ship

China has just mounted the largest cannon in its history on the bow of a ship. And that can only point in one direction

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The military balance in Asia was long sustained on an unspoken premise: the technological and operational superiority of the United States was unquestionable. Today that premise is already not taken for granted and, in fact, every nnew movement in the region is forcing us to recalculate times, capacities and margins for maneuver. Because China is “eating the toast” of the rest. A cannon as a symptom. The appearance of a unpublished Chinese naval cannon of 155 mm mounted on a test ship is not an isolated detail, much less a trivial one, but a sign of a much broader trend: Beijing is systematically expanding the scope and versatility of its naval power in coastal scenarios. We are talking about a weapon that, with almost 22 tons of weight and the capacity to fire guided ammunition, represents a leap in caliber compared to the current 130 mm of the Chinese Navy and aims directly at strengthen support capacity of fire in amphibious operations, especially in a hypothetical scenario over Taiwan. More range, more precision, more pressure. The jump to 155 mm is not only a question of size, but technological ecosystem. That caliber opens the door to guided projectiles, high-speed ammunition and even future developments that can offer cheaper and more sustainable alternatives to missiles in certain contexts, something that the United States has also explored with mixed results. China appears to be learning from American missteps (as the Zumwalt case and its prohibitive projectiles) and moving forward with a solution that combines traditional power and ambition without renouncing the logic of saturation war. The design is distinguished from existing large-caliber guns, such as the H/PJ/45, aiming for a caliber of 155 mm. Amphibious warfare as an axis. They counted the TWZ analysts that the new barrel fits into a wider expansion of the PLA’s amphibious capabilities, with large assault ships and auxiliary platforms designed to consolidate beachheads. In this context, long-range naval fire does not replace missiles, but the csupplement with volumepersistence and a lower cost per shot. The strategic signal is clear: China is not only accumulating missiles, but is building a complete range of options to dominate the nearby air and maritime space, especially in its immediate periphery. The Washington Contrast. And while Beijing tests new systems and accelerates development cycles, the United States drags debates on value of naval fire support, cancels programs like the railgun after years of investment and reconverts ships designed for a doctrine that never came together. Washington remains technologically superior in multiple areas, but has shown many doubts in define what combination of systems needed for a high-intensity confrontation against a power on par. China, on the other hand, appears to be aligning its industry, doctrine and production with a coherent strategic objective. A mass pointing in a direction. China has just mounted the bow of a ship largest naval cannon of its history, a structure of almost 22 tons that symbolizes something more than a technical advance. We are talking about a type of investment that is not designed for exhibitions or for routine patrols, but for every specific scenarios where fire sustained over solid ground can tilt the outcome of an operation. In other words, when a power like Beijing adapts its industry, its ships and its doctrine around that type of capability, the message is anything but ambiguous: it is setting the stage for a specific goal. Image | x In Xataka | The new fear of Western fleets is not nuclear. They are conventional submarines armed with surprise and a flag: China In Xataka | China’s best weapon doesn’t fire a single bullet: 300km ‘moving wall’ to close sea routes instantly

The US already knows when it wants to return to the Moon to beat China. The problem is how the ship will return

