« Last post by Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2025, 02:26:18 pm »
USA TODAY NASA's Hubble telescope gets another look at 3I/ATLAS. Here's what it found Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY Updated Mon, December 8, 2025 at 9:08 AM EST 5 min read
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope caught a glimpse of 3I/ATLAS – again.
The interstellar comet, which is hurtling through space on a path that will soon see it whizzing by Earth in December, recently found itself in the sights of Hubble. The iconic observatory, launched into orbit in 1990, first spotted 3I/ATLAS in July shortly after the object was spotted in Earth's solar system after coming from elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy.
For months, 3I/ATLAS has attracted plenty of attention – and become the source of bizarre alien spaceship conspiracies – as it visits our cosmic neighborhood on a journey that will one day take it beyond our sights forever.
Here's a look at Hubble's latest image of 3I/ATLAS, as well as what to know about a European orbiter's recent observations of the interstellar comet.
What is 3I/ATLAS interstellar comet?
The 3I/ATLAS interstellar comet is approaching Earth and will on Dec. 19 fly within 170 million miles of our planet.
An object known as 3I/ATLAS made news in July 2025 when it was confirmed to be the third-ever object discovered originating outside Earth's solar system. When it was spotted, 3I/ATLAS was whizzing at about 137,000 miles per hour, according to NASA.
Observations of 3I/ATLAS' speed and trajectory confirmed to astronomers that it formed in another star system and was ejected into interstellar space – the region between the stars, according to NASA. For potentially billions of years, the comet has drifted on a journey from the general direction of the constellation Sagittarius in the center of the Milky Way that recently brought it into our solar system.
Unlike comets bound to the sun's gravity, 3I/ATLAS is traveling on a hyperbolic orbit that will eventually carry it out of the solar system and back into interstellar space.
NASA's Hubble gets 2nd look at 3I/ATLAS
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed 3I/ATLAS Nov. 30, with its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. The image was taken about four months after Hubble's first look at the interstellar comet.
The Hubble Space Telescope is just one of many NASA's instruments – including the James Webb Space Telescope – that has had its sights trained on 3I/ATLAS in the few months that the comet has been flying through our solar system.
Hubble's latest sighting of the interstellar object came Nov. 30, NASA said in a December blog post.
At the time, 3I/ATLAS was about 178 million miles from Earth. Because Hubble was tracking the comet as it moved across the sky, stars in the background of the image appear as streaks of light, NASA said.
Hubble's 1st observations of 3I/ATLAS helped determine size
Hubble first caught a glimpse of 3I/ATLAS in July shortly after the interstellar interloper was first discovered.
While astronomers don’t yet know exactly how big 3I/ATLAS could be, estimates range from a few hundred feet to a few miles across, according to the European Space Agency. What's more, Hubble's initial data helped astronomers estimate the size of the comet’s solid, icy nucleus as anywhere from about 1,400 feet to 3.5 miles wide.
ESA Jupiter orbiter also glimpses comet
During November 2025, The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) used five of its science instruments to observe 3I/ATLAS. Though the data from the science instruments won’t arrive on Earth until February 2026, the mission team downloaded this quarter of a single NavCam image to see what was in store.
A European Space Agency orbiter bound for Jupiter also recently spotted 3I/ATLAS.
The ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) observed the comet between Nov. 2 and Nov. 25 when 3I/ATLAS was in a "very active state" following its closest approach to the sun Oct. 30, according to the agency. Because the spacecraft is far from Earth on the other side of the sun, scientists don't expect to receive its observations until February, according to the ESA.
But the mission team was able to download a quarter of a single image from JUICE's navigation camera as the spacecraft travels to Jupiter by 2031. The image was taken Nov. 2, two days before JUICE's closest approach to the comet Nov. 4 at a distance of about 41million miles.
Signs of activity area clear in the image, including the comet's surrounding glowing halo of gas, known as its coma, and two distinct tails. One tail is composed of electrically charged gas stretching to the top of the frame, while the other, made of dust particles, stretches to the lower left of the image, the ESA said.
