What's next for India's Chandrayaan-3 mission on the moon?

Related: 

• India on the moon! Chandrayaan-3 becomes 1st probe to land near lunar south pole

Most of the world's attention, however, is on the moon's surface. Shortly after the lander Vikram touched down on the moon, it established communications with mission control in Bengaluru, India, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

And the space agency announced late yesterday on X (formerly Twitter) that the rover, Pragyan, successfully rolled off the lander via a short ramp and "took a walk on the moon." That means the rover successfully deployed its own tiny solar panels to help it inch forward. It has two spectrometers onboard to study the makeup of lunar soil in the immediate area around the landing site.

Although the rover is equipped with cameras to avoid obstacles, its movements will be controlled at all times such that it trudges within the field of view of the cameras on the lander Vikram, ISRO has previously said.

Vikram also switched on three of its four onboard science experiments today (Aug. 24), according to ISRO. A particularly interesting instrument is a thermal probe that will, for the first time, shallowly probe lunar soil and measure its temperature, among other properties.

A second Vikram instrument will study a layer of the moon's tenuous atmosphere known as the ionosphere, which is filled with electrons and ions formed largely as a result of solar radiation. Scientists say this probe will help determine whether the ionosphere is compactly packed at all times or if its density changes over time and varying sunlight conditions.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

24-08-2023 om 22:17 geschreven door peter  

The Holloman Landing: New Data

Holoman Landing may have happened. An encounter may have happened, but that 8-9-second clip has a good explanation provided by the "Here Suddenly" YouTube channel

Brand new information about the alleged footage of a UFO landing at Holloman Air Force Base. Follow on Twitter and Instagram @heresuddenly

{ https://www.youtube.com/ }

24-08-2023 om 21:28 geschreven door peter  

See 1st photos of the moon's south pole by India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander

"The communication link is established between the Ch-3 Lander and MOX-ISTRAC, Bengaluru," ISRO said in a post on X. "Chandrayaan-3 chose a relatively flat region on the lunar surface," the agency added in the subsequent post.

Related: 

• India on the moon! Chandrayaan-3 becomes 1st probe to land near lunar south pole

{ https://www.space.com/ }

24-08-2023 om 21:19 geschreven door peter  

Tom DeLonge Claims Secret DoD Document From UFO Program Proves Telekinesis Is Real

Tom DeLonge, the former lead vocalist and guitarist of the popular band Blink-182, has always had a keen interest in UFOs. He has spent many years researching and studying the topic. He has even formed a company, To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science (or To The Stars) to investigate and promote research on UFOs and other related phenomena.

DeLonge’s To The Stars is behind publishing the three footages (captured in 2004 and 2015 by the US Navy) that were released in 2017 and 2018. They depict UFOs and include audio recordings of the pilots. These videos gained a lot of attention when they were released.

His interest in UFOs began at a young age. As a child, DeLonge was fascinated by stories of alien encounters and sightings. He used to spend hours reading books and watching documentaries about UFOs, and was particularly interested in the famous Roswell incident of 1947, where a UFO allegedly crashed in New Mexico.

DeLonge’s research led him to conclude that UFOs are real and that they are of extra-terrestrial origin. He believes that there is a wealth of evidence to support this conclusion, including reports of sightings and encounters, as well as physical evidence such as radar tracks and photographs.

During a podcast with Daniel P Carter of BBC Radio 1 Rock, DeLonge disclosed that he has a secret official Pentagon document from a UFO program that shows telekinesis is a real ability. He believes that telekinesis has been proven in the lab and that consciousness precedes matter, and once we discover that, life is going to get very interesting.

He suggests that we have the ability to heal ourselves and create new types of Sciences and Engineering tweets. He also believes that telepathy is going to be a part of it, and that they have found an area in the brain that they believe is where telepathy happens. He thinks that once people accept all of the stuff that they have been talking about, it’s going to change the world. Below is the transcript of his conversation with Carter:

“I always tell people there is this really cool document (that I have) that was a part of the UFO program where they were studying a kid in China who can move objects with his mind. He is around 10 years old, so they wanted to figure out how that’s possible, and they recreated it in the lab.

I have the whole Department of Defense document, and it goes through it and says they were able to put a piece of paper in a glass jar, screw the lid on it, and move the paper through the lid and then six feet across the floor, all with their mind. 100 people can do this, only 10 have mastered it, and it was just wild.

So telekinesis has been proven in the lab, but no one knows about it. I’m like, to be able to move things with the force, like in Star Wars, is a big deal. It sounds ridiculous, that’s why, and within the current paradigm, it sounds ridiculous. I’m sure, or you won’t remember, but we had a conversation at the Reading Festival many years ago where I think I probably came across as a total maniac, even to someone as open-minded as yourself. But, I was talking about reading a bunch of different things, which means nothing, but I was looking at different realms of consciousness because that’s the basis of everything I believe.

I believe that consciousness precedes matter and I highly agree with you. Because the current paradigm is that consciousness is a facet that’s created by matter, which is just this weird thing that’s come about because our brains are complicated and that’s nonsense. I think it’s exactly the opposite and once we discover that stuff, life is going to get very interesting.

Once we discover that mind over matter, not the other way around, we will have the ability to heal ourselves, create new types of Sciences and Engineering, and become a civilization where telepathy is a part of it. I believe that’s all going to happen. There is one person, who was up for the Nobel last year, is one of the top geneticists in the world, at one of the Ivy League schools that we are working with, who worked on part of the UFO program at the Pentagon. I was talking to him, and they found an area in the brain that they believe is where telepathy happens, and he believes he can create something to enhance it by a thousand times, like some type of drug that targets that area of the brain.

So, that’s the thing, people do think it’s ridiculous, but not the people who have an open enough mind to research and jump in. These guys are like World leading PhDs, and that’s been the kind of the story of my life, is everything I’ve told, even on Rogan, is not made up, it’s coming from somewhere, and I can’t say where it’s coming from, but at the end of the day, it’s all real. I think it’s going to be a very exciting time once people accept all of the stuff that we’ve been talking about here on this interview, I think it’s going to really change the world.”

Read also:

• Ex-NASA Astronaut: ‘We have Contact With Alien Cultures & Their Appearance Is Bizarre’
• Famous 19-Sec UFO Footage Could Be Greatest Leak: CGI Experts Say It Is Real Deal
• This Is Clearest UFO Photo Ever Released That Shows Typical Alien Craft
• Ex-Apollo Astronaut Claimed Humans Are Ancient Aliens, Visited Earth From Space

Moreover, as in the January 2022 Thrasher Magazine issue, DeLonge was asked: “Would you say UFOs are driven by aliens or do you think it’s more like a drone?” He replied: “I think both.” He suggested that it is important to note that while studying UFOs, we must be aware of the fact that they could be remotely controlled and may have occupants. (Source)

“I think the biggest misconception is that they are coming from other planets. Evidence doesn’t really support that. The evidence supports that it’s dimensional and that it’s parallel timelines that exist with frequency. It’s really complicated, different, and interesting. But once you understand that, you have no way out of reexamining the religious world and wondering what the Star of Bethlehem really was,” DeLonge explained.

Further, he was asked if UFOs or aliens are coming from the oceans. He said that while the origin of UFOs is a separate conversation, it is believed that they do exist in our oceans. With the use of sensors placed throughout the ocean to detect submarines and other objects, it has been reported that there have been sightings of unidentified submerged objects (USOs).

In one instance, a helicopter pilot was testing torpedoes, and a navy SEAL was sent down on a wire to retrieve the torpedo. However, as soon as he touched the water, a large craft came underneath him, took the torpedo, and left at the high speed. The navy SEAL was in shock and panicked, requesting to be pulled up immediately. Although there were initial plans to have the witnesses speak on television, they later backed out, and some of them testified to the committee. Nonetheless, similar incidents continue to occur frequently, and it is, indeed, extraordinary.

DeLonge’s views on UFOs have been met with both praise and criticism. Some people believe that his research is valuable and that it is important to investigate and study UFOs in an open and honest manner. Others believe that DeLonge’s opinion is misguided and that there is no evidence to support his conclusions.

Despite the criticism, DeLonge remains committed to his research and wants to continue promoting the truth about UFOs. He believes that UFOs are real and that they are of extra-terrestrial origin, and that the truth about UFOs should be investigated and studied openly and honestly. Through his work To The Stars, DeLonge hopes to bring more attention to the topic of UFOs and to promote research and discussion about this fascinating phenomenon.