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There is already an official date. After years of delays and speculations, NASA has confirmed what was rumored in the halls of Washington: Artemis 2 has the green light for launch on February 6, 2026. And what is its destination? Neither more nor less than the Moon itself. Tuning. With this announcement, NASA is already preparing for the transfer of the gigantic SLS rocket (Space Launch System) to platform 39B this very January 17, starting the final countdown for humans to orbit the Moon again. Something that has not happened since 1972 with Apollo 17. However, this is not a celebration without controversy. The mission, which will take the astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen to a 10-day trip around our satellite, has been brought forward under strong political pressure. And it does so with a worrying technical asterisk: the behavior of the Orion ship’s heat shield. A battle of pressures. On the one hand, Donald Trump has historically shown its impatience with the deadlines that NASA was giving to be able to orbit around the Moon. All this with an eye on China, which threatened to be the ‘first’ and overtake the United States in this fact. What has been the solution? put to Jared Isaacman as NASA Administratora billionaire, private pilot and astronaut (known for his missions in Polaris Dawn and its links with SpaceX) to prioritize speed and calculated risk-taking over the complete risk aversion that “old NASA” had. Because. February 6, 2026 has been set as set in stone for several strategic reasons that outweigh engineering doubts about the heat shield. The first of them It’s the race against Chinasince the Asian country has a very advanced lunar program and aims put taikonauts on the Moon before 2030. If Artemis 2 was delayed to redesign the heat shield (which would have taken years), Artemis 3 would have been gone until 2028-2029 or longer, leaving the door open for China to arrive earlier or very close. But they do not stop here, since for this administration the Moon is a springboard to reach Mars, this mission being a simple way to validate the systems they are using. That is why every delay on the Moon is a delay for the mission to Mars, which promises to be the historical legacy they seek. The Avcoat dilemma. The main point of friction between engineers and the agency’s new management lies at the bottom of the Orion capsule. During the Artemis 1 unmanned mission in 2022the heat shield (made from an ablative material called Avcoat) behaved unexpectedly. And instead of being consumed uniformly, it broke off in pieces, creating craters and cracks due to the gases trapped in the material. during re-entry into the atmosphere. The engineering logic faced with this problem would mark make a new design or material change. But since it is something that would delay everything, NASA has opted for a change in angle during reentry to minimize thermal stress in the most affected areas to maintain the same shield. The doubts. NASA assures that the risk is “acceptable”, but this decision has raised blisters in the aerospace security community. Added to this is that the life support system (ECLSS)provided in part by ESA, has never been fully tested in flight with humans, adding an extra layer of uncertainty to the mission. Charles Camarda, veteran astronaut of the STS-114 mission, the return flight after the Columbia disaster, has been blunt in this regard. In statements, Camarda has compared the current situation with the “dysfunctional culture” that led to the Challenger and Columbia tragedies. But for the NASA administrator, Artemis 2 is a non-negotiable step to ensure American leadership and the future cislunar economy. Operating tension. As if the pressure on Artemis were not enough, NASA also faces a parallel crisis in low orbit. The agency and SpaceX have scheduled January 14 undocking of the Crew-11 mission of the International Space Station (ISS) due to urgent medical evacuation. This is an unprecedented event in the history of the ISS: lowering an astronaut for an unspecified medical problem (although he has been confirmed to be stable). Although Isaacman has assured that this operational incident will not affect the schedule of Artemis 2adds a considerable load of stress to mission control teams in Houston, who must now manage a crisis in real time while preparing for the most important launch of the decade. What can we expect? At the moment, the dates we know are January 17, where the SLS rolls towards its platform, and February 6, when the window for its launch will open. In total, a 10-day flight mission is expected, with a lunar flyby and high-speed return. Specifically, 40,000 km/h. NASA has much more at stake than a mission in February. The validation of its security model is at stake in the new space era, where geopolitical competition and commercial rush collide head-on with the immutable laws of physics and thermodynamics. Images | Pedro Lastra POT In Xataka | We have been deceived by the distances of the Solar System: the closest neighbor to Neptune is Mercury

