New milestone reached 🥳
Nearly 500 segments of the main mirror of our Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) have now arrived from Europe at the ELT Technical Facility at our Paranal Observatory in #Chile. That is around half of all the segments being made for what will become a 39-metre eye on the sky.
➡️ https://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann26009/
#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science #engineering
📷 ESO
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Perseverance earns a Guinness World Record for "the greatest distance traveled on another world."
Below is a pic of members of the Perseverance Mars mission team posing with the certificate in the Mars Yard at JPL.
Also posing is OPTIMISM, a full-scale engineering model used to plan the rover’s driving routes and science activities on Mars.
OPTIMISM = Operational Perseverance Twin for Integration of Mechanisms and Instruments Sent to Mars 😀
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/nasas-record-setting-perseverance-rover-team/
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2026/10/nasas-perseverance-rover-breaks-the-record-for-longest-road-trip-on-mars
3/n
SpaceX is now requesting 456 launches per year from Boca Chica https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-20963.pdf
As my colleague pointed out, that's more than the current launch rate for the world (245 launches so far this year according to https://orbitalradar.com/satellite-launch-log), from a single site that was sold to the public as a testing and development site.
RE: https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/117441578602602623
Axios reports that the White House is pointing the finger at SpaceX.
https://fosstodon.org/@mastodonmigration@mastodon.online/117441578774657939
#UsPol
8/n
Did you know that the (barely functional) SpaceX Starship is now 10 years old?
"Ten years ago, Elon Musk stood on stage at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Guadalajara, Mexico, and unveiled plans for a giant spaceship to carry people to Mars."
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacexs-starship-just-turned-10-years-old-when-will-it-go-to-mars
https://www.space.com/34210-elon-musk-unveils-spacex-mars-colony-ship.html
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New paper - Systematic non-compliance of satellite megaconstellations with IAU brightness limits.
Observations from late 2024 show that "observed population is systematically brighter than the altitude-adjusted limit of order 7th magnitude recommended by the IAU.
The emerging Guowang/Hulianwang constellation is the worst.
Starlink is quite bad.
OneWeb was the most compliant major operator."
https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10834
https://bsky.app/profile/pbarmby.bsky.social/post/3mxuccmykjc27
@sundogplanets
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Musk clarified that the speed limit on the military-grade version of Starlink used by Ukraine was imposed by the U.S. military and by trump.
This was in response to a post by Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine (2026) and Deputy PM.
#UsPol
7/n
From Ben Casselman, Chief Economics Correspondent for The NYT -
"Faster inflation + slower nominal wage growth = falling average hourly earnings in real terms.
Average hourly earnings, adjusted for inflation, fell 0.5% in September.
Average hourly earnings, adjusted for inflation, are now essentially back to where they were when Trump returned to office. Meaning that, on average, Americans have experienced almost zero real wage growth during Trump's 2nd term."
https://bsky.app/profile/bencasselman.bsky.social/post/3mxtoa2rkm226
2/n
"This raises suspicion of coordinated pressure to tip the scales in Russia’s favour after many months when Mr Putin’s forces have failed to deliver significant advances and his country’s economy has been suffering from the effect of Ukrainian missile and drone counterstrikes."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/14/the-guardian-view-on-trumps-deal-with-putin-grim-and-grubby-but-not-gamechanging
#UsPol
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Outgoing GOP Senator Thom Tillis.
#UsPol
6/n
I just learned that the documentary Shifting Baselines https://f3m.ca/en/film/shifting-baselines/, about the environmental destruction caused by SpaceX, is available through most US libraries streaming on Kanopy
I'm in it. So is @planet4589.bsky.social. So are my goats and my llama! (RIP llama. Glad he was immortalized in such a key role in this film hahaha)
The director described it to me as "Depressing. But with goats!" It's truly a beautiful film and I hope lots of you get to watch it.
Retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) posted this criticism.
Do other republicans in office have the spine? Or a conscience?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/14/world/europe/ukraine-starlink-energy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IlE.W9U6.Zj2s2Lb_n9_O&smid=url-share
#UsPol
5/n
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis in September after rising 0.4 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.7 percent before seasonal adjustment.
The index for gasoline rose 9.1% in September.
S&P 500 futures dropped over 0.5% on the news.
Interest rates rise.
https://bsky.app/profile/josephpolitano.bsky.social/post/3mxtkseealk2v
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm
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Radosław Sikorski, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland responds.
#UsPol
4/n
Reporting by the Kyiv Independent.
Presidential adviser Serhii "Flash" Beskrestno - "Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is associated with the current political situation."
https://kyivindependent.com/this-cannot-be-a-coincidence-ukraines-starlink-access-restricted-without-warning-zelensky-adviser-says/
#UsPol
3/n
"Without notice, SpaceX has stopped the operation of its military-grade version of Starlink above 100 mph (160 km/h) in Ukraine.
A source in Ukraine's defence ministry added that the limitations significantly complicate logistics and some drone operations.
Although it was not immediately clear why the Starlink service was throttled, the move comes as Washington pressures Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries."
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spacex-limits-starlink-operations-ukraine-disrupting-military-missions-2026-10-14/
#UsPol
2/n
How to make friends and win business, Elon style.
:eyeroll:
#UsPol
1/n
RIP Helen Branswell. She set the standard for serious, honest, and insightful infectious diseases and health journalism.
https://www.statnews.com/2026/10/13/helen-branswell-stat-reporter-obituary/
#Health
Today's blog post:
Autumnal beauty in New England, beyond leaves: cranberry harvests!
Also, the cats attempt to confer, consult, and otherwise hob-knob with wild turkeys about their holiday plans. Without noticeable success.
"This story follows up on piece we published over the weekend detailing the role that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have played in negotiating this multibillion-deal--with Russia even though some of the deal investors are family business partners."
https://bsky.app/profile/ericlipton.nytimes.com/post/3mxeqszsm2225
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/us/politics/kushner-witkoff-russia-oil-deal.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F1E.zXvR.RPqpSnhZ_kBL&smid=url-share
#UsPol #Corruption
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