TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
August 25, 2026
Earth's Shadow Visualized with Lunar Eclipses
What’s creating this giant hole in space? This is not a black hole — it’s a shadow. It’s Earth’s shadow. Since at least the time of Aristotle, people have noted that Earth's dark shadow on the Moon during a partial lunar eclipse is circular – although never a whole circle. Using modern digital technology, though, the images of multiple lunar eclipses can be combined to show Earth's complete shadow. The featured image compilation by a perseistent astrophotographer is constructed from 22 years of lunar eclipses. The Moon is not eclipsed every month (moon-th) because the Moon's orbit is slightly tilted relative to Earth's orbit. Close inspection of some lunar eclipse images shows a faint blue band where Earth’s atmosphere filters out more red sunlight than blue. Later this week, a new lunar eclipse will occur and will be best visible in parts of North and South America, Europe, and Africa.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwAaYqe3wIY
M6 Solar Flare Targets Earth, Observers Are Gathering | S0 News and frens
Aug.25.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7m2rHgS-A8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=api5J7HfKzA (Ryan Hall Y'all: The Next 7 Days Are LOADED…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMYI0Noe9eU (dutchsinse: 8/24/2026 Earthquakes bouncing back and forth across the planet NINE TIMES past few weeks !)
https://x.com/RealDutchsinse/status/2092051195703545859 (thinks he may be blocked on youtube IDK)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yA-jH6j6pw (EarthMaster: Update on Earthquake swarm at Coso Volcanic Field. 3 Large M flares today. Monday Night update)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dykbkyVo_iM (Stefan Burns: Three Earthquake Swarms in Two Months Is Not Good…)
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solar
https://www.space.com/stargazing/auroras/sun-fires-powerful-m6-9-solar-flare-and-cme-toward-earth-could-it-boost-northern-lights-chances-this-week
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wildfires
https://fireandsafetyjournalamericas.com/autonomous-aircraft-wildfire/
https://san.com/cc/firefighters-gain-ground-on-hawk-fire-after-it-destroys-32-homes/
https://abcnews.com/US/evacuations-ordered-wind-whipped-ross-fire-texas-explodes/story?id=135932210
https://laist.com/brief/news/climate-environment/trump-administration-upended-how-the-west-fights-wildfires-california-is-bracing-too
https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/08/25/massachusetts-northern-minnesota-fires-drought-first-responders
https://www.news9.com/live/firefighters-battle-wildfires-southwest-oklahoma
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026/8/25/indonesia-battles-haze-as-wildfires-rage-across-south-sumatra-forests
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/08/25/annexed-crimea-declares-regional-wildfire-emergency-a93576
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storms and floods
https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Severe-Threats-to-Hit-Tornado-Alley-Upper-Midwest?source=news
https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/storms-to-bring-hail-damaging-winds-to-plains-midwest-this-week/1925651
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/severe-storms-heavy-rain-threaten-plains-heat-dome-fuels-unsettled-weather
https://www.thetraveler.org/severe-storms-cause-major-flight-delays-across-u-s/
https://abcnews.com/US/wireStory/homes-businesses-gary-indiana-power-13-days-after-135920059
https://www.abc4.com/utah-weather/utah-flooding/2-people-hospitalized-flood-bryce-canyon-national-park/
https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-16077853/When-Super-El-Nino-storms-hit-UK.html
https://www.voiceofemirates.com/en/society/2026/08/25/record-rainfall-and-storms-hit-italy-floods-inundate-streets-and-disrupt-citizens-movement/
https://metro.co.uk/2026/08/25/ibiza-hit-mini-tsunamis-forcing-holidaymakers-flee-29456534/
https://www.turkiyetoday.com/world/monsoon-rains-flood-northern-india-from-delhi-to-varanasi-3226760
https://pia.gov.ph/disaster-information-service/pbbm-assures-sustained-aid-as-over-1-million-affected-by-pampanga-floods/
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hurricanes and frens
https://www.accuweather.com/en/case-studies/hurricane-lala-accuweather-provides-earliest-and-most-accurate-forecasts-and-best-description-of-impacts/1926295
https://weather.com/2026/08/25/storms/hurricane/hurricane-season-maps-tracker-atlantic-pacific
https://weather.com/2026/08/25/storms/hurricane/atlantic-tropical-development-possible-dolly
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16076233/fema-workers-trump-supporters-broke-law-bombshell-report-watchdog.html
https://mauinow.com/2026/08/24/additional-hawaiian-electric-crews-arrive-on-big-island-to-help-with-repairs-from-hurricane-lala/
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/08/24/breaking-news/flood-watch-remains-for-big-island-as-downgraded-moke-heads-west/
