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Adam Hibberd

@adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social
113 followers 91 following 141 posts

I developed the software used to solve the problem of catching up with the first interstellar object to be discovered, 1I/'Oumuamua, Project Lyra. I am a researcher for the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is).

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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Two interesting animations: adamhibberd.com/wp-content/u... adamhibberd.com/wp-content/u...
adamhibberd.com
1998 KY26 The Game’s Afoot!
Adam Hibberd I have a preprint out on the feasibility of the hypothesis that 1998 KY26 is actually the Phobos 1 probe, go here. I have already conducted extensive research into this possibility. Es…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
i4is.org/1998-ky26-th...
i4is.org
1998 KY26 – The Game’s Afoot.
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
My latest starship blog for i4is: i4is.org/1998-ky26-th...
i4is.org
1998 KY26 – The Game’s Afoot.
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Could the dark comet 1998 KY26 actually be the Phobos 1 probe? Here's my blog: i4is.org/1998-ky26-th... Go here for my latest preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2609.24283
i4is.org
1998 KY26 – The Game’s Afoot.
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
i4is.org/1998-ky26-te...
i4is.org
What is 1998 KY26?
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
adamhibberd.com/2026/06/07/c...
adamhibberd.com
Could 1998 KY26 be Phobos 1?
Adam Hibberd I have been studying the most unusual of celestial bodies known as ‘dark comets’ which are particular sorts of asteroids exhibiting strange inexplicable forces with no outg…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
My paper with Adam Crowl, Carlos Gomez de Olea Ballester, and Abraham Loeb, is out now: arxiv.org/abs/2606.01288 Here is an animation by Tony Dunn: orbitsimulator.com/BA/adam_phob...
arxiv.org
Is the Dark Comet 1998 KY$_{26}$ the Spacecraft Phobos 1?
Since the discovery of new kinds of celestial bodies known as $dark~comets$, scientists have speculated about their ontology. A curious hybrid of comet and asteroid, these objects show significant non...
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
My animation demonstration of a Solar Oberth Manoeuvre (SOM) is very popular on YouTube at the moment: @i4interstellar.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoo7...
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
adamhibberd.com/2026/04/26/t...
adamhibberd.com
The Pipe Dream
Adam Hibberd Unfortunately for so many in certain western countries now, the notion of plenty is only a wonderful pipe dream, a dream which can only be achieved through luck or circumstance and les…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Go to my latest blog which is related to harmonics, not musical, but celestial: adamhibberd.com/2026/04/06/h...
adamhibberd.com
How long does it take to get to the Sun/Earth L4 Point from Earth?
Adam Hibberd Let’s say we eject a spacecraft with a small velocity decrement in the opposite direction to Earth’s own velocity around the Sun, what will happen to it exactly? It will stay around Ea…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Go to my latest blog post about how the New Horizons probe was launched. adamhibberd.com/2026/03/23/u...
adamhibberd.com
Understanding New Horizons Launch Trajectory
Adam Hibberd For various reasons to do with research, I had to recompute the launch ascent trajectory for the New Horizons mission. New Horizons was a probe sent to Pluto and took various outstandi…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
My latest blog: adamhibberd.com/2026/03/20/a...
adamhibberd.com
AI Inadequacy?
Adam Hibberd I was using chatGPT, the smarter than smart AI conversation winner – this things knows everything under the Sun, right? You may skip this detail as it may be completely opaque to…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
adamhibberd.com/2026/03/08/b...
adamhibberd.com
Bombay Mix
Adam Hibberd I wanted some ‘Bombay Mix’ urgently (next day)! For those of you unfamiliar with this comestible, this is a savoury Indian snack with nuts, crisp vermicelli, sultanas, and …
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
My latest blog post: i4is.org/2024-yr4-whi... It is concerned with two possible trajectory solutions to rendezvous with an asteroid designated 2024 YR4, as solved by my 'Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software' (OITS). A possible sample return could be achieved, in the way it was for OSIRIS-REx.
i4is.org
2024 YR4, Which Rendezvous Plan?
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
My latest personal blog highlights some of the challenges for Project Lyra: @i4interstellar.bsky.social adamhibberd.com/2026/02/27/r...
