Category: Behind The Black

August 12, 2025 Quick space links

3:05 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

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Virginia’s politicians whine about a NASA plan to close the visitor center at Wallops

10:09 am

Chicken Little on the march! Virginia’s representatives are now in a panicked tizzy because it appears NASA is considering closing the visitors center at the Wallops Island spaceport on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Members of Virginia’s congressional delegation were shocked by news of the potential closure of the NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center and worry it will negatively impact the Eastern Shore’s economy.

Employees at Goddard Space Flight Center and Wallops received word last week that management planned to close several facilities, including NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center — and federal workers asked for congressional support to preserve the local landmark.

Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, a Republican who represents Virginia’s 2nd District, said the proposed closure came as a shock. In a statement, she said was committed to supporting NASA Wallops staff. “This is an unacceptable and drastic step that will have a significant impact on local employees, residents, and visitors,” Kiggans said. “My staff and I are in contact with NASA to better understand the reasoning behind this reported decision as it is contradictory to the proposed House budget. Wallops has long been a vital part of our community, and we will do everything we can to support the work that’s done there and the people who work there.”

Nor is Kiggans the only politican whining. The article includes similar quotes from Democrat senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, as well as local state representative Rob Bloxom. All make the absurd claims that closing this one visitor center will destroy American civilization in Virginia.

And as usual for our propaganda press, no alternative opinions are offered. The only side that gets pushed is the pro-spending side.

What crap. NASA’s job is to foster a vibrant American space industry, by either developing or encouraging the development of actual technologies that can be used for this purpose. A visitor center has nothing to do with this job.

Moreover, such a visitor center employs a relatively small number of people. The economy of the Eastern Shore is not going to collapse by its closure. In fact, the economy won’t really notice it is gone in any significant way.

If we can’t cut the budget in this small way, we will never cut anything, and the country is doomed.

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France’s military awards orbital tug startup contract for transporting its “inspector” satellites

9:51 am

France’s Directorate General of Armament (DGA) has awarded the orbital tug startup Infinite Orbits a $58.3 million contract to develop a tug that can transport its military “inspector” technology to geosynchronous orbit when it can rendezvous and inspect other satellites.

Under the PALADIN framework agreement, Infinite Orbits will develop a dedicated spacecraft capable of delivering the geostationary orbit inspection and monitoring service that will be utilized by the country’s Commandement de l’Espace (CDE – Space Command). The spacecraft is expected to be ready for launch as early as 2027 and will be based on Infinite Orbits’ Orbit Guard offering.

Infinite Orbits is based in France, though it also has offices in the U.S. and Singapore. It has also flown one demo mission of its Orbit Guard tug, and won a contract for a later mission from France’s space agency CNES. It is also developing a satellite servicing robot dubbed Endurance.

Overall, Europe (and France surprisingly) has latched onto the capitalism model with amazing enthusiasm in the past two years, to a point that it might actually be doing it better than NASA. Europe doesn’t have a giant money-sucking government program like Artemis (though it is partnering on Artemis). Thus, it can spend its money in buying many different but needed space products from its private sector. And it has more money available for these purposes.

NASA can’t do this as effectively, because a much larger portion of its budget is trapped financing the ineffective SLS rocket and Orion capsule.

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Two Japanese shipping companies are developing floating landing platforms for rockets

9:25 am

Two different Japanese shipping companies are now developing floating ship platforms that rocket companies could use to land their rocket’s first stages.

Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) is following compatriot Mitsui OSK Lines in targeting space exploration as a new source of revenues.

NYK has obtained an approval in principle from ClassNK for the conceptual design of an offshore recovery system for reusable rockets, an initiative developed through the Space Strategy Fund at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). NYK now aims to carry out a demonstration test of this new vessel type in 2028 working with multiple partners including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Since JAXA and Mitsubishi own and build Japan’s new H3 rocket, JAXA’s funding here suggests both are considering upgrading the H3 for reusability. It is also possible Mitsubishi is mulling plans to build its own new commercial rocket.

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Two companies to study ways for extending the life of the Gehrels Swift space telescope

9:15 am

NASA yesterday announced that it has awarded two companies, Cambrian Works in Virginia and Katalyst Space Technologies in Arizona, each $150K study contracts for reviewing whether it makes sense to send a robotic servicing mission to Gehrels Swift space telescope to raise its orbit and extend its life.

