NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
April 18, 2026
PanSTARRS and Planets
Near the eastern horizon before sunrise, Comet C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS is getting brighter. Readily visible in binoculars and small telescopes, the comet may be just on the verge of naked-eye visibility from dark sky sites. Though it was not quite apparent to the eye, PanSTARRS is still easy to spot in this camera image taken on April 16. In the view from a volcanic peak overlooking France's Reunion Island, planet Earth, the comet shares eastern predawn skies with naked-eye planets Mars and Mercury and fainter Neptune. Saturn is hiding behind the low cloudbank that doesn't quite hide an old crescent Moon. This is a good weekend for northern hemisphere comet watchers to try to catch PanSTARRS an hour or so before sunrise, as the comet grows brighter approaching its perihelion on April 19. On April 26 the comet makes its closest approach to our fair planet but by then will be difficult to see in the solar glare. Good views of this comet PanSTARRS in late April and early May will be from the southern hemisphere.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqLLgywpY7Q
Flying Blind on Galactic Magnetic Reversal, Solar Update, Weather News | S0 News and frens
Apr.18.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bMb50mdaEc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XERTJaS7v50 (Ray's Astro: This Shouldn’t Be Happening… Storms Are Becoming Monsters | What They Don’t Explain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOrFea2MDPE (EarthMaster: California Earthquake Watch.. Daily updates on Global Eqs and Space Weather events.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTJJHIXRMnU (Sabine Hossenfelder: This Calculation Could Change The Periodic Table)
https://orbitaltoday.com/2026/04/18/nasa-volunteers-play-a-space-weather-harp/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15732595/britain-Worst-case-space-weather-scenario.html
https://x.com/SunWeatherMan/status/2045268114447991269
https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2045489753836188139
https://meteoagent.com/schumann-resonance-forecast
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes-volcanoes/news/300162/Volcano-earthquake-report-for-Saturday-18-Apr-2026.html
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/an-inspiring-visit-of-congresswoman-anna-paulina-luna-to-avi-loebs-office-at-the-harvard-college-19bd4a1c6002
An Inspiring Visit of Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna to Avi Loeb’s Office at the Harvard College Observatory
April 17, 2026
After sitting together side-to-side on the `observers seat’ of the historical Great Refractor telescope from 1843, congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna and I walked around the display of the women “computers” of the Harvard College Observatory who pioneered major discoveries in Astronomy over a century ago. They included Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who discovered the luminosity-period relation of pulsating Cepheid stars. Measuring the pulsation period of these stars allowed to determine their distance, just like reading off the label of a 100-Watt light bulb and knowing how far the bulb is based on its observed brightness. This, in turn, enabled Edwin Hubble a century ago to measure the proportionality constant between the recession speed of distant galaxies and their distance, implying that the Universe is expanding and that it started in a Big Bang. The inverse of the Hubble constant provides an estimate for how long ago all galaxies were on top of each other, namely the age of the Universe.
This tour was the conclusion of a 90-minute visit by Representative Luna and her affiliates to my office at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A few minutes before she entered the building, the Harvard police officer who escorted her told me that he is a great supporter of Representative Luna and that his son works for the Trump administration.
The meeting in my office included presentations of the latest experimental results from the Galileo Project, a scientific search for extraterrestrial technological artifacts near Earth.
Congresswoman Luna leads the congressional Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, and requested recently from the Pentagon the delivery of 46 specific videos of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
This followed on President Trump’s directive (posted here by the White House):
Representative Luna’s visit started with a demonstration by the Galileo Project’s chief engineer, Alex Delacroix, of the hardware used by the Galileo Project in the form of a set of infrared and visible cameras on a hemisphere, resembling R2-D2 from Star Wars, which monitor the entire sky at all times. The three Galileo Observatories in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Nevada are collecting data on millions of objects in the sky.
The latest observatory in Las Vegas includes three units separated by 10 kilometers, one of which is top of Sphere, the largest entertainment center in the world.
