NASA's Mothballed Lunar Rover May Fly, After All...

NASA

NASA Presses Forward Search for VIPER Moon Rover Partner (News Release)

To advance plans of securing a public/private partnership and land and operate NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission on the Moon in collaboration with industry, the agency announced on Monday that it is seeking U.S. proposals. As part of the agency’s Artemis campaign, instruments on VIPER will demonstrate U.S. industry’s ability to search for ice on the lunar surface and collect science data.

The Announcement for Partnership Proposal contains proposal instructions and evaluation criteria for a new Lunar Volatiles Science Partnership. Responses are due on Thursday, February 20. After evaluating submissions, any selections by the agency will require respondents to submit a second, more detailed, proposal.

NASA is expected to make a decision on the VIPER mission this summer.

“Moving forward with a VIPER partnership offers NASA a unique opportunity to engage with the private sector,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Such a partnership provides the opportunity for NASA to collect VIPER science that could tell us more about water on the Moon, while advancing commercial lunar landing capabilities and resource prospecting possibilities.”

This new announcement comes after NASA issued a Request for Information on August 9, 2024, to seek interest from American companies and institutions in conducting a mission using the agency’s VIPER Moon rover after the program was cancelled in July 2024.

Any partnership would work under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. This type of partnership allows both NASA and an industry partner to contribute services, technology and hardware to the collaboration.

As part of an agreement, NASA would contribute the existing VIPER rover as-is. Potential partners would need to arrange for the integration and successful landing of the rover on the Moon, conduct a science/exploration campaign, and disseminate VIPER-generated science data. The partner may not disassemble the rover and use its instruments or parts separately from the VIPER mission.

NASA’s selection approach will favor proposals that enable data from the mission’s science instruments to be shared openly with anyone who wishes to use it.

“Being selected for the VIPER partnership would benefit any company interested in advancing their lunar landing and surface operations capabilities,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in the Science Mission Directorate. “This solicitation seeks proposals that clearly describe what is needed to successfully land and operate the rover, and invites industry to propose their own complementary science goals and approaches. NASA is looking forward to partnering with U.S. industry to meet the challenges of performing volatiles science in the lunar environment.”

The Moon is a cornerstone for Solar System science and exoplanet studies. In addition to helping inform where ice exists on the Moon for potential future astronauts, understanding our nearest neighbor helps us understand how it has evolved and what processes shaped its surface.

Source: NASA.Gov

Farewell, AD... Welcome to the Lakers, Luka!

So late last night, I joined most of the sports world in being shocked upon reading the news that the Los Angeles Lakers were trading Anthony Davis (AD) to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic!

This trade comes less than a year after Doncic led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals (where they lost to the Boston Celtics in five games), and almost five years after Davis helped LeBron James secure a 17th NBA championship for the Lakers.

I'm excited that Luka is coming to L.A.! Granted— I'm well aware that he's not a great defender like AD is, but Luka is only 25 years old (while AD turns 32 next month), and has lots of time to hone in his defensive skills. Lakers fans were expecting that Doncic would one day play in the City of Angels (presumably when he was no longer in his prime); they didn't expect this scenario to happen after the Slovenian point guard had only been in the NBA for less than 7 years!

Anyways, the Lakers also got forwards Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris in this trade, while the Mavericks added shooting guard Max Christie (who played well in the Lakers' victory against the New York Knicks last night) and a 2029 first-round pick to their lineup. The Utah Jazz was also part of this blockbuster deal, and got point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino and this year's second-round picks from the Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers, respectively.

This NBA season just got much more interesting! Thanks for bringing another championship to Los Angeles, AD... Your jersey will obviously be displayed on the rafters at Crypto.com Arena someday.

The Latest Update on Firefly's Moon Lander...

NASA

NASA Tech Instrument Captures Test Images During Blue Ghost Lunar Transit (News Release)

Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 reached day 15 of its 45-day transit to the Moon. The Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) 1.1 instrument, designed by researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to capture images during the spacecraft’s lunar descent and touchdown, successfully received high-resolution test images from all six of its cameras.

