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Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category

 

Significant attention is now being given to Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP), recently bolstered by the Galileo Project, led by Harvard scientist Avi Loeb.

An upshot of such research is that UAP studies may foster the discovery of — or better scientific explanations for — potential new natural atmospheric phenomena.

For example, ball lightning is on the baffling phenomenon list, described as luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. While ball lightning has been reported for centuries, this phenomenon has not been consistently observed by scientific instruments.

Eyewitness accounts

Enter a new website hosted by New Mexico Tech physicist Richard Sonnenfeld and Texas State University engineer Karl Stephan. Their goal is to collect eyewitness accounts to improve the basic understanding of the phenomenon. Reported accounts will be compared to weather radar systems to characterize the factors that may well trigger ball lightning.

Stephan has conducted investigations of naturally occurring luminous spheroids, which include various phenomena such as ball lightning, even “earthquake lights.”  Several of the researcher’s publications deal with laboratory phenomena that replicate or clarify various reported properties of ball lightning, including its degree of apparent opacity, its motion under the effects of a net charge, and its persistent glow.

 

 

Sensor systems

“Ball lightning was an unexplained aerial phenomenon long before anyone heard of UFOs,” Stephan told Inside Outer Space. “There have been recent calls for increased scientific investigation of UAPs using all-sky cameras and sensor networks to acquire data in an organized way that would allow a systematic analysis of sighted objects.”

Stephan says the same kinds of sensor systems that would look for UAPs would also be useful for observing ball lightning, and similar kinds of data processing would be needed to filter out the explainable data (e. g. airplanes, balloons, meteorites, etc.) in order to focus on what you are looking for.

“I think a serious observational and experimental effort to explain ball lightning would take us far in the direction of explaining UAPs, with the advantage that we already have a rudimentary understanding of ball lightning, such as its association with thunderstorms,” Stephan adds.

“Perhaps if UAP research moves from the shadows of fringe science into the mainstream,” Stephan says, “the same thing can happen to ball lightning research, as similar methods are needed for both.”

Precise position and time information

Have You Seen Ball Lightning? If so, Sonnenfeld and Stephan are eager to hear from you.

That information would allow the scientists to answer the following questions:

1) How frequently ball lightning associated with natural lightning?

2) In cases where it is associated, how nearby does the lightning need to be?

3) Is there anything special (e.g. polarity, max current, structure, multiplicity, continuing currents) about the natural lightning or thunderstorm that is associated with ball lightning production.

Other elements of those filing reports are also of interest. In particular:

— What does the formation and destruction of the ball look like?

— Is the path consistent with hot buoyant gasses? 

— Is the path consistent with a charged object inducing charge in other objects and tending to trace surfaces?

— How does the ball pass through windows?  Does it ever pass through electrical conductors?

As their website explains, despite thousands of published reports of ball lightning and a scientific literature comparable in volume to the literature on conventional lightning, researchers still have no idea of what mechanisms create or power ball lightning. “Our hope with this site is to get reports that contain precise position and time information regarding ball lightning.”

Resources

Go to this website to file a ball lightning report at:

http://kestrel.nmt.edu/~rsonnenf/BL/#REPORT

Also, check out this article from the American Geophysical Union’s Eos.org: “Have You Seen Ball Lightning? Scientists Want to Know About It” at:

https://eos.org/articles/have-you-seen-ball-lightning-scientists-want-to-know-about-it

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale crater is now performing Sol 3191 tasks.

Reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland: “Our weekend drive completed successfully, landing us north of a roughly 15 meter [49 feet) tall butte that we had imaged the east side of over the weekend. The new parking position gave us a new angle on the butte. Seeing structures from multiple angles helps geologists unravel the story of their formation by revealing their layers in three dimensions.”

Butte imagery

A newly scripted plan offered a challenge; the large Mastcam mosaic scientists wanted to acquire of the butte was best taken early in the day, before the butte began to cover itself in its own shadow, and this window of time overlapped the best time to acquire Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) data before a drive.

“Rather than having to pit APXS against Mastcam, we were allowed to try something relatively unusual,” Minitti adds. Typically, when researchers analyze a target with APXS before a drive, they acquire Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images of the same target immediately after APXS is done.

