The Latest Cosmic Discovery by JWST...

NASA, ESA, CSA, Anne-Marie Lagrange (CNRS, UGA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA / Webb)

Likely Saturn-Mass Planet Imaged by NASA Webb Is Lightest Ever Seen (News Release - June 25)

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have captured compelling evidence of a planet with a mass similar to Saturn orbiting the young nearby star TWA 7. If confirmed, this would represent Webb’s first direct image discovery of a planet, and the lightest planet ever seen with this technique outside the Solar System.

The international team detected a faint infrared source in the disk of debris surrounding TWA 7 using Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). The distance between the source and TWA 7 is estimated to be about 50 times the distance of Earth from the Sun. This matches the expected position of a planet that would explain key features seen in the debris disk.

The results published on Wednesday, June 25, in the journal Nature.

Using MIRI’s coronagraph, the researchers carefully suppressed the bright glare of the host star to reveal faint nearby objects. This technique, called high-contrast imaging, enables astronomers to directly detect planets that would otherwise be lost in the overwhelming light from their host star. After subtracting residual starlight using advanced image processing, a faint infrared source was revealed near TWA 7.

The team ruled out an object in our Solar System that happened to be in the same part of the sky as the source. While there is a very small chance that it is a background galaxy, the evidence strongly points to the source being a previously undiscovered planet.

The source is located in a gap in one of three dust rings that were discovered around TWA 7 by previous ground-based observations. The object’s brightness, color, distance from the star, and position within the ring are consistent with theoretical predictions for a young, cold, Saturn-mass planet that is expected to be sculpting the surrounding debris disk.

"Our observations reveal a strong candidate for a planet shaping the structure of the TWA 7 debris disk, and its position is exactly where we expected to find a planet of this mass," said Anne-Marie Lagrange, CNRS researcher at the Observatoire de Paris-PSL and Université Grenoble Alpes in France, lead author of the paper.

“This observatory enables us to capture images of planets with masses similar to those in the Solar System, which represents an exciting step forward in our understanding of planetary systems, including our own,” added co-author Mathilde Malin of Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

Initial analysis suggests that the object — referred to as TWA 7 b — could be a young, cold planet with a mass around 0.3 times that of Jupiter (about 100 Earth masses, or one Saturn mass) and a temperature near 120° Fahrenheit (47° Celsius). Its location aligns with a gap in the disk, hinting at a dynamic interaction between the planet and its surroundings.

Debris disks filled with dust and rocky material are found around both young and older stars, although they are more easily detected around younger stars as they are brighter. They often feature visible rings or gaps, thought to be created by planets that have formed around the star, but such a planet has yet to be directly detected within a debris disk. If verified, this discovery would mark the first time that a planet has been directly associated with sculpting a debris disk, and could offer the first observational hint of a “trojan disk” — a collection of dust trapped in the planet’s orbit.

TWA 7, also known as CE Antilae, is a young (about 6.4 million years-old) red dwarf star located about 34 light-years away in the TW Hydrae association. Its nearly face-on disk made it an ideal target for Webb’s high-sensitivity mid-infrared observations.

The findings highlight Webb’s ability to explore previously unseen, low-mass planets around nearby stars. Ongoing and future observations will aim to better constrain the properties of the candidate, verify its planetary status, and deepen our understanding of planet formation and disk evolution in young systems.

These observations were taken as part of the Webb observing program 3662.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our Solar System, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our Universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Source: NASA.Gov

The First Cosmic Photos Taken by the World's Largest Digital Camera Have Been Revealed...

RubinObs / NOIRLab / SLAC / NSF/ DOE / AURA

Ever-changing Universe Revealed in First Imagery From NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (News Release - June 23)

The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a major new scientific facility jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, released its first imagery today at an event in Washington, D.C. The imagery shows cosmic phenomena captured at an unprecedented scale. In just over 10 hours of test observations, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory has already captured millions of galaxies and Milky Way stars and thousands of asteroids.

The imagery is a small preview of Rubin Observatory's upcoming 10-year scientific mission to explore and understand some of the Universe's biggest mysteries.

“The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory demonstrates that the United States remains at the forefront of international basic science and highlights the remarkable achievements we get when the many parts of the national research enterprise work together,” said Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “The Rubin Observatory is an investment in our future, which will lay down a cornerstone of knowledge today on which our children will proudly build tomorrow.”

“NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will capture more information about our Universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined,” said Brian Stone, performing the duties of the NSF director. “Through this remarkable scientific facility, we will explore many cosmic mysteries, including the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the Universe.”

“We’re entering a golden age of American science,” said Harriet Kung, acting director of DOE's Office of Science. “NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory reflects what’s possible when the federal government backs world-class engineers and scientists with the tools to lead. This facility will drive discovery, inspire future innovators and unleash American excellence through scientific leadership.”

The result of more than two decades of work, Rubin Observatory is perched at the summit of Cerro Pachón in Chile, where dry air and dark skies provide one of the world's best observing locations. Rubin’s innovative 8.4-meter telescope has the largest digital camera ever built, which feeds a powerful data processing system. Later in 2025, Rubin will begin its primary mission, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, in which it will ceaselessly scan the sky nightly for 10 years to precisely capture every visible change.

The result will be an ultrawide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the Universe. It will bring the sky to life with a treasure trove of billions of scientific discoveries. The images will reveal asteroids and comets, pulsating stars, supernova explosions, far-off galaxies and perhaps cosmic phenomena that no one has seen before.

Rubin Observatory is named in honor of trailblazing U.S. astronomer Vera C. Rubin, who found conclusive evidence of vast quantities of invisible material known as dark matter. Understanding the nature of dark matter, dark energy and other large-scale cosmic mysteries is a central focus of Rubin Observatory's mission. Dark energy is what scientists call the mysterious and colossally powerful force that appears to be causing galaxies in the Universe to move away from each other at an accelerating rate.

Although dark matter and dark energy collectively comprise 95% of the Universe, their properties remain unknown.

