Is there lakes on Mars?

Not exactly proper English for a remake of David Bowie’s classic song, but in this case the answer is “Yes” … or at least “Yes, at one time.” For the first time ever, researchers have found solid evidence of large liquid lakes on Mars that were interconnected and possibly teeming with life. Cavemen, sailors and lawmen? Only a hands-on look at this geological evidence will answer that question. Elon?

“Early Mars was a watery world, but as the planet’s climate changed this water retreated below the surface to form pools and ‘groundwater. We traced this water in our study, as its scale and role is a matter of debate, and we found the first geological evidence of a planet-wide groundwater system on Mars.”

As University of Utrecht planetary geologist Francesco Salese explains in his new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, credit for this fantastic discovery goes to the three-camera team of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on the ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, and NASA’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and the Context Camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. All of that observational equipment was aimed at 24 deep, enclosed craters in the northern hemisphere of Mars. At a depth of 4,000 meters, which the study defines as 4,000 meters below an arbitrary Martian sea level, nearly all of the craters showed similar evidence that could only be attributed to water.

Mars Express

“Features include channels etched into crater walls, valleys carved out by sapping groundwater, dark, curved deltas thought to have formed as water levels rose and fell, ridged terraces within crater walls formed by standing water, and fan-shaped deposits of sediment associated with flowing water. The water level aligns with the proposed shorelines of a putative martian ocean thought to have existed on Mars between three and four billion years ago.”

Based on this commonality in the majority of the craters, co-author Gian Gabriele Ori, director of the Università D’Annunzio’s International Research School of Planetary Sciences in Italy, believes these underground lakes connected Martian oceans which stretched across the planet 3.5 billion years ago. Because of Marian climate change, this water eventually went underground where it’s possible that it could still exist in pockets of ice. Will that ice or the soil around it contain evidence of Martian life?

“The team also spotted signs of minerals within five of the craters that are linked to the emergence of life on Earth: various clays, carbonates, and silicates. The finding adds weight to the idea that these basins on Mars may once have had the ingredients to host life. Moreover, they were the only basins deep enough to intersect with the water-saturated part of Mars’ crust for long periods of time, with evidence perhaps still buried in the sediments today.”

If there was water …

That’s a qualified ‘yes’, which means thirsty Martian explorers may want to avoid drinking from any water fountains or wells as they traverse the Red Planet. In fact, the discovery highlights the importance of unmanned expeditions in general, as Dmitri Titov, ESA’s Mars Express project scientist, explained in the press release. (Charts and photos here and here.)

“It is especially exciting that a mission that has been so fruitful at the Red Planet, Mars Express, is now instrumental in helping future missions such as ExoMars explore the planet in a different way. It’s a great example of missions working together with great success.”

Working together in space. If the Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can do it, why not humans from the space-exploring countries as well?

Do we need a Space Force … or more Space Friends?

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

03-03-2019 om 21:28 geschreven door peter  

In the 1988 science fiction film Alien Nation, a group of alien immigrants arrives on Earth and attempts to assimilate into society beginning with a “colony” in Los Angeles. Set in 1991, it explores many of the common themes prevalent in such films, which include xenophobia, extraterrestrial invasion, and alien life in general.

The aliens in the film, which are called the Tenctonese or, informally, the “Newcomers,” are for the most part very much like humans in appearance, apart from both sexes having bald heads that feature exotic patterns. Despite their similar appearance, they possess a number of physiological differences; namely, contact with salt water is deadly for the Newcomers.

Apart from this primary difference, the Newcomers in Alien Nation are more or less human-like (as are most aliens in science fiction, if they aren’t depicted in the other tired “octopoidal” trope). But if and when we eventually find intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, how much like us will it really be? Would aliens enjoy the same sorts of things humans do–such as food, arts, and entertainment–and if not, how would they differ?

As far as having an appreciation for the arts, some have argued that aliens would absolutely be like us in that respect. Writing for Space.com in 2010, Clara Moskowitz noted that,  “Art may attract aliens more than academics because any extraterrestrial civilization that we are able to get in touch with is likely to be much older than us and more technically advanced.” Moskowitz, reporting on the SETIcon Conference on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence held that year, noted that experts in attendance were optimistic about ET’s interest in the cultured side of human existence.

Part of this has to do with the fact that aliens likely wouldn’t be as interested in learning about math and science from us. Especially if they were able to travel to our planet from elsewhere in the cosmos since this would require more advanced knowledge of physics than we already possess. “However,” Clara wrote, “our art and music is singularly human, and could likely be fascinating to an alien species.”

While soaking in their fill of Earthly culture, aliens would no doubt be inclined to try our culinary offerings, too. However, aliens might want to take in more than just their fill of what Earth has to offer to interstellar diners, according to social scientist and chef Christy Spackman at ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Spackman (much like this author) began to think about the common stereotypes about aliens that emerge in common sci-fi depictions of them. This led her to consider what a “sensory meal” shared with aliens might be like if they were to visit Earth; among the things we might have to offer them include “feasts of light,” and how it interacts with the eyes (that is, if the aliens in question have ocular organs like ours). Also on the list were olfactory feasts (again, as with before, that’s if the aliens have noses, or something akin to one that assists in detecting aromas), and a host of other things.

“It calls for generosity of spirit,” Spackman said of her sensory feasts, “both in those who are producing and for those who are consuming, and a willingness to say, ‘This will never be perfect, so we can meet at the good enough’.”

Also, if aliens are really anything like us, after partaking in a feast, they may need to pencil in a bit of time for a nap afterward. Then again, one popular theory about our inability to find aliens already involves the notion that it’s because they may be hibernating, in which case going back to sleep may not be quite so appealing. However, part of the rationale for this theory involves alien life that has graduated beyond the stage of biology; that is, aliens who have shed their natural state in order to inhabit artificial or synthetic forms, which are hypothetically capable of sustaining themselves in harsh environments where biology simply could not thrive.

