US Air Force Announces Arrival of Second B-21 Test Aircraft at Edwards AFB (Press Release)
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- The Department of the Air Force has announced the arrival of the second B-21 Raider flight test aircraft, September 11, at Edwards Air Force Base, California, significantly enhancing the Air Force’s capacity to conduct comprehensive testing and sustainment training.
The addition of the second aircraft expands the Air Force’s testing capabilities beyond initial flight performance checks, enabling progression into critical mission systems and weapon integration testing phases. This advancement marks a significant step towards operational readiness of the nation’s sixth-generation stealth bomber.
“With the arrival of the second B-21 Raider, our flight test campaign gains substantial momentum,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. “We can now expedite critical evaluations of mission systems and weapons capabilities, directly supporting the strategic deterrence and combat effectiveness envisioned for this aircraft.
The presence of multiple test aircraft at Edwards AFB also provides Air Force maintainers invaluable hands-on experience in managing simultaneous aircraft sustainment operations, testing the effectiveness of maintenance tools, technical data and the logistical processes that will support future operational squadrons.
“The addition of a second B-21 to the flight test program accelerates the path to fielding,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin. “By having more assets in the test environment, we bring this capability to our warfighters faster, demonstrating the urgency with which we’re tackling modernization.”
Concurrent with the expanded flight-testing effort, fiscal year 2026 will see the launch of extensive military construction projects at all three designated B-21 main operating bases. Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, the first base set to receive operational B-21 aircraft, is already progressing rapidly on numerous infrastructure projects to ensure readiness when the aircraft arrive.
“The B-21 Raider program represents a cornerstone of our strategic nuclear modernization,” Allvin added. “The concurrent efforts in testing, sustainment preparation and infrastructure investments clearly illustrate our commitment to providing unmatched capabilities to deter and defeat threats well into the future.”
The B-21 Raider is a stealth strategic bomber designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear payloads, developed in partnership with Northrop Grumman under the oversight of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. The program continues to execute its flight testing and ground testing campaigns as well as low-rate initial production.
NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year (News Release)
A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken from a rock named “Cheyava Falls” last year, the sample, called “Sapphire Canyon,” contains potential biosignatures, according to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
A potential biosignature is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before a conclusion can be reached about the absence or presence of life.
Perseverance came upon Cheyava Falls in July 2024 while exploring the “Bright Angel” formation, a set of rocky outcrops on the northern and southern edges of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley measuring a quarter-mile (400 meters) wide that was carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.
“This finding is the direct result of NASA’s effort to strategically plan, develop and execute a mission able to deliver exactly this type of science — the identification of a potential biosignature on Mars,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “With the publication of this peer-reviewed result, NASA makes this data available to the wider science community for further study to confirm or refute its biological potential.”
The rover’s science instruments found that the formation’s sedimentary rocks are composed of clay and silt, which, on Earth, are excellent preservers of past microbial life. They are also rich in organic carbon, sulfur, oxidized iron (rust) and phosphorous.
“The combination of chemical compounds we found in the Bright Angel formation could have been a rich source of energy for microbial metabolisms,” said Perseverance scientist Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University, New York and lead author of the paper. “But just because we saw all these compelling chemical signatures in the data didn’t mean we had a potential biosignature. We needed to analyze what that data could mean.”
First to collect data on this rock were Perseverance’s PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) and SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instruments. While investigating Cheyava Falls, an arrowhead-shaped rock measuring 3.2 feet by 2 feet (1 meter by 0.6 meters), they found what appeared to be colorful spots. The spots on the rock could have been left behind by microbial life if it had used the raw ingredients, the organic carbon, sulfur and phosphorus, in the rock as an energy source.
In higher-resolution images, the instruments found a distinct pattern of minerals arranged into reaction fronts (points of contact where chemical and physical reactions occur) that the team called leopard spots. The spots carried the signature of two iron-rich minerals: vivianite (hydrated iron phosphate) and greigite (iron sulfide). Vivianite is frequently found on Earth in sediments, peat bogs and around decaying organic matter.
Similarly, certain forms of microbial life on Earth can produce greigite.
The combination of these minerals, which appear to have formed by electron-transfer reactions between the sediment and organic matter, is a potential fingerprint for microbial life, which would use these reactions to produce energy for growth. The minerals can also be generated abiotically, or without the presence of life. Hence, there are ways to produce them without biological reactions, including sustained high temperatures, acidic conditions and binding by organic compounds.
However, the rocks at Bright Angel do not show evidence that they experienced high temperatures or acidic conditions, and it is unknown whether the organic compounds present would’ve been capable of catalyzing the reaction at low temperatures.
The discovery was particularly surprising because it involves some of the youngest sedimentary rocks the mission has investigated. An earlier hypothesis assumed signs of ancient life would be confined to older rock formations. This finding suggests that Mars could have been habitable for a longer period or later in the planet’s history than previously thought, and that older rocks might also hold signs of life that are simply harder to detect.
