Former astronaut on lunar spacesuits: "I don't think they're great right now"
"These are just the difficulties of designing a spacesuit for the lunar environment."
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/01/former-astronaut-on-lunar-spacesuits-i-dont-think-theyre-great-right-now/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research has selected Vega C to launch its Amazonia-1B Earth observation satellite in 2027. europeanspaceflight.com/brazils-amaz...

Brazil’s Amazonia-1B Satellite...

Strange sights graced Scandinavian January nights this past weekend… we’re not talking about the recent aurora storm, but a bizarre red glow seen crossing the skies over Norway and Finland last night around 20:45 Universal Time (UT). Mikko Peussa caught the scene from Turku, Finland: https://www.taivaanvahti.fi/observations/show/141402

The culprit was the Falcon-9 second stage engine burn from yesterday’s Starlink Group 17-20 launch out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The red glow was due to the plume just catching sunlight at high altitude.

A little extra … domy

Recent arctic-air frigid weather has brought real winter weather to our region for the first time in a few seasons. Snowfall over the past 48 hours amounted to 10 or 12 inches of light, flaky, fluff. Nighttime below-zero low temperatures have erased any thought of going out; skies have been cloudy, anyway, preventing guilt and regret. So the dome remains sealed though pointed to the south for midday solar observations. If we ever see Sun again.

#2026 #astronomy #firstWinter #observatory #snow #winter

(from 2017) A unique thrift store find: 6 spacesuits for $1.20 - https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/spacesuits-thrift-store

🇮🇷 Update: Brief returns of internet access are driving spikes in Snowflake usage. Please help us run more proxies if you can. ❄️ snowflake.torproject.org

The easiest ways to run Snowflake is by using Tor Browser, Orbot, or installing the browser add on in your current browser. Extra capacity helps people in Iran stay connected when the network comes back online.

@ShaulaEvans

1. The largest ant to ever walk the earth (that we know of) is the extinct species known as "Titanomyrma" The fossilized queens of this species were about the size of hummingbirds.

2. Carpenter ants sleep in a cuddle pile inside of their homes in rotting logs, like puppies.

3. Camponotus rectangularis is a carpenter ant with a wide head and simple black eyes. She gets her second name from her rectangle-shaped thorax.

4. The oldest verified ant queen lived over three decades.

@ShaulaEvans

there is the gall wasp, a parasite of oak trees

it manipulates the oak to make galls, growths that its larvae eat and grow in

but there is a parasite, of this parasite

tiny and trippy looking

its larvae consume the gall wasp larvae, and when it is ready to leave, it manipulates its host to chew almost out of the gall, just the tip of its head exposed, then the parasite of the parasite chews through the head, and emerges

the crypt-keeper wasp

ghoulish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus_set

Beyond RK Laxman: Is There Space For The ‘Common Man’ In Today's India? https://www.outlookindia.com/national/r-day-special-beyond-rk-laxman-is-there-space-for-the-common-man-in-todays-india

H3 failure linked to payload fairing separation anomaly

spacenews.com/h3-failure-linked-to-payload-fairing-separation-anomaly

An H3 launch failure in December may have been caused by an unusual event that led to the satellite separating from the rocket prematurely. The post H3 failure linked to payload fairing separation anomaly appeared first on SpaceNews.

☀️ La couronne solaire comme rarement vue !
Grâce à la mission Proba-3 de l’ESA, découvrez la couronne interne du Soleil en jaune pâle, 200x plus chaude que sa surface !
Cette animation, fruit d’une collaboration avec la NASA, montre 3 éruptions solaires en 5h le 21/09/2025

I've updated my megaconstellations list www.planet4589.org/space/con/co... with details of the planned Blue Origin Terawave system and the enormous CTC1 and CTC2 constellations China just filed with the ITU, for a total of almost 750,000 proposed satellites in the years to come.

Jonathan's Space Report | Spac...

"#Apple and #Google have agreed to pay a combined $163 million to settle lawsuits accusing their voice assistants of secretly recording users’ private conversations without consent."

Do you want to be customer of a company that listens into your private conversations?

Leave the #duopoly. Buy a #MobileLinux phone.

https://news.az/news/apple-google-to-pay-163m-over-voice-spying-claims

Personally, I'm using the #Librem5 from @purism.

#privacy #surveillance #spying #voiceassistant #opensource #FOSS #Linux #phone #mobile

https://vimeo.com/1158090974?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Long 4k asteroid belt animation, with soundtrack.
Mainly done as instancing practice.

RE: https://social.heise.de/@heiseonlineenglish/115960778613961985

Great. More interference in LEO.

FFS.

I won't tag Prof Lawler as probably already horribly aware of this.

India plans to slash tariffs on cars imported from the EU to 40% from as high as 110% in the biggest opening yet of the country's vast market as the two sides close in on a free trade pact that could come as early as tomorrow, reports Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-slash-tariffs-cars-40-trade-deal-with-eu-sources-say-2026-01-25/

First day in Bengaluru. Can confirm that the food slaps ✌️

The stained glass hemisphere light fixture is done and installed!

The tiles were cut on a waterjet and assembled using a printed jig which held a wedge 3 tiles (45 degrees) wide at a time. I'm hoping I can get the build video out before the end of the month.

2/2

Zoom animation for people who refuse to open Flickr just to zoom into a 12K space image 🙂

Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) - NASA/ESA JWST Space Telescope

Full size 12K: https://flic.kr/p/2rTo3xx
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/j.Roger/AndreaLuck CC BY

#Space #Astronomy #JWST #ESA #NASA #CSA #Nebula