+0.24 Firefly ‘Blue Ghost’ lunar lander touches down on the moon (www.cnn.com S:+0.08 )
768 points by complexpass 363 days ago | 204 comments on HN | Mild positive Editorial · v3.7 · 2026-02-28 12:40:14
Summary Information Access & Education Acknowledges
CNN's live coverage of the Blue Ghost moon landing exemplifies professional science journalism's educational and informational role in supporting human rights to information access and democratic participation. The editorial content strongly aligns with Articles 19 (freedom of expression), 26 (education), and 27 (cultural participation) through factual reporting, public knowledge dissemination, and celebration of scientific achievement. However, structural access restrictions via subscription paywall create tension with universal information access principles, negatively impacting the practical realization of Article 19, while ad-tracking infrastructure undermines Article 12 privacy protections.
Article Heatmap
Preamble: +0.16 — Preamble P Article 1: +0.08 — Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood 1 Article 2: 0.00 — Non-Discrimination 2 Article 3: ND — Life, Liberty, Security Article 3: No Data — Life, Liberty, Security 3 Article 4: ND — No Slavery Article 4: No Data — No Slavery 4 Article 5: ND — No Torture Article 5: No Data — No Torture 5 Article 6: ND — Legal Personhood Article 6: No Data — Legal Personhood 6 Article 7: ND — Equality Before Law Article 7: No Data — Equality Before Law 7 Article 8: ND — Right to Remedy Article 8: No Data — Right to Remedy 8 Article 9: ND — No Arbitrary Detention Article 9: No Data — No Arbitrary Detention 9 Article 10: ND — Fair Hearing Article 10: No Data — Fair Hearing 10 Article 11: ND — Presumption of Innocence Article 11: No Data — Presumption of Innocence 11 Article 12: -0.06 — Privacy 12 Article 13: ND — Freedom of Movement Article 13: No Data — Freedom of Movement 13 Article 14: ND — Asylum Article 14: No Data — Asylum 14 Article 15: ND — Nationality Article 15: No Data — Nationality 15 Article 16: ND — Marriage & Family Article 16: No Data — Marriage & Family 16 Article 17: ND — Property Article 17: No Data — Property 17 Article 18: +0.24 — Freedom of Thought 18 Article 19: +0.26 — Freedom of Expression 19 Article 20: ND — Assembly & Association Article 20: No Data — Assembly & Association 20 Article 21: +0.15 — Political Participation 21 Article 22: ND — Social Security Article 22: No Data — Social Security 22 Article 23: ND — Work & Equal Pay Article 23: No Data — Work & Equal Pay 23 Article 24: ND — Rest & Leisure Article 24: No Data — Rest & Leisure 24 Article 25: ND — Standard of Living Article 25: No Data — Standard of Living 25 Article 26: +0.40 — Education 26 Article 27: +0.32 — Cultural Participation 27 Article 28: ND — Social & International Order Article 28: No Data — Social & International Order 28 Article 29: +0.21 — Duties to Community 29 Article 30: ND — No Destruction of Rights Article 30: No Data — No Destruction of Rights 30
Negative Neutral Positive No Data
Aggregates
Editorial Mean +0.24 Structural Mean +0.08
Weighted Mean +0.20 Unweighted Mean +0.18
Max +0.40 Article 26 Min -0.06 Article 12
Signal 10 No Data 21
Confidence 21% Volatility 0.13 (Low)
Negative 1 Channels E: 0.6 S: 0.4
SETL +0.21 Editorial-dominant
FW Ratio 60% 32 facts · 21 inferences
Evidence: High: 2 Medium: 7 Low: 1 No Data: 21
Theme Radar
Foundation Security Legal Privacy & Movement Personal Expression Economic & Social Cultural Order & Duties Foundation: 0.08 (3 articles) Security: 0.00 (0 articles) Legal: 0.00 (0 articles) Privacy & Movement: -0.06 (1 articles) Personal: 0.24 (1 articles) Expression: 0.21 (2 articles) Economic & Social: 0.00 (0 articles) Cultural: 0.36 (2 articles) Order & Duties: 0.21 (1 articles)
HN Discussion 20 top-level · 30 replies
ColinWright 2025-03-02 11:10 UTC link
schneems 2025-03-02 23:33 UTC link
> Cedar Park, Texas

For those who don’t live in Texas, many people who live in Cedar Park would say they are from Austin. It’s a suburb to the North. I know an engineer from Firefly from years ago. She was always fascinating to talk to. I also sold my MK3s+ 3D printer to a firefly employee via Craigslist a few years ago.

