Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS NEARLY 13 YEARS AND 4 MONTH.
ON /30/09/2024 MORE THAN 2.230.520
VISITORS FROM 135 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
23-05-2018
Time travel path? Interdimensional portal opens up in Scotland skies, baffles many
Time travel path? Interdimensional portal opens up in Scotland skies, baffles many
The conspiracy theory channel quickly clarified that the lights are not the reflection of any spotlight on the ground either.
Videograb showing a Portal in the sky with a white light moving nearer to it.
(Youtube)Youtube
A video apparently shot from Midlothian, near Edinburgh, Scotland is now the hottest debating point among UFO buffs and time travel enthusiasts. The video shows a blue circular light that appears to open up in the night sky. Interestingly, a flying object goes near the alleged interdimensional portal, and soon it gets closed.
The video was originally uploaded on YouTube by a channel named 'Mothernature444'. The uploader revealed that the portal was visible in the skies until sunrise. Later, the clip was shared by conspiracy theory channel 'Secureteam10'. The video soon went viral, and it has picked up more than 1,70,000 views in just nine hours.
Tyler Glockner, the conspiracy theorist who runs Secureteam10 strongly assured that the light featured in the Scottish skies is, in fact, a portal. The conspiracy theory channel quickly clarified that the lights are not the reflection of any spotlight on the ground either.
"It really looks like something outputting a lot of light. It is definitely not a spotlight on the ground. It appears to be shrinking and shrinking until the sky completely swallows it up," said Glockner in the video.
As the video went viral, viewers soon started putting forward various theories to explain the weird sky phenomenon. Some spectators argued that the portal appeared on the skies could be meant for time travelling. Another section of viewers speculated that aliens might be using these portals to travel huge interstellar distance.
"There is something strange going on that they are trying to hide. Ever notice how most days there are clouds covering the sunset? In the early afternoon, you can see the chemtrail planes at work, come time sunset, covered by clouds. They are hiding something up there and its serious business," commented Brice Lindy, a YouTube user.
However, skeptics argue that these are all normal phenomenon. Scott Cramp, a YouTube user revealed that the light emanating in the sky might be actually from the moon hidden behind the clouds.
"As a drone pilot who shoots constantly in sunrise morning conditions, I can tell you that the "portal" is simply a parting of the thick clouds with light brimming underneath. It's not to different from when you get a sun ray, only in these conditions the sun is low in the horizon. I've captured that many times in my drone videos," commented YouTube user 2nd Earth.
Interdimensional Portals Opened Up The Sky Of Troitskaya, Russia, Jan 5, 2016
UFO entering Interdimensional Portal over Geneva SWITZERLAND - Dec 2015 !!!
REUTERSArtistieke voorstelling van het mogelijke bestaan van Planeet Negen.
MILIEUBestaat er een negende planeet, nog ver voorbij Neptunus in ons zonnestelsel? Sinds 2016 is er dat sterke vermoeden, gebaseerd op indirecte bewijzen, met name het opmerkelijke gedrag van asteroïden. Er is nu weer zo eentje opgedoken, asteroïde 2015 BP519. Het blijft wel wachten op een visuele waarneming als ultiem bewijs voor die andere wereld.
Planeet Negen, zoals de hypothetische planeet genoemd wordt, zou tien keer de aardmassa omvatten. Het bestaan ervan zou onder meer de ongewone baan van de nog niet zo lang geleden ontdekte asteroïde 2015 BP519 kunnen verklaren. Als Planeet Negen echt gespot zou worden, dan is het de eerste ontdekking van een planeet in ons zonnestelsel sinds 1930, toen Pluto in het vizier kwam. Tot 2006 was Pluto de negende planeet, naast Mercurius, Venus, Aarde, Mars, Jupiter, Saturnus, Uranus en Neptunus. Twaalf jaar geleden is Pluto geherkwalificeerd naar dwergplaneet. En vóór Pluto moeten we al teruggaan tot 1846, toen Neptunus ontdekt werd.
Asteroïde 2015 BP519 werd drie jaar geleden al gespot, op een afstand van 55 keer die tussen de Aarde en de zon. Sindsdien volgen astronomen, onder leiding van Juliette Becker van de universiteit van Michigan, BP519 op. Hun conclusie is nu dat het ruimtelijke rotsblok een zeer ongewone baan volgt. Die kan het makkelijkst verklaard worden door de zwaartekracht van een enorme planeet, tot nu toe nog ongezien.
Computersimulaties
De baan van BP519 brengt de asteroïde van 35 tot 863 keer de straal van de baan van de Aarde. Het gekke is dat de ruimterots in een hoek van 54 graden helt naar de banen van de aarde, de andere planeten en de meeste asteroïden. Als we ervan uitgaan dat BP519 gevormd is in hetzelfde vlak als de andere objecten in het zonnestelsel, dan is er voor de kanteling ervan een grote zwaartekracht nodig om BP519 in positie te hijsen. Becker en haar team deden verscheidene computersimulaties. Van zodra ze zo’n grote planeet in hun modellen staken, kon de baan van BP519 verklaard worden door de zwaartekracht.
Al sinds 2014 wordt er gedacht aan een planeet in het zonnestelsel nog verder dan Neptunus. Astronomen Chadwick Trujillo en Scott Sheppard kwamen er toen mee af. Sinds de aankondiging van een hypothetische planeet twee jaar later door Konstantin Batygin en Michael Brown van Caltech University spreken astronomen van Planeet Negen.
Superaarde
Het enige sluitende bewijs zou zijn dat de bewuste planeet ook visueel waargenomen wordt. Maar dat zou weleens heel lastig kunnen zijn, omdat ze mogelijk honderden keren verder van de zon staat dan de Aarde. Als het ooit zover is, dan zou dat echt wel spectaculair zijn. Dan wordt het bestaan bevestigd van een enorme nieuwe wereld, een superaarde, nooit eerder zo dichtbij waargenomen in ons eigen zonnestelsel. De tot nu toe ontdekte superaardes bevinden zich rond andere sterren. In ons zonnestelsel is de Aarde de grootste rotsachtige planeet.
Astronomen kunnen anderzijds ook objecten vinden die de hypothese van Planeet Negen niet staven. In dat geval zullen ze op zoek moeten gaan naar andere verklaringen voor die verre asteroïden met hun vreemde banen.