an amphibious assault ship to revolutionize its naval capabilities

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On September 3, Beijing was transformed into a catwalk. Not focused on fashion, but on weapons. In one of the most impressive military parades in memory, the Asian giant celebrated the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Second World War with an unprecedented deployment of weapons. Was some things that were savedand that’s where it comes into play his naval strategy. Because he famous Fujian It is not the only new generation ship from China. They have another known as the Type 076 which is already doing tests. And it represents an unprecedented technological leap in the Chinese naval industry. Type 076 Sichuan. If ‘Type 076’ is the class, ‘Sichuan’ is the name they have given to the country’s 51st hull. It is the first ship of this class that, on November 16, completed his first tests of sea after setting sail from the Shanghai shipyard. We have told it on several occasions: the Type 076 impresses with its scale. It is a ship that displaces about 40,000 tons, has a length of about 260 meters, a beam of between 45 and 52 meters and has a deck of about 13,500 square meters, just over two football fields. Those dimensions are considerably larger than those of its predecessor and comparable to the Charles de Gaullethe nuclear aircraft carrier that is the pride of France. Versatility. What stands out most is not its size so that it is not an aircraft carrier: what really stands out is that China has developed a ship that can carry out any type of mission. We are talking about an amphibious assault platform, which implies that it combines traditional landing capabilities with the possibility of performing tasks typical of a light aircraft carrier. That is why its deck is so large: it is designed to house helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and, in addition, it has a deck prepared to house and deploy both landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Its human capacity is 1,000 marines. Electromagnetic catapult. For years, China depended on old Soviet heritage ships, but if Fujian marked a milestone Being the first aircraft carrier developed in-house, the Type 076 also marks a before and after by having the latest technology that the army has developed. To start, it has a electromagnetic catapult system like the one The United States has developed for your latest generation aircraft carrier and like the one Fujian has. It is a technology that will become the new standard for this type of boat, and the comparison with the Fujian is relevant because the catapult of the Type 076 It is the same length as its older brother: about 100-130 meters. This allows the Type 076 to launch conventional fixed-wing aircraft. Other amphibious assault ships can accommodate aircraft, but these must have systems V/STOL vertical or short takeoff. The new Chinese ship does not have this limitation. and electrification. But the catapult is not the only new thing: the propulsion system is fully electric. This is the first for the People’s Liberation Army Navy and the system combines two 21 MW gas turbines with six 6 MW diesel generators. Altogether, it provides about 78 MW of total power. The electrical system is responsible for powering the motors and propulsion, with a rapid delivery of energy, but it is also responsible for the high-power “pulses” such as those needed by the electromagnetic catapult. The use of this gas turbine system offers considerable advantages compared to traditional diesel, such as faster starting, the aforementioned power delivery, a reduction in vibrations, more flexibility and a lower underwater acoustic signature. Fujian deck Armament. Regardless of their transport capacity, assault ships have integrated defenses. It is not so much about carrying out attacks, but rather preventing it from being sunk, for which it has: Three surface-to-air missile launchers short range to intercept aircraft. Three Type 1130 systems with 11 30 mm cannons which provide defense against missiles and low-altitude aircraft. Four decoy launchers which consist of 24 tubes capable of deploying flares and other elements to confuse radars. Sensors similar to those installed in Fujian. These are, as we say, defensive elements, so the Sichuan will continue to depend on auxiliary ships for long-range attacks. But as we are seeing, and at an accelerated pace, it is not a problem for today’s China. Add and continue. During their three-day mission, operators tested the ship’s propulsion system, electrical systems and other key aspects that, according to reportsmet the expected standards. As we say, it is a milestone in Chinese naval modernization by merging traditional amphibious transport and aircraft carrier capabilities. It is like a category in itself and one more example that China is very serious about its maritime conquest. They are giving leaps and bounds in modernizing and expanding its fleetwith three aircraft carriers under its belt and a fourth that is estimated to have nuclear propulsion, as well as ships of other categories that fulfill two missions. On the one hand, that of national protection, but on the other, it is one more message in a territorial dispute scenario in it South and East China Sea that not only has Taiwan in its sights: also islands of Japan that China considers its property. And, of course, Japan is also responding accordingly in what has become an escalation of tension that the other giant of the seas does not want to miss: the United States. Image | 中国新闻社CHINESE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE In Xataka | The plan of one hundred million dead: this is how Japan intended to resist in World War II

Cities are becoming theme parks. The “ship” that has landed in Madrid is the latest example