Rubin Observatory will also be the most efficient and effective Solar System discovery machine ever built. Rubin will take about a thousand images of the Southern Hemisphere sky every night, allowing it to cover the entire visible Southern sky every three to four nights. In doing so, it will find millions of unseen asteroids, comets and interstellar objects.

Rubin will be a game changer for planetary defense by spotting far more asteroids than ever before, potentially identifying some that might impact the Earth or Moon.

The amount of data gathered by Rubin Observatory in its first year alone will be greater than that collected by all other optical observatories combined. This treasure trove of data will help scientists make countless discoveries about the Universe and will serve as an incomparable resource for scientific exploration for decades to come.

Rubin Observatory is a joint program of NSF NOIRLab and DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, who will cooperatively operate Rubin. NOIRLab is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).

“Releasing our first scientific imagery marks an extraordinary milestone for NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory. It represents the culmination of about two decades of dedication, innovation and collaboration by a global team,” said Željko Ivezić, Director of Rubin Observatory Construction. “With construction now complete, we’re turning our eyes fully to the sky — not just to take images, but to begin a whole new era of discovery.”

The LSST Camera at the heart of Rubin Observatory captures extremely fine features in distant galaxies, stars and other celestial objects. A team of scientists, engineers and technicians at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory designed and constructed the camera, which is roughly the size of a small car and weighs almost 6200 pounds (2800 kilograms). Each image taken by the LSST Camera covers an area on the sky as big as 45 full Moons.

"Making the world’s largest digital camera will let scientists explore the cosmos in new ways, and at a scale that enables discoveries that should fundamentally change our understanding of the Universe,” said Aaron Roodman, Director of the LSST Camera and Deputy Director of NSF–DOE Rubin Construction from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. “Just as you would with the camera in your phone, it is finally time to point and shoot — our science begins now."

“I want to extend my gratitude to the brilliant and dedicated team of people who made this milestone possible,” said SLAC Director John Sarrao. “Rubin Observatory, and the LSST Camera at its heart, are unprecedented tools and a testament to the expertise, partnerships and leadership that drive discoveries forward, benefitting the nation and the world.”

During its ten-year survey, Rubin will generate approximately 20 terabytes of data per night, plus an additional 15 petabyte catalog database. In 10 years, Rubin data processing will generate around 500 petabytes, and the final dataset will contain billions of objects with trillions of measurements. With regular data releases, scientists will be able to conduct their own investigations into Rubin’s data remotely, enabling and expediting countless discoveries about our Universe and advancing science in ways that we can’t yet predict.

“We are so thrilled to share NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s first images with the world — it’s a proud moment for our whole team,” said Sandrine Thomas, Deputy Director of Rubin Construction and Associate Director of Rubin Observatory for Rubin Summit Operations, “While we still have a few important months of commissioning and testing ahead, everything we learn now brings us closer to full science operations later this year. Today is just the beginning!”

“It is not every day that a revolution stares you in the face, but that is precisely what the Rubin Observatory team — together with our colleagues at the NSF and DOE — has delivered with these first images. Astronomy is on the brink of transformation!” said Matt Mountain, AURA President. AURA is the managing organization for the Rubin Construction project and NSF NOIRLab. “Congratulations to the entire team for mastering the complexity of a fully active telescope and a pioneering optical system — imaging vast swaths of the sky with extraordinary precision with the world’s largest astronomical camera, and streaming data into an audacious real-time processing system. Everyone at AURA is proud to be part of this landmark moment — and the incredible science that now lies just ahead.”

Source: Rubin Observatory

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RubinObs / NOIRLab / SLAC / NSF/ DOE / AURA


RubinObs / NOIRLab / SLAC / NSF / DOE / AURA


NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / F. Bruno

The Latest Update on SOLAR PROBE PLUS...

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Parker Solar Probe Completes 24th Close Approach to Sun (News Release - June 23)

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 24th close approach to the Sun on Thursday, June 19, matching its record distance of 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) from the solar surface. Following this flyby — the last of the spacecraft’s baseline mission plan — Parker Solar Probe will remain in orbit around the Sun and continue making observations until next steps for the mission are formally reviewed in 2026.

Parker Solar Probe checked in with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland — where it was also designed and built — on Sunday, June 22, reporting that all systems are healthy and operating normally. The spacecraft was out of contact with Earth and operating autonomously during the close approach.

During this flyby, the spacecraft also equaled its record-setting speed of 430,000 miles per hour (687,000 kilometers per hour) — a mark that, like the distance, was set and subsequently matched during close approaches on December 24, 2024, and March 22, 2025.

This close to the Sun, the spacecraft relied on its innovative carbon foam shield, known simply as the Thermal Protection System, to protect itself from the intense heat. Spacecraft operators expect that the shield faced temperatures of between 1,600 to 1,700°F (870 to 930°C) at closest approach.

During the solar encounter — which began on June 14 and ends June 24 — Parker’s four scientific instrument packages are gathering unique observations from inside the Sun’s corona. The flyby, as the third at this distance and speed, is allowing the spacecraft to conduct unrivaled measurements of the solar wind and solar activity while the Sun is in a more active phase of its 11-year cycle.

Parker’s observations of the solar wind and solar events, such as flares and coronal mass ejections, are critical to advancing humankind’s understanding of the Sun and phenomena that drive high-energy space weather events that pose risks to astronauts, satellites, air travel and even power grids on Earth. Understanding the fundamental physics of space weather enables more reliable prediction of astronaut safety during future deep-space missions to the Moon and Mars.

“Parker Solar Probe remains in excellent health, with both the spacecraft and its instruments ready to continue their groundbreaking mission,” said Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The spacecraft will keep exploring the solar atmosphere as the Sun enters the declining phase of its 11-year cycle, providing a unique opportunity to study how solar activity evolves and shapes the heliosphere during this pivotal period.”

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

Source: NASA.Gov

The West Is the Best in the NBA Once Again...

Yesterday, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers, 103-91, in a thrilling but predictable Game 7 of the NBA Finals. I call it predictable because it was no longer a question mark as to who was gonna become the 2025 NBA Champion after the Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton left the game due to an Achilles injury in the first quarter.

The Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy unsurprisingly went to the Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander...over a month after he was crowned the 2024-'25 regular season MVP as well. This is the first time in 25 years where the league's regular season MVP winner went on to emerging victorious in the championship round. Shaquille O'Neal won the 1999-'00 regular season MVP before he and the Lakers proceeded to besting the Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals.

Speaking of the Lakers, Alex Caruso won his second NBA championship last night. His first title was with Los Angeles when it defeated the Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals. While naysayers assert that that championship didn't count (which it does) because it took place inside the Disney World 'bubble' in Orlando during the COVID-19 pandemic, they can't say the same thing about Caruso's second ring.

We'll see how the rest of the NBA reacts to the Thunder becoming the new king of the league. 2-time champion Kevin Durant will be traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets; now let's see how other teams—including the Lakers with their new owner—respond to OKC.

If the chart below is any indication, L.A. fans will have to wait till 2030 for the Lakers to bring the bling back to the City of Angels. (Also: Screw the 1960s!) And did someone place an actual curse on the Eastern Conference so that the West could win this postseason? Happy Monday.

Congrats, SGA! The last time a regular season MVP won the #NBAFinals was in 2000...when Shaq led the Lakers to a championship over the Pacers. pic.twitter.com/K99UYyWSck

— Richard Par (@RichTPar) June 23, 2025

CONGRATS ALEX CARUSO ❤️

THE BALD MAMBA IS NOW A 2X CHAMP 🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/kE1itxXwr1

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) June 23, 2025

Screenshots of the Day: Reactions to Trump's Attack on Iran, and Bringing America Into Another War...

U.S. Air Force

So yesterday afternoon, the world found out that Donald Trump ordered airstrikes—conducted by seven B-2 stealth bombers and a multitude of fighter jets including the F-22 Raptor—against three underground nuclear facilities in Iran. These attacks, which were unprovoked considering that Iran was originally not in conflict with the U.S. but only Israel, came a week after Trump's disastrous military parade to honor his birthday, and over two weeks after Elon Musk effectively called the convicted felon a pedophile by tweeting that Trump was on Jeff Epstein's client list (see below).

Here are screenshots of tweets attacking Trump for Saturday's military action (dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer)...by both MAGA folks and anti-Trumpers alike. We'll see what happens now that Trump got America embroiled in another foreign conflict (despite the fact that MAGA folks voted for Trump partly because he was supposedly never going to get the U.S. caught up in another endless war)...with reports that Iran might close the economically-vital Strait of Hormuz an indicator that things will only get worse before they get better.

So much for that Nobel Peace Prize (which was endorsed by Osama bin Laden's final country of residence: Pakistan), Trump.

The Latest Update on Astrobotic's Next Moon Mission...

Astrobotic

Integrated Griffin-1 Simulation Sticks the Landing! (Press Release - June 19)

After years of hard work, the Astrobotic team has successfully completed a fully integrated hardware-in-the-loop landing simulation for Griffin-1. During this test, the Griffin-1 flight software, including its Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) system, ran on a production flatsat, which is a platform built with engineering models of the actual flight avionics. This setup was connected to a high-fidelity simulation that included emulated hardware valves, sensor models, physics and environmental conditions.

The flatsat also included an engineering model of the Griffin-1 flight transponder connected to a Telemetry, Tracking and Control (TT&C) receiver. This allowed us to emulate a ground station interface and connect directly to the Astrobotic Mission Control Center (AMCC).

This full-scale Descent Mission Operator Simulation, with the flatsat linked to AMCC, successfully validated Griffin’s descent procedures: from maneuver planning and execution to re-establishing communication with the surface. It also served as a valuable training session for our mission operators.

At the same time, the GN&C, Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN), and Hazard Detection (HD) teams demonstrated a successful soft landing using the same flight-like flatsat setup. For the first time, the TRN and HD computing systems were fully integrated and operating live within the loop. These systems received realistic, real-time camera images and lidar scans of the lunar surface from Astrobotic’s LunaRay software suite integrated with the high-fidelity simulation.

Earlier tests relied on statistical models of the TRN and HD sensors, but this recent simulation marks a major milestone: the full computing stack ran together with the flight software and GN&C system on realistic hardware. This achievement lays the groundwork for even more flight-like tests in the near future.

Congratulations to the team for validating these critical flight software capabilities. Every step takes us closer to a safe and successful landing on the Moon.

Source: Astrobotic

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Astrolab

One of America's Newest Asteroid Explorers Is Back to Normal Operations...

NASA / JPL - Caltech / Richard T. Par

NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft Resumes Full-Time Propulsion (News Release)

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft resumed full thruster operations on June 16, and the propulsion system is performing as expected after mission engineers switched to a backup propellant line. They will operate the thrusters for the equivalent of three months between now and November to keep the orbiter’s trajectory to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche on track.

Operation of all four electric thrusters had been paused since early April while the mission team investigated an unexpected drop in pressure in the primary xenon propellant line. Through comprehensive testing and analysis, the team narrowed down the potential causes to a valve that may have malfunctioned in the primary line. The switch to the identical backup propellant line in late May restored full functionality to the propulsion system.

“The mission team’s dedication and systematic approach to this investigation exemplifies the best of NASA engineering,” said Bob Mase, Psyche project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Their thorough diagnosis and recovery, using the backup system, demonstrates the value of robust spacecraft design and exceptional teamwork.”

Psyche is propelled by xenon gas, which is ionized by the thrusters to create a gentle push on the spacecraft that builds throughout its journey. The three months’ worth of thrusting will keep the spacecraft on track for its long-planned flyby of Mars in May 2026. The spacecraft will use the planet’s gravity as a slingshot to help it on its way to the asteroid Psyche.

Psyche remains set for an on-time arrival in August 2029 at its target asteroid, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in October 2023.

Source: NASA.Gov

Remembering the Mamba's 1st NBA Championship (Oh, and the Lakers Have a New Owner Now)...