“Having essentially uploaded their minds onto powerful computers, the civilizations choosing to do this could enhance their intellectual capacities or inhabit some of the harshest environments in the universe with ease,” wrote Robert Hart in an ASU collaboration with Slate in 2017. The idea is that such aliens might estivate–that is, spend a particularly hot period in a state of near or complete dormancy–awaiting a period in the future where the universe has cooled to a point that they may operate more efficiently (entropically speaking, of course).

If we’re ever to know the full extent to which aliens may end up being like us, they will probably need to have something else in common with humans: just like we search for other forms of life, they will likely have to be searching for us. Of course, while we continue to look for intelligent life on other worlds, it remains to be shown whether or not we truly have much of it on this world… perhaps with time, and a little luck, aliens will eventually find us and can shed some light on that age-old earthly question, too. 

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

03-03-2019 om 20:59 geschreven door peter  

A Finnish border guard was, quite literally, stopped in their tracks Sunday after a ‘new island’ appeared in the middle of the frozen Lake Inari without warning.

Finland’s Lapland Border Patrol tweeted images of the strange, apparently geological, phenomenon; an impressive feat considering temperatures in the region had plummeted as low as -25 degrees Celsius.

And there was no sight nor sound of any volcanic activity in the area that might explain the sudden appearance of new rock formations, seemingly out of nowhere.

According to RT who refers to comments on Twitter, it was merely an optical illusion, light behaves differently when passing through atmospheric layers, which can lead to mirage-like effects along the horizon, reflecting and refracting distant landscapes in mind-bending ways.

They can say it just an optical illusion but is it possible that the border Patrol has photographed something from another world, a parallel universe, caused by a glitch in dimensions?

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

03-03-2019 om 20:32 geschreven door peter  

UFOs Sighted Over Lima International Airport In Peru, Feb 27, 2019, Video! UFO Sighting News.

 

Date of sighting: February 27, 2019

Location of sighting: Lima, Peru Airport

 

A UFO was seen over the Lima, Peru Airport last week. While airplanes were coming and going, someone noticed a hovering object over the runway. The object tased for an hour before just disappearing and flights were delayed. Apparently aliens assume that alien UFOs over an busy airport with loads of planes is would be taken better than flying over your home and hovering. Why? Flying objects are expected at the airport...making even a UFO sighting more relaxed and less of a surprise. Honestly...alien are suppose to land at the airport not your house...right? I say...let them land. Give them clearance! 

Scott C. Waring

 

Video states: 

According to Peruvian media reports on February 27, 2019, two UFOs were sighted over Jorge Chávez International Airport at 0630 UTC and they remained for almost an hour over the Lima sky according to official information from the personnel of the control tower of the airport. Flights were delayed due to UFOs sighting. The staff of the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation ( Corpac ) witnessed the UFOs over the airport and even videotaped and photographed. Corpac issued the official report, and it is the first time Corpac provides a detailed report on UFOs over international airport.

According to the report, witnesses reported two UFOs over the main airport on February 27. In addition, they detailed that the objects remained for approximately one hour over the airport. The events occurred at dawn on Wednesday, February 27. The control tower workers said that the UFOs were positioned on runway 33.

According to information, the UFOs were also seen by the ground crew of two planes that covered the Lima-Córdova and Lima-Quito routes. One of the unidentified objects appeared for a few moments on the radar, but moments later, both disappeared from the view of the airport staff. In the down below image, you can see the official report of Corpac and signed by the technician José Zarabia Salas, who has confirmed the UFO sighting. 

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

03-03-2019 om 20:21 geschreven door peter  

UFO Caught Disguised As Sun Sinking Into Ocean Off California, Video, Dec 2018, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: December 25, 2018
Location of sighting: California, USA

This UFO was caught by spectators who observed a UFO disguised as the sun sinking into the ocean. I have heard of such things, but this is the first good video of such a phenomenon. Under water alien bases do exist, and since 75% of the earth is covered by water,  I assume 75% of all alien bases are too. 
Scott C. Waring

Video States: 

Strange sunset do not you think? We are used to seeing the sunrise and sunset on the horizon line. But something illogical could be seen on December 25 in California. The sun went into the ocean. Strange sunset in California USA

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

03-03-2019 om 20:17 geschreven door peter  

UFO Seen Above Mount Adams, Washington At ECETI Ranch, March 2019, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: March 1, 2019

Location of sighting: Mount Adams, Washington

 

This UFO was captured at the top of Mount Adams. This is the same location where people from around the world, including TV news and military generals have visited at night and have seen UFOs. James Gillian, the owner of the ranch noticed the UFOs decades ago and since then opened up a camping area for UFO researchers who see them nightly...with video to prove it. James Gillian himself says he was invited by an alien onboard a ship to see what its like. I have been following James for over 7 years...and he never fails to impress with his videos, photos and personal experiences with the aliens he says lives in a base 4-5 miles below Mount Adams. Want to prove him wrong? I dare you to go there and try. Bring the night vision, scopes and video recorders. 

Scott C. Waring

 

Video states: 

We made our way to the ECETI Ranch, at the base of Mount Adams, to make contact! During our stay, we recorded many anomalous objects floating in and around the mountain. At the beginning, we believed these were hitchhikers, but upon closer examination, in the thermal camera (which detects heat signatures), no heat (from a body) was detected. The truth is, up to 95% of what people think are ET craft, is explainable, but we are going after that 5% that are legitimate other worldly craft, in our search around the globe.

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

03-03-2019 om 20:13 geschreven door peter  

Aliens or military vessel? V-shaped UFO spotted in United Kingdom

Interestingly, the V-shaped UFO spotted in the United Kingdom seems very similar to the alien spaceships depicted in Hollywood movies.

By : Nirmal Narayanan

Popular conspiracy theory YouTube channel 'UFOmania' has recently uploaded a video that shows an eerie V-shaped flying object hovering in the skies of Failsworth, United Kingdom. Interestingly, the perfectly cut V-shape of the UFO seems very similar to the spacecraft which people have seen in Hollywood sci-fi films.