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{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

24-08-2023 om 20:54 geschreven door peter  

Did NASA Just Enter A New Space Race? A Space Policy Expert Says It Would Be a Mistake

No one can just plant a flag and declare that they own Shackleton Crater.

BY KIONA SMITH

 

MARK FELIX/AFP/Getty Images

The south pole of the Moon just might be the hottest real estate in the Universe right now. Nearly every country with a space program has its eyes set on establishing a presence on the lunar surface’s south side. NASA, for example, is currently in the middle of its Artemis campaign, set to culminate with a permanent U.S. settlement there, and India, Russia, and China are all inching their way to our neighboring celestial body.

If this feels like deja vu, you’re not wrong. The original “space race” — a fierce battle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over who had the technology to conquer the cosmos first — began with the launch of Sputnik 1 and culminated with the U.S. landing the first crewed spacecraft, Apollo 11, on the moon. But now, over 50 years later, we may be entering an entirely new era of space exploration, one that seems poised to come with a race of its own.

Earlier this month, at a press conference at Kennedy Space Center for NASA’s Artemis II mission, NASA administrator Bill Nelson expressed concern that if China's space agency beat NASA to a crewed Moon landing, China might deny other countries access to landing sites and water ice.

“The space race is really between us and China,” said Nelson. “And we need to protect the interests of the international community.”

Inverse talked with space policy expert Ian Christensen of the Secure World Foundation, who also is involved in "twice-yearly informal, off-the-record dialogues with the U.S. and Chinese space sector actors,” about why the U.S. and China are gearing up for a new “space race,” what exactly is at stake, and how it’s likely to play out.

WHY WE’RE RACING TO THE MOON AGAIN

NASA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) seem to be eyeing some of the same landing sites for Artemis III and Chang’e-7, a CNSA mission to explore the Moon, including landing on its surface, planned for a 2026 launch.

That’s not terribly surprising. The Moon’s southern craters are an ideal location for a number of reasons. First, the area offers a near-perfect landing site: a high, flat ground with good lighting. The resources around it also make it possible to set up a permanent base on the moon. A nearby crater contains an ice deposit large enough to turn the frozen water into rocket fuel and breathable oxygen — two resources that are critical to establishing long-term bases on the Moon and eventually providing logistical support for missions to Mars. And that’s something both countries are determined to do.

All of this, on some level, is about power.

“Space is not separable from diplomatic soft power,” says Christensen. (“Soft power” refers to wielding influence rather than military might or financial leverage.) “The State Department and NASA have tried to leverage space as part of U.S. international diplomatic strategies. China does the same thing; they don't have quite the brand identity, but they certainly bring space into diplomatic and trade agreements.”

Domestic policy may also have something to do with it. The idea of a space race hearkens back to the Cold War, and that is politically expedient for both countries, at least in some ways.

“There's something of an ‘Apollo hangover’ in the U.S.,” says Christensen. “The idea that competition with the Soviets led to this tremendous achievement, and we want to recapture that sort of environment. I think there's certainly an element of that in there.” The idea of a competitor might also give the U.S. space program a sense of urgency.

Meanwhile, Christensen says, “The Chinese ecosystem is certainly motivated at a certain level by trying to maintain its reputation as a space power,” and keeping pace with the U.S. is a key part of that.

A NEW RACE, A NEW RIVAL

What about our old Cold War “space race” rival, Russia? Nelson essentially dismissed Russia as a competitor in the current race to the Moon. He cited a long history of U.S. and Russian cooperation in space (although that, too, has been strained since Russia invaded Ukraine). But he also made it clear that Russia just isn’t in a position to compete:

“I don't think that a lot of people at this point would say that Russia is actually ready to be landing cosmonauts on the Moon in the timeframe that we're talking about going to the Moon, or that possibly China would be,” Nelson said.

As if to prove Nelson’s point, Russia’s Luna-25 lander crashed during an attempt to land near the Moon’s south pole on August 19. Luna-25 had been neck-and-neck with India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander in the race to become the first spacecraft to land near the Moon’s south pole.

The crash is an embarrassing political setback for Russia, whose president Vladimir Putin touts the country’s space program as proof of Russian power, both to his own people and to other countries.

Despite Putin’s ambitions, though, it’s been more than 30 years since Russia was a real space power. In recent years, Roscosmos has mostly been in the business of ferrying astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station (and even that hasn’t gone so well lately). The agency has been working on a shoestring budget for decades. Money — and access to hardware — has gotten even tighter since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, triggering waves of international sanctions, including from some of the countries that were originally slated to provide electronic components for Luna-25.

With Luna-25 now a pile of scrap on the lunar surface, it looks like India may beat Russia — and everyone else — to the south pole of the Moon. But for NASA, China remains the competitor to watch: the country is a powerhouse economic, political, and ideological rival to the U.S. here on Earth, and (unlike Russia) it has both money and political will to throw behind a race to the Moon.

NO ONE OWNS THE MOON

So how will the new lunar “space race” unfold? Neither the U.S. nor China (nor anybody else) can just plant a flag and declare that they own Shackleton Crater. Both countries have signed the Outer Space Treaty, which says that celestial bodies like the Moon and Mars can’t be claimed as national territory.

On the other hand, you really can’t land your spaceship on top of somebody else’s astronaut encampment or robotic lander. The U.S. and China agreed, by signing the Outer Space Treaty, not to cause “harmful interference” with each other’s operations, which definitely includes not landing a rocket on them. What’s less clear is how much room one country is obligated to give another country’s landing site, for example.

Sorting out that kind of detail is going to be a huge challenge in the years ahead, and communication between the U.S. and Chinese governments will be key to working out those issues — and maybe even setting the precedent that will define how countries interact on the Moon, on Mars, and in the asteroid belt.

The question, says Christensen, is, “Do we have the lines of communication between these two states to figure out deconfliction mechanisms or to share information on activities being conducted so that we don't stumble into some sort of inadvertent crisis points?” But the two countries’ strained relationship here on Earth could make that difficult.

“We've seen kind of a difficulty in establishing communication channels in other domains of operations, so I think there's some concern that that will continue in the space domain,” says Christensen.

NAVIGATING AROUND THE COMMUNICATIONS BARRIER

U.S. law actually forbids NASA to talk to China’s space agency. An amendment to a 2011 appropriations bill, called the Townsend amendment, prohibits direct discussions between NASA and Chinese officials.

Instead, says Christensen, conversations on coordinating and minimizing conflict on the Moon have to happen in big, multinational forums like the UN Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space or the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, or in what Christensen describes as "informal dialogues between stakeholders on both sides.” Those are mostly discussions about the broad strokes of each country's goals and principles — not establishing rules of the road for future lunar settlements.

"We're not looking for agreements, and we're not looking for any sort of cooperation; we're just looking to have some very basic kind of better understanding of individual and cultural logic," says Christensen. "It's a kind of indirect and slow process."

And there are other ways to work around the Townsend Amendment. The U.S. and China have managed to swap scientific information a few times in the past, trading observations from NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) for data from China’s Chang’e missions.

“I think we should be looking for more opportunities to do that: around sample uses, physical characterization of the regolith, things like that,” says Christensen, “so that some limited basic scientific data exchange can occur and help us have some connections.”

TENSION, BUT NOT CONFLICT

Things between the U.S. and China are already tense, and that’s going to make us awkward lunar neighbors at best. And there’s a very good chance that disputes over lunar landing sites could add stress to the already strained relationship between the U.S. and China here on Earth.

“There's a risk that it becomes another point of tension in this larger dynamic between the two states,” says Christensen.

But he doesn’t expect that tension to spill over into armed conflict, either on the Moon or about the Moon.

“I think conflict over the Moon is probably unlikely in the foreseeable future,” says Christensen. “I don't think we've yet established the type of integration of the Moon into broader economics and geopolitics to bring into conflict.”

In the end, Christensen says a space “race” probably isn’t the right word and definitely not a productive one. “I think it puts a little bit too much importance on getting there } and detracts from some of the more long-term questions.”

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

24-08-2023 om 19:54 geschreven door peter  

Arthur C Clarke Unmasks The Truth Behind UFOs

The Search for Truth in the Skies

The subject of UFOs and extraterrestrial life has gripped the imagination of many, but perhaps nobody embodies this curiosity as much as Arthur C. Clarke did (Amazon link). The eminent science fiction author and futurist, whose work often grappled with mankind’s place in the universe, once took it upon himself to explore the various facets of unidentified flying objects.