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

On this day 25 years ago, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Glen Rice, Robert Horry and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers played a high-powered Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA championship, 116-111, at STAPLES Center. Not only was this the Mamba and Big Diesel's first NBA title, it was also the 12th championship in Lakers franchise history and the 1st title for the team in 12 years...the last trophy-clinching victory being against the Detroit Pistons in the 1988 NBA Finals.

And in case you haven't heard yet, the Lakers will now be owned by the same folks who own the Los Angeles Dodgers! Yesterday, Mark Walter—the principal owner of the Dodgers and the CEO of diversified holding company TWG Global—acquired the Lakers from the family of the late Jerry Buss in a deal that's worth $10 billion. Jeanie Buss, Dr. Buss' daughter, will remain the Lakers' governor for the foreseeable future.

While the Lakers won't have the luxury to offer a $700 million deferred contract for 10 years to an NBA free agent like what the Dodgers did with Shohei Ohtani (due to the NBA's stringent salary cap aprons), the Lake Show will have the financial resources to hire more personnel for its front office that will allow the team to do a better job vetting players who'll improve the Lakers' chances of becoming a championship contender once more. Luka Doncic is onboard with the new ownership (as shown in the tweet below); now let's wait and see what LeBron James has to say about this.

Happy Juneteenth!

The Lakers are an amazing organization. I’m looking forward to meeting Mark and excited about the future. I am also grateful to Jeanie and the Buss family for welcoming me to LA, and I’m happy that Jeanie will continue to be involved. I look forward to working with both of them…

— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) June 19, 2025

What the Buss family bought the Lakers compared to what they're selling them for is WILD 😳 pic.twitter.com/w4nlPeLjAP

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 18, 2025

NEWS: Jeanie Buss and the Buss family are selling their controlling stake of the Lakers to Dodgers owner Mark Walter at a $10 billion valuation.

It's the highest sale ever for an NBA team and the most expensive franchise deal in U.S. sports history. pic.twitter.com/cbxSocquFd

— Boardroom (@boardroom) June 18, 2025

The Latest Update on the Second and Third Blue Ghost Moon Missions...

Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace Announces New Lunar Imaging Service on its Elytra Spacecraft (Press Release)

Cedar Park, Texas – Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today announced a new lunar imaging service, named Ocula, offered through Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicles as early as 2026. Ocula is enabled by high-resolution telescopes from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that operate onboard Elytra in lunar orbit and provide ultraviolet and visible spectrum imaging – a key capability to identify mineral deposits on the Moon’s surface, map future landing sites with higher fidelity, and enable cislunar situational awareness.

“Firefly is known for defining new categories in the space industry, and Ocula is no exception,” said Jason Kim, CEO at Firefly Aerospace. “Ocula will be one of the first, if not the first, commercial lunar imaging service on the market. Powered by a constellation of Elytra vehicles in lunar orbit, and eventually Mars orbit, Ocula will provide critical data that informs future human and robotic missions and supports national security with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. This service will fill a void for our nation with advanced lunar imaging capabilities and a sustainable commercial business model.”

Firefly’s Ocula service will be activated onboard Elytra Dark that is first serving as a transfer vehicle for Blue Ghost Mission 2, set to launch in 2026. Elytra will then provide a long-haul communications relay and radio frequency calibration services for Blue Ghost and its payloads after the lander touches down on the far side of the Moon. Following completion of the Blue Ghost mission, Elytra will remain operational in lunar orbit for more than five years, capturing continuous imagery and autonomously transmitting the data back to Earth.

The telescope system onboard Elytra is capable of capturing up to 0.2-meter resolution of the lunar surface at an altitude of 50 kilometers, further advancing the capabilities of current U.S. orbiters. With ultraviolet and visible spectrum capabilities, the telescopes are designed to support situational awareness of other objects in cislunar space, enable fine-grained lunar surface details, and identify concentrations of ilmenite, which indicates the presence of helium-3.

“LLNL is contributing our optical telescopes to help enable this new commercial imaging service for lunar mapping and domain awareness,” said Ben Bahney, program leader for space at LLNL. “There is no shortage of exploration and science this system can support, including more accurate observations of asteroid 2024 YR4 as it approaches the Moon in 2032. LLNL has a long history of supporting NASA and the DoD, including sending another optical system to lunar orbit on the Clementine mission in 1994. We are thrilled to go back to the Moon with Firefly, leveraging our proven capabilities in support of sustainable operations and national security on and around the Moon.”

Firefly will license the data to government and commercial customers at a low cost by initially unlocking the Ocula service onboard Firefly’s existing missions that are already funded, including Blue Ghost Mission 2 and Blue Ghost Mission 3. Set to launch in 2028, Blue Ghost Mission 3 includes another Elytra Dark that will remain operational in lunar orbit for more than five years and capture additional imagery with LLNL telescopes.

As the company continues to grow its spacecraft production capabilities, Firefly will expand its constellation of Elytra vehicles in lunar orbit to further enhance the Ocula service and enable faster revisit times for situational awareness, resource detection and mission planning. Longer term, the service can also be extended to Mars and other planetary bodies.

Source: Firefly Aerospace

Remembering the Mamba's 5th and Final NBA Championship...

Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

On this day 15 years ago, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers played a low-scoring but epic Game 7 against the Boston Celtics to win the NBA championship, 83-79, at STAPLES Center. Exactly two years after they were humiliated by their arch-nemesis in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals at TD Banknorth Garden arena, the Lakers exacted revenge in a fitting end to their 3-year championship run that also included a win over the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals.

This was the Lakers' 16th franchise title before LeBron James and Anthony Davis gave the Lake Show its 17th NBA championship in October 2020.

The Latest STAR WARS Disney+ Show Is More Relevant Than Ever in the Trump Era...

So in case you guys haven't been following U.S. news recently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been conducting numerous raids around Southern California over the last few days. Considering that the population in SoCal—and Los Angeles in general—is predominantly Latino, citizens in this metropolitan area of 4 million people didn't take the news lightly.

So as the news coverage have shown, score of Angelenos have been protesting against the federal agents...prompting wannabe dictator Donald Trump to deploy the California National Guard (as opposed to CA Governor Gavin Newsom making this call himself—which would be the norm if the U.S. was still a fully-functioning democracy) in Los Angeles.