Even though the image was captured by the witness last October, pictures of this incident became viral after it was shared by a website named UFO Sightings Hotspot, and later by the YouTube channel UFOmania. The creepy photo is now being submitted to MUFON (Mutual UFO Network), and they are apparently investigating the authenticity of the image.

As the image went viral online, many people have started arguing that this UFO could actually be an alien vehicle from deep space. Most of these extraterrestrial buffs argue that aliens who live in the far nooks of the universe used to visit earth regularly to monitor human activities.

"It looks straight out a movi.. which makes you wonder what Hollywood knows?" commented Ninorc Sinned, a YouTube user.

In the meantime, a section of other conspiracy theorists claims that these V-shaped crafts could be secret military vessels developed by the United States Air Force. Conspiracy theorists have long been claiming that the USAF had developed a triangular craft allegedly named 'TR-3B' during the time of Gulf War. It should be noted that the shape of TR-3B often depicted by conspiracy theorists seems very similar to that of the flying object spotted in the United Kingdom.

"Incredible! It looks like the government! They've been working on these since the 40's," commented LeAnn Winter, another YouTuber.

However, sceptics were quick to dismiss both the alien and secret military weapon theory. As per these sceptics, the V-shaped object is actually the reflection from the car's window. 

 

{ https://www.ibtimes.co.in/ }

03-03-2019 om 00:56 geschreven door peter  

‘We were fishing on a pier, then aliens levitated us aboard UFO’ : The story of one of the world’s most sensational ‘alien encounters’

by Craig Campbell

An artist’s impression of the incident

It was one of the most sensational alien encounter stories ever.

On October 11 1973, Charles Hickson, 42, and Calvin Parker, 18, were fishing at the Pascagoula River, Mississippi, when they say something incredible happened.

A strange craft appeared near them, a door opened and three weird creatures levitated them onboard.

Having studied the two humans, shipyard workers Charles and Calvin were then put back where they had been, at the west bank pier.

One man who looked deep into the story and wrote a book about it with Parker is Philip Mantle, a top UFO researcher, from Pontefract.

Hickson sadly passed away eight years ago, but Parker is still with us, aged 64, and Philip was told by him that when they were taken onboard he was given some kind of injection to calm him down.

“Charles and Calvin were fishing off a pier when they heard a whirring or whizzing sound, saw two flashing blue lights, and reported that an oval-shaped craft, some eight feet across and eight or more feet high, suddenly appeared near them,” says Philip.

“A door opened on the ship, they said, and three creatures emerged and seized the men, floating or levitating them into the craft. Both men reported being paralysed and numb.

“Parker claimed he had fainted due to fright.

“They described the creatures as being roughly humanoid in shape and standing about five feet tall.

“The creatures’ skin was pale in colour and wrinkled, and they had no eyes that the men could discern, and slits for mouths.

“Their heads also appeared connected directly to their shoulders, with no discernible neck.

“There were three carrot-like growths instead – one where the nose would be on a human, the other two where ears would normally be.

“The beings had lobster-like claws at the ends of their arms, and seemed to have only one leg.

“Hickson later described the creatures’ lower bodies looking as if their legs were fused together, ending in elephant-like feet.

“Hickson also reported that the creatures moved in mechanical, robotic ways.

“Parker claimed that he could not recall what had happened to him inside the craft,” says Philip, “although later, during sessions of hypnotic regression, he offered some hazy details.”

Released about 20 minutes later, the men reported their story to the Keesler Air Force Base, but were told it had nothing to do with UFO reports.

They went to the Mississippi sheriff’s office, where sheriff Fred Diamond believed they were sincere and terrified, with Parker especially disturbed.

It was only after the book came out and was a bestseller that Philip uncovered a new document written by a doctor who said he believed the story.

Calvin Parker says: “It was the fear I felt that is hard to describe. As the alien made contact to my left arm I heard a whisk of what I thought was air, then all at once I became really relaxed, then all the fear was gone.”

He said he heard doctors talking about puncture marks on his arm and added: “This document simply confirms what I have always known, and that is both Charlie and I were given injections by these creatures and we had the puncture wounds to prove it.”

The police secretly recorded both men, sure they would betray themselves when they thought nobody was listening.

They didn’t, and the recorded conversation demonstrated they were terrified and disturbed by what had happened.

“I have been involved in UFO research for over 40 years and spent a great deal of time investigating UFO events first-hand,” Philip points out.

“I have never come across any official documentation that confirms that ‘puncture wounds’ as described by the witnesses, have had their claims officially documented by a professional in such a manner.

“For me this is a world first. Calvin Parker’s encounter and his description of being given a shot injection by the creatures to make him relax now seems to have been confirmed.”

When Charles Hickson passed away on September 9 2011, he had never changed his story, despite ridicule and disbelief.

He had even taken a lie detector test – both men volunteered – and the examiner also believed his story.

Amazingly, other people have since come forward to say they, too, witnessed strange events on that date.

Mike Cataldo, a retired US Navy chief petty officer, said he had observed a strange craft at dusk on the same date.

Two others, Maria and Jerry Blair, were interviewed in January of this year, when they came forward after seeing Calvin Parker on TV.

Irena Scott PhD, who interviewed them, said the Blairs described how they had been sitting in their car, looking out from the east bank of the Pascagoula River. At that time, Parker and Hickson were on the west bank.

Maria saw what she “thought was an airplane because of its bright lights flashing on”.

She said it was going back and forth across the sky.

“She told Jerry that the plane must be lost because it ‘didn’t act like it knows what direction it wants to go’.”

Perhaps it knew exactly what it was doing – and perhaps we are one step closer to proving that there really are other beings out there…

{ https://www.sundaypost.com/ }

03-03-2019 om 00:31 geschreven door peter  

Alien SPACESHIP spotted shooting past Earth claims EXPERT – 'VERY strange' – VIDEO

A SOPHISTICATED alien spaceship may have been spotted shooting through our solar system, according to a top professor at Harvard.

“In addition, it has no trail around it or any traces of gases like carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide to a very tight limit.

