David S. F. Portree

My first blog, started in 1996, was called Romance to Reality: Moon & Mars Plans. This post, describing a 1966 NASA plan for a hybrid nuclear-thermal/nuclear-electric crewed Mars mission, started on RtR and has evolved and expanded over the decades. spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2016/12/nerv...

A lot of activity at the eastern limb of the Sun: Opening coronal loops and a large filament eruption with material falling back.

Relatively quiet Sun with only 2 sunspot groups on the solar disk. 4561 shows rapid growth and produced some C-class flares and CMEs (will most likely miss Earth). 4562 is rather simple, no growth. Coronal hole 07+ could bring some fast wind and aurora to high lats in some days.

From NASA The sunshade for the NEO Surveyor mission is ready for its day in the sun! 😎 NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor will hunt for potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that cross Earth’s path.

Teams have completed work on integrating solar arrays onto the spacecraft’s sunshade. The 20-foot-tall (6-meter-tall) structure is primarily designed to block the Sun’s glare as NEO Surveyor's telescope scans for its elusive targets. Look into the details: science.nasa.gov/blogs/neo-su...

Arizona’s state bird, the Cactus Wren

Democracy in action 👇

Keep pulling out Obama and his one liners!! I really think that may topple Trump quicker than anything else!!

1/2🧵🔴 Mars Perseverance Sol 2019: Right #Mastcam-Z Camera / enhanced mosaic 🔭 Oct. 25, 2026, 13:24:59/13:25:22 Source: Mars_Perseverance_ZR0_2019_0846179578_0846179590_0846179600_614EBY_N0920000ZCAM10050_1100LMJ Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Jackie Branc CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 #Mars #Percy #Perseverance

New rock core! This rock class was very hard to drill.

From NASA We’ve known since the Apollo missions that dust can present challenges for explorers on other worlds. Now, scientists are using instruments on the Perseverance rover to understand the risks of dust on Mars and find clues about how to protect future crews on the Red Planet.

The study is based on analysis of sample spacesuit materials that were placed on the rover to help prepare for future exploration. Learn more: go.nasa.gov/4yNajei

Poisonous dust aside, I love this newly released view of Nerveta Vallis, the dust-filled river channel that cuts through the rim of Jezero Crater. You can see where the river enters from the left, curves toward the camera, then off to the right. The rover found signs of potential life on these banks

Not too early to start thinking about how grassroots pressure on a Dem House could help produce better results -->

🚀🌑 L'étage central du #SLS #Artemis III a été pesé à l'horizontale. Il sera érigé dans quelques jours pour être intégré au mileu des 2 boosters SRB 📷NASA

University Professor shares exciting insights into how bats socialise and why our world wouldn’t be the same without them | University of Chester

Solar has overtaken nuclear. A decade ago it supplied 1% of the world's power. In 2025 it met three quarters of global demand growth. Almost nobody saw it coming. I spoke to Jocelyn Timperley at BBC Future about why. www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

Hello everyone, here is your daily update on what the Sun is doing: (Paraphrased from NOAA SWPC's recent forecast discussion) Low activity. Top flare C1.9 from new Region 4561, plus a CME NOAA is analyzing. No Earth-directed CMEs detected. Slight M-flare chance thru Oct 27.

🌕 The journey back to the Moon. 🚀 Artemis I (2022): first uncrewed flight, proving the Orion spacecraft could go the distance 👨‍🚀 Artemis II (2026): first crewed Artemis mission, carrying four astronauts around the Moon and back for the first time in over 50 years.

Without Europe, those journeys wouldn't have been possible. @esa.int's European Service Module is the powerhouse of Orion providing: 🚀 propulsion through deep space ⚡ electricity through 4 solar arrays 💧 water 🌬️ breathable air 🌡️ temperature control

want

The official Doctor Who social accounts (besides YouTube, which would make it a little bit easier for me to post this) have shared this cute video for the cinema showing of the extended cut of 'The Satan Pit' on Doctor Who Day, November 23 and on November 28.