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A spaceship has parked in the center of Madrid. No, you don’t have to you start running like you were Naruto because it will be there for a few days. This is not a real ship, but the Sol station. And the reason why the design of the subway entrance has been changed to that of this ship is because it is a PlayStation advertising action. And more than something special, it is part of a phenomenon. That of converting part of large cities into theme parks. what has happened. Last Tuesday, November 4, one of the entrances to the Sol station in Madrid appeared “tuned.” Representing a “crashed” ship, PlayStation itself gave some details about the action on your blog. Streamer The Grefg is involved in a campaign that will be resolved on November 19 and in which four PlayStation 5 Pro. It is not a celebration of the launch of any game, but rather a big raffle for which PlayStation has decorated an emblematic point in the city. Experiential Marketing. These types of interventions are not new, although in Spain it is one of the largest marketing movements seen in recent years. It is a strategy designed to create links with users beyond those that can be traced with traditional advertising. A giant LED screen or a billboard is something that we have so internalized that we even ignore it in many cases, but when the station you pass by every day becomes something else, it inevitably draws attention. It is something that reconfigures the perception of the urban environment and can manifest itself in multiple ways. Transportation stations are some of the favorite centers of companies because they are points where many, many people pass through. Sol, without going any further, was “Vodafone Sol” for many years and, although it is a different example, it serves to identify a place and a brand. Advertising outside the advertising space. It has come to be called “visual pollution of a commercial nature” by generating advertising exposure that the citizen cannot avoid. You are going to see it, whether you want to or not, but beyond the subway users themselves, it is an advertisement that generates a conversation on social networks. Public landscape = advertising canvas. As we said, Madrid is becoming an example of how public settings are converted to support a commercial narrative. Next to the PlayStation ship, and literally at kilometer zero of Madrid, the watch brand TAG Heuer placed a few weeks ago a giant clock with a countdown indicating the 365 days left until the Formula 1 returns to Madrid (something with which the neighbors also have their pluses and minuses). It is not very different from what happens with the Olympic Games, but there are other bloodier examples. Without leaving the metro, in 2016 the Chueca station was transformed with the colors of the rainbow. It was not something promoted by political movements in favor of the LGTBI+ collective, but rather an advertising action by Netflix under the slogan “Rainbow is the new black“The campaign was temporary, but the collective managed to keep the colors after Netflix withdrew its brand. And Puerta de España has also been personalized in the past. Pragmatism. This, obviously, does not come for free. Madrid, under Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, approved an ordinance that regulates outdoor advertising in Madrid by which advertising banners in Puerta del Sol and other central environments would be placed exclusively in buildings with certain characteristics. That is why Puerta del Sol is wallpapered with advertisements from big brands, series or movies, for which companies they have to pay a large fee to the city. In the end, looking at it from the most pragmatic point of view, these public-private activities finance infrastructure and furniture that municipal administrations could not afford. That is to say: cities obtain income through these advertising permits and companies gain a scenario that hundreds of thousands of people see every day. In a context in which many cities are attracting tourism and investment, it is a win-win if we think with a cooler head. The mentioned contract of Vodafone Sol was three million euros for changing the name of the station between 2013 and 2016, as well as the name change in the red line public address system. And, when the contract was not renewed, it was Vodafone that bore the management costs. Reactions. Now, while cities like Madrid, Barcelona or New York allow these activities, others restrict them. An example is Lyon, which has decided reduce outdoor advertising in public spaces by up to 75%, eliminating above all digital screens. Outside of the previous pragmatism, it is something that exerts a tension between municipal revenue, commercial freedom and the protection of the urban landscape. In the case of the PlayStation ship, varied reactions have been seen, from enthusiastic voices to those who criticize this conversion of the city into an amusement park. The truth is that PlayStation is a company that carries out very imaginative advertising campaigns in several cities and in Spain nothing this big has ever been seen. Another recent action also had much angrier reactions in the subway, when the company Uber Eats changed the name of the emblematic Goya station to… yes, you’re guessing: Gyoza. Or the former name change of the Blue Line to Stonewashed Blue. and the future Santiago Bernabéu station customized by Real Madrid. Images | PlayStation Spain In Xataka | Japan has an amusement park dedicated to Spain. And it’s as wonderful as it looks