WETENSCHAP & PLANEET Een team van wetenschappers reist volgende maand naar het Schotse Loch Ness met een bijzondere missie. Het wil aan de hand van DNA-onderzoek uitvlooien wat er allemaal leeft in het grootste zoetwaterreservoir van het Verenigd Koninkrijk. En of er een wetenschappelijke basis is voor de eeuwenoude legende van het monster dat er in het water zou huizen.
Twee weken lang zullen stalen genomen worden van het water in het meer. Het genetisch materiaal daarin zal vervolgens worden geanalyseerd om te bepalen welke organismen er allemaal in Loch Ness leven. De expeditie wordt geleid door professor Neil Gemmell (51) uit Nieuw-Zeeland.
“Ik denk niet dat er een monster in het meer zit”, vertelt hij. “Maar ik sta open voor het idee dat er nog dingen te ontdekken zijn en dat er dingen zijn die nog niet ten volle worden begrepen. Misschien is er wel een biologische verklaring voor enkele van de verhalen. Zoals de bewering dat het monster eigenlijk een grote vis is, zoals een meerval of een steur.” (lees hieronder verder)
APProfessor Neil Gemmell start volgende maand met zijn onderzoek..
De stalen zullen opgestuurd worden naar laboratoria in Australië, Denemarken, Frankrijk en Nieuw-Zeeland en onderzocht aan de hand van een genetische database. “Het staat buiten kijf dat er nieuwigheden gevonden zullen worden en dat is erg opwindend”, aldus Gemmell. “Hoewel het leuke van ons project het zoeken is naar bewijs voor het bestaan van een monster, zullen we een enorme hoeveelheid nieuwe kennis verwerven over de organismen die in Loch Ness wonen.”
Er werkt ook een lokale expert mee aan het onderzoek. Adrian Shine van het Loch Ness Project verklaarde de aanhoudende interesse voor het monster eerder al als “een poging van de mens om in een krimpende wereld op zoek te gaan naar iets dat groter is dan hemzelf, iets angstaanjagends, iets mysterieus of iets dat in het verborgene leeft.” (lees hieronder verder)
RV
De bekende schimmige foto van het monster van Loch Ness
REUTERS
Adrian Shine van het Loch Ness Project.
De oudste (bekende) waarneming van een monster gaat terug tot het jaar 564 en werd beschreven in Life of St. Columba van Adomnán. Een missionaris zou op missie om mensen te bekeren tot het christendom langs een begrafenis gekomen zijn bij de rivier Ness. Volgens de omstaanders was de overledene gedood door een ‘waterbeest’. Daarop stuurde Columba zijn assistent het water in en die werd meteen aangevallen. Met een kruis en gebeden kon de heilige het monster echter terugsturen naar de diepten waar het vandaan kwam.
De daaropvolgende eeuwen bleven getuigenissen van waarnemingen opduiken, iets wat het plaatselijke toerisme geen windeieren legde. De ontwikkeling van de fotografie gaf de legende een nieuwe adem en in 1933 en 1934 haalden wazige foto’s van het monster zelfs de voorpagina’s van nationale kranten in het Verenigd Koninkrijk.
Opwinding
In 2016 was er nog flink wat opwinding nadat Nessie-jagers met een robotscanner iets gevonden hadden op de bodem van het meer. De vorm leek verdacht veel op het traditionele beeld dat we hebben van het monster. Dat bleek geen toeval: het ging om een gezonken decorstuk van een film uit de jaren zeventig: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. (lees hieronder verder)
REUTERS
De robotscanner die in 2016 een vreemde vorm vond op de bodem van Loch Ness.
Konsberg Maritimes
Tot nog toe werd er echter nog geen enkel hard bewijs gevonden voor het bestaan van het monster. “Ik veronderstel dat we er ook geen sporen van zullen vinden”, aldus professor Gemmell. “Maar ik wil de hypothese graag testen. Het zal ons sowieso een mooi overzicht geven van de biodiversiteit in het meer.”
WEERNIEUWS De speciale wolk die gisteravond heel wat monden deed openvallen in de provincie Antwerpen was een ‘divergent eddy’ of een ‘afwijkende dwarrelwind’. Dat zegt VTM-weervrouw Jill Peeters.
Gisteren moest de weervrouw het antwoord op de naam van de fascinerende wolkenformatie schuldig blijven. “Maar ik was er wel van in de wolken!”, lachte ze. Vandaag laat ze weten dat het om een divergent eddy gaat. Maar wat is dat juist?
“Het is lucht die op grotere hoogte allemaal samenkomt en dan naar beneden stroomt”, legt Jill Peeters uit. “Dat is een heel langzaam proces, waardoor je eigenlijk bedrogen wordt als je ernaar kijkt, want je ziet het amper bewegen.” De gigantische krul in de lucht deed een beetje denken aan het oog van een orkaan. Dat was het dus zeker niet. De wolk werd onder meer opgemerkt Zoersel en Putte.
Soms kost omhoog kijken geen enkele moeite en krijgen we er zoveel voor terug. Deze prachtige #weerfoto werd vanavond gemaakt in #Schoten#België. Bedankt Tim Roelans om te delen met ons! #cloudporn
Ga ik wandelen -zonder gsm - zie ik de hele tijd een onbeweeglijke, gigantische #krul in de wolken Gelukkig namen jullie er foto’s van, zoals in #Zoersel en #Antwerpen. Wie nog?! Foto @lieselotboens#indewolken
Dit weerfenomeen is zo speciaal dat zelfs weervrouw Jill Peeters niet weet of er wel een naam voor...
Inwoners van het noorden van Antwerpen konden aan de hemel een prachtig schouwspel gadeslaan. Een fascinerende wolkenformatie baarde deze avond opzien in onder meer Schilde en Zoersel.
Is ET trying to phone or fly home? Scientists tend to think not, but they are hoping to find out more about extremely powerful and bright radio signals in outer space.
Key points:
Search for aliens detects extremely powerful and bright radio signal
Astronomical community abuzz after discovering more mysterious blips
Scientists say extra terrestrial life theory must be considered as "a last resort"
The Breakthrough Listen project discovered what is called a Fast Radio Burst while scanning the skies from Australia as part of the biggest search for extra terrestrial life in the Milky Way and nearby stars.
Breakthrough Listen scientist Danny Price said it was exciting when the burst from billions of light years away was picked up, but it was unlikely aliens were behind it.
"There are lots of theories out there, there are some theories that they are from extra terrestrial propulsion systems; these theories you have to go to as a last resort," Mr Price said.