From Skepticism to Curiosity

Clarke’s own experience with what he initially thought was a UFO turned out to be a weather balloon, a common source of mistaken identity. His tale serves as a gentle reminder that not everything we see in the sky is from another galaxy. Clarke was skeptical about long-range UFO sightings primarily because they often lacked irrefutable evidence.

However, he was genuinely fascinated by “Close Encounters”—instances where people claimed to have come into direct contact with extraterrestrial beings or their craft. Clarke pointed out that while it is possible that older, more advanced civilizations might have been visiting Earth, there is no hard evidence to suggest ongoing visitations in the modern era.

The Tale of Mrs. Jesse Roestenburg

One of the more engrossing accounts Clarke delved into was that of Mrs. Jesse Roestenburg, who lived in a Staffordshire farmhouse. Roestenburg’s tale was gripping: a giant, Mexican hat-shaped object suspended in the sky, with beings inside who had golden hair and “eyes full of compassion.” For Roestenburg and her children, this was a moment that defied rational explanation. The object performed aerial maneuvers before ascending sharply and disappearing, leaving a family in awe and wonder.

When Physical Evidence Appears

Bob Taylor, a forestry worker, was another individual who claimed to have a close encounter, but with a twist: there was physical evidence. Taylor stumbled upon a dark, domed object while walking down a woodland track. He described smaller “spiky” objects rolling towards him and an overwhelming, choking smell before losing consciousness. When he returned home, his trousers were torn in a manner consistent with being pulled upward.

The police found unexplainable track marks and holes in the ground at the scene, adding a layer of mystique to an already baffling event. Could this have been evidence of a craft landing or taking off?

The Technological Watchtower

Clarke was particularly intrigued by the idea that if extraterrestrial visitors were frequenting Earth, it seemed improbable that they could elude the extensive radar networks operated by various countries. Anything “as big as a pencil” orbiting Earth could be tracked, making the secretive arrival of an extraterrestrial craft unlikely.

What To Do If You Meet an Extraterrestrial?

Clarke’s advice was whimsical yet profound: “Be very polite and be prepared for a long journey.” If the visitors are anything like us—curious explorers of the cosmos—they might be as fascinated by us as we are by them.

Video:

• Arthur C Clarke Unmasks The Truth Behind UFOs | Our World

Arthur C. Clarke’s balanced, scientific perspective on UFOs serves as a guide for how we might approach this enduring mystery. While Clarke remained skeptical about random lights in the sky, he was open to the possibility of life beyond Earth and the compelling tales of those who claim to have had close encounters. Like Clarke, perhaps we should be prepared to embrace the unknown, armed with curiosity and a dash of skepticism, as we continue our collective quest to understand our place in the universe.

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{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

24-08-2023 om 19:31 geschreven door peter  

William Tompkins & MUFON Director: Earth Is Controlled By Warring Extraterrestrial Species

By Vicky Verma

Just two years before his death, William M. Tompkins had written “Selected by Extraterrestrials,” which induced sudden chaos in the UFO community with his incredible testimony about the US Navy’s secret development of space battle groups with the assistance of major aerospace companies beginning with Douglas Aircraft. He can be considered one of the most incredible whistleblowers to step forward and disclosed the Secret Space Programs, E.T. Agendas, and hidden governments. He claimed to be part of an operation involving US Navy spies who stole UFO plans and antigravity technological secrets from the Nazis during World War II.

In July 2017, at a press conference, Tompkins made an unprecedented statement. He worked for the Douglas Aircraft Company alongside extraterrestrials (Nordic alien women). It had been 4-7 years before NASA appeared. He claimed about it in his book (mentioned above) that was published in 2015.

Additionally, he revealed that the Nazis had already had operational UFOs during the war, and because of the information that the US spies were able to obtain, the US later developed its own fleet of UFOs – which then got siphoned off into the black military sphere under the control of Majestic 12, the ultra-secretive group that controlled and managed the UFO/alien issue in the 1940s.

During the time of World War, there were secret societies such as the Thule Society and the Vril Society. Famous British historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clark wrote a whole chapter about Maria Orsic in his book “Black Sun” published in 2001, where he connected her with Vril society.

The author mentioned that Orsic could communicate with alien civilizations and one of them was from the planet Aldebaran, which is located in the Taurus system.

Read also:

• Project Stargate: CIA Top Secret Program To Track UFOs & Explore Mars
• Gray Alien Named ‘Sen’: Californian Woman Encounter Case By MUFON Researcher
• Aliens From Andromeda Told US Army Personnel That Humans Are Composite of 22 different E.T. races
• FBI 1947 Declassified Report: Giant Aliens Visit Earth From Another Dimension

According to Tompkins, the Nazis were in contact with Extraterrestrial Reptilians at the same time as Orsic was doing her channeling. Hitler found out about Orsic, her abilities, and the fact she was receiving information that detailed how to construct UFOs.

According to Tompkins, Hitler allowed Orsic (and the Nordics with whom she was working for) to continue work on their UFO program because the Nazis were already in contact with the Reptilians, and because Hitler knew he could always take over Orsic’s project at any time.

Robert Wood, who was interviewed alongside William Tompkins by Search4TruthReality (source), claimed that the Nazis’ technology rapidly advanced due to their relationship with the Reptilians, so that they actually got to the far side of the moon before the end of WW2.

Dr. Wood worked in research and development management in Douglas Aircraft and McDonnell Douglas from 1956 to 1993. Later he became a Board member of MUFON. He was given $500,000 to disseminate UFO documents and $250,000 to make a UFO documentary. Later, Robert and his son Ryan scanned hundreds of MJ-12 documents and made them available on their website MajesticDocuments.com

According to William Tompkins, he was recruited at a young age by the Navy due to his precocious ability to build highly accurate model ships. After working at North American Aviation and Northrop, he was hired by Douglas Aircraft Company in 1950.

In the interviews such as with Project Camelot and in his book “Selected by Extraterrestrials,” Tompkins revealed much of his story. He explained that MJ-12 began in 1942 with the senior Douglas (the man who started the company).

Tompkins stated that right after the Battle of LA in 1942, in order to handle the implications of UFOs openly showing themselves in the skies, Douglas pulled some key men into a group (or think tank) that later became MJ-12.

Seventeen-year-old Bill Tompkins points out the detail on his models to naval Captain H. C. Gearing, commandant of the 11th Naval District in San Diego. Bill was soon inducted into the navy and is shown in the second photo in his uniform holding one of his aircraft carriers. He went on to help design com on the real ships.

Image Credit: Craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Tompkins

Dr. Wood stated that MJ-12 is mostly associated with the Air Force, not other branches of the US military. He explained that the US Navy started back-engineering Nazi UFO crafts in 1942 before MJ-12 came into existence. It took the Navy around a decade to produce functional UFO craft, but they did so eventually.

Tompkins stated that when the first astronauts went to the moon, they were shocked to discover it had already been occupied by Draco Reptilians. He said that the Reptilians, over 9 feet tall, were standing next to their advanced craft.

According to both Tompkins and Dr. Wood, the Reptilians had already made a deal with the Nazis. Amazingly, Tompkins himself claimed he saw ancient structures on the far side of the moon and that he saw a floating building – 1.5 miles above the lunar surface.

According to Tompkins, although there are many ET species interacting with humanity currently, including Dracos/Reptilians and Nordics which have a great influence on the world.

In his Project Camelot interview, Tompkins prevented himself from disclosing more information about Reptilians as it was harmful to his credibility.

Tompkins also described the US Military’s concerns about UFOs and alien beings and the Military’s rush to create advanced space-based weapons, which could be used to defend the planet Earth against an ET threat to our civilization.

He revealed US Navy has Battle Groups operating outside the Earth. He personally designed five space ships and thirty support ships. Using the latest technology, he designed different space ships for Northrop Aviation Company. Northrop started building the huge craft underground in Utah.

Tompkins claimed we are now building even better Battle Groups. The Apollo moon landings were also designed to build a base on the moon. We have had bases on the moon along with bases on Mars and Jupiter’s moons.