Since its launch in 2004, NASA’s Swift mission has led the agency’s fleet of space telescopes in investigating changes in the high-energy universe. The spacecraft’s low Earth orbit has been decaying gradually, which happens to most satellites over time. Because of recent increases in the Sun’s activity, however, Swift is experiencing additional atmospheric drag, speeding up its orbital decay. This lowering orbit presents an opportunity for NASA to advance a U.S. industry capability, while potentially extending the science lifetime of the Swift mission. The concept studies will help determine whether extending Swift’s critical scientific capabilities would be more cost-effective than replacing those capabilities with a new observatory.

According to this paper [pdf], the telescope’s orbit will decay before the end of 2029, so speed is of the essence. Why NASA is thus spending time and money on a “study” contract from companies that don’t do orbital servicing or have orbital tugs is very curious. Wouldn’t make more sense to request bids from the many orbital servicing and tug companies that now exist (D-Orbit, Astroscale, Northrop Grumman, Firefly, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Impulse) to see if any can do the job at a reasonable cost and are willing?

Gehrels Swift has proven to be one of the most valuable and useful high energy space telescopes ever launched. First of all its cost was relatively low. Second, it is designed to quickly observe a gamma ray burst (GRB) location in multiple other wavelengths (optical especially). That ability helped solve the mystery of GRBs, as well as numerous other high energy events. It would be a tragedy to lose it.

It would also be far more expensive to build a replacement.

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August 11, 2025 Quick space links

3:01 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

  • On this day in 1966 Lunar Orbiter 1 was launched to the Moon
    Its main goal was to provide high resolution images of the planned Apollo landing sites. It also got the first Earthrise picture, as well as high resolution images of 50% of the far side of the Moon. Its orbit also revealed the first hint of the Moon’s uneven gravity and underground mass concentrations (mascons), making all orbits unstable.
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Radar images of near Earth asteroid as it zipped past the Earth

9:11 am

Radar images of near Earth asteroid
Click for original. Go here for movie made from these images.

Using the Goldstone radar antenna in California, astronomers have produced a series of 41 radar images of the near Earth asteroid 2025 OW as it made a close pass of the Earth on July 28, 2025.

Those images, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, are to the right.

The asteroid safely passed at about 400,000 miles (640,000 kilometers), or 1.6 times the distance from Earth to the Moon.

The asteroid was discovered on July 4, 2025, by the NASA-funded Pan-STARRS2 survey telescope on Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii. These Goldstone observations suggest that 2025 OW is about 200 feet (60 meters) wide and has an irregular shape. The observations also indicate that it is rapidly spinning, completing one rotation every 1½ to 3 minutes, making it one of the fastest-spinning near-Earth asteroids that the powerful radar system has observed. The observations resolve surface features down to 12 feet (3.75 meters) wide.

The asteroid’s fast rotation suggests it is a solid object, structurally strong, rather than a rubble pile held together loosely by gravity. It would thus be very damaging if it should ever hit the Earth.

No worries however. The refined orbital data says this asteroid will not come this close again in the foreseeable future.

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SpaceX launches 24 more Kuiper satellites for Amazon

8:35 am

SpaceX this morning successfully placed another 24 Kuiper satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The Falcon 9 first stage was new, completing its first flight by landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The two fairings completed their 5th and 28th flights respectively.

This was SpaceX’s second of three launches for Amazon, which now has 102 satellites in orbit. It needs to get another 1,498 in orbit by July 2026 in order to meet its licence requirements by the FCC. While ULA seems poised to begin regular launches for Amazon, having a contract for 46 launches (having so far completed two in 2025), the contracts for Blue Origin’s New Glenn (27 launches), and ArianeGroup’s Ariane-6 (18 launches) are more uncertain. Neither company has achieved any launches on their contracts, and it is not clear when either company, especially Blue Origin, will ever begin regular launches.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

98 SpaceX (with another Starlink launch scheduled for later today)
43 China
11 Rocket Lab
9 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 98 to 74.

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Toyota extends its partnership with Japanese rocket startup Interstellar

9:39 am

In a deal last week Toyota extended its partnership with the Japanese rocket startup Interstellar Technologies from its earlier announcement in January 2025 that it would invest $44 million in the company.