Now, if you watched the hit Star Wars Disney+ series Andor, or at least Season 2 of the show which concluded last month, you'd feel that this provocation being wrought by the Trump regime against a Democratic state like California was suspicious as hell. In Andor: Season 2, we found out that the Empire antagonized Ghorman to force a local uprising that would justify the deployment of Imperial forces onto the small world...allowing the Empire to secretly mine a resource known as 'deep substrate foliated kalkite' that would be used to power the superlaser on the Death Star.

I highly doubt that Trump is creating a Moon-sized battle station (since most of the people in his administration are idiots who used to work for Fox News), but his motive to anger the largest liberal state in this country reeks of flat-out authoritarianism. The ICE raids were, after all, spearheaded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff and wannabe Nazi douchebag Stephen Miller.

As of this Blog entry, the National Guard has arrived in Los Angeles...so we'll see what happens if protests continue in my hometown.

Combine this weekend's development with the fact that Trump—a 5-time draft dodger—is planning to host a North Korean-style military parade in Washington, D.C. next Saturday (June 14, which is the Dotard's birthday), and you have the makings of fascism in the world's only superpower. And let's not forget that the parade will cost up to $45 million in American taxpayer money when all is said and done.

To make this post relevant to Andor again, Trump continues to show that he's the "monster" that Palpatine was in the Star Wars galaxy, according to Mon Mothma. Just as how the Rebel Alliance continued to take shape while the Empire was trying to consolidate its power in that fictional galaxy, an anti-MAGA rebellion needs to continue taking shape across the United States of America in real life. Carry on.

This is so wrong. All to feed the ego of a mad tyrant who never had the balls to serve. This is not what we do in America. This is so fucking wrong. Makes me so sad. And so angry.👇 https://t.co/ZmDcwLovhA

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) June 7, 2025

Welcome to Donald Trump’s America

pic.twitter.com/7VLKrSoAQY

— Rachel Bitecofer 🗽🦆 (@RachelBitecofer) June 7, 2025

“Tasted a little tear gas— tasted like fascism” pic.twitter.com/o7SLl4ZWnV

— Acyn (@Acyn) June 8, 2025

A Quarter Century Ago: The Lakers Clinched Their Spot in the 2000 NBA Finals...

Getty Images

25 years ago today, the Lakers made an epic comeback against the Portland Trail Blazers after Los Angeles was down by 15 points in the 4th quarter. In a run that included the famous alley oop from Kobe Bryant to Shaquille O'Neal that resulted in a decisive dunk (see tweet below), the Lakers finally put an end to three straight disappointing postseasons that included two defeats by the Utah Jazz (in 1997 and a sweep in '98), and a sweep by the San Antonio Spurs in 1999. And this run to the championship took place during the Lake Show's first NBA season at their new home, the STAPLES Center.

All I can say is, this was a classic game! Though I'll admit, I was so infuriated by the Lakers losing badly coming out of the 3rd quarter, that I pondered about becoming a Raptors fan had L.A. lost Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. Don't forget— Air Canada himself, Vince Carter, was still playing in Toronto at the time. Happy Hump Day!

This was before the Lakers went on to beating Indiana in that team's first appearance in the #NBAFinals. Godspeed, Pacers. 🥸 https://t.co/EyZKFmnLjQ

— Richard Par (@RichTPar) June 4, 2025

An Issue with One of America's Newest Asteroid Explorers Has Been Rectified...

NASA / JPL - Caltech / Richard T. Par

NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft Using Backup Fuel Line (News Release)

Engineers with NASA’s Psyche mission have developed a solution to address the decrease in fuel pressure that they detected recently in the spacecraft’s propulsion system: They have successfully switched to a backup fuel line, which is operating as expected.

Powered by two large solar arrays, Psyche’s thrusters ionize and expel xenon gas to gently propel the spacecraft, which gradually picks up speed during its journey. The team paused the four electric thrusters in early April to investigate an unexpected drop in pressure. They determined that a mechanical issue in one of the valves, which open and close to manage the flow of propellant, caused the decrease.

Through extensive testing and diagnostic work, the team concluded that a part inside one of the valves is no longer functioning as expected and is obstructing the flow of xenon to the thrusters. Now that the swap to the backup fuel line is completed, engineers will command the spacecraft’s thrusters to resume firing by mid-June.

The spacecraft was designed with a redundant backup propellant line that is identical to the primary propellant line. Engineers plan to keep the backup line’s valve in the open position to ensure propellant flow and avoid any potential mechanical issues in the future.

The orbiter remains on course to reach the asteroid Psyche as planned in August 2029. The spacecraft launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in October 2023 and has already flown 628 million miles (1 billion kilometers). In May 2026, Psyche will fly by Mars, using the planet’s gravity as a slingshot to help speed the orbiter along to the metal-rich asteroid that it was built to explore.

Source: NASA.Gov

A Spotlight on America's Next Saturn-bound Robotic Explorer...

NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Steve Gribben

NASA’s Dragonfly Mission Sets Sights on Titan’s Mysteries (News Release - May 22)

When it descends through the thick golden haze on Saturn’s moon Titan, NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft will find eerily familiar terrain. Dunes wrap around Titan’s equator. Clouds drift across its skies.

Rain drizzles. Rivers flow, forming canyons, lakes and seas.

But not everything is as familiar as it seems. At -292° Fahrenheit, the dune sands aren’t silicate grains but organic material. The rivers, lakes and seas hold liquid methane and ethane, not water. Titan is a frigid world laden with organic molecules.

Yet Dragonfly, a car-sized rotorcraft set to launch no earlier than 2028, will explore this frigid world to potentially answer one of science’s biggest questions: How did life begin?

Seeking answers about life in a place where it likely can’t survive seems odd. But that’s precisely the point.

“Dragonfly isn’t a mission to detect life — it’s a mission to investigate the chemistry that came before biology here on Earth,” said Zibi Turtle, principal investigator for Dragonfly and a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. “On Titan, we can explore the chemical processes that may have led to life on Earth without life complicating the picture.”