Four cameras have a short focal length and aim to capture images of the interaction between Blue Ghost’s rocket plumes and foot pads with the Moon’s surface. Two of the cameras have a long focal length and aim to capture images of the surface before the rocket plume interaction. These images will help the SCALPSS team observe the effects before and after landing.

Some images were captured during the cameras’ test run.

As trips to the Moon increase and the number of science and tech instruments touching down in proximity to one another grows, researchers need to accurately predict the effects of landings. These test images demonstrate that the hardware is functioning well and capable of collecting images of plume-surface interactions upon lunar touchdown.

Follow along on NASA’s Artemis blog as Blue Ghost Mission 1, carrying the agency’s science and technology, continues its journey to the Moon. Additional mission updates can also be found on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 page.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

A Major Discovery Was Made by the OSIRIS-REx Mission...

From Lauretta & Connolly et al. (2024) Meteoritics & Planetary Science, doi:10.1111/maps.14227

NASA’s Asteroid Bennu Sample Reveals Mix of Life’s Ingredients (News Release)

Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine.

The findings do not show evidence for life itself, but they do suggest that the conditions necessary for the emergence of life were widespread across the early Solar System, increasing the odds that life could have formed on other planets and moons.

“NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission already is rewriting the textbook on what we understand about the beginnings of our Solar System,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Asteroids provide a time capsule into our home planet’s history, and Bennu’s samples are pivotal in our understanding of what ingredients in our Solar System existed before life started on Earth.”

In research papers published on Wednesday in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy, scientists from NASA and other institutions shared results of the first in-depth analyses of the minerals and molecules in the Bennu samples, which OSIRIS-REx delivered to Earth in 2023.

Detailed in the Nature Astronomy paper, among the most compelling detections were amino acids – 14 of the 20 that life on Earth uses to make proteins – and all five nucleobases that life on Earth uses to store and transmit genetic instructions in more complex terrestrial biomolecules, such as DNA and RNA, including how to arrange amino acids into proteins.

Scientists also described exceptionally high abundances of ammonia in the Bennu samples. Ammonia is important to biology because it can react with formaldehyde, which was also detected in the samples, to form complex molecules, such as amino acids – given the right conditions. When amino acids link up into long chains, they make proteins, which go on to power nearly every biological function.

These building blocks for life detected in the Bennu samples have been found before in extraterrestrial rocks. However, identifying them in a pristine sample collected in space supports the idea that objects that formed far from the Sun could have been an important source of the raw precursor ingredients for life throughout the Solar System.

“The clues we’re looking for are so minuscule and so easily destroyed or altered from exposure to Earth’s environment,” said Danny Glavin, a senior sample scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-lead author of the Nature Astronomy paper. “That’s why some of these new discoveries would not be possible without a sample-return mission, meticulous contamination-control measures, and careful curation and storage of this precious material from Bennu.”

While Glavin’s team analyzed the Bennu samples for hints of life-related compounds, their colleagues, led by Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, and Sara Russell, cosmic mineralogist at the Natural History Museum in London, looked for clues to the environment where these molecules would have formed. Reporting in the journal Nature, scientists further describe evidence of an ancient environment well-suited to kickstart the chemistry of life.

Ranging from calcite to halite and sylvite, scientists identified traces of 11 minerals in the Bennu sample that form as water containing dissolved salts evaporates over long periods of time, leaving behind the salts as solid crystals.

Similar brines have been detected or suggested across the Solar System, including at the dwarf planet Ceres and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Although scientists have previously detected several evaporites in meteorites that fall to Earth’s surface, they have never seen a complete set that preserves an evaporation process that could have lasted thousands of years or more. Some minerals found in Bennu, such as trona, were discovered for the first time in extraterrestrial samples.