He said astrophysical events had to be ruled out first.
It is not the first burst to be detected, with the CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope picking up the first one in 2001.
The bursts last for about a millisecond, and sound like an ambulance driving past when picked up by special receivers.
Some believe the powerful burst could be a cataclysmic event, similar to a blackhole or star exploding.
While it is not as Earth-shattering as finding signs of an intelligent alien civilisation, it has still created a buzz in the astronomical community.
"We're in on the very ground floor where a new field of radio astronomy research is opening up for us for the first time and are able to perhaps identify something new, something that we haven't observed before and that is really exciting," CSIRO scientist John Sarkissian said.
While about two dozen of the signals have been picked up in almost as many years at the Dish, there is optimism Australia will continue to help lead the way in astronomical discoveries.
"What would have taken 10 million years, now only takes one year for us to survey so it is really fantastic how quickly technology has progressed," Mr Price said.
As for finding other intelligent civilisations, we will have to wait.
"The search will never really end until we find something because we keep on getting so much better," Mr Price said.
Mysterieus radiosignaal opgevangen tijdens grootste zoektocht ooit naar aliens. Dit zeggen wetenschappers erover
Mysterieus radiosignaal opgevangen tijdens grootste zoektocht ooit naar aliens. Dit zeggen wetenschappers erover
Extreem krachtige en heldere radiosignalen uit de ruimte blijven de gemoederen bezighouden. Het Breakthrough Listen-project heeft tijdens de grootste zoektocht naar buitenaards leven in de Melkweg een snelle radioflits ontdekt.
Volgens sommige theorieën zijn dergelijke flitsen afkomstig van buitenaardse aandrijfsystemen, maar die zijn het minst waarschijnlijk, zei wetenschapper Danny Price.
Hij zei dat astrofysische gebeurtenissen eerst moeten worden uitgesloten.
Ambulance
Al sinds 2001 worden met behulp van de Parkes-radiotelescoop in Australië van deze vreemde signalen opgevangen.
Ze duren ongeveer een milliseconde en klinken als ze worden opgevangen als een ambulance die voorbij raast.
Sommigen denken dat de krachtige flitsen verband houden met zwarte gaten of exploderende sterren.
Erg spannend
“We zien binnen de radioastronomie een nieuw onderzoeksveld ontstaan en kunnen mogelijk iets nieuws gaan ontdekken, iets wat we nog nooit eerder hebben waargenomen, en dat is erg spannend,” zei wetenschapper John Sarkissian.
In de afgelopen twee decennia zijn ruim 20 van deze signalen opgevangen door de telescoop.
Ondertussen blijft de zoektocht naar andere intelligente beschavingen doorgaan.
Op de foto is het zuidelijke sterrenbeeld Centaur te zien. Er zijn meer dan 200.000 sterren te spotten.
We zien hier o.a. de rand van de Kolenzaknevel (rechtsboven) en de heldere ster Beta Centauri (linksonder). Uiteindelijk zal TESS een gebied in de gaten houden dat meer dan 400 keer groter is dan het gebied op deze foto. Het kiekje is gemaakt door één van de vier TESS-camera’s. De camera gebruikte een belichtingstijd van twee seconden.
Scheervlucht langs de maan NASA’s volgende planetenjager TESS vloog voor het weekend op een afstand van 8.000 kilometer van de maan. Op 30 mei voert het ruimtevaartuig een laatste koerscorrectie uit. Dan zal TESS zich nestelen in een hoge elliptische baan om de aarde. Iedere 13,7 dagen legt de satelliet een rondje om onze planeet af.
De tweede foto In juni maakt TESS een tweede foto, die een nog betere kwaliteit heeft. Als de kalibraties eenmaal voltooid zijn, gaat de Amerikaanse sonde beginnen met het echte werk. Naar verwachting is dit op z’n vroegst midden juni.
Wat gaat TESS doen? Het is de bedoeling dat TESS de komende twee jaar zeker 500.000 nabije sterren gaat bestuderen. NASA hoopt zeker 3000 kandidaat-planeten te vinden, waaronder ongeveer 500 planeten die net zo groot zijn als de aarde en superaardes (straal kleiner dan twee keer de straal van de aarde).
Voor het eerst een interstellaire planetoïde ontdekt die zich in ons zonnestelsel thuis voelt 22 mei 2018Caroline Kraaijvanger13 De planetoïde is er al 4,5 miljard jaar en is niet meer van plan om weg te gaan. Vorig jaar ontdekten onderzoekers de alleree
Voor het eerst een interstellaire planetoïde ontdekt die zich in ons zonnestelsel thuis voelt
Caroline Kraaijvanger
De planetoïde is er al 4,5 miljard jaar en is niet meer van plan om weg te gaan.
Vorig jaar ontdekten onderzoekers de allereerste interstellaire planetoïde: ‘Oumuamua. En nu is opnieuw een interstellaire migrant ontdekt: planetoïde (514107) 2015 BZ509. In tegenstelling tot ‘Oumuamua – die op doortocht is en zich uit ons zonnestelsel haast – heeft 2015 BZ509 zich echter in ons zonnestelsel gevestigd. Dat schrijven onderzoekers in het blad Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. Ze baseren zich onder meer op simulaties.
Retrograde omloopbaan De planetoïde (514107) 2015 BZ509 is een vreemde eend in de bijt. Observaties wijzen uit dat de ruimtesteen er een retrograde omloopbaan op na houdt. Dat betekent dat deze – ten opzichte van alle planeten en de meeste andere objecten in ons zonnestelsel – in tegenovergestelde richting rond de zon cirkelt. En dat is vreemd. “Hoe de planetoïde op deze manier kan bewegen terwijl deze de baan van Jupiter deelt, was tot voor kort een mysterie,” zo stelt onderzoeker Fathi Namouni. “Als 2015 BZ509 in ons zonnestelsel geboren zou zijn, zou deze in dezelfde richting moeten bewegen als alle andere planeten en planetoïden.” Al die planeten en planetoïden zijn namelijk voortgekomen uit een gas- en stofschijf die miljarden jaren geleden rond de jonge zon cirkelde en dus de draairichting van de objecten die deze genereerde, bepaalde.
Simulaties In een poging de retrograde baan van (514107) 2015 BZ509 te verklaren, voerden de onderzoekers simulaties uit. Ze simuleerden de locatie die de planetoïde door de tijd heen, had. Daarbij gingen ze terug tot zo’n 4,5 miljard jaar geleden: de periode waarin de planeten die ons zonnestelsel rijk is, net ‘af’ waren. En de simulaties tonen aan dat (514107) 2015 BZ509 in die tijd al in tegenovergestelde richting rond de zon cirkelde. Het kan maar één ding betekenen: de planetoïde is niet voortgekomen uit de gas en stofschijf rond de zon.
Hier zie je de stellaire kraamkamer NGC 604. In een vergelijkbare omgeving werd onze zon geboren. Sterren zitten er dicht op elkaar gepakt, waardoor ze onder meer planetoïden kunnen uitwisselen.
Afbeelding: NASA / Hubble Heritage Team (AURA / STScI).
Gestolen De onderzoekers vermoeden dat (514107) 2015 BZ509 eigenlijk in een ander systeem thuishoorde, maar door onze zon is ‘gestolen’. “Immigratie van planetoïden uit andere stersystemen vond plaats doordat de zon geboren werd in een dichtbevolkt stercluster, waar elke ster zijn eigen uit planeten en planetoïden bestaand systeem had,” aldus onderzoeker Helena Morais. “Het feit dat de sterren dicht bij elkaar stonden, zorgde er – geholpen door de zwaartekracht van de planeten – voor dat deze systemen elkaar aantrokken en planetoïden van elkaar afnamen en invingen.”
En nu hebben we dus voor het eerst zo’n van een andere stersysteem gestolen planetoïde ontdekt. Het is een waardevolle ontdekking, want (514107) 2015 BZ509 is getuige geweest van de kinderjaren van ons zonnestelsel en kan meer inzicht geven in de omstandigheden waaronder ons zonnestelsel is ontstaan. Bovendien sluiten de onderzoekers niet uit dat immigranten zoals (514107) 2015 BZ509 een cruciale rol hebben gespeeld in de evolutie van het zonnestelsel en uiteindelijk zelfs een bijdrage hebben geleverd aan het ontstaan van leven. “Aangezien elk stersysteem een onderscheidende chemische samenstelling heeft, kunnen immigrerende planetoïden zoals (514107) 2015 BZ509 ons zonnestelsel verrijkt hebben met elementen die hier van nature niet voorkwamen,” aldus Morais. “Op die manier kunnen ze hebben bijgedragen aan het ontstaan van leven op aarde.”
Dark Futures: Does Humanity Really Need a Backup Earth?
Dark Futures: Does Humanity Really Need a Backup Earth?
By Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor
If things went south on Earth, could Mars or an exoplanet be Earth 2.0?
Credit: T. Pyle/NASA/JPL-Caltech
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has a vision: He wants to get humans to Mars as soon as possible. He already wowed the world this year, when the Falcon Heavy launched and flung a Tesla car toward the asteroid belt. And this heavy-lift rocket will be dwarfed by the boosters Musk plans for Mars exploration, which he says will carry colonists in fleets of ships to the Red Planet.
While getting to Mars is an end in itself, there's another compelling reason to go. Science fiction is full of dystopian futures for Earth if humanity remains limited to this planet. There are the asteroid strikes of the "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" films, the robot wars of the "Battlestar Galactica" TV series and "Terminator" film franchise, the medical problems and overpopulation in the "Children of Men" and "Elysium" movies, and many other disasters natural and artificial. Dark futures and colonizing other planets will be covered in "AMC Visionaries: James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction," which runs its fourth episode tonight (May 21).
Science fiction inspired the first rocket pioneers to explore beyond Earth. Robert Goddard, who pushed forward liquid rocketry in the early 1900s, was clearly a fan of the genre, because he wrote some science fiction himself, according to io9. The Apollo moon rockets of the 1960s and 1970s were designed by Wernher von Braun, who enjoyed science fiction as a child and partnered with Disney in the 1950s to create educational films about spaceflight. [Gallery: Visions of Interstellar Starship Travel]
And a quick glance around the solar system shows us one real-life reason scientists — and indeed, all of us — should take a page from science fiction and be concerned about Earth's future. The moon, Mars and many of the "airless" moons around the neighborhood are littered with craters. These came from space rocks and other small worlds that slammed into the moon's and planet's surfaces over billions of years.
Lest you imagine that Earth is immune because of its thick atmosphere, think of the dinosaurs, felled about 66 million years ago when a large asteroid or comet around 10 to 15 kilometers (6.2 to 9.3 miles) in diameter slammed into the Earth. We also just passed the five-year anniversary of Chelyabinsk, when a 17-meter (56 feet) small body exploded over a town in Russia, causing many injuries and property damage from shattered glass.
NASA does have an active asteroid-search program and some plans for dealing with asteroids menacing Earth, but even preparing for those intruders isn't enough; there's another, bigger inevitable threat to our planet. In about 4 billion years or 5 billion years, the sun will swell into a red giant after it consumes all of its hydrogen and begins fusing helium. As the star expands, it will swallow up Mercury and Venus and get close to Earth. Our planet will be roasted to a crisp, thrown out of its orbit or swallowed altogether. In any of these scenarios, that's bad news for humans and life on Earth in general.
Legendary director James Cameron talks the dark futures of science fiction with director Christopher Nolan in the fourth episode of AMC Visionaries: James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction, which airs May 21, 2019.
Credit: AMC
Get your a— to Mars
One popular destination for escaping Earth in science fiction is Mars. At first, this was because people thought other beings like us may live there. In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli reported observing channels on Mars, but stopped short of saying whether they were natural or artificial. U.S. science popularizer Percival Lowell, however, went much further in the early 1900s, coming up with explanations as to why the channels were there. Perhaps the Martians were trying to drain water to support a dying planet, Lowell said. (The channels, or canals, were later explained as telescope artifacts when robotic missions to Mars showed the formations don't exist.)
This turn-of-the-century musing greatly influenced science fiction of the era. There was the famous "War of the Worlds" novel by H.G. Wells in 1898, which portrayed a Martian invasion of Earth. (It was recapped in a 1938 national radio broadcast, as well as a 2005 film starring Tom Cruise.) Also, Edgar Rice Burroughs published "A Princess of Mars" in 1912, kicking off a series about Mars (which he called Barsoom) full of living beings. (The widely panned 2012 movie "John Carter" was based on some of these stories.) [Film Review: 'War of the Worlds' Update Hits Home]
Robert Zubrin, founder of the human exploration advocacy group The Mars Society, told Space.com that Mars will someday be an inhabited planet as science fiction writers envisioned. As only two examples of many showing that future, there's the 2015 Matt Damon movie "The Martian" or the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film "Total Recall," which included the famous line, "Get your a— to Mars."