adamhibberd.com
Reaching ‘Oumuamua: a Challenge for Humanity
Adam Hibberd ‘Oumuamua is inexorably receding from the sun, travelling farther and farther away as time goes by, it is now well beyond the orbit of Neptune, and even beyond the Kuiper Belt. T…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
If you want a layperson's guide concerning the paper I wrote with Marshall Eubanks and Andreas Hein on the subject of missions to 3I/ATLAS using a solar slingshot, go to my starship blog for the Initiative for Interstellar Studies, here: i4is.org/a-mission-to...
i4is.org
A Mission to 3I/ATLAS by Solar Slingshot (a layperson’s guide).
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
adamhibberd.com/2026/02/24/t...
adamhibberd.com
The Earth’s Core
Adam Hibberd A fair few people of my age and older will remember the American actor Doug McClure and his popularity in the UK as the personification of the brave, handsome (so I am led to believe&#…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Go to my starship blog about intercepting interstellar object 3I/ATLAS by a particular spacecraft trajectory manoeuvre known as a 'Solar Oberth': i4is.org/3i-atlas-is-... @i4interstellar.bsky.social
i4is.org
3I/ATLAS: Is It Worth a Solar Oberth?
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
My work is mentioned in Universe Today: www.universetoday.com/articles/a-n...
universetoday.com
A New Concept for Catching Up with 3I/ATLAS
The third interstellar object detected in our Solar System (3I/ATLAS) has a unique and continually unfolding story to tell of its nature and origin. In a recent paper, scientists from the i4is show ho...
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
@i4interstellar.bsky.social My latest blog details how my software works at a basic level, and explains how I used it to solve the problem of sending a mission to catch the interstellar object 1I/'Oumuamua: adamhibberd.com/2026/02/07/h...
adamhibberd.com
How to Reach Interstellar Visitors, Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software
Adam Hibberd An article I wrote for Principium, quarterly publication of the ‘Initiative for Interstellar Studies’, several years ago now, not long after the first interstellar object p…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
adamhibberd.com/2026/02/05/s...
adamhibberd.com
Sample Return Mission Feasibility of 2024 YR4
Adam Hibberd A mission to Near Earth Asteroid designated 2024 YR4 which for a while had a relatively high chance of colliding with the Earth. This probability has dropped to zero but instead the li…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
My latest blog post is not directly space-related: adamhibberd.com/2026/01/24/a...
adamhibberd.com
A Recipe for Disaster
Adam Hibberd Life is like a box of chocolates, you sometimes over-indulge, scoff the lot and then regret you had the box of chocolates. I know at least one ex-acquaintance who became rather wealthy…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
My latst blog concerning missions to Near Earth Objects: adamhibberd.com/2026/01/23/a...
adamhibberd.com
A Challenge for OITS
Adam Hibberd I was recently asked by a US colleague to do a little research using ‘OITS’. For those of you unaware by now, ‘OITS’ stands for ‘Optimum Interplanetary Tr…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Back to the close encounter in 2032 of an asteroid discovered in 2024 December, namely 2024 YR4. Go to my latest blog concerning a mission: adamhibberd.com/2026/01/10/m...
adamhibberd.com
More on 2024 YR4
Adam Hibberd The 2024 YR4 of the title is an asteroid which was discovered in December of 2024 with a really cool Christmas present for humanity: the prospect of a collision with Earth only 8 years…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
i4is.org/3i-atlas-is-...
i4is.org
3I/ATLAS: Is It Worth a Solar Oberth?
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
My research into reaching 3I/ATLAS by Solar Oberth: arxiv.org/abs/2601.02533
arxiv.org
Catching 3I/ATLAS Using a Solar Oberth
The third interstellar object to be discovered, 3I/ATLAS, has a unique and continually unfolding story to tell about its nature and origin as it is monitored by telescopes on Earth, orbiting Earth and...
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
adamhibberd.com/2026/01/06/3...
adamhibberd.com
3I/ATLAS: Is It Worth a Solar Oberth?
