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Latest comment: 1 month ago by MediaWiki message delivery in topic The Downlink Volume 4, Issue 3
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The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 – 31 January
Volume 3 Issue 1
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
Introduction to Volume 3
Initially launched in late 2010/early 2011 for a run of four months, The Downlink was unpublished for more than nine years, after which a second volume was published from October 2020 to October 2021.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.
In the News
  • 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.
Featured Content
Article of the Month

Soyuz programme
Artist's impression of the Soyuz 19 spacecraft from the Apollo–Soyuz mission

The Soyuz programme (/ˈsɔɪjuːz/ SOY-yooz, /ˈsɔː-/ SAW-; Russian: Союз [sɐˈjus], meaning "Union") is a human spaceflight programme initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. The Soyuz spacecraft was originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. It was the third Soviet human spaceflight programme after the Vostok (1961–1963) and Voskhod (1964–1965) programmes.

The programme consists of the Soyuz capsule and the Soyuz rocket and is now the responsibility of Roscosmos. After the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, the Soyuz was the only way for humans to get to the International Space Station (ISS) until 30 May 2020 when Crew Dragon flew to the ISS for the first time with astronauts.

Image of the Month

Gene Cernan on the Moon

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.

Members

New members:

Number of active members: 200. Total number of members: 426.

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


  1. United States New GlennDarkSky-1 (16 Jan. at 07:03) (success)
  2. United States SpaceX Starship — 10 Starlink simulators (16 Jan. at 22:37) (launch failure)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from the 31 January 2025.

Monthly Changes

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:30, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

Ichthus Special Edition

A Special Edition of

ICHTHUS

WikiProject Christianity
Special Edition

Project Resurrection!
By FarmerUpbeat

WikiProject Christianity is being revitalized! After an initiative led by Sheriff U3 to categorize participants as active or inactive, as well as organizing roles for those who are active, WP:X members are hopeful for the future of the project as we move into a new era. Any questions about this may be directed to Sheriff U3 as we move into this new era of the WikiProject!

WikiProject member FarmerUpbeat has been selected as the new newsletter editor, and greets the readers of Ichthus with benedictions.

This has been a special edition of Ichthus, official newsletter of WikiProject:Christianity. A full edition will come in April, stay tuned!

Scripture Verse

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Psalm 80:19, NRSVue

Help wanted!

We're looking for writers to contribute to Ichthus. Do you have a project that you'd like to highlight? An issue that you'd like to bring to light? Post your inquiries or submission here.


Ichthus is published by WikiProject Christianity Get answers to questions about Christianity here
Discuss any of the above stories here For submissions contact the Newsroom Unsubscribe here
Delivered: 22:49, 5 March 2025 (UTC)


The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 28 February
Volume 3 Issue 2
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
Article of the month
The Family Portrait of the Solar System taken by Voyager 1

The Family Portrait, or sometimes Portrait of the Planets, is an image of the Solar System acquired by Voyager 1 on February 14, 1990, from a distance of approximately 6 billion km (40 AU; 3.7 billion mi) from Earth. It features individual frames of six planets and a partial background indicating their relative positions. The picture is a mosaic of 60 frames. The frames used to compose the image were the last photographs taken by either Voyager spacecraft (which continued to relay other telemetry afterward). The frames were also the source of the famous Pale Blue Dot image of the Earth. Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was part of the Voyager imaging team, campaigned for many years to have the pictures taken.[failed verification]

Image of the month
STS-98 following liftoff

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.

Members

New Members: No new members.

Number of active members: 200. Total number of members: 426.

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


  1. Russia Soyuz 2.1v and VolgaKosmos-2581/-2582/-2583 (5 Feb. at 03:59) (success)
  2. China Long March 8A — 9 Hulianwang Digui (11 Feb. at 09:30) (success)
  3. United States Falcon 9 Block 5 — 23 Starlink (18 Feb. at 23:21) (success)
  4. United States Falcon 9 Block 5multiple (27 Feb. at 00:02) (launch success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from the 28 February 2025.

Monthly Changes

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:59, 18 March 2025 (UTC)


The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 31 March
Volume 3 Issue 3
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
  • 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.
Article of the month

The Phootprint mission was conceived as a candidate for the Mars Robotic Exploration Preparation Programme 2 (MREP-2) at ESA. In 2014, ESA funded Footprint's pre-phase A feasibility study and an 8-month industrial system study.

The mission would have lasted about 3.5 years, including the cruise time to Phobos, orbit mapping, 7 days on the surface, and finally, the sample return cruise time. The spacecraft would be powered by solar arrays.

In August 2015, the ESA-Roscosmos working group, after cooperation on ExoMars, completed a joint study for a possible future Phobos Sample Return mission, and preliminary discussions were held.