“These papers really go hand in hand in trying to explain how life’s ingredients actually came together to make what we see on this aqueously-altered asteroid,” said McCoy.

For all the answers that the Bennu sample has provided, several questions remain. Many amino acids can be created in two mirror-image versions, like a pair of left and right hands. Life on Earth almost exclusively produces the left-handed variety, but the Bennu samples contain an equal mixture of both.

This observation means that on early Earth, amino acids may have started out in an equal mixture as well. The reason why life “turned left” instead of right remains a mystery.

“OSIRIS-REx has been a highly successful mission,” said Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA Goddard and co-lead author on the Nature Astronomy paper. “Data from OSIRIS-REx adds major brushstrokes to a picture of a solar system teeming with the potential for life. Why we, so far, only see life on Earth and not elsewhere, that’s the truly tantalizing question.”

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center / University of Arizona

The Latest Update on the Blue Ghost Lunar Lander...

Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Gets First Glimpse of Moon, NASA Instrument Checkouts Continue (News Release)

NASA’s science and technology instruments aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 are a step closer to the Moon. After almost two weeks in Earth orbit, Firefly announced Thursday that Blue Ghost successfully completed its second engine burn, placing the lander in the correct position to leave Earth’s orbit and continue its journey to the Moon. At the same time, the spacecraft got its first glimpse of the Moon from Earth’s orbit.

Routine assessments while Blue Ghost is in transit show that all NASA payloads continue to be healthy. Firefly and NASA’s payload teams will continue to perform payload health checkouts and operations before reaching the Moon, including calibrating NASA’s Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI), continued transit operations of the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), and analysis of radiation data collected from the Radiation Tolerant Computer (RadPC) technology demonstration.

NASA’s Artemis blog will continue to provide updates on this lunar delivery. Additional mission updates can also be found on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 page.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Firefly Aerospace

Marking Five Years Since We Lost the Mamba, His Mambacita and Seven Others...

Today marks half a decade since Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other awesome individuals perished in a helicopter crash at Calabasas, California. We will never forget about them.

May They Always Rest in Peace.

On this day 5 years ago, the world lost 9 beautiful people, but heaven got 9 wonderful angels 🙏

Gone, but never forgotten ❤: • John Altobelli • Keri Altobelli • Alyssa Altobelli • Christina Mauser • Sarah Chester • Payton Chester • Ara Zobayan • Gianna Bryant • Kobe… pic.twitter.com/fAQazQ8DkN

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 26, 2025

The Latest Update on Firefly's Moon Lander...

Ansys STK / LSAS Tec

Blue Ghost Conducts First Burn, Science Operations, Captures Eclipse (News Release)

Firefly’s Blue Ghost continues its journey to the Moon carrying 10 NASA science and technology instruments. Four days into the mission, the lunar lander completed its first main engine burn. This milestone is the first of several maneuvers that will position the lander in a trajectory towards the Moon.

After 25 days orbiting Earth, Blue Ghost will continue its four-day journey to lunar orbit and orbit the Moon for 16 days before it begins descent operations to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign.

Jointly developed by NASA and the Italian Space Agency, the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) technology demonstration acquired Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, and calculated a navigation fix at nearly 52 Earth radii: more than 205,674 miles (331,000 kilometers) from Earth’s surface. This achievement suggests that Earth-based GNSS constellations can be used for navigation at nearly 90% of the distance to the Moon, an Earth-Moon signal distance record. It also demonstrates the power of using multiple GNSS constellations together, such as GPS and Galileo, to perform navigation.

Throughout its journey, LuGRE will continue expanding our knowledge of Earth-based navigation systems in space as it acquires and tracks signals on its way to the Moon, during lunar orbit, and for up to two weeks on the lunar surface.

During this Earth transit phase, the Firefly mission team has continued to ensure that the spacecraft remains healthy. The most recent visuals from space include footage of Earth eclipsing the Sun (below).

As the 45–day transit to the Moon continues, follow NASA’s Artemis blog for agency science and tech updates aboard Blue Ghost Mission 1, and Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 page for additional operational updates.

