly depleted in carbon, compared with other comets.
Spectroscopic analysis from Hubble’s STIS (Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph) and COS (Cosmic Origins Spectrograph) instruments is likely to reveal much more about the composition of K1 and the very origins of our solar system, as NASA’s space telescopes continue to contribute to our understanding of planetary science.
The comet K1 is now a collection of fragments about 250 million miles from Earth. Located in the constellation Pisces, it is heading out of the solar system, not likely to ever return.
2/2
https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/03/nasa-confirms-meteor-explosion-over-ohio/
https://twitter.com/DrJimLloyd/status/2033901268008087827
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/dallas-meteor-seen-in-texas-night-sky-videos-emerge-after-cleveland-ohio-explosion-101773803668537.html
https://nationaltoday.com/us/ny/new-york/news/2026/03/18/meteor-causes-boom-heard-across-multiple-states/
https://x.com/DrJimLloyd/status/2033901268008087827
https://x.com/RedPandaKoala/status/2033925155349778900
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/2034073604510650469
https://x.com/MarkJWeather/status/2034030530656612703
NASA Confirms Meteor Explosion Over Ohio After Sonic Boom Reports
March 18, 2026 at 09:50
A rare and dramatic daytime meteor explosion has captured global attention, sending shockwaves through northern Ohio and reaching the heights of space.
As residents reported hearing a powerful sonic boom and feeling their homes shake, NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite confirmed the fireball’s descent, a phenomenon so rare that experts are now scrambling to understand its source.
The event, which was first reported by Space.com, marks a rare occurrence where a meteor large enough to be visible during the day made a dramatic impact on Earth’s atmosphere, leaving scientists fascinated and the public in awe.
Meteor Streaks Across Ohio Sky
On March 17, 2026, the skies over northern Ohio were disrupted by an extraordinary celestial event: a bright daytime fireball that soared across the sky, followed by a sonic boom that rattled homes and startled thousands of residents.
This rare spectacle caught the attention of space scientists and stargazers alike, many of whom were fortunate enough to witness the phenomenon firsthand.
The meteor, traveling at supersonic speeds, is believed to have been a large object, possibly the size of a beach ball or larger, according to experts.
The Cleveland National Weather Service quickly confirmed the event, attributing the powerful boom to the meteor’s passage.
“The latest GLM imagery (1301Z) does suggest that the boom was a result of a meteor,” said the agency’s official account in a post on social media.
The explosion, which was audible over a wide region, left a trail of speculation about its origin and whether fragments had made it to the ground.
The Sonic Boom Explained
The sound of a sonic boom is not often associated with meteors, but large meteors can produce exactly that effect when they enter Earth’s atmosphere at tremendous speeds.
As these space rocks plummet toward Earth, they generate shockwaves that travel through the air at the speed of sound, creating a booming noise.
However, the timing of this sound can vary, arriving after the meteor’s fiery flash, which is what residents in Ohio experienced.
1/2
Earth’s Seasons Are Shifting—and Space Has Just Delivered The Proof
“When an extraordinarily large meteor (beach ball size or larger) enters the atmosphere it often survives down to the lower atmosphere where the air molecules are dense enough to carry sound,” explained Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society, to Space.com, “Therefore, folks below the path will hear a sonic boom that is usually delayed by many seconds compared to seeing the fireball.”
This delay between sight and sound serves as a key indicator of the meteor’s size and speed, suggesting that it was powerful enough to leave behind physical fragments.
Satellite Confirms the Event
The meteor’s path was also documented from space, where it was caught on camera by the NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite, which orbits Earth at a geostationary position.
The satellite’s Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument recorded a brief but intense flash of light above northern Ohio, confirming the meteor’s trajectory and marking this as an event of great scientific interest.
Experts are particularly intrigued by the fact that the fireball was visible in broad daylight, which is an uncommon phenomenon.
A meteor of this size and magnitude, sufficient to produce a sonic boom, rarely survives its fiery entry into Earth’s atmosphere long enough to make it visible in the daytime.
