NASA has kicked off a two-day countdown rehearsal ahead of fueling its next-generation moon rocket, a pivotal test that will help determine when four astronauts can lift off on a historic lunar flyby.
Already in quarantine to limit exposure to illness, Commander Reid Wiseman and his fellow crew members are set to become the first humans to head toward the moon since 1972. From their base in Houston, they will oversee the rehearsal before traveling to Kennedy Space Center once the rocket receives clearance to fly.
The massive Space Launch System rocket, standing 322 feet (98 meters) tall, rolled out to the launch pad two weeks ago. Should Monday’s fueling exercise proceed without problems, NASA could target a launch attempt as soon as a week later. During the test, teams will load the rocket with more than 700,000 gallons of ultra-cold propellant, halting the process about 30 seconds before engine ignition.
Extreme cold weather forced NASA to push back the fueling rehearsal and the launch timeline by two days. As a result, Feb. 8 is now the earliest possible liftoff date.
Once airborne, the American and Canadian astronauts will travel inside the Orion capsule perched atop the rocket, looping around the moon before heading directly back to Earth without landing. The mission is expected to last close to 10 days and will conclude with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Between 1968 and 1972, NASA’s Apollo program sent 24 astronauts to the moon, with 12 of them stepping onto its surface.
{Matzav.com}
Elon Musk said Sunday that measures implemented by SpaceX to prevent Russia from using Starlink without authorization appear to be effective, following concerns that the satellite internet system was being exploited in the war in Ukraine.
“Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked. Let us know if more needs to be done,” said Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, in a post on X.
The comments followed remarks last week from Ukraine’s defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, who said Kyiv is coordinating with SpaceX to block Russian forces from using Starlink to guide drones. Ukrainian officials said they discovered Starlink terminals on long-range drones launched by Russia during attacks.
“Western technology must continue to help the democratic world and protect civilians, rather than being used for terrorism and destroying peaceful cities,” Fedorov wrote on X.
Although Musk has clashed publicly with Ukrainian officials over his views on the conflict with Russia, Ukraine’s military continues to depend heavily on Starlink. Tens of thousands of terminals are used for frontline communications and, in some cases, to support drone operations.
Starlink has significantly increased Musk’s influence on the global stage. In 2022, he openly asserted authority over when and where the service could be used by Ukrainian forces as they fought Russian troops, underscoring the platform’s strategic importance in the war.
{Matzav.com}A proposal backed by Democratic lawmakers in California has ignited anger among motorists and Republican legislators, who warn it could ultimately lead to drivers being taxed based on how many miles they travel.
With the state facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall and fuel tax revenue shrinking as more residents switch to electric vehicles, Democrats are exploring alternative ways to fund transportation projects.
California motorists already face some of the highest fuel costs in the country. According to the American Automobile Association, the average price of gas in January reached $4.23 per gallon, second only to Hawaii.
On Thursday, lawmakers moved forward with Assembly Bill 1421, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Lori Wilson. The bill would instruct the California Transportation Commission and the state Transportation Agency to continue examining mileage-based taxation models, stopping short of actually putting such a tax in place.
Opposition to the measure was visible over the weekend, as activists gathered at Cal Expo in Sacramento to gather signatures against a slate of Democratic tax proposals, including the potential per-mile charge.
“I just got very tense and insecure, because I drive a lot of miles,” said Sherrie Ann Lorenzo, a resident of Chico. “I don’t want to be taxed for driving. It’s my freedom. I live in the home of the free, I thought.”
Ideas outlined in the ongoing study suggest a per-mile fee ranging from two to nine cents. Given that California drivers average about 11,400 miles per year, such a charge could translate into annual costs of roughly $228 to $1,026.
Critics say the financial burden is only part of the concern, warning that monitoring vehicle mileage could prove complicated and raise serious privacy issues.
“This disproportionately hits rural residents and long-distance commuters,” said Republican Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo. “This favors wealthy EV drivers over everyday Californians. We already pay the highest gas tax in the U.S. We shouldn’t be adding a mileage tax on top of it.”
Bruce Lou, a delegate with the San Francisco and state Republican Party, also condemned the proposal online.
“This per-mile tax would be on top of the highest gas taxes in the country,” Lou wrote on X. “Citizens shouldn’t be treated like ATMs.”
Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio of San Diego sharply criticized AB 1421 during remarks on the Assembly floor Thursday.
“When you add up the car tax, the gas tax, and this new mileage tax, a working family with two cars and two parents driving could be forced to pay $4,200 a year to the state of California just for the privilege of driving on crappy roads,” DeMaio said. “What are we thinking here?”
Wilson has pushed back against the criticism, characterizing it as politically driven and saying the legislation reflects unavoidable fiscal realities.
“California’s transportation funding system is becoming less stable, less equitable, and less sustainable as more drivers switch to fuel-efficient and zero-emission vehicles,” she said.