“Astrobiological claims, particularly those related to the potential discovery of past extraterrestrial life, require extraordinary evidence,” said Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Getting such a significant finding as a potential biosignature on Mars into a peer-reviewed publication is a crucial step in the scientific process because it ensures the rigor, validity and significance of our results. And while abiotic explanations for what we see at Bright Angel are less likely given the paper’s findings, we cannot rule them out.”
The scientific community uses tools and frameworks like the CoLD scale and Standards of Evidence to assess whether data related to the search for life actually answers the question, "Are we alone?" Such tools help improve understanding of how much confidence to place in data suggesting a possible signal of life found outside our own planet.
Sapphire Canyon is one of 27 rock cores the rover has collected since landing at Jezero Crater in February 2021. Among the suite of science instruments is a weather station that provides environmental information for future human missions, as well as swatches of spacesuit material so that NASA can study how it fares on Mars.
Managed for NASA by Caltech, NASA JPL built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.
NASA’s Dragonfly Soaring Through Key Development, Test Activities (News Release - September 8)
NASA’s Dragonfly mission has cleared several key design, development and testing milestones, and remains on track towards launch in July 2028.
Dragonfly, a car-sized, nuclear-powered rotorcraft being designed and built for NASA at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, will explore Saturn’s moon Titan. Following launch and a six-year journey to Titan, the Dragonfly rotorcraft will spend over three years investigating multiple landing sites across the moon’s diverse surface. Flying a comprehensive science package, Dragonfly seeks to understand Titan habitability and the building blocks of life as we know it.
Hardware is being built and software developed, tests are being completed and analyses verified as the team progresses through its development schedule.
“Dragonfly has moved far beyond a concept on a computer screen – the components of the rotorcraft lander are being built as scientists and engineers transform this bold exploration idea into reality,” said Elizabeth “Zibi” Turtle, Dragonfly principal investigator from APL. “From the cleanrooms to the wind tunnels, we’re performing critical tests that are informing our next steps of development and demonstrating how Dragonfly will perform on and above Titan’s surface.”
Recent tests have included aerodynamic analyses of Dragonfly’s rotors and durability trials of the foam coating that will insulate the rotorcraft from Titan’s frigid temperatures. The science payload is also coming together, with instrument components delivered and set up for additional testing. Flight systems are also being evaluated and the flight radio has been delivered and tested.
NASA
Riding the Wind
APL and NASA engineers are wrapping up a monthlong campaign to confirm the performance of Dragonfly’s rotors in Titan-like conditions at NASA Langley Research Center’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel in Virginia.
Bathing the sensor-laden model in a flow of heavy gas that simulates Titan’s thick atmosphere, the testing team has been gathering data on the rotor system’s aeromechanical performance – looking at factors like stress loads on the rotor arms, and effects of vibration on the rotor blades and lander body – information that will eventually feed into Dragonfly’s flight plans and navigation software.
NASA
Mass Spectrometer on the Move
Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, have completed a critical part of the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS), which will analyze chemical components and processes on Titan, including potentially biologically-relevant compounds. The Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer, effectively the “heart” of the DraMS package, has cleared its acceptance review and is being prepared for space-environment tests and integration with other DraMS components.
Johns Hopkins APL / Justin Artis
Keeping Dragonfly Warm
APL engineers have completed structural and thermal testing of the foam insulation for the Dragonfly lander, verifying that the insulation will maintain its shape and protect the lander on Titan, where ambient temperatures get to approximately -300°F (or about -185°C). The lander body will be covered in a 3-inch-thick (7.6-centimeter thick) layer of Solimide-based foam, which is designed to cover science instruments and other exterior elements. The team has tested the insulation in the large Titan-environment chamber at APL, as well as in the wind tunnel at NASA Langley.
Johns Hopkins APL
Long-Distance Communications
Engineers at APL have completed the flight radios that will serve as the communications receiver and transmitter for Dragonfly’s journey to and operations on Titan. The APL-developed Frontier radios are versatile telecommunications devices proven on missions from the Sun to Pluto and beyond. As a software-defined radio — where software is used to customize the radio for specific mission requirements — the Frontier is smaller and needs less power than other deep-space radios, and can send and receive signals in a wide range of frequencies.
Lockheed Martin
Ensuring Safe Entry
Engineers at Lockheed Martin in Denver have passed the first set of major milestones for the flight aeroshell, taking a big step towards making sure the casing that will protect Dragonfly upon its arrival at Titan can withstand the extreme thermal and structural loads of a ballistic atmospheric entry. This includes fabrication, cure and thermal-cycle testing of the aeroshell heat shield and backshell structures, with a static test campaign and thermal protection system installation up next.