“This is a good indication that the fireball produced fragments on the ground,” Lunsford added. Based on computer-generated simulations, experts believe the meteor fragments could have landed in or around Akron, Ohio, though no physical evidence has been confirmed yet.
Possible Origins and Speculation
The source of the meteor remains unclear, though early assessments suggest it may have been a random occurrence. Unlike other meteors that are linked to annual meteor showers, this particular object appears to have come from an unknown trajectory.
“The source of this object is not yet known, but it is most likely a random occurrence not associated with any known meteor shower,” Lunsford stated.
This uncertainty has left the scientific community with many questions about the meteor’s origins, and researchers are eagerly awaiting any physical evidence that could help identify the object.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding its origins, the event has provided a wealth of valuable data for astronomers.
The combination of satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts has created an intriguing puzzle for scientists to solve.
As technology improves and our ability to monitor space events becomes more sophisticated, it is likely that we will see more of these rare daytime meteors in the future.
2/2
just look at the pictures then, Gavin
Why Didn't NASA Detect the Meteor That Hit Cleveland, Ohio—Despite a 250-Ton TNT-Equivalent Blast? (Yeah, WTF NASA?)
18 March 2026, 6:20 AM GMT
A meteor explosion over Cleveland, Ohio, caused disruption across several US states on 17 March 2026, producing a shockwave equivalent to 250 tonnes of TNT.
NASA did not detect the object before it entered the Earth's atmosphere because it was too small to be tracked by current monitoring systems. The event has raised questions about the limits of global space surveillance.
According to NASA event data, the object measured around two metres in diameter and weighed approximately seven tonnes, which is well below the size threshold for long-range detection.
Systems designed to monitor near-Earth objects are focused on significantly larger asteroids that could pose a regional or global threat.
The incident highlights the difference between large, trackable asteroids and smaller meteoroids, often referred to as bolides.
While larger objects are monitored years in advance, smaller ones frequently enter the atmosphere without warning and are only detected once they produce visible light and heat.
Atmospheric Impact Over Ohio
The meteor entered the atmosphere at approximately 8:57am Eastern Daylight Time. It first became visible at an altitude of around 50 miles above Lake Erie before travelling south-east at speeds of roughly 40,000 miles per hour.
It travelled more than 30 miles through the upper atmosphere before fragmenting at an altitude of about 30 miles above northern Ohio.
The explosion released energy equivalent to 250 tonnes of TNT, generating a pressure wave that was heard across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Satellite instruments, including the Geostationary Lightning Mapper aboard a GOES satellite, detected the flash.
The American Meteor Society also received hundreds of eyewitness reports from multiple states and parts of Canada, allowing researchers to reconstruct the meteor's path.
Some residents described the sound as unusually loud, with reports on social media indicating windows shaking and a sustained rumble lasting several seconds across multiple towns in northern Ohio and neighbouring areas.
Others said they initially believed the noise was an earthquake or a sonic boom.
Limits of Detection Systems
The lack of advance detection reflects the current priorities of planetary defence programmes. Monitoring systems are designed to track near-Earth objects that are at least 140 metres in diameter, as these present the most significant risk.
At roughly two metres across, the Cleveland meteor was far smaller than this threshold. Objects of this size reflect minimal sunlight and are difficult to detect against the darkness of space.
Their speed and unpredictable trajectories further limit the ability of telescopes to identify them before atmospheric entry.
Such meteoroids are typically only observed once they interact with the Earth's atmosphere, producing visible fireballs.
Frequency of Similar Events
While the explosion drew attention due to its location over a populated area, similar events occur regularly. Thousands of small meteoroids enter the atmosphere each year, most of which go unnoticed as they occur over oceans or remote regions.
In this case, the timing and location contributed to widespread reports, with the sonic boom heard across multiple states and buildings shaken in parts of northern Ohio.
Detection efforts remain focused on larger near-Earth objects, while smaller meteoroids continue to enter the atmosphere without prior warning.