{ https://www.express.co.uk/ }

03-03-2019 om 00:19 geschreven door peter  

Self-folding drone could speed up search and rescue missions

Chloe Taylor

University of Zurich

A drone that can change shape in flight has been developed by researchers at the University of Zurich to assist with search and rescue missions.

Able to contract and fold, the aircraft can enter small cracks and spaces to stream footage to rescue teams via its two integrated cameras. The drone is designed for use in areas in disaster zones that become inaccessible to rescuers due to safety concerns or physical restrictions.

Davide Falanga, one of its developers, told CNBC on the phone that the drone could make rescue missions more efficient and effective.

”(This drone could have) multiple impacts – it can go into areas that would otherwise be inaccessible,” he said. “In the aftermath of an earthquake it could let rescuers enter and explore a collapsed building. We used the most efficient and stable systems allow it to fly longer, and have held public demonstrations in realistic scenarios which showed that this is a feasible product.

Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the project took six months to go from concept to prototype. However, as the drone is still in early development stages, its developers have no timescale for a wide rollout.

“We would be open to commercializing and discussing opportunities with investors, but at the moment there’s no commercial plan,” Falanga told CNBC. “We have sometimes had to tinker with the system when we’ve deployed it — we want it to be deployed and work immediately, so we need about six months to a year to improve the drone and make it more robust so it can work in more scenarios. But the idea itself is definitely feasible.”

University of Zurich

According to the research paper written by the drone’s developers, their aircraft “could lead to a shift in the research community towards morphing aerial vehicles.”

However, they noted that there were still several unsolved research questions, such as “automatic morphology selection,”which refers to the robot’s ability to autonomously take the best shape for the task at hand.

Unsolved problems

Mohan Sridharan, senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham’s School of Computer Science, told CNBC via email that foldable drones were being explored by the wider robotics research community, with several concepts currently in development.

“This would indeed help in disaster response, but the stable navigation of such a drone is not a solved problem,” he said. “Also, complex applications such as disaster response pose other challenges related to perception, reasoning, and communication.”

Maria Kamargianni, lecturer in transport and energy at University College London, told CNBC on the phone that privacy concerns would need to be addressed before the drone could be commercialized.

“This is a very promising technology for search and rescue projects, and it’s much more economically viable than existing options. In circumstances where a helicopter or a drone could be used, a drone would be much cheaper to deploy,” she said.

“The technology has lots of other applications as well — for example, it could be used to examine the quality of materials on a collapsed bridge. But technologies must be developed in line with public acceptance of them, so these drones should be designed in a way that notifies the public they are being used by the authorities — this could be done by using distinctive colors. In rolling them out companies would also have to make sure they are not violating personal data regulations.”

{ https://www.cnbc.com/ }

02-03-2019 om 23:49 geschreven door peter  

Pilots Report Valentine's Day Sighting of UFOs over Gloucester, England

TOBIAS WAYLAND

An image used by Air Midwest on social media to represent the sighting.

 (Image credit: Air Midwest / Facebook)

Air Midwest

15 februari om 22:54 · 

According to a statement made by Air Midwest, two of the company's aircraft were conducting nighttime navigation exercises to the south and southeast of their home airfield when the encounter occurred.

Around 8:15 p.m, one of the aircraft was tracking south towards Gloucester at 7,000 feet after leaving the Birmingham air traffic zone. Meanwhile, a second aircraft was also tracking south towards Gloucester at 4,000 feet.

Both aircraft observed two lights—one red and one orange—in the sky south of Gloucester. The aircraft approached the lights on an interception track, but were unable to gain on the objects as they appeared to move further south of Gloucester as the aircraft approached.

The pilots and air traffic control were unable to identify the lights.

One of the pilot’s reports was included with the statement.

I observed initially 2 large square orange lights. One on top of each but slightly off set however there was a gap in height between them.

The top object was constantly orange. The lower one occasionally flicked white but majority of time was orange. In addition to that on 2 occasions I observed 5 orange lights but that was momentary.

"This second recording is between two pilots of callsign ‘Golf-Sierra India’ and ‘Golf- Alpha Mike’. The response of ‘Alpha Mikes’ captain is humorous as at the time he believes the light must be a normal event," said a statement accompanying the second recording.

The company later clarified their previous statement by insisting they had never claimed to have "encountered an extraterrestrial situation."

"We encountered unexplained airborne lights that defied our normal expectation of standard aircraft or meteorological activity," said the second statement. "We considered it could be night glow hot air balloons, but we are not aware any any such activities taking place and the objects observed seemed to move from their original location to another with a rapidity not in line with balloon activity...but of course the apparent changes of location could have been an optical illusion due to night effect."

"In conclusion, our pilots, both senior flight instructors and highly experienced commercial airline pilots with over 25,000 flying hours between them, together with their crews observed airborne lights the nature of which they were unable to identify," continued the statement. "For this fact alone we obviously can only describe the observations as ‘Unidentified Flying or Airborne Objects’. Hence referring to them as UFO’s, as that is what they were."

"We have no idea as to the origin of the objects and as yet we have not yet come across any standard explanation for what the objects could have been," it concluded.

• If you enjoyed this article and would like to support the Singular Fortean Society, please consider becoming an official member by signing up through our Patreon page—membership includes a ton of extra content and behind-the-scenes access to the Society’s inner workings.

{ https://www.singularfortean.com/ }

02-03-2019 om 23:29 geschreven door peter  

U.S. IN UFO RACE WITH CHINA, RUSSIA, FORMER SENATE MAJORITY LEADER SUGGESTS

02-03-2019 om 23:06 geschreven door peter  

See the Evolution of SpaceX's Rockets in Pictures

SpaceX's Rockets

SpaceX began in 2002, when its founder, Elon Musk, took the first steps in his grand ambition to send a mission to Mars. More than 15 years later, the company is way beyond the space startup stage.

The Hawthorne, California-based company regularly reuses rockets, sends cargo missions to the International Space Station with the uncrewed Dragon spacecraft and will fly astronauts for NASA in the future. In 2018, SpaceX launched the massive Falcon Heavy and has plans for an even larger rocket to reach Mars: the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR). 