https://bocanewsnow.com/2026/08/24/hurricane-center-growing-chance-system-se-of-florida-develops-into-something-notable/
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2026/08/25/hundreds-of-flights-cancelled-as-typhoon-bears-down-on-okinawa
https://www.beckchoice.co.uk/news/typhoon-saudel-threatens-freight-operations-across-taiwan-and-east-china
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202608/1368996.shtml
https://theloadstar.com/global-port-congestion-at-new-high-as-more-typhoons-hit-china/
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tornadoes
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20260825-france-tornado-ravages-small-village
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260825-wartime-situation-tornado-ravages-french-village
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earthquakes
https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/nature_and_travel/2026/08/25/earthquake_swarm_on_reykjanes_ridge_largest_magnitu/
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2241860/costa-rica-earthquakes-live-ring-of-fire
https://qazinform.com/news/magnitude-49-earthquake-recorded-in-pakistan-603c72
https://www.socialnews.xyz/2026/08/25/15-injured-in-earthquake-in-afghanistans-nangarhar/
https://www.dimsumdaily.hk/earthquake-measuring-magnitude-5-8-strikes-off-southeastern-coast-of-taiwan-with-no-damage-reported/
https://watchers.news/2026/08/24/shallow-m6-0-earthquake-hits-banda-sea-timor-leste/
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volcanoes
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/in-2014-scientists-blasted-mount-st-helens-one-of-americas-most-closely-watched-volcanoes-with-23-explosions-revealing-a-vast-magma-system-underground/articleshow/133513217.cms
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2291527/taal-volcano-records-162-quakes-in-6-days-amid-rising-activity
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20260825_19/
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dailys
https://schumannresonance.today/
https://www.weather.gov/
https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn
https://www.tornadohq.com/
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes-volcanoes/news/329757/Volcano-earthquake-report-for-Tuesday-25-Aug-2026.html
https://www.spaceweather.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
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https://www.seti.org/news/how-space-rocks-become-meteorites/
other space objects
https://nypost.com/2026/08/25/us-news/two-fireballs-spotted-soaring-across-sky-during-annual-meteor-shower/
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/stunning-green-meteor-lights-night-094114733.html
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/325309/20260824/catch-comet-220p-mcnaught-this-week-after-two-2026-eruptions-window-closes-22-years.htm
https://spacedaily.com/t-saturn-mass-free-floating-object-microlensing-20-per-star/
New study reveals how space rocks become meteorites
Monday, Aug 24, 2026
A stony meteorite in NASA Ames Research Center's Arcjet Interaction Heating Facility. A thin black line outlines the holder that supports the stone (left).
Air flow is from left to right. Melt flows from the meteorite surface and a thin shock wave is visible in front of the stone.
At a Glance
Researchers studied the fireball of 75 documented meteorite falls and identified seven phases that space rocks go through as they travel through Earth’s atmosphere.
The study found that melting and fragmentation, rather than simply evaporation, control how space rocks lose mass, slow down and ultimately reach the ground as meteorites.
The study identified at which altitudes different materials experienced those phases.
The findings help scientists better understand how larger, potentially hazardous solid-body asteroids behave when they enter Earth’s atmosphere.
August 25, 2026, Mountain View, CA – What happens to a space rock as it falls through Earth’s atmosphere and becomes a meteorite?
By studying 75 meteorite falls captured on video and in photographs, researchers identified seven distinct phases in the journey from space rock to meteorite.
Their findings show that melting and fragmentation, rather than simply evaporation and "burning up", control how a rock loses mass, slows down and ultimately reaches the ground.
The journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science published these findings.
"We used to think that solid rocks would evaporate from the enormous heat and brilliant light generated in the air collision," said meteor astronomer and lead author Dr. Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center.
"We found instead that first melting and then fragmentation controls how a rock loses mass."
The team found that a fireball goes through seven stages as it moves through Earth’s atmosphere. Each stage is shaped by different physical processes.
From meteor to fireball
Phase 1 starts high in the atmosphere, when the air is dense enough to create a shock wave in front of the falling rock. Collisions with air molecules heat the rock and the gas around it until they glow. This is what we see as a meteor or “shooting star.”