On Earth, life has reshaped nearly everything, burying its chemical forebears beneath eons of evolution. Even today’s microbes rely on a slew of reactions to keep squirming.

“You need to have gone from simple to complex chemistry before jumping to biology, but we don’t know all the steps,” Turtle said. “Titan allows us to uncover some of them.”

Titan is an untouched chemical laboratory where all of the ingredients for known life — organics, liquid water and an energy source — have interacted in the past. What Dragonfly uncovers will illuminate a past since erased on Earth and refine our understanding of habitability and whether the chemistry that sparked life here is a universal rule — or a wondrous cosmic fluke.

Before NASA’s Cassini-Huygens mission, researchers didn't know just how rich Titan is in organic molecules. The mission’s data, combined with laboratory experiments, revealed a molecular smorgasbord — ethane, propane, acetylene, acetone, vinyl cyanide, benzene, cyanogen and more.

These molecules fall to the surface, forming thick deposits on Titan’s ice bedrock. Scientists believe life-related chemistry could start there — if given some liquid water, such as from an asteroid impact.

Enter Selk crater, a 50-mile-wide impact site. It’s a key Dragonfly destination, not only because it’s covered in organics, but because it may have had liquid water for an extended period of time.

The impact that formed Selk melted the icy bedrock, creating a temporary pool that could have remained liquid for hundreds to thousands of years under an insulating ice layer, like winter ponds on Earth. If a natural antifreeze like ammonia were mixed in, the pool could have remained unfrozen even longer, blending water with organics and the impactor’s silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and iron to form a primordial soup.

“It’s essentially a long-running chemical experiment,” said Sarah Hörst, an atmospheric chemist at Johns Hopkins University and co-investigator on Dragonfly’s science team. “That’s why Titan is exciting. It’s a natural version of our origin-of-life experiments — except it’s been running much longer and on a planetary scale.”

For decades, scientists have simulated Earth’s early conditions, mixing water with simple organics to create a “prebiotic soup” and jumpstarting reactions with an electrical shock. The problem is time. Most tests last weeks, maybe months or years.

The melt pools at Selk crater, however, possibly lasted tens of thousands of years. Still shorter than the hundreds of millions of years that it took life to emerge on Earth, but potentially enough time for critical chemistry to occur.

“We don’t know if Earth life took so long because conditions had to stabilize or because the chemistry itself needed time,” Hörst said. “But models show that if you toss Titan’s organics into water, tens of thousands of years is plenty of time for chemistry to happen.”

Dragonfly will test that theory. Landing near Selk, it will fly from site to site, analyzing the surface chemistry to investigate the frozen remains of what could have been prebiotic chemistry in action.

Morgan Cable, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and co-investigator on Dragonfly, is particularly excited about the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) instrument. Developed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, with a key subsystem provided by the CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales), DraMS will search for indicators of complex chemistry.

“We’re not looking for exact molecules, but patterns that suggest complexity,” Cable said. On Earth, for example, amino acids — fundamental to proteins — appear in specific patterns. A world without life would mainly manufacture the simplest amino acids and form fewer complex ones.

Generally, Titan isn’t regarded as habitable; it’s too cold for the chemistry of life as we know it to occur, and there’s is no liquid water on the surface, where the organics and likely energy sources exist.

Still, scientists have assumed that if a place has life’s ingredients and enough time, complex chemistry — and eventually life — should emerge. If Titan proves otherwise, it may mean that we’ve misunderstood something about life’s start and it may be rarer than we thought.

“We won’t know how easy or difficult it is for these chemical steps to occur if we don’t go, so we need to go and look,” Cable said. “That’s the fun thing about going to a world like Titan. We’re like detectives with our magnifying glasses, looking at everything and wondering what this is.”

Dragonfly is being designed and built under the direction of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), which manages the mission for NASA. The team includes key partners at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dragonfly is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / JPL - Caltech / University of Nantes / University of Arizona

The Second Blue Ghost Lander Will Carry a Wheeled Passenger Built in the Middle East to the Lunar Surface...

Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace Adds UAE’s Rashid 2 Rover to Blue Ghost Mission to the Far Side of the Moon (Press Release)

Cedar Park, Texas – Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today announced a new agreement with the United Arab Emirates’ Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) to deliver the Emirates Lunar Mission’s Rashid 2 Rover to the far side of the Moon on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander. The Rashid 2 Rover will join Firefly’s second lunar mission in 2026 in addition to payloads from Australia, the European Space Agency and NASA as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

“On the heels of Firefly’s flawless Moon landing and operations, our team is looking forward to collaborating with the UAE and further expanding our representation of Artemis Accords nations on this groundbreaking mission to the far side of the Moon,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “We’re honored to support the international space community with our versatile Blue Ghost lander and Elytra spacecraft that can stack together to provide unique access to both lunar orbit and the lunar surface.”

The Rashid 2 Rover will demonstrate lunar surface mobility on the far side of the Moon and utilize various materials on its wheels to evaluate their durability when exposed to lunar dust. The data collected will help guide the development of future lunar technologies, such as spacesuits, habitats and other critical infrastructure. Utilizing multiple cameras and probes, the rover will also study the Moon’s plasma, geology and thermal conditions in support of future in-situ resource utilization.

“The strategic agreement signed with Firefly Aerospace marks a significant advancement in the UAE’s growing role in shaping the future of lunar exploration,” said H.E. Salem Humaid AlMarri, Director General of MBRSC. “Through the Emirates Lunar Mission’s Rashid 2 Rover, the UAE will become one of the few nations to explore the far side of the Moon. The mission will deliver valuable scientific data on the lunar surface, plasma environment and dust behavior—contributing to global knowledge and supporting future lunar infrastructure development. As we prepare for this historic milestone, we remain dedicated to expanding the UAE’s contributions to humanity’s long-term presence in space.”