As part of the new agreement, Toyota will dispatch personnel starting in August 2025 to support Interstellar in a wide range of manufacturing efforts, from the development of ZERO’s first flight unit to broader business commercialization. Additionally, Interstellar became the first startup to join “Toyota Woven City” as an Inventor, leveraging Toyota’s decades of manufacturing expertise and strengths. The development of ZERO will continue to be based on Interstellar’s facilities.

Zero is Interstellar’s proposed smallsat rocket. The company, which was founded in 2005, attempted a suborbital launch in 2018 that failed. Until Toyota’s commitments this year, it had done almost nothing since.

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FCC eliminates red tape for both satellite companies and space stations

9:29 am

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week announced [pdf] that it has changed a number of regulations to streamline its licensing in connection with satellite constellations, ground stations, and new space stations.

Today’s reforms intend to boost the nascent Ground-Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) business model that allows multiple satellite systems to share the same ground station. The new rules eliminate needless paperwork and clear regulatory barriers to GSaaS, a business model that gives satellite operators—especially startups and emerging growth companies—the ability to send and receive signals without having to build their own ground infrastructure.

…The Order establishes a new process for ground station operators to receive a baseline license without first identifying a specific satellite point of communication. For each new point of communication, only a simple FCC notification will be needed. This one change would eliminate approximately 49% of earth station modification applications.

Today’s action further streamlines and expedites the application process for space stations and earth
stations by moving away from regulations that require FCC approval for making even the smallest
changes to a satellite system.

The direction of regulation has shifted 180 degrees since Trump’s election. Under Biden, federal agencies were constantly tasked to increase oversight so that it often took years to get approvals. Under Trump, those same agencies are now beginning to eliminate regulation across the board.

Elections matter. Anyone who says all politicians are the same is either ignorant or lying.

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Starlink now available in Israel

9:20 am

After a year of regulatory paperwork, the Israel government has finally allowed SpaceX to offer Starlink to customers in Israel proper, but not in the West Bank or Gaza.

The company received an operating license from the Communications Ministry last year, following lengthy negotiations and regulatory procedures, but its launch was delayed until now. The restriction on coverage in the West Bank and Gaza is likely due to security concerns over potential use by hostile actors.

Expect the usual leftist anti-Semites to accuse Israel of bigotry for excluding access to Palestinians, but until those Palestinians show some willingness to live with Israel in peace (something they so far show no signs in doing, especially in Gaza), this policy makes perfect sense.

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Endurance capsule splashes down safely, returning four astronauts from ISS

8:56 am

SpaceX’s Endurance Dragon capsule successfully splashed down off the coast of California this morning, returning four astronauts from ISS after a five month mission.

I have embedded the live stream below. As of posting the capsule was about to be lifted from the water and placed in its nest on the recovery ship.

Once again it is important to note that this recovery is being done entirely by a private company and its employees. Once Endurance undocked from ISS NASA had no part to play. It purchased the ride from SpaceX, and SpaceX is providing the service.
» Read more

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China launches another 11 satellites for one of its mega-constellations

12:42 am

China's spaceports

China today successfully placed another 11 satellites into orbit for one of its internet satellite constellations designed to compete with Starlink, its Smart Dragon-3 rocket lifting off from a launch platform off the eastern coast of China.

This was the fourth launch of satellites for Geely constellation. Though the rocket’s lower stages dropped into the South China Sea as well as the Pacific, doing no harm to habitable areas (as China routinely does when it launches from its interior spaceports), earlier this week the president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., complained about China’s habit of not giving its neighbors sufficient warning prior to its coastal launches.

Marcos issued the statement after China launched its Long March 12 rocket on Monday [from its coastal Wenchang spaceport], which left debris within Philippine maritime territory. During an interview with the Philippine media delegation covering his state visit to India, the President said this was not the first time suspected Chinese rocket debris had ended up in Philippine waters.

“Well, it’s not the first time that this has happened. And, actually, if you look at the incidents, they did not commit any violations. There have been no casualties,” Marcos said. “We just wish that perhaps they could warn us a little earlier so that we know the path of the rocket, where the path is, and if they will release stages, where they will fall,” he added.

All par for the course for China. It not only doesn’t really care if it crashes rocket stages on the heads of its own people, it cares even less about dropping stages on neighboring countries.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

97 SpaceX
43 China
11 Rocket Lab
9 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 97 to 74.

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Jim Lovell, the world’s first space cadet, passes away at 97

3:51 pm

Jim and Marilyn Lovell
Jim and Marilyn Lovell aboard the
U.S. Navy sailboat Freedom in 1950

Today we learned the sad news of the passing of Jim Lovell, the last of the three Apollo 8 astronauts as well as a veteran of two Gemini missions and the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission. Lovell was 97.