NASA releases photos of 3I/ATLAS comet
NASA on Nov. 19 released a trove of never-before-seen images of 3I/ATLAS unveiling new characteristics of the object.
A look at all of the photos NASA has released of 3I/ATLAS since its July discovery, including detailed explanations of each, are available below.
NASA’s Psyche mission acquired four observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS over the course of eight hours on Sept. 8 and 9, 2025, when the comet was about 33 million miles from the spacecraft. The data, captured by Psyche’s multispectral imager, is helping astronomers both refine the trajectory of 3I/ATLAS and learn more about the faint coma, or cloud of gas, surrounding its nucleus.
Where is 3I/ATLAS now? Will it be visible from Earth?
The comet 3I/ATLAS, which is not a threat to Earth, is projected to pass within about 170 million miles of our planet on Dec. 19 – or about twice the distance between Earth and the sun.
Though 3I/ATLAS is not visible to the naked eye, those with even a small telescope can observe the comet in the pre-dawn sky until spring 2026, according to NASA. The agency's "Eyes on the Solar System" online simulation shows the location and path of 3I/ATLAS as it moves through our solar system.
Is 3I/ATLAS an alien spaceship? NASA leaders reject conspiracy theory
The strange outsider's jaunt through Earth's cosmic neighborhood has sparked plenty of outlandish conspiracy theories regarding its nature.
One particularly infamous idea – put forth by a Harvard astrophysicist named Avi Loeb – is that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spaceship. Though Loeb has conceded on publishing platform Medium that the object is "most likely a comet of natural origin," he has not ruled out the possibility that it could be extraterrestrial technology.
NASA officials, though, have attempted to put that notion to rest.
In a social media exchange with reality TV star Kim Kardashian in October, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy affirmed: "No aliens. No threat to life here on Earth."
Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, also rejected the alien conspiracy theory during the agency's November news conference, saying "we certainly haven't seen any technosignatures or anything from it that would lead us to believe it was anything other than a comet."
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
« Last post by Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2025, 02:14:15 pm »
ScienceAlert Cutting Calories by 30% May Be Enough to Shield Brain Against Aging David Nield Mon, December 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM EST 3 min read
illustration of a nerve fibre
A calorie-restricted diet could slow down the aging that naturally happens in the brain as we get older, according to a new study of rhesus monkeys, and the findings could also be relevant to brain diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Researchers led by a team from Boston University analyzed the brains of 24 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that had been fed calorie-restricted or standard diets for more than 20 years.
After these lifelong dietary differences, the researchers found signs of healthier nerve communication and protection in brain tissue samples from the animals that consumed 30 percent fewer calories.
It adds to what we already know about diets with limited calories: By giving the body less fuel to work with, these diets can put the body's metabolism into a more efficient mode – which, in this study, appears to have protected against some of the cellular wear and tear that normally comes with aging.
"While calorie restriction is a well-established intervention that can slow biological aging and may reduce age-related metabolic alterations in shorter-lived experimental models," explains first author, Boston University neurobiologist Ana Vitantonio, "this study provides rare, long-term evidence that calorie restriction may also protect against brain aging in more complex species."
The team focused specifically on myelin, the fatty coating around nerve fibers in the brain that protects them and speeds up communication between them. As the brain gets older, myelin degrades, which can trigger inflammation.
Illustration showing how active neurons signal to oligodendrocytes to produce myelin. (Vitantonio et al., Aging Cell, 2025)
In the monkeys fed calorie-restricted diets, there were strong signs that the myelin wrapping around nerves in the brain was in a better state: Myelin-related genes were more active, and key metabolic pathways related to myelin production and maintenance were functioning better.
The cells that produce myelin and help keep it healthy were working more efficiently, too, the researchers found – stopping some of the signs of aging seen in the monkeys on standard diets.
"This is important because these cellular alterations could have implications that are relevant to cognition and learning," says neurobiologist Tara Moore, from Boston University.