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By observing objects in the sky from three different directions, the Galileo research team is able to validate their existence and infer their distance via the method of triangulation.
This allows us to measure the altitude, velocity and acceleration of objects and search for outliers which deviate from the performance envelope of human-made technologies.
The Galileo data analysts, Dr. Regina Sarmiento and Dr. Richard Cloete, presented the latest analysis tools and AI algorithms that search for these outliers.
Representative Luna promised to help us engage the public in identifying the ground truth on which we train our AI models (as solicited here).
Finally, the renowned geochemist Professor Stein Jacobsen, who owns a home in Representative Luna’s district in Florida, and his research assistant, Dr. Eugenia Hyung, presented our latest results for the analysis of the materials retrieved from a 2023 expedition that I led to the site of the first recognized interstellar meteor in the Pacific Ocean.
The meteor’s fireball was spotted by U.S. government satellites on January 8, 2014, and its interstellar origin was validated by the U.S. Space Command in an official letter to NASA (available here), following my request through the White House.
About a tenth of the 850 meteoritic fragments found in the expedition had an unusual chemical and isotopic composition, indicating with a high statistical significance an origin from outside the solar system.
This is the first time that materials from a massive interstellar object were analyzed in the laboratory.
The same approach can be used to test any material that is alleged to have originated from outside the Solar System. Our laboratory instruments require less than a gram of any such material in order to validate or rule out its interstellar origin.
At the end of the inspiring visit, I gave Representative Luna my book, titled “Interstellar,” which I dedicated to her with the words: “You are a brilliant star that illuminates the darkness we live through.”
Shortly after the visit ended, President Trump announced that the government UFO files will be coming out of the White House very soon (as reported here).
Yesterday, I was asked for my opinion on the White House release of files (accessible here) as well as for my review of the recent movie “Project Hail Mary” (accessible here). At the end, I noted that life is a learning experience and exploring the unknown is what makes it worthwhile.
Here’s hoping that we will learn intriguing facts from the White House release of the UFO files. I look forward to applying all the scientific knowledge that I acquired during my academic career over the past 46 years to the interpretation of these files.
Whether we are alone or being visited is not a matter of opinion or belief. It must be derived from data.
Irrespective of what we learn from the upcoming disclosure, one thing is already known from my expedition to the Pacific Ocean: the training data set offered by the Universe at large is much larger than what is available to us on Earth.
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https://www.cnet.com/science/space/two-meteor-showers-april/
extra fireballs, neteors, comets, and stuff
https://westminsterpimliconews.co.uk/green-fireballs-uk-bright-meteor-streak-shocks-skies/
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/the-sun-spot/2026/04/16/nasa-heliophysics-spacecraft-witness-comets-demise/
https://www.discovermagazine.com/comet-3i-atlas-spewed-methane-as-it-passed-the-sun-revealing-hidden-ices-beneath-its-surface-48982
https://skyandtelescope.org/online-gallery/comet-c-2025-r3-panstarrs-4/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1DG4vYW4xE (Dobsonian Power: LIVE TELESCOPE - SUPERNOVA EXPLOSION NEAR REGULUS!)
Double Dazzle: This Weekend, There Are 2 Meteor Showers in the Night Sky
April 18, 2026 7:47 a.m. PT
We've had good reasons to look up at the skies lately: the pink moon earlier this month and the launch and splashdown of the Orion spacecraft, which carried humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years on the Artemis II mission.
And now we have two meteor showers.
The first is the Lyrids, which began on Tuesday and continues until the end of the month. It's a relatively minor meteor shower fed by the C/1861 G1 comet, also known as Thatcher after its discoverer, A.E. Thatcher, in 1861. It's a long-period comet that takes 415.5 years to orbit the sun.
The Lyrids meteor shower peaks between April 21 and April 22 and will produce somewhere between 15 and 20 meteors per hour under optimal conditions.