As the rock falls into thicker air, Phase 2 begins and the meteor gets brighter. Some meteors show that the rock is spinning rapidly by changing brightness in a regular pattern. The fastest-spinning rocks in the study made a full turn every 0.5 to 5 seconds.
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In Phase 3, the meteor gets much brighter and turns into a fireball. The researchers found that melting now causes most of the rock’s mass loss. The fast-moving air pulls melted material off the surface, leaving droplets behind that keep evaporating.
"In the laboratory, we cannot generate the amount of radiation that occurs in a natural atmospheric entry at those speeds," said Eric Stern, formerly at NASA Ames and now chief scientist at Hyperspace Technologies, Inc.
"Rock could aggressively fragment and erode instead, but then we would not expect the observed systematics in how fireballs brighten.”
At around 60 kilometers (around 40 miles) above Earth, the fireball reaches Phase 4 by settling into a melting equilibrium.
Its brightness stays the same or grows at a steady pace. The rock ultimately can lose up to 40 percent of its mass just from melting.
Breaking apart on the way down
Deeper in the atmosphere, higher pressure makes the rock break apart, starting Phase 5. The fireball may flare up several times as pieces break off.
The researchers discovered that rocks start to break apart when the air pressure in front of the rock is only about one-fifth of the strength measured in meteorites found on Earth.
They think that heat and cracks from earlier collisions in space can explain why the rocks break earlier than expected.
Only at this time does the remaining rock quickly become smaller and slows down significantly, more rapidly if the rock breaks aggressively.
"We were able to tie that slow-down from fragmentation to the previous mathematical descriptions based on ablation," said co-author Stu Pilorz of the SETI Institute.
If the back of the main rock stays whole, it creates a low-pressure area behind it that pulls smaller pieces along.
"Our modeling shows that as long as the back of the space rock remains intact, that rock pulls a vacuum in its wake into which fragments tend to flow," says co-author Darrel Robertson of NASA Ames Research Center. "Those small meteorites fall in a narrow strip on the ground."
When the back of the rock finally breaks apart in Phase 6, the fireball gives off a last bright flare and sends pieces flying out faster. Since the rock has already slowed down, these late flares are usually red instead of the bright green seen earlier.
"That final disruption sends fragments flying at higher relative speeds," said Jenniskens. "In past falls, we noticed that meteorites larger than about 20g tended to be scattered wider and many came from close to the surface of the original space rock, which must have been its backside."
The meteorites that reach the ground started as larger pieces, but they went through more melting and broke apart further before slowing down enough to land.
In Phase 7, melting and fragmentation keep happening until the last pieces slow down enough to stop glowing. Melting ends, leaving a thin fusion crust on their surfaces.
Winds can then blow the darkened fragments off course as they finish falling to the ground as meteorites.
What meteorites can tell us about larger asteroids
The 75 investigated meteorite falls included several different meteorite types. The study identified the altitudes at which these different materials went through the seven phases.
By studying the atmospheric slow-down of small solid space rocks of different types, insight was gained also into what happens to more dangerous airbursting asteroids the size of cars to city blocks.
"Asteroids up to tens of meters in size are also solid rocks because they tend to spin faster than do the larger rubble pile asteroids," said Jenniskens.
"The 20-m diameter asteroid that caused the airburst over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 went through the same phases."
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Watch out Roscoe, its The Colonels chicken and chocolate.
Expedition 75 is Go for Tuesday Spacewalk to Install High-Speed Antenna
August 24, 2026 1:35PM
Two astronauts will exit the International Space Station on Tuesday and conduct a spacewalk to finish installing a high-speed space-to-ground antenna.
The duo completed final spacewalk preparations on Monday with two of their Expedition 75 crewmates while the rest of the orbital residents studied the human respiratory system, activated Earth observation gear, and packed a cargo spacecraft prior to its departure.
Flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) wrapped up their spacewalk preparations on Monday with tool configurations, spacesuit leak checks, and procedure reviews inside the Quest airlock.
They are scheduled to set their spacesuits to battery power at 8:35 a.m. EDT on Tuesday signifying the start of a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to finish installing an antenna on the Z1 truss segment above the Unity module.
NASA’s live spacewalk coverage will begin at 7 a.m.
NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, flight engineer and station commander respectively, assisted Menon and Adenot with their spacewalk preparations throughout Monday.
All four astronauts gathered together at the end of their shift for a conference with mission controllers on the ground to discuss spacewalk readiness and robotics operations.