I’m glad they’re having some success.

tombert 2025-03-02 23:35 UTC link
Hell yeah!

It would be very cool if we are able to properly colonize the moon in my lifetime. Even if we don't have humans living there like in Futurama (as cool as that would be), it would be unbelievably cool if we have constant back-and-forth trips to the moon.

Or we could just blow it up, which might be fun in its own right: https://youtu.be/GTJ3LIA5LmA

sfjailbird 2025-03-03 00:11 UTC link
Here are the pictures it has taken so far:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fireflyspace/albums/7217772031...

There's also a cool lunar flyover video taken during final deorbit.

inamberclad 2025-03-03 00:16 UTC link
As a former Intuitive Machines employee, I feel obligated to correct the title! IM-1 landed on the moon last February and although it didn't stay upright, it was still operational and returned some decent scientific data.
markdown 2025-03-03 00:21 UTC link
Anyone know if they flew over the site of the Apollo 11 lunar module landing?

Surely they'd do it just for the publicity and ability to shut up Joe Rogan and the other nutjobs that consider that landing fake.

agentkilo 2025-03-03 00:53 UTC link
Congrats to everyone involved!

I planned to watch the live stream but wasn't able to. The moment of successful landing was quite modest, only a mostly-static screen with telemetrics was shown to the public, but it absolutely felt magical. It feels like the moon is well within humankind's reach by now.

Coincidentally, I found a copy of Uchu Kyodai (by Chuya Koyama) in my local library, and started reading it recently. It's fun to compare the perspectives from more than a decade ago, to the actual development we have right now, regarding space exploration.

(This was posted to another thread, but I moved it here after I realized comments were moved)

duxup 2025-03-03 01:02 UTC link
Super cool. This is one of those things you watch and just "feels like the future". I know, we've been there before but it still feels like an awesome event.

(someone go back to Venus, I know it's hard, but someone please)

iJohnDoe 2025-03-03 01:14 UTC link
RangerScience 2025-03-03 01:23 UTC link
Horray!

Also:

- Wow but the moon is 3D. Like, when we see shots of Earth, the ground always looks so flat, but the depth of the craters and the heights of the ridges is really, really amazing to see

- ...KSP did a really good job mimicking the real thing

ww520 2025-03-03 02:09 UTC link
This is excellent news. Private sector companies are going into space, landing on extraterrestrial bodies. Hope this spur more activities outward.
bavell 2025-03-03 02:53 UTC link
spaceng 2025-03-03 05:39 UTC link
Here's some behind-the-scenes from the vision navigation team:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s9E8DBK896w

skc 2025-03-03 15:04 UTC link
I still very childishly examine every frame of those videos looking for something, anything to move. Ha!

Awe inspiring stuff.

t43562 2025-03-03 15:23 UTC link
I am a fan of the LuGRE instrument from Italy. It's a sneaky little precursor to the ESA Lunar Pathfinder which will put a lunar communications system and positioning system into orbit. That will be able to use the LuGRE instrument to get it's own position fixed accurately and then it can start providing communications and positioning services to the surface. A few more satellites and the whole moon will be covered.
butlike 2025-03-03 15:27 UTC link
What gets me is that the videos warp the perspective of the Earth in a way where it doesn't appear large anymore; and I wonder if that would happen with astronauts too.

They break through the atmosphere and then all of a sudden it looks like a small globe when the point-of-reference switches to the blackness of space.

EcommerceFlow 2025-03-03 16:10 UTC link
This is the outcome of Elon's vision for cheap space flight. Without reliable and reusable rockets, small missions like this would never be possible.

In 3-5 years, once Starship is running continuously, expect a flurry of these types of unique "small" missions.

