Alejandro Soto
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soto.space
Alejandro Soto
@soto.space
Planetary scientist and aerospace engineer. He/him. https://www.alejandrosoto.net
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
From an earlier thread: bsky.app/profile/eliz...
Wanna see a visual on the result of the Republican attack on public health?

I’ve got you covered. This is from Pew Research Center’s most recent survey, showing a 27% drop in Republican support for school vaccine requirements from 2016-2025.
November 20, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Apparently ESCAPADE will be in orbit around the Earth for a year before heading off to Mars and arriving in 2027. So far, it looks like the mission is working.

9/9

science.nasa.gov/blogs/escapa...
NASA’s Twin ESCAPADE Spacecraft Have Deployed - NASA Science
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) twin spacecraft have deployed from the Blue Origin New Glenn second stage. The
science.nasa.gov
November 14, 2025 at 5:31 PM
This New Glenn launch sent a spacecraft to Mars: ESCAPADE.

8/n

science.nasa.gov/mission/esca...
ESCAPADE - NASA Science
ESCAPADE will use two identical spacecraft to investigate how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment.
science.nasa.gov
November 14, 2025 at 5:31 PM
And we finished our morning discussion with some video of the Blue Origins New Glenn launch.

7/n

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/s...
Blue Origin Lands Booster After Rocket Launch and Matches SpaceX’s Feat
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:31 PM
The room was a bit skeptical about this result, but I don’t know enough to explain it.

Here’s the paper if you want to dive into it:

www.frontiersin.org/journals/ast...

6/n
Frontiers | Re-evaluating Io’s volcanic heat flow: critical limitations in Juno/JIRAM M-band analysis
Understanding Io’s volcanic heat flow distribution is critical to constraining its internal structure and tidal heating mechanisms, including the debated pre...
www.frontiersin.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Could Io be even hotter than we thought?

Maybe.

5/n

www.space.com/astronomy/ju...
Jupiter's volcanic moon Io may be hundreds of times hotter than scientists thought
Jupiter's volcanic moon Io may be hundreds of times hotter than scientists thought
www.space.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:48 PM
The refereed paper with the original research.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

4/n
Endogenic heat at Enceladus’ north pole
Unique observational evidence of heat from the warm ocean conducted through the water ice shell is found at Enceladus’ north pole.
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:43 PM
More evidence for an ocean on Enceladus, a world that deserves a spacecraft revisit.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

3/n
Warm ocean beneath Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus may be perfect for life
NASA’s Cassini mission has revealed surprising heat flow at Enceladus’ north pole, showing the moon releases energy from both ends. This balance of heat could allow its subsurface ocean to remain liqu...
www.sciencedaily.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:43 PM
We should never forget the intensive infrastructure we require to explore the solar system. And the maintenance required to maintain it.

Here’s hoping they get this Goldstone radio antenna fixed quickly.

spacenews.com/key-antenna-...

2/n
Key antenna in NASA’s Deep Space Network damaged
One of the largest antennas in NASA’s Deep Space Network was damaged in September and may be out of service for an extended period.
spacenews.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
In the past I would have been frustrated that this Exoplanet conference is the same week as LPSC, but this year it makes my LPSC boycott easier.
November 13, 2025 at 11:19 PM
I am sorry that Lowell is doing this to you and your colleagues. And an unfortunate welcome to the soft money scramble that many of us are already in.
November 11, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reading the Lowell press release, it looks like they are leaning into more of their scientists being funded on "soft money". At other times, this might be a smart way to re-build their endowment, but in this current funding environment, it will just lead to job loss (like the rest of the field).
November 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Also, for those who are interested, yes, we know what magnets are: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet
Magnet - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:39 PM