a new Indian ship every 40 days

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India has undertaken a naval transformation which can no longer be understood as a simple modernization, but as the deliberate construction of a maritime power capable of influencing the balance of everything the Indo-Pacific. The rhythm (we are talking about a new ship or submarine every forty days) reveals a country that has decided to break its historical dependence on foreign suppliers, create its own industrial base and provide itself with a projection capacity that until a few years ago was out of reach. Indian naval acceleration. They remembered in Forbes that the current push does not respond only to geographical pressure from China and Pakistan, but to the conviction that the country’s prosperity depends on controlling vital sea routes, protecting trade and showing presence in an environment where naval powers exert political, economic and military influence. The initiatives Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat have woven an industrial ecosystem that produces steel, sensors, combat systems, missile platforms and software within the country, making Indian shipyards the center of a strategy that aims for a fleet of more than two hundred units before 2035. This ambition not only upsets the regional balance, but redefines the way India views its security and its place in the world. End to a coastal logic. The magnitude of the Indian naval plan implies a doctrinal leap: move from a mentality focused on the defense of the coast to operate as a force capable of maintaining a constant presence from the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca. The new stealth destroyers, equipped with BrahMos missiles locally manufactured, the projects for a nuclear aircraft carrier that complements to Vikrant and the simultaneous expansion of the submarine fleet (including future SSNs and the recently incorporated SSBN) allow India to project power, secure maritime lines of communication and respond quickly in a theater characterized because of the competition between great powers. This transition makes the Indian navy a relevant actor not only for the defense of the country, but for the stability of a space where energy from the Middle East, goods from East Asia and a good part of global trade transit. INS Ranjit, INS Jyoti and INS Mysore Geopolitical pressure. Plus: the growing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean (supported by ports and logistics platforms in Pakistan and East Africa) has changed India’s strategic environment. Added to this is the expansion of the Pakistani Navy, which incorporates advanced frigates and submarines financed and designed with Chinese assistance. This double pressure vector turns the ocean into a space of direct competition, where the ability to monitor, deter and respond is critical. In this context, depending on external suppliers becomes a risk, both due to the vulnerability of logistics chains in times of crisis and due to the possibility of political restrictions imposed from outside. From that perspective, India’s commitment to an industrial base self defense It not only guarantees operational continuity, but also allows technologies, construction rates and capacities to be adapted to national needs without external mediation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the guard of honor at the naval dockyard this 2025 National shipyards as an engine. The transition towards naval self-sufficiency has resulted in 52 ships under construction simultaneously, from next-generation destroyers to corvettes, stealth frigates and conventional and nuclear submarines. This volume turns the Indian shipyards into one of the naval facilities most active in the world and at the core of an industrial policy that seeks to dominate the production of naval steel, engines, sensors, radars, electronic systems and weapons platforms. The objective is not only to produce hulls, but to generate a complete design, integration and maintenance cycle that ensures that the fleet can be sustained in the long term without external bottlenecks. Plus: this approach creates skilled employment, encourages local innovation and allows technological advances to be transferred to other branches of defense and civil industry. New regional balance. He construction pacejoined to the technological diversificationprojects a scenario where India aspires to position itself as a structural counterweight against China in the Indo-Pacific. Its ability to operate aircraft carrier groups, escorted by stealth destroyers and attack submarines, will provide the country with tools to influence regional crises, participate in multilateral operations and guarantee the security of essential supply routes. The expansion of the Indian presence not only seeks to counteract its immediate rivals, but also to consolidate an image of power responsible capable of providing stability in a marked region due to increasing tensionsfrom the Arabian Sea to the Strait of Malacca. Long-term ambitions. The process of indian naval modernization It synthesizes several simultaneous aspirations: strategic autonomy, the reduction of external dependencies, industrial consolidation and the ability to act as a pillar of the regional order. It is not just about launching more ships, but about building a force capable of operate with continuitymaintain a deterrent presence and evolve in accordance with constantly changing technological threats. To the current paceIndia is approaching a fleet capable of shaping the Indo-Pacific according to its own interests, with tools to guarantee its security and project influence in an environment where maritime competition will be one of the defining axes of the coming decades. Image | Ministry of DefenseIndian Navy, Government of India In Xataka | China’s dominance is extending far beyond rare earths. Even where the US had no rival: the sea In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: the US has restored the Pacific base that launched the atomic bombing of Japan

Someone at Harvard suggested that 3I/ATLAS was an alien ship. A new test has revealed to us what it really is