The future of spaceflight is so exciting.

consumer451 2025-03-03 17:43 UTC link
Extremely informative analysis from Scott Manley was just released:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XmhxEDsVTY

consumer451 2025-03-02 23:41 UTC link
As far as flights of fancy regarding the moon, I enjoyed Randall Munroe's "What if we put a pool on the moon" thought experiment. I would enjoy the experience of propelling myself out of the water like a dolphin!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIIBBj6KR-Y

buerkle 2025-03-03 00:16 UTC link
And they do all their manufacturing in Briggs, TX about 30 minutes north of their HQ.
dang 2025-03-03 00:25 UTC link
Thanks! Macroexpanded:

Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Lunar Landing - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43224107 - March 2025 (40 comments)

Blue Ghost Moon landing Sunday 3:30am EST using Earth GPS lock 238000 miles away - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43222015 - March 2025 (3 comments)

Nyx Space and Rust Power Firefly's Blue Ghost Lunar Landing - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43217811 - March 2025 (1 comment)

dang 2025-03-03 00:25 UTC link
(This comment was posted at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43235933, where the title was "Firefly Aerospace becomes first commercial company to successfully land on moon". We merged that thread hither.)
SoftTalker 2025-03-03 00:27 UTC link
There is no reason for humans to ever return to the moon. The cost and risks are not justified. Drones and robots can do anything that needs to be done. They don’t need to breathe, they don’t need to sleep, or eat.
geoffpado 2025-03-03 00:36 UTC link
Would it? Surely they'd just claim that this new company is themselves "in on the hoax".
koolala 2025-03-03 00:55 UTC link
It was flipped upside-down like a Turtle?
scubatubafuba 2025-03-03 00:56 UTC link
> It feels like the moon is well within humankind's reach by now.

It has been for the last 65 years. ;)

sva_ 2025-03-03 01:12 UTC link
Flickr? Moon landing? What year is it?
protocolture 2025-03-03 01:17 UTC link
Theres no level of evidence they will accept. They have thought terminating cliches for everything.
bmitc 2025-03-03 02:20 UTC link
> Firefly is carrying out this mission as a contractor under NASA’s CLPS and Artemis programs
cryptoz 2025-03-03 02:25 UTC link
One of the coolest things ever is you can see the shadows and depths of the craters on the moon from here on Earth, with a cheap ~$15 telescope or probably binoculars too. I remember buying the galileoscope for $15 many years ago and was absolutely shocked how cool the moon looked, and how 3D.

Pro-tip: the full moon isn't so fun to look at, you want some level of crescent moon so you can avoid getting overloaded on the brightness.

(You can also stay up for a few hours and actually observe Io revolving around Jupiter, I think it takes most of the night to get 1/4 of the way around. Pretty obvious revolutions when you keep observing throughout the night.)

decimalenough 2025-03-03 02:59 UTC link
It's fascinating how the pictures have that "Apollo moon landing" look. I'd always assumed that a huge part of this was just 1960s technology (film not digital etc), but apparently it's actually coming from the literally unearthly lighting conditions of being on the Moon.
nerdponx 2025-03-03 03:20 UTC link
I noticed this too. Something about the perspective is unnerving, like an amusement park ride. You can see clearly that the moon is small, the craters are big, and the orbiting spacecraft is moving really really fast, all at the same time. None of that is apparent from video of low Earth orbit. And then the stark lighting makes it feel even more bizarre and alien.
consumer451 2025-03-03 03:38 UTC link
Former and current employees, congratulations to you all!

How cool is it to have your work preserved for thousands to millions of years, on the surface of the moon?!

I cannot imagine much anything more fun.

blast 2025-03-03 04:35 UTC link
"I've been saying we should do this for years. I walked on the moon. Did a pushup, ate an egg on it. What else can you do with it?"

Mr Show has held up well, maybe even gotten better with time.

freediver007 2025-03-03 05:38 UTC link
No, we didn't fly over any of the Apollo sites for BGM1. We flew pretty close to the terminator line.
freediver007 2025-03-03 05:47 UTC link
Super cool! Good working with you guys ;-)
NitpickLawyer 2025-03-03 07:07 UTC link
> - ...KSP did a really good job mimicking the real thing

The pic with the shadow of the lander is really close to what you get out of KSP when you first land on Mun or Minmus. Really really cool. Congrats to everyone who made this happen!

alfanick 2025-03-03 07:45 UTC link
These pictures are great - maybe it's time for me to get a new desktop background.

