User talk:XFalcon2004x

Initially launched in late 2010/early 2011 for a run of four months, The Downlink was unpublished for more than nine years, after which a second volume was published from October 2020 to October 2021. This second volume was very different from the first volume, both in style and structure. A December issue was planned (for some reason, the second volume became volume 1 in April 2021), but was never finished. Like with volume 2, this volume 3 was intended to come with changes, though primarily to style.

Volume 3 will not feature any significant changes to style or structure. This both provides continuity with the previous volume and allows the contributors to construct each issue relatively easily. However, following volumes may see changes to style, format, and upload schedule. As it is still very early in the year, a discussion on this is not yet necessary, but suggestions of all kinds are always welcome at the talk page.

• Blue Ghost Mission 1 and Hakuto-R Mission 2 were launched from Kennedy Space Center on 15 January. They are planned to land in March and April, respectively.
• On 30 January, Sunita Williams broke Peggy Whitson's record for most time spent on spacewalks by a woman, at 62 hours and 6 minutes total.
• ISRO successfully docked two SpaDeX satellites on 16 January, making India the fourth country (including the EU) to dock two vehicles in space.
• Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle completed its maiden flight on 16 January. The payload was successfully placed in orbit, while the first staged failed to land on the recovery ship.

• The image Jupiter clouds was promoted to Featured Media status on 4 January. It was nominated by MER-C.

Gene Cernan was the eleventh and (as of 2025) last person to ever step foot on the moon. In addition to being an astronaut, he was an aviator in the US Navy and engineer. Apollo 17 was his second Apollo mission, as he served as Apollo 10's lunar module pilot. He died in Houston on 16 January, 2017. He was the first astronaut to be buried at Texas State Cemetery.

New members:

• Joost van Assenbergh (9 January)
• TheCosmicNebula (25 January)

Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. For a complete list, see here: List_of_spaceflight_launches_in_January–June_2025#January.

1. New Glenn — DarkSky-1 (16 Jan. at 07:03) (success)
2. SpaceX Starship — 10 Starlink simulators (16 Jan. at 22:37) (launch failure)

Since December 2024, five new high-importance, eight new mid-importance, forty new low-importance, and 1,522 new NA-importance articles have been created. Fifteen unknown-importance articles have been removed, for a total of 1,560 more articles. One article has been promoted to Good Article status. There are also three more B-class articles, eleven more C-class articles, 23 more Start-class articles, four more Stub-class articles, 4 more lists, and 34 more files.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the mailing list.
Newsletter contributor: Ships&Space

• On 17 February, as part of a Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission, Intuitive Machines' lunar lander IM-2 was launched on board a Falcon 9. It was also launched with Lunar Trailblazer and Brokkr-2.
• The European Space Agency's space telescope INTEGRAL was retired on 28 February after 22 years, five months, and one day. It is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in 2029.

Launched on 7 February 2001, STS-98 delivered to the Destiny laboratory module of the International Space Station. Flown by Atlantis, it was the first human spaceflight mission of the 21st century. The shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base on 20 February after being docked with the ISS for almost seven days. The crew consisted of Kenneth Cockrell, commander, Mark L. Polansky, pilot, Robert Curbeam, mission specialist 1, Marsha Ivins, mission specialist 2 and flight engineer, and Thomas David Jones, mission specialist 3.

New Members: No new members.

February Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list: here.

1. Soyuz 2.1v and Volga — Kosmos-2581/-2582/-2583 (5 Feb. at 03:59) (success)
2. Long March 8A — 9 Hulianwang Digui (11 Feb. at 09:30) (success)
3. Falcon 9 Block 5 — 23 Starlink (18 Feb. at 23:21) (success)
4. Falcon 9 Block 5 — multiple (27 Feb. at 00:02) (launch success)

Since January 2025, one new high-importance, sixteen new low-importance, nineteen new NA-importance, and twelve new unknown-importance articles have been created, for a total of 58 new articles. One article has been demoted from Good Article status. There are also one more A-class article, one more B-class article, nine fewer C-class articles, thirteen more Start-class articles, three more Stub-class articles, and one more list.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space, Geni

• Firefly Aerospace became the first commercial company to successfully achieve a soft landing on the moon on 2 March with the landing of Blue Ghost Mission 1 near Mons Latreille. It lasted the intended length of one lunar day before losing power on 16 March. It was launched with the Hakuto-R Mission 2 lander Resilience and rover Tenacious, which are planned to land in the Mare Frigoris.
• On 6 March, the IM-2 mission's lunar lander Athena landed on Mons Mouton. Although intact, it landed sideways, preventing it from generating enough power to operate as designed. The mission was declared over the following day.
• SpaceX Crew-9 splashed down near Tallahassee, Florida on 18 March. Initially planned to launch with a full complement, the extension of Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams' stay on the ISS resulted in it being launched with only two crew members.

The InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) lander was selected from among three options in August 2012. Initially planned to launch in March 2016, an instrument issue delayed the launch to May 2018, the next Earth-Mars launch window. It was successfully launched on 5 May, and landed on Elysium Planitia on 26 November 2018. Taking seismographic and thermographic readings, InSight operated for a total of 4 years and 19 days instead of its planned 2 year mission. The mission was declared over on 21 December, 2022 after contact was lost on 15 December. A re-analysis of some of its data indicates that there may be significant amounts of groundwater in Mars' crust.

New Members:

• Desertroseflora (6 March)
• Nowhed (13 March)
• 4-RAZOR 01 (15 March)
• Orion.Project (28 March)

March Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list: here.

1. Ariane 62 — CSO-3 (6 Mar. at 16:24 UTC) (success)
2. SpaceX Starship — four Starlink simulators (6 Mar. at 23:30 UTC) (launch failure)
3. Rocket Lab Electron — QPS-SAR 9/SUSANOO-1 (15 Mar. at 00:00 UTC) (success)
4. Spectrum — no payload (30 Mar. at 10:30 UTC) (launch failure)

Since February 2025, six new low-importance and one new unknown-importance articles have been created. One NA-importance article has been removed, for a total of six new articles. There are also five more C-class articles, three more Start-class articles, two more Stub-class articles, and one more list.

Discuss & propose changes to The Downlink at The Downlink talk page. To unsubscribe from the newsletter remove your name from the Mailing list.
Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space