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/meteor-explosion-ohio-space-surveillance-1786371
https://twitter.com/NWSPittsburgh/status/2033904011183546605
NASA Reassessing Artemis II Rollout as Ground Teams Make Up Time
March 17, 2026 5:13PM
Due to quicker than expected completion of close-out activities, NASA now may roll out the Artemis II rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B, on Thursday, March 19.
A final decision on start time will be made on Wednesday, March 18.
The rollout was originally scheduled for March 19, but engineers identified an electrical harness on the flight termination system of the core stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that needed to be replaced.
They expected to delay the move to Friday, March 20. However, since addressing the issue, teams have gained some of the time back, which may allow rollout to begin March 19, once again.
The journey to the launch pad will take up to 12 hours; NASA will provide a live stream of the move.
Once the start time for the trek is identified, an update will be provided. A rollout on either day would still preserve the possibility of launching as early as Wednesday, April 1, though teams continue to keep an eye on the weather forecasts.
The April launch window includes opportunities through Monday, April 6, as well as Thursday, April 30.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/03/17/nasa-reassessing-artemis-ii-rollout-as-ground-teams-make-up-time/
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/artemis-ii-mission-availability.pdf
extra Artemis II
https://yellowhammernews.com/huntsville-at-the-helm-of-artemis-as-nasa-prepares-for-moon-return/
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2033960083537760475
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2033994049267384659
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty82DCo7FKA (WATCH: Artemis II crew gives Lara Trump a tour of the Orion spacecraft)
Spacewalkers Exit Station for Solar Array Mod Kit Install
March 18, 2026 8:59AM
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams began a spacewalk at 8:52 a.m. EDT to prepare the 2A power channel for the future installation of new roll-out solar arrays.
Once installed, the arrays will provide additional power for the orbiting laboratory, supporting critical systems and its safe, controlled deorbit.
Watch live coverage on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
Meir is spacewalk crew member 1, wearing a suit with red stripes. Williams is crew member 2, wearing an unmarked suit.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/03/18/spacewalkers-exit-station-for-solar-array-mod-kit-install/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/03/18/spacewalkers-prep-to-install-solar-array-mod-kit-today/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/03/17/crew-wraps-final-spacewalk-preparations/
https://www.c-span.org/event/public-affairs-event/nasa-astronauts-conduct-spacewalk/441353
https://www.youtube.com/live/VlB_ZtDLAOQ
Dim Delights in Cancer
Mar 17, 2026
Cancer the Crab is a dim constellation, yet it contains one of the most beautiful and easy-to-spot star clusters in our sky: the Beehive Cluster. Cancer also possesses one of the most studied exoplanets: the superhot super-Earth, 55 Cancri e.
Find Cancer’s dim stars by looking in between the brighter neighboring constellations of Gemini and Leo. Don’t get frustrated if you can’t find it at first, since Cancer isn’t easily visible from moderately light-polluted areas.
Once you find Cancer, look for its most famous deep-sky object: the Beehive Cluster! It’s a large open cluster of young stars, three times larger than our Moon in the sky.
The Beehive is visible to the unaided eye under good sky conditions as a faint, cloudy patch, but is stunning when viewed through binoculars or a wide-field telescope.
It was one of the earliest deep-sky objects noticed by ancient astronomers, and so the Beehive has many other names, including Praesepe, Nubilum, M44, the Ghost, and Jishi qi.
Take a look at it on a clear night through binoculars. Do these stars look like a hive of buzzing bees? Or do you see something else?
There’s no wrong answer, since this large star cluster has intrigued imaginative observers for thousands of years.
55 Cancri is a nearby binary star system, about 41 light-years from us and faintly visible under excellent dark sky conditions. The larger star is orbited by at least five planets, including 55 Cancri e (a.k.a. Janssen, named after one of the first telescope makers).
Janssen is a “super-earth,” a large rocky world 8 times the mass of Earth, and orbits its star every 18 hours, giving it one of the shortest years of any known planet! Janssen was the first exoplanet to have its atmosphere successfully analyzed.