Microscope image showing healthy signs of oligodendrocytes (nuclei stained blue) producing a protective myelin sheath for nearby nerve cells (magenta). White scale bar is 20 μm. (Boston University)
As with the rest of our bodies, the brain's machinery tends to break down as the years roll by. In some cases, mechanisms designed to maintain good brain health actually go haywire and become harmful, leading to neuroinflammation.
That's why conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease become much more likely in old age – because brain cells are in a worse state, and their overactivity might cause some inadvertent damage, especially if the protective sheath around nerve cells is deteriorating with age, too.
In recent years, scientists have been revisiting the link between Alzheimer's disease and myelin decline, adding experimental evidence of myelin breakdown to imaging data from people with rapid cognitive decline. This study adds another clue and a way to possibly intervene – through diet.
While this research was only carried out in a relatively low number of monkeys, their brains share plenty of similarities with humans, so there's good reason to think the findings might apply to people, too – something which future studies could look at.
"Dietary habits may influence brain health, and eating fewer calories may slow some aspects of brain aging when implemented long term," says Moore.
Though as we're learning from other studies, there are many factors beyond diet that can influence brain aging, including sleep quality and language learning.
« Last post by Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2025, 02:06:29 pm »
Popular Mechanics Scientists Just Found a New Human Blood Type. Only 3 People on Earth Have It. Elizabeth Rayne Mon, December 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM EST 3 min read
Scientists Just Found a New Human Blood Type Douglas Sacha - Getty Images
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
*There are rare blood types beyond the eight most common ones, and researchers have discovered one more that brings the total count to 49.
*Blood type A(B) is caused by a four gene mutations and was discovered when the blood of patients and donors was being studied in a Thai hospital.
*Because similar mutations have been known to occur in other contexts, there could be more that are still undiscovered.
What’s your sign? What’s your aura? What’s your blood type? While horoscopes and New Age crystals often provide clear answers to the first two questions, the last one on that list can get complicated sometimes.
Blood types are identified by antigens—compounds made of sugars and proteins that alert the immune system to the presence of something foreign in the body—and they are the foundation of the ABO blood group system laid out by Karl Landsteiner in 1901. The A antigen has N-acetylgalactosamine as its dominant sugar, the B antigen is dominated by the sugar D-galactose, and type AB blood has both antigens. Type O positive uses a different antigen altogether (known as the rhesus, or Rh, factor), and Type O negative has none of the above. All of this complexity is encoded into proteins by out ABO gene, located on our ninth chromosome.
While interesting in and of themselves, antigens become especially important when it comes to donating blood to and receiving blood from others. For blood transfusions to succeed, the antigens of the patient’s blood and the donor’s blood have to match, or else the new blood will be rejected by antibodies in the plasma. This is whytype O negative blood is seen as the universal donor type—because it has neither of the A or B antigens nor the Rh(D) antigen, there is virtually no risk of rejection.
But even rarer blood types than O negative exist. There are fifty people on the entire planet with Rh-negative blood, nicknamed “golden blood,” which is completely devoid of Rh antigens. And there is only one individual known to have Gwada negative blood, which was only discovered earlier this year. While O negative is only found in 7% of the global population, researchers who tested the blood of patients and donors in a Thai hospital have now discovered yet another new type that runs through the veins of only three known individuals (it was found in one patient and two donors). What is now recognized as type B(A) has mostly B antigens, but also trace A antigens.
“ABO discrepancies were distinct between donors and patients even in the same ethnicity,” the researchers said in a study recently published in the journal Transfusion and Apheresis Science. “This finding highlighted the influence of the patient’s conditions and therapy on the anomalous ABO typing. Additionally, the B(A) individuals identified in this study carried identical genetic alterations that differed from all antecedent alleles of the B(A) phenotype.”
The researchers saw four alleles—alternative forms of certain genes at the same location on a chromosome—on the B(A) type that differed from alleles associated with other blood type and created B(A). Mutations like this had previously been seen in many ethnicities, including individuals from other parts of Asia, but it was the first time such a phenomenon was ever recorded in the Thai population. B(A) adds one more type to the 48 already known to occur in humans.