During Blue Ghost Mission 2 operations, Firefly’s Elytra vehicle will first deploy the Blue Ghost lander and the European Space Agency’s Lunar Pathfinder satellite in lunar orbit. Blue Ghost will then touch down on the far side of the Moon to deliver the UAE’s Rashid 2 Rover, Australia’s Fleet Space SPIDER payload, and NASA’s LuSEE-Night radio telescope and User Terminal. Elytra will remain in lunar orbit to provide long-haul communications and enable radio frequency calibration services for LuSEE-Night.

The payloads flying on this international mission will advance the growing lunar ecosystem by searching for lunar resources, enhancing surface mobility on the Moon, improving lunar communications, and uncovering new insights about the origins of the Universe.

Firefly has already begun qualifying and assembling flight hardware for Blue Ghost Mission 2, which will follow Firefly’s first lunar mission that completed the first fully-successful commercial Moon landing on March 2 and completed 14 days of surface operations on March 16, marking the longest commercial operations on the Moon to date.

Source: Firefly Aerospace

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Hardware progress accelerates for #BlueGhost Mission 2! We just fired up our new prop and welding cleanroom at our Spacecraft Facility to complete first welds on a flight panel for Elytra Dark - our lunar orbiter and Blue Ghost transfer vehicle. Meanwhile, at our Rocket Ranch,… pic.twitter.com/VEIdk9x7pr

— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) May 21, 2025

ANDOR: It's Been One Week Since the Best Star Wars Show in the Disney Era Came to an End...

So last Tuesday, the final three episodes for Season 2 of Andor premiered on Disney+...and all I can say is: Well-done, Tony Gilroy!

The Star Wars streaming series began with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) infiltrating a top-secret Imperial facility to steal a prototype TIE Fighter, and concluded with Andor walking amongst his fellow Rebels at the base on Yavin 4 to embark on a mission that would directly lead into the events of 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

In the 12 episodes that graced Andor: Season 2, we returned to the storylines of such formidable characters as Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau), Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) and of course, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) and Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). In Season 2 specifically, Rogue One characters Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), K-2SO (once again voiced and motion captured by Alan Tudyk) and Bail Organa (portrayed by Benjamin Bratt and not Jimmy Smits, respectively, on this show) made memorable appearances as well.

There are so many things to discuss about Andor: Season 2, but all I will say is that this show truly is The Empire Strikes Back of Star Wars Disney+ series. Andor's grittiness and extremely-grounded themes are things that we probably won't see much of in future Star Wars projects (especially in regards to the use of profanity like in Andor), unless an apt showrunner like Tony Gilroy has a major involvement in those productions.

The themes of both seasons of Andor definitely resonate in the real world...with Mon Mothma's brilliant Senate speech about the Ghorman Massacre in Season 2's Episode 9 (titled "Welcome to the Rebellion") lamenting about how we all fall victim to monsters who "scream the loudest" when truth is buried in the public discourse. Emperor Palpatine is the monster who Mothma was referring to on Andor, but in real life, the majority of the world who aren't right-wing radicals know who the monster is that's currently residing in the White House.

While the closing minutes of Season 2, Episode 12 (titled "Jedha, Kyber, Erso") focuses on the fateful mission that Cassian is about to embark on that will lead to his sacrifice in the climax of Rogue One, the final scene of Andor is a hopeful one: With Bix, Cassian's wife, walking in a wheat field of the planet Mina-Rau while cradling their newborn infant. It is sad to know that Cassian will never meet his offspring, but it is reassuring to know that he and Bix have brought a child into the Star Wars galaxy who will be able to see the sunrise that Cassian—and fellow Rebel heroes like Luthen Rael—won't get to see on their own.

Once again: Well-done, Tony Gilroy!

Hubble's Successor Makes New Observations of Dragonfly's Future Target at Saturn...

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI and W.M. Keck Observatories

Webb’s Titan Forecast: Partly Cloudy With Occasional Methane Showers (News Release - May 14)

Saturn’s moon Titan is an intriguing world cloaked in a yellowish, smoggy haze. Similar to Earth, the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and has weather, including clouds and rain. Unlike Earth, whose weather is driven by evaporating and condensing water, frigid Titan has a methane cycle.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, supplemented with images from the Keck II telescope, has for the first time found evidence of cloud convection in Titan’s northern hemisphere, over a region of lakes and seas. Webb has also detected a key carbon-containing molecule that gives insight into the chemical processes in Titan’s complex atmosphere.

Titan’s Weather

On Titan, methane plays a similar role to water on Earth when it comes to weather. It evaporates from the surface and rises into the atmosphere, where it condenses to form methane clouds. Occasionally it falls as a chilly, oily rain onto a solid surface where water ice is hard as rocks.

“Titan is the only other place in our Solar System that has weather like Earth, in the sense that it has clouds and rain fall onto a surface,” explained lead author Conor Nixon of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The team observed Titan in November 2022 and July 2023 using both Webb and one of the twin ground-based W.M. Keck Observatories telescopes. Those observations not only showed clouds in the mid-and-high northern latitudes on Titan – the hemisphere where it is currently summer – but also showed those clouds apparently rising to higher altitudes over time. While previous studies have observed cloud convection at southern latitudes, this is the first time that evidence for such convection has been seen in the north.

This observation is significant because most of Titan’s lakes and seas are located in its northern hemisphere and evaporation from lakes is a major potential methane source. Their total area is similar to that of the Great Lakes in North America.

On Earth the lowest layer of the atmosphere, or troposphere, extends up to an altitude of about 7 miles (12 kilometers). However, on Titan, whose lower gravity allows the atmospheric layers to expand, the troposphere extends up to about 27 miles (45 kilometers). Webb and Keck used different infrared filters to probe to different depths in Titan’s atmosphere, allowing astronomers to estimate the altitudes of the clouds.

The science team observed clouds that appeared to move to higher altitudes over a period of days, although they were not able to directly see any precipitation occurring.

Titan’s Chemistry

Titan is an object of high astrobiological interest due to its complex organic (carbon-containing) chemistry. Organic molecules form the basis of all life on Earth, and studying them on a world like Titan may help scientists understand the processes that led to the origin of life on Earth.