Dragonfly will formally begin its integration and test phase in January 2026. The mission is scheduled to launch in July 2028 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Dragonfly mission is flying through milestones! Recent thermal and environmental testing shows how the rotorcraft will survive and navigate Titan’s skies. This bold mission will explore one of our solar system’s most intriguing worlds. https://t.co/ctPlSEzMySpic.twitter.com/k6Y9DUMstx
So it was 10 years ago today that I went to the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank to work as an extra on my favorite TV sitcom, The Big Bang Theory!
It was surreal to walk into Stage 25 and see the set for the Pasadena apartment where Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyer), Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) and Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) gathered to eat Chinese food and talk all things sex, science, Star Trek and Star Wars for several seasons.
In the fourth Season 9 episode shown above (titled "The 2003 Appoximation"), Raj's girlfriend Emily Sweeney (Laura Spencer) and Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) join the gang as Howard and Raj—both standing off-screen—sing Hammer & Whip (Thor and Dr. Jones) in Stuart's comic book shop. Amy wasn't in this scene, but you can spot me wearing eyeglasses and a black sweater (and sporting a shaved head) while standing directly behind those rows of comic books and the couch where Sheldon, Penny and Leonard are sitting!
This production shoot was a 2-day call where the Thor and Dr. Jones scene was pre-recorded on Day 1, and the rest of the episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience on Day 2. I worked on a Season 10 episode of The Big Bang Theory as well...but I'll blog about it on its 10-year anniversary in 2026!
You can watch Howard and Raj sing Thor and Dr. Jones in the clip below:
So earlier today, this screenshot of a Truth Social post made by Donald Trump was shared online...showing that the fascist pedophile is ready to deploy U.S. military soldiers and ICE agents to the city of Chicago.
Not only is Trump apparently resigned to the fact that he'll never win a Nobel Peace Prize—not with him invading a third American city with American troops in three months—but he's trying so, so very hard to distract folks from the other fact that he raped underage girls with his dead buddy Jeffrey Epstein.
Nice try, Trump. The only way you'll make people forget that you're a child sex predator is by employing that memory-erasing gizmo Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones used in the Men in Black movies. Since those memory-erasing gizmos (called 'neuralyzers') don't exist, just like Marjorie Taylor Greene's Jewish Space Lasers, you'll have to make do with the fact that history will always remember you as the twice-impeached, 34-time convicted felon who canoodled with foreign dictators like Kim Jong Un and now-deceased pedophiles who conducted sex-trafficking operations on a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
So earlier today, Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense back to the World War II-era Department of War. According to Fox News(yes, I'm quoting that Republican propaganda mouthpiece), the 5-time draft-dodging pedophile made the change because it sent "a message of victory, a message of strength" to the world.
Overlooking the fact that Trump showed just how weak he was when he met up with Russian dictator Vladmir Putin on U.S. soil last month to make a deal to end the Ukraine war (Trump unsurprisingly came away from the meeting empty-handed), this is just another stupid act by the convicted felon to distract the American people from his incompetence as president and his presence in the Epstein files. Also, this is another diversion from today's jobs report that announced only 22,000 jobs were added last month—with the unemployment rate in the U.S. increasing to 4.3%.
(Oh, and the U.S. now has more unemployed people than job openings for the first time since April 2021. In July, the U.S. had 7.18 million job openings, with 7.24 million unemployed individuals. Trump is bringing America back to a pandemic-era economy.)
The fact that Trump, the supposed anti-war candidate according to right-wing folks during the 2024 election season, would rebrand the Pentagon as a warmongering apparatus of the U.S. government makes it even more stupid that he tried to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Combine the Department of War with Trump illegally bombing Iran, illegally sending military troops to American cities like Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and possibly Chicago, and murdering 11 people on a Venezuelan boat in international waters in the Caribbean (an act of war, apparently), and Trump is just showing that he wants to enhance a fraudulent political legacy in American history that he absolutely does not deserve.
And of course, you have MAGA halfwits like Pete Hegseth enabling his sex-offending boss by sharing the tweet above. According to the Fox News article mentioned at the start of this Blog entry, this is Trump's 200th executive order. In other words, the next Democratic president will have at least 200 items to overturn—via executive orders—on Inauguration Day less than four years from now.
Have a nice weekend.
UPDATE (11:15 PM, PDT): For some stupid reason the Fox News article won't open if you click on the link at the start of this Blog entry. Look up "Department of War" on Google and you'll be able to visit the article there. Screw you, Rupert Murdoch's former company.
REMINDER: The unemployment rate was at or under 4% for 30 consecutive months under President Biden.
He averaged 343,750 jobs/month while in office.
By comparison, trump added an anemic 70,833 jobs per month from January to August 2025, and unemployment rose from 4% to 4.3%.