There could be more blood types out there that remain undiscovered, and more individuals with those extremely rare blood types. And the three currently known occurrences of B(A) may not be the only ones in the world. Further research may find more of either, and this discovery is proof that blood typing is not so simple as ABO.
« Last post by Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2025, 01:57:45 pm »
Space A green flash at sunset | Space photo of the day for Dec. 8, 2025 Kenna Hughes-Castleberry Mon, December 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM EST 3 min read
A green flash is seen during a sunset at Cerro Pachó in the Chilean Andes. . | Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava)
Just as the sun slips behind the Chilean Andes, it seemed to send up a tiny emerald flare. The photograph, taken from Cerro Pachón in Chile by NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador Petr Horálek, captures a classic but elusive atmospheric trick of the light: the green flash.
What is it?
Despite the dramatic name, a green flash isn't an explosion or a burst of energy. It's simply sunlight being bent and split by Earth's atmosphere.
White sunlight is made of all the colors of the rainbow. But as Earth rotates and the sun approaches the horizon, its light has to pass through a very thick slice of the atmosphere. That air acts like a giant prism, refracting (bending) the light slightly and separating colors based on their wavelength. Shorter wavelengths — blue and green — are bent more strongly than red and orange.
At the very last moment before sunset (or the first moment after sunrise), the sun's disk is already mostly hidden below the horizon. What you're seeing is really a stack of slightly displaced images: the "red sun," the "orange sun," the "yellow sun," and so on, all shifted by tiny different amounts. The lower colors disappear first. For a brief instant, the uppermost surviving layer is dominated by green, forming a thin glowing band at the top edge of the sun: the green rim. If the conditions are just right — clear air, a sharp horizon, the right layering in the atmosphere — that skinny rim looks like a small, detached green spark: the famous green flash.
In reality, a green rim is there at every sunset. It's just usually so thin, and so brief (a second or two), that our eyes can't pick it out. Sensitive cameras, high-quality lenses, and fast bursts of images are perfect for catching it.
Where is it?
This image was taken on Cerro Pachón in Chile.
Why is it amazing?
There are lots of reasons that scientists are interested in atmospheric optics like this. The shape, height, and duration of a green flash depend on how temperature, pressure, and density vary with altitude. Layers of warm and cool air can act like stacked lenses, creating mirage effects and stretching or squashing the sun's image. By modeling and measuring green flashes carefully, scientists can test how well we understand the vertical structure of the atmosphere near the horizon.
Telescopes on Cerro Pachón, where this image was taken, and other mountaintops look through the same atmosphere that creates the green flash. The air bends different colors by different amounts, slightly smearing out starlight into a little rainbow. Instruments called atmospheric dispersion correctors are designed to counteract that effect. Understanding exactly how Earth's atmosphere splits and bends light — the same physics behind the green flash — helps astronomers sharpen their images and spectra of distant stars and galaxies.
« Last post by Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2025, 01:53:18 pm »
AccuWeather Northern lights forecast: Aurora could be visible across northern U.S. Tuesday after solar eruptions Emilee Speck Mon, December 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM EST 2 min read
The aurora forecast for Dec. 8 and 9, 2025. (Image: NOAA SWPC)
Eruptions of charged particles from the sun are moving toward Earth and could create vivid displays of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, across large parts of the northern United States this week.
A burst of solar material known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) was detected by NOAA satellites departing the sun on Monday. CMEs are massive clouds of magnetized plasma that can set off geomagnetic storms when they interact with Earth's magnetic field.
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) forecasts that the incoming CME could reach Earth around midday Tuesday, prompting a Strong (G3) Geomagnetic Storm Watch, a level 3 out of 5 on the agency's space weather scale.