Image of the month
InSight lander testing

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.

Members

New Members:

Number of active members: 206. Total number of members: 430.

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


  1. France Ariane 62CSO-3 (6 Mar. at 16:24 UTC) (success)
  2. United States SpaceX Starship — four Starlink simulators (6 Mar. at 23:30 UTC) (launch failure)
  3. United StatesJapan Rocket Lab Electron — QPS-SAR 9/SUSANOO-1 (15 Mar. at 00:00 UTC) (success)
  4. Germany Spectrumno payload (30 Mar. at 10:30 UTC) (launch failure)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from the 28 February 2025.

Monthly Changes

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:04, 11 April 2025 (UTC)

The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 30 April
Volume 3 Issue 4
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
  • On 1 April, Fram2 became the first crewed mission to enter into a retrograde orbit around Earth's poles.
Article of the month

The Apollo Abort Guidance System (AGS, also known as Abort Guidance Section) was a backup computer system providing an abort capability in the event of failure of the Lunar Module's primary guidance system (Apollo PGNCS) during descent, ascent or rendezvous. As an abort system, it did not support guidance for a lunar landing.

The AGS was designed by TRW independently of the development of the Apollo Guidance Computer and PGNCS.

It was the first navigation system to use a strapdown Inertial Measurement Unit rather than a gimbaled gyrostabilized IMU (as used by PGNCS). Although not as accurate as the gimbaled IMU, it provided satisfactory accuracy with the help of the optical telescope and rendezvous radar. It was also lighter and smaller in size.

Image of the month
Falcon 9 Full Thrust

Starting development in 2014, the Falcon 9 Full Thrust is a variant of the Falcon 9 that is the first orbital rocket to have a first stage successfully land vertically after launch. The stage shown here is from the April 2016 SpaceX CRS-8 mission, after landing on the autonomous spaceport drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.

Members

New Members:

Number of active members: 208. Total number of members: 433.

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


  1. United States Falcon 9 Block 5Fram2 (1 Apr. at 00:46 UTC) (success)
  2. China Long March 2F/GShenzhou 20 (24 Apr. at 09:17 UTC) (success)
  3. United States Atlas V 551 — 27 KuiperSats (28 Apr. at 23:01) (success)
  4. United States Firefly Alpha — LM-400 Demo (29 Apr. at 13:37) (launch failure)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 30 April 2025.

Monthly Changes

Since March 2025, four new high-importance, two new mid-importance, twenty new low-importance, and two new NA-importance articles have been created. Four unknown-importance articles have been removed, for a total of 24 new articles. One article has been promoted to Featured Article status. There are also five more B-class articles, eighteen more C-class articles, eleven more Start-class articles, six fewer Stub-class articles, and six more lists.

Special thanks to Neopeius for significantly working on some of the Timeline of spaceflight articles (specifically 1953, 54, 55, and most recently 56). Thanks also to Sotakarhu for table work in the latter.

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:26, 19 May 2025 (UTC)

The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 31 May
Volume 3 Issue 5
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
Article of the month
Artist's impression of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft

2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectrometers and a thermal imager to detect evidence of past or present water and ice, as well as study the planet's geology and radiation environment. The data Odyssey obtains is intended to help answer the question of whether life once existed on Mars and create a risk-assessment of the radiation that future astronauts on Mars might experience. It also acts as a relay for communications between the Curiosity rover, and previously the Mars Exploration Rovers and Phoenix lander, to Earth. The mission was named as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke, evoking the name of his and Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Odyssey was launched April 7, 2001, on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and reached Mars orbit on October 24, 2001, at 02:30 UTC (October 23, 19:30 PDT, 22:30 EDT). It was estimated to have enough propellant to function until the end of 2025, and as of April 2026, it is still collecting data. It currently holds the record for the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, ahead of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (served 14 years) and the Mars Express (serving over 20 years), at 24 years, 7 months and 17 days. As of October 2019 it is in a polar orbit around Mars with a semi-major axis of about 3,800 km or 2,400 miles.

Image of the month
International Space Station after LF1

Starting with Zarya in November 1998, the assembly of the International Space Station continued on a regular basis until the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, which resulted in a nearly three-year pause from November 2002 to July 2005. This image shows the ISS following the installation of the second External stowage platform. ESP-2 was launched on 26 July 2005 on board Discovery as part of STS-114.

Members

New Members:

Number of active members: 209. Total number of members: 434.

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


  1. United States Starship — 8 Starlink Simulators (27 May at 23:36:28 UTC) (partial failure)
  2. China Long March 4BTianwen-2 (28 May at 04:00 UTC) (success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 30 May 2025.