Source: NASA.Gov

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#GhostRiders checking in from Earth Orbit. Witness Earth eclipsing the Sun from Blue Ghost's top deck - another incredible postcard moment on our trip to the Moon! #BGM1 pic.twitter.com/Twgob4ZUv2

— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) January 21, 2025

Farewell to the Last Real U.S. President...

Just thought I'd share this image of President Joe Biden, Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff as they prepared to depart Washington, D.C. earlier today, after four years of serving American democracy.

This is Martin Luther King Jr. Day...where we also commemorate a King, not a convicted felon. Carry on.

The Latest Commercial Lunar Lander Has Departed from Earth...

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 Successfully Launches and Begins 45-Day Transit to the Moon (Press Release)

Cedar Park, Texas – Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today announced that Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, successfully acquired signal, and completed on-orbit commissioning. With a target landing date of March 2, 2025, Firefly’s 60-day mission is now underway, including approximately 45 days on-orbit and 14 days of lunar surface operations with 10 instruments as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

Blue Ghost Mission 1, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at 1:11 a.m. EST on January 15, 2025. Blue Ghost separated from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a highly-elliptical Earth orbit at 2:17 a.m. EST and established communications with Firefly’s Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas, at 2:26 a.m. EST. On-orbit spacecraft commissioning was then completed by 5:30 a.m. EST, which included verifying attitude determination and control capabilities, increasing the data transfer rate, establishing a power-positive attitude, and completing initial lander health checks.

“On behalf of Firefly, we want to thank SpaceX for a spot-on deployment in our target orbit,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “The mission is now in the hands of the unstoppable Firefly team. After all the testing conducted and mission simulations completed, we’re now fully focused on execution as we look to complete our on-orbit operations, softly touch down on the lunar surface, and pave the way for humanity’s return to the Moon.”

Firefly’s Blue Ghost will spend approximately 25 days in Earth orbit, four days in lunar transit, and 16 days in lunar orbit, enabling the team to conduct robust health checks on each subsystem, calibrate the propulsion system in preparation for critical maneuvers, and begin payload science operations. The NASA payloads operating during the Earth-to-Moon transit include LuGRE, which will monitor GPS signals to help extend Global Navigation Satellite System capabilities to the lunar surface, and RadPC, which will begin demonstrating the computer’s ability to withstand space radiation while on-orbit.

Upon landing in Mare Crisium, Blue Ghost will operate 10 NASA payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days) and support several science and technology demonstrations, including lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, X-ray imaging and dust mitigation. Just before lunar night, Blue Ghost will capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse from the Moon where the Earth blocks the Sun. Blue Ghost will then capture the lunar sunset, providing data on how lunar regolith reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions, before operating several hours into the lunar night.

“Towards the end of Blue Ghost Mission 1, we expect to capture a phenomenon documented by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17 where he observed a horizon glow as the lunar dust levitated on the surface,” said Kim. “As a tribute to the last Apollo Astronaut to walk on the Moon, we’re honored to have the opportunity to watch this incredible sight in high definition.”

The Ghost Riders in the Sky mission is one of four task orders Firefly has been awarded by NASA CLPS as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign that is working to establish a long-term presence on the Moon and prepare for Mars exploration. Firefly will provide regular mission updates on X and on the Blue Ghost Mission 1 webpage.

Source: Firefly Aerospace

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SpaceX


NASA / Kim Shiflett


SpaceX


SpaceX


Firefly Aerospace

Europe and Japan's Joint Spacecraft Flies Past the First Rock from the Sun One Last Time Before Next Year's Orbit Insertion...

Top Three Images from BepiColombo's Sixth Mercury Flyby (News Release - January 9)

On 8 January 2025, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission flew past Mercury for the sixth time, successfully completing the final ‘gravity assist manoeuvre’ needed to steer it into orbit around the planet in late 2026. The spacecraft flew just a few hundred kilometres above the planet's north pole. Close-up images expose possibly icy craters whose floors are in permanent shadow, and the vast sunlit northern plains.