Adam Hibberd Have you noticed, 3I/ATLAS is well and truly on its way out of the Solar System? It has afterall passed through its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) and is well on its way to a…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Go to my blog for my Project Lyra memoirs: adamhibberd.com/2025/12/29/p...
adamhibberd.com
Project Lyra: A Second Chance
Adam Hibberd Memoirs
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
A Christmas story from my blog of my experience as a scientist, a situation many will be familiar with: adamhibberd.com/2025/08/12/t...
adamhibberd.com
The ‘Know Show’
Adam Hibberd Just trying to figure whether I’ve been conned or not !!!! When you are an academic (yes, yes I know, that isn’t me), then that means you are more intelligent than average …
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
My quest to number-crunch the Mars Cycler, see below. Merry Christmas everyone. adamhibberd.com/2025/12/24/c...
adamhibberd.com
Cyclers: the Quest Continues
Adam Hibberd My quest to number-crunch the Mars (Aldrin) Cycler is progressing with every iteration of my software adding more and more encounters, be they Earth or Mars, each adding weight to the …
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
My ongoing analysis into the Mars Cycler, go to my blog: adamhibberd.com/2025/12/22/a...
adamhibberd.com
A Mars Cycler: Insights
Adam Hibberd I’ve been progressing with my research into a Mars Cycler where the orbits of Earth and Mars are NOT assumed to be circular NOR coplanar, in other words the orbital paths followe…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Go to my blog on Cyclers: adamhibberd.com/2025/12/19/a...
adamhibberd.com
A Practical Cycler
Adam Hibberd I’ve been working on the ‘Mars Cycler’, a problem which is normally addressed by assuming the Earth and Mars are in circular, coplanar orbits.However, I’ve been…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
How a swarm of space sails formated in a plane perpendicular to their direction of motion may measure the mass of a nearby object (such as Proxima b, the planet orbiting the closest star to our Sun, Proxima Centauri): adamhibberd.com/2025/12/11/m...
adamhibberd.com
Measurement of Mass by Space Sails
Adam Hibberd I’ve been doing a little algebra. Let me state the problem. Let us say we have a swarm of space sails flying edge on to the interstellar medium (ISM). This swarm lies in a plane …
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
I have returned to a familiar old chestnut - PROJECT LYRA. The study of missions to 'Oumuamua. SpaceX Starship and Falcon Heavy make an appearance. Go to my latest blog here: adamhibberd.com/2025/12/10/p...
adamhibberd.com
Project Lyra with a Starship
Adam Hibberd I have been considering the feasibility of a mission to 1I/’Oumuamua (under the banner of Project Lyra of course) in the context of a SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. The word ‘Starship…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
My latest blog provides a list of the salient Project Lyra missions I have discovered so far. Project Lyra is the initiative to catch up and intercept the first interstellar object to be discovered: adamhibberd.com/2025/12/10/e...
adamhibberd.com
Exploring Interstellar Missions: Project Lyra Insights
Adam Hibberd A list of potential missions to the first interstellar object, as investigated by me as a part of Project Lyra:
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
I was the key writer of the 'Is 3I/ATLAS Alien Technology?' paper with Adam Crowl and Avi Loeb. Therein is a calculation of the probability that 3I/ATLAS could have arrived so close to the ecliptic, the maths has been very contentious. Go to my blog here: adamhibberd.com/2025/11/26/3...
adamhibberd.com
3I/ATLAS in Plane Language
Adam Hibberd I have had many queries concerning the calculation of the likelihood of 3I/ATLAS’s orbital plane lying within 5° of that of the ecliptic of the Solar System. This calculation app…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
My latest post is all about using a SpaceX Starship Block 3 to eventually intercept the first unambiguous interstellar object to be discovered, 1I/'Oumuamua (PROJECT LYRA): adamhibberd.com/2025/12/06/t...
adamhibberd.com
The SpaceX Starship and Catching an Interstellar Object
Adam Hibberd On the request of a colleague, I have solved the problem of exploiting the wonderful SpaceX Starship (in fact the yet to be launched Block 3 variant) to lift a spacecraft so that it ca…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Go to the lead feature of the latest issue 51 of Principium, which is my contribution to this publication. It concerns my work with Avi Loeb and Adam Crowl on our two papers to do with the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS: drive.google.com/file/d/1FxBN...