Monthly Changes

Since April 2025, three new mid-importance, nine new low-importance, and three new unknown-importance articles have been created, for a total of 15 new articles. There is also one less B-class article, 14 more C-class articles, six more Start-class articles, four less Stub-class articles, and three more lists.

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:50, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

The World Destubathon

Hello. You're invited to participate in The World Destubathon. We're aiming to destub a lot of articles and also improve longer stale articles. It will be held from Monday June 16 - Sunday July 13. There is over $3300 going into it, with $500 the top prize. If you are interested in winning something to save you money in buying books for future content, or just see it as a good editathon opportunity to see a lot of articles improved for subjects which interest you, sign up on the page in the participants section if interested. Even if you can only manage a few articles they would be very much appreciated and help towards making the content produced as diverse and broad as possible!♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:12, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of Sreedevi Kakkad

Notice

The article Sreedevi Kakkad has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

Non-notable person. No sufficient information found on web to prove notability other than being the spouse of a famous writer. Article has one single source, which is an offline publication

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the page to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion.

This is an automated notification. Please refer to the page's history for further information. DatBot (talk) 00:34, 23 July 2025 (UTC)


The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 30 June
Volume 3 Issue 6
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
Article of the month

Gaganyaan-1 (from Sanskrit: gagana, "celestial" and yāna, "craft, vehicle") is the first planned uncrewed test flight of the Gaganyaan programme. ISRO has officially scheduled the mission for H2 2026.

The spacecraft will carry Vyommitra, a half-humanoid robot, to simulate astronaut conditions and provide critical data on life-support and environmental systems. The mission will demonstrate the performance of the crew module and service module in low Earth orbit, serving as a precursor to future human spaceflight under the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.

The launch was originally scheduled for December 2020, then in December 2021, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight plan was finally ready by April 2022 and the launch is expected to take place in early 2025, after the TV-D1, TV-D2, TV-D3 and TV-D4. It was proposed in April 2022 that the crew module should be depressurized, something kept in the final planning.

The Gaganyaan spacecraft will be launched, with the humanoid robot Vyommitra, by a Human-rated LVM 3 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre and inserted into a 170 x 408 km orbit. The circularisation maneuver will be performed at the third orbit. The landing should follow the same pattern as the TV-D1. The mission will also validate the life-support system, crew escape mechanism, and re-entry technologies.

Image of the month
Hybrid-Propellant Rocket Fuel

Rocket engines typically use one of two types of propellant: Solid or liquid. Hybrid-propellant rockets use a combination of these two forms of fuel, and lack some of the disadvantages of both. Their specific impulse is usually between solid-propellant and liquid-propellant rockets. The image shown here is of a 3D-printed grain, designed for a small hybrid rocket engine which would be used to demonstrate rocket combustion. On the left are two helical fuel ports, on the right a de Laval nozzle.

Members

New Members:

Number of active members: 210. Total number of members: 436.

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


  1. United States Falcon 9 Block 5 — 26 Starlink (13 Jun. at 01:30) (success)
  2. Russia Angara A5 — 2 Kosmos (19 Jun. at 03:00) (success)
  3. United States Falcon 9 Block 5 — Axiom Mission 4 (25 Jun. at 06:31) (success)
  4. Japan H-IIAGOSAT-GW (28 Jun. at 16:33:03) (success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 30 June 2025.

Monthly Changes

Since May 2025, one new high-importance, two new mid-importance, ten new low-importance, four new NA-importance, and twelve new unknown-importance articles have been created, for a total of 29 new articles. There is also one fewer A-class article, one more GA-class article, six more B-class articles, 13 more C-class articles, ten more Start-class articles, seven fewer Stub-class articles, and five more lists.

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:34, 23 July 2025 (UTC)

The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 31 July
Volume 3 Issue 7
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
  • The first launch attempt of an Australian-made rocket, Gilmour Space Technologies' Eris-1, was made on 29/30 July. The launch vehicle crashed 14 seconds after launch due to insufficient thrust.
  • The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite launched on 30 July. The first radar imaging that uses dual frequencies, it is a joint project between NASA and ISRO, and believed to cost ~US$1.5 billion, making it one of the most expensive Earth-imaging satellites.
Featured Content
Article of the month
Artist's conception of AREE on the surface of Venus, showing the wind turbine inside the rover's frame.

Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE) is a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts project to design a rover that can operate in the environment of Venus, controlled by a wind-powered mechanical computer. Venus's atmosphere is about 90 times denser than Earth's and the surface temperature is at least 462 °C (864 °F), conditions which would prevent a standard electronic computer from operating for any significant period of time. While AREE is being designed for operation on Venus, the rover's design could be re-purposed for use on Mercury, which has a comparably high surface temperature, on Jovian moons Europa or Io, where high radiation makes use of traditional electronics difficult, or on lava flows or highly radioactive areas on Earth.