Both the Hubble and retired Spitzer space telescopes confirmed that the hot world is enveloped by an atmosphere of helium and hydrogen, with traces of hydrogen cyanide: not a likely place to find life, especially since the surface is probably scorching-hot rock.
NASA’s Exoplanet Travel Bureau allows us to imagine what it would be like to visit 55 Cancri e and other worlds.
How do astronomers find planets around other star systems? The Night Sky Network’s “Wobbles and Transits: How Do We Find Planets Around Other Stars?” activity helps demonstrate both the transit and wobble methods of exoplanet detection.
Notably, 55 Cancri e was discovered using the wobble method in 2004, and the transit method confirmed its orbital period in 2011!
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/night-sky-network/dim-delights-in-cancer/
https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/
Red Panda Koala
@RedPandaKoala
🚨 Rep Tim Burchett says NASA is lying when they say they have nothing on UFOs
"NASA saying 'we don't have anything, we don't study this'…
I've been in meetings with them where they've told me they studied it and they have stuff that's classified that they can't share with the public."
10:00 PM · Mar 16, 2026
https://x.com/RedPandaKoala/status/2033770478041510154
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9peCqKP0Gak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdEEpxeXyng (Matt Gaetz / OAN: Air Force General Vanishes After UFO Secrets: What Did He Know?)
From Service to Space Systems: A Pathways Journey to NASA
Mar 18, 2026
For Corey Elmore, the path to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center did not begin in engineering. It began in service.
Today he serves as a NASA Pathways engineering intern in the Technical Processes and Tools Branch (KSC-NE-TA) at Kennedy Space Center.
Through the Pathways program, he is gaining hands-on experience supporting the engineering environments, technical tools and processes that help NASA teams design, analyze, and operate complex mission systems.
Within the branch, his work explores how artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation can enhance engineering workflows.
As modern missions generate massive amounts of data across interconnected systems, these tools help engineers organize information, improve analysis, and make faster decisions.
By studying how intelligent systems can support engineers, he hopes to help teams focus more deeply on solving the technical challenges that enable exploration.
The Pathways program provides students the opportunity to work alongside experienced engineers while contributing to real projects across NASA centers.
At Kennedy Space Center, the experience offers a front-row view of how large-scale technical systems come together, from engineering processes and technical documentation to the collaborative teams responsible for supporting mission operations.
Mentorship and collaboration have been central to the experience. Working with engineers across multiple disciplines has reinforced the importance of systems thinking: understanding how people, processes, and technology interact within complex mission environments.
His path to NASA, however, did not begin in engineering. Before entering the STEM field, he served in the U.S. Navy as a hospital corpsman supporting Marine Corps and Navy units.
During that time, he also served as an instructor working with Navy Seabees, helping train and mentor service members in mission-critical skills.
That role required breaking down complex information, leading under pressure, and ensuring others could perform effectively in demanding environments. These skills translate naturally into engineering problem solving.
Following military service, the next chapter unfolded in the defense and shipbuilding industry, supporting naval maintenance and logistics systems connected to fleet readiness.
Working in shipbuilding environments provided firsthand exposure to the scale and coordination required to sustain complex operational platforms.
Maintaining ships at sea and preparing spacecraft for launch share a common challenge. Both depend on integrating engineering disciplines, operational processes, and reliable technology into a cohesive system.
While building professional experience, he continued pursuing higher education. During his time in the Navy, he earned a bachelor’s degree in supply chain and operations management from Western Governors University.
Today, he is continuing his studies while working at NASA, pursuing both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science with a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Combining operational experience, systems thinking, and emerging technologies is helping shape a foundation aligned with the increasingly complex challenges of modern space exploration.
Equally meaningful has been the community at Kennedy Space Center. Through the Pathways program, interns work alongside experienced mentors and engineering teams across NASA, creating an environment where curiosity, learning, and collaboration drive growth.