Read more about SpaceX's history of rockets and spacecraft development in the following slideshow.

Falcon 1

The Falcon 1 was the first rocket manufactured by SpaceX. It had a proposed capacity to carry 670 kilograms (1,480 lbs.) to low Earth orbit, and it flew between 2006 and 2009. After three launch failures, Falcon 1 sent a dummy payload to space on Sept. 29, 2008. Its fifth and final launch, on July 14, 2009, sent RazakSAT, a Malaysian Earth-observation satellite, into orbit. Falcon 1 rockets launched from Omelek Island, part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. And in case you're wondering, Musk named the Falcon rockets after the Millennium Falcon ship from "Star Wars." 

Developing Falcon 9

SpaceX quickly received interest from several companies looking for a heavier-lift rocket. The company had considered developing an intermediary rocket called the Falcon 5, but instead skipped ahead and began work on the Falcon 9. This rocket can send a payload to low Earth orbit weighing up to 28,991 lbs. (13,150 kg). It is a two-stage rocket. SpaceX first advertised plans for the Falcon 9 in 2005 and sent the debut Falcon 9 aloft on June 7, 2010, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Early customers of the rocket included Bigelow Aerospace; Avanti Communications; and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates.

Ground landings

SpaceX's first successful Falcon 9 landing in Landing Zone 1, on Dec. 21, 2015, was hailed as a milestone for rocket reusability. However, the company still tried to improve on that achievement. SpaceX experienced a mix of successful and failed ocean landings in 2014 and 2015. [SpaceX's Epic Falcon 9 Rocket Landing in Pictures]

In 2015, SpaceX was also trying to land on drone ships in the ocean. While these landings kept ending with failure, Musk would post the videos and pictures on his Twitter feed, acknowledging mistakes made, and the company would work on improving for the next flight. 

Dragon dreams

SpaceX kept the first 18 months of the Dragon cargo ship's development under wraps. Then, in March 2006, the company officially made Dragon public when the company submitted a proposal for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration program. The ultimate goal was to develop a private spacecraft to ferry cargo to the International Space Station. 

After Spacex hit several milestones, NASA selected SpaceX's Dragon in December 2008 to be one of the companies providing commercial resupply services to the space station. SpaceX's contract value at that time was a minimum of $1.6 billion, with options to extend to $3.1 billion; the company has since received a new contract for cargo launch services. Musk has confirmed that he named Dragon after "Puff the Magic Dragon."

Early Dragon flights

Dragon made a successful maiden flight on Dec. 8, 2010, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Then, on May 22, 2012, Dragon launched for an important test: an attempt to berth the spacecraft with the International Space Station. Dragon made it to the station safely on May 25 of that year, despite experiencing some problems with a laser system that was supposed to judge the craft's distance to the orbiting complex. The milestone prompted worldwide acclaim. It was the first time a private spacecraft docked with the space station. SpaceX has since upgraded its uncrewed Dragon cargo ships to be reusable for at least two flights. 

Grasshopper

Grasshopper was a rocket prototype flown at SpaceX's McGregor, Texas, proving grounds to give the company more experience in landing boosters vertically. While Grasshopper did not get as much media attention as SpaceX's other programs, it was key to furthering the development of Falcon 9's reusable first stage. The Grasshopper rocket made eight test flights between 2012 and 2013, with the final flight seeing Grasshopper soar to 2,440 feet (744 meters). The Grasshopper program was then retired so SpaceX could focus more resources on Falcon 9's development.

Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicle

SpaceX announced the Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicle in 2012, which was based on the first stage of the Falcon 9. The company made five flights of this system at the SpaceX McGregor site between April and August 2014, with the maximum altitude on some flights exceeding 3,280 feet (1,000 m). The last booster, which launched on Aug. 22, 2014, exploded due to a blocked sensor.

SpaceX's first rocket landing pad

This picture shows Landing Zone 1, a ground landing zone for the Falcon 9's first stage at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This is where SpaceX made the first of its controlled ground landings, on Dec. 21, 2015. The company built the pad on land leased from the U.S. Air Force on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. (Landing Zone 1 is on land that used to host Launch Complex 13.) This landing was extra-sweet because the previous Falcon 9 flight, in June 2015, ended catastrophically with an explosion. 

Reusing rockets

Right from the beginning of Falcon 9's history, SpaceX was interested in reusing the first stage of the rocket to save on launch costs. Early tests of the landing were unsuccessful, however. SpaceX made attempts on the first, second and sixth launches of the Falcon 9 to control the booster's landing, but in each case, the stage slammed down into the ocean. SpaceX finally achieved a controlled ocean landing on Falcon 9's ninth launch (the fourth controlled-landing attempt), on April 18, 2014. This was an important stepping stone in the path to eventual reusability.

Drone-ship landing

The persistence exhibited by Musk and his employees finally paid off on April 8, 2016, when a Falcon 9 first stage touched down softly on a drone ship called "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic Ocean. The Dragon spacecraft that this Falcon 9 carried aloft also had a milestone flight, delivering an inflatable module — the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module — to the International Space Station. 

SpaceX's success rate with drone landings improved drastically after the April 2016 flight, although some boosters still missed the mark from time to time. The company's Falcon 9 flight success rate is also strong; its last failure, in September 2016, saw a rocket explode on the launch pad before taking off. SpaceX has a second drone ship, "Just Read the Instructions," which is used for Pacific Ocean landings after launches from Vandenberg Air Force Station in California. Both ships are named for fictional starships in the science fiction books of Iain M. Banks.

Falcon Heavy's maiden flight

SpaceX

The Falcon Heavy rocket, a heavy-lift version of the Falcon series, had a successful debut flight on Feb. 6, 2018, launching from NASA's Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket successfully launched a Tesla car into space. (Musk is also the CEO of Tesla Motors.) The Falcon Heavy is 230 feet tall (70 m) and can lift nearly 141,000 lbs. (64 metric tons) of payload to low Earth orbit. This is twice what its closest competitor, the United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy, can hoist into orbit. 