Kinda related: some years ago NASA published all the Apollo missions pictures. I downloaded all of them (hundreds, maybe bit more), acting as a photo editor then I selected "good ones", cropped them to 16:10 format and made a background picture pack - I'm using it on all my devices since then. If someone is interested, they're published at [0] - feel free to use.

[0]: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0577bWqlyiqqaz9zeI0cEcE7Q

Mountain_Skies 2025-03-03 08:22 UTC link
Rogan hasn't believed that for nearly a decade because he learned more about the physics of the Moon and the engineering of the time. Since you have an interest in truth and honesty, I'm sure now that you've been informed you won't spread this misinformation anymore and will do some reflection on how you ended up holding this view for so long past when it no longer was true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mmlmxamw_k

robbomacrae 2025-03-03 10:17 UTC link
I'd like to see us colonize Antártica with a self sufficient colony first. Seems like a much cheaper testbed.
vman81 2025-03-03 10:36 UTC link
There have been plenty of pictures of older landing sites. Most of those people have a part of their identity tied up in contrarian ideas, and would find a way to call it fake, even if you personally flew them up to the landing sites to have a look.
Daub 2025-03-03 12:18 UTC link
Pity that the videos were accompanied by such cheesy music. A soundtrack derived from telemetry would have been killer. Example project here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbLdd1fdNg5ymNYshv2xW...
criddell 2025-03-03 13:05 UTC link
Offtopic, but what is up with YouTube's algorithm? Is it just me? When I scroll to see the next videos they are all very strange kids videos. Full of primary colors and super bizarre sequences. I was expecting to see more Firefly related videos.

One video is a kid flushing things down a toilet so an adult makes a cardboard toilet and picture cards they can put in. Next was a woman going into a theater and somebody put something in her backpack. Turns out it was a doll. Is anybody else seeing this stuff? What is it? Who's making it?

Eridrus 2025-03-03 13:13 UTC link
Congratulations to both teams :)

Getting to the moon at all is a huge accomplishment.

The article actually mentioned IM-1 (though not by name) and got me looking.

jccooper 2025-03-03 15:15 UTC link
Much smaller, no atmosphere. You can get a lot closer to it in orbit. Until Apollo 14, the LM would enter a 50,000 ft periapsis on the way to landing. Dunno the exact phasing of this lander, but that video could be from a similar height (or lower, if you have good navigation.)
dylan604 2025-03-03 15:36 UTC link
The moon is a long way away. The furthest man has ever been from terra firma. The Earth is small at that distance compared to images from ISS or even a geosync satellite. The distance to the moon is about 30 Earths for perspective, over 400,000 kilometers away.

Here's a very famous image from Apollo 8:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/82693/earthrise-rev...

For a different perspective, check out the view of earth/moon from Mars:

https://science.nasa.gov/resource/earth-and-moon-as-viewed-f...

bongodongobob 2025-03-03 18:24 UTC link
That just has to do with the lens size. The earth will be bigger using a 300mm zoom lens than a wide angle 17mm.
Editorial Channel
What the content says
+0.50
Article 19 Freedom of Expression
High Advocacy Framing Practice
Editorial
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SETL
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News journalism is the core function of Article 19; CNN publishes factual reporting on current events, enabling public access to information necessary for informed decision-making. Live-news format demonstrates commitment to real-time information distribution.

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Article 26 Education
High Advocacy Framing
Editorial
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SETL
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Science journalism serves educational function by disseminating complex scientific knowledge to public audience in accessible format. Moon landing coverage contributes to scientific literacy and public understanding of technological achievement.

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Article 27 Cultural Participation
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Reports on human scientific and cultural achievement (space exploration); celebrates technological advancement as shared human accomplishment. Supports participation in scientific/cultural progress.

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Article 18 Freedom of Thought
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Editorial
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SETL
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Science reporting exemplifies freedom of thought and inquiry; reporting on technological achievement without ideological constraints demonstrates intellectual freedom.

