THE SUN IS ON THE VERGE BEING SPOTLESS: If a new sunspot doesn't emerge soon, the face of the sun will be blank. Today, there is only one dark core on the Earthside of the sun (AR4528), and it is about to rotate off the sun's western limb. Its disappearance would bring the 4th spotless day of 2026, the most in more than 5 years. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
UNEXPECTED SATELLITE EXPLOSION: A Cold War spy satellite just broke apart in Earth orbit, and no one knows why.
The US Space Force detected the breakup on Sept. 13th when USA 32 unexpectedly shed a cloud of debris 775 km above Earth. The number of fragments is still unknown; Space-Track, the Space Force's public catalog, has not yet released a count.
USA 32 was launched in 1988 on a top-secret mission to monitor Soviet radars from orbit. It was part of a series of satellites named after the actress Farrah Fawcett. This one was Farrah III, shaped, ironically, like a squat cylinder. The "tuna can" form allowed it to rapidly spin and sweep its antennas across the ground below. The NRO fully declassified the program only this year.
There may be nothing sinister about this event. Old spacecraft carry batteries and leftover propellant. After 38 years of heating and cooling, a pressurized tank or a battery cell on USA 32 may have simply ruptured. This is a leading suspicion, although it is too soon to rule out a meteor strike or ASAT.
Other satellites may be in danger. USA 32 broke up in a crowded shell of low Earth orbit. Within 50 km of its altitude are more than 200 active satellites, including the entire Iridium NEXT constellation. Even before USA 32 broke up, this region was extremely cluttered. NASA identifies a major debris-density peak already there from the Iridium 33/Cosmos 2251 collision in 2009. The collision threat is real.
Analysts are carefully tracking the fragments and measuring their individual trajectories. Soon, they may be able to "run the clock backward" to see how the explosion began.
Stay tuned for updates!
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STARRY NIGHT WINE STOPPER: You can't buy this on Amazon. Only the Earth to Sky Store has the Starry Night Wine Stopper. On March 15, 2026, this impressionist stopper flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $99.95. The Starry Night is an oil-on-canvas painting by Vincent van Gogh. Physicists say it accurately depicts Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in the clouds outside his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise. The airtight rubber seal securely plugs bottles of wine or any other beverage.
With your stopper, you'll receive a gift card showing the Starry Night in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere (and back again).
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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