A month after the shocking conference, Tompkins passed away unexpectedly on August 21, 2017, in San Diego, California, at the age of 94.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

24-08-2023 om 00:58 geschreven door peter  

Ancient River Is Helping NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Do Its Work

Perseverance Views Jezero Boulder Field: The Mastcam-Z imager on NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a series of images on July 6 that were stitched together to show a field of boulders deposited in Jezero Crater by a fast-moving ancient river. Rover tracks across the middle of the image give a sense of scale. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS. Download image ›

The six-wheeled geologist is getting some assistance in its search for diverse rock samples that could be brought to Earth for deeper investigation.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover sealed the tube containing its 20th rock core sample on June 23 (the 832nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission), and the mission’s science team is excited about its potential. That’s because this sample was drilled by the rover from an outcrop composed of tiny chunks of other rocks that were carried from elsewhere by a river in the distant past and deposited here, where they became cemented together. Conglomerates like this one (nicknamed “Emerald Lake” by the team) pack a lot of information about places the rover may never visit, with each new rock fragment representing a geologic a story to be told.

“Pebbles and boulders found in a river are messengers from afar,” said Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist from Caltech in Pasadena. “And while the water that created the Martian riverbed that Perseverance is currently exploring evaporated billions of years ago, the story carried by those waters remains fresh, stored in conglomerate rock.”

Perseverance's 'Otis Peak' Sample Reveals Colors of Conglomerate: NASA’s Perseverance captured this image June 13 of a sample it cored from a conglomerate rock called “Emerald Lake.” This “Otis Peak” core shows distinctly colored areas that are individual minerals transported by a river that once flowed into Jezero Crater. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›

Perseverance is collecting these samples so that they can be brought to Earth by the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign and studied by lab equipment that’s too large and complex to bring to Mars. Scientists will be able to look at each pebble and fragment in this core, dubbed “Otis Peak,” to determine details such as its age, what the environmental conditions were like in the river when the conglomerate formed, and whether it contains signs of ancient microbial life.

Now in its third science campaign, Perseverance is exploring the top of a fan-shaped pile of sedimentary rock that stands 130 feet (40 meters) tall. With this sample sealed and stored in its belly, the rover is on its way to a low ridge called “Snowdrift Peak.” To get there, it will have to cross a field of boulders.

As with the rock fragments in the Otis Peak sample, scientists believe the boulders likely formed elsewhere and were transported to their present location billions of years ago by an ancient river. Boulders are also desirable because their large surface area allows scientists to visually investigate many potentially distinct rocks in a single image. So the team will be keeping their options open, ready to stop for anything that piques their curiosity.

“Whether the boulders appear intriguing enough for closer examination and possible sampling remains to be seen – literally,” said Farley. “We’re taking a page from the past. Prospectors looking for gold or diamonds in the old days often looked in rivers to determine whether there was any deposit of interest upstream. No need to hike up there to see – let the river do the work!”

More About the Mission

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including caching samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA, would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance:

• https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

News Media Contacts

• DC Agle
  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
  818-393-9011
  agle@jpl.nasa.gov
• Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
  NASA Headquarters, Washington
  301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501
  karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov

{ https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/# }

24-08-2023 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

Schematic drawing of a photon collision at a time interface.

CREDIT: Anna Umana, Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center.

RESEARCHERS MANIPULATING TIME CAUSE FIRST-EVER SUCCESSFUL PHOTON COLLISIONS

CHRISTOPHER PLAIN

IS USING ONE WAVE TO CANCEL ANOTHER WAVE POSSIBLE?

Engineers studying the devastating effects of wave-driven catastrophes like tsunamis and earthquakes have often postulated the idea of using a counter-wave to stop them in their tracks. Unfortunately, various laws of physics have proven the idea impractical, if not downright impossible. Still, researchers studying wave interactions at the atomic and sub-atomic scale wondered if the idea might be possible in the quantum universe.

“While such an outcome (stopping a tsunami) is impossible in conventional wave physics, we knew it was possible in principle with a temporal metamaterial,” said Emanuele Galiffi, a postdoctoral fellow at Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) and the leading author on this latest study. “Our experiment allowed us to demonstrate this concept in action for electromagnetic waves.”

MANIPULATING TIME PROVED KEY TO CAUSING FIRST-EVER PHOTON COLLISIONS

To make the historic photon collision, the CUNY ASRC team first looked back at the work they had previously published on something called time reflections.

From a purely theoretical standpoint, time reflections are exactly what they sound like. Instead of a reflection of a light wave, like seeing oneself in the mirror, or a reflection of a sound wave, like hearing an echo, a time reflection is rooted in the idea that time moves like a wave, and given the right conditions, time could be reflected backward. At least on a quantum scale.

Although the idea had been discussed for over six decades, there was no known material that could change its overall state quickly enough to initiate these time reflections. Then earlier this year, the same CUNY ASRC team behind this latest breakthrough finally proved the existence of time reflections by using a metamaterial that had only recently been developed.

“Using a sophisticated metamaterial design, we were able to realize the conditions to change the material’s properties in time both abruptly and with a large contrast,” explained Andrea Alù, Distinguished Professor of Physics at The City University of New York Graduate Center and founding director of the CUNY ASRC Photonics Initiative at the time of the discovery. The result was the first observable evidence that time had been reflected backward.

Now, Professor Alù and his team have shown that manipulating time in a metamaterial can indeed cause photons to collide.

Also notable, the researchers said that by manipulating time, they were able to control the nature of the collision to determine if energy was lost or conserved. For example, two pool balls colliding conserve the vast majority of their energy, whereas two rubber balls colliding lose much of theirs.

“We were also able to control whether the waves exchanged, gained, or lost energy during these collisions,” said Alù.

DISCOVERY COULD LEAD TO TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN NUMEROUS AREAS

One interesting application proposed and actually demonstrated by the researchers involved using their method to shape electromagnetic pulses by colliding them with one another.

“This technique allows us to use an additional signal as a mold to sculpt a pulse that we are interested in structuring,” said Gengyu Xu, a postdoctoral fellow with Alù’s lab and co-leading author of the paper.  Xu says they have already shown this ability using radio waves and that they are now working to “realize this sculpting ability” at higher frequencies.

In their conclusion, the researchers state that the ability to collide EM waves with the goal of controlling wave propagation could also lead to breakthroughs in a number of areas that rely on such processes. These include advances in wireless communications, energy harvesting, imaging, and computing.

• Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

{ https://thedebrief.org/ }

23-08-2023 om 23:39 geschreven door peter  

Flashing cigar-shaped UFO over Downswood, UK

20th August 2023, Maidstone, UK – In the era of advanced technology and scientific discovery, there still remain moments that are shrouded in mystery and wonder. A recent event that took place over Downswood has grabbed the attention of UFO enthusiasts and skeptics alike, adding to the ever-growing catalog of unexplained “UFO sightings” from around the world.

Witness Report: A Glimpse Into the Unknown

On a day marked by clear skies and a backdrop of azure blues, a mysterious long rectangular object was seen emitting an extraordinary light. Travelling in an easterly direction at approximately 15,000 to 20,000 feet, the UFO, visible to the naked eye, was brightly illuminated—whether by its own lights or a reflection remains a subject of debate.

However, what made this sighting particularly compelling was its peculiar behaviour. The lights from the object flashed intermittently, causing the UFO to momentarily disappear before resurfacing in the vast sky. This unusual pattern of appearance and disappearance left many onlookers in awe and bewilderment.

Contextual Puzzle Piece: The Eastbourne Airshow

In a curious twist to the narrative, an Eurofighter Typhoon, participating in the Eastbourne Airshow, was spotted flying from the North to the South. This jet, cruising at a height considerably lower than the unidentified flying object, provides an intriguing contrast and context to the sighting.

Did the two events, occurring almost simultaneously, share a connection? Or was it simply a remarkable coincidence that a highly sophisticated and identifiable aircraft was present near the mysterious high-flying entity?

Captured for Posterity

Thanks to the advancements in smartphone technology, the strange spectacle was captured on a Google Pixel 7 Pro mobile phone. The video accompanying this article clearly showcases the object’s trajectory and distinctive features. It serves as a visual testimony, inviting viewers to come to their own conclusions about the unexplained phenomenon.

VIDEO:

While the existence of extraterrestrial life remains a divisive topic, UFO sightings like the one over Downswood serve as tantalizing clues to the enigma. As interest in the unknown continues to grow, and as people from different corners of the world come forth with their own stories and evidence, one thing remains certain: The sky, in all its vastness, still holds secrets waiting to be unraveled.

RELATED

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

23-08-2023 om 16:29 geschreven door peter  

Gigantic Triangle UFO Dominates Texas Sky! 

On September 24, 2022, the vast Texas sky, known for its bright stars and expansive views, was the stage for this surreal triangle-shaped UFO sighting that was just submitted to MUFON today. The recorded footage, spanning a surreal 40 seconds, has left netizens buzzing with intrigue and curiosity.