The project was first proposed in 2015, and funded by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program with a phase-I study in 2016, and a phase-II study from 2017 to 2018.

Image of the month
Buzz Aldrin's bootprint on the Moon

In July of 1969, Apollo 11 successfully fulfilled John F. Kennedy's goal of a person landing on, and returning from, the moon before the 1970s. Taking off on 16 July, the lunar lander, Eagle, touched down on the evening of the 20th (UTC). Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin exited the lander six hours later, becoming the first men on the moon. The pair stayed on the lunar surface for about 21 hours. This image is actually the second of a pair of images, taken by Aldrin so that the lunar surface's ability to bear weight could be measured.

Members

New Members:

Number of active members: 213. Total number of members: 439.

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


  1. China Long March 4CShiyan 28B-01 (3 Jul. at 09:35) (success)
  2. Russia Soyuz-2.1aProgress MS-31 (3 Jul. at 19:31) (success)
  3. United StatesIsrael Falcon 9 Block 5 — Dror-1 (PR-8000) (13 Jul. at 05:04) (success)
  4. China Hyperbola-1 — Kunpeng-03 (Enshi Xidou Shanquan/HS-9) (29 Jul. at 04:10) (success)
  5. Australia Eris Block 1 — Jar of Vegemite (29 Jul. at 21:30) (launch failure)
  6. China Long March 8A — 9 Guowang (30 Jul. at 07:49) (success)
  7. IndiaUnited States GSLV Mark II — NISAR (30 Jul. at 12:10) (success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 31 July 2025.

Monthly Changes

Since June 2025, there are seven fewer high-importance, six new mid-importance, three new low-importance, three new NA-importance, and 29 new unknown-importance articles, for a total of 34 more articles. There is also one GA-class article, three more B-class articles, three more C-class articles, 18 more Start-class articles, two fewer Stub-class articles, and one fewer lists.

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:48, 8 August 2025 (UTC)

"Baselios Augen Prathaman" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Baselios Augen Prathaman has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Anyone, including you, is welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 August 27 § Baselios Augen Prathaman until a consensus is reached. Casablanca 🪨(T) 17:33, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

AI Tag in KITE Kerala Article

Please look KITE Kerala and please add your opinion in Talk:KITE Kerala. Also there is a discussion to delete Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/K. Anvar Sadath please look there also. Ranjithsiji (talk) 16:52, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 31 August
Volume 3 Issue 8
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
Article of the month

NAOS (National Advanced Optical System) is a high-resolution Earth observation satellite developed by OHB Italia for the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence as part of the Luxembourg Earth Observation System (LUXEOSys). Designed for dual-use governmental and military purposes, NAOS provides very high-resolution optical imagery for applications in defense, security, and humanitarian efforts, supporting organizations such as NATO, European Union, and the United Nations. The satellite was launched on August 26, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

NAOS will be operated by LUXEOPs, consortium consisting of RHEA System Luxembourg, LUXSPACE, OHB and RHEA System.

Image of the month
Apollo 15 Lunar Module

Launched on 26 July, 1971, Apollo 15 was the fourth Apollo mission to successfully land on the moon, and the first of the longer, more science-focused J Missions. Landing at Hadley–Apennine on the 30, Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin (Irwin on left) stayed on the moon's surface until 2 August, while Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden stayed in orbit, collecting a variety of data on the moon. Apollo 15 was the first mission to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle (on right), which allowed Scott and Irwin to travel farther from the Lunar Lander (center) than previously possible.

On 4 August, the lunar orbiter departed from orbit at the end of Apollo 15's 74th lunar orbit. On the 5, Worden performed an EVA which lasted 39 minutes. This was the first of three deep-space EVAs, all performed during J Missions. The command module landed in the North Pacific Ocean on the 7, with the command module and crew being recovered by USS Okinawa. Apollo 15 was the longest Apollo mission, lasting for a total of 12 days and 7 hours, until Apollo 17, which lasted 12 days, 13 hours, and 52 minutes.

Members

New Members: No new members

Number of active members: 213. Total number of members: 439.

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


  1. France Ariane 62MetOp-SG A1 (13 Aug. at 00:37) (success)
  2. United States Vulcan Centaur VC4SNTS-3 (13 Aug. at 00:56) (success)
  3. Russia Soyuz-2.1bBion-M No.2 (20 Aug. at 17:13) (success)
  4. United States SpaceX Starship — 8 Starlink simulators (26 Aug. at 23:30) (success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 31 August 2025.

