Artemis returns

Wow.  It was an amazing thing that happened!  The Artemis crew went off into space, circled the moon, and returned safely. They were at a fairly high altitude from the lunar surface, so in completing their mission, they became the humans that went the farthest from Earth - ever. The Apollo 13 astronauts were much closer to the lunar surface, so Artemis now holds the distinction.

They had a bit of a side mission to catalog as much of the moon as they could see, documeting, and taking photos and videos.  Many of the photos were beamed back to Earth in near-real time, so we could see them before the crew landed.  They also took a now 50-year-old tradition, which was started with the first Apollo mission to the moon, and had the opportunity to name a crater. Commander Reid's wife had died somewhat recently. and the other three crew decided that the crater would be named after his late wife.  Which was simply heartwarming.

We now have most of the moon captured in images, which is pretty cool.  We also got some amazing views of Earth - and in somei, the sun was eclipsed by the Earth!

But the one thing that got me was how spoiled we've become.  We had real time video and audio coming back from the crew (in actuality, its delayed by about 1.5 seconds each way, but that's less than the delay on terrestrial TV broadcasts which is about 7 seconds).  We lost contact with the crew as they went behind the moon, because the transmission waves follow a straight line, and the moon was blocking those waves.  That was totally expected.

What was more surprising was that the transmission cut out as the spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere.  That's due to the plasma buildup on the vehicle.  But, with SpaceX missions, we have a constant live view and can see the plasma buildup.  And the reason for that is because SpaceX is using its starlink satellites to receive the transmission and beam that to Earth.  NASA doesn't have that capability.  And I admit I missed it.

In fact, the entirety of the return and recovery felt very much like the Apollo missions. You had grainy footage (with terrible white balance) from aircraft in the area.  You had "visualizations" that showed us what was happening (rather than the real thing).  You had a distant view from a ship when it splashed down.  And when they recovered the crew, they sent helicopters to fish them off of what amounts to a life raft, and hoisted them up and took them to a waiting ship.  Compare that with the SpaceX returns that have a recovery ship that quickly goes to retrieve the capsule and haul it onboard; astronauts then are helped onto the ship without the extra steps involved.

Anyway, it was totally amazing.  And to the science deniers who say we've never left Earth, I say: suck it.

Earth's Population Has Surpassed The Planet's Capacity, Study Suggests : ScienceAlert

A couple of scientists “did the math” and figured out what the optimal earth population should be, given factors like natural resources, food & water supply, etc. 

They note that while they have a number - and we have exceeded it - the other factor is that we have technology which allows us to extend beyond the resource limits. 

That said… their optimal number for population is about 2.5 billion. Our current earth population is around 8.3 billion. Which is a significant difference. They note that this is one reason we’re seeing problems with our ability to feed everyone. 

https://www.sciencealert.com/earths-population-has-surpassed-the-planets-capacity-study-suggests

The World's Largest Wind Farm Built to Power 3.3 Million Homes Just Flipped a Major Switch

Clean energy for the win. Essentially, the large wind farm in the North Sea was connected and a cable was laid to the UK coastline. 

Energy will now be provided to the grid, and that should be sufficient to power 3.3 million homes.  

https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/04/hornsea-3-offshore-wind-farm-export-first-cable-uk/

Watch "Wait, what? Trumps pastor Franklin Graham said this at the White House today. #trump #israel #iran" on YouTube

Well. I’ll be! 

https://youtube.com/shorts/an9D8G1BtjY?si=Zh1eHC1fzDbJaPd1

About the Iran military action

As I've noted many times in the past, it is nearly impossible to know what "truth" is, and the media is no help in finding it. Take the military action that is ongoing in Iran as an example.

T-rump gives updates, tells us how long he expects it to last (the ever changing goalpost), gives ultimatums, and the media just reports on that without probing further. 

We have no idea about the rationale or the objective of the conflict, though some will give what amounts to their opinion, or repeat what T-rump says.  It’s sad in a way. We should be better informed. 