Falcon Heavy's rocket landing ballet

This picture shows Falcon Heavy's twin side boosters landing successfully after the rocket's maiden flight, on Feb. 6, 2018. While the booster stages touched down safely at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, near the Kennedy Space Center, the rocket's core stage hit the ocean at high speed. The rocket stage carrying the Tesla car underwent one last burn to send the car toward the orbit of Mars. However, as Space.com sister site Live Science reported, radiation could destroy the car within a year.

Riding inside the Dragon

While launching commercial missions, SpaceX also began developing a human-rated version of the Dragon spacecraft to bring astronauts to the International Space Station. The company received a contract in 2014 valued at a maximum of $2.6 billion for these launch services. In September 2015, SpaceX showed the world the inside of the crew quarters. The minimalist design has white walls, black bucket seats, several flat-panel displays and four windows for passengers to see outside.

Crew Dragon vs. cargo

SpaceX intended that the crew and cargo versions of Dragon be very similar, in order to speed up development of the crewed ship. "This commonality simplifies the human-rating process, allowing systems critical to crew and space station safety to be fully tested on unmanned cargo flights.," SpaceX stated.

Crew Dragon flight tests

SpaceX is hard at work on developing the crewed Dragon for two commercial crew test-flights, which will fly no earlier than late 2018. NASA is trying to wean itself off dependence on the Russian Soyuz vehicle that currently ferries all astronauts to the International Space Station. Each astronaut seat on the Soyuz costs NASA millions of dollars. Also, the agency tries to use U.S. launch services for launch when possible. The last crewed launch from U.S. soil took place in 2011, during the last flight of the space shuttle program.

More Falcon Heavy flights

Falcon Heavy launches are sold for about $90 million apiece, compared with $62 million for Falcon 9 launches. SpaceX plans to launch two more Falcon Heavy missions in 2018: one carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite and the other hoisting Space Test Program 2 for the U.S. Air Force (along with the Planetary Society's LightSail 2).

The Falcon 9 Block 5

In May 2018, SpaceX unveiled the fifth and final version of the company's Falcon 9 rocket: the Block 5 booster. Designed for maximum reusability (the target is at least 10 flights), this booster will launch astronauts into space on Dragon capsules for NASA. The first Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket was built to launch Bangabandhu-1, the first communications satellite for the country of Bangladesh. 

Starship and Super Heavy

Starship and Super Heavy make up a futuristic system intended for Mars exploration. In its Red Planet configurations, the BFR will be 348 feet (106 m) tall (including the spaceship) and capable of bringing 150 tons (136 metric tons) to low Earth orbit. Each rocket will carry about 100 people, and the rocket will be fully reusable. Musk said he plans to use this rocket in fleets, bringing hundreds or thousands of passengers at a time to Mars. In the 2020s, Musk plans to halt all Falcon lines except for BFR, which would perform all sorts of missions. Destinations would range from Mars to the International Space Station to orbits that would launch satellites near Earth.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

02-03-2019 om 22:44 geschreven door peter  

Meet Ripley, SpaceX's Dummy Astronaut Riding on Crew Dragon Test Flight

02-03-2019 om 22:16 geschreven door peter  

Crew Dragon van SpaceX met succes gelanceerd. Nu brengt hij dummy ruimte in, deze zomer volgen echte astronauten - HLN.be

Het zou voor het eerst zijn dat een commercieel bedrijf zoiets doet. Vandaag is alleen een dummy aan boord: Ripley, naar de heldin uit de bekende Alien-films.

De ruimtecapsule werd om 8.49 uur Belgische tijd gelanceerd, 2.49 uur plaatselijke tijd. Vannacht meldde SpaceX dat alle systemen paraat waren en ook het weer goed zat. De Crew Dragon en de Falcon 9-raket - waarop die bevestigd is - vertrokken vanop het historische Launch Complex 39A op Cape Canaveral, waar in de jaren 60 en 70 ook de legendarische Apollovluchten van ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA naar de maan vertrokken.

Lees ook

SpaceX lanceert ruimtecapsule die dummy naar ISS brengt, in juli volgen eerste echte astronauten

Testvlucht

De testvlucht zal in totaal zes dagen duren. Morgen komt de capsule met Ripley aan boord aan bij het ISS, waar ze volautomatisch zal aankoppelen. Als de drie bewoners van het ruimtestation de 200 kilogram materiaal en voorraden aan boord uitgeladen hebben en de spullen die ze niet meer nodig hebben ingeladen, zal de Crew Dragon op 8 maart terugkeren naar de aarde.
Tijdens de vlucht zullen de NASA en SpaceX gegevens verzamelen. Ripley – die het strakke witte ruimtepak van SpaceX draagt dat ook toekomstige astronauten aan zullen hebben – is uitgerust met sensoren, die de impact van de reis op de dummy moeten meten. Dat zullen immers ook krachten zijn die de astronauten zullen ondervinden. Indien nodig zullen na de vlucht nog aanpassingen aan het toestel of de stuwraketten gebeuren. Als alles goed gaat, gaan dan in juli de allereerste echte astronauten aan boord van een toestel van SpaceX.

Dat zal overigens een historisch moment zijn. Het is intussen acht jaar geleden dat er nog astronauten naar de ruimte vertrokken vanop Amerikaans bodem. Ze moeten nu nog ‘meeliften’ met Russische toestellen.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

02-03-2019 om 21:39 geschreven door peter  

Nog even geen buitenaards boorrecord voor Marslander Insight - HLN.be

Bron: AD.nl

De door Polen en Duitsland gefabriceerde boormachine van de Marslander is op keien gestuit die het vooralsnog lastig maken dieper te gaan. Bedoeling was tot vijf meter diep te gaan maar vooralsnog komt de boor niet verder dan een centimeter of vijftig, bevestigt het German Aerospace Center. Volgens de ingenieurs werkt de ‘hamerboor’ goed, maar zit het tegen wat betreft de boorplek door onvoorziene stenen. 