Monthly Changes

Since July 2025, there is one new top-importance, one fewer high-importance, two new mid-importance, 13 new low-importance, 47 new NA-importance, and seven new unknown-importance articles, for a total of 69 more articles. There is also one more GA-class article, two more B-class articles, 18 more C-class articles, 12 more Start-class articles, and 16 fewer Stub-class articles.

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: User:Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:22, 21 September 2025 (UTC)


The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 30 September
Volume 3 Issue 9
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
Article of the month

Project POSTAR was the first space experiment created entirely by members of the Boy Scouts of America. On September 12, 1992, Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-47 carried 10 Get Away Special (GAS) canisters. Amongst these GAS cansisters was G-102 sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America's Exploring Division in cooperation with the TRW Systems Integration Group, Fairfax, Virginia. The project was named Project POSTAR. (The name was a combination of the words "Post" and "Star").

Image of the month
Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-101) was the first orbiter built in the Space Shuttle program. Designed for atmospheric test flights, it lacked both engines and a heat shield, making it unable to go to space. Rolled out on 17 September 1976, it was initially named Constitution, but was renamed following a large letter-writing campaign from Trekkies. Unlike its eponym, the USS Enterprise from the original Star Trek series, OV-101 never achieved spaceflight; originally intended to be refitted to become the second space-rated orbiter after Columbia, changes to the design of the Space Shuttle made it both simpler and cheaper to instead construct a new shuttle, Challenger, around a test article. It was later considered for refitting following the Challenger disaster, but it was instead decided to build a replacement, Endeavour, out of spare parts from the construction of Discovery and Atlantis.

Enterprise flew a total of five times, from 12 August to 26 October, 1977. It was then flown to Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, where it was placed into the Saturn V dynamic test stand for the Mated Vertical Ground Vibration Testing, in order to test the Space Shuttle's launch stack. It was then used for a variety of fit checks at Kennedy Space Center and Vandenberg Air Force Base, between which it toured Europe and North America, including a showing at the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. It was then moved to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum on 18 November 1985. It was then moved to its present location aboard the USS Intrepid museum ship on 12 December 2011.

Members

New Members:

Number of active members: 214. Total number of members: 440.

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


  1. United States Falcon 9 Block 5 — 28 Starlink (5 Sept. at 13:56) (success)
  2. United States Falcon 9 Block 5 — 24 Starlink (6 Sept. at 18:06) (success)
  3. United StatesIndonesia Falcon 9 Block 5Nusantara Lima (12 Sept. at 00:56) (success)
  4. China Long March 2DShiyan 30A/B (29 Sept. at 03:00) (success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 30 September 2025.

Monthly Changes

Since August 2025, there are seven fewer high-importance, seven more mid-importance, 28 more low-importance, three more NA-importance, and twelve more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 43 more articles. There is also one more GA-class article, 11 fewer B-class articles, 28 fewer C-class articles, 65 more Start-class articles, 42 fewer Stub-class articles, and two more lists.

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Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:11, 19 October 2025 (UTC)

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The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 October 30 November
Volume 3 Issue 10
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
  • On 13 November, the ESCAPADE spacecraft SIMPLEx-4A (Blue) and SIMPLEx-4B (Gold) were launched on board a New Glenn rocket. They will orbit Earth at its L2 point until the Mars transfer window opens in late 2026.
  • On the second flight of New Glenn, the first stage, "Never Tell Me the Odds," landed on the drone ship Jacklyn on 13 November. This made New Glenn the first orbital-class booster capable of landing propulsively not manufactured by SpaceX.
  • As a result of damage caused by space debris, China's Shenzhou 20 was rendered unusable for returning its crew back to Earth. The crew instead returned on board the Shenzhou 21 craft on 14 November, with Shenzhou 22 being launched uncrewed on 25 November to serve as a return vessel for the crew of Shenzhou 21.
  • On 27 November, Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31, the only launch site used by Russia to reach the ISS, was significantly damaged during the launch of Soyuz MS-28.
Featured Content
Article of the month

Zond 6 was a formal member of the Soviet Zond program, and an unpiloted version of the Soyuz 7K-L1 crewed Moon-flyby spacecraft. It was launched on a lunar flyby mission on November 10, 1968, from a parent satellite (68-101B) in Earth parking orbit. The spacecraft carried a biological payload of turtles, flies, and bacteria. It also carried scientific probes including cosmic ray, micrometeoroid detectors, and photographic equipment.

The mission was a precursor to a crewed circumlunar flight which the Soviets hoped could occur in December 1968, thus beating the American Apollo 8. However, after rounding the Moon on November 14, Zond 6 crashed on its return to Earth, due to a parachute failure when the parachute was detached from the capsule too early.

