Australia wildfires' devastating impact on iconic wildlife

The state of play: Cheyne Flanagan, clinical director of Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, told Reuters staff are caring over Christmas for 72 koalas affected by the blazes — and they're preparing for more, "particularly for baby animals stressed by hot weather, bushfires and drought."

• A fund-raising page set up for the hospital to help koalas in October, a month after the bushfires broke out, had raised $2.1 million by 10 p.m. Tuesday Eastern Time.
• Across the country, tales of heroism are emerging as Aussies step up to help rescue native wildlife — including some involving remarkable four-legged heroes.

Go deeper: In photos: Deadly wildfires rage across Australia

• The New York Times has obtained a video that appears to depict an Iranian missile striking a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran's airport — where the Ukrainian Boeing 737 "stopped transmitting its signal" prior to the crash on Wednesday.

What they're saying: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was "shocked and saddened" to learn that 63 Canadians died in the crash, and noted on Thursday "that the majority of victims on that airline were Iranian citizens."

• Trudeau also said Thursday that intelligence from multiple sources indicates an Iranian surface-to-air missile caused the crash. He stressed the need for a full investigation.
• Trudeau told reporters that President Trump did not make any specific requests of Canada when the leaders spoke on Wednesday, in light of the president's call for NATO countries to increase their involvement in the Middle East.
• Trudeau later tweeted a summary of his Wednesday call with Trump, during which the leaders discussed the need for an investigation into the cause of the crash.

What else we know: Canada is reaching out directly to Iran's government about the crash, Canada's deputy minister of global affairs said Wednesday. Iran has said it is currently holding onto the plane's black boxes, but will likely grant Ukrainian investigators access, Trudeau said Thursday.

• Ukraine International Airlines said an investigation would be conducted into the crash involving authorities from Ukraine, Iran and Boeing representatives.
• "Given the crew's experience, error probability is minimal. We do not even consider such a chance," Ukrainian International Airlines said in a statement Wednesday, adding that all three crew members had between 7,600 and 12,000 hours of experience flying the aircraft.

The victims: Officials in Ukraine said 82 Iranians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals were also aboard the Kiev-bound Flight 752 when it crashed, per AP.

Boeing said in a statement: "This is a tragic event and our heartfelt thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their families. We are in contact with our airline customer and stand by them in this difficult time. We are ready to assist in any way needed."

The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency restriction on Tuesday prohibiting U.S. civil aviation operators from flying in airspace over Iraq, Iran, and the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman after the Iranian military struck two Iraqi bases where U.S. troops are stationed.

• This latest crash could also further complicate things for Boeing, which is already struggling with its 737 Max after 346 people died in two crashes. However, it's not yet clear if this latest crash is related to manufacturer problems, per CNN.

Go deeper: Canada’s Justin Trudeau says evidence indicates Iranians shot down airliner

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Yes, but: Though the 2019 season was less active in terms of the total number of fires and acres destroyed, catastrophic fires still resulted in fatalities and damaged or destroyed structures.

• The Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, California, burned 77,758 acres, injured four first responders and destroyed 374 structures and damaged 60 others. The fire's cause is still under investigation.
• The 1,011-acre Sandalwood Fire in Riverside County, California, killed two civilians, destroyed 76 structures and damaged 14 others after a truck dumped burning trash into brush.
• The Saddleridge Fire tore through 8,799 acres in Los Angeles County, killing one civilian and damaging or destroying at least 31 structures, according to the Los Angeles Times. The fire's cause is also still under investigation.

The big picture: 2019 was the fourth least active fire season in the last decade in terms of acres scorched by wildfires.

• 2010 was the least active season with 3.4 million acres burned. 2015 was the most active with 9.9 million acres.
• 621,748 wildfires blackened 67.6 million acres in the U.S. over the last decade, according to NICC data. That's roughly 2.8% of the country's 2.35 billion acres of land.
• 120 wildland firefighters died in wildfire-related accidents between 2010 and 2017.

