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David S. F. Portree

@dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social

3.6K followers 1.3K following 6.7K posts

history guy, science writer, educator, map librarian, archivist, 57 yrs a space exploration nut, ex-NASA, ex-US Geological Survey, now doing local history among the pines in Flagstaff AZ USA Save NASA space science https://spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com

spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com

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David S. F. Portree @dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social · 9d

I have restarted work on the GE NEP crewed Mars mission post. After all the turmoil this past month, it's like meeting with an old friend.

My goal is to finish the post by Halloween.

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The 🫠 ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ #BBCRadio3 🎶 #NowPlaying Bot @bbc3musicbot.bsky.social · 15h

🔊 #NowPlaying on #BBCRadio3:

#ThroughTheNight
- Beethoven's Violin Concerto and 'Eroica'

Christian Tetzlaff performs Beethoven's violin concerto.

▶️ Relisten on BBCSounds

BBC Radio 3 - Through the Night, Beethoven's Violin Concerto and 'Eroica'

Christian Tetzlaff performs Beethoven's violin concerto.

www.bbc.co.uk

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NOTUS @notus.com · 17h

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a demand letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson Tuesday, calling for the immediate swearing in of Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva following her special election win last month.

Arizona AG Threatens Legal Action If Adelita Grijalva Isn’t Sworn In Immediately

“You and your staff have provided ever-shifting, unsatisfactory, and sometimes absurd stories as to why Ms. Grijalva has not been sworn in,” Kris Mayes wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson.

www.notus.org

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David S. F. Portree @dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social · 14h

And I just had an idiot declare to me that Musk magic would make it work, which rather proves my point.

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Marwella Zhang @marwellaspaceart.bsky.social · 15h

The 37.5% waxing crescent at 5.25AM (UTC+7).

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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 11d

Spot on.

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David S. F. Portree @dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social · 21h

Had another thought - my quota for the day is reached - if one didn't know much about Mars planning one might think the SpaceX scheme is typical. It's not.

Most Mars plans are nowhere near as grandiose as this. This could be the most grandiose Mars scheme I've seen (and I've seen quite a few).

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CONTACT LIGHT @contactlight.de · 1d

October 14 1947 #OTD
XS-1 Flight 50 World's first supersonic manned flight in level or climbing flight was made by Capt. Charles E. Yeager

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Paul Hammond @paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy · 1d

9 overlapping ChemCam RMI images acquired during sol 4687 assembled into a mosaic using MS-ICE. Curiosity rover acquired additional images, but they have yet to be downlinked from the rover in the correct format on the public server. Credits […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

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Department of Physics at the University of Oxford @oxfordphysics.bsky.social · 4d

Oxford’s BEBOP thermal camera has been selected for ESA's 2032 Mars mission! It'll provide critical weather data to boost the safety of future robotic and human explorers. Read the full article: Link in bio or visit https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/oxford-instrument-lined-esa-mars-mission

A family picture of the Oxford Space Instrumentation laboratory’s thermal imagers. Clockwise from top is one of the development models for Comet Interceptor’s MIRMIS instrument (left half is a contribution from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and right half is from Oxford); the flight spare optical layout and calibration target for Lunar Trailblazer’s LTM (in gold); and the BEBOP demonstration model, which is based on LTM and MIRMIS, but larger.

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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 1d

#ESAJuice reached 30% of its journey to Jupiter! 🙌

What has Juice been up to and what comes next? Read along. 1/8

Screenshot from the Juice bar X account showing a progress bar at 30%.

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David S. F. Portree @dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social · 23h

You may be right. I'd be more explicit about how wacko it is, I think, but that's not always the right course.