“Today, we broke up APXS and MAHLI, putting the desired Mastcam imaging and other remote science observations after APXS. MAHLI was then scheduled after the remote observations, but before the drive,” Minitti points out. “This allowed all the observations to occur at times that would benefit them – wins all around!”

Bedrock chemistry

APXS and MAHLI were to analyze a patch of relatively smooth bedrock, “Fressignas,” to systematically record bedrock chemistry as the rover climbs up Mount Sharp.

“In addition to the large butte mosaic, Mastcam acquired a small mosaic of a bedrock slab right of the rover, dubbed “Creysse,” which exhibited a combination of lineations and resistant features that added to the variety of textures we have seen over the last several weeks,” Minitti notes.

Resistant nodules

The robot’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) acquired a small Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaic of yet another wonderful structure, “Mescoules,” a delicate arch of rock that appeared to be made of a concentration of the resistant nodules so common in the local bedrock.

“ChemCam will analyze the chemistry of a linear horizon of resistant nodules at the target “Loubejac” to continue our investigation of what makes these nodules stand out from the bedrock that hosts them,” Minitti explains.

After a drive that we hope will be extended in distance by Curiosity’s autonomous navigation capabilities, ChemCam will acquire chemistry from an autonomously-selected target, and scientists will turn their attention to the atmosphere.

Pulse of Gale crater

“APXS will acquire a measurement of argon in the Mars atmosphere, Navcam and Mastcam will measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere, and Navcam will shoot a movie in search of dust devils,” Minitti adds.

These dedicated atmospheric observations take place over a background of regular Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) and Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) measurements that keep their finger on the pulse of the Gale crater environment,” Minitti concludes.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 3188 tasks.

Ken Herkenhoff, a planetary geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, reports that a Sol 3185 drive went well.

The robot is now near a low, linear ridge. “This ridge attracted the attention of the tactical science team so several observations of it are included in a 3-sol weekend plan,” Herkenhoff adds.

Weekend science

This weekend plan was slated to start with a Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) raster on a dark, rough target named “Chalagnac” and a Mastcam 5×2 stereo mosaic of the area surrounding Chalagnac.

Mastcam was set to also take a 5×1 stereo mosaic of a nearby trough before arm activities begin.

The DRT will be used to brush dust off a bedrock target dubbed “Chauffour” and ChemCam’s Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) will be used to take pictures of the drill bit to look for changes.

Herkenhoff points out that the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) was to then take full suites of images of Chauffour and a nearby darker target called “Le Manet,” then the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) was to be placed on Le Manet for an evening integration and on Chauffour for a longer overnight integration.

“The resulting data should be useful in measuring differences in the chemical composition of these targets,” Herkenhoff says.

Planned drive toward the southwest

On the second sol (3188), the plan called for Mastcam acquire a big stereo mosaic of a butte to the west of the rover, then ChemCam will fire its laser at a bedrock target named “Campsegret” and acquire a 10×1 RMI mosaic of layering exposed in a cliff face toward the south.

“Mastcam will then take a documentation image of the Campsegret laser spots, a multispectral observation of the Chauffour brushed spot, and measure the dust in the atmosphere above the rover by imaging the Sun,” Herkenhoff notes. “Navcam will then search for dust devils and clouds and measure the dust opacity within Gale Crater. A drive toward the southwest is then planned, followed by the standard post-drive imaging of the terrain surrounding new rover location.”

Dust in the atmosphere

The third sol (3189) begins with a ChemCam LIBS observation of an autonomously-selected target and a Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) maintenance activity.

Later that afternoon, Mastcam will acquire a 13×2 stereo mosaic of a butte toward the southeast of the expected post-drive location and Navcam will survey the sky.

“Early in the morning of Sol 3190, Navcam will again search for clouds and Mastcam will again measure the dust in the atmosphere above the rover and across Gale Crater,” Herkenhoff concludes. “Another busy weekend for our intrepid explorer!”