Of note: Last year was the second-wettest year on record, with record-high precipitation in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, according to the Weather Channel.

Go deeper:

• Australia's deadly fires: What you need to know
• Australia wildfires: NSW police arrest 24 arson suspects
• PG&E settles with California regulators as fire victims deal approved

• Wildfires throughout the state devoured 2.68 million acres in 2019.

The big picture: The Copernicus Climate Change Service found 2019 to be the second-hottest year on record, and the 2010s to be the hottest decade. 2016 remains the hottest year on record, while 2017 is the third hottest.

• The continued buildup of carbon dioxide due to human activities, such as burning fossil fuels for energy, is driving global temperatures up and instigating harmful impacts worldwide.

Go deeper: All the global temperature records broken in 2019, so far

Why it matters: Being able to observe a nearby supernova would be a rare opportunity that would allow researchers to gather priceless data on an event that only happens two or three times per century in the Milky Way.

• A network of instruments on Earth will be on hand to detect the supernova, which may even be visible in daylight.

How it works: When a star goes supernova, subatomic particles called neutrinos shoot out from its collapsing core before the light from the explosion is visible.

• A network of seven detectors — called SNEWS (pronounced "snooze") — is on the lookout for those neutrinos, acting as an early warning system for supernova.
• Being able to detect these neutrinos allows for hours of lead time before the supernova is visible.
• "[W]e're talking about some of the most intense environments in the universe. You really can't find anything more energetic than these explosions," Indiana University's Justin Vasel told Axios.

But, but, but: There's no guarantee that the star's explosion is imminent. It's possible that Betelgeuse's dimming is a normal part of its stellar cycle and isn't actually a sign of exciting things to come.

Go deeper: Rare supernova is helping scientists unlock some of the inner-workings of the universe

• The brightest stars in the foreground are actually in our own galaxy and were in the view of the telescope as it observed UGC 2885.

Background: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope's life in space. Its successor — the James Webb Space Telescope — is expected to launch in 2021.

Go deeper:

• The make-or-break moment for U.S. spaceflight
• SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

• "We were able to get the spacecraft assembled and integrated and delivered for launch within about four months," York Space Systems' Melanie Preisser told Axios of the company's satellite launch in May 2019.

Details: Once a customer has developed a payload — like an imaging sensor — they will bring it to York, which will then manage testing and integration onto one of the company's spacecraft for the Hydra Mission Series.

• The service costs about $3 million to orbit, according to York, with some customers paying as little as $300,000.
• Once in orbit, the satellites will beam encrypted information back to customers on Earth.
• York expects its first mission in the Hydra series to launch in December 2020.

Yes, but: It's not yet clear exactly how large the small satellite market will be going forward, potentially limiting the customers for this kind of standardized spacecraft in the future.

Go deeper: The big business of being a space janitor

• The agency's new head of human spaceflight Doug Loverro told Axios he isn't afraid to change up the plan to meet that ambitious deadline.
• However, the program's 2024 deadline for a lunar landing is lacking congressional support.

State of play: In an interview with Axios, Loverro said he's not afraid to make hard decisions when it comes to Artemis.

• "I'm looking at everything in the program with a fresh set of eyes, and I expect that we will have some substantial changes because of that," Loverro said.
• Loverro is now studying the current architecture for Artemis and he hopes to share conclusions by March.

Details: He said he's also keeping an eye on SpaceX and Boeing's progress toward crewed flights while making sure that Artemis reaches its milestones this year.

• "I think both Boeing and SpaceX are well on the road to flying, and I have high confidence that we'll be able to fly crew to ... the station this year," Loverro said.
• On the Artemis side, this year, NASA should begin a major test of its Space Launch System rocket designed to launch astronauts to the Moon.
• The agency's Orion capsule will also continue its testing in preparation for its first launch with the SLS expected in 2021.

Go deeper: The make-or-break moment for U.S. spaceflight