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Without a doubt one of the space objects that has been causing the most sensation in recent months is 3I/ATLAS. Practically everything has been said in recent months, from the fact that it is a simple asteroid that was going to destroy our planet to the fact that it was an alien shipas noted a professor from the prestigious Harvard. But all these ideas have been left in nothing thanks to the last signal that has been interpreted from this object. What he imagined. Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, the third such visitor ever detected, has kept the scientific community (and science fiction fans) in suspense since its discovery in July. The most “far-fetched” speculations, as experts have described them, went so far as to suggest that it could be an extraterrestrial spacecraft, especially when it temporarily disappeared behind the Sun. The sign that explains everything. On October 24, the radio telescope MeerKAT In South Africa, a powerful network of 64 antennas captured the key evidence. This was neither an encrypted message nor a technological transmission from another species, but rather an absorption radio signal caused by hydroxyl molecules. What does it mean. Hydroxyl molecules are the direct result of the ‘breaking’ of a water molecule. This is something that happens when the ice in the nucleus of a comet approaches the Sun and sublimates due to the large amount of energy it absorbs. That is, it automatically goes from solid to gas and this is what we have detected from Earth, as has explained Michael Küppers, scientist at the European Space Agency (ESA). In summary, we are talking about 3I/ATLAS containing ice inside, as happens in comets (and not in extraterrestrial spacecraft). And we are completely sure of this, since these absorption signals are like the molecular DNI, it is unique for each compound. Goodbye speculation. As we have mentioned before, the alien ship theory gained traction when the object hid behind the Sun. Some speculated that it was maneuvering or hiding from our radars. However, on November 4, 3I/ATLAS reappeared exactly where orbital calculations predicted it would be. There were no maneuvers, just physics. Furthermore, it is not the first time it has been detected. Javier Peralta, an expert in planetary atmospheres, recalls that NASA’s Swift space telescope had already observed hydroxyl in the ultraviolet spectrum. MeerKAT’s new detection is crucial because it confirms the same composition in a completely different band of the electromagnetic spectrum: radio. What does the future hold for us? 3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar visitor, after 1I/’Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. Although its trajectory is too long and it has traveled too long to know which star it comes from. But the important thing is that we are already preparing for what is coming. ESA’s JUICE mission, currently en route to Jupiter, will take new radio measurements from 3I/ATLAS in February 2026. But the big bet is the mission ESA Comet Interceptorwhich will be launched around 2029 and will wait for the next large comet to approach our planet. Cover | POT In Xataka | NASA ignores the Harvard study on an alleged extraterrestrial spacecraft: “it is an interstellar comet”

If the ship is damaged, they have three options

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Here we go again. Three Chinese astronauts are functionally stranded at the Tiangong space station after the apparent space debris impact with the Shenzhou-20 ship. The China Manned Mission Space Agency (CMSA) has not yet commented on its return. What we know. Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie were due to return to Earth on November 5. Its return flight was postponed to further examine the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft for the possible impact of small fragments of space debris while it was docked with the Chinese station. The three crew members they are safe. The damage to the capsule was discovered “during final checks prior to re-entry.” But the relief crew had already arrived, meaning there are two ships (Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21) and six astronauts aboard a station designed for three. The CMSA focuses its investigations on the integrity of the ship’s heat shield and parachute systems. A failure in any of these elements during the ship’s atmospheric reentry could be catastrophic. What we don’t know. The CMSA is not a space agency counterpart to NASA and ESA, but a unit of the Chinese army that reports to the military command. Your communications are, consequently, limited. We do not know the extent of the damage to the ship or if it was really due to the impact of space debris. There is still no scheduled date for his return. It will depend on whether the ship is considered safe or the level of risks that the CMSA is willing to take. Assuming the ship is damaged, there are three possible options. The three options. The riskiest plan would be to attempt an in-orbit repair with a spacewalk. Commander Chen Dong is the Chinese astronaut with the most hours of extravehicular activity, but certifying a heat shield as “safe” after an impact is something totally new. If the CMSA decides to sacrifice the ship, then two other alternatives are open: the fast one and the slow one. The quick one would be to use the relief ship (Shenzhou-21) as a lifeboat for the three crew members of the Shenzhou-20. The problem is that the seats are molded to the body of each astronaut, so this option would require disassembling the seats of both spacecraft and exchanging them, a complex operation that has never been done in orbit. The slow option would be to prepare the next ship (Shenzhou-22) on the ground for an “emergency service”, launching it empty to the Chinese space station as happened with the Russian Soyuz MS-23 in 2023. It is the safest option, but also the slowest and most expensive to bring back the astronauts. Three times in three years. This is the first time that China has gone through a situation like this, but the third time in three years in which a crew is left in orbit without a clear return ticket. Soyuz MS-22 lost in spurts coolant liquid after the impact of a micrometeorite while it was docked with the International Space Station, which forced Russia to send the empty Soyuz MS-23 capsule to bring back the cosmonauts. In 2024, the two crew members of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft They became part of the permanent crew of the International Space Station waiting for a SpaceX Crew Dragon ship to arrive with two empty seats for their return. On this occasion, space junk had no nothing to see. Image | CMSA In Xataka | China has built a space empire in 30 years after being kicked out of the ISS. His revenge is about to be completed