Apollo Over the Moon in Perspective by Ronald A. Wells (Author), Harrison H. Schmitt (Author), Robert Godwin (Series Editor); CG Publishing/Apogee Books; 230 pages; Soft cover: $29.95

This multi-faceted volume provides exquisite detail and unique looks of the Moon as seen through the Apollo “J” missions – the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 Moon landing sojourns designed for longer stays on Earth’s celestial neighbor, including the first time humans drove a rover across the lunar surface.

As a sequel to his book “Apollo on the Moon in Perspective,” author Ron Wells uses cutting-edge photogrammetry techniques, providing the reader astounding views of some of the most distinctive features of the Moon seen from angles never before possible.

This book includes a multitude of 3D anaglyphs created painstakingly by the author including features from the lunar far side. 3D anaglyph glasses are provided.

This glossy book also includes a revealing DVD that includes flybys over many of the lunar features derived from 3D models. There are digital terrain model flybys of 40 lunar locations and a brand new unique movie. It is narrated by Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt, describing his flight over the Taurus Littrow valley, the site where he would spend three days as the only scientist to walk on the Moon.

This extraordinary volume is dedicated “to the unsung heroes of the Apollo lunar landing missions,” the Command Module Pilots:

Mike Collins, Dick Gordon, Stu Roosa, Al Worden, Ken Mattingly and Ron Evans.

“While their colleagues were exploring the lunar surface, they maintained their lone vigils in orbit, making scientific observations and imaging the Moon in unprecedented detail while waiting for the moonwalkers to return.”

As Schmitt writes in the book’s foreword, underscoring the tenacity of Wells to produce this matchless work, the volume “represents the latest culmination of his never ending search for new knowledge and the means to draw you into that quest with him. Working with him on the last chapter of this book, ‘Colors Across the Moon,’ was both a pleasure and a stimulation of new thoughts about volcanism on the Moon as well as about the evolution of that small planet.”

For more information on this book, go to:

https://www.cgpublishing.com/Books/9781989044131.html

 

Look for a major reveal regarding the search for technological signatures from extraterrestrial civilizations.

To be showcased Monday, the multi-prong Galileo Project also may foster the discovery of — or better scientific explanations for potential new natural atmospheric phenomena, or in some instances terrestrial technology explanations for many of the presently inexplicable Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAPs).

One aspect of searching for UAP is with a network of mid-sized, high-resolution telescopes and detector arrays with suitable cameras and computer systems, distributed in select locations. The data will be open to the public and the scientific analysis will be transparent.

 

The Galileo Project follows three major avenues of research:

1) Obtain high-resolution, multi-detector UAP images, discover their nature;

2) Search for and carry out in-depth research on “Oumuamua-like” interstellar objects; and

3) Search for potential satellites from extraterrestrial technological civilizations that may be exploring Earth.

 

 

 

 

International research team

The Galileo Project: “Daring to Look Through New Telescopes” is headed by Avi Loeb of the Harvard Astronomy Department. Loeb is leading an 11-person international research team that includes university astronomers, computer and chemistry experts and research scholars. The effort also includes scientific and philanthropic advisory boards.

According to a fact sheet, the goal of the Galileo Project is to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of extraterrestrial technological civilizations “from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends to the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research.”

As a ground-based project, the new initiative is complementary to traditional SETI, “in that it searches for physical objects, and not electromagnetic signals, associated with extraterrestrial technological equipment.”

Sufficiently anomalous

The existing data on UAP and that interstellar interloper “Oumuamua” are sufficiently anomalous to motivate the collection of additional data on UAP or Oumuamua-like objects “and to test whether such objects may be astro-archeological artifacts or active technological equipment produced by one or more putative, existing or extinct extraterrestrial technological civilizations.

Loeb told Inside Outer Space that the project is based on donations that he had received into my research funds at Harvard with a current total of 1.755 million dollars. “To get all the most ambitious science goals done, we need ten times that level of funding.”

Press conference details

The press conference on Monday, July 26, 2021 at 12 noon EDT, will announce the Galileo Project and its goals.

Below are the links where livestream will be available.

YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtDWoZ5lLINstvJvALwKYXA

Facebook event link:

https://business.facebook.com/events/3076366245977223/

For more information on the Galileo Project for the systematic scientific search for evidence of extraterrestrial technological artifacts, go to:

https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/galileo

 

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has provided guidelines, eligibility, and criteria for the administration of the FAA Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program.

“In order to maintain the prestige of Commercial Space Astronaut Wings, the FAA may further refine the eligibility requirements at any time as it deems appropriate.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To read the full document, go to:

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/FAA_Order_8800.2.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In late 2022, an Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon lander is to carry several payloads, including a Nokia LTE/4G communications system to the lunar South Pole – a wireless communications network on the Moon that serves as a communications gateway to Earth.

Nova-C will also carry an M1 Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover — built by Lunar Outpost, headquartered in Golden, Colorado —  that is equipped with Nokia’s LTE/4G user equipment and deployable antennas.

Lunar Outpost’s rover will tote several other commercial and scientific payloads on-board during the mission, scheduled for late 2022.

Long-range, low-latency communications

Once on the lunar surface, MAPP will drive off the lander to study the capabilities of Nokia’s lunar LTE/4G communications system.

According to a Lunar Outpost statement, over the course of its 12-day mission, MAPP will traverse the lunar surface and enable Nokia to collect performance data on its LTE/4G system. The intent is to showcase an effective LTE/4G architecture on the Moon, Nokia, Lunar Outpost, and Intuitive Machines will provide high-throughput, long-range, and low-latency communications on the lunar surface.

“Intra-lunar communication will be a linchpin for large-scale future efforts on the Moon,” said Justin Cyrus, CEO and founder of Lunar Outpost.

Cyrus also noted that the MAPP rover will serve as the mobility platform for this crucial mission, with the Moon machinery built to take on the temperature range and rough landscape at the lunar south pole.

Lunar Outpost’s Heavy In-situ Propellant Production Off-world Rover (HIPPO Rover) is also in development, able to extract and transport over 660 pounds (300 kilograms) of ice at a time.

For more information about Lunar Outpost and their creative Moon gear, go to:

https://lunaroutpost.com/

Legislation from Senior Ways and Means Democrat would tax space travel for non-scientific research purposes

As the space tourism race continues today, U.S. Rep Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, previewed a new space tax.

The Securing Protections Against Carbon Emissions (SPACE) Tax Act would create new excise taxes on commercial space flights carrying human passengers for purposes other than scientific research.

“Space exploration isn’t a tax-free holiday for the wealthy. Just as normal Americans pay taxes when they buy airline tickets, billionaires who fly into space to produce nothing of scientific value should do the same, and then some,” said Blumenauer in a statement. “I’m not opposed to this type of space innovation. However, things that are done purely for tourism or entertainment, and that don’t have a scientific purpose, should in turn support the public good.” 

Environmental impact

As this budding space tourism industry takes shape, Blumenauer is particularly concerned about the environmental impact of sending humans into space, particularly when there is no scientific value associated with the launch. The number of trips to space are expected to increase, with Virgin Galactic planning to eventually launch a shuttle of passengers into space, on average, every 32 hours.

While proponents of suborbital space flights point to transatlantic flights as having similar carbon footprints, these flights carry significantly more passengers and travel much farther. The result is space launches accounting for an estimated 60-times greater emissions than transatlantic flights on a per-passenger basis, enough to drive a car around the earth and more than twice the carbon budget recommended in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Researchers are also actively exploring the impact of space launches on accelerating the depletion of stratospheric ozone, which is orders of magnitude greater for rocket engines using alumina-producing solid rocket fuel or black soot-producing kerosene.

Per-passenger tax

Blumenauer envisions the SPACE Tax Act to include a per-passenger tax on the price of a commercial flight to space, like that for commercial aviation.

It would also include a two-tiered excise tax for each launch into space. The first tier would apply to suborbital flights exceeding 50 miles above the Earth’s surface but not exceeding 80 miles above the Earth’s surface. The second tier, which would levy a significantly higher excise tax, would apply for orbital flights exceeding 80 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Exemptions would be made available for NASA spaceflights for scientific research purposes. In the case of flights where some passengers are working on behalf of NASA for scientific research purposes and others are not, the launch excise tax shall be the pro rata share of the non-NASA researchers.

From Niall McCarthy, Data Journalist at Statista.com:

Once denied the chance to go into space by the U.S. government due to her gender back in the 1960s, Wally Funk finally fulfilled her lifelong dream yesterday. Funk is a highly experienced pilot with a whopping 18,600 hours in the cockpit and she was part of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin crew that conducted an 11-minute flight yesterday.

At 82 years of age, Funk became the oldest person to go into space, breaking a record set by John Glenn in 1998.

 

 

After becoming the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, Glenn retired as an astronaut and became a senator for a number of years. The famed astronaut returned to space in October 1998 when he took part in a mission onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery at the age of 77.

Franklin Story Musgrave is the only astronaut to have flown onboard all five Space Shuttles and he is the third-oldest person to make it into space thanks to a 1996 flight onboard the Shuttle Columbia, according to website oldest.com.

 

 

 

Book Review: Wally Funk’s Race for Space – The Extraordinary Story of a Female Aviation Pioneer

https://www.leonarddavid.com/book-review-wally-funks-race-for-space-the-extraordinary-story-of-a-female-aviation-pioneer/

 

 

 

Blue Origin successfully completed New Shepard’s first human flight today with four private citizens onboard. The crew included Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen, who all officially became astronauts when they passed the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.

Go to Blue Origin at:

https://www.blueorigin.com/

Replay – New Shepard First Human Flight at:

https://youtu.be/tMHhXzpwupU

Replay – First Human Flight Post-Flight Press Conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmpb7xJJ10I

Three Chinese astronauts, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, have worked and lived in the space station core module for a month since the Shenzhou-12 piloted spacecraft was launched into space.

The astronauts have been in good condition after completing their first extravehicular operations, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). A second spacewalk is scheduled to take place.

China’s space station is operating smoothly, with the trio of Taikonauts busily carrying out various duties, such as collection of trace elements in the air and performing routine medical examinations.

Exercise regime

According to China Central Television (CCTV), telecommunication facilities on board the core module enable the crew to watch the Xinwen Lianbo (News Simulcast), a domestic news program. Since they are stationed in the core module, the ground support team has been regularly sending them news programs, to keep them up to date on what is occurring on Earth.

They exercise for about an hour after watching the news, using sports facilities in the core module, such as an exercise bike and a treadmill.

“Their physical fatigue, sleep, eating and drinking water, the whole body metabolism, nutrition, health status, through our comprehensive evaluation, are very good,” Xu Chong, director of the medical supervision and insurance department of China Astronaut Research and Training Center told CCTV.

According to the ground supporting team, the astronauts’ exercise amount and intensity were decided in terms of their own physical conditions. Each of them has their own exercise plan.

“It’s a daily routine for the astronauts to do exercise. We have formulated different exercise plans for each of the three astronauts, with a training intensity reaching 60 to 80 percent of their maximum capacity. That’s a medium to high intensity for them. As they stay longer in space, we have to increase the intensity of their exercise plans, so that they are able to maintain the physiological effects against weightlessness,” said Li Yinghui, the deputy chief designer of the astronaut system with China Astronaut Research and Training Center.

Space experiments

Starting Saturday, the space travelers put on heart rate and rhythm recording devices as part of experiments in space medicine. For the first time ever, China’s space station used a scientific research cabinet that is capable of conducting space medicine and space life science experiments, setting a total of 49 space experiment projects.

During the Shenzhou 12 mission in space, the astronauts will complete 14 of them.

“We set three aims for these 14 experimental projects. The first one is that the mission needs the technologies that are able to support advanced development, so the projects were set for making technical reserves to support the mission,” said Li.

“The second one is to set sights on the leading edge, so as to obtain new discoveries and new explorations. The third one is to continuously accumulate long-term flight data,” Li told CCTV.

For a video update on China space station operations issued by CCTV/China National Space Administration (CNSA), go to:

https://youtu.be/CjqdohF1hME

https://youtu.be/kCsMlQThjkA