In a statement released Friday, the Lovell family highlighted his “amazing life and career accomplishments” and his “legendary leadership in pioneering human space flight.”

“But, to all of us, he was Dad, Granddad, and the Leader of our family. Most importantly, he was our Hero,” the family said in its statement. “We will miss his unshakeable optimism, his sense of humor, and the way he made each of us feel we could do the impossible. He was truly one of a kind.”

“One of a kind” is an understatement. » Read more

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Indian rocket startup Skyroot tests solid-fueled motor

12:53 pm

The Indian rocket startup Skyroot has successfully tested the solid-fueled motor it plans to use in its three-stage solid-fueled Vikram-1 rocket. From the press release issued by India’s space agency ISRO:

First Static Test of the KALAM 1200 Motor – the first stage of Vikram – 1 Launch Vehicle of M/s Skyroot Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. (SAPL), Hyderabad is accomplished successfully at Static Test complex of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, ISRO, Department of Space at 09:05 hrs on 08.08.2025. This is a major milestone in the configuration and realization of the systems for Vikram – 1 Launch Vehicle. The motor is a 11 m long, 1.7 m dia monolithic composite motor with a Propellant Mass of 30t. Based on the design inputs, this longest monolithic motor is prepared at the Solid Propellant Plant, Sriharikota. Similarly, ISRO team has provided the design for the Test Stand, which is used for the static test of the motor.

This is in line with the Government of India initiative on Space Policy, 2023 for providing the necessary technical infrastructure and managerial guidance for the Private Sector players to contribute for the space economic growth. The performance of the test bed and the associated systems is normal as predicted.

The last paragraph is the most important. The Modi government has tasked its space agency to provide its facilities and expertise to help rocket startups like Skyroot. It appears from this test and press release the resistance within ISRO to this policy — which cuts into ISRO’s turf — is fading.

Skyroot had said it wants to do the first orbital test flight of Vikram-1 before the end of 2025. It remains unclear whether it will meet that schedule.

Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay.

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Sending Juno to fly past interstellar comet 3I/Atlas?

10:42 am

3I/Atlas as seen by Hubble on July 21, 2025
Hubble’s most recent image of comet 3I/Atlas.
Click for original image.

It’s all clickbait! In what appears to be an example of silliness, a scientist, Avi Loeb of Harvard, has proposed repurposing the Jupiter orbiter Juno by using its remaining fuel and its main engine (unused since 2016 because it is feared it will explode if ignited) to send the spacecraft on a path allowing it to fly past the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas that is presently zipping through out solar system.

Not surprisingly, a politician, congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida), immediately latched onto this idea to garner her own publicity.

Loeb believes Juno, which is scheduled to plunge into Jupiter’s atmosphere at the end of its mission in Sept. 2025, could be repurposed. He suggests using its remaining fuel to redirect it toward 3I/ATLAS when the object passes within about 34 million miles of Jupiter in March 2026.

Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna has backed the proposal in a letter [pdf] to interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, urging the agency to explore extending Juno’s mission. “It is recommended that NASA conduct a study to assess how much fuel is left in Juno’s engine, and I support an extension of the Juno mission at least until mid-March 2026 at a cost of about $15M per 6 months from the current expiration date of mid-September 2025,” Luna wrote.

The problem with this idea is that it isn’t realistic. Juno really doesn’t have sufficient fuel, and as I mentioned, its main engine is suspect, so suspect that the science team decided in 2016 to never use it again, thus leaving Juno in a higher than planned orbit that required twice as much time at Jupiter to get the same work done.

There is also one more reason to doubt Loeb’s proposal. He has also proposed that 3I/Atlas is an alien probe, ignoring or dismissing the images and data that make if very clear that it is nothing more than a comet, albeit interstellar in origin. It appears therefore that he might very well represent the quality of scientists that Harvard is hiring these days.

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Firefly’s stock value far exceeds the predicted price

9:41 am

When Firefly announced it was going public at the end of July, it predicted the stock price would range from $35 to $39, with the initial public offering raising about $600 million in capital for the company. Less than a week later it revised these predictions upward to $45 and about $700 million.