Witness Account:
The incident was documented by a musician who was driving home after a show. Just as he was navigating the Texan roads, a peculiar formation in the night sky compelled him to pull over. Initially mistaken for the moon, it soon became evident that this was no celestial body. Instead, what hovered above was a “HUGE FOOTBALL FIELD sized triangle aircraft.”

To emphasize the sheer magnitude of the UFO, commercial planes, reduced to tiny pinpoints of light, fluttered past this gigantic triangular entity. With a cloud-veiled sky as the backdrop, the sighting became even more dramatic. Notably, this unidentified object remained stationary for an estimated seven minutes before it initiated a gradual movement across the horizon.

“I thought this thing was the moon but the moon was on the other side of the night sky,” said the musician, her voice tinged with a mix of awe and fear. She added, “Everyone that sees it is like ‘wow!‘”

The Video Proof:
Accompanying this article is the must-watch video, filmed from the musician’s car. While a 40-second clip may seem brief, every second is laden with wonder and raises questions about the mysteries of our universe.

VIDEO:

UFO sightings have always been a topic of global fascination, and this recent event in Texas further fuels the debate. Was this a clandestine military project, an otherworldly visitor, or perhaps a natural phenomenon we are yet to understand? While theories abound, one fact remains irrefutable: the skies of Texas were home to an aerial spectacle on that fateful September night.

For those eager to delve deeper into such phenomena, stay tuned and search for more on “UFO sightings.” This universe, it seems, has many more tales to tell.

RELATED

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

23-08-2023 om 16:15 geschreven door peter  

India becomes first nation to land spacecraft near Moon's south pole

This handout screen grab taken and received from the live feed of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) website on August 23, 2023, shows the successful lunar landing of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the south pole of the Moon.

(Photo by ISRO / AFP)

Bengaluru, India: India on Wednesday became the first nation to land a craft near the Moon's south pole, a historic triumph for the world's most populous nation and its ambitious, cut-price space programme.

The unmanned Chandrayaan-3, which means "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, touched down at 6:04 pm India time (1234 GMT) as mission control technicians cheered wildly and embraced their colleagues.

Its landing comes days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region and four years since the previous Indian attempt failed at the last moment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi smiled broadly and waved an Indian flag on a live broadcast to announce the mission's success as a triumph that extended beyond his country's borders.

"On this joyous occasion I would like to address the people of the world," said Modi from the sidelines of the BRICS diplomatic summit in South Africa.

"India's successful moon mission is not just India's alone," he added. "This success belongs to all of humanity."

The Chandrayaan-3 mission has captivated public attention since launching nearly six weeks ago in front of thousands of cheering spectators.

Chandrayaan-3 took much longer to reach the Moon than the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days.

India used rockets much less powerful than the ones the United States used back then, meaning the probe had to orbit the Earth several times to gain speed before embarking on its month-long journey.

The lander, Vikram, which means "valour" in Sanskrit, detached from its propulsion module last week and has been sending images of the Moon's surface since entering lunar orbit on August 5.

Now that Vikram has landed, a solar-powered rover will explore the surface and transmit data to Earth over its two-week lifespan.

Ambitious programme

The South Asian nation has a comparatively low-budget space programme, but one that has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008.

The latest mission has a cost of $74.6 million -- far lower than those of other countries, and a testament to India's frugal space engineering.

Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts' wages.

In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to put a craft into orbit around Mars and is slated to launch a three-day crewed mission into Earth's orbit by next year.

Wednesday's landing had been eagerly awaited by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after the frustrating failure of its previous mission at the last hurdle in 2019.

Back then, mission control lost contact with the Chandrayaan-2 lunar module moments before its slated landing.

'Very, very important'

Former ISRO chief K. Sivan told AFP that India's efforts to explore the relatively unmapped lunar south pole would make a "very, very important" contribution to scientific knowledge.

Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved controlled landings on the Moon.

Russia launched a lunar probe in August -- its first in nearly half a century.

If successful, it would have beaten Chandrayaan-3 by a matter of days to become the first mission from any nation to make a controlled landing around the south pole.

But Luna-25 crashed on Saturday after an unspecified incident as it prepared to descend.

Journalists film the live telecast of spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 landing on the moon at ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network facility in Bengaluru, India, Wednesday, August 23, 2023. 

AIJAZ RAHI / AP

{ https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/ }

23-08-2023 om 15:57 geschreven door peter  

m 14u33 raakte de onbemande Indische maanraket Chandrayaan-3 het maanoppervlak, precies zoals verwacht. Voor het eerst in de geschiedenis landt een ruimtetuig op de zuidpool van de maan, iets waar Rusland afgelopen weekend niet in was geslaagd. Ruimtesonde Loena-25 crashte toen tegen de maan. 

• 

Wetenschap

Alle ogen straks op India gericht: lukt het om als eerste zacht op de zuidpool van de maan te landen?

Het is voor India een dubbele primeur. Voor het land is het ook de allereerste maanlanding. Daarmee is het slechts het vierde land dat daar is in geslaagd. De Sovjet-Unie deden het eerst, de Verenigde Staten brachten de eerste mens op de maan en de laatste maanlanding was in 2020 door China.

"Dit succes behoort de gehele mensheid toe", zei Indiaas premier Narendra Modi, meteen na de landing. Hij was zelf niet in India, maar volgde de landing vanop de Brics-top in Zuid-Afrika. Op X, het vroegere Twitter, spreekt hij over "een historische dag voor de Indiase ruimtesector". 

Maanwagen

Loena-25 moet zo'n jaar lang op de zuidpool van de maan opereren om onder meer bodemstalen te nemen. Daar is in de kraters bevroren water ontdekt de afgelopen jaren.

Dat kan toekomstige ruimtemissies meer mogelijkheden geven. We zouden er als mens langer kunnen blijven en de maanbodem ontginnen. 

Het zuidelijke gebied op de maan is bijzonder interessant voor wetenschappers. De voorbije jaren is daar bevroren water ontdekt in kraters en wetenschappers willen dat maar wat graag verder onderzoeken. De zuidpool is ook interessant voor een basis omdat er bijna altijd zon schijnt. 

Aan boord van de Chandrayaan-3 is een rover of maanwagen. Die zal stalen verzamelen en de chemische verbindingen ervan analyseren. De verzamelde data wordt doorgestuurd, maar de maanlander zelf vliegt niet terug naar de aarde. De hele missie duurt 14 dagen, oftewel een maan-dag.

{ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/ }

23-08-2023 om 15:44 geschreven door peter  

India on the moon! Chandrayaan-3 becomes 1st probe to land near lunar south pole

India has joined the moon-landing club.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft touched down softly near the moon's south pole today (Aug. 23), notching a huge milestone for the nation. India is now the fourth country to stick a lunar landing, after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.

The historic touchdown occurred at 8:33 am ET (1233 GMT or 6:03 p.m. India Standard Time), according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). "We have achieved soft landing on the moon! India is on the moon!" ISRO chairman Sreedhara Somanath announced after the landing.

"This success belongs to all of humanity and it will help moon missions by other countries in the future," India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a speech following the landing. "I'm confident that all countries in the world, including those from the global south, are capable of achieving such feats. We can all aspire to the moon and beyond."

A little over two hours after landing, ISRO posted images to X (formerly known as Twitter) showing the moon's surface as seen by Chandrayaan-3's during its descent, adding that the agency has successfully established a communication link between the spacecraft and mission control.

Related: 

• Missions to the moon: Past, present and future

Soon, a solar-powered rover named Pragyan (Sanskrit for "wisdom") is expected to roll off Chandrayaan-3's Vikram ("valor") lander. The robotic duo will spend one lunar day (about 14 Earth days) exploring its new home, with the goal of collecting scientific data about the moon's makeup before its batteries drain after sunset.

"The whole country is excited about this mission," Anil Bhardwaj, director of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in India, which built a few of the instruments onboard Chandrayaan-3, told Space.com prior to the landing. "We all hope that we will be successful in ... bringing out new science from this mission."

Chandrayaan-3 was India's second try at landing near the moon's south pole, a largely uncharted region of immense interest to scientists and exploration advocates alike. The south polar region is thought to harbor large amounts of water ice, which, if accessible, could be mined for rocket fuel and life support for future crewed missions. The country's first attempt at a lunar touchdown, in September 2019, failed when the Chandrayaan-2 lander crashed into the moon due to a software glitch.