Per the American Meteor Society, the peak should occur on the evening of April 22, so if you can only make it out for one of the two nights, the second night is expected to be the better viewing experience.
The second meteor shower starting this weekend is the Eta Aquariids. This meteor shower begins on Sunday, April 19 and spans for over a month, wrapping up on May 28.
This is the stronger of the two meteor showers with an expected peak of roughly 50 meteors per hour, depending on where you view them from.
The Eta Aquariids shower is known for its fast meteors and persistent tails that stick around for a little longer after the meteor has disappeared.
The 1P/Halley comet feeds it, the same one that feeds the Orionids meteor shower every October. Its peak should be between May 5 and May 6.
The further south you are, the more meteors you can expect to see, and the opposite is true the further north you go. The best place to view this meteor shower is in the tropics.
How to see Lyrids and Eta Aquariids
Meteor showers come with a built-in trick for finding them. They are named for the constellations where the meteors appear to originate. This origin point, known as the radiant, is where you want to be looking.
The Lyrids meteor shower originates from the Lyra constellation, which is close to the larger Hercules constellation. Both of them rise from the eastern sky shortly around 11 p.m. local time.
It will then follow a similar trajectory to the sun, streaking overhead before setting in the west. Sunrise happens long before the constellations actually set, so if you're waking up early to view these, you'll want to look high in the western sky.
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A graphic depicting the Aquarius constellation on a horizon line.
Meteors from the eta Aquariids will appear to originate from the Aquarius constellation, visible on the eastern horizon a few hours before dawn during April and May.
The Eta Aquariids shower is more difficult to view. It originates from the Aquarius constellation, which spends most of the night of May 5-6 below the eastern horizon.
The constellation rises around 3 a.m. local time and will only barely breach the horizon before sunrise a few hours later. If you go out to view the eta Aquariids, get up high and point yourself east.
If you're having trouble finding the constellations, your best bet is using a sky map app like StarWalk (Android and iOS) or using web tools like Stellarium's Sky Map.
Such tools can help you identify where the constellations will be. For meteor shower viewing, all you really need is the general direction, but there's no harm in knowing how to find the constellation.
Tips for viewing meteor showers
The advice for viewing meteor showers is the same, no matter how big or small the shower is. The single biggest advantage you can give yourself is getting as far away from light pollution as you can. This means leaving the city and the suburbs behind in favor of greener, dimmer pastures.
The moon can significantly impact viewing. This won't be a problem for Lyrids since the moon is expected to be about a quarter full during Lyrids' peak. Eta Aquariids viewers aren't so lucky since the moon will be about 80% full that night, which will cause significant light pollution.
The American Meteor Society says that the shower's peak may be up to 50 meteors per hour, but with the moon that close to full, people can expect closer to 10.
Other than light pollution, the advice is pretty simple. Make sure to get out there early so your eyes can adjust, and avoid using any bright lights that could affect your night vision.
Since meteor shower watching can be a multihour activity, make sure to dress appropriately for the weather and abstain from alcohol, since it acts as a vasodilator and can cause you to lose body heat more quickly on cold evenings.
You won't need any equipment since meteors are visible to the naked eye. Telescopes and binoculars will reduce your field of view, which may cause you to miss meteors.
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its a miracle because my internet is slower than pond water today and its been a real bitch of a morning
Plants and Worms Informing Future Missions; Crew Preps for Computer Upgrades
April 17, 2026 12:08PM
Advanced botany and biology research to sustain crews on future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond wrapped up the week aboard the International Space Station.
The Expedition 74 crew also continued unpacking a U.S. cargo craft while keeping up the maintenance of the orbital outpost.
NASA flight engineer Chris Williams kicked off his shift gathering hardware and samples for the Veg-06 space botany study investigating how plants and microbes interact in microgravity.
Next, Williams mixed nutrients for the alfalfa and microbe samples being housed inside the Columbus laboratory module’s Veggie facility. Results may advance the development of ways to grow plants for food on future space missions.