The basic ingredient that drives much of Titan’s chemistry is methane, or CH₄. Methane in Titan’s atmosphere gets split apart by sunlight or energetic electrons from Saturn’s magnetosphere, and then recombines with other molecules to make substances like ethane (C₂H₆) along with more complex carbon-bearing molecules.

Webb’s data provided a key missing piece for our understanding of the chemical processes: a definitive detection of the methyl radical CH₃. This molecule (called “radical” because it has a “free” electron that is not in a chemical bond) forms when methane is broken apart. Detecting this substance means that scientists can see chemistry in action on Titan for the first time, rather than just the starting ingredients and the end products.

“For the first time we can see the chemical cake while it’s rising in the oven, instead of just the starting ingredients of flour and sugar, and then the final, iced cake,” said co-author Stefanie Milam of the Goddard Space Flight Center.

The Future of Titan’s Atmosphere

This hydrocarbon chemistry has long-term implications for the future of Titan. When methane is broken apart in the upper atmosphere, some of it recombines to make other molecules that eventually end up on Titan’s surface in one chemical form or another, while some hydrogen escapes from the atmosphere. As a result, methane will be depleted over time, unless there is some source to replenish it.

A similar process occurred on Mars, where water molecules were broken up and the resulting hydrogen lost to space. The result was the dry, desert planet that we see today.

“On Titan, methane is a consumable. It’s possible that it is being constantly resupplied and fizzing out of the crust and interior over billions of years. If not, eventually it will all be gone and Titan will become a mostly airless world of dust and dunes,” said Nixon.

Complementing the Dragonfly Mission

More of Titan’s mysteries will be probed by NASA’s Dragonfly mission, a robotic rotorcraft scheduled to land on Saturn’s moon in 2034. Making multiple flights, Dragonfly will explore a variety of locations. Its in-depth investigations will complement Webb’s global perspective.

“By combining all of these resources, including Webb, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and ground-based observatories, we maintain continuity between the former Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and the upcoming Dragonfly mission,” added Heidi Hammel, vice president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and a Webb Interdisciplinary Scientist.

This data was taken as part of Hammel’s Guaranteed Time Observations program to study the Solar System. The results were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our Solar System, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our Universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Steve Gribben

America's Newest X-Plane Moves One Step Closer to Flight...

Lockheed Martin / Garry Tice

NASA X-59’s Latest Testing Milestone: Simulating Flight from the Ground (News Release)

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft successfully completed a critical series of tests in which the airplane was put through its paces for cruising high above the California desert – all without ever leaving the ground.

“The idea behind these tests is to command the airplane’s subsystems and flight computer to function as if it is flying,” said Yohan Lin, the X-59’s lead avionics engineer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

The goal of ground-based simulation testing was to make sure the hardware and software that will allow the X-59 to fly safely are properly working together and able to handle any unexpected problems.

Any new aircraft is a combination of systems, and identifying the little adjustments required to optimize performance is an important step in a disciplined approach towards flight.

“We thought we might find a few things during the tests that would prompt us to go back and tweak them to work better, especially with some of the software, and that’s what we wound up experiencing. So, these tests were very helpful,” Lin said.

Completing the tests marks another milestone off the checklist of things to do before the X-59 makes its first flight this year, continuing NASA’s QueSST mission to help enable commercial supersonic air travel over land.

Simulating the Sky

During the testing, engineers from NASA and contractor Lockheed Martin turned on most of the X-59’s systems, leaving the engine off. For example, if the pilot moved the control stick a certain way, the flight computer moved the aircraft’s rudder or other control surfaces, just as it would in flight.

At the same time, the airplane was electronically connected to a ground computer that sends simulated signals – which the X-59 interpreted as real – such as changes in altitude, speed, temperature or the health of various systems.

Sitting in the cockpit, the pilot “flew” the aircraft to see how the airplane would respond.

“These were simple maneuvers, nothing too crazy,” Lin said. “We would then inject failures into the airplane to see how it would respond. Would the system compensate for the failure? Was the pilot able to recover?”

Unlike in typical astronaut training simulations, where flight crews do not know what scenarios they might encounter, the X-59 pilots mostly knew what the aircraft would experience during every test and even helped plan them to better focus on the aircraft systems’ response.

Aluminum vs. Iron

In aircraft development, this work is known as “iron bird” testing, named for a simple metal frame on which representations of the aircraft’s subsystems are installed, connected and checked out.

Building such a testbed is a common practice for development programs in which many aircraft will be manufactured. But since the X-59 is a one-of-a-kind airplane, officials decided that it was better and less expensive to use the aircraft itself.

As a result, engineers dubbed this series of exercises “aluminum bird” testing, since that’s the metal the X-59 is mostly made of.

So, instead of testing an “iron bird” with copies of an aircraft’s systems on a non-descript frame, the “aluminum bird” used the actual aircraft and its systems, which in turn meant the test results gave everyone higher confidence in the design.

“It’s a perfect example of the old tried-and-true adage in aviation that says ‘Test what you fly. Fly what you test,’” Lin said.

Still Ahead for the X-59

With aluminum bird testing in the rearview mirror, the next milestone on the X-59’s path to first flight is taking the airplane out on the taxiways at the airport adjacent to Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, where the X-59 was built. First flight would follow those taxi tests.

Already in the X-59’s logbook since the fully-assembled-and-painted airplane made its public debut in January 2024:

-- A Flight Readiness Review in which a board of independent experts from across NASA completed a study of the X-59 project team’s approach to safety for the public and staff during ground and flight testing.
-- A trio of important structural tests and critical inspections that included “shaking” the airplane to make sure that there were no unexpected problems from the vibrations.
-- Firing up the GE Aerospace jet engine for the first time after installation into the X-59, including a series of tests of the engine running with full afterburner.
-- Checking the wiring that ties together the X-59’s flight computer, electronic systems, and other hardware to be sure that there were no concerns about electromagnetic interference.
-- Testing the aircraft’s ability to maintain a certain speed while flying, essentially a check of the X-59’s version of cruise control.

Source: NASA.Gov