Close to four years and many design and software upgrades later, the homegrown Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft launched atop a LVM3 rocket on July 14 from a spaceport in Sriharikota, on India's east coast. The spacecraft entered an elliptical orbit around the moon earlier this month, then performed multiple maneuvers to shift into a nearly circular path, which took it about 93 miles (150 kilometers) above the lunar surface.

Last Thursday (Aug. 17), the Vikram-Pragyan duo separated from the mission's propulsion module, which will study Earth from its orbit around the moon. The lander and rover, which had entered an egg-shaped lunar orbit after separation, braked successfully on Friday (Aug. 18) and then again on Sunday (Aug. 20) to get closer to the moon's surface.

While still in orbit around the moon on Monday (Aug. 21) and Tuesday (Aug. 22), the duo established contact with Chandrayaan-2's orbiter, which has been circling the moon since 2019 and will serve as the critical communication link with Earth for the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

When the sun rose today on the targeted landing site, which was seen from Earth on one edge of the moon, mission control at ISRO's headquarters in Bengaluru commanded the lander to begin its descent to the lunar surface, activating its fully automatic landing system.

The historic landing was covered live by ISRO and broadcast by Indian public broadcaster Doordarshan. Once the powered descent began, the lander first braked to reduce its height from 18.6 miles (30 km) to just 0.4 miles (0.8 km) above the moon's surface. Then, the lander turned such that its altimeters, which measure height to the surface real-time using cameras onboard, faced downward in preparation for landing.

At 8:33 a.m. EDT (1233 GMT and 18:03 India time), the lander Vikram touched down in its target landing area, at roughly 70 degrees south latitude. This location is close to where Russia had hoped its first moon mission in 47 years, Luna-25, would land on Monday (Aug. 21). That effort, however, failed when the probe crashed into the moon over the weekend after a final orbital maneuver went sideways.

India's success today can be attributed to "extensive changes" to its landing strategy after Chandrayaan-2's 2019 crash, Bhardwaj said. Onboard algorithms that calculate spacecraft speed in real time during descent were reworked to allow for "more freedom to deviate" from protocol "but still do the landing," he added.

Other changes that helped facilitate the mission's success include a larger target landing zone, stronger legs for Vikram to withstand higher landing speeds and dynamic engines that adjusted the spacecraft's velocity for a smoother touchdown. 

Images of the moon that Chandrayaan-2's orbiter has been sending home since 2019 also painted a clearer picture of the landing site than what scientists knew previously, according to Bhardwaj. "There is not much of a hurdle in this [landing] area," he said.

Now that Vikram is settled on the moon, Pragyan is expected to roll onto the lunar surface and start analyzing lunar soil and rocks. 

Similar to the unfortunate rover on Chandrayaan-2, Pragyan's wheels are etched with the Ashoka Chakra, a religious symbol of a wheel with 24 spokes depicted on the Indian flag, and ISRO's logo. So when Pragyan inches along on the moon, ISRO hopes both symbols will be stamped onto the surface, where they will remain untouched for eons.

The lander Vikram is equipped to sense moonquakes near the landing site using an onboard seismometer, and to probe lunar soil to record its temperature.

Related:  

• Can NASA's Artemis moon missions count on using lunar water ice

{ https://www.space.com/ }

23-08-2023 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

First off, it is important to acknowledge how far the study of exoplanets has come in recent decades. The first confirmed detection did not take place until 1992, which consisted of two Super-Earths (Poltergeist and Phobitor) observed around a pulsar (PSR B1257+12, aka. Lich) located 2,300 light-years from Earth. While scientists firmly believed that most stars had their own system of planets, they had no incontrovertible proof before this discovery. And until the Kepler Space Telescope launched in 2009, exoplanet discoveries were being added at a rate of a few per year.

Since then, a total of 5,496 exoplanets have been confirmed in 4,096 systems, with another 9,820 candidates awaiting confirmation. In recent years, the process has shifted from the process of discovery towards characterization, where improved instruments and methods have enabled astronomers to analyze exoplanet atmospheres directly to measure their potential habitability. As Prof. Matcheva explained to Universe Today via email:

“The instruments are getting better and better: better spectral resolution, exceptional signal-to-noise level, wider wavelength coverage. In addition to JWST, which has returned some exceptional spectroscopic observations of several exoplanets, ESA is planning a dedicated exoplanet space telescope ARIEL that will observe 1000 planets. Analyzing this data will keep scientists busy for a long time.”

According to Matcheva, the fields of exoplanet studies and astrobiology are incredibly fascinating because of the sheer potential involved. Currently, the field is largely concerned with constraining “habitability” through the targeted search for biosignatures: evidence of life and organic processes. Using Earth as a template, the only planet where we know life exists, the most highly-sought biosignatures include nitrogen gas (N₂), oxygen gas (O₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), ammonia (NH?), and water (H₂O).

This constitutes the “low-hanging fruit approach,” where scientists are looking for life that conforms to terrestrial standards. This is not an accident, nor is it a lazy approach. It’s simply because it is exceedingly difficult to search for signs of life that we are completely unfamiliar with. But this also presents an opportunity to contemplate the possibilities and expand the range of what we know. “Do we know what to search for?” Matcheva added. “Do we know where to search? Would we recognize it if we saw it? The exoplanet science community always works with these questions in mind.”

For their study, Matcheva and her colleagues investigated how machine learning could be trained to look for “anomalies” in transit spectra. This refers to light curves obtained by observing distant stars for periodic dips in luminosity, which could indicate the presence of a planet passing in front of the star relative to the observer. This is known as Transit Spectroscopy (or the Transit Method), which remains the most effective and widely-used method for detecting exoplanets. In addition to detection, this method allows astronomers to occasionally observe light passing through the planet’s atmosphere.

When measured with a spectrometer, these observations will reveal data on the atmosphere’s chemical composition, which could include telltale biosignatures! In the coming years, the combination of next-generation telescopes and machine learning (ML) will allow astronomers to more accurately determine the potential habitability of exoplanets. “We believe that ML methods in astrophysics can be a game changer in how we process data in terms of speed, volume, and methodology, said Matcheva. “And we see that across all fields of science.”

For their purposes, Matcheva and her team used two popular anomaly-detection machine learning methods – Local Outlier Factor (LOF) and One-Class Support Vector Machine (OCSVM) to analyze a large public database of synthetic spectra. This database was developed by the ESA ARIEL science team in anticipation of the mission (scheduled to launch in 2029) and contains more than 100,000 computer-generated spectra signals of exoplanets. The team also used Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to quantify and compare the performance of the two ML techniques. The process and results, as Matcheva related, were both fascinating:

“The spectra are calculated with current models, assuming that the atmosphere of each planet is a mixture of 5 different gasses in different proportions. As an experiment, we treated one of the absorbers (for example, H₂O) as a ‘mystery’ absorber. We trained the ML algorithm on a subset of the data that is deficient in H₂O and tested if it will correctly flag planets with water as anomalous.”

“We repeated the experiment for four of the gasses. We used both LOF and OCSVM. Both methods did an outstanding job in finding the anomalous planets when no noise or very little noise (~10 ppm) is present, even for very small amounts of the ‘mystery’ gas. Unsurprisingly, the ML model starts making mistakes when the noise level increases too much.”

A major objective for next-generation space telescopes will be the search for signs of life (biosignatures).

Credit: NASA

As Matcheva indicated, their paper demonstrated that LOF and OCSVM methods are very robust, even in the presence of signal noise. These results offer a taste of what could be possible in the near future, where literally thousands of exoplanets can be analyzed rapidly and systematically using ML methods to identify anomalous planets for follow-up investigations. These examinations will likely be very educational, given that inconsistencies between theoretical models and observations are often how the most exciting discoveries are made.

“Although looking for biosignatures was not a primary goal of this paper, it is a very interesting outcome, and we are very excited about the potential of the method,” said Matcheva. “Looking for signatures of life in the Universe is more like looking for a needle in a haystack rather than for a smoking gun. It is actually even more challenging because we do not know what the needle looks like. The novelty detection methods are designed exactly for that: rare events [where] we do not know what they look, smell, or sound like.”