Als een diepte van vijf meter wordt gehaald is dat een buitenaards record, aldus NASA. Bedoeling van het boren is onder meer de ondergrondse temperatuur te meten. Volgens de ingenieurs kan de robotgestuurde arm met de boor de problemen oplossen, maar dat kost tijd.

Lees ook

NASA trekt na vijftien jaar definitief stekker uit Marsrobot Opportunity

Onderzoek

InSight (de naam staat voor: Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is een missie van het zogeheten ‘NASA’s Discoveryprogramma’ om de inwendige structuur van Mars en andere planeten te onderzoeken. Insight landde afgelopen november op de rode planeet en heeft al prachtige foto’s gestuurd en ook opnames gemaakt van de wind op de rode planeet. Er is ook een seismometer geplaatst om eventuele aardbevingen te registreren.

Marslander InSight landde op 26 november 2018 geland in het gebied Elysium Planitia, een vlakte nabij de evenaar van Mars. Voor de liefhebber: op ongeveer 600 km afstand van de Gale krater waar in 2012 het Marswagentje Curiosity is geland.

Bekijk ook: Marslander InSight succesvol geland op rode planeet

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

02-03-2019 om 21:34 geschreven door peter  

Paniek op Paaseiland: beroemde standbeelden verliezen na 500 jaar langzaam hun vorm door ‘lepra’ - HLN.be

Bron: Reuters, ANP

De eeuwen geleden uitgehouwen beelden vertegenwoordigen de voorouders van de Polynesische bevolking van Paaseiland, de Rapa Nui, en behoren tot het UNESCO Werelderfgoed. De honderden grote hoofden staan langs de kustlijn van het kleine eiland, een van de meest geïsoleerde ter wereld. Nog altijd vragen archeologen zich af hoe de inwoners de duizenden kilo’s zware beelden ooit op hun plaats hebben kunnen zetten. Paaseiland ligt op 3.500 kilometer van het vasteland en meer dan 2.000 kilometer verwijderd van het dichtstbijzijnde eiland, Pitcairn.

Maar de beelden lijden volgens wetenschappers aan een soort ‘lepra’. Ze krijgen witte vlekken op hun gezichten. De korstmossen, een combinatie van fungus en algen, vreten de beelden aan, waardoor het steen zacht als klei wordt en van vorm verandert. De beelden lijden bovendien door erosie, de stijgende zeespiegel, harde wind en vee dat tussen ze door graast.

70 procent al aangetast

Zeventig procent van de hoofden zou al zijn aangetast. Volgens archeologen kunnen de beelden nog worden gered als ze worden schoongemaakt en een coating krijgen die de poreuze steen beschermt, maar dan moet dat wel snel gebeuren. “Ik vermoed dat de Moai-beelden over een eeuw niet meer dan rechthoekige blokken zullen zijn”, aldus Tahira Edmunds, expert bij de Chileense overheid. 

De kosten om alle beelden te beschermen zouden kunnen oplopen tot 500 miljoen dollar, reden waarom Paaseiland ook om internationale hulp vraagt. De inwoners en lokale wetenschappers halen het geld om de beelden te beschermen nu vooral uit het duurzame toerisme, maar dat volstaat niet. 

De burgemeester van het eiland stelt daarom ook voor om geld te vragen van de landen die in het verleden beelden hebben meegenomen om in hun musea tentoon te stellen. Zo staat er een meer dan twee meter hoog beeld tentoongesteld in het British Museum in Londen, nadat het meer dan 150 jaar geleden door Britse zeevaarders werd meegenomen. In november al bezocht een Chileense delegatie het museum, dat bereid is na te denken over een vergoeding voor de ‘uitleen’ van het beeld. “Het museum kijkt uit naar samenwerking met partners van over heel de wereld en verwelkomt de voorstellen rond toekomstige projecten met Rapa Nui”, zegt het British Museum in een mededeling.

REUTERS 

Verschillende beelden zijn er al slecht aan toe.

ThinkStock

AP

rv

Paaseiland  is maar 25 op 12 kilometer groot en is een van de meest afgelegen bewoonde eilanden ter wereld.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

02-03-2019 om 21:26 geschreven door peter  

Mysterious planet 9 orbits the sun 37 billion miles away from Earth and will be discovered in the next '10 to 15 years', scientists claim

• Planet 9 is believed to exist far beyond the known objects in the solar system 
• New research has been published in two different papers backing this up 
• It claims the planet will be identified before 2030 and is 37 billion miles away 
• Experts also say it is likely to be between five to ten times the mass of Earth  

By JOE PINKSTONE FOR MAILONLINE

The fabled Planet 9 orbiting beyond Pluto in the depths of the solar system will be discovered in the next ten to 15 years, scientists claim. 

Two studies have been released stating the mythical planet is not only real but will be found before 2030. 

One of the papers claims the planet will be 400 astronomical units (AU) away from Earth - approximately 37 billion miles - and be five to ten times the mass of our planet.  

It has never been directly seen but its presence has been inferred from various calculations of its gravity on other objects. 

These 'trans-Neptunian objects' lie beyond the furthest gas giant and in the Kuiper Belt. 

Scroll down for video  

Planet 9 is theorised but has never been seen before. It orbits beyond Pluto in the depths of the solar system and will be discovered in the next ten to 15 years, scientists claim. it is also said to be bigger than Earth but smaller than the existing gas giants (pictured)

Caltech researchers Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin published data supporting the presence of 'Planet Nine' in 2016. 

They identified wobbles in the orbits of the solar system's most distant objects and put this down to the gravitational pull of a vast and unidentified planet. 

It was dubbed Planet 9 and the theory stating its existence is now widely accepted. 

The researchers published their data in the journal The Astronomical Journal and looked into the likelihood previous observations indicating Planet 9's existence were down to chance. 

They found the probability of this being down to bias was one in 500. 

'Though this analysis does not say anything directly about whether Planet Nine is there, it does indicate that the hypothesis rests upon a solid foundation,' says Dr Brown, the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg, a professor of planetary astronomy.  

