The Book of Enoch explained: Why it was removed from the Bible
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The Book of Enoch Explained: Why It Was Removed From the Bible
The Book of Enoch is one of the most mysterious and debated texts associated with early Jewish and Christian traditions. Often referenced but rarely included in mainstream scripture, it offers visions of angels, fallen watchers, and cosmic judgment that are both fascinating and unsettling. Its vivid imagery and unconventional theology have made scholars and mystics alike question its place in the biblical canon. Here, we explore seven key ways to understand the Book of Enoch and examine why it was ultimately removed from the Bible, shedding light on its historical, spiritual, and symbolic significance.
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1. Enoch as a Bridge Between Humans and Angels
One of the most distinctive features of the Book of Enoch is its portrayal of Enoch himself as a mediator between humanity and celestial beings.
Unlike most figures in the Hebrew Bible, Enoch is taken directly into the heavens, guided by angels, and given knowledge of cosmic secrets.
The book describes “watchers,” angels who descended to Earth, interacted with humans, and shared forbidden knowledge.
This interaction between the divine and human worlds challenges traditional biblical boundaries, offering a vision of spirituality that is both expansive and controversial.
By presenting a human figure who directly experiences divine wisdom, the text blurs the line between mortal and celestial realms, a theme that may have made religious authorities wary of including it in scripture.
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2. Detailed Accounts of Fallen Angels
The Book of Enoch is perhaps best known for its detailed account of the fallen angels, also called watchers, who rebelled against God.
These beings descended to Earth, taught humanity forbidden knowledge, and took human wives, producing a race of giants.
Such stories offer a vivid explanation for the presence of evil and corruption in the world, but they also challenge conventional theology.
The notion that angels could sin, reproduce, and dramatically influence human history was radical, and it conflicted with emerging orthodox views that emphasised strict separation between divine and mortal spheres.
The dramatic narratives of rebellion and judgment in Enoch may have been considered too speculative or sensational for inclusion in the canonical Bible.
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3. Cosmic Visions of Heaven and Hell
The Book of Enoch contains extensive descriptions of heaven, hell, and the structure of the cosmos.
Enoch is shown the places where angels dwell, the paths of celestial bodies, and the punishment awaiting sinful spirits.
These visionary accounts are much more detailed than most biblical texts, blending prophetic insight with apocalyptic imagery.
While this richness makes the book a treasure for mystics and esoteric traditions, it may have seemed incompatible with the theological frameworks being established during the formation of the Bible.
Church authorities might have viewed such elaborate cosmology as speculative, difficult to verify, or potentially misleading to believers.
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4. Emphasis on Judgment and the End Times
The Book of Enoch heavily emphasises divine judgment, the punishment of the wicked, and the eventual restoration of righteousness.
These apocalyptic themes were influential in shaping later Christian eschatology but were presented in ways that were strikingly different from canonical texts.
Enoch describes the final fate of the fallen angels, the coming flood, and the resurrection of the righteous, often with intense symbolism and graphic detail.
This intense focus on judgment, while spiritually compelling, may have been seen as too extreme or too divergent from mainstream theological narratives.
Its unique apocalyptic vision positioned it outside the bounds of accepted scripture, even as it influenced later biblical writings indirectly.
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5. Unique Interpretations of Sin and Knowledge
In Enoch, sin is often linked to the transmission of forbidden knowledge rather than simple disobedience.
The watchers teach humans metalworking, astrology, and other arts that, while useful, corrupt the natural order and lead to moral decay.
This portrayal contrasts with the canonical Bible, where sin is more often a matter of disobedience, rebellion, or idolatry.
By presenting knowledge itself as potentially corrupting, the Book of Enoch raises challenging theological questions.
It implies that curiosity, learning, or divine insight can be dangerous, which may have conflicted with the emerging focus on moral instruction and obedience in the canonical texts.
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6. Influence on Early Christianity and Controversy
Despite its exclusion from the Bible, the Book of Enoch influenced early Christian thought. The Epistle of Jude in the New Testament directly references Enoch, and early church fathers were aware of its existence.
However, its inclusion sparked debate. Some early Christian leaders admired its moral teachings and apocalyptic vision, while others criticised its speculative nature and angelic focus.