Image of the month
Explosion on the Cygnus CRS Orb-3

On 28 October, 2014, Cygnus Orb-3 was launched at 22:22:38 UTC. 15 seconds after liftoff, one of the launch vehicle's AJ26 (modified NK-33s) ruptured, resulting in the craft falling. The mission was scrubbed eight seconds later at 22:23:01 UTC. The subsequent investigation found that the liquid oxygen turbopump exploded, severing nearby propellant lines. This resulted in a fire that damaged various engine components. The cause of the LOX turbopump's failure remains unknown.

Members

New Members:

Number of active members: 217. Total number of members: 444.

October–November Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a current list here.


  1. China Long March 8A — 9 Guowang (16 Oct. at 01:33:00) (success)
  2. JapanItalyMexicoThailandMalaysia H3-24WHTV-X1, various cubeSats (26 Oct. at 00:00:15) (success)
  3. China Long March 2F/G — Shenzhou 21 (31 Oct. at 15:44:00) (success)
  4. India LVM3GSAT-7R (2 Nov. at 11:56:00) (success)
  5. United States New GlennESCAPADE Blue and Gold (13 Nov. at 20:55:01) (success)
  6. United States Atlas V 551 — Viasat 3 EMEA (14 Nov. at 03:04:00) (success)
  7. Russia Soyuz-2.1aSoyuz MS-28 (27 Nov. at 09:27:57) (successful launch; spaceport damaged)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 30 November 2025.

Monthly Changes

Since September 2025, there are one more high-importance, three more mid-importance, 56 more low-importance, eleven more eight NA-importance, and 42 more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 113 more articles. There are also eight more B-class articles, 43 more C-class articles, 28 more Start-class articles, 25 more Stub-class articles, and three more lists.

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Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:46, 26 December 2025 (UTC)

Happy First Edit Day!

Hey, Path slopu. I'd like to wish you a wonderful First Edit Day on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee!
Have a great day!
DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 06:40, 29 December 2025 (UTC)

You have been pruned from the Wikipedia:WikiProject India/Members list.

Hi Path slopu! You're receiving this notification because you were previously listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject India/Members, but you haven't made any edits to the English Wikipedia in over 1 year.

Because of your inactivity, you have been removed from the list. If you would like to resubscribe, you can do so at any time by visiting Wikipedia:WikiProject India/Members.

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(replacing Yapperbot) SodiumBot (botop|talk) 18:00, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

Your access to AWB may be temporarily removed

Hello Path slopu! This message is to inform you that due to editing inactivity, your access to AutoWikiBrowser may be temporarily removed. If you do not resume editing within the next week, your username will be removed from the CheckPage. This is purely for routine maintenance and is not indicative of wrongdoing on your part. You may regain access at any time by simply requesting it at WP:PERM/AWB. Thank you! MusikBot II talk 17:26, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2025
1 31 December
Volume 3 Issue 11
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
  • The International Space Station's eight compartments were fully occupied for the first time on 1 December, with the rebirthing of Cygnus NG-23 to Unity.
  • On 3 December, China's Zhuque-3 made the first non-American attempt at landing a booster. The booster failed to land following a landing-burn anomaly. A second attempt on the 23rd, this time using the new Long March 2A launch vehicle, also failed.
  • On 6 December, contact with NASA's MAVEN Mars orbiter was lost. The last received telemetry was from the 4th, with the fragmented transmission of the 6th suggesting that the craft was rotating in an unintended way, and possibly having changed orbit. As of 16 January 2026, the mission has not yet been officially ended, although reestablishing communications with MAVEN is considered highly improbable.
Featured Content
Article of the month

PROCYON (Proximate Object Close flyby with Optical Navigation) was an asteroid flyby space probe that was launched together with Hayabusa2 on 3 December 2014 13:22:04 (JST). It was developed by University of Tokyo and JAXA. It was a small (70 kg, approx. 60 cm cube), low cost (¥500 million) spacecraft.

It was intended to flyby the asteroid (185851) 2000 DP107 in 2016, but the plan was abandoned due to the malfunction of the ion thruster.

Image of the month
STS-116 spacewalk

STS-116 was the 33rd mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Launched in the late evening of 6 December, the main aims of the mission were the installation of one of the International Space Station's Integrated Truss Structure segments, rewiring of the power system, and personnel exchange. Also known as ISS-12A.1, STS-116 was the first mission to include a Swedish astronaut, Christer Fuglesang. It returned to Earth in the evening of 22 December.

This image, of the first of three EVA sessions, was taken on the fourth day of the mission. Flight engineer Robert Curbeam is on the left, opposite mission specialist 3 Christer Fuglesang. The image was taken over New Zealand; the South Island is visible on the left, while the southern portion of the North Island, mostly consisting of the Wairarapa region, is visible in the top-right.

Members

New Members: none

Number of active members: 218. Total number of members: 445.

December Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See the complete list here.