Three Chinese astronauts have delayed their return to Earth due to an impact on the ship. The suspect: space junk

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The crew of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, which was scheduled to land this Wednesday in Inner Mongolia, has been forced to postpone its return to Earth. The cause is not bad weather, as is usual in manned flights, but the most feared enemy of modern space exploration: a probable impact of space debris. Evaluating risks. China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) broke the news this morning: The return of the three astronauts aboard Shenzhou-20 has been delayed indefinitely following suspicions that the ship may have been hit by a small piece of space debris. The ship is still docked at the Chinese Tiangong space station, where the crew are safe. The crew and engineers on the ground are analyzing the impact on the ship to try to determine the extent of the damage and assess the risks of the return journey. The problem is reentry. Three people traveled to the Chinese space station in April aboard the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft: Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie. The problem is not his immediate survival, but the viability of his ship surviving the atmospheric re-entry maneuver after the impact. In low orbit, objects travel at hypersonic speeds of up to 28,000 km/h. At that speed, even a tiny fragment of metal or paint can release devastating kinetic energy, especially if it hits critical components like the ship’s heat shield or its parachutes. What do we know for now? The CMSA has not specified where it believes the impact occurred or what data alerted them to the event. Now, engineers on the ground and the crew in orbit will perform telemetry checks, check for possible leaks, and analyze the guidance and propulsion systems. They will most likely use the Tiangong station’s 10-meter robotic arm to conduct a detailed visual inspection of Shenzhou-20. If necessary, an extravehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalk is not ruled out to assess the damage closely. A problem that China was trying to avoid. The irony of this incident is that the Shenzhou-20 crew itself is fully aware of the danger. In fact, part of its six-month mission in orbit focused on mitigating this risk. Two of the astronauts six hours passed in September by installing additional protective shields against orbital fragments outside the Tiangong station. Although they reinforced the station, the impact seems to have occurred in the way that would bring them back. Image | CMSA In Xataka | Three large pieces of space debris reenter every day: “one day our luck will run out and they will fall on someone”