She added that she is “committed” to revising AB 1421 to prevent drivers from being taxed twice through both fuel taxes and mileage-based fees.
As written, the bill would order a detailed report examining equity issues affecting low-income drivers who often travel longer distances in less efficient vehicles, evaluate the impact of a weight-based per-mile charge on commercial and electric vehicles, and review regional and statewide options for implementing a road usage tax.
Similar mileage-based systems have already been tested or adopted elsewhere. Oregon and Utah operate voluntary programs, Hawaii is gradually introducing a mandatory charge for electric vehicles, and Washington and Colorado have run pilot projects while weighing long-term alternatives to fuel taxes.
Concerns about privacy, billing errors, rural drivers, low-income households, and out-of-state motorists are expected to remain central to the debate.
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa warned that the bill could open the door to intrusive government surveillance, calling it “a tool for future control.”
“To collect the tax, the government will amass a database of everywhere a car goes,” Issa wrote. “Church? Political rallies? Gun ranges? Fast food?”
For now, lawmakers have yet to provide clear answers to those concerns.
{Matzav.com}Iran’s supreme leader issued a sharp warning on Sunday, saying any military action by the United States would trigger a “regional war” across the Middle East, heightening tensions as President Donald Trump has openly threatened strikes against the Islamic Republic.
The remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, marked his most explicit threat to date, coming as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other American warships operate in the Arabian Sea. The deployment followed Trump’s decision to move naval forces after Tehran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests.
Whether Trump will ultimately authorize the use of force remains uncertain. He has repeatedly said Iran is interested in negotiations and has pointed to Tehran’s nuclear program as another central issue he wants addressed.
Khamenei, however, also described the ongoing demonstrations as “a coup,” signaling a tougher official stance as reports indicate tens of thousands of people have been detained since protests erupted.
In Iran, charges of sedition can carry the death penalty, renewing fears that Tehran could carry out mass executions of detainees — a development Trump has described as a red line.
At the same time, Iran had scheduled live-fire military exercises for Sunday and Monday in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage linking the Persian Gulf to global markets and used for roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil.
The US military’s Central Command warned Tehran not to threaten American vessels or aircraft during the drills or interfere with commercial shipping.
Iranian state television first reported Khamenei’s statements online before broadcasting footage of his speech.
“The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” Khamenei was quoted as saying.
It added that he also declared: “We are not the instigators and we do not seek to attack any country. But the Iranian nation will deliver a firm blow to anyone who attacks or harasses it.”
Khamenei further hardened his rhetoric toward the protests, after previously acknowledging that some demonstrators were driven by genuine economic grievances. The unrest began on Dec. 28, initially sparked by the collapse of Iran’s rial, before quickly evolving into a broader challenge to his rule.
“The recent sedition was similar to a coup. Of course, the coup was suppressed,” he said. “Their goal was to destroy sensitive and effective centers involved in running the country, and for this reason they attacked the police, government centers, (Revolutionary Guard) facilities, banks and mosques — and burned copies of the Quran. They targeted centers that run the country.”
Separately, Iran’s parliament speaker said the Islamic Republic now considers all European Union militaries to be terrorist organizations, responding to the bloc’s decision to designate Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terror group over its crackdown on protesters.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a former Guard commander, announced the move, which is expected to be largely symbolic.
Iran has relied on a 2019 law to reciprocally label other nations’ militaries as terrorist groups after the United States designated the Guard as a terror organization that year.
Qalibaf made the announcement as he and other lawmakers donned Guard uniforms in a show of support for the force, which controls Iran’s ballistic missile program and extensive economic interests and answers directly to Khamenei.
“By seeking to strike at the (Guard), which itself has been the greatest barrier to the spread of terrorism to Europe, Europeans have in fact shot themselves in the foot and, once again, through blind obedience to the Americans, decided against the interests of their own people,” Qalibaf said.
Lawmakers later shouted slogans of “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” during the session.
Trump has publicly outlined two red lines that could prompt military action: the killing of peaceful protesters or the mass execution of those detained during the crackdown.
He has also increasingly focused on Iran’s nuclear program, which the US had negotiated with Tehran over multiple rounds of talks before Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June.
During that conflict, the US bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities. Activity observed at two of the sites has raised suspicions that Iran may be attempting to obscure satellite imagery as it works to preserve what remains.
Trump said Saturday night that he had not yet decided how to proceed on Iran.
Speaking with reporters aboard a flight to Florida, Donald Trump sidestepped a question about whether Tehran would feel emboldened if Washington refrained from striking, saying, “Some people think that. Some people don’t.”
He added that Iran should negotiate a “satisfactory” agreement to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons, but cautioned, “I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us.”
Late Saturday, senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani wrote on X that “structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing.” There has been no public indication of direct talks with the United States, something Khamenei has repeatedly ruled out.
{Matzav.com}