At 06:59 CET, BepiColombo flew just 295 kilometres above Mercury's surface on the planet's cold, dark night side. Around seven minutes later, it passed directly over Mercury's north pole before getting clear views of the planet's sunlit north.

European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher revealed the first image (above) during his Annual Press Briefing on 9 January. As during BepiColombo's previous flybys, the spacecraft's monitoring cameras (M-CAMs) did not disappoint.

This flyby also marks the last time that the mission's M-CAMs get up-close views of Mercury, as the spacecraft module they are attached to will separate from the mission's two orbiters – ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter – before they enter orbit around Mercury in late 2026.

Peering into Mercury's Darkest Craters

After flying through Mercury's shadow, BepiColombo's monitoring camera 1 (M-CAM 1) got the first close views of Mercury's surface. Flying over the ‘terminator’ – the boundary between day and night – the spacecraft got a unique opportunity to peer directly down into the forever-shadowed craters at the planet's north pole.

The rims of craters Prokofiev, Kandinsky, Tolkien and Gordimer cast permanent shadows on their floors. This makes these unlit craters some of the coldest places in the Solar System, despite Mercury being the closest planet to the Sun!

Excitingly, there is existing evidence that these dark craters contain frozen water. Whether there is really water on Mercury is one of the key Mercury mysteries that BepiColombo will investigate once it is in orbit around the planet.

A Surface Shaped by Impacts and Lava

To the left of Mercury's north pole in M-CAM 1's view lie the vast volcanic plains known as Borealis Planitia. These are Mercury’s largest expanse of ‘smooth plains' and were formed by the widespread eruption of runny lava 3.7 billion years ago.

This lava flooded existing craters, such as the Henri and Lismer craters highlighted in the image above. The wrinkles in the surface were formed over billions of years following the solidification of the lava, probably in response to the planet contracting as its interior cooled down.



Another M-CAM 1 image, taken just five minutes after the first, shows that these plains extend over a large part of Mercury's surface. Prominently visible is the Mendelssohn crater, whose outer rim is barely visible above its flooded interior. Just a handful of smaller, more recent impact craters dent the smooth surface.

Further out, but still within the Borealis Planitia, the Rustaveli crater suffered a similar fate.

On the bottom left of the image lies the massive Caloris basin, Mercury's largest impact crater, which spans more than 1500 kilometres. The impact that created this basin scarred Mercury's surface up to thousands of kilometres away, as evidenced by the linear troughs radiating out from it.

Above a particularly large trough, a boomerang-shaped curve brightens the surface. This bright lava flow appears to connect to a deep trough below it. It appears similar in colour to both the lava on the floor of the Caloris basin and the lava of Borealis Planitia further north.

Yet another mystery that BepiColombo hopes to solve is which way this lava moved: into the Caloris basin, or out of it?



On Mercury, a Bright Surface is a Young Surface

While M-CAM's images might not always make it appear so, Mercury is a remarkably dark planet. At a first glance the cratered planet may resemble the Moon, but its cratered surface only reflects about two-thirds as much light.

On this dark planet, younger features on the surface tend to appear brighter. Scientists don't yet know what exactly Mercury is made of, but it is clear that material brought up from beneath the outer surface gradually becomes darker with age.

BepiColombo's third image selected from this flyby, taken by M-CAM 2, shows spectacular examples of the two things that bring bright material to the surface: volcanic activity and large impacts.

The bright patch near the planet's upper edge in this image is the Nathair Facula, the aftermath of the largest volcanic explosion on Mercury. At its centre is a volcanic vent of around 40 kilometres across that has been the site of at least three major eruptions. The explosive volcanic deposit is at least 300 kilometres in diameter.

And to the left lies the relatively young Fonteyn crater, which formed a ‘mere’ 300 million years ago. Its youth is apparent from the brightness of the impact debris that radiates out from it.

