LazyHippo

NASA's oldest active astronaut has redefined traveling "home" for your birthday, landing from the International Space Station on the same day that he turned 70. Don Pettit touched down on Saturday (April 19) with his Soyuz MS-26 crewmates, Aleksey Ovchinin, 53, and Ivan Vagner, 39. The U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts reached the ground in Kazakhstan at 9:20 p.m. EDT (0120 GMT or 6:20 a.m. local time April 20), seven months after they left Earth aboard the same spacecraft. Pettit was born on April 20, 1955, in Silverton, Oregon, but said that the feeling of being home is relative to where you have been. Don Pettit, NASA's oldest active astronaut, is carried to a medical tent shortly after returning from 220 days on board the International Space Station. Pettit and his Soyuz MS-26 crewmates landed on the steppe of Kazakhstan on his 70th birthday. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls) "After having been on the space station for seven months, we will be returning on our Soyuz spacecraft landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan. When our capsule goes thump on those desert flats, I will be literally on the opposite side of Earth, nearly 12,000 miles from home. Yet I will be home," Pettit wrote while he was still in space on Friday (April 18). "I can picture sometime in the future, a crew returning from Mars and after inserting themselves into low Earth orbit, they will look down at this blue jewel circling below and say, 'I am home,'" he wrote. Pettit's journey was not nearly as long or distant as a trip to the Red Planet, but for many who followed his "science of opportunity" demonstrations and his stunning photographs of Earth and other sights in space, it was no less engaging. "Saying goodbye today to Don Pettit," wrote NASA astronaut and Expedition 73 flight engineer Nichole Ayers on the social media network X on Saturday. "It's bittersweet because he had an amazing mission and inspired so many people while he was here." Russia's Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft undocks from the Rassvet mini-research module after 220 days at the International Space Station on Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Image credit: NASA) Remaining in orbit was Ayers, as well as fellow NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Jonny Kim; JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut and Expedition 73 commander Takuya Onishi; and cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky of the Russian federal corporation Roscosmos. On Earth, Soyuz MS-26 and its crew were met by Russian recovery forces and NASA medical personnel to be helped out of the capsule and undergo quick checks before flying on a helicopter to the nearby staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. From there, Pettit will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Ovchinin and Vagner will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia. In addition to Pettit's personal science demos — including drinking from a zero-g cup that he designed on a previous visit to the station and imaging thin wafers of ice under polarized filters — he also helped perform hundreds of experiments and technology trials during his time as an Expedition 71/72 crew member. Pettit also helped oversee the departure of SpaceX's Crew-9 mission aboard the Dragon spacecraft "Freedom" and the arrival of Crew-10 on Dragon "Endurance," as well as the departure of the Cygnus "S.S. Francis R. '****' Scobee" cargo ship. Ovchinin and Vagner took part in science experiments as well and conducted a 7 hour, 17 minute spacewalk to install an X-ray spectrometer on the exterior of the Zvezda service module. They also were in space for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-28 crew and Progress MS-29 and MS-30 cargo ships, as well as the departures of Progresses MS-27 and MS-28. The Soyuz MS-26 mission patch depicts the crew as "Burlak," or "barge haulers“ their call sign. (Image credit: Glavkosmos) This was Pettit's and Ovchinin's fourth spaceflights and Vagner's second. After landing Saturday, Pettit's career total time in space is 590 days, Ovchinin has 595 days and Vagner 416 days in orbit. Soyuz MS-26 was Russia's 72nd Soyuz to launch for the International Space Station since 2000 and 155th to fly since 1967. During its 220 days in space, it traveled 93.3 million miles (150.2 million km) while circling Earth 3,520 times.