It is not an alien ship, but remains of a distant planet

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When astronomers detected a third interstellar object visiting our solar system, they probably did not imagine that it would have an even greater impact than the previous two. The fault was with the first estimates of its size, which had a colossal upper limit of 20 kilometers, which led to several articles by Harvard professor Avi Loeb arguing that it could be “a possibly hostile extraterrestrial probe“. Although the latest observations disprove that it is an alien ship, they open new possibilities. Goodbye to the alien hypothesis. The idea that 3I/ATLAS was a spacecraft was based on a number of apparent anomalies. Avi Loeb argued that its trajectory, unusually aligned with the ecliptic plane of our solar system, its enormous size and its supposed stealth approach were suspicious. It suggested that the object could be performing a maneuver to remain unnoticed while exploring our planets. However, later observations dismantled these arguments one by one. The sharpest image of the comet, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, was devastating for Loeb’s theory. It turned out that we were totally wrong about its size. The real core did not measure 20 km, but between 320 meters and 5.6 kilometers. The initial estimate had been misled by the bright, extensive “coma” of gas and dust surrounding the true core. On the other hand, the behavior of the object, with an asymmetric material ejection and the formation of a dust tail, confirmed that it behaved like a classic comet, and not like a ship with artificial propulsion. But perhaps it is not just any comet, but a very, very interesting one. A piece of exoplanet? According to a new hypothesis, presented in a study pending review3I/ATLAS could be a piece of an extrasolar planet: a “lithified clastic fragment” torn from a sedimentary basin on a distant world that has traveled through the cosmos to reach us. In other words, a rock made up of layers of hardened sediment, similar to those we find on Earth in ancient river or lake beds, but from outside the solar system. Geoscientist Eahsanul Haque’s hypothesis is supported by several previous analyses. On the one hand, the trajectory of 3I/ATLAS suggests that it comes from the thick disk of the Milky Way, a region populated by stars much older than our Sun, up to 7 billion years old. This implies that the object formed in a planetary system with more than enough time to develop complex geological processes, including the liquid water activity necessary to create sedimentary basins. And its size is consistent with the size of large fragments that could be ejected from a planet after a high-speed impact. But wasn’t it a comet? The presence of a comma and a tail does not contradict this idea. Water and other volatiles could have been trapped in the pores of the sedimentary rock. As it approached the Sun, the heat would have caused the sublimation of these ices, generating the observed cometary activity without the main object being a “dirty snowball.” Its spectrum resembles that of D-type asteroids, rich in carbon and silicates2 This composition is compatible with that of terrestrial sedimentary rocks, such as shales or sandstones, which often contain clay and carbonaceous material formed in aqueous processes. All eyes on 3I/ATLAS. The interest in this interstellar traveler has been such that space agencies have mobilized their instruments to study it. The European Space Agency (ESA) targeted its Martian orbiters, ExoMars TGO and Mars Expresstowards the comet during its closest approach to Mars. Although the enormous distance (30 million km) made observation a technical challenge, the images captured the diffuse coma that surrounds it. It is expected that future observations, such as from the Juice probe, which will see it in a more active state after its close pass to the Sun, will reveal more data about its composition. But if 3I/ATLAS has already taught us something, it is the importance that missions such as the Comet Interceptor probe planned by ESA. Without a fixed target, it is designed precisely to wait in space for a long-term target or, with great luck, another interstellar visitor, to then turn on its engines and head towards it. Image | THAT In Xataka | NASA ignores the Harvard study on an alleged extraterrestrial spacecraft: “it is an interstellar comet”

call the only ship that has been repairing them for more than a decade

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That an underwater cable breaks (or someone cut it) can happen anywhere. There is amazing ships dedicated to deployment and repair of this critical infrastructure in our hyperconnected world. However, when it happens in Africa there is only one ship that can answer the call at any time. Is called Leon Thevenin and has been in operation for more than forty years. The ship. As they say in Rest of WorldIn the world there are 62 cable repair ships that are always available, but in Africa there is only one. The Léon Thévenin is part of the fleet of Orange Marinea subsidiary of the French operator Orange, and for thirteen years has been in charge of all repairs from Ghana to Madagascar. It is 107 meters long and the crew that operates it is 60 people. It also features a remote submarine and a small work boat. According to the official ship record, It is capable of making repairs in extreme weather conditions, in both deep and shallow water. African cables. In this map We can see that the continent is surrounded by countless cables that provide connections to both its inhabitants and data centers and ground stations. Among the most notable is the ‘Peace Cable’ connecting Singapore to Kenyathe West African cable system and the Alphabet Equiano that go from Portugal to South Africa. The cable also stands out 2Africa which with its 45,000 kilometers is the longest in the world; It connects from the United Kingdom, goes all the way around the African continent and ends in India. And there are many more. Accidents. Cables deteriorate, they can also be damaged after storms or if a ship drops anchor and drags it. Many times the cuts are intentional, but they usually occur in other places in increased geopolitical tension like Taiwan either the baltic sea. In March 2024, much of the west and center of the continent was left without connection due to simultaneous failures in several cables. The Léon Thévenin was in charge of returning connectivity to millions of people. It has not been the only case. In recent years the ship has been having a lot of work because the Congo Canyona huge underwater canyon that extends 280 kilometers into the Atlantic, is suffering many landslides that have affected several cables. A great responsibility. It is estimated that 99% of the world’s internet traffic travels over submarine cables. If a cable breaks, it can leave millions of people without connectivity. Furthermore, in the age of AI, connectivity is even more important because it connects the infrastructure that makes it work. The price to pay for the Léon Thévenin crew is spending very little time with his family. Sometimes they rest for a month, the problem is that if a breakage occurs they are the only ones who answer the call. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | The submarine cables belonged to the teleoperators, and now the big technology companies are controlling them

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