When trading opened yesterday, these numbers were still too low, with the stock immediately trading at $70 per share> and raising almost $900 million.

The space and defense technology company reached a peak valuation of more than $9.84 billion during intraday trading, after its shares began trading at $70 — up more than 55% from the initial public offering price of $45. The stock climbed as high as $73.80 during the session before closing at $60.35.

Firefly sold more than 19 million shares in the offering, raising at least $868 million. By the end of trading Thursday, total volume had approached 30 million shares.

This confidence and enthusiasm by Wall Street reflects Firefly’s success this year in becoming the first private company to land an unmanned spacecraft softly on the Moon. It also suggests the market expects the company’s orbital tug and rockets to succeed. Though its Alpha rocket has had a mixed record of success, its new larger Eclipse rocket is being built in partnership with Northrop Grumman, which has invested $50 million into its development.

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Rocket Lab to unveil its completed Neutron launchpad by end of August

9:27 am

As part of a series of press releases in connection with the release of Rocket Lab’s second quarter financial report, the company announced that it is inviting shareholders to enter a sweepstakes for attending the official opening of its just completed launchpad at Wallops Island for its new Neutron rocket.

According to the announcement, the opening is scheduled for August 28, 2025.

Rocket Lab will randomly select ten (10) eligible entrants to win admission to the event. Eligible entrants are limited to U.S. citizens who are at least 18 years old and shareholders of Rocket Lab. Winners are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs, and any other costs and expenses associated with traveling to and attending the event

The sweepstakes is a fun idea, but what is really significant is that the company appears to be continuing to meet its schedule for a first launch of Neutron before the end of 2025. If so it will be a major achievement, considering the company began work on this rocket in December 2021. To go from a blank sheet to launch in only four years is unprecedented. Normally it takes about twice as long to get a rocket to the launchpad.

Even if the launch date slips into the first quarter of 2026 the achievement will be spectacular.

Rocket Lab’s 2nd quarter financial report appears bright as well, noting a 36% increase in revenues from the previous year. While its rocket division continues to ramp up launches, the company has also done well diversifying into other space areas, from low Earth orbital constellations to deep space technology.

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Azerbaijan officials hold cooperation talks with SpaceX

9:10 am

In connection with the visit of Azerbaijan’s president to the United States, he and other officials held a meeting with SpaceX vice president Stephanie Bednarek to discuss possible areas of cooperation. From Azerbaijan’s state-run press:

At the meeting, we noted Azerbaijan’s economic potential, strategic development directions, and favorable investment climate. We discussed prospects for cooperation with SpaceX, including partnership opportunities in the application of innovative and space technologies, artificial intelligence solutions, and knowledge and experience transfer.

In plain language, Azerbaijan is considering buying services from SpaceX. That it is doing so underlines once again the negative consequences of Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine. Azerbaijan now fears Russia, and is looking elsewhere for aid. It also senses Russia’s increasing weakness, economically, technologically, and militarily, making it more willing to forge alliances with others.

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ULA’s CEO provides update on Vulcan and the company’s launch plans

9:03 am

Link here. ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno outlined the overall state of the company’s launch plans, including its goal of ramping up the launch rate by the end of this year to what Bruno had hoped to achieve at this start of 2025.

ULA anticipates a robust schedule, aiming for about two launches per month across its Atlas and Vulcan fleets in 2025 and 2026, “unless something interesting happens.”Bruno expressed confidence in achieving nine launches this year, bolstered by the completion of a new Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) and Mobile Launch Platform (MLP), enabling parallel rocket assembly.

In December 2024 Bruno had predicted the company would complete 20 launches in 2025. Right now it has only completed two launches (one each for Vulcan and Atlas-5). Getting up to 9 launches by the end of this year will require it to go from one launch every four months to two launches per month, and do so immediately. In its entire history the company has never come close to achieving that launch pace. The best it ever did was 16 launches in 2009.

That pace will also rely on Blue Origin delivering enough BE-4 engines for Vulcan’s first stage. According to Bruno, Blue Origin is now getting it done, and “might be an engine or two ahead.”

Much more at the link>

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Thank you all!

11:21 pm

For the most recent posts, scroll down.

My July fund-raising campaign to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black is now over. I want to thank all those who so generously donated or subscribed, especially those who have become regular supporters. I can’t do this without your help. I also find it increasingly hard to express how much your support means to me. God bless you all!