Fred Adams, co-author of the study, said: 'With its proposed properties, Planet Nine is right on the edge of being observable.

'But this is a very dim object in a very big sky. Since we don't know exactly where it is, you have to survey the whole sky, or at least large portions of it, in order to find the planet.

'Over the course of the next 10 years we will have deeper and deeper—which means more sensitive—sky surveys.

'So I think by 2030 we will have seen it or will have a better idea of where it is. Of course, it's also possible that by then we could also have alternate explanations for the observed orbital anomalies.' 

The second paper, published in Physics Reports, estimated the size of the planet. 

 Caltech researchers Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin published data supporting the presence of 'Planet Nine' in 2016. They identified wobbles in the orbits of the solar system's most distant objects and put this down to the gravitational pull of an unidentified planet (artist's impression)

It claims it will be closer to the Sun than previously thought and will be up to ten time the mass of Earth. 

Calculations from the researchers state it is likely to be 400 astronomical units (AU) away from Earth - approximately 37 billion miles. 

One AU is the distance between Earth and the sun.   

'At five Earth masses, Planet Nine is likely to be very reminiscent of a typical extrasolar super-Earth,' Dr Batygin said in a statement.

'It is the solar system's missing link of planet formation. Over the last decade, surveys of extrasolar planets have revealed that similar-sized planets are very common around other sun-like stars. Planet Nine is going to be the closest thing we will find to a window into the properties of a typical planet of our galaxy.'

Fred Adams, Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan, added: 'The strongest argument in favour of Planet Nine is that independent lines of evidence can all be explained by a proposed new planet with the same properties. In other words, there are multiple reasons to believe that Planet Nine is real, not just one.' 

WHAT IS MYSTERIOUS 'PLANET X'?

Astronomers believe that the orbits of a number of bodies in the distant reaches of the solar system have been disrupted by the pull of an as yet unidentified planet.

First proposed by a group at CalTech in the US, this alien world was theorised to explain the distorted paths seen in distant icy bodies.

In order to fit in with the data they have, this alien world - popularly called Planet Nine - would need to be roughly four time the size of Earth and ten times the mass.

Researchers say a body of this size and mass would explain the clustered paths of a number of icy minor planets beyond Neptune.

First proposed by a group at CalTech in the US, this alien world was theorised to explain the distorted paths seen in distant icy bodies.

Its huge orbit would mean it takes between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make a single pass around the sun. 

The theoretical Planet Nine is based on the gravitational pull it exerts on these bodies, with astronomers confident it will be found in the coming years.

Those hoping for theoretical Earth-sized planets proposed by astrologers or science fiction writers - which are 'hiding behind the sun' and linked with Doomsday scenarios - may have to keep searching.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

02-03-2019 om 18:12 geschreven door peter  

02-03-2019 om 17:56 geschreven door peter  

There’s something about the Jorge Chavez International Airport located in Callao, just 11 km (7 mi) from Lima, Peru, that seems to attract UFOs. There have been a number of sightings there in recent years, including two different incidents in 2017 that reportedly forced the airport to close and turn away incoming flights. The latest occurred this week when two UFOs were spotted by airport staff, who submitted a report showing the objects hovered over one runway for just under an hour. Is Jorge Cavez the UFO equivalent of the perpetual holding patterns over the Atlanta airport?

Jorge Chavez International Airport

“At 01:30 am we see from the tower two UFOs just west of the station, at approximately 9,000 feet. (…) One of the objects appears at times on the radar screen. At 02:12 am the objects no longer appear in view of the control tower.”

That’s from an official report submitted on February 27th by airport control tower employees of CORPAC (Peruvian Airports and Commercial Aviation Corporation), the private company which provides air traffic control services to the airport. According to translations, the report states that a number of pilots saw the UFOs or UAPs (Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena) and they appeared on radar shortly before disappearing. (Multiple photos here and here. Photo of the report here.)

“Since yesterday, Wednesday 27, it has already been confirmed from CORPAC , with an official document, the presence of two Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (FAN), which have been positioned on runway 33 of Jorge Chávez International Airport , and has been seen – among others- by the ground crew of two planes that covered the route Lima-Córdoba and Lima-Quito.”

Peruvian ufologist Anthony Choy is conveniently based in Lima and, while he didn’t witness the UFOs themselves, confirmed the validity of the control tower report. He also pointed out in an interview that:

” … in these 19 years that I have been investigating these issues, it is the first time that there is an official report, it is a fact without comparison in our country.”

“Official” is the key word in that comment, since there was a sighting of 12 UFOs at the same airport on February 12th, 2017, that halted all flights for three hours. However, there was no official report on that one and the media didn’t cover it until internal CORPAC reports were obtained somehow by ufologist Mario Zegarra, who leaked them to the press. A second UFO incident at the airport on February 7th was also leaked to the media.

As expected, the number one speculation about the 2019 UFOs is drones. If that’s the case, they’re probably not civilian drones because of the altitude (9,000 ft., 1.7 miles, 2.75 km) and the amount of time they were able to hover motionless (at least 42 minutes with some reports saying it was more like an hour). Also, a large international airport like Jorge Chavez – which handles 22 million passengers per year – would have at least called in the military or local police if the facility was truly shut down by personal drones.

That leads to the question … were they military drones? There’s no doubt military drones could handle the altitude and time aloft. It might also explain why the military wasn’t called in to deal with them. Was it a training or emergency exercise? That might make sense, considering the sighting occurred during the low-activity middle-of-the-night time period. It could also explain why it was kept quiet – did the exercise show flaws in the airport’s response system?

If not drones, military or otherwise, could it be … aliens? Why would aliens hover over an airport in Peru when the nearby mountains are full of cattle to mutilate and mines to steal silver and copper from? The report and the photos do not show flashing lights or other spacecraft indicators. A closer look at the radar image might give some clues, but it doesn’t seem that anyone asked for those.

Or did they?

For now, the latest UFOs over Jorge Chavez International Airport remain unidentified and mysterious.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }Nieuwsbrief

02-03-2019 om 17:34 geschreven door peter