Two spacecraft have achieved a rare milestone: recreating a total solar eclipse in space. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 mission released the first images on June 16 from a successful test where one satellite blocked the sun’s light, allowing the other to capture the blazing outer atmosphere—the corona. Unlike fleeting eclipses on Earth, this artificial version offers prolonged, repeated observations. “We could see the corona without any special image processing,” said Andrei Zhukov of the Royal Observatory of Belgium. “It was just visible there, like during a natural total solar eclipse.”
ESA’s Proba-3 Spacecraft Recreates Eclipses to Study Sun’s Million-Degree Corona in Unprecedented Detail
As per ESA reports, the Proba-3 spacecraft orbits Earth in an elliptical path, up to 60,000 kilometres at the far end. During alignment, they float a mere 150 metres apart, one satellite casting an accurate shadow on the other. This method allows scientists to block the sun’s brightly radiant disk and view the faint, million-degree corona, which is some 200 times hotter than the sun’s visible surface and can be observed only during total eclipses. The middle layer is where scientists think answers to why this outer region is so blisteringly hot may be found.
So far, the twin satellites have completed nine test eclipses, with the goal of performing two per week. While natural eclipses only happen every 18 months or so and last just a matter of minutes, Proba-3 could replicate an eclipse every 20 hours and prolong it for up to six hours. This capability gives scientists a unique opportunity to investigate in detail the solar corona’s dynamic and magnetic activity.
Proba-3 was lifted off to orbit from India on December 5. Over the next two years, the spacecraft is anticipated to provide upwards of 1,000 hours of eclipse data. The discovery not only makes it possible to systematically observe solar behavior but also helps to enhance the forecasts of solar weather needed to protect satellites and power grids.
ESA officials view this as a new era in heliophysics, where man-made eclipses will fill the observational gap left by the rarity of total solar eclipses on Earth. With each orbit and eclipse, scientists inch closer to solving the long-standing mysteries of our star’s fiery halo.
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![Founders Fund launches game show starring Sam Altman, Palmer Luckey, and other tech elites | TechCrunch
Have you ever had the desire to see Sam Altman and Palmer Luckey square off over a moderately suspenseful card game? If so, you are in luck.
Silicon Valley’s leaders are rushing to embrace the power of media for the purposes of marketing and political capital. Now, in a sign of the times, Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, has launched its own game show.
MAFIA the GAME, will apparently be an ongoing thing, where prominent tech luminaries get together and face off over a game of cards (the show is named after the party-game favorite).
The spectacle is moderated by Pirate Wires editor Mike Solana (who is also the chief marketing officer at Founders Fund). The debut episode includes a who’s who of players, Altman, Luckey, Bryan Johnson, the famed biohacker who will (according to him) live forever, and Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of encrypted chat app Signal.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDCwQe7P8T0[/embed]
“I’m so f*cking bored with VC content,” Solana told Newcomer, which originally reported the show’s existence. “There has to be a more interesting way to get to know someone, and I think that this is a way more interesting way to get to know someone.”
TechCrunch reached out to Founders Fund for more information on the program.
In many ways, having a reality-TV-esque platform is just good business these days. The internet has turned the world into a population of chronic media consumers, and the average American spends around 2.5 hours on social media per day. Much of that time is spent scrolling through an endless flood of advertising-laced memes and videos.
In the modern era, the road to power and influence is paved by infotainment.
Companies and executives have sought to take advantage of this new reality in different ways. OpenAI recently raised some eyebrows when it procured TBPN, the buzzy founder-led podcast. Meanwhile, a number of tech’s most prominent players have leveraged virality to their advantage. Johnson, for instance, has managed to grow his following through a very active (and quite bizarre) social media presence. Elon Musk, meanwhile, has also managed to leverage his public persona to go viral (although arguments could be made that his online presence has sometimes hurt rather than helped his businesses).
This trend has also spread to the startup space, where people like Cluely CEO Chungin “Roy” Lee have demonstrated the power of being a one-man viral hype machine.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Founders #Fund #launches #game #show #starring #Sam #Altman #Palmer #Luckey #tech #elites #TechCrunchbryan johnson,Founders Fund,media,Palmer Luckey,sam altman](https://i0.wp.com/techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GettyImages-2271655123.jpg?resize=1200%2C787&ssl=1 "Founders Fund launches game show starring Sam Altman, Palmer Luckey, and other tech elites | TechCrunch
Have you ever had the desire to see Sam Altman and Palmer Luckey square off over a moderately suspenseful card game? If so, you are in luck.
Silicon Valley’s leaders are rushing to embrace the power of media for the purposes of marketing and political capital. Now, in a sign of the times, Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, has launched its own game show.
MAFIA the GAME, will apparently be an ongoing thing, where prominent tech luminaries get together and face off over a game of cards (the show is named after the party-game favorite).
The spectacle is moderated by Pirate Wires editor Mike Solana (who is also the chief marketing officer at Founders Fund). The debut episode includes a who’s who of players, Altman, Luckey, Bryan Johnson, the famed biohacker who will (according to him) live forever, and Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of encrypted chat app Signal.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDCwQe7P8T0[/embed]
“I’m so f*cking bored with VC content,” Solana told Newcomer, which originally reported the show’s existence. “There has to be a more interesting way to get to know someone, and I think that this is a way more interesting way to get to know someone.”
TechCrunch reached out to Founders Fund for more information on the program.
In many ways, having a reality-TV-esque platform is just good business these days. The internet has turned the world into a population of chronic media consumers, and the average American spends around 2.5 hours on social media per day. Much of that time is spent scrolling through an endless flood of advertising-laced memes and videos.
In the modern era, the road to power and influence is paved by infotainment.
Companies and executives have sought to take advantage of this new reality in different ways. OpenAI recently raised some eyebrows when it procured TBPN, the buzzy founder-led podcast. Meanwhile, a number of tech’s most prominent players have leveraged virality to their advantage. Johnson, for instance, has managed to grow his following through a very active (and quite bizarre) social media presence. Elon Musk, meanwhile, has also managed to leverage his public persona to go viral (although arguments could be made that his online presence has sometimes hurt rather than helped his businesses).
This trend has also spread to the startup space, where people like Cluely CEO Chungin “Roy” Lee have demonstrated the power of being a one-man viral hype machine.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Founders #Fund #launches #game #show #starring #Sam #Altman #Palmer #Luckey #tech #elites #TechCrunchbryan johnson,Founders Fund,media,Palmer Luckey,sam altman")
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