Throughout its mission, several BepiColombo instruments will measure the composition of both old and new parts of the planet's surface. This will teach us about what Mercury is made of, and how the planet formed.

Finishing in Style

"This is the first time that we performed two flyby campaigns back-to-back. This flyby happens a bit more than a month after the previous one," says Frank Budnik, BepiColombo Flight Dynamics Manager. “Based on our preliminary assessment, everything proceeded smoothly and flawlessly.”

“BepiColombo's main mission phase may only start two years from now, but all six of its flybys of Mercury have given us invaluable new information about the little-explored planet. In the next few weeks, the BepiColombo team will work hard to unravel as many of Mercury's mysteries with the data from this flyby as we can,” concludes Geraint Jones, BepiColombo's Project Scientist at ESA.

Source: European Space Agency

ABOVE: All images by ESA/BepiColombo/MTM

POTUS 47 Is Officially a Convicted Criminal...

Associated Press

Earlier today, New York Justice Juan Merchan officially sentenced Donald Trump in the 'hush money' case that led to the twice-impeached president-elect being convicted of 34 felony charges last May.

Since Trump is set to be sworn in 10 days from now and begin a second reign of idiocy at the White House, he will not face any form of punishment for his conviction...in a so-called sentence of unconditional discharge.

According to Justice Merchan, Trump would definitely have faced some serious repercussions had he lost the election last November—with the judge saying "that it was the legal protections afforded to the office of the president that were extraordinary, 'not the occupant of the office.'"

While Trump got off Scot-Free, this sentencing should be an indictment on all the folks who voted for him two months ago and clearly don't care about having a "President of law and order"...as Trump described himself during his first reign of incompetence in the Oval Office over four years ago.

In other news, special counsel Jack Smith will be allowed to release his report on Trump's election interference case to the public soon. Have a great weekend.

Photos of the Day: Wind-driven Firestorms Wreak Havoc on Southern California...

Mark Viniello

Just thought I'd share these heartbreaking images of the widespread destruction that has befallen Southern California due to multiple wildfires over the past three days. As of this Blog entry, 0% of the Eaton Fire in Altadena has been contained, and only 6% of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades are under control. Click here for a list of all of the recent wildfires that hit SoCal since strong Santa Ana winds began striking the region on January 7.

All but two of these photos were posted by folks on Instagram and X. The last two were taken by me using my Google Pixel 5 smartphone in the city of Diamond Bar yesterday.

My condolences goes to those who lost their homes in these tragic firestorms, as well as the family members and friends of the ten reported individuals who lost their lives in the Palisades and Eaton Fires. To find ways to help people affected by these wildfires, click here.


Dan Hellie


Getty Images


Team RMGNews - FirePhotoGirl on X


Matt Finn


AP Photo / Ethan Swope


Stevante Clark


ABC 7 - Chris Cristi


Maxar Technologies


ABC 7 - Chris Cristi


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par

The Final Blueprint for America and Europe's Next Flagship Mission to the Red Planet Will Be Decided in 2026...

NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS

NASA to Explore Two Landing Options for Returning Samples from Mars (News Release - January 7)

To maximize chances of successfully bringing the first Martian rock and sediment samples to Earth for the benefit of humanity, NASA announced on Tuesday a new approach to its Mars Sample Return Program. The agency will simultaneously pursue two landing architectures, or strategic plans, during formulation, encouraging competition and innovation, as well as cost and schedule savings.

NASA plans to later select a single path forward for the program, which aims to better understand the mysteries of the Universe, and to help determine whether the Red Planet had ever hosted life. NASA is expected to confirm the program – and its design – in the second half of 2026.

“Pursuing two potential paths forward will ensure that NASA is able to bring these samples back from Mars with significant cost and schedule saving compared to the previous plan,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “These samples have the potential to change the way we understand Mars, our Universe, and – ultimately – ourselves. I’d like to thank the team at NASA and the strategic review team, led by Dr. Maria Zuber, for their work.”

