Aerospace professional, Aerospace artist, book author and Space/STEM advocate, I express my own opinions.
Architecture always comes before engineering.
I'm pleased and excited to announce my next book, realized with my friend and co-author Davide Sivolella and with the forewords of Felix Schlang:
Privatizing SpaceIt
It will be released by Springer-Praxis the next July.
https://t.co/A0hEL0LuC2
@FelixSchlang
This was “The Video of the Day”🥇
It’s the opening day of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum with thousands of foreign guests
Ukrainian suicide drones are flying over the city, with the Gazprom HQ skyscraper in the background, before striking the city’s oil terminal
🇮🇹⚓️Italian Navy current depoyments outside the Mediterranean. Lot of activities going on.
Also one SSK into the Atlantic. Not so usual. Preparing the crews for the new U212 NSF.
Source: @ItaMilRadar
The Harrier has officially left the building. VMA-223 "Bulldogs," conducted the final USMC AV-8B flight today at Cherry Point, closing the book on one of the most unique airframes to ever fly from an LHA. It’s all F-35B from here!
So long Jump Jet!
You can all see that Ukraine’s positions on the frontline are strong and that we are gradually taking back occupied territory. In May, Russia achieved almost no meaningful results on the battlefield. And that matters.
Please also pay attention to Russia's losses. They're losing 30,000 to 35,000 troops every month. And the nature of those losses changed in the past year: around 63% killed and another 37% seriously wounded. These are massive irreversible losses.
Even for Russia, this is becoming a serious problem, because the overall size of its occupation forces is shrinking.
From an address to the participants of the NATO–Ukraine Council meeting in Kyiv (2/5).
@aviationarchive Nice question.
Formally not, but we all know that the Repubblica di Salò was practically a mock state under German rule.
Anyway in Venegono during wartime there were only Regia Aronautica since and ANR then, no Luftwaffe apart some sporadic aircraft.
HMS Illustrious (R06), Royal Navy’s final Invincible-class aircraft carrier, served with honor across decades of global ops before retiring in 2014. Remembered as proud icon of British naval aviation, she leaves behind lasting legacy of strength, service, and maritime excellence.
Il 1° giugno 2016 i tre Comandi operativi intermedi di #LaSpezia, #Taranto e #Brindisi, già costituiti come COMGRUPNAV, venivano riconfigurati in #COMDINAV, rispettivamente UNO, DUE e TRE.
Non un semplice cambio di denominazione, ma una scelta organizzativa volta a rafforzare la centralità delle Divisioni Navali nel dispositivo operativo della Squadra Navale e nei processi fondamentali di approntamento delle unità, addestramento degli equipaggi, controllo dell’efficienza della Flotta ed esercizio del controllo operativo.
Questo percorso evolutivo è proseguito negli anni successivi con l’ampliamento dell’architettura delle Divisioni Navali: nel 2022 ad #Augusta, COMFORPAT è stato riconfigurato in COMDINAV QUATTRO, mentre nel 2025 a #LaSpezia, MARICODRAG ha assunto la denominazione di COMDINAV CINQUE.
Un’evoluzione che ha consentito di ricondurre sotto un’unica identità organizzativa le principali componenti operative della Squadra Navale, valorizzandone le specificità e rafforzandone l’integrazione.
Un’evoluzione che, nel tempo, ha confermato la capacità della #MarinaMilitare di adattare la propria organizzazione alle esigenze operative, valorizzando una struttura articolata, integrata e orientata all’innovazione.
#IlGrandeEquipaggio
«Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.»
Carl von Clausewitz
The combat losses of the enemy from February 24, 2022 to June 3, 2026.
From 1973, a magazine ad for the Garrett Corporation (avionics manufacturer) showing Robert McCall paintings of the Space Shuttle system as then envisioned. At that point, the basics of the Space Transportation System were worked out, but the details were up in the air.
Some cool footage of B-57B Canberra's with the 35th TFW at Phan Rang strafing and bombing VC base camps in July of 1967. The Air Force lost 58 B-57's in Vietnam (of those, 26 were lost by ground fire, 10 to unplanned bomb explosions)—by 1969 only 9 were still operational. 🫡
3 June 1928. Arturo Ferrarin and Carlo del Prete landed their Savoia-Marchetti S.64 after setting 3 world records with 51 close circuits between Torre Flavia and Anzio. Aloft for 58 hrs. 34 m. and 4,791 miles, they set a speed record over 3,110 miles of 87 mph.
60 years ago today, Surveyor 1 landed on the Moon. It was the first U.S. spacecraft to make a true soft landing on the lunar surface. Pictured here is a Surveyor engineering model in our collection.
Oggi celebriamo gli 80 anni della Repubblica Italiana. 🇮🇹
Un patrimonio unico fatto di storia, cultura e visione.
Orgogliosi di essere al servizio del Paese, contribuendo ogni giorno alla sicurezza dell’Italia e delle persone, con lo sguardo rivolto al futuro.
#2Giugno #FestadellaRepubblica
“No matter how hard it gets, stick your chest out, keep your head up, and handle it.”
Tupac Shakur
The combat losses of the enemy from February 24, 2022 to June 2, 2026.
Some LC-36 updates. Now that we’ve had access to the pad and integration facility we can share a bit of good news. The propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG tanks are all in good shape. This is good luck because these are very long lead items. The water tower is also good. The big support tower is damaged, but it can be repaired in place rather than torn down and replaced. The booster “Never Tell Me The Odds” and the three GS-2s that were onsite in the integration facility also look good.
I’ve seen some speculation that we might move directly to the 9x4 configuration, but we won’t do that. Rate manufacturing of 7x2 is going well, and we’re going to continue that at pace as planned and store the stages for use. In addition, we had already been working for some time on eliminating our transporter-erector in favor of an alternative vertical conop, and we’ll now go directly to that; so we don’t need a new transporter-erector.
We will fly again before the end of this year. Gradatim Ferociter.