Northern lights above Tampere, Finland. (Image credit: Austin MacDonald) Over the past 24 hours, our planet has been reverberating from the impact of a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) that struck Earth's magnetic field on April 15. As a result stunning auroras were visible across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. This wasn't just any CME, it was a rare 'cannibal' CME formed when two CMEs, launched in quick succession by a double filament eruption on the sun, merged as they traveled through space.All this was predicted by NOAA's three-day space weather outlook. Initially, it was unclear whether the CMEs would arrive separately or merge, but after the dramatic geomagnetic activity and vivid aurora displays worldwide, it's now believed they combined into one stronger, cannibalized blast. The result? A dazzling global aurora spectacle lit up skies far beyond the polar regions. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center had issued a G3 geomagnetic storm warning for April 16. Not only were these conditions met, but for a brief period, severe G4-level storming was reached, being the 'G5' the most extreme. In Tampere, Finland, Austin MacDonald captured jaw-dropping photos of last night's aurora show during the G4 conditions. "I was amazed and almost overwhelmed. Living in Finland, I see auroras pretty often, from small G1 storms to last year’s extreme G5 storm. But last night was something special." MacDonald told Space.com in an email. MacDonald describes the activity ramping up considerably around 2345 EET (2045 UTC), at its peak, explosive, fast-moving auroras were visible overhead. "It came on so fast, and it wasn’t just overhead, it was to the south, north, east, west... It felt like I was standing inside a 360-degree aurora sphere. It just made me feel incredibly small," Macdonald continued. "I used to work in meteorology, researching severe weather, and in many ways, this felt like witnessing the atmospheric equivalent of a perfect storm. You know all the ingredients that need to come together, and when they actually do, and you're lucky enough to be in just the right spot at just the right time to experience it, it's surreal. You can’t help but feel incredibly lucky to have been there for it," MacDonald said. Northern lights above Tampere, Finland. (Image credit: Austin MacDonald) "It's the kind of experience that stays with you for days. You keep replaying it in your mind, catching little flashes of it every time you pause. And then there’s the spot where you stood, where you looked up and saw the sky come alive. Every time you walk past that place afterward, it hits you all over again. It anchors you. On my way to where I watched last night's aurora, I passed the spot I watched the G5 storm last May and it just all comes back to you. It's like that exact patch of earth becomes tied to something cosmic, something far bigger than you. It's like the sky left a memory there, and now it's part of your map of the world," MacDonald continued. Northern lights above Tampere, Finland. (Image credit: Austin MacDonald) Photographer Sryan Bruen, captured this remarkable photograph of the northern lights dancing over Ballynafagh Church, Kildare, Ireland, at 10:11 p.m. local time. The photograph was taken with a Nikon D7500 @ 15mm with ISO-2000, f/4.5 and a 10-second exposure time, Bruen told Space.com in an email. Northern lights over Ballynafagh Church, Kildare, Ireland, April 16, 2025. (Image credit: Sryan Bruen) Though conditions are subsiding, there is still a good chance of northern lights at high latitudes tonight. According to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, the Kp index is expected to peak at 4.33 over the next 24 hours. For the latest forecast and timing details, check out NOAA's 3-day outlook.

Good to have you back! @schNee feww have been some time 😄 Welcome and hope to see you in server amiga

Outpost Strongly recommended for the thrills. Next is 'T'

Happy Birthday @Ashuyai ! 🎂 🎉

Blacklight (2022) Its a good movie although have seen better from Neeson, this time is recovering his granddaughter and neutralizing the bad guys which one of them seemed to be the corrupt FBI director. Has happy ending but the rest of the cast is below average so would say 7/10

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial A classic, havent seen the extra footage from this edition though "L" for next

"SWAN25F" Comet. (Credit: Michael Jäger, Gerald Rhemann) Australian amateur astronomer Michael Mattiazzo first identified Comet SWAN25F by analyzing SWAN imagery, which monitors hydrogen in the solar wind. Early observations suggest that the comet is rich in hydrogen, contributing to its vibrant green appearance. Astronomers worldwide have been actively capturing images of Comet SWAN25F, however, it’s a temporary name. Once the Minor Planet Center confirms the orbit and decides who should get credit for its discovery, the comet will receive a new name. "SWAN25F" Comet social media post. (Credit: Michael Jäger, Gerald Rhemann) On 3 April, Mike Olason from Tucson, Arizona, photographed the comet when it had a magnitude of 10.6. Comet "SWAN25F" captured on 3 April 2025. (Credit: Mike Olason via Sky&Telescope) “The comet’s orbit is still being updated with new observations, it appears that the comet will brighten to magnitude 4 or 5 by the end of the month and early May,” Mike Olason told Orbital Today. “Although one never knows for sure what will happen with a comet as it nears the Sun, which heats the surface of the comet, resulting in gases and water under the comet’s surface expanding in a bit of an explosion, which then ejects material off the surface of the comet.” Olason explains that the ejected material forms the comet’s coma, which is illuminated by the Sun and determines the comet’s brightness. This material eventually flows into the comet’s tail. By 6 April, the comet’s brightness had increased to magnitude 8.4, revealing a thin, extended tail. “Based on current predictions, the comet may brighten to magnitude 4 or 5, 20 to 40 times brighter than it currently is at magnitude 8,” – Mike Olason adds. In Austria, skywatchers Michael Jaeger and Gerald Rhemann documented the comet’s tail stretching over 2 degrees across the sky. AstroMamenchi Remote Observatory, 2025-04-07. (Credit: @xwlj_XLR via X) How can you see the comet in the sky? Comet SWAN25F is currently best observed in the northern hemisphere’s pre-dawn sky, moving through constellations such as Pegasus and Andromeda. As of early April, Comet SWAN25F has brightened to approximately magnitude 8.0, making it observable with binoculars under favorable conditions. UAE Marks First Entry in IAU Database with Comet "SWAN25F" In a groundbreaking achievement for the Arab world, astronomers from the United Arab Emirates have significantly contributed to the confirmation of Comet SWAN25F. On 5 April 2025, the Al-Khatim Astronomical Observatory in Abu Dhabi captured detailed images of the comet, marking the first Arab entry into the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) official observation database.

Hey mate, nice to see you back and you didnt forgot us

Desperado Funny at the beginning and cheesy at the end.. 'O' is next