On Tuesday, Hathaway will command the Canadarm2 robotic arm from inside the orbital outpost with Menon attached and guide him along the antenna installation worksite.
Adenot will remain tethered to the Z1 where she and Menon will install the antenna and make the precise connections required to activate high‑speed transmissions with mission control.
Meir will monitor the spacewalkers and work with Hathaway to help the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits.
Roscosmos flight engineers Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina took turns at the beginning of their shift on Monday wearing an acoustic sensor around their necks that recorded their rapid exhalation rate.
Doctors are exploring how microgravity affects air and fluid motion in the lungs. Afterward, Dubrov packed the Progress 94 resupply ship with trash and obsolete gear in advance of its departure in September.
Kikina set up and activated Earth observation gear to automatically photograph islands and volcanoes throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev programmed a different set of Earth observation hardware to capture multi-wavelength imagery of African lakes and the continent’s Atlantic coastline.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/08/24/expedition-75-is-go-for-tuesday-spacewalk-to-install-high-speed-antenna/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/astronauts-anil-menon-and-sophie-adenot-on-spacewalk/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/08/25/nasa-esa-astronauts-begin-spacewalk-to-install-antenna/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/08/25/nasa-esa-astronauts-suiting-up-for-antenna-installation-spacewalk/
https://www.france24.com/en/technology/20260825-french-astronaut-sophie-adenot-prepares-for-second-iss-mission-spacewalk
https://x.com/NASA/status/2092205524481667467
https://www.c-span.org/event/public-affairs-event/nasa-conducts-98th-us-spacewalk-at-the-international-space-station/446388
https://www.nasa.gov/live/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0j7as4MLHk
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/galactic-gems-glisten-in-new-gallery-from-nasas-chandra/
https://science.nasa.gov/gallery/galaxy-gallery-galactic-gems-glisten-in-new-gallery-from-nasas-chandra/
moar
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/exep/science/exoexplorers/call-for-exoguide-nominations/
https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/science-enabling-technology/technology-highlights/integrating-model-based-systems-engineering-and-fault-management-to-enable-autonomous-space-missions/
https://www.nasa.gov/stmd-flight-opportunities/fo-resources/community-of-practice-webinars/sept-2026/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/wallops/2026/08/24/second-nasa-balloon-mission-launches-from-fort-sumner/
Galactic Gems Glisten in New Gallery From NASA’s Chandra
Aug 25, 2026
Galaxies are like cosmic gems, each with characteristics including size and shape that make them distinct.
A new gallery released today from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes displays a collection of galactic images that showcase this variety.
Astronomers put galaxies into three main categories: spirals like our own Milky Way with arms emanating from their cores, ellipticals that are older and likely the results of mergers, and irregulars that can encompass a wide range of galactic phenomena.
Just as gems reveal the history of Earth through how they were forged over billions of years, these galactic gems are a way to study Earth’s place in our home galaxy of the Milky Way.
By looking outward to other galaxies, we learn more about our own – including clues to its past and future.
There are 16 new images in this galactic gallery. Each one contains X-ray data from Chandra that has been collected across Chandra’s decades in space.
This high-energy data has been combined with data from telescopes such as NASA’s James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes, IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array), and others both on the ground and in space.
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X-rays are critical for the study of galaxies, revealing unique and important information about these cosmic building blocks.
For example, Chandra exposes gas that has been superheated to millions of degrees by winds from massive stars, the outflows from supermassive black holes, and the debris from exploded stars.
These are key sources of elements in our bodies, in the air we breathe, and the planet we live on. Chandra also sees some of the hottest and most energetic galactic phenomena in the universe, forming a more complete picture of how galaxies live, interact, and evolve when combined with data from other types of light and telescopes.
Spiral and star-forming engines
Face-on spiral galaxies like Messier 33 and NGC 3938 offer unobstructed views of places where energetic pairs of stars and cosmic explosions live along spiral arms.
Barred spirals like NGC 1672 and NGC 1385 show how central bar-shaped collections of stars, gas, and dust funnel fuel inward to ignite bursts of star formation. NGC 4725 reveals how star formation can be triggered by a previous collision with another galaxy. Meanwhile, edge-on views of NGC 4631 (the Whale Galaxy) and the starburst Messier 82 (the Cigar Galaxy) showcase giant halos and superwinds of million-degree gas driven thousands of light-years into space by intense explosions of stars, enriching surrounding intergalactic space with vital elements.