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If a strong geomagnetic storm develops, the aurora forecast suggests the northern lights could be visible across the northern tier of the country and may even reach as far south as the Midwest as well as Oregon, depending on storm strength and cloud cover. The northern lights typically appear near Earth's poles, but intense solar storms can push auroras much farther south. When this happens, skywatchers may spot sweeping waves of green, red and purple light moving across the night sky.
Space weather events like this week's solar eruption can also impact technology, potentially affecting the power grid, satellites, GPS navigation and radio communications.
The current CME is linked to an M8.1 solar flare that erupted from an active region of the sun on Dec. 6, according to the SWPC. A nearby sunspot region also produced a powerful X1.1 solar flare on Monday, causing about an hour-long radio blackout on the sunlit side of Earth.
A cloud forecast for 1 a.m. EST Tuesday.
For those hoping to see the aurora, NOAA notes that the best viewing conditions occur under dark, clear skies away from city lights. While cloud cover is forecast to dominate the northern half of the U.S., many of those clouds are high-level, with most of the northern Plains, Ohio Valley, Pennsylvania and New England having a chance to see the northern lights, at least partially, through the clouds.
« Last post by Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2025, 01:48:16 pm »
GEEKSPIN The world’s first space hotel is set to launch in 2027 Guests can expect aboard‑station restaurants, bars, a gym, a concert hall, and even a cinema Christian Saclao Mon, December 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM EST 4 min read
For decades, the idea of checking into a hotel among the stars has been confined to the realm of science fiction, but that is about to change: the world’s first true orbital resort is now set to launch in 2027. This groundbreaking facility promises to redefine luxury tourism, offering amenities far beyond what one would expect from a mere space station; guests will be able to enjoy fine dining restaurants, fully-stocked bars, a gym, a concert hall, and even a cinema, all while orbiting the planet. But while the opening year is confirmed, the question remains: How exactly will this colossal structure generate gravity for its guests, and what astronomical price tag will come with a room key to the cosmos?
How vacationing in space will become a reality
The era of space tourism is on the horizon, and it’s set to reach new heights in 2027 with the launch of Voyager Station, the world’s first hotel in orbit, developed by Above: Space Development Corporation (formerly Orbital Assembly Corporation). This state-of-the-art luxury resort will circle the Earth while providing artificial gravity, accommodating up to 280 guests and 112 crew members at a time.
The station’s innovative design draws inspiration from decades of aerospace research, including the rotating wheel concept originally envisioned by Wernher von Braun. By spinning at roughly 1.5 rotations per minute, Voyager Station will initially replicate the Moon’s gravity and can later be adjusted to mimic conditions on Mars or even Earth, ensuring a comfortable stay for visitors.
Launching from Kennedy Space Center, Voyager Station promises unforgettable experiences above the planet. Upon arrival, travelers dock at a central zero-gravity hub before moving via pressurized elevators to the outer modules, where artificial gravity creates a familiar, Earth-like environment.
What guests can expect aboard Voyager Station
Voyager Station is designed as a vast rotating ring, consisting of 24 specialized modules and spanning approximately 125,000 square feet. Each module serves a distinct purpose, creating a seamless blend of luxury, entertainment, and innovation for guests in orbit. Visitors can enjoy gourmet meals and drinks at the onboard restaurant and bar, attend live musical performances in a concert hall, and stay active in a gym that creatively takes advantage of low gravity. A cinema provides both classic films and exclusive space-themed content, while observation decks offer breathtaking panoramic views of Earth.
Guests will move between modules through pressurized transfer shafts, ensuring safety and comfort throughout the station. Before their journey, all travelers undergo comprehensive training to familiarize themselves with zero-gravity movement, the use of space equipment, and emergency procedures. Voyager Station itself is equipped with advanced life support systems and emergency protocols, giving visitors peace of mind as they experience the wonders of space. The result is a meticulously planned, immersive adventure that transforms the idea of a vacation into a truly out-of-this-world experience.
