Rafael Mentges

a man in a military uniform is talking and says `` no problems , everything is fine . '' ALT: a man in a military uniform is talking and says `` no problems , everything is fine . ''

Several people in the Trump administration remind me a lot of Comical Ali

Isar Aerospace to Launch Astroscale ELSA-M Orbital Debris Removal Mission Tokyo-headquartered Astroscale has selected Isar Aerospace to launch its ELSA-M orbital debris removal demonstrator no earlier than 2028.

Très important : après d'autres démonstrations, celle d'aller chercher un satellite d'une "méga-constellation", c'est aussi poser un exemple de bon comportement... Et d'un nouveau marché.

europeanspaceflight.com/isar-aerospa...

Actually very predictable for someone who has thought about money professionally, like me.

Money is a highly emotional topic.

Middle East war live: US eases Russian oil sanctions as energy prices soar Move by Treasury comes after escalating crisis in Gulf sends Brent back above $100

Easing Russian sanctions because of high oil prices 🙄

The US is also calling for an international coalition to escort tankers 🙄
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Cannot stress enough that "moon base" is a loaded term, largely because it seems way easier to build/sustain than it actually is. This article gets into some of the reasons why. As Artemis moon landings continue to slip, consider "moon base" as more of a rhetorical device than an actual possibility.

Threat, Haven, or Fantasy? US Moon Base Concepts from 1959 to 2020 and Beyond An Introduction.

I wrote about the long history of moon base concepts here, and also teach about them in my intro to the solar system class, so students can understand that the idea of a moon base comes up every decade since the 1950s: medium.com/@adeene.dent...

Mantis Space emerges from stealth with $10 million for solar-power constellation SAN FRANCISCO – Mantis Space, a New Mexico startup planning a constellation to supply solar power to spacecraft, emerged from stealth March 12 with $10 million in seed funding. “We are building a constellation of satellites that deliver power directly to solar arrays that exist in the market today and bringing products to market that tap in that infrastructure at a more advanced level than current solar arrays,” Mantis Space CEO Eric Truitt told…

Mantis Space emerges from stealth with $10 million for solar-power constellation

SAN FRANCISCO – Mantis Space, a New Mexico startup planning a constellation to supply solar power to spacecraft, emerged from stealth March 12 with $10 million in seed funding. “We are building a constellation of…

I guess food is a leading indicator for the decline in power of the US military?

@p-hunermund.com do DAGs help in this case?

A European defence market is a big market, which means big demand, big investments and big production.

That is why our debate on a more integrated European market in defence is not a theoretical debate, it’s a very practical challenge.

#EUDefence

Do they really use old data? As stupid as this administration is, I would have expected that intelligent gathering should overall still work, because some competent people should be left in their positions..

A second visit to Eps Ind Ab with JWST: new photometry confirms ammonia and suggests thick clouds in the exoplanet atmosphere of the closest super-Jupiter With JWST, we are directly imaging cold (~200-300K), solar-age giant exoplanets for the first time. At these temperatures many molecular features appear and water-ice clouds may condense and affect th...

Beautiful new direct imaging of the exoplanet Eps Ind Ab with the #JWST MIRI coronagraphs by Elisabeth Matthews of @mpi-astro.bsky.social et al - confirming previous detection of ammonia in its atmosphere, and suggesting the presence of water ice clouds. Great work! 🔭 arxiv.org/abs/2603.08780

ELSA-M to Carry the Astra Carta Seal: A Milestone for Sustainable Space Operations This week at the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Roundtables & Exhibition, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that the Astra Carta seal will be inco...

The Astra Carta seal will fly on our ELSA-M satellite, a powerful symbol of the shared commitment to protect Earth’s orbits.

Supported by the @ukspaceagency.bsky.social, @esa.int and @eutelsat.bsky.social through the Sunrise Partnership Project. www.astroscale.com/en/news/elsa...

Cracking article, including on constitutional elements of Trump and Maga.

Contains wonderful line: “Regime change was the plan, but Trump finds it easier to change plans than regimes.”

The US and Russia backing Orban.

European democracy is under attack from Russia, the United States and from within. And we still don't have the right answers. Most Europeans still think and live and act as if we are in the old world order.

Vladimir Putin’s administration has endorsed a plan to bolster the prime minister’s party by flooding social media with messages designed in Russia and posted by influential Hungarians. ft.trib.al/LUbnQf9

About last night ... Wu Tang clan ain't nothing to f with!

And yes, I know, that will be expensive and difficult, but you have to start somewhere.

Just think about what they will be able to do with all the data. You get an idea by the case of Israel intelligence hacking Iranian video data to track movements of all the persons of interest.

Workers report watching Ray-Ban Meta-shot footage of people using the bathroom Meta accused of "concealing the facts" about smart glass users' privacy.

France is right, once again. We need to get digital independence.

Meta glasses record intimate videos.

Google sends sensible data to ICE

Amazon contractors listened to Alexa recordings

and many more cases...

Meanwhile, Germany wants to use Palantir ... 🙈

arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...

Ten years after the EU referendum, Britain has become more European A nation of caffeinated populists

Britain’s rejoining of the EU would be immensely difficult and fractious. It might, however, feel right

Wäre ich auch gewesen. Habe erst heute davon gelesen :)

A meteorite hit a house in Germany yesterday.

To celebrate #InternationalWomensDay, we interviewed five women flying spacecraft at the European Space Operations Centre (#ESOC). Take a look at what they said about their experiences flying spacecraft and perspectives on inclusion. www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup... 💪

#IWD2026

📷ESA/ESA-J.Mai

Nur 0,15 Sekunden – aber diese NASA-Entdeckung könnte eines Tages Leben retten Der Einschlag war winzig, die Folgen könnten gigantisch sein: Wie die NASA-Mission DART die Bahn eines Asteroiden verschob – und was das für die Menschheit bedeutet.

Neue Studie zeigt, dass die NASA-Mission DART nicht nur die Umlaufbahn von Dimorphos um den größeren Asteroiden Didymos verändert sondern sogar die Umlaufbahn des Doppelsystems um die Sonne.

Wann kommt eigentlich die ESA-Mission HERA endlich dort an?
Wird im Artikel nicht erwähnt :(

This is particularly interesting as it might give PLD an advantage in the European launcher race.

"Mitsubishi Electric’s support goes beyond funding. The Japanese company can secure access to a new supply of launch capabilities to support satellite deployments across Japan and Asia."

PLD Space Closes €180M Series C, Eyes Flight Test This Year Spanish launch startup announced a €180M ($209.5M) Series C round yesterday—putting the company’s total funding over €350M ($407.4M).

PLD Space announced a €180M ($209.5M) Series C round yesterday

The round was led by Mitsubishi Electric.

payloadspace.com/pld-space-cl...

My first science video in 3 years YouTube video by Physics Girl

Look who's back after long COVID :)

youtu.be/B3m3AMRlYfc?...

Btw. Stunning image ☺️

I was also wondering how they expect to accelerate the schedule when the slower timeline was already proving unworkable.

a man in a suit says anyone there in the desert ALT: a man in a suit says anyone there in the desert

Well, for me it was more like this. It took a while ... But it needed to be done