In September 2024, the agency accepted 11 studies from the NASA community and industry on how best to return Martian samples to Earth. A Mars Sample Return Strategic Review team was charged with assessing the studies and then recommending a primary architecture for the campaign, including associated cost and schedule estimates.

“NASA’s rovers are enduring Mars’ harsh environment to collect ground-breaking science samples,” said Nicky Fox, who leads NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “We want to bring those back as quickly as possible to study them in state-of-the-art facilities. Mars Sample Return will allow scientists to understand the planet’s geological history and the evolution of climate on this barren planet where life may have existed in the past and shed light on the early Solar System before life began here on Earth. This will also prepare us to safely send the first human explorers to Mars.”

During formulation, NASA will proceed with exploring and evaluating two distinct means of landing the payload platform on Mars. The first option will leverage previously-flown entry, descent and landing system designs, namely the sky crane method, demonstrated with the Curiosity and Perseverance missions. The second option will capitalize on using new commercial capabilities to deliver the lander payload to the surface of Mars.

For both potential options, the mission’s landed platform will carry a smaller version of the Mars Ascent Vehicle. The platform’s solar panels will be replaced with a radioisotope power system that can provide power and heat through the dust storm season at Mars, allowing for reduced complexity.

The orbiting sample container will hold 30 of the sample tubes containing samples that the Perseverance rover has been collecting from the surface of Mars. A redesign of the sample loading system on the lander, which will place the samples into the orbiting sample container, simplifies the backward planetary protection implementation by eliminating the accumulation of dust on the outside of the sample container.

Both mission options rely on a capture, containment and return system aboard ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Earth Return Orbiter to capture the orbiting sample container in Mars orbit. ESA is evaluating NASA’s plan.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / JPL - Caltech

Firefly's Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Is Set to Launch About a Week from Now...

Firefly Aerospace

NASA Science, Tech Launching to Moon in Mid-January (News Release)

NASA, SpaceX and Firefly Aerospace are targeting 1:11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, January 15, for the launch of Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, the next delivery to the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.

The Blue Ghost lander will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight will deliver 10 NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface, to further our understanding of the Moon and help prepare for future human missions.

As part of the agency’s Artemis campaign, NASA is working with multiple U.S. companies to deliver science and technology to the Moon for the benefit of humanity.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Buckle up! Our road trip to the Moon is set to launch at 1:11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Jan. 15, on a @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. From liftoff to landing, here's the rundown of Blue Ghost's 60-day lunar mission, including 45 days traveling to the Moon and 14 days of surface operations.… pic.twitter.com/n4cUJWEi2x

— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) January 7, 2025

Two Months After the Presidential Election: A REAL American Patriot Did Her Job Today...

So a few hours ago, Vice President Kamala Harris certified the electoral results that officially paved the way for convicted felon Donald Trump to return to the White House.

This is a far cry from four years ago, when a seditious horde of Trump supporters descended onto the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to express dismay that their twice-impeached demagogue lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.

MAGA folks were apparently amused that Vice President Harris had to certify her own election loss this morning. Yeah, well— That's democracy in action here in the United States of America...even though this routine democratic process paved the way for a decidedly un-democratic conman to take seat in the Oval Office once again.

(And even if the U.S. is a constitutional republic and not a democracy as conservatives keep insisting, Trump should still have been barred from becoming president again considering that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in the Constitution bars individuals who engaged in an insurrection—that would be Trump—from running for election.)

Thank you President Biden and VP Harris, for doing everything you could to uphold American democracy before Trump, his shadow president Elon Musk and their band of other unqualified billionaires in Trump's cabinet bring the whole thing crashing down. We'll see what happens over the next four years as Trump's reign of idiocy returns for a sequel.

That is all.