drive.google.com
Principium51_Lead_Feature.pdf
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Please go to my own person blog, here: adamhibberd.com/2025/11/26/3...
adamhibberd.com
3I/ATLAS in Plane Language
Adam Hibberd I have had many queries concerning the calculation of the likelihood of 3I/ATLAS’s orbital plane lying within 5° of that of the ecliptic of the Solar System. This calculation app…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
My existential thought of the day, read my latest blog: adamhibberd.com/2025/11/22/e...
adamhibberd.com
Existential Thought of the Day
Adam Hibberd Human existence, and for that matter all life, has been a story of death. Observe that life attempts to preserve itself by defying death. In fact evolution is simply an attempt by the …
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
I've updated my blog: adamhibberd.com/2025/11/20/m...
adamhibberd.com
Missions to Comet 2014 UN271
Adam Hibberd A colour contour plot showing direct missions to object 2014 UN271, otherwise known as ‘BB’ in honour of its discoverers Bernardinelli and Bernstein. This comet is huge (~ …
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Go to my personal blog, here: adamhibberd.com/2025/11/14/t...
adamhibberd.com
The ‘Apocalypse Plot’
Adam Hibberd Below is a plot that expresses how much ‘DeltaV’ or in other words, ‘change in velocity’ would be needed to be applied to the asteroid Apophis, at different tim…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
A Little research I conducted into a trajectory I invented to allow a spacecraft to exit the Solar System, even faster than a Jupiter Oberth Manoeuvre (JOM). It turns out to be quite disappointing actually. Go here: adamhibberd.com/2025/11/12/t...
adamhibberd.com
The Double Jupiter Gravitational Assist (DJGA) for Escaping the Solar System
Adam Hibberd I’ve been investigating the Double Jupiter Gravitational Assist (DJGA) and comparing it with the ordinary Single Jupiter Gravitational Assist (SJGA) which we know well and is pro…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
adamhibberd.com/2025/11/07/e...
adamhibberd.com
Elon’s Starship to Launch Project Lyra?
Adam Hibberd Yesterday I was trying to gauge the measure of the SpaceX Starship in terms of its ability to launch the Project Lyra spacecraft on its way to its destination. BTW Project Lyra is the …
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
adamhibberd.com/2025/11/06/3...
adamhibberd.com
3I/ATLAS Mission to Launch in 2035
Adam Hibberd As a consequence of exploring the Solar Oberth option to catch up with 3I/ATLAS I have, using my software development Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software (OITS), discovered that…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
My latest blog which talks about a possible Solar Oberth trajectory to catch up with 3I/ATLAS with launch in 10 years time, and with a 20 year flight duration. The DeltaV needed at the Oberth is still very high, and would need 2-3 chemical rocket stages. i4is.org/3i-atlas-mis...
i4is.org
3I/ATLAS Mission to Launch in 2035
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
My latest blog: adamhibberd.com/2025/11/02/p...
adamhibberd.com
Project Lyra Meets the President
Adam Hibberd My letter to the president, written a few years after 1I/’Oumuamua was discovered and the Project Lyra work had largely drawn to a conclusion, is now looking rather stale since 3…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
My latest blog. Oh dear, oh dear, more grist to the mill that 3I/ATLAS might be alien technology. For those of you intolerant to such ideas, ignore. adamhibberd.com/2025/11/01/3...
adamhibberd.com
3I/ATLAS: The Switch from Anti-Tail to Tail.
Adam Hibberd Avi Loeb references an observation I had made about the ‘anti-tail’ and ‘tail’ of 3I/ATLAS, possibly indicating alien technology. It seems that 3I/ATLAS’s…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
My latest blog: adamhibberd.com/2025/10/25/t...
adamhibberd.com
The Nascent Engineer at School
Adam Hibberd Just been remembering my strange experience at Stoke Park Comprehensive School. In particular, this one occasion when my friends and I were sitting down to have our packed lunch in the…
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Adam Hibberd @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
STARMER = Sycophantic Trump Admirer Really Manages to Embarrass Royalty
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