The text’s ambiguity and complexity made it difficult to regulate, and its sensational stories risked misinterpretation.
As the canon solidified, church authorities likely chose to exclude it to maintain theological consistency and control over accepted doctrine.
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7. Preservation and Continued Mystical Appeal
Though removed from the canonical Bible, the Book of Enoch survived through careful preservation in Jewish and Ethiopian traditions.
It was translated into multiple languages and studied by mystics, scholars, and occultists for centuries.
Its enduring appeal lies in its imaginative cosmology, moral lessons, and vivid portrayal of angels, demons, and human destiny.
By exploring forbidden knowledge, divine justice, and the structure of the universe, the text continues to inspire curiosity and spiritual reflection.
The reasons for its exclusion only add to its mysterious and mystical aura, making it a unique window into ancient spiritual imagination.
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De geheimen van de reuzenplaneet Saturnus
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De bewaker van het buitenste zonnestelsel
Als zesde planeet vanaf de zon en het meest in het oog springende hemellichaam van het zonnestelsel, overstijgt Saturnus zijn eenvoudige omschrijving. Zijn ringen, bestaande uit stukken ijs en gesteente die in perfecte banen zweven, hebben generaties astronomen gefascineerd, van Galileo tot moderne ruimtesondes, en onthullen een wereld vol gigantische stormen, bijzondere manen en raadselachtige zwaartekrachtverschijnselen.
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Een gasreus van immense omvang
Met een doorsnee van ongeveer 120.500 kilometer is Saturnus negen keer breder dan de aarde. National Geographic benadrukt dat het een ‘gasreus’ is, die voornamelijk uit waterstof en helium bestaat. Zijn massa is 95 keer zo groot als die van de aarde, maar door de lage gemiddelde dichtheid zou hij in theorie kunnen drijven in een enorme oceaan.
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De planeet met de beroemde ringen
De ringen van Saturnus zijn niet massief. Volgens NASA bestaan ze uit ‘miljarden stukjes ijs, steen en stof’. Ze reiken tot 280.000 kilometer vanaf de planeet, maar hun gemiddelde dikte bedraagt slechts enkele honderden meters. Deze kwetsbaarheid maakt ze tot een schitterende, maar vergankelijke structuur.
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Het raadsel van het ontstaan
Jarenlang hebben wetenschappers gediscussieerd over het ontstaan van de ringen. National Geographic meldt dat het mogelijk overblijfselen zijn van manen die door de zwaartekracht van Saturnus zijn vernietigd. Gegevens van Cassini wijzen erop dat de ringen tussen 100 en 400 miljoen jaar oud zijn, relatief jong op astronomische schaal.
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Een korte dag en een lang jaar
Op Saturnus duurt een dag slechts 10,7 uur. Zijn baan om de zon is echter traag: een Saturnusjaar duurt ongeveer 29,5 aardse jaren. Deze combinatie zorgt voor krachtige winden en hardnekkige atmosferische patronen die decennia standhouden.
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Extreme winden en heftig weer
De atmosfeer van Saturnus kent winden tot wel 1800 km/u, aldus NASA. Gele, gouden en bruine wolkenbanden trekken over de planeet. National Geographic wijst op enorme stormen die de hele planeet kunnen omspannen en zelfs vanaf de aarde zichtbaar zijn met telescopen.
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De beroemde zeshoek op de noordpool
Een van de opvallendste verschijnselen is de zeshoekige structuur op de noordpool. Ontdekt door Voyager en verder onderzocht door Cassini, heeft dit stabiele geometrische patroon een breedte van zo’n 30.000 kilometer. NASA beschrijft het als een ‘zeszijdige straalstroom’, uniek in het zonnestelsel.
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Een planeet zonder vaste bodem
In tegenstelling tot de aarde heeft Saturnus geen vast oppervlak om op te landen. National Geographic geeft aan dat de druk en temperatuur toenemen naarmate men afdaalt in zijn atmosfeer, tot de gassen veranderen in dichte vloeistoffen. Elke sonde zou worden verpletterd lang voordat een denkbare kern wordt bereikt.