We're also told about relative successes, while negative news is underreported. 

But, if you search outside of what we consider mainstream media, you get a different flavor of what's going on.  A couple of things I thought I would share:

• There was some amount of persuasion, focused on T-rump by warmongers and other nations, to get the United States involved. He had said no in his first term, but this time agreed to an offensive action. It’s unknown why he changed his mind, but this sudden change at least partially explains the lack of a clear objective. But no matter: in the end, it was his decision.  He - alone - owns it. 

• One of the things he tells us is that he wants to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program.  Which I find dubious. They have had the program for decades, and as they say, you can’t put a genie back in the bottle.

• Most of the middle east, and parts of Europe that are "nearby," have prohibited the US from using their airbases for any sort of offensive actions.  That means that aircraft carriers are the primary launching points for sorties.  However, the largest carrier (the Gerald Ford) had a fire, and had to exit the theater for major repairs (which may take a year to complete).  How the fire started is the subject of some discussion.  But reporting from outlets outside of the US, and even an offhand comment by T-rump, suggest that it may have been hit by an Iranian missile.

• Several tactical sites and planes used in general operations (which were at airbases in the Middle East or used in rescue operations), have been destroyed by what appear to be Iranian attacks.

• Russia is apparently helping Iran in some way.  In spite of T-rumps crush on Putin.

• The strait of Hormuz is now fully controlled by Iran, and they want to keep it that way, in order to control the world's oil supply (that is to say that T-rump's actions have changed the dynamic in the gulf, and emboldened Iran to make a power move).

• Its very unclear when (or maybe if?) oil prices will go down, worldwide

• Finally, there have been some strikes that appear to violate international law, and he’s announced others that there are absolutely against the convention about targeting civilians.  There is a strange report (from the person who received the call) that T-rump called a reporter and bragged about arming civilians in Iran.  All of these would be considered war crimes, and should be investigated further. 

And that’s just what’s top of mind. I have to say that it looks like there may be a “lasting legacy” if this keeps up. 

One thing I will add is that there are those who think that we can simply use our might to obliterate Iran.  I remind you that Russia had a similar plan in the Ukraine, and after years of attacks, it’s maybe not going so well.  

Also, I've heard it suggested that the US will simply release its strategic oil reserves to help stabilize prices and supply.  But that shows a lack of understanding about the oil reserve is.  And you can’t overlook the subtext about US oil production, which is also misunderstood.

As always, we prove to be moderately uneducated and are fed misinformation along the way.

Reps. Levin & Casten & SEEC Clean Energy Deployment Task Force Introduce the Energy Bills Relief Act | U.S. Congressman Mike Levin

Given rising gas prices, a supply issue, and the want to build more things that need to tap into electricity (like data centers), it's amazing to me there isn't more coverage of the topic. 

Americans are getting squeezed at the pump and in their utility bills. And it barely registers. 

So here's a bill that was introduced to help Americans. The energy bills relief act would address some of this and might actually help. 

Is it perfect? No. 

Does it address the broad problem and make some reasonable tradeoffs to help? Yes. 

Does it get any attention whatsoever? No. 

Is it likely to pass? As much as I'd hope so, I would assume the answer will be no. 

https://levin.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-levin-and-casten_seec-clean-energy-deployment-task-force-introduce-the-energy-bills-relief-act

A group of amateur astronomers has just “heard” a signal from 25 billion kilometers away, confirming that Voyager 1 is still transmitting from the outer reaches of the Solar System

Voyager 1 is still transmitting, and we are still receiving its signal. At 25 Billion kilometers away. Thats amazing. 

It takes light 24 hours to travel that distance. Voyager is about 173 times as far away from us, as the sun is. 

https://www.ecoticias.com/en/a-group-of-amateur-astronomers-has-just-heard-a-signal-from-25-billion-kilometers-away-confirming-that-voyager-1-is-still-transmitting-from-the-outer-reaches-of-the-solar-system/30278/