Reposted by David S. F. Portree

Del - Martian Observer @martian-observer.art · 1d

Surprising condition of spacesuit materials after 4+ years on Mars - Mars Guy Episode 236 / 12th Oct, 2025

Surprising condition of spacesuit materials after 4+ years on Mars

YouTube video by Mars Guy

www.youtube.com

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HiRISE Beautiful Mars (NASA) @uahirise.bsky.social · 23h

HiPOD: Colorful Plains

In this observation, the minerals appear concentrated along the boundaries of polygons. Perhaps the water-rock interactions were most extensive within a network of pre-existing fractures dissecting the bedrock.

More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_069447_1640
#Mars #NASA

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DLR-next @dlr-next.bsky.social · 1d

Guten Morgen zusammen - auch heute mit einem aktuellen Bild der Sonne per Satellit SDO und mit einkopiertem Archivbild der Erde zum Größenvergleich.

Wie gestern die erdzugewandte Seite der Sonne in gelber Farbe, wobei besonders die Aktiven Regionen auf der ansonsten eher dunkel dargestellten Oberfläche hervorleuchten. Von ihnen gibt es etwa ein halbes Dutzend, wobei jedes dieser Gebiete von hellen strahlenförmigen Strukturen umgeben ist. Mal breiten sie sich wie Fächer aus, mal beschreiben sie große Bögen weg von der Oberfläche und zu ihr zurück. Rechts wieder ganz klein das Bild der Erde.

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David S. F. Portree @dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social · 23h

It is way too easy on Musk - if that is really his Mars plan, he's even more drug-addled than we thought.

That being said, SpaceX apparently didn't confirm anything in it.

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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 1d

The workspace in front of the Mars Curiosity Rover following its Sol 4684 drive last week.

flic.kr/p/2rzcnW4

Rocks and sand.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

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Dr. Fred J. Calef III @mapperwocky.bsky.social · 1d

“Restructuring” because the Whitehouse and their allies choose destruction of all the good parts of the United States federal government because it won’t make them a personal profit. Also, they hate science, people who do good things for everyone instead of for them only, and actual reality.

CNBC @cnbc.com · 1d

NASA unit JPL to lay off about 550 workers, citing restructure

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a research and development lab funded by NASA — the federal space agency — and managed by the Caltech.

cnb.cx

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Vincent Ledvina @vincentledvina.bsky.social · 1d

Here is a quick video of the spectacular prominence eruption from the Sun's eastern limb. This will not impact Earth, but it sure generated a beefy CME and some awesome eye candy. Wow!

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Will BOO-rows 🖖🍞🥀 @reforest-kelley.bsky.social · 1d

A photo of three people in inflatable frog suits outside an ICE detention center in Portland, overlaid with an excerpt from Exodus 8:2-6

"But if you refuse to let them go, I will
plague your whole country with frogs...
The frogs shall come up on you and on
your people and on all your officials."

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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 1d

The Portland Frog army has now infiltrated Tulsa, OK and they’ve made an unlikely alliance with the T-Rex infantry and Sharks on Hoverboards mercenary forces.

This is truly terrifying.

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Stephanie @forest-elf.com · 1d

BUAHAHAHAa.....this is brilliant!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw5z...

A Message From The Frog Resistance

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

www.youtube.com

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David S. F. Portree @dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social · 1d

congrats!

David S. F. Portree @dsfpspacefl1ght.bsky.social · 1d

"In theory" is doing an awful lot of work here.

Jon Kelvey @jonkelvey.bsky.social · 1d

I'm in the fall issue of Aerospace America with a closer look at the SpaceX/Musk Mars plan, such as it's been made public.

Is it doable? Sure, in theory!
Are there major unanswered questions that could kill the whole thing? Oh, absolutely!
aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/features/a-c...

A closer look at SpaceX’s Mars plan

aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org

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Daily Quindar @dailyquindar.bsky.social · 1d

Context

"Okay, We'll deploy the gear."
CDR Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr:

Apollo 12, November 18, 1969 at 07:09 PM CST

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Kasey Gifford @kaseygifford.bsky.social · 2d

We should be asking this
c o n s t a n t l y.

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