Active galactic nuclei, black hole outflows
Powerful, growing black holes in the cores of their host galaxies, known as active galactic nuclei, send energy outward in outbursts and jets that impact entire galaxies.
In Centaurus A, Chandra and IXPE data expose a high-energy particle jet blasting tens of thousands of light-years into space from its central engine.
In Messier 106, jets from the supermassive black hole heat surrounding gas to create spiral arms that are different from those typically found in spiral galaxies.
Meanwhile, the iconic Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 104) highlights a supermassive black hole embedded in a colossal stellar bulge, where Chandra’s X-rays map a diffuse halo of million-degree gas and hot stellar remnants surrounding its sweeping dust lanes.
Collisions, mergers, cosmic disruptions
The gallery also showcases galaxies undergoing extreme gravitational transformations. A direct impact in Arp 143 acts like a cosmic bullseye, creating an expanding ring galaxy and triggering waves of star birth.
Violent mergers, such as NGC 3256 and the dust-shrouded starburst II Zw 096, reveal the kind of chaotic galaxy collisions that dominated the early universe and offer a preview of the Milky Way’s distant future merger with nearby galaxy Andromeda.
NGC 1569 acts as a local laboratory for studying early universe starbursts, NGC 660 showcases a rare "polar ring" galaxy where a ring of stars orbits over its poles, and Messier 90 shows a spiral galaxy plowing through the Virgo Cluster, having its star-forming gas violently stripped away.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
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NASA-Supported Study Tracks Carbon Cost of Coastal Erosion
August 24, 2026 4:38PM
From Texas to Maine, coastal wetlands and marshes are releasing more than 1.45 billion pounds (660,000 metric tons) of carbon into the ocean each year, according to new research supported by NASA.
Coastal marshes, like forests and tundra, store large amounts of carbon in their plants and soil, but changes caused by storms, rising seas and human development can affect how that carbon is stored and transported.
The authors of the new study analyzed Landsat imagery along with lidar elevation data from the U.S. Geological Survey to track marsh loss along the Gulf Coast and Eastern seaboard between 1985 and 2022.
They estimate that while some of the carbon released by erosion is offset by new marsh growth, the net loss is still around 800 million pounds (380,000 metric tons) of carbon every year.
The amount of erosion varied across regions and time periods.
The authors identified increases in coast erosion in the Mississippi River Delta following hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Ida in 2021, both of which uprooted and submerged miles of coastal vegetation.
Home to the nation’s largest marshland by area, the region moved more coastal carbon than the entire Eastern seaboard.
Most of the carbon displaced by marsh erosion isn’t emitted directly into the atmosphere but enters the ocean.
This air-land-ocean exchange is traditionally hard to model because of the complexity of shoreline environments, which change continually, sculpted by rising sea levels, wind, tides and marine life.
To better simulate the process, new models are being developed at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Improved understanding of how carbon moves from land to sea along our coastlines can help scientists construct a more accurate picture of Earth’s carbon cycle overall.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/science-news/2026/08/24/nasa-supported-study-tracks-carbon-cost-of-coastal-erosion/
moar more
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/michigans-les-cheneaux-islands/
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/worldview-image-archive/low-water-levels-lake-powell-lake-mead-august-2026
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/oco-2/2026/08/24/nasa-caltech-partner-on-two-earth-science-missions/
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/maia-air-sensor-at-work-in-addis-ababa/
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/mapping-air-pollution-with-maia-sensors-in-addis-ababa/
Perseverance Captures Another Phobos Transit
08/24/2026
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture the silhouette of Phobos, one of the two Martian moons, as it crossed in front of the Sun on Aug. 12, 2026, the 1,948th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
The animation has been tinted to simulate what a human would see if they were watching the transit from the Martian surface through protective solar eclipse glasses.
Perseverance has captured several Phobos transits since its landing at Jezero Crater in February 2021.
By comparing the various recordings, scientists can refine their understanding of the potato-shaped moon'’ orbit, learning how it is changing.
Eons from now, Phobos’ orbit is expected to eventually send the moon toward the Red Planet’s surface.
Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/perseverance-captures-another-phobos-transit/
moar
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/starstruck-nasa-research-shows-how-suns-ancient-history-shaped-earth/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-astronaut-reid-wiseman-at-freedom-250-grand-prix/
https://www.wral.com/news/local/nasa-astronaut-christina-koch-visits-nc-state-raleigh-august-2026/
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-coverage-for-roman-space-telescope-launch-from-florida/
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman/2026/08/24/nasas-roman-telescope-enclosed-in-spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-fairing/
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
@NASAAdmin
It was great to welcome Chairman Sawada and Ambassador Yamada of @JapanEmbDC to NASA HQ today.
Japan is an important and valued partner in space, and our cooperation with @JAXA_en will be critical as we return to the Moon and prepare for missions to Mars.
3:48 PM · Aug 24, 2026
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2092021186209157475
extra
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2091976349728588263
https://x.com/astro_anil/status/2091978114217759044
https://x.com/wonderofscience/status/2090794532866572494
https://x.com/NASA/status/2091994900094959986
Office of Space Commerce Opens Pilot for Novel Space Mission Authorizations
Monday, August 24, 2026
The US Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commerce (OSC) is inviting US space operators to help test a proposed, streamlined mission authorization process for novel in-space activities.
Under a notice published in the Federal Register on 20 August 2026, interested operators can submit expressions of interest by 5 October 2026.
Selected missions will participate in a pilot of OSC’s proposed “Space Commerce Certification” (SCC), which is intended to coordinate federal review of activities not clearly or straightforwardly governed by existing regulatory frameworks.
The pilot moves OSC’s mission authorization initiative into a practical testing phase.
It also arrives alongside National Security Presidential Memorandum 17 (NSPM-17), the White House’s new National Space Transportation Policy, which directs federal agencies to expand launch and reentry capacity, improve access to infrastructure, support spectrum availability, and strengthen the US space transportation industrial base.
Together, the actions signal continued federal emphasis on reducing regulatory and infrastructure constraints on commercial space activity.
The Mission Authorization Pilot
The Federal Register notice implements Section 5 of Executive Order 14335, “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry.”
OSC explains that the SCC is designed for novel activities that fall outside, or do not fit straightforwardly within existing federal regulatory frameworks.
The agency’s March 2026 proposal described a consolidated process built around a single application and coordinated interagency review, while recognizing that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communication Commission (FCC), and the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA) office retain their statutory responsibilities and that applicants may still require separate legal permissions.
Any US entity may submit a summary of a planned mission for possible selection. OSC will review submissions and notify selected participants.
During the pilot, OSC expects to coordinate with the FAA, FCC, Department of War, Department of State, NASA, and other relevant agencies as needed.
OSC states that the pilot will test and further develop the SCC proposal and will include expected engagement opportunities for industry stakeholders and the public.
Selected participants will be asked to complete an SCC application.
OSC and relevant agencies intend to review the application for interagency concerns, work with the participant on adjustments and practices to address those concerns, and, once the process is complete, issue an SCC that may include recommended best practices.
OSC emphasizes that the pilot is voluntary and nonbinding, an SCC issued during the pilot has no direct legal effect, and participants remain responsible for satisfying existing FAA CRSRA, and FCC licensing requirements.
Expressions of interest, consisting of summaries of planned missions, should be submitted by 5 October 2026.
A Broader Push on Space Transportation
NSPM-17 establishes a national goal for US ranges to support more than 1,000 launches and reentries annually by 2030.
Among other things, the memorandum directs agencies to facilitate commercial access to federal launch and reentry sites, consider public-private infrastructure development, expedite facility permitting and environmental reviews, and develop fair and transparent cost-recovery policies.
NSPM-17 also directs the Secretary of Commerce and the FCC Chairman to ensure reliable spectrum access for commercial and federal launch, reentry, recovery, and on-orbit activities.
It calls for a development plan for a designated federal-land reentry site and directs the Departments of State and Commerce to promote international market access for US space transportation capabilities and standards, including through possible export-control updates.
In order to develop a competitive space transportation industry, it also calls on agencies to develop and implement a space transportation industrial base strategy, allow requests to launch foreign space vehicles, develop a lunar logistics architecture, expand commercial robotics access to Mars, and develop commercial architecture for sending humans to Mars.
The firm's Policy and Regulatory practice team is closely monitoring developments and is available to help space companies identify opportunities presented by NSPM-17 and evaluate participation in OSC’s pilot program including preparing submissions and navigating the evolving federal authorization framework.
https://natlawreview.com/article/office-space-commerce-opens-pilot-novel-space-mission-authorizations
Enoch Road Gate Construction
Aug. 25, 2026
SCHRIEVER SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. – A landscape photo of the Enoch Gate road construction on Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado, Aug. 14, 2026.
