fisunov @fisunov@qoto.org

SpaceX shatters its rocket launch record yet again — 165 orbital flights in 2025

SpaceX launched nearly twice as many orbital missions as China did this year, and the company's 2025 output represented about 85% of the United States' total tally.

Elon Musk's company has now set a new mark six years in a row, and the numbers are getting pretty silly. The record has risen from 25 orbital liftoffs in 2020 to 31 (2021) to 61 (2022) to 96 (2023) to 134 (2024) and, now, to a whopping 165. And that's not including five non-orbital Starship test flights by SpaceX.

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/spacex-shatters-its-rocket-launch-record-yet-again-167-orbital-flights-in-2025
#space #spacex #mars #news

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover could break the record for miles driven on another planet

Nearly five years into its mission on the Red Planet, the car-sized rover still has enough remaining capability to drive more than twice the distance it has already logged, mission scientists said Wednesday (Dec. 17) at the American Geophysical Union meeting in Louisiana.

That estimate puts the six-wheeled robot on track to surpass the current distance record of 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers), set by NASA's Opportunity rover after more than 14 years of exploration on Mars before a monster dust storm ended its mission in 2018.

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/mars-rovers/nasas-perseverance-mars-rover-could-break-the-record-for-miles-driven-on-another-planet
#space #mars

NASA's MAVEN spacecraft is still silent at Mars — and apparently is spinning, too

MAVEN (short for "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution") has been silent since Dec. 4, despite repeated efforts to hail the spacecraft, NASA announced in an update on Monday (Dec. 15). And a fragment of tracking data recovered on Dec. 6 delivered a bit of additional bad news.

"Analysis of that signal suggests that the MAVEN spacecraft was rotating in an unexpected manner when it emerged from behind Mars," NASA officials wrote in the update. "Further, the frequency of the tracking signal suggests MAVEN's orbit trajectory may have changed."

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/nasas-maven-spacecraft-is-still-silent-at-mars-and-apparently-is-spinning-too
#space #mars #nasa #maven #marsOrbiter

Steven Spielberg finally reveals 1st trailer for new UFO film 'Disclosure Day' (2 min)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UFe6NRgoXCM

#space #ufo #movie #film #movies #films #news

Scientists map of old Mars river basins for the 1st time. These could be great places to search for ancient life

A complex valley network near Idaeus Fossae on Mars, captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. New mapping shows such networks were once part of vast, connected river basins that carried nearly half the sediment moved by Martian rivers, and may be among the most promising places to search for evidence of ancient life.

For the first time, scientists have mapped vast, continent-scale river drainage systems on Mars — ancient networks that may also be among the most promising places to search for signs of past life.

src: https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/scientists-map-of-old-mars-river-basins-for-the-1st-time-these-could-be-great-places-to-search-for-ancient-life
#space #mars #reconnaissanceOrbiter

NASA's loses contact with MAVEN Mars orbiter on the far side of the Red Planet

Something happened to the probe on the far side of the Red Planet.

MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) is one of only three NASA missions currently in operation around Mars, and one of five spacecraft serving as a communications relay for the space agency's rover missions on the Martian surface.

MAVEN launched on a ULA Atlas V rocket in Nov. 2013

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/nasas-loses-contact-with-maven-mars-orbiter-on-the-far-side-of-the-red-planet
#space #mars #nasa #maven #marsOrbiter

2025 Geminid Meteor Shower: online observation - 13 Dec. 2025
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss4cq9lzG8c

Watch the Geminid meteor shower peak tonight from the comfort of home with this free livestream

The Geminid meteor shower occurs as Earth passes through the debris from asteroid (3200) Phaethon

src: https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/watch-the-geminid-meteor-shower-peak-tonight-from-the-comfort-of-home-with-this-free-livestream
#space #geminid #meteor

Mars orbiter sees 'butterfly' crater spread its wings on the Red Planet
https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/mars-orbiter-sees-butterfly-crater-spread-its-wings-on-the-red-planet
#space #mars #esa #marsExpress

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS caught on camera in new images from Hubble Space Telescope and JUICE Jupiter probe

JUICE and the Hubble Space Telescope turned their gazes towards the interstellar visitor in November.

src: https://www.space.com/astronomy/comets/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-caught-on-camera-in-new-images-from-hubble-space-telescope-and-juice-jupiter-probe
#space #comet

Chinese astronauts inspect damaged Shenzhou 20 spacecraft during 8-hour spacewalk (video)

The Shenzhou 20 vehicle was deemed unfit to carry astronauts back to Earth after suffering a space junk strike.

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/goAPVmzY

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/chinese-astronauts-inspect-damaged-shenzhou-20-spacecraft-during-8-hour-spacewalk-video
#space #tiangong #spaceStation #china

Russian Soyuz capsule lands on Earth to return crew of 3 home after months on International Space Station (video)

Jonny Kim of NASA and Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky of Roscosmos touched down in Kazakhstan on Tuesday (Dec. 9).

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/slmglUqr

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/astronaut-and-cosmonauts-land-on-russian-soyuz-after-8-months-aboard-international-space-station
#space #iss #nasa #roscosmos

Hear dust devils on Mars crackle with electricity in new NASA Perseverance rover video

For the first time, we can see and hear lightning-like discharges in Mars' thin atmosphere.

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/bzJMnNK7

src: https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/hear-dust-devils-on-mars-crackle-with-electricity-in-new-nasa-perseverance-rover-video
#space #mars #nasa #marsRover

Comet 3I/ATLAS shows activity in Juice navigation camera teaser
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/12/Comet_3I_ATLAS_shows_activity_in_Juice_navigation_camera_teaser

#space #esa #comet

Electric discovery on Mars! Scientists find tiny lightning bolts coming from Red Planet dust clouds

Scientists have detected tiny lightning bolts on Mars for the first time — they were found discharging around NASA's Perseverance rover and coming from dust-storm fronts and whirling dust devils.

https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/electric-discovery-on-mars-scientists-find-tiny-lightning-bolts-coming-from-red-planet-dust-clouds
#space #mars

Thanksgiving gratitude from the International Space Station + What's on the menu? (5 min)

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Jonny Kim, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui share their message of gratitude in the annual Thanksgiving message from the International Space Station. Also, find out whats on the menu.

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/yAEtsQED

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/weve-even-got-some-lobster-thanksgiving-dinner-on-the-international-space-station-will-be-out-of-this-world-for-astronauts-video
#space #nasa #jaxa #iss #spaceStation

US-Russian Soyuz crew launches to the International Space Station on Thanksgiving Day

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev arrived at the ISS just in time for a holiday feast.

https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/lU8MDDNQ

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/soyuz-rocket-launches-us-russian-crew-to-international-space-station-with-thanksgiving-day-liftoff

#space #nasa #roscosmos #iss #spaceStation

NASA renews commitment to Europe's life-hunting Mars rover despite Trump budget cuts

The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover is 300 kilograms Mars exploration robot fitted with 2 meters drill to search for signs of life below the Red Planet's radiation-battered surface.

With new developments needed, ESA established a new launch date for the rover in 2028.

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/nasa-confirms-exomars-rover-participation
#space #mars #esa #nasa #exoMars #marsRover #news

NASA’s Artemis 2 moon rocket comes together | Space photo of the day for Nov. 21, 2025

The Orion crew module gets stacked onto the Space Launch System in preparation for the upcoming Artemis 2 mission in early 2026.

src: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/nasas-artemis-2-moon-rocket-comes-together-space-photo-of-the-day-for-nov-21-2025
#space #moon #nasa #artemis

NASA reveals new images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from across the solar system: 'It looks and behaves like a comet'
https://www.space.com/astronomy/comets/nasa-reveals-new-images-of-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-from-across-the-solar-system-it-looks-and-behaves-like-a-comet

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS shines in new image captured after close pass by the sun (photo)
https://www.space.com/stargazing/astrophotography/-interstellar-comet-3iatlas-shines-in-new-image-captured-after-close-pass-by-the-sun-photo-nov-19-2025

#space #comet #nasa #astronomy

SpaceX Starship timeline delays astronaut moon landing for NASA's Artemis 3 mission to 2028: Report
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/spacex-starship-timeline-delays-astronaut-moon-landing-for-nasas-artemis-3-mission-to-2028-report

#space #moon #nasa #artemis #spacex #starship