Today, I will perform my constitutional duty as Vice President to certify the results of the 2024 election. This duty is a sacred obligation — one I will uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution, and unwavering faith in the American people. pic.twitter.com/w21HzdNxGs

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) January 6, 2025

We should commit to remembering Jan. 6, 2021 every year.

It was a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed.

And it reminds us that democracy — even in America — is never guaranteed. pic.twitter.com/0sBFM2T7bm

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 6, 2025

This is how our democracy is SUPPOSED to work, folks.

Boring and normal.

No mob attacking the Capitol.
No incitement of insurrection.
No smearing feces on the walls.
No beating cops with flagpoles.
No crowds screaming to hang the Vice President. pic.twitter.com/ABIo934e9y

— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) January 6, 2025

.@jonstewart on today's election certification: "It's amazing how smoothly our democracy works when you don't act like a little bitch if you lose." pic.twitter.com/ioR6BidzS6

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 7, 2025

A New Blueprint Will Be Unveiled for America and Europe's Next Flagship Mission to the Red Planet...

NASA / JPL - Caltech

NASA to Host Media Call Highlighting Mars Sample Return Update (News Release)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday, January 7, to provide an update on the status of the agency’s Mars Sample Return Program.

The briefing will include NASA’s efforts to complete its goals of returning scientifically-selected samples from Mars to Earth while lowering cost, risk and mission complexity.

Audio of the media call will stream live on the agency’s website.

Media interested in participating by phone must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the call to: dewayne.a.washington@nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.

The agency’s Mars Sample Return Program has been a major long-term goal of international planetary exploration for more than two decades. NASA’s Perseverance rover is collecting compelling science samples that will help scientists understand the geological history of Mars, the evolution of its climate, and prepare for future human explorers. The return of the samples will also help NASA’s search for signs of ancient life.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Rocket Lab

SOLAR PROBE PLUS Relays More Details about its Christmas Eve Flyby with our Host Star...

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Reports Healthy Status After Solar Encounter (News Release)

Eight days after its record-breaking closest approach to the Sun’s surface on December 24, 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has confirmed that the spacecraft’s systems and science instruments are healthy and operating normally, including collecting science data as it swung around our star.

Breaking its previous record by flying just 3.8 million miles above the surface of the Sun, Parker Solar Probe hurtled through the solar atmosphere at 430,000 miles per hour — faster than any human-made object has ever moved. A beacon tone, received in the mission operations center at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, late in the evening of Thursday, December 26, confirmed that the spacecraft had made it through the encounter safely.

The telemetry (or housekeeping data) that APL began receiving on January 1 provided more detail on the spacecraft’s operating status and condition. It showed, for example, that Parker had executed the commands that had been programmed into its flight computers before the flyby, and that its science instruments were operational during the flyby itself.

Telemetry transmission, through NASA’s Deep Space Network, continues through Thursday. Science data transmission will begin later this month, when the spacecraft and its most powerful onboard antenna are in better alignment with Earth to transmit at higher data rates. Parker Solar Probe’s next two close passes of the Sun, at approximately the same distance and speed, will occur on March 22 and June 19.

Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Applied Physics Laboratory designed, built and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.

Source: NASA.Gov

Celebrating 25 Years of Online Narcissism!

Richard T. Par

Happy New Year, everyone! So this year marks a quarter century since I created this Blog and my main website, Parman's Page.

I started working on this iteration of Parman's Page back in January of 2000...using Crosswinds.net as my webhost. I originally used Angelfire for my page, but it got deleted in 1999 because of the many photos I posted of beautiful models who I met at import car shows when I attended them on a regular basis back in college! (Prudes.)

In regards to this Blog, I set it up in October of 2000—with my very first entry being this witty gem.

I was 20 when I created my main webpage, and 21 when I set this Blog up several months later (my birthday is on October 4)...meaning that I've had these two sites for a bit more years than I did without them! Wow.

In case you're wondering, the layout for my website has essentially been the same since 2000. And no, I have no intention of doing a major redesign anytime soon!

Hope y'all have a wonderful 2025.