For this Navy veteran, the opportunity represents more than a career milestone; it represents a continuation of service.
For those transitioning from military careers, the path into engineering and exploration may look different, but the mission often feels familiar.
Programs like NASA Pathways provide veterans the chance to bring their discipline, leadership, and operational experience into fields that support the next generation of discovery.
As his journey at Kennedy Space Center continues, he remains focused on contributing to the systems and technologies that will help enable the future of human exploration.
For more information about the Pathways program, visit nasa.gov/careers/pathways.
https://www.nasa.gov/general/from-service-to-space-systems-a-pathways-journey-to-nasa/
NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Second Flight
Mar 17, 2026
NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft is preparing for its second flight, a step that will set the pace for more flight testing in 2026.
Over the coming months, NASA will take the quiet supersonic jet faster and higher, while validating safety and performance, a process known as envelope expansion.
NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less will be at the X-59’s controls for second flight. Less will take off and land at Edwards Air Force Base, near the X-59’s home at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
“This will be the first time I’ve flown an X-plane,” Less said. “I think I’ll mostly be focused on getting the test cards done and getting them done correctly. It’ll probably sink in later that I was in the X-59.”
Less will be accompanied by NASA test pilot Nils Larson, who will be flying nearby in a NASA F/A-18 aircraft to observe the X-59.
The X-59 made its first flight Oct. 28, 2025, with Larson as pilot. Afterward, NASA and contractor Lockheed Martin completed an extensive round of post-flight maintenance and inspections.
The work involved removing the engine, a section of the tail known as the lower empennage, the seat, and more than 70 panels to perform inspections. All have been reinstalled.
“These guys know what they’re doing. We couldn’t do something like this without a really competent team of hardworking folks,” Less said. “Nils trusted them for the first flight. I trust them for the second flight and every flight after that.”
The team completed one of the last ground tests before the flight on March 12 – an engine run firing up the X-59’s modified F-18 Super Hornet F414-GE-100 engine.
“It’s always exciting to see the X-59 come to life on the ground,” said Ray Castner, NASA’s X-59 lead propulsion engineer.
“For our team, it’s a moment to pause and appreciate how far this aircraft has come – and how close we are to pushing into the next phase of flight.”
The X-59’s second flight continues the push toward that next phase, with the team closely studying the aircraft’s performance.
“Second flight will look a lot like the first flight,” said Cathy Bahm, NASA’s project manager for the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project.
“We’ll start the flight at a test condition from first flight to ensure X-59 performs as expected after the maintenance phase, then we’ll start the envelope expansion by testing a little higher and faster.”
The flight marks the start of envelope expansion tests for the X-59. After the aircraft reaches a speed of approximately 230 mph at 12,000 feet and its team performs functional checks, it will advance to 260 mph at 20,000 feet.
First flight was the X-59’s biggest leap so far – going from the ground to airborne. Now, envelope expansion will be a gradual process as the aircraft works toward its mission parameters of about 925 mph, or Mach 1.4, at 55,000 feet.
“From here on out, once we’re airborne, we can increase speed and increase altitude in small, measured chunks, looking at things as we go and not getting ahead of ourselves,” Less said.
“Eventually we get to supersonic flight – a few more steps – and we’re out to Mach 1.4 at about 55,000 feet,” said Less.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which aims to usher in a new age of quiet, commercial supersonic flight over land. The X-59 will demonstrate that an aircraft can fly faster than the speed of sound while reducing the typical loud sonic boom to a quieter thump.
Envelope expansion is Phase 1 of Quesst. It will be followed by Phase 2 flight testing to validate the X-59’s acoustic performance. The team will study how the aircraft’s design disperses the shock waves that typically merge into a sonic boom.
After acoustics validation, NASA plans to fly the X-59 over selected U.S. communities to gather data on how people on the ground perceive its quieter sound signature. NASA will share the results with U.S. and international regulators.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/armstrong/nasas-x-59-prepares-for-second-flight/
A Former NASA Engineer Is Sealing Photos Inside an Arctic Mountain to Last 1,000 Years
Mar 18, 2026, 10:05 ET
SVALBARD, Norway, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ – Eternity.Photos has launched the world's first consumer photo archival service designed to preserve personal photographs for over 1,000 years.