But why does science fiction make exploration look so much easier than we find in real life? Zubrin said, in part, it's because of our mindset.
"Here we are, 500 years or so after [Nicolaus] Copernicus [who said Earth orbits the sun], and most people still talk about the Earth as the world, and there's a thing above us called the sky. Most people still have this geocentric viewpoint," Zubrin told Space.com, pointing out that Earth is in space and we rarely think about that fact in our everyday lives.
Zubrin said our approach of going to Mars via low Earth orbit and the moon is incremental. This approach to space exploration, he said, is similar to telling Lewis and Clark to just go 100 miles (160 kilometers) out beyond the Mississippi River and to wait for the next group of explorers to move farther west.
"If someone asks you why space is so important, it's comparative to somebody in a small village somewhere saying, 'Why is the rest of the world important?' which is sort of an absurd question," Zubrin said. So, he advocates going elsewhere in search of resources, knowledge or a safe haven that we couldn't find on Earth. Interstellar travel would be the ultimate dream, Zubrin said, but in the meantime, we should focus on what we have at hand: Mars, which is close enough to visit using today's technology.
"The most important step is deciding that you want to do it. This is really the dramatic step that Elon Musk is taking," Zubrin said. "There are people at NASA who want to do it, but as an institution, it has been dragging its feet and providing every excuse to the political class not to embrace the challenge."
Moving to Mars — or beyond?
Zubrin's plan (which he outlined in a 1991 paper called "Mars Direct," and which he has expanded on greatly since then) advocates for a direct flight to Mars, with minimal or no on-orbit assembly of the spacecraft. Using current propulsion systems, a spacecraft could get to the Red Planet in six months — the standard rotation astronauts spend on the International Space Station, Zubrin pointed out.
The first missions would bring most of the supplies those travelers would need to live, such as food and water. But the early trips could also bring along architecture so later missions could do more "living off the land," such as greenhouses or habitats. (The first Mars voyagers may eat more meat brought with them, while future generations would be more vegetarian due to the resources on hand, Zubrin said.) He said the habitats of the Mars Society's Mars Desert Research Station and Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station are designed to preview what real Red Planet homes could look like.
The return vehicle would include propellant made from Martian carbon dioxide and water, specifically to generate the fuels methane and oxygen. Zubrin said it's the cheapest propellant combination, with only a hydrogen-oxygen mix providing better exhaust velocity.
But there's a big problem with Mars — it's not very much like Earth. Sure, people could conceivable live on it with technology to manage the risks. Its day is similar in length to Earth's day, too. But the planet has only one-third of Earth's gravity. Martian air isn't breathable. Water, if it exists at all on the surface, would be in scarce quantities. Conditions are even worse on the moon, which has one-sixth Earth's gravity, a longer day-night cycle than our home planet and no air whatsoever.
"They're not places that we are necessarily going to colonize in large numbers," Roger Launius, a retired curator from the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, told Space.com. He predicted that by the end of the century, there may be research stations at the moon or Mars, similar to what exists now in Antarctica.
But to really find another home for humanity, we'll have to follow the lead of "Battlestar Galactica" and search for another Earth. Because, otherwise, children are going to be born in lunar or Martian environments that have a lesser gravity than Earth. How this will affect their development when humans are built for Earth is an unknown, Launius said.
But quickly getting to other stars, where second Earths may exist, will be slow unless we figure out a method for faster-than-light speed, or a way to sustain a spacecraft over multiple generations, Launius said. Another possibility is to extend astronaut life spans through hibernation (as done in the movies "Alien" and "Avatar") or by becoming a sort of "Star Trek"-like Borg that would integrate robotics into the human body to extend lives.
The video was captured above the French overseas port town of Saint-Pierre in Reunion Island on May 14, as a group of friends took a walk on the beach.
They noticed something bizarre in the sky and began to film.
The clip shows what appears to be a triangular craft hovering above the water before taking off into the distance.
It was later submitted to MUFON – an American-based non-profit organisation that investigates cases of alleged UFO sightings – where the witness explained how the event unfolded.
MUFON
IZARRE: Could this be a spy plane?
“Three lights appeared – two white and one red with a strong intensity in the form of a triangle”
Eyewitness
The post read: "Every night we admire the view of the coast which is very visible from where we live.
"But tonight three lights appeared – two white and one red with a strong intensity in the form of a triangle.
"Having never seen this on the area I took my camera to take photos and film.
"The object remained on the spot for about four minutes and began to move in a straight line at a fairly high speed at low altitude."
The video was later uploaded to popular YouTube conspiracy channel The Hidden Underbelly, where viewers gave their own opinions on what was captured.
One comment read: "I've seen this triangle-shaped UFO before."
Before another speculated: "That is definitely the TR-3B."
The TR-3 Black Manta is the name of a surveillance aircraft of the United States Air Force, speculated to be developed under a black project.
It is said to be a supersonic stealth spy plane with a flying wing design.
Believers in the theory say it was used during the Gulf War to provide laser designation for Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk bombers.
And it is not the first time it has reportedly been spotted.
Is this PROOF of alien testing at Area 51? Frenzy as 'UFO spotted' near secret facility
Is this PROOF of alien testing at Area 51? Frenzy as 'UFO spotted' near secret facility
BIZARRE footage has emerged that proves the United States Air Force is testing alien activity at their top-secret Area 51 base, according to wild claims online.
The video, which was captured during the night on May 4, shows the UFO hovering above a mountain range in the Nevada desert.
Steven Baron captured the event from his garden in Las Vegas and was left puzzled by what unfolded.
The clip shows a glowing article moving across the sky, appearing to pulsate and then disappear completely.
It is believed the scope in which the subject is moving could be somewhere on the grounds of Area 51.
UFOS OVER VEGAS
UFO? The bizarre object is yet to be identified
“Behind those mountains lies Area 51 and there have been a ton of these sightings recently”
YouTube viewer
It was later uploaded to Steven's YouTube channel UFOs over Vegas, where it has gained 1,000 hits so far.
And viewers are convinced it is proof that the US government is testing alien technology at the Homey Airport facility.
One comment read: "Behind those mountains lies Area 51 and there have been a ton of these sightings recently."
And another added: "When you see such light in real life, it's astounding. You know you're in the presence of something non-terrestrial, something magical, to us."
And a third simply stated: "You should go out there and camp by Area 51 to get a better look."
Conspiracists have long linked the USAF's highly classified Edwards Air Force base as being a UFO testing zone.
Some believe it is used for the storage examination and reverse engineering of crashed alien spacecraft.
While others believe the government is developing and testing the use of exotic energy weapons and weather control technology.
In January 2017, alien chasers claimed a new video appeared to show a burst into a ball of light after “leaving a volcano” while in 2016, there were numerous other stories on UFOs flying over active volcanos.
UFO hunters are convinced that witness accounts of bright, pulsating light, caught around the active volcanos is evidence their activity is within the nature of Earth.
Writing in Livingist.com, an author said: “When a medium volcano erupts it releases around 27 megatons of thermal energy. That’s a lot. Could it be that these mysterious crafts have found a way to reap the energy that is released during these events?”
ENERGY: UFO hunters have a new theory about aliens crafts spotted around volcanos
“ Could it be that these mysterious crafts have found a way to reap the energy”
Livingist.com
Other UFO bloggers such as Scott C Waring, who runs ufosightingsdaily.com made wild claims about alien monitoring seismic activity, or even triggering volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Mr Waring said of an alleged UFO sighting by the erupting Colima volcano in Mexico: “The UFO is long, and cigar-shaped much like many of the past UFOs seen around Mexican volcanoes on live cams.
“The UFO could not leave from the mouth since there was an eruption, so they took a side path.”
But, UFO expert Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, told Express.co.uk there was a more scientific explanation.
He said: “In Canada, Michael Persinger and Gyslaine Lafrenière made a statistical study of the correlation between UFO sightings and seismic-related locations.
“Their book Space-Time Transients and Unusual Events put forward the evidence suggesting that tectonic strains in the Earth’s crust produce enough energy to produce columns of electrical energy and glowing balls of light in the atmosphere.
“This Tectonic Strain Theory explains why UFOs appear at window areas or certain hot spots.
“Michael Persinger, has gone on to consider and experiment with the possibility that the EM fields of these type of UFOs can trigger hallucinations or trance states in people who get to near to them.
“This would explain the many stories of ‘alien’ abductions and other strange encounters that are experienced after a witness has seen a light in the sky.”
Designers have drawn up plans for a luxurious, space-aged superyacht - based on the famous Roswell UFO.
The concept craft is inspired by the supposed discovery of a crashed alien spacecraft at a ranch near the New Mexico town in 1947.
Mysterious pieces of silver debris were reportedly found at the scene and the superyacht's Monaco-based designer George Lucian says he wants his 'My Roswell' vessel to feature similar colours and material.
The UFO theme does not stop there with Lucian planning on making the ship as elusive as possible on the high seas.
Sharp angles and a reflective hull surface have been included to intentionally minimise radar detection while it will cruise in near silence with fully electric running capability.
Lucian said he wanted to create 'an iconic worldwide recognisable yacht inspired from the future' - complete with a helicopter deck, swimming pool and enough space for 12 guests and 12 crew.
Designers have drawn up plans for a luxurious, space-aged superyacht (pictured) - based on the famous Roswell UFO
The concept craft is inspired by the supposed discovery of a crashed alien spacecraft at a ranch near the New Mexico town in 1947
Monaco-based designer George Lucian says the 'shape, colour and texture' of the vessel are similar to the materials found at the scene
With its sharp angles and reflective hull surface, the shape of the superyacht is also partly inspired by radar-dodging military stealth planes
The result is a jaw-dropping vessel which he says is inspired by the UFO saga in America more than 70 years ago. The US military have said the item was a nuclear test surveillance balloon, however conspiracies still abound about the otherworldly source of the object.
The entirely aluminium 213ft yacht is designed to have full electric running capabilities, supported by two diesel electric engines and large electric panels that cover the numerous horizontal surfaces of the superstructure of the vessel.
Lucian said: 'The shape, colour and texture of the material covering the yacht are similar to the materials found at the Roswell Incedent UFO crash.'
The designer made waves in 2017 with the bold 'Dare To Dream' superyacht concept, which saw a 330ft airship tethered to the vessel.
Lucian said he wanted to create 'an iconic worldwide recognisable yacht inspired from the future' - complete with a helicopter deck, swimming pool and enough space for 12 guests and 12 crew
The entirely aluminium 213ft yacht is designed to have full electric running capabilities, supported by two diesel electric engines and large electric panels that cover the numerous horizontal surfaces of the superstructure of the vessel
The 213ft superyacht will be capable of carrying 12 crew and 12 guests and will also feature a helicopter deck and swimming pool
His new concept is equally as eye-catching. He said: 'Unlike its radar footprint, its presence in any harbour will for sure be anything else but discrete.
'On the bow side of the main deck you can find a large outdoor covered living area, including a beam length swimming pool, a lounge and a dining area.
'This shall be the main living area of the yacht, being connected to the main salon and the stern deck with large glass doors and walls, giving the sensation of a huge open loft like space.
'The bridge deck is located on the upper deck, together with a helicopter platform, and a sky lounge. The yacht can welcome onboard 12 guests together with 12 crew members.'
Could radiation readings be key to understanding Rendlesham UFO’s?
Could radiation readings be key to understanding Rendlesham UFO’s?
Katy Sandalls
Gary Baker and Colonel Charles I. Halt walk the UFO trail in Rendlesham Forest.
Picture: TOM POTTER
Radiation readings taken around the former RAF Woodbridge site could hint to UFO activity in the 1980s according to one scientist.
Rendlesham Forest.
Picture: TOM POTTER
Tim Acheson, measured the levels of radiation at locations around the site to see if they varied from other areas of the forest.
“There has been much debate about radiation readings from the 80s,” said Mr Acheson.
He found that there were a number of radiation ‘hot spots’ at locations linked to the extra terrestrial sightings back in December 1980.
“As a scientist, I find all the debate without scientific evidence incredibly frustrating. I couldn’t believe nobody has taken the time to do a thorough scientific study to settle the issue one way or another,so I took matters into my own hands.”
For Mr Acheson the biggest question posed by these radiation readings is do the readings show the presence of UFO’s or were the UFO’s attracted by the high radiation levels?
“We can’t qualify it,” said Mr Acheson, “but there is definitely a relationship.”
Nick Pope was the Ministry of Defence’s UFO desk officer between 1991 and 1994 and led a review into the Rendlesham case.