ESA (European Space Agency) flight engineer Sophie Adenot worked inside the Harmony module setting up research and video gear to begin exploring how microgravity affects an astronaut’s gut health.
She recorded roundworms observing how their bodies and their gut microbes change in microgravity. Results may lead to the development of probiotics, or “living medicines,” to protect health in spaceflight and treat diseases and disorders on Earth.
Afterward, Adenot and Williams joined NASA flight engineer Jessica Meir and continued unpacking new scientific gear, crew supplies, and more from inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft.
Meir started her shift in the Kibo laboratory module filming content for JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) to promote space awareness and commercialization of low Earth orbit.
NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway focused primarily on lab maintenance throughout Friday. Hathaway first replaced filters on the urine processing assembly located in the Tranquility module’s waste and hygiene compartment, or bathroom.
Following that, he inspected berthing hardware that the Cygnus XL and JAXA’s HTV-X1 spacecraft are attached to during their missions at the orbital outpost.
Finally, he installed protective rings around ventilation valves in the Unity and Tranquility modules then photographed his work for analysis.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev were once again inside the Zvezda service module conducting maintenance and inspections throughout Friday.
Flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev inspected the ventilation system connecting the Roscosmos segment of the station with the U.S. segment then measured the airflow between the two segments.
At the end of the day all seven Expedition 74 crewmates joined each other and reviewed upcoming computer upgrades planned for the weekend.
The orbital residents will first replace network servers then activate their new, more powerful laptop computers. Support teams on the ground will assist the crew with the software updates, network configurations, and other technical transitions.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/04/17/plants-and-worms-informing-future-missions-crew-preps-for-computer-upgrades/
other ISS and NASA
https://www.ans.org/news/2026-04-17/article-7865/a-year-in-orbit-iss-deployment-tests-radiation-detectors-for-future-space-missions/
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyager/2026/04/17/nasa-shuts-off-instrument-on-voyager-1-to-keep-spacecraft-operating/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-shuts-off-instrument-on-voyager-1-to-keep-spacecraft-operating/
https://science.nasa.gov/uncategorized/csda-quality-assessment-report-evaluates-satellogic-newsat-data/
https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/webinar-4-29-nasa-csda-program-vendor-focus-mda-space/
NASA, OPM Announce New NASA Force Website, Open Job Applications
Apr 17, 2026
NASA and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) launched the NASA Force website on Friday, opening applications for roles aimed at recruiting the nation’s top engineers and technologists to support America’s air and space program.
NASA Force, a new hiring initiative developed in partnership with OPM, will recruit and place high-impact technical talent into mission-critical roles supporting NASA’s exploration, research, and advanced technology priorities, ensuring the agency has the cutting-edge expertise needed to maintain U.S. leadership in air and space.
“NASA Force is bringing highly skilled early- to mid-career engineers, technologists and innovators to help us achieve our world-changing missions,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
“Our successful Artemis II mission has inspired the world and generated tremendous interest to join our workforce to be part of the Golden Age of innovation and exploration.”
NASA Force is part of a broader US Tech Force initiative established by OPM to recruit elite technical professionals into federal service at multiple agencies to modernize systems, accelerate innovation, and strengthen mission delivery.
“NASA has always shown the world what American talent can achieve when it’s pointed at a bold mission,” said OPM Director Scott Kupor.
“NASA Force is about making sure the agency has access to the next generation of innovation and strong partnerships with private sector talent to drive its very ambitious agenda.”
The first job application under NASA Force is for aerospace engineer positions for a two-year term position, with the potential for additional term extensions. Additional openings are expected in the coming weeks and months.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-opm-announce-new-nasa-force-website-open-job-applications/
extra NASA
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/04/17/testing-begins-for-katalyst-nasa-swift-boost-mission/
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-ac-stafford-in-memoriam/
Landing astronauts on the moon 'is absolutely doable, and it's doable soon,' NASA's Artemis 2 commander says
April 16, 2026
The astronauts who flew NASA's Artemis 2 mission around the moon splashed down less than a week ago — and they're back at work helping the agency prepare for the program's next giant leap.
NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen captivated the world earlier this month, as they flew on a 10-day mission around the far side of the moon and back to Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft "Integrity."
During their journey, the crew shared inspiring images of our celestial neighbor and reflections that spoke to the hearts of millions of people who followed their flight from its April 1 launch to its April 10 splashdown.
"We wanted to go out and try to do something that would bring the world together, to unite the world," Wiseman, the Artemis 2 commander, said during a press conference on Thursday (April 16).
He thanked not only those at NASA who helped ensure the astronauts' safe return but also members of the media and the world at large for "just tuning in for a second and getting hooked on this mission."
Artemis 2 was the first crewed mission of the Artemis program, as well as the first crewed flight of the Orion space capsule.
Principally, Artemis 2 was a test flight of Orion's life support systems and a shakedown cruise to verify that the craft can sustain a crew during a mission to lunar space. And from the perspective of the astronauts aboard: Mission accomplished.
Wiseman and his crewmates said they gained a deeper understanding about life aboard Orion during their time in space. And what they learned bodes well for future Artemis missions.
"The thing that really surprised me on this mission was how well the spacecraft handled and how well the machine supported the four humans on board," Wiseman said.
"There's always things we need to improve," he said, listing a few small items that needed to be troubleshot on orbit, like cabin temperature.
"We were a little cold the first two days. They warmed it up. They fixed everything that we asked," he said. "They could put the Artemis 3 Orion on the Space Launch System [rocket] tomorrow and launch it, and the crew would be in great shape."
"It's important for us to run these processes out," Glover said, "because we are still making changes and learning ways that we're going to support the 30- and 45-day missions of Artemis 3, 4, 5.
And so it's really important for us to keep practicing, keeping our heads in the game."
Artemis 3 is the next launch planned for the program, and will see another crew aboard Orion practice rendezvous and docking maneuvers in Earth orbit with one or both of the contracted Artemis lunar landers.
Both SpaceX and Blue Origin have been tapped to provide landers for the program, and NASA indicated a willingness to fly with either or both once Artemis 3 is ready to launch.
That mission is scheduled to lift off in mid-2027, but had, until recently, been slated as the first Artemis moon landing, targeting 2028. Now, with Artemis 2 in the books, Wiseman says that a crewed moon landing seems more obtainable than ever.
"It's not the leap I thought it was," he said on Thursday, reflecting on his time approaching and flying around the moon. "If we had a first-flight lander on board that thing, I know at least three of my crewmates would have been in it, trying to land on the moon."
"It's going to be extremely technically challenging, but this team needs to show up every day knowing it is absolutely doable, and it's doable soon."
If NASA's schedule holds, and Artemis 3 goes well, Artemis 4 will put astronauts down near the lunar south pole in late 2028.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/landing-astronauts-on-the-moon-is-absolutely-doable-and-its-doable-soon-nasas-artemis-2-commander-says
extra Artemis II
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/prizes-challenges-crowdsourcing-program/center-of-excellence-for-collaborative-innovation-coeci/nasa-artemis-ii-human-research-data-methodology-challenge/
https://easternherald.com/2026/04/18/artemis-ii-jeremy-hansen-moon-flyby-deep-space/
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/space-shuttle-commander-at-las-vegas-stem-event-on-april-28-at-west-charleston-library/
https://www.spacecom.mil/Newsroom/News/Article-Display/Article/4463941/usspacecom-highlights-year-of-integration-at-the-41st-space-symposium/
extra Space Force
https://www.spacecom.mil/Newsroom/News/Article-Display/Article/4463823/usspacecom-leaders-meet-with-international-partners-at-the-41st-space-symposium/
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2026/04/space-force-lays-out-15-year-space-operation-plans/
USSPACECOM highlights ‘Year of Integration’ at the 41st Space Symposium
April 17, 2026
Through panel discussions, fireside chats, and international engagements at the 41st Space Symposium from April 13-16, 2026, U.S. Space Command leaders and staff demonstrated that the command’s “Year of Integration,” is not just a theme, but a strategic priority.