Working with specialized archival partners, photos are converted to analog film and stored inside mountain vaults in Svalbard, Norway, next to the Global Seed Vault.
When the Cloud Fails, Film Endures
Cloud storage depends on companies, servers, and file formats that may not last. Hard drives can fail within a decade.
Eternity.Photos takes a radically different approach: images are transferred onto photosensitive archival film, independently tested to survive over a millennium, and sealed inside mountain vaults.
"Your photos are proof that you were here. Every snapshot, a first step, a golden hour, a face you never want to forget, deserves to last longer than any hard drive," said founder Pavel Machalek.
Machalek, a former NASA engineer and co-founder of data-deletion company Spartacus, brings a unique perspective to archiving: if you wouldn't trust a hard drive with your life, why trust one with your legacy?
His solution eliminates dependencies on software, hardware, and institutions entirely.
How It Works
Upload up to 20 photos online.
Pay a flat fee per batch. No subscription.
Photos are converted to archival-grade film and transferred to secure vaults.
Film reels are stored in Arctic mountain vaults in Svalbard, with redundant multi-continent storage in Boyers, PA for the North American market.
You receive a certificate of deposit confirming your archive.
Centuries from now, descendants present this certificate to retrieve photos. No account, no password, no technology required.
Each order includes a self-contained QR code manifest on the same archival film, enabling identification centuries from now without any external database.
Privacy by Design
No accounts required. No tracking. The only permanent record exists on the archival film itself, sealed in the vault.
A Gift That Lasts Forever
Whether it's a wedding, a new baby, or a tribute to someone you've lost, preserving photos for 1,000 years says more than any card ever could.
"We're not competing with the cloud," Machalek said. "We're competing with time."
About Eternity.Photos
Eternity.Photos is a consumer archival service that preserves photographs on analog film in Arctic mountain vaults for 1,000+ years. Founded by Pavel Machalek, backed by Slow Ventures.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-former-nasa-engineer-is-sealing-photos-inside-an-arctic-mountain-to-last-1-000-years-302717365.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvW1aAyXiPo
'Stranded' NASA astronaut recalls moment he thought he was going to die in space
13:09 18 Mar 2026 GMT
Barry 'Butch' Wilmore, who was 'stranded' in space for a period of nine months, has recalled the moment he didn't think he'd make it.
Wilmore and Sunita Williams were initially launched into space from Cape Canaveral Space Force on June 5 2024 in what was meant to be an eight-day mission.
However, the pair ended up spending a staggering 286 days on the International Space Station (ISS).
Due to technical issues with their aircraft, Wilmore and Williams were forced to spend all that time in space before they were brought home aboard the SpaceX Dragon aircraft in March last year.
A year on from their return, Wilmore has been writing a memoir to document his unique experience during that unexpected stay on the ISS.
Writing in Stuck in Space: An Astronauts Hope Through the Unexpected, the NASA astronaut detailed the moment he thought he was going to die.
"I cannot even begin to convey the feeling of dread that momentarily overwhelms my emotions. It’s simply unbelievable," he penned, as per People.
It was remembering the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster that saw seven people killed which had Wilmore fearing the worse.
He added in his recently released book: "I think of the partially charred helmet and boot I retrieved from that East Texas field.
The pieces had fallen tens of thousands of feet. Certainly all of those thoughts race through your mind. But you compartmentalize and get rid of them because you got to focus on what’s going on at the moment."
Williams sat down with 60 Minutes Australia in October 2025 to discuss the trip and the moment she realized things weren't quite right.
"We knew on the second day, before we started losing thrusters, that things were not acting correctly," she explained.
"The spacecraft was working hard to keep us on the trajectory of the space station, but it wasn't acting like it was designed to."