The donations during this year’s campaign were sadly less than previous years, but for this I blame myself. I am tired of begging for money, and so I put up the campaign announcement at the start of the month but had no desire to update it weekly to encourage more donations, as I have done in past years. This lack of begging likely contributed to the drop in donations.

No matter. I am here, and here I intend to stay. If you like what I do and have not yet donated or subscribed, the instructions for doing so can be found elsewhere on this page.

This post will remain at the top of the page for the next few days so that everyone who donated can see my thanks!

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Jason Colacino and Katie Boyle – Honky Tonk

6:01 pm

An evening pause: How about some hot dancing today? Some truly original moves that I think Fred Astaire would applaud.

Hat tip Mike Nelson. Note too that he found this on X. It is nice to give youtube some competition.

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Intuitive Machines buys long-established space navigation company Kinetx

3:06 pm

The lunar lander startup Intuitive Machines has now acquired the long-established deep space navigation company Kinetx, based in Arizona.

With a heritage of supporting NASA and National Security Space missions, and as the only commercial company certified by NASA for deep space navigation, KinetX provides flight dynamics capabilities for both lunar and interplanetary missions. Its proprietary navigation software stack has supported both of Intuitive Machines’ lunar missions to date.

Despite the failure of two lunar landers, both of which tipped over upon landing, Intuitive Machines is still alive. It has more lunar landers in the pipeline, as well as a returnable capsule for space manufacturing.

Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay. Because every single link he sent me today was newsworthy enough to become a full post, there won’t be a quick links to follow.

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Webb: Evidence of gas giant exoplanet orbiting the central star of Alpha Centuri

2:54 pm

Webb infrared data
Click for original image.

The uncertainty of science: Astronomers using the Webb Space Telescope now think they have detected a gas giant exoplanet orbiting the central star of the Alpha Centuri triple star system, the closest star to our Sun at only four light years distance.

The false-color image to the right shows the candidate exoplanet labeled as S1, with the light of the central star blocked out but indicated by the star at the center. A lot of processing was required to bring out this bright blob, including eliminating optical effects that normally act to hide such objects.

Alpha Centauri, located in the far southern sky, is made up of the binary Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, both Sun-like stars, and the faint red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. Alpha Centauri A is the third brightest star in the night sky. While there are three confirmed planets orbiting Proxima Centauri, the presence of other worlds surrounding Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B has proved challenging to confirm.

Now, Webb’s observations from its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) are providing the strongest evidence to date of a gas giant orbiting Alpha Centauri A. …Based on the brightness of the planet in the mid-infrared observations and the orbit simulations, researchers say it could be a gas giant approximately the mass of Saturn orbiting Alpha Centauri A in an elliptical path varying between 1 to 2 times the distance between Sun and Earth.

If confirmed the exoplanet would be orbiting the star within the habitable zone, though as a gas giant life as we know it would likely be impossible. The location, only four light years away, makes this exoplanet and the entire system a prime target for further observations.

Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.

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Sources suggest major job layoffs and salary cuts about to sweep Russia

2:35 pm

According to various sources, major job layoffs and salary cuts are about to sweep Russia, affecting 800,000 people working for nine different large companies.

The cuts include layoffs, salary cuts, shortened work hours, and unpaid leave, with many involved in the aviation industry.

According to the tweet at the link, the blame goes to the Ukraine war and the collapse of the Russian economy because of it. That might or might not be true, but the speculation is certainly reasonable.

This collapse has been predicted now for several years. If it happens Putin’s future as head of Russia might finally be reaching its use-by date.

Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay.

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India’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter photographs Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander

2:27 pm

Athena as seen by Chandrayaan-2
Click for source.

India’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter has now produced a new high resolution image of Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander, sitting on its side inside a small crater near the Moon’s south pole.

The IM-2 ‘Athena’ lander attempted a soft touchdown near the Moon’s South Pole on 6 March, 2025. Although the lander remained intact, it failed to reach its intended landing spot and ended up tipping over on its side inside a crater.

In the … images taken by the OHRC instrument on board the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter, the Athena lander can be clearly seen lying on its side inside a crater.

This image, posted to the right, compares very favorably with the photos taken by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in March 2025. The lander’s legs can clearly be seen sticking out toward the top of the picture.

Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay.

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