The Space Foundation’s Space Symposium, held annually at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, brings together leaders representing all sectors of the space enterprise, spanning the entire globe.
This year’s theme of “building capacity through innovation and collaboration,” served as a fitting backdrop for the opening remarks, delivered by Gen. Stephen Whiting, USSPACECOM commander, focused on the legacy and future of the U.S. military, tying the command’s mission to America’s 250th anniversary.
“As we gather here we’re also celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, and we are reminded that the same courage and determination that built this country, continues to guide our work at U.S. Space Command,” Whiting said.
“From the very beginning, we have never fought alone. We fight as a team. We fight as a combined and joint force. And when we do, we win.”
The annual forum provided an opportunity for the command to not only offer updates on its efforts, but to continue advancing its progress through numerous bilateral events with allies and partners–including academia, commercial, joint and interagency–bringing together the space enterprise in a rapidly evolving strategic environment.
Joint and Interagency Integration
USSPACECOM leaders highlighted the importance and evolution of joint and interagency integration consistently throughout the symposium.
On a panel that explored space-based kill chains for homeland defense, Lt. Gen. Richard Zellmann, USSPACECOM deputy commander, discussed the operational realities of modern warfare, the challenges of command and control in a fast-paced environment and the inseparable link between space operations and the Joint Force, specifically missile defense.
He said that while homeland defense is a top priority for USSPACECOM, the command also supports global operations including every geographic combatant commander.
“USSPACECOM, as a rule, touches every geographic combatant command’s area of operations,” he said. “We don’t just focus solely on the homeland; we focus on anywhere that the Joint Force needs to fight.”
He provided a recent example from operations in Iran to drive his point that integration across the Joint Force is the most critical factor in modern warfare, noting that space-based infrared sensors act as the “first sensor” to alert the broader missile defense community of an inbound threat in the region.
“And, if you shift over to the Iranian missile threat that we’re seeing coming our way, there’s an infrared sensor that’s picking it up and that is the first sensor that’s seeing it… letting the rest of the missile defense community know, and they’re getting after those missiles as they’re inbound, and know full well that the work that you’re doing every day is paying off.”
Earlier in the week, Maj. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, USSPACECOM director of global space operations, and Brig. Gen. Maurice Barnett, USSPACECOM director of strategy, plans and policy, participated in a similar panel discussion on delivering at speed to defend our homeland.
In the face of the rapidly evolving and increasing threats, Mastalir emphasized the value of close collaboration between the government and commercial.
“What I would tell industry today is number one: stay in contact – understand what the threat is, and then be prepared to scale,” Mastalir said.
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Similarly, Barnett lauded the U.S. space industry’s unmatched innovative spirit as an asymmetric advantage.
“I once heard someone say that humans are the only living being that have imagination…and if we’re going to be successful, we’re going to have to do some really creative things,” he said.
Panelists on the “Space Ops Theater Perspective,” including Lt. Gen. Dennis Bythewood, U.S. Space Forces – Space and Combined Joint Forces Space Component commander, echoed these themes.
Bythewood explained that Guardians are being trained for a new reality, saying they must “execute within a combat arms kind of viewpoint that they are always under threat. Their mission is under threat. They have to adapt and identify how to move forward and execute their job within those lines.”
In his keynote, Whiting reinforced the operational impact of space, “Space power now shapes all joint operations––global precision strike, missile warning, navigation, maneuver warfare, communications, and command and control all depend upon access to space.”