The price of staying in space
For now, space travel remains the domain of the ultra-wealthy — a single trip can cost tens of millions. One early example is Oliver Daemen, a Dutch teenager who became the youngest person to travel to space when he paid $28 million for a brief flight with Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos that specializes in suborbital and orbital space tourism. But the team behind Voyager Station aims to change that. Their vision is to make space vacations more comparable in price to luxury cruises on Earth. According to Tim Alatorre, co-founder, COO, and chair of the board at Above Space, the station itself is relatively affordable to construct; the primary expense lies in reaching orbit.
Alatorre notes that advances by companies like SpaceX could soon dramatically reduce launch costs, bringing orbital stays within reach for a wider audience within the next decade. Experts say this initiative represents a historic turning point, because for the first time, everyday people, not just trained astronauts, will be able to live, dine, and exercise in orbit.
How commercial space is heating up
Voyager Station isn’t venturing into uncharted territory alone. Other companies are making strides in commercial space as well. Axiom Space, in partnership with NASA, is developing a commercial module on the International Space Station that will eventually evolve into an independent platform. Meanwhile, Blue Origin and Sierra Space are collaborating on Orbital Reef, a new commercial space station.
What sets Voyager Station apart, however, is its singular focus on tourism. Designed with entertainment, leisure, and hospitality at its core, it promises an experience unlike any other in orbit. To prepare for the full-scale station, Above Space will test smaller prototypes — the Gravity Ring and Pioneer Stations — by 2025, refining the technology and ensuring a seamless experience for future guests.
Beyond offering an unforgettable vacation, Voyager Station opens the door to a host of other opportunities. The orbiting resort will support scientific research, educational programs, entertainment ventures, and entirely new ways of working in space, ushering in a bold new era of human activity above Earth. With tourism at the forefront, the station represents a major leap toward making space not just a destination, but a thriving, multifaceted environment for exploration, learning, and leisure.
« Last post by Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2025, 01:40:26 pm »
The Hill Opinion Opinion - Russia is out of the human spaceflight business — for now Mark R. Whittington, opinion contributor Sun, December 7, 2025 at 10:00 PM EST 4 min read
A Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Site 31 pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan recently, carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams to the International Space Station.
The journey went off without incident, but the launch left such destruction in its wake that it may well have ended Russia’s storied history of human spaceflight.
According to Ars Technica, someone failed to secure a 20-ton service platform that is used for workers to access the engines of the Soyuz rocket before launch. The rocket’s thrust ejected the platform into the flame trench, trashing the launch pad and rendering it inoperable for the foreseeable future.
Since the Site 31 pad is the only one operated by Roscosmos capable of launching both the crewed Soyuz rocket and the Progress cargo carrier, Russia is no longer able to access the International Space Station. The situation has ramifications for both the ISS and Russia’s future as a space power.
Officially, the Russians are upbeat about their ability to restore Site 31 with all due speed. Outside observers of the Russian space program are not so sure.
Leaving aside the culture of corruption and mismanagement that has plagued the Russian space program in recent years, a great many resources that might have been used to rebuild Site 31 are instead feeding Putin’s misbegotten, imperialist war in Ukraine.
Add to that the economic sanctions that the West has imposed on Russia to punish it for its aggression, the betting is that the country that once astonished the world with the first satellite and the first man in space is out of the human spaceflight business for the foreseeable future.
Russia is certainly not like SpaceX, which has bounced back from a number of similar catastrophes relatively quickly.
The effects on the continued operation of the ISS will soon be apparent. The Progress cargo carrier is used to periodically reboost the orbiting space lab and to “desaturate” its gyroscopes.
The SpaceX Dragon and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus have been used to reboost the station, so those are probably work-arounds.
Progress is also used as a tanker to refuel the Russian-built thrusters on the ISS. The thrusters will be important, should the space station have to avoid space debris.
Developing a new means to refuel the thrusters is a bigger problem. Could the Progress be launched on another rocket, say a Falcon 9? Could a Cargo Dragon be configured as a tanker? One would hope that Elon Musk has his SpaceX engineers working on the problem.