Sol 2019: Left Mastcam-Z Camera, acquired at 14:13:48.310 (local mean solar time), image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Sol 2019: WATSON Camera, taken at 14:26:24.524 (local mean solar time)

Sol 2019: WATSON Camera, acquired at 14:23:41.011 (local mean solar time)

Sol 2019: Right Mastcam-Z Camera, taken at 13:20:48.694 (local mean solar time), image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Full moon tonight with the Fujifilm X-M5, XF150-600, and with the Dwarf Mini.

David A. Hardy ‘Planet of Beta Lyrae’ from The New Challenge of the Stars by Patrick Moore & David A. Hardy, 1977

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came from behind to win Brazil’s runoff election, halting a right-wing wave sweeping Latin America and defying predictions that the 80-year-old political veteran had finally reached the end of his extraordinary career. bloom.bg/4BsvV24 📷: Maira Erlich/Bloomberg

Hello everyone, here is your daily update on what the Sun is doing: (Paraphrased from NOAA SWPC's recent forecast discussion) Very low activity: a few B-class flares from Region 4560 near the west limb. Two CMEs off the NE limb aren't expected at Earth; no Earth-directed CMEs.

The world may be quite turbulent at the moment, but I think we can all take at least some solace in the fact that libraries, cafés, bookstores, bakeries, museums, and Oxford commas exist.

Perseverance Mars Rover Outside Jezero Crater Sol 2018 (24th October, 2026) NavCam: A new sample apparently taken. MastCam-Z*: Sample core check. Sol 2019 (25th October, 2026) Sherloc-Watson Cam: Sample hole close-ups. S/D: 92/0

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Martian-Observer *CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/Martian-Observer Images source: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mul...

🌕 A glimpse of China’s lunar ambitions at Wenchang! The Long March 10 launch complex, being built to support China’s crewed Moon missions, stands in the foreground as the Long March 8A Y12 ascends into orbit in the distance. Two rockets, one growing space programme. 🚀

Echidna!

Serbia has now followed Hungary and voted out their authoritarian party. America, in nine days let’s make it three in a row. www.dw.com/en/serbia-el...

The Government™ has made an ad about all these protests happening around the world, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative.

The achievement of Serbian students overthrowing Aleksandar Vučić can't be overstated. In 2024, they began protesting. In 2025, they transformed a protest movement into civil dissidence. In 2026, they became a political party — and two months later, crushed a corrupt state-entrenched authoritarian.

A Whom...wha?? Nah Sheila that there's a dropbear www.youtube.com/shorts/FU2-k...

It's time for a change. Vote for leaders like @abdulelsayed.bsky.social and @jocelynbenson.bsky.social who will work every day to make this country better.

Lower the Mediterranean just 110 metres and you can walk from Malta to Sicily. Keep draining and the floor sits on a kilometre of salt from the last time this sea dried out. Data: EMODnet, NOAA ETOPO 2022, ICE-6G_C #geography #maps #ocean

I love it for Ramaswamy that he has tanked his entire political career and made Amy Acton a classic study in courage with one, single ad drop.

Show that Americans love their libraries! 👉 Like 👉 Follow 👉 Share #library #libraries #read #reading #book #books #librarianship #lit

See the story of this legendary interplanetary workhorse and how it continues to lead the way for Mars exploration: science.nasa.gov/mission/odys...

Mission Control at JPL. On the right of the top screen is a list of missions and how long they've been supported by the Deep Space Network. Odyssey (M010) is second only to the Voyagers.

#NASA's #Mars #Perseverance rover Front Left Hazard Avoidance Camera (Hazcam) Oct. 17, 2026 (Sol 2011) Oct. 23, 2026 (Sol 2017) mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mul... NASA/JPL-Caltech/j. Roger

The current large coronal hole may cause a minor geomagnetic storm around Oct 31-Nov 1 according to long-term predictions from NOAA SWPC. The coronal hole should be facing Earth in a few days. #heliophysics