Allied and Partner Integration
The role of partnerships to expand our warfighting advantage served as a central theme during the Space Symposium, with U.S. leaders and allied commanders sharing the stage to discuss burden sharing and operational integration, including Maj. Gen. Vincent Chusseau, commander French Space Command; Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, U.S. Space Force deputy chief of Space Operations for Operations; Vice Admiral Nils Andreas Stensønes, Director of the Norwegian Intelligence Service; Maj. Gen. Paul Tedman, commander of UK Space Command; and Maj. Gen. Michael Traut, commander of German Space Command.
Tedman highlighted the success of Multinational Force Operation OLYMPIC DEFENDER.
“We’ve seen enormous progress under U.S. leadership, particularly Gen. Whiting, and it’s proven to be a formidable organization to bring us together and drive us towards common goals, standards, and ultimately effect.”
Tedman illustrated the value of MNF-OOD and integrated operations by describing a recent U.S.-UK operation under MNF-OOD. He explained that the orbital operation, Op Prajna, was not conducted in isolation but was nested within a larger carrier strike group deployment to the Indo-Pacific.
He added that by leveraging space capabilities alongside the maritime operation Highmast, it created dilemmas for adversaries across multiple domains.
“And if you can do that, you create dilemmas, and what you end up doing––and this is the point–you deliver strategic effect from space.
And that's really, really important to our joint commanders. So rather than just an add-on and an enabler, you're starting to actually deliver strategic effect, and a disproportionate effect to maybe some other domains."
Stensønes, stressed the need for complementary capabilities and effective data sharing.
“Our goal must be to build capabilities that complement and not compete with each other. We should aim at providing different pieces to the puzzle to make as complete a picture as possible,” he said.
Schiess reinforced the importance of resilient architectures and interoperability. “We want to have redundant capabilities so that we can go from one to the other and work together. The more we can work together, the stronger we are.”
The leaders agreed that true burden sharing in the coming years will be measured not by continued discussions about standards, but by results.
The ultimate goal being, to build a coalition so integrated that future conversations can focus on advanced operations, not the basic standards of interoperability.
Commercial Integration
Commercial partnerships were in the spotlight during the corporate partnership fireside chat with Whiting and retired U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, who led operations, cyber and nuclear for the Space Force.
Whiting described the USSPACECOM commercial integration strategy.
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“We think we have a role to help identify and advocate for capabilities that drive our space mission forward,” Whiting said.
“When we find those technologies, we want to operationalize them and incorporate them into our ongoing operations. And finally, we want to help inform and protect the commercial space industry.”
He highlighted the recent Apollo Insight exercise, which brought together 60 companies to address the threat of nuclear anti-satellite weapons in space.
“We wanted to engage with our commercial partners on what that would really mean, and talk to companies to see if they have technology that would help us in a world in which a weapon like that got deployed,” he said.
He stressed the shared risk facing commercial space assets in active conflicts, referencing the cyber attack on a commercial satellite communications provider during the opening night of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The soft underbelly of our space enterprise is cyber defense, and we all collectively, in the military, intelligence community, and commercial industry, have to take that very seriously.”
Burt added, “It’s a lot about talking about what if this were to happen, and on our worst day, how would we work through this together? So, I think it is important we’re talking about that top to bottom.” Whiting emphasized that partnerships are meaningless without results.
“We have to deliver. Execution is vital,” he said. “If we don’t, we’re spending a lot of money to shoot behind the duck. And our opponents are moving breathtakingly fast… we’ve got to get capability to the field so that we can make sure that we’re defending this nation.”
Academic Integration
USSPACECOM leaders also emphasized the importance of academic partnerships and workforce development.
Chief Master Sgt. Jacob Simmons, command senior enlisted leader for USSPACECOM, spoke about the need for space fluency during the panel, “Perspectives on Partnership.”