As noted earlier, the search for extraterrestrial life – and indeed, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) – can be summarized as searching for life “as we know it.” But if life is very rare in the Universe or very “exotic” in nature (meaning that it can arise from all sorts of chemicals and conditions), then it makes sense to cast a wider net. After all, if our frame of reference is an impediment to our astrobiology efforts (one could certainly argue as much), expanding it could be the difference between finding evidence that we are not alone and leaving the question unanswered for another generation. Said Matcheva:

“The astrobiology community has been working on a definition of “life” for a long time, but we have no idea what aliens really look like and how they would interact with their environments. We are biased by our human experience, and the current strategies are to search for life in the “habitable zone,” which by definition is human (or terrestrial life) friendly. So how do you search for something when you don’t know what it looks like? That is where the novelty detection machine learning techniques come in – they can flag data points that are inconsistent with the training data, i.e., do not agree with the current theoretical models. So indeed, in that sense, our method is searching for life “as we don’t know it”.  

As Isaac Asimov famously said, “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny.'”

Further Reading: 

• arXiv

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

22-08-2023 om 23:30 geschreven door peter  

The resurgence of the Vector symbol across various space agencies, including NASA, has sparked intrigue. Questions arise about the significance of the Vector symbol and its presence on these agency logos. 

One wonders if the symbol refers to a symbolic talisman, representing an emblem of occult worship or linked to celestial beings such as angels, demons, or other entities or eventually it is an allusion to ancient times, a sign denoting the essence of the multiverse itself? Does it symbolize the mastery over time and space? 

Now if you take a look at the following images and video the use of this vector symbol across multiple space agencies appears less coincidental. 

Consider the intriguing images below, captured by the Apollo 11 crew during their return journey from the moon to Earth. With a closer look involving zooming in, enhancement, and application of various filters, the object becomes more discernible. It unveils a structure shaped like a vector, complete with three supporting legs, situated on the lunar surface. 

Comparisons of this object with another object photographed by the Apollo 17 crew reveals a striking similarity in the vector structure's appearance. 

Additionally, an image captured during a spacewalk by a member of the STS115 mission reveals the very same vector configuration intriguingly mirrored on the astronaut's helmet. 

Despite much speculation, these images as well as analysis of the lunar object in the video of YouTube channel 1967Sander provided below, suggest that these vector-shaped objects potentially represent highly advanced alien vehicles.

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

22-08-2023 om 23:10 geschreven door peter  

VIDEO: Interesting UFO Sighting filmed in Oregon

In an age where the skies are constantly being watched, and where most of the mysteries have been debunked, a newly submitted UFO sighting has rekindled the fervor of extraterrestrial enthusiasts everywhere. Despite being filmed back in 2021, this sighting has only recently seen the light of day on the MUFON website. Along with this captivating article, a riveting video showcases the mysterious event in all its wonder.

When & Where: The sighting occurred on the evening of January 23, 2021, in the scenic backdrop of Oregon, USA.

Witness Account: 

A regular family evening, spent in the company of a television, took a startling turn for an Oregon family. The witness recounts, “My wife, son, and I were deeply engrossed in our TV show when my wife’s gaze was pulled towards our front door. A series of strange, luminous lights danced outside.” Joining her in her astonishment, the witness and his son observed a rotating craft adorned with lights all around its perimeter. Realizing the rarity of what they were witnessing, a quick-witted video was captured, providing a glimpse into their otherworldly experience.

“After the initial shock and awe, we were drawn to it – almost like a moth to a flame. We moved upstairs for a clearer, unobstructed view,” the witness elaborates. The craft, however elusive in nature, continued its dance in the Oregon night sky for a few more tantalizing minutes. In a spur of courage and curiosity, the witness, accompanied by his wife, decided to chase the enigmatic vision. But alas, the craft, with its dazzling lights, vanished into the vastness, leaving behind a trail of questions and intrigue.

VIDEO:

The Burning Questions: As with all UFO sightings, this one too leaves us wondering – was it a visitor from a distant world, a top-secret human-made aircraft, or something else entirely? What made the family wait almost a decade before sharing it with the world?

To the Enthusiasts: For those always on the lookout for verified and intriguing UFO sightings, this newly surfaced evidence is certainly one for the records. Do watch the accompanying video and join the global conversation.

In the vast tapestry of the unknown, this sighting, like a bright star, beckons for attention. And as always, the truth remains out there.

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

22-08-2023 om 23:05 geschreven door peter  

Newly Released UFO Sighting in Arizona: Ephemeral Yet Captivating

April 3rd, 2023, Arizona: Months after the event, a breathtaking video capturing a UFO sighting has finally been unveiled to the public via the MUFON website. UFO enthusiasts and skeptics alike are buzzing with anticipation and curiosity, seeking answers to yet another tantalizing episode of extraterrestrial wonder.

Unearthly Encounter in Arizona Skies

On a seemingly regular day in Arizona, an unsuspecting witness glanced up to find an unexplainable anomaly hovering silently above. The object, seemingly defying the laws of physics, remained stationary amidst the azure expanse, with its luminous features shining more brightly than what the video could truly capture.

However, the most baffling part of this UFO sighting wasn’t its stationary presence, but rather its abrupt exit. As described by the witness, merely moments after ceasing the recording, this ethereal craft took off with unprecedented speed, vanishing into thin air within a mere 1-2 seconds.

Unanswered Questions and Rising Curiosity

Such events, especially when supported by tangible evidence, often stir a mixture of emotions—awe, disbelief, wonder, and a myriad of questions. What was the nature of this craft? Why did it choose to appear, only to disappear just as quickly? Was this an extraterrestrial visitation or a product of advanced human technology yet unknown to the public?

With the growing number of UFO sightings reported worldwide, it’s more essential than ever to approach these events with an open mind and a discerning eye. As researchers and enthusiasts continue to dissect this newly released footage, the pursuit for answers intensifies.

To all intrigued souls, the video accompanying this article offers a glimpse into that mysterious April afternoon in Arizona. Whether you’re a firm believer in extraterrestrial life or a curious skeptic, this sighting promises a fascinating journey into the vast world of the unknown.

For more tales of the unexplained, insights, and the latest updates on UFO sightings, stay tuned and keep gazing at the stars, for the truth, as they say, is out there.

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{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

22-08-2023 om 22:55 geschreven door peter  

India maakt zich op voor zijn allereerste maanlanding: wat zijn ze van plan met de Chandrayaan 3 missie?

Morgen is het zover. Op woensdag 23 augustus onderneemt de ‘Indian Space Research Organization’ (ISRO) een poging om met de Chandrayaan 3 missie een rover op het maanoppervlak te zetten. Indien succesvol meteen ook de eerste landing op de zuidpool van de maan nadat die van Rusland recent nog mislukte. Spannende tijden voor India en de ruimtevaart. Derde keer, goede keer?

Redactie Wetenschap 

 

Martijn Peters Wetenschapsexpert

Al 47 jaar is er, buiten China, niemand in geslaagd om succesvol op de maan te landen. De laatste geslaagde landing vond plaats in 1976 toen de Russische Luna 24-missie maanstenen terug naar de aarde bracht met een robotachtig ruimtevaartuig. Sinsdien bereikte enkel nog China het maanoppervlak. Het deed dat 3 keer, met onder andere een eerste gecontroleerde landing op de achterkant van de maan. In de afgelopen jaren ondernamen Israëlische en Japanse teams nog een poging, maar zij faalden allemaal tijdens hun afdaling naar het maanoppervlak.

Spannende tijden dus voor de Indiase ruimtevaartorganisatie die morgen een poging onderneemt. Het ruimtevaartuig Chandrayaan 3 maakt zich klaar om woensdag af te dalen naar het maanoppervlak, 4 dagen nadat de Russische Luna 25 lander hier niet in slaagde. Als alles volgens plan verloopt zal Vikram, zo heet de Chandrayaan 3-lander, morgen om 14u34 Belgische tijd zachtjes op het maanoppervlak landen.

• _{Chandrayaan 3 maakte al enkele mooie beelden van het maanoppervlak met de camera van de landingsmodule}

Zoals de naam al doet vermoeden, is dit de derde missie in het Indiase ruimtevaartprogramma voor de verkenning van de maan. De vorige mislukte landingspogingen van India, de Chandrayaan 1 en 2 missie, vonden plaats in 2008 en 2019. De kostprijs van de nieuwe Chandrayaan 3-missie die op 14 juli van start ging met de lancering is ongeveer zo’n 80 miljoen euro. Op zich een lage kost voor een onderzoeksmissie, vergelijkbaar met de kosten van een SpaceX Falcon 9-lancering.