The astronauts started to lose its thrusters and 'one after another', which is when they knew 'something was absolutely wrong'.
She recalled "I think both of us were like, 'does that sound right?' Because you can tell when things are working by the way they sound, right? Like your car is the same way.
"If it sounds a little different, you're sort of questioning yourself, like 'am I hearing something?'"
Wilmore, meanwhile, maintained he wasn't going to get frustrated by the constant delays to a safe return home.
He told the New York Times: "It’s wonderful enjoyment. It’s fun. This is not an easy business that we’re taking part in. It is very difficult.
Human spaceflight is tough and sometimes you run into situations that are unexpected and we found ourselves in one."
https://www.unilad.com/technology/nasa/ron-garan-nasa-astronaut-humanity-465021-20260307
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XClV8EH7jDE (Butch Wilmore - He Was Stranded in Space for 286 Days | SRS #287)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIGKLdFwEVk (Life in Space: 9 months with the most incredible view of the world | 60 Minutes Australia)
FAA Ends Part 450 Transition Period
March 18, 2026
Space launch is officially in its Part 450 era.
The FAA announced Tuesday that US launchers had all transitioned to the five-year-old licensing requirements, leaving no one still operating under legacy regulations.
Context: The FAA established the Part 450 regulations in 2021 to streamline launch licensing for commercial space companies and to meet the Trump administration’s Space Policy Directive-2 requirements.
The new regulations were intended to:
Consolidate multiple application processes;
Allow for one license to cover multiple launch sites or missions;
Simplify the burdensome and time consuming approval process.
Blowback: Dave Cavossa, head of the Commercial Space Federation, told Congress in 2024 that the regulation threatens to “substantially reduce the pace of innovation and progress within the domestic space sector, and impede national competitiveness with China.”
Industry has also broadly said the new regulations remain difficult to navigate. Companies have complained about a lengthy pre-approval process, prompting Congress to direct the FAA to move faster.
Last year, lawmakers ordered a GAO review of whether the FAA is approving applications “in a timely manner.”
The FAA issued the first Part 450 license to Astra in 2022, but criticism continued, forcing the agency to establish a committee to review Part 450 in November 2024.
What’s next: Previous regulations and Part 450 existed in tandem for years, during a grace period that allowed existing launchers time to receive a license under the new rules.
However, with the FAA’s announcement that Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and ULA have all transitioned over, Part 450 is now the one and only law of the land.
In total, the FAA has approved 14 Part 450 licenses in the past five years.
https://payloadspace.com/faa-ends-part-450-transition-period/
Arrived from Space, Asteroid Ryugu Samples Suggest
Mar 17, 2026
Samples returned by JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 mission from the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu contain all five canonical nucleobases — purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (cytosine, thymine and uracil) — pointing to a cosmic origin for some of life’s fundamental chemistry.
Nucleobases are essential components of DNA and RNA, the molecules that underpin life on Earth.
Finding them in uncontaminated extraterrestrial material allows scientists to explore how these compounds can form without biological processes, and how they may be transported across the Solar System.
Earlier analyses of samples from the asteroid Ryugu detected the nucleobase uracil. By contrast, studies of meteorites and material from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu revealed a broader diversity of nucleobases.
“To accurately assess the nucleobases in extraterrestrial materials, it is essential to analyze samples minimally altered by terrestrial processes,” said Dr. Toshiki Koga from Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and colleagues.
“In this context, pristine asteroid samples — those not exposed to Earth’s atmosphere — hold high scientific value.”
In the new study, the authors analyzed two Ryugu samples collected by the Hayabusa-2 mission.
They detected all five canonical nucleobases — adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil — in both samples.
They compared the results with those obtained from the Murchison and Orgueil meteorites and with the returned samples from the asteroid Bennu.
They found significant differences in the relative abundances of the nucleobases.
More specifically, Ryugu contains roughly comparable amounts of purine and pyrimidine nucleobases, while Murchison has more purine nucleobases while samples from Bennu and Orgeuil are richer in pyrimidine nucleobases.