  1. China Zhuque-3no payload (3 Dec. at 04:00) (success)
  2. South KoreaBrazilIndia HANBIT-NANOvarious (22 Dec. at 12:45) (launch failure)
  3. China Long March 12Amass simulator (23 Dec. at 02:00:00) (success)
  4. IndiaUnited States LVM3 — BlueBird-6 (24 Dec. at 03:25:30) (success)
  5. RussiaIranMontenegroKuwaitBelarus Soyuz-2.1b (1st stage), Fregat-M (2nd stage) — various (28 Dec. at 13:18:05) (success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 31 December 2025.

Monthly Changes

Since November 2025, there are one more mid-importance, 29 more low-importance, two more NA-importance, and 20 more unknown-importance class articles, for a total of 52 more articles. There are also one more FA-class articles, one less GA-class articles, ten more C-class articles, 20 more Start-class articles, eleven more Stub-class articles, and four more lists.

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Newsletter contributors: Ships&Space

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:27, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

Hi

@Path slopu, Are you native of Thalavoor? Akhilan (talk) 08:54, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2026
1 31 January
Volume 4 Issue 1
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
  • NASA called off a planned spacewalk of SpaceX Crew-11 on 8 January, and later cancelled the mission outright, after one of the crewmembers, Mike Fincke, was reported to have a medical complication. This was the first time that this occurred in US history.
  • On 11 January, the Pandora spacecraft was successfully launched. Pandora is designed to study the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets, with the intention of identifying targets for future observation.
Article of the month

Exoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer (EXCEDE) is a proposed space telescope for NASA's Explorer program to observe circumstellar protoplanetary and debris discs and study planet formation around nearby (within 100 parsecs) stars of spectral classes M to B. Had it been selected for development, it was proposed to launch in 2019.

The spacecraft concept proposed to use a 70 centimeter diameter telescope-mounted coronagraph called PIAA (Phase Induced Amplitude Apodized Coronagraph) to suppress starlight in order to be able to detect fainter radiation of circumstellar dust. Characterizing constitution of such disks would provide clues for planetary formation (mostly in habitable zones), while already existing exoplanets can be detected through their interaction with dust disk. The project's Principal Investigator is Glenn Schneider.

Image of the month
Wernher von Braun with the Rocketdyne F-1 engines

Pictured here are two titans of spaceflight history: Dr. Wernher von Braun, one of the main figures of the early American space program and designer of both the Saturn V and V-2 rockets, and five (four visible) Rocketdyne F-1 engines, used on the Saturn V Dynamic Test Vehicle. Dr. von Braun's career is noted for a great number of achievements in human spaceflight, including the Apollo mission which successfully put human beings on the moon; nevertheless, it is burdened with the shadow of his activities in the Nazi Party, especially concerning his work on the V-2.

The engines behind him, in addition to being immense, have the honor of being the only engines used to get humans to the moon, as of the time of writing. Developed in the late 1950s, the 8,400 kilograms (18,500 lb) engines are still the most powerful single combustion chamber liquid-propellant rocket ever made.

Members

New Members:

Number of active members: 219. Total number of members: 446.

January Launches
All times stated here are in UTC. See a complete list here.


  1. United StatesCanadaUnited KingdomFinlandGermany Falcon 9 Block 5various, including Pandora (11 Jan. at 13:44:50) (success)
  2. IndiaThailandSpain PSLV-DLvarious, including EOS-N1 and THEOS-2A (12 Jan. at 04:48:30) (launch failure)
  3. China Ceres-2various (17 Jan. at 04:05) (launch failure)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 31 January 2026.

Monthly Changes

Since December 2025, there are two fewer top-importance, two more high-importance, two more mid-importance, 19 more low-importance, 20 more NA-importance, and 31 more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 72 new articles. There are also three more GA-class, three more B-class, twelve more C-class, eleven more Start-class, and eleven more Stub-class articles, and three more lists.

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:43, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2026
1 28 February
Volume 4 Issue 2
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
  • The first crewed spaceflight of 2026, SpaceX Crew-12, was launched on the 13th. Four astronauts were flown to the ISS in an atypical indirect handover that was caused by the early return of Crew-11 due to a medical emergency.
  • On the 14th, the ESA lost contact with PROBA-3, a dual-probe technological demonstration mission for chronographic high-precision formation flying. Specifically, the Chronograph Spacecraft lost orientation and drifted away from the Occulter.
Article of the month

A parking orbit is a temporary orbit used during the launch of a spacecraft. A launch vehicle follows a trajectory to the parking orbit, then coasts for a while, then engines fire again to enter the final desired trajectory.