The gate construction aims to improve functionality and enhance anti-terrorism systems. (U.S. Space Force photo by Airman 1st Class Hayden Crowder)
https://www.petersonschriever.spaceforce.mil/Newsroom/News/Display/Article/4582425/enoch-road-gate-construction/
extra Space Force
https://x.com/USSpaceForce/status/2092285941566128413
SpaceX
@SpaceX
Introducing Starbase, Louisiana – a high-cadence launch site that will enable Starship to open a pathway to the stars for humanity.
Thank you to @LAGovJeffLandry and the great people of Louisiana for all of their support as we work together on this audacious project → http://spacex.com/sites/starbase-la
9:13 AM · Aug 25, 2026
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2092284173730144732
https://www.spacex.com/sites/starbase-la
moar SpaceX
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-15-22
https://www.capitalweather.com/spacex-jellyfish-falcon9-dc/
extra Tesla
https://x.com/Tesla/status/2089792686601695337
https://x.com/Tesla/status/2091009278610206932
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32C0_8_296k (Deploying Megapack At Scale)
they went big with that one
No signal left behind: new ways to detect jamming and spoofing
25/08/2026
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are an invisible backbone for everyday life. They are essential for transportation, emergency response and public safety. They are also vulnerable to interference, both natural and human made.
As our dependence on GNSS grows, the European Space Agency (ESA) is working hard to ensure satellite navigation systems are resilient and is supporting companies and Member States in finding new ways to detect interference.
With 10% of European GDP enabled by satellite navigation, the economic impact of GNSS interference is significant.
In the second quarter of 2025, more than 10 000 ships were reported as being impacted by malicious interference globally, marking an eightfold increase as compared to the first quarter of 2025.
Interference not only disrupts navigation on land, air and sea, but it also poses safety issues and economic losses as many ship systems, including fire safety and emergency beacons, as well as critical infrastructure such as power grids, are linked to GNSS.
In 2025, a joint statement issued by several United Nations agencies called for the protection of signals from harmful interference.
GNSS interference can take many forms. In jamming, GNSS signals are drowned out by stronger signals. In spoofing, they are faked to mislead the receiver.
GNSS interference also occurs naturally due to space weather. Charged particles in the ionosphere, influenced by the Sun, can disrupt or delay signals.
Finding ways to increase the resilience of satellite navigation systems is a top priority for ESA. As system development prime for the European Union, ESA is responsible for making existing systems such as Galileo and EGNOS more resilient.
Focused on innovation, ESA is building resilience by exploring a multi-layer system-of-systems for GNSS (for example through Celeste LEO-PNT), developing new technologies through research and development, and testing them at events like Jammertest.
The Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP) facilitates innovation in positioning, navigation and timing (PNT), supports industrial competitiveness and assists Member States in their national strategy.
Recently, NAVISP has supported three activities that develop new ways to monitor and map GNSS interference.
The Advanced Radio Frequency Interference Detection, Alerting and Analysis System (ARFIDAAS), developed by the Norwegian research centre SINTEF under NAVISP, continuously monitors Galileo, GPS and GLONASS frequencies to provide near real-time detection and analysis of interference.
ARFIDAAS stations in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Trondheim, Norway played a key role in research that traced powerful GNSS interference events affecting Europe, Greenland and Canada to a Russian military satellite system.
By enabling rapid alerts and building a database of known threats, ARFIDAAS supports operators of critical infrastructure in assessing disruptions and taking corrective action, while contributing to the long-term resilience and protection of GNSS-based services.
Dimetor GmbH, an Austrian company that specialises in monitoring services for telecommunications infrastructure, is using data from GNSS receivers mounted on mobile telecommunications towers to detect jamming and spoofing.
This technique could provide jamming and spoofing maps at a country level.
This new method could provide jamming and spoofing data continuously over large areas, whereas current data are reported by pilots, so it is only available when aircraft are present.
By using GNSS receivers already present in telecommunications networks, the future service from this activity could enable faster, more accurate identification of where interference is happening, supporting authorities and service providers in protecting reliable positioning services.
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Satellite_navigation/No_signal_left_behind_new_ways_to_detect_jamming_and_spoofing
extra ESA
https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Recording_its_own_demise_Draco_s_design_challenge
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/epsilon/EasyMotion_2_Using_electrical_stimulation_to_preserve_astronaut_muscles_in_space