“This is a highly impressive and significant piece of work. The levels of radioactivity in Rendlesham Forest are an important piece of physical evidence, and a better understanding of this aspect of the story may prove critical when it comes to resolving the question of what took place back in 1980.
“In the original Ministry of Defence investigation, the Defence Intelligence Staff assessed the levels of radioactivity documented in Lieutenant Colonel Halt’s official report as being “significantly higher than the average background”.
“This new radiation survey gives us considerably more data and is the sort of serious research and investigation that I wish more people in the UFO community, be they sceptics or believers, would undertake.”
An MOD spokesperson said: “All our historic files which refer to UFOs, including Rendlesham Forest, have either been released, or are in the process of being released to The National Archives. The MOD continues to have no opinion on the existence, or otherwise, of extra-terrestrial life and does not investigate reported unidentified flying object sightings.”
The video, captured at 2pm on Tuesday, in Vero Beach, Florida, shows a UFO among the clouds above.
It appears to be travelling in the opposite direction, as an onlooker attempts to get a closer view.
And witnesses are convinced it is proof that the object is using some sort of camouflaging technology.
SUNNY3
STAR TREK? Could something huge just have been uncovered?
“It's a Klingon battle cruiser”
YouTube viewer
A statement read: "It went into the cloud and I couldn’t see it, I realised after that it might have been something and I should have stayed focused on it."
The video was posted on YouTube channel Sunny3 on May 13 and has already racked up more than 1,000 hits.
And viewers were left speculating what it could be.
One commenter revealed: "I see them every day and night in Floria."
Another added: "This is seriously strange."
And a third even claimed: "It's a Klingon battle cruiser," referring to the spacecraft seen in science fiction show Star Trek.
It is not the first claim alien life is here on Earth, though.
On Tuesday, conspiracy theorists were sent into meltdown after spotting what they believed to be a craft taking off from Area 51.
Representational Image of cave painting in India dated from 1500-2000 BC found in Bhimbetka, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
(Creative Commons)Raveesh Vyas
India, the land of a gloriously rich tradition might be once the hottest hub of aliens and extraterrestrial beings. Many historians and archeologists in India believe that cavemen who lived in the pre-historic age have painted pictures of aliens and UFOs in rocks at Charama, Chhattisgarh.
Did aliens visit India in the past?
These rock paintings discovered in Charama depicts alien-like figures wearing suits very similar to modern space suits. The drawings also feature flying saucers, each with a fan-like antenna and three legs. It should be noted that these drawings were apparently drawn before 10,000 years, an era in which space travel was not even in the distant dream of human beings.
Top archaeologists who investigated the site reveal that these paintings were made in natural colors, and they have hardly faded despite the long years. In some of the pictures, the alien-like figures are seen carrying some sort of weapons.
Interestingly, people in nearby villages of Charama have the tradition of worshipping small 'Rohela' people who used to land from the sky in round shaped flying saucers.
Archeologists in India believe that people in pre-historic ages might have seen aliens either in real life or in imagination, and this might have made them draw such figures on rocks.
Other sightings of UFO in modern India
following me ( peter2011) it's only a drone
Apart from this UFO evidence from the pre-historic age, it was on March 15, 1951, that an authentic flying object sighting was reported in India. The incident happened in New Delhi when 25 members of a flying club witnessed a cigar-shaped flying object hovering in the sky. The object was apparently hundred feet long, and after a few moments, it vanished into thin air.
Another interesting UFO sighting reportedly happened in 2013 as residents of Mogappiar, Chennai observed five packs of bright orange lights moving across the skies.
Apart from these sightings, people who live in the Northern parts of India, especially in Ladakh, and Arunachal Pradesh borders have several times claimed that they have seen UFOs.
Similar drawings in other parts of the world
Apart from the drawings discovered in India, there are various other similar paintings found in other nooks of the globe. Archeologists have previously discovered drawings of alien-like figures at Legends Rock in Wyoming. This site has more than 250 petroglyphs and it clearly indicates that humans in the ancient ages were in touch with extraterrestrial beings.
Another mysterious painting discovered in Cayuse Creek in Idaho shows a humanoid figure inside a UFO which resembles flying saucers which we have seen in Hollywood sci-fi flicks. Interestingly, the space vehicle featured in this image is seen emitting trails of smoke behind it.
Many people who live in these areas believe that 'Star Men' used to visit humans many generations ago, and these extraterrestrial beings had brought spiritual teachings to our planet.
Alien looking eggs that spew out lava have been spotted in Hawaii after the volcanic eruption.
The strange egg-shaped mounds look as though they have come straight out of a science fiction movie but are the result of the lava that is still coming out of the huge volcano.
Photographer Took Time to Capture Photos of Strange Alien-like Lava Eggs
Lava can be seen at the top of the egg (Caters)
The Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii is doing it's worse after it erupted earlier on in the week. Locals in the region have been left having to deal with the fallout from the volcano, but one photographer took time out to capture the unique looking alien lava eggs that have been forming around the island.
Emissions from the volcano are slowing down, but there are some big movements from the volcano that have continued happening. One of them was measured as being an earthquake of 4.4 magnitudes. Ash plumes were seen rising high up into the air, and it was said they reached around 12,000 feet. One person said that it warmed the heart to see the true spirit of the people of Aloha during the eruption and aftershocks. They went on to say that, the relief effort has been something of a community one.
Ant Nebula Blasts Lasers, Suggesting Hidden Double-Star System
Ant Nebula Blasts Lasers, Suggesting Hidden Double-Star System
By Samantha Mathewson, Space.com Contributor
The Ant Nebula releases a rare type of laser emission, suggesting that the nebula's core houses two stars rather than one.
Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScL/AURA)
Unusual laser emissions beaming from the Ant Nebula suggest that it is home to a hidden double-star system and that one of the companion stars is nearing the end of its life.
When stars similar to our sun start to die, they become dense white dwarf stars and then expel their outer layers to form an interstellar cloud of gas and dust known as a planetary nebula. Any lingering gas close to the center would soon fall back onto the star, leaving the surrounding area empty. However, that is not what has been observed around the Ant Nebula, according to a statement from the European Space Agency (ESA).