These results reflect the different chemical, environmental, and evolutionary histories of their respective parent bodies.
The detection of these nucleobases in asteroid and meteorite materials, despite their chemical differences, implies that they are widespread throughout the Solar System.
The findings also suggest that carbonaceous asteroids may have contributed to the chemical inventory of the early Earth.
“An analysis of pristine nucleobase distributions and their isotopic compositions in other carbonaceous meteorites would offer critical insights into the origins of these compounds and the astrochemical processes involving nitrogen-containing molecules,” the researchers said.
“The universal detection of all five canonical nucleobases in samples from the carbonaceous asteroids Ryugu and Bennu highlights the potential contribution of these exogenous molecules to the organic inventory that supported prebiotic molecular evolution and ultimately enabled the emergence of RNA and DNA on the early Earth.”
https://www.sci.news/space/five-canonical-nucleobases-ryugu-samples-14627.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02791-z
X-ray spacecraft watches monster black hole wake up and fire cosmic bullets at starburst galaxy
March 18, 2026
The joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission XRISM has spotted a monster black hole awakening in a distant "starburst" galaxy.
The research is revolutionary to black hole science, because it represents the first observation of the exact stage at which "winds" from a black hole begin to shape an entire galaxy.
Thus, the "switching on" of this supermassive black hole's powerful outflows could help scientists better understand how these cosmic titans and the intense winds of matter that flow from them influence their home galaxies, and how galaxies and their incumbent and dominant central supermassive black holes evolve in unison.
The team behind this research studied the supermassive black hole IRAS 05189-2524 using XRISM (the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) and its onboard, sophisticated X-ray spectroscopic instruments.
This work revealed bullet-like outflows blasting from the black hole's vicinity at speeds up to around 14% the speed of light.
The team found that these black hole bullets carried with them energy 100 times greater than that of slower molecular winds that spread through the distant galaxy, which is the result of a recent merger and is currently in the midst of intense star formation.
The energetic nature of these outflows shows they are more than capable of redirecting the evolution of this galaxy.
Supermassive black holes and galaxies grow up together
when it was created via a merger between two progenitor galaxies. This collision delivered a vast amount of gas and dust, which triggered an intense bout of star formation, referred to as starburst.
However, much of this gas flows toward the heart of the galaxy and its central supermassive black hole, gathering around it in a flattened swirling cloud called an "accretion disk."
As the accretion disk gradually feeds the black hole, the huge gravitational influence of the supermassive black hole, estimated to be 420 million times more massive than the sun, generates powerful tidal forces in the accretion disk, causing it to glow brightly.
This region is referred to as an active galactic nucleus (AGN), and its bright emissions are seen on Earth as a quasar.
Not all the matter in the accretion disk is fed to the supermassive black hole, though. Some is channeled to the black hole's poles, from where it is blasted out as powerful jets. Other matter is blown away by intense black hole winds.
These factors can push gas and dust away from the AGN, starving the black hole, and away from the host galaxy as a whole. This has the effect of "killing" the galaxy by cutting off star formation.
This leads to a quiet phase in the galaxy, now with a settled elliptical shape, without star formation, and with a slumbering black hole.
IRAS 05189-2524 presents a unique opportunity for scientists to study this process, as it is in the late stages of merging, with an active starburst ongoing and an active supermassive black hole in an AGN.
The scientists not only studied these black hole bullets in great detail but also found that this supermassive black hole is still voraciously feeding. In fact, this violent consumption of matter is close to the theoretical limit for such a black hole.
The team expects the outflows of matter from this black hole to intensify, eventually killing star formation in this galaxy.
The researchers hope to further study IRAS 05189-2524 with XRISM, as well as collect observations with the forthcoming NewAthena spacecraft, set to be the largest X-ray observatory ever built.
The new results will soon appear in a special edition of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/x-ray-spacecraft-watches-monster-black-hole-wake-up-and-fire-cosmic-bullets-at-starburst-galaxy