Tootfinder

50 years ago #OTD at 16:09 UTC #Soyuz 19 and the final #Apollo spacecraft docked in orbit in the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project or Экспериментальный полёт «Союз»–«Аполлон» (the Americans and Soviets never agreed on which s/c comes first): https://www.nasa.gov/apollo-soyuz-test-project/ = various NASA materials, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/astp.htm = many links, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sp-4209.pdf = a biiiig book, https://www.facebook.com/AstroDrewMorgan/posts/pfbid0wcN12LcAfRYYTmiWS71GQ47P42jukXVhd2QWA7eBzgg1wbdZAKq8LXVGTC9o7tKtl and https://www.facebook.com/ralf.heckel1/posts/pfbid02jcFp85PRy2UBUs4JVhPQcBnmddC8sQbPL3Vx26XoFMvbbsToNJmpLMDrRfce98HPl and https://www.facebook.com/groups/176051159106442/posts/24331420949809459 and https://www.facebook.com/groups/48800622850/posts/10162318303047851 = more visuals, https://www.youtube.com/live/Mu7iEyaOmDM = an online event, https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/07/not-that-into-peace-doves-the-apollo-soyuz-patch-nasa-rejected/ and https://www.spacerockethistory.com/2025/02/space-rocket-history-457-apollo-soyuz-test-project-soviet-concerns-with-apollo/ and http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-071425a-apollo-soyuz-test-project-astp-official-flight-kit-ofk-apk.html and https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/science/apollo-soyuz-test-project-1975-anniversary.html?smid=bs-share = articles and https://scicomm.xyz/@Nick_Stevens_graphics@mastodon.art/114858897568849751 = a contemporary cartoon.

🏖️ The battle for sand: Murders, impunity and environmental destruction in the Dominican Republic
https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-08-23/the-battle-for-sand-murders-impunity-and…

The battle for sand: Murders, impunity and environmental destruction in the Dominican Republic
The illegal extraction of materials from rivers, which are later utilized for construction in a process that’s organized by mafia-like groups, exposes the lack of state control in the country

Por si había dudas.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2025-09-16/una-comision-de-la-onu-acusa-a-israel-de-genocidio-en-gaza.html

The ∞ Galaxy - A Candidate Direct-collapse Supermassive Black Hole between Two Massive, Ringed Nuclei: #BlackHole: https://keckobservatory.org/infinity-galaxy/ / https://webbtelescope.org/contents/early-highlights/nasas-webb-finds-possible-direct-collapse-black-hole

50 years ago today, at 16:09 UTC on 17 July 1975, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project culminated in the first docking of the spacecraft - but afterwards an interesting experiment took place: after they separated again Apollo (the final one; no number) occulted the Sun from the point of view of Soyuz 19. Images obtained show mostly outgassing from Apollo forward-scattering light from the hidden Sun but allegedly there is also some outer corona in the images of which #eclipse experiment was described in the mission press kit https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/documents/astp press kit (us).pdf on PDF pages 37-39 and the outcome is discussed in the didactical NASA brochure https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19780019206/downloads/19780019206.pdf on PDF pages 20-27; there is apparently also a more technical paper in a mission science report but I couldn't find that one online.

Toward a Unified Approach to Naming Space Weather Events: #GeomagneticStorms, to increase public awareness and preparedness.

Discovery of a 10:1 Resonator with a Novel Libration State: #202VN40

Inflation without an inflaton: #Universe: https://web.ub.edu/en/web/actualitat/w/theory-origins-universe?referer=news

Measuring the mean plane of the distant Kuiper belt: #KuiperBelt Hints at an Unseen Planet: https://eos.org/articles/a-survey-of-the-kuiper-belt-hints-at-an-unseen-planet - an analysis of more than 150 objects in the far reaches of the solar system suggests that a planet more massive than Mercury could be lurking beyond the orbit of Pluto.

Scalar-field dark energy models - current and forecast constraints: #DarkEnergy evolving? UChicago astrophysicists consider the possibilities: https://news.uchicago.edu/story/dark-energy-evolving-uchicago-astrophysicists-consider-possibilities