"When we observe Menzel 3, we see an amazingly intricate structure made up of ionized gas, but we cannot see the object in its center producing this pattern," Isabel Aleman, lead author of a new study detailing the observations and a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, in Brazil, and the Leiden Observatory, in the Netherlands,said in the statement. "Thanks to the sensitivity and wide wavelength range of the Herschel observatory, we detected a very rare type of emission called hydrogen recombination line laser emission, which provided a way to reveal the nebula's structure and physical conditions."
This image shows possible evolutionary pathways for stars of different masses. Sunlike stars can be seen swelling into red giants before releasing their outer gas, creating colorful nebulas around a collapsed core called a white dwarf.
Credit: ESA
Specifically, the new observations show that the density of the laser-emitting gas surrounding the Ant Nebula is 10,000 times higher than that of the gas seen in typical planetary nebulas. This finding suggests that the Ant Nebula is actually home to two stars, since a companion star would help capture the dense gas ejected from the dying white dwarf star, according to the statement.
"The only way to keep gas close to the star is if it is orbiting around it in a disc," study co-author Albert Zijlstra, an astrophysicist at The University of Manchester in the U.K., said in the statement. "In this case, we have actually observed a dense disc in the very center that is seen approximately edge-on. This orientation helps to amplify the laser signal. The disc suggests the white dwarf has a binary companion, because it is hard to get the ejected gas to go into orbit unless a companion star deflects it in the right direction."
Although the researchers have not yet directly detected the companion star, their observations and models support the presence of a pair of stars, and mass from the dying companion star may be ejected and then captured by the nebula's central white dwarf, helping to create the disk, according to the statement.
"We used Herschel to characterize various components of gas and dust in nebula[s] around old stars, but we were not necessarily looking for a laser phenomenon," co-author Toshiya Ueta, principal investigator of the Herschel Planetary Nebula Survey project, said in the statement. "Such emission has only been identified in a handful of objects before; this was a remarkable discovery that we did not anticipate. There is certainly more to stellar nebulae than meets the eye!"
Therefore, their findings, published May 16 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, will help astronomers refine current models of stellar evolution, the researchers said.
NASA’s Lost Satellite Just Made Its First Contact With Earth in 17 Years
NASA’s Lost Satellite Just Made Its First Contact With Earth in 17 Years
It’s official: ISEE-3, the 36-year-old satellite that NASA left for dead over a decade ago, is back in touch with humankind. This afternoon, a group of citizen scientists who raised almost $160,000 to fund the process of taking control of ISEE-3 announced that two-way contact has been established with the little satellite that could. So what’s next?
“Over the coming days and weeks our team will make an assessment of the spacecraft’s overall health and refine the techniques required to fire its engines and bring it back to an orbit near Earth,” explained the Reboot team in a triumphant comment released today. Contact was made at Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico, where scientists collaborated with a worldwide network of like-minded space fans to fund and engineer the project.
Now comes the fun part: Getting ISEE-3 back to the business of studying space. We’ll have more updates as they come.
NASA Is Letting Citizens Commandeer a Long-Lost Satellite
Yesterday evening, NASA officially granted permission to a group of scientists and enthusiasts who want to do what NASA can’t afford: Make contact with a 36-year-old satellite called ISEE-3 that’s still capable of taking directions for a new mission. It’s the first agreement of its kind—and it could hint at where the space industry is going.
So, a little back story. As our sister site io9 explained last month, ISEE-3 was launched back in 1978 to study the relationship between the Sun and Earth. It enjoyed many more missions over the next three decades, but NASA officially cut the cord in 1997. Still, ISEE-3 kept on trucking.
It wasn’t until a decade later that NASA discovered she was still at it, despite the lack of commands from her benefactors at NASA. Why not send her on a new mission? Well, that’s the trouble: We have no way of communicating. The antenna used to contact ISEE-3 had been removed.
Enter the group of scientists including SkyCorp, SpaceRef, Space College Foundation, and others. They want to use a different antenna, at Morehead State University, to contact ISEE-3. “Our plan is simple: we intend to contact the ISEE-3 spacecraft, command it to fire its engines and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission,” said Keith Cowing, a former Nasa engineer and owner of Nasa Watch, told the Guardian.
The ISEE-3, (later ICE), undergoing testing and evaluation.
Sounds good, right? Well, it’s not so simple. The group, which calls itself ISEE-3 Reboot, needs to essentially rebuild the entire software used to communicate with ISEE-3 back in the 70s. That means digging through archives to find the original commands, then recreating them. With zero funding available from NASA and only a month or two until the little satellite makes a close pass in mid-June. The technical challenges are huge:
We need to initiate a crash course effort to use ‘software radio’ to recreate virtual versions all of the original communications hardware that no longer physically exists. We also need to cover overhead involved in operating a large dish antenna, locating and analyzing old documentation, and possibly some travel.
But, the creators of the project explained in their pitch letter on R ockethub, “if we are successful it may also still be able to chase yet another comet.”
If there was any doubt about whether modern Americans were still enamored with space, the results of their crowdfunding campaign squash it. The group blew through their $100,000 goal, and are currently getting close to a $150,000 stretch goal. There are only two days left to donate—and you should—but the fact that they’ve raised so much money in so short a time is remarkable.
The ISEE-3 Reboot mission patch.
Yesterday, NASA announced it has signed an agreement with the group called a Non-Reimbursable Space Act Agreement (NRSAA), which is a contract it signs with its external partners to describe a collaboration. It gives the group the green light to go ahead and make its attempt at taking control of ISEE-3—it essence, it gives Skycorp the right to take over the operation of a satellite that NASA built almost 40 years ago.
Here’s what astronaut John Grunsfeld had to say about the agreement:
The intrepid ISEE-3 spacecraft was sent away from its primary mission to study the physics of the solar wind extending its mission of discovery to study two comets. We have a chance to engage a new generation of citizen scientists through this creative effort to recapture the ISEE-3 spacecraft as it zips by the Earth this summer.
It’s an incredible development—and it tells us something about where space travel and research is going. NASA and other state-funded research entities are being strangled by downsized budgets, but the push into space amongst independent scientists, engineers, and citizens is booming. As Elon Musk sues to let commercial space companies compete for government contracts, students and scientists are launching their own satellites.
Over the next few decades, plenty of other NASA-built spacecraft will begin to age—just like ISEE-3. And unless something drastic changes about NASA’s budget, it may not have the cash to keep them up. Imagine a future in which craft built by NASA in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, are inherited by independent groups of scientists and space companies who take over operations, just like Skycorp is. The privatization of space might not be so far away—and NASA might play a heavy role in its creation.
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
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