“Most people in the world know that satellites orbit and rockets launch and astronauts explore, but the fluency of having the intrinsic, instinctive knowledge and awareness of how much space enables our modern way of life and our modern way of warfare is not something that is common outside of the Space Symposium, and we need to increase that fluency with a sense of urgency through education,” he said.
He further argued that education must evolve beyond traditional definitions, noting that modern space operations are inseparable from cyber, data and AI.
He stressed that finding this specialized talent requires a new approach, acknowledging that the military and commercial industry are actively “fighting for the same talent” and must find ways to raise the tide collectively.
Internal Integration
Internal integration was a recurring theme, with leaders highlighting the need to break down historical silos and empower operators across the command.
During his remarks with industry leaders and the chief capabilities officer for the Space Development Agency, Zellmann pointed to the traditional separation of space and missile defense as an organizational silo that has now been dismantled by the realities of modern threats.
“As you progress over the past couple of decades, you really see how these two mission areas are a lot closer together,” he said. He noted that transregional missile defense is now a core part of USSPACECOM’s unified command plan.
“Those two mission areas are almost completely intertwined.”
To accelerate operational decision making, Zellmann also emphasized the need to reform command structures and push authorities down the chain of command.
“The maximum delegation is where you want to be,” he said. “You want to enable the most junior people in your formation to make the decision so that you don’t get stuck with 1,000 decisions to make at a very senior level.”
Throughout the symposium, USSPACECOM leaders made clear that integration––across joint, allied, commercial, and internal lines––is not just a theme, but an imperative.
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noice
Massive Drone Wave Targets Russian Oil Refineries and Ports Across Five Regions
April 18, 2026, 10:08 am
A massive wave of drone strikes targeted Russian energy infrastructure across multiple regions overnight Friday to Saturday, causing fires at several major oil refineries and port facilities.
In the Samara region, the Syzran and Novokuibyshevsk oil refineries were hit by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Monitoring Telegram channels ASTRA and Exilenova+ reported a fire at an ELOU-AVT-6 refining unit in Novokuibyshevsk, with satellite imagery showing thick black smoke over the facility.
While Governor Vyacheslav Fedoryshchev confirmed the drone activity, he only noted that one drone fell near a local maternity hospital, shattering windows but causing no casualties. The two targeted plants combined process over 16 million tons of oil annually.
Simultaneously, a fire broke out at an oil depot in the Tikhoretsk district of the Krasnodar region. Local emergency services deployed 224 personnel and 56 pieces of equipment to contain the blaze, DW reported.
The Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery processes over 8.8 million tons of crude oil per year, while the Syzran Oil Refinery processes between 7 and 8.9 million tons. Both refineries have already been targeted by drone attacks.
Further strikes were reported in occupied Sevastopol, where a large-scale fire erupted at an oil depot near Cape Manganari following an attack that lasted over two hours.
In the Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko reported that 27 drones were intercepted during an attack on the port of Vysotsk, where a fire broke out at a terminal.
The strikes prompted the “Kovyor” (Carpet) emergency plan at airports in Saratov, Penza, Samara, and Ulyanovsk, while Pskov airport faced temporary flight restrictions.
The overnight campaign follows a series of successful Ukrainian strikes on Baltic Sea export hubs, including Ust-Luga and Primorsk.
Kyiv has framed these operations as a strategic effort to reduce Russia’s oil export revenue and respond to Moscow’s attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, previously noted that targeting Russian oil terminals strengthens Ukraine’s position in negotiations.
In response to the escalating frequency of strikes – which reached near-daily levels in early April – Russian authorities recently announced the deployment of additional mobile air defense units to protect critical facilities in the northwest.
However, the latest multi-region attack suggests that key energy assets remain highly vulnerable despite increased security measures.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/74199
https://news.ssbcrack.com/ukraine-strikes-russian-oil-refineries-amid-ongoing-drone-warfare/
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/04/18/27-drones-down-one-port-on-fire-leningrad-oblast-governor-reports-overnight-attack-by-ukrainian-drones/