The greater issue that the accident has highlighted is the question of Russia’s place in the world. Putin considers himself the second coming of Czar Peter the Great. Peter helped make Russia into a world power. Putin would like to restore his country’s strength and influence lost when the Soviet Union fell.
The difference between Putin and Peter the Great is that Czar Peter not only won his wars against the Swedes and Turks but kept up good relations with European countries such as England and the Netherlands. Peter’s Russia benefited from Western engineering and science.
Putin is bogged down in Ukraine, spending lives and treasure that might be better applied to Russia’s space effort. He has also alienated the West and is now bereft of alliances that might have derived to its benefit. The alleged copying of SpaceX documents by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev was certainly not helpful, either.
The question of how Putin gets out of the mess he has made for himself is a thorny one. The answer may be left to his successor.
In the meantime, the importance of SpaceX has grown beyond all expectations. The Crew Dragon is now the only vehicle capable of taking people to and from the space station. No additional means seem to be on the horizon, except possibly the Boeing Starliner, if it can be made to work.
As magnificently as SpaceX has performed, the fact remains that it is not unwise to rely on just one provider for services like human space flight. Some alternative must be developed. But where?
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has made headlines with its New Glenn and its soon-to-be-launched Blue Moon lunar lander. Perhaps the founder of Amazon will expand into the crewed spacecraft business.
India’s Gaganyaan is another possibility. Currently it has conducted parachute tests. After a series of uncrewed flights, the space capsule is scheduled to take astronauts to low Earth orbit in the first quarter of 2027.
Thus, India’s rise as a space power may be mirrored by Russia’s decline.
« Last post by Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2025, 01:34:03 pm »
Florida Today Forget 'days of old.' Florida's Space Coast preps for 6 launches in a week Rick Neale, Florida Today Mon, December 8, 2025 at 8:50 AM EST 2 min read
Six rocket launches within 6½ days? The busiest week of a record-shattering year of liftoffs from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center is upon us.
“The days of old, when we go back 10, 15 years with launch capability here off the Eastern Range — when we were putting up 10, 15, maybe 20 launches in a calendar year — are behind us,” Space Launch Delta 45 commander Col. Brian Chatman said last month during a media teleconference.
The annual orbital rocket launch record on Florida's Space Coast has already fallen by the wayside for the fourth consecutive year. The former record of 93 launches was broken by Nov. 10. And the 2025 tally has climbed to 103 launches thus far this year, with No. 104 slated to lift off this afternoon from KSC.
That's when SpaceX's Starlink 6-92 mission — which got scrubbed Sunday, Dec. 7, amid persistent rainy weather — is rescheduled with a 4:14 p.m. launch time.
Assuming that Falcon 9 rocket launches without further delays, the Space Coast's jam-packed upcoming launch schedule looks like this:
Tuesday, Dec. 9: A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch the NROL-77 national security mission for the Space Force's Space Systems Command and the National Reconnaissance Office at 2:16 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Sonic booms from the descending SpaceX rocket booster are expected.
Thursday, Dec. 11: A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch 29 Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit between 1:59 p.m. and 5:59 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Sunday, Dec. 14: A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch 29 Starlink satellites between 8:37 a.m. and 12:37 p.m. from KSC.
Sunday, Dec. 14: A second SpaceX Falcon 9 will embark on another Starlink mission between 9:43 p.m. and 1:43 a.m. Monday, Dec. 15, from the Space Force installation.
Monday, Dec. 15: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will lift the next batch of Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit. That launch window opens at 3:35 a.m. at the Space Force station.
If SpaceX's Starlink 6-92 mission launches at 4:14 p.m. this afternoon and ULA's Amazon Leo mission lifts off at 3:35 a.m. Dec. 15, then the slate of six launches will occur within six days, 11 hours and 21 minutes.
Live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team coverage of each mission will kick off 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
Alaknanda — named after the Himalayan river that is a twin headstream of the Ganga — spans roughly 32,000 light-years across, comparable to large modern spiral galaxies. It also contains a huge number of stars.
That's rather small for a spiral galaxy. That's about the size of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
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