Als de Vikram-lander succesvol kan neerdalen op de zuidpool van de maan zal hij de Pragyan lanceren, een kleine rover. De op zonne-energie werkende mobiele robot zal met behulp van wetenschappelijke instrumenten de chemische samenstelling van het maanoppervlak bestuderen. Pragyan zal dit ongeveer een 14-tal dagen doen. Zolang duurt immers een ‘maan-dag’. Daarna gaat de zon onder op de landingsplaats en daalt de temperatuur waardoor de rover niet meer kan werken.

Tijdens de missie zullen ook nog andere wetenschappelijke experimenten uitgevoerd worden zoals het meten van maanbevingen en afstanden op de maan met lasers. De resultaten van deze metingen kunnen bijvoorbeeld helpen bij het bepalen van toekomstige locaties om te landen of een basis te bouwen op de maan. Voor dat laatste is de zuidpool van de maan vooral interessant door de aanwezigheid van kraters die permanent in schaduw gehuld zijn. Van bovenaf is daar namelijk al water in de vorm van ijs waargenomen, wat essentieel is wanneer er een basis gevestigd zou worden. Dit is ook een van de redenen waarom de Artemis III missie van NASA op de zuidpool van de maan wil doen wandelen binnen enkele jaren.

Zal India het vierde land worden dat na de Sovjet-Unie, VS en China op de maan kan landen? En het eerste op de zuidpool? We zullen het morgen weten. Wetenschappers van over de hele wereld hopen alvast op een goede afloop.

Al ons nieuws over wetenschap vind je op hln.be/wetenschap-en-planeet/

LEES OOK:

• Rusland wil zuidpool van de maan veroveren, maar voertuig crasht. “Wie banen rond de aarde en maan beheerst, heeft alle touwtjes in handen”, zegt expert(+)

• Chinese start-up verslaat SpaceX van Elon Musk: eerste succesvolle lancering ooit van een methaanraket

• Starship vliegt vandaag naar de ruimte: “De grote vrachtruimte en herbruikbaarheid zullen de prijzen voor ruimtemissies naar beneden trekken” (+)

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

22-08-2023 om 22:40 geschreven door peter  

This US President Cried After He Found Disturbing Alien Information In UFO Briefing

In 1973, before the presidential elections, yet to become President, Jimmy Carter filed a report with the International UFO Bureau claiming he had seen a UFO in October 1969. Along with other witnesses, Carter saw a bright UFO that changed colors and moved towards and away from the Earth before disappearing. He was quite vocal about his beliefs on UFOs and promised to public all available information about UFOs if he became president.

“He described waiting outside for a Lion’s Club Meeting in Leary, Georgia, to begin, at about 7:30 p.m., when he spotted what he called ‘the darndest thing I’ve ever seen’ in the sky.” Along with 10 to 12 other witnesses, Carter observed a bright object in the sky, which was about the size of the moon. (Source)

“We all saw it. And then the light, it got closer and closer to us. And then it stopped, I don’t know how far away, but it stopped beyond the pine trees. And all of a sudden it changed color to blue, and then it changed to red, then back to white,” Carter told GQ in 2005. The object reportedly hovered about 30 degrees above the horizon, moved towards and away from the Earth, and eventually disappeared into the distance. Carter’s experience led him to make a vow to never again ridicule individuals who claimed to have seen a UFO.

“One thing’s for sure, I’ll never make fun of people who say they’ve seen unidentified objects in the sky. If I become President, I’ll make every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings available to the public and the scientists,” Carter said.

As for the object that Carter saw, it has since been classified as “a high altitude barium release cloud launched from Eglen AFB,” which sounds legit. However, after winning the presidency, Carter backed away from this promise, citing concerns about national security and defense implications. His experience with a UFO is just one of many reported sightings that have fueled conspiracy about extraterrestrial life and government cover-ups.

President Carter’s Disturbing Briefing on UFOs and Religion

Former NASA researcher Ed Harris claimed that serious researchers on the subject believe the story of former President Jimmy Carter crying after being briefed about classified UFO information to be true. According to the story corroborated by multiple witnesses, U.S. presidents are given only a brief overview of the subject by the CIA, and presidential curiosity is not considered a sufficient need to know.

After being repeatedly stonewalled, Carter was given “the talk,” which reportedly left him deeply sobbing and visibly disturbed for weeks. He was told that major religions, including Christianity, were created by extraterrestrials to prevent humans from destroying themselves while they ran experiments on us, and that they made us. Carter, a deeply religious man who had witnessed a UFO with six other people, realized that releasing such information could cause tremendous economic and social upheaval.

Below you can read Ed Harris’ statement on the subject that he wrote on Quora:

Yes, the incident of Jimmy Carter crying after being briefed about classified information regarding UFO’s is largely believed to be true by the serious researchers on the subject. As a forewarning, the following information is very unsettling and will explain why Carter never “kept his promise” of revealing classified UFO information to the public.

According to the story that was corroborated by more than one witness, U.S. presidents are only given a cursory overview of the subject. Apparently, the CIA runs the program, only provide information to the President on a need to know basis, and do not consider presidential curiosity as sufficient need to know. This was implemented after Kennedy, and all presidents after him have been given only summary briefings (some presidents for unknown reasons were given more than others).

Okay on to your question. President Carter is a deeply religious man who had also witnessed a UFO with 6 other people. Everyone thought that he would be the one to finally release UFO info to the public but as the story goes, he was repeatedly stonewalled. Eventually, the CIA had “the talk” with him, and afterward it was reported that he sunk his head in his hands and not only began to deeply sob, but was visibly disturbed for some weeks afterward.

What was he told and shown?

He was told that the major religions including Christianity were programs created by extraterrestrials to prevent us from destroying ourselves while they ran their experiments on us – and that they made us. At this moment it became clear to Carter that such information could cause tremendous economic and social upheaval. I should add that I am not only a Christian but a clergyman, so I am in no way attempting to promote atheism here. In fact, how God fits into this might be an interesting separate post. Nevertheless, these are the facts as I know them to be.

Author and world’s leading UFO researcher Richard Dolan also writes about this incident in his book “UFOs and the National Security State: The Cover-Up Exposed.” According to his book, there are claims that President Carter was given a UFO briefing at the White House on June 14, 1977, which he was then bound to secrecy about.

Read also:

• Man Who Ran Area 51 Claimed They Had Alien Crafts & Non-Human Beings: So Bob Lazar Is Telling Truth
• Nukes Attract Not Only UFOs but Something Bone-Chilling, Revealed By Ex-Worker At Nuclear Depot In Nevada Desert
• Harvard Professor Is Right: Some UFOs Are Aliens, Govt. Officials From D.C. Told Him
• Jacques Vallee On Footage Of UFO Landing At Holloman AFB: Occupant Carried Vertical Staff With Spiral Antenna

The briefing was supposedly given by a lone MJ-12 briefing officer and several independent sources. The leaked “Executive Briefing: Project Aquarius” document gives the standard account of multiple retrievals of alien technology. While there is no hard evidence to support the claims of the briefing, a presidential aide, who was “very, very close to Carter,” witnessed President sobbing after a UFO-related briefing in the Oval Office.

Carter Administration & Project Blue Book

Daniel Sheehan, a Harvard-educated Constitutional Trial Lawyer and Appellate Attorney has worked on many high-profile cases in his career. In 1977, he was approached by his friend Marcia Smith, who informed him that President Carter had demanded that the CIA provided classified information about unidentified flying objects to him, but George H. Bush, who was the CIA director at the time, refused to give this information to the president.

Sheehan tried to obtain information on the UFO phenomena and extraterrestrials from the Vatican Library but was unsuccessful. However, with Carter’s help, he managed to get access to the classified portions of the Air Force’s Project Blue Book for a few hours in May 1977, where he claimed to have discovered classified documents and photographs of a crashed UFO being investigated by Air Force personnel.

“There were these photographs of unmistakable — of a UFO sitting on the ground. It had crashed,” Sheehan said. “Apparently, it had hit into this field and had dug up, kind of plowed this kind of trough through this field,” he paused for a second.

“It was wedged into the side of this bank,” he said after taking a deep breath. “There was snow all around the picture. The vehicle was wedged into the side of this mud-like embankment — kind of up at an angle. There was Air Force personnel. As I cranked the little handle and looked at additional photos, these Air Force people were taking pictures.” (Click here to read the full article)

When Mr. Sheehan left the room, the guard asked to see his yellow legal pad and flipped through the pages, missing the alien hieroglyphs Sheehan had copied on the back of the pad. Sheehan offered to share this information with the religious establishment; they told him they were not interested.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

22-08-2023 om 18:43 geschreven door peter