An alternative trajectory that is used on some missions is direct injection, where the rocket fires continuously (except during staging) until its fuel is exhausted, ending with the payload on the final trajectory. This technique was first used by the Soviet Venera 1 mission to Venus in 1961.

Image of the month
Space Shuttle Endeavour prior to rendezvous with the International Space Station

Part of a series of photographs, this image depicts the Space Shuttle Endeavour prior to rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station as part of STS-130 in 2010. It was taken from the station by a member of Expedition 22 when the ISS was 183 nautical miles above the South Pacific, off the coast of southern Chile. Earth is in the bottom-left; the orange part of the atmosphere is the troposphere, the white band in the middle is the stratosphere, and the blue section is the mesosphere.

Members

New Members: none

Number of active members: 219. Total number of members: 446.

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


  1. RussiaIran Proton-M/DM-03Elektro–L №5, Jam-e-Jam 1 (12 Feb. at 08:52:15) (success)
  2. United States Vulcan Centaur VC4SGSSAP-7/-8, USA-584 (12 Feb. at 09:22:00) (success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 28 February 2026.

Monthly Changes

Since January 2026, there are two more mid-importance, fifteen more low-importance, three more NA-importance, and ten more unknown-importance articles, for a total of 30 new articles. There are also three more B-class, thirteen more C-class, sixteen more Start-class, and ten fewer Stub-class articles, and four more lists.

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:34, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

WikiLoop DoubleCheck v5 — Major update

Hi! You are receiving this message because you signed up as a contributor at Wikipedia:WikiLoop DoubleCheck.

We are excited to announce WikiLoop DoubleCheck v5 — a complete ground-up rewrite with direct revert, Twinkle-style patrol features, real-time ML scoring, and three ways to review (web app, userscript, Chrome extension).

Read the full announcement: WikiLoop DoubleCheck v5 newsletter

Thank you for supporting the project! — xinbenlv Talk, Remember to "ping" me 04:08, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

The Downlink The WikiProject Spaceflight Newsletter
2026
1 31 March
Volume 4 Issue 3
Spaceflight Project  Project discussion  Members  Assessment  Open tasks  Popular pages  The Downlink
In the News
  • On 22 March, Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31 was used for the first time since being damaged in November 2025. Progress MS-33, a resupply mission to the ISS, was launched from the site following substantial repairs.
  • ESA launched the first two satellites in the Celeste constellation on 28 March. They were launched aboard a Electron launch vehicle, marking the first time ESA has used the vehicle.
  • China's Qingzhou cargo spacecraft was tested for the first time on 30 March. Launched on the maiden flight of the Kinetica 2, the prototype performed a number of tests in coordination with another satellite.
Article of the month
The X-37B back on Earth after completing OTV-2

OTV-2 (also known as USA-226) was the first flight of the second Boeing X-37B, an American unmanned robotic vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane. It was launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on 5 March 2011, and landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base on 16 June 2012. It operated in low Earth orbit. Its USA-226 mission designation is part of the USA series.

The spaceplane was operated by Air Force Space Command, which has not revealed the specific identity of the payload for the first flight. The Air Force stated only that the spacecraft would "demonstrate various experiments and allow satellite sensors, subsystems, components, and associated technology to be transported into space and back."

Image of the month
STS-1

STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on April 12, 1981, and returned on April 14, 1981, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 37 times. Columbia carried a crew of two—commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen. It was the first American crewed space flight since the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in 1975. STS-1 was also the maiden test flight of a new American spacecraft to carry a crew, though it was preceded by atmospheric testing (ALT) of the orbiter and ground testing of the Space Shuttle system.

The launch occurred on the 20th anniversary of Vostok 1, the first human spaceflight, performed by Yuri Gagarin for the USSR. This was a coincidence rather than a celebration of the anniversary; a technical problem had prevented STS-1 from launching two days earlier, as was planned.

Members

New Members: Swedmark111 (26 March)

Number of active members: 220. Total number of members: 447.

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


  1. United States Alpha Block 1 — ICOR SV (11 Mar. at 00:50:00) (success)
  2. Russia Soyuz-2.1aProgress MS-33 (22 Mar. at 11:59:51) (success)
  3. United StatesEuropean Union Rocket Lab ElectronCeleste IOD-1/-2 (28 Mar. at 09:14:00) (success)
  4. China Kinetica 2 — New March 01/02, TS 01 (30 Mar. at 11:00:00) (success)
Article Statistics
This data reflects values from 31 March 2026.

Monthly Changes

Since February 2026, there are 16 more Low-importance, eleven more NA-importance, and eleven more Unknown-importance articles, for a total of 38 new articles. There are also one more GA-class, one more B-class, 14 more C-class, 19 more Start-class, one fewer Stub-class articles, and three more lists.

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

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:38, 29 April 2026 (UTC)