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Article 29 Duties to Community
Medium Advocacy
Editorial
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SETL
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Journalism serves community function by informing public on matters of collective interest; science reporting contributes to shared understanding of technological progress.

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Preamble Preamble
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Reports on human technological achievement and scientific progress, themes consistent with preamble's vision of human advancement and dignity.

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Article 21 Political Participation
Medium Framing Practice
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Information reporting provides citizens with knowledge necessary for democratic participation; science journalism enables informed civic decision-making on space/technology policy.

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Article 1 Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
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Science reporting presented without apparent discrimination or bias; achievement is framed as universal human accomplishment.

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Article 2 Non-Discrimination
Low
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ND

No discriminatory language or framing observed in science reporting.

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Article 12 Privacy
Medium Practice
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Content does not discuss privacy explicitly; no editorial stance on privacy rights observed.

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Article 3 Life, Liberty, Security

Not engaged.

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Article 5 No Torture

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Article 8 Right to Remedy

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Article 9 No Arbitrary Detention

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Article 10 Fair Hearing

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Article 23 Work & Equal Pay

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Article 25 Standard of Living

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Article 28 Social & International Order

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Article 30 No Destruction of Rights

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Structural Channel
What the site does
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Article 26 Education
High Advocacy Framing
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Multiple section categories, archive access, and navigation enable ongoing educational content discovery. Subject-specific sections (Space, Life, Unearthed) provide structured educational pathways.

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Article 27 Cultural Participation
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Cultural information is organized and made accessible; archive and navigation enable engagement with cultural content.

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Article 18 Freedom of Thought
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Multiple topic sections (Space, Life, Unearthed) and archive access enable readers to pursue intellectual inquiry across subjects.

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Article 21 Political Participation
Medium Framing Practice
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Newsletter subscriptions and 'Follow' features enable readers to self-select and participate in ongoing civic information consumption.

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Article 29 Duties to Community
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Platform infrastructure enables community engagement through newsletters, follow features, and public comments.

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Preamble Preamble
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Professional editorial infrastructure demonstrates organizational commitment to information dissemination.

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Article 1 Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
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Public-facing news interface treats all readers equally in navigation and access structure.

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Article 2 Non-Discrimination
Low
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Site structure does not discriminate based on observable characteristics.

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Article 19 Freedom of Expression
High Advocacy Framing Practice
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Professional editorial infrastructure supports expression, but subscription/paywall model restricts universal free access. Site implements user authentication gates, limiting information availability to subscribers. Ad-supported model shows commercial prioritization over universal access.

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Article 12 Privacy
Medium Practice
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Site implements ad feedback forms and tracking infrastructure; no privacy control mechanisms visible. User account infrastructure suggests data collection without explicit privacy guarantees visible on page.

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Not applicable.

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Article 5 No Torture

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Article 7 Equality Before Law

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Article 22 Social Security

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Article 24 Rest & Leisure

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Article 25 Standard of Living

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Article 28 Social & International Order

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Article 30 No Destruction of Rights

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Evidence
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Uncertainty
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Purpose
0.8
Propaganda Flags
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About: governmentinstitution
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Audit Trail 10 entries
2026-02-28 12:40 eval Evaluated by claude-haiku-4-5-20251001: +0.20 (Mild positive)
2026-02-28 09:36 eval_success Light evaluated: Neutral (0.00) - -
2026-02-28 09:36 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral) 0.00
2026-02-28 09:36 rater_validation_warn Light validation warnings for model llama-4-scout-wai: 0W 1R - -
2026-02-28 09:31 eval_success Light evaluated: Neutral (0.00) - -
2026-02-28 09:31 eval Evaluated by llama-4-scout-wai: 0.00 (Neutral)
2026-02-28 09:31 rater_validation_warn Light validation warnings for model llama-4-scout-wai: 0W 1R - -
2026-02-28 09:23 eval_success Light evaluated: Neutral (0.00) - -
2026-02-28 09:23 rater_validation_warn Light validation warnings for model llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0W 1R - -
2026-02-28 09:23 eval Evaluated by llama-3.3-70b-wai: 0.00 (Neutral)