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Het verborgen binnenste
Wetenschappers vermoeden dat Saturnus een vaste kern heeft van gesteente en ijs. NASA schat dat deze een massa heeft van 10 tot 20 keer die van de aarde. Rondom deze kern bevindt zich metallic waterstof, die verantwoordelijk is voor het sterke magnetische veld.
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Een opmerkelijk magneetveld
Het magneetveld van Saturnus is minder krachtig dan dat van Jupiter, maar bijzonder symmetrisch. Volgens NASA is het bijna perfect uitgelijnd met de rotatieas van de planeet. Deze bijzonderheid vormt een uitdaging voor klassieke modellen van het ontstaan van magnetische velden bij planeten.
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Meer dan 140 bekende manen
Saturnus vormt een waar miniplanetenstelsel. Tot 2023 waren er meer dan 140 manen bevestigd. National Geographic merkt op dat sommige manen nauwelijks meer zijn dan grillige rotsblokken, terwijl andere, zoals Titan, qua complexiteit met planeten kunnen wedijveren.
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Titan, een maan met een atmosfeer
Titan is het pronkstuk onder de manen van Saturnus. Het is de op een na grootste maan in het zonnestelsel en de enige met een dikke atmosfeer. NASA verklaart dat ‘Titan een van de meest aardachtige werelden is’, hoewel de chemie wordt gedomineerd door koolwaterstoffen.
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Meren van methaan en ethaan
Op Titan komen zeeën en meren voor, maar deze bestaan niet uit water. National Geographic beschrijft dat ze gevormd worden door vloeibaar methaan en ethaan. Deze vloeistoffen maken deel uit van een klimaatsysteem dat vergelijkbaar is met de waterkringloop op aarde, maar werkt bij temperaturen rond de −180 °C.
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Enceladus en zijn geisers
Een andere belangrijke maan is Enceladus. Cassini ontdekte geisers van zout water die de ruimte in worden gespoten. NASA meldt dat deze uitbarstingen essentiële bouwstenen voor leven bevatten. Onder het ijs zou zich een wereldwijde oceaan kunnen bevinden.
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Een natuurlijk laboratorium voor de wetenschap
Saturnus biedt mogelijkheden om fundamentele processen te onderzoeken: planeetvorming, atmosferische dynamiek en de evolutie van ringen. National Geographic geeft aan dat waarnemingen van deze planeet inzicht bieden in het verleden van het zonnestelsel, toen de reuzenplaneten het jonge systeem domineerden.
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De Cassini-Huygens missie
Tussen 2004 en 2017 veranderde Cassini ons beeld van Saturnus volledig. NASA omschrijft deze missie als een ‘spectaculair succes’. Meer dan 450.000 beelden en waardevolle data over de ringen, manen en atmosfeer werden verzameld.
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Het geplande einde van een ruimtesonde
Cassini beëindigde zijn missie door zichzelf in Saturnus te storten, om te voorkomen dat mogelijk bewoonbare manen besmet zouden raken. Volgens NASA was dit de ‘grand finale’. Tijdens deze afdaling werden nooit eerder verkregen gegevens over de bovenste atmosfeer verzameld.
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Een planeet zichtbaar vanaf aarde
Saturnus is met het blote oog te zien vanaf onze planeet. Zijn heldere gloed en geelachtige kleur maakten hem al in de oudheid herkenbaar. National Geographic geeft aan dat oude beschavingen hem al kenden als een dwalende ster, lang voordat de pracht van zijn ringen werd ontdekt.
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Een reus die nog steeds raadsels biedt
Ondanks decennia van onderzoek zijn er nog steeds onbeantwoorde vragen over Saturnus. Hoe lang blijven zijn ringen bestaan? Wat gebeurt er precies in het binnenste? National Geographic benadrukt dat elke ontdekking weer nieuwe raadsels oproept, waardoor deze ringplaneet ons blijft fascineren.
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os Alamos Scientists Use Sonic Booms and Seismic Data to Track Objects Entering Earth’s Atmosphere
Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory have presented a new method for tracking objects, including uncontrolled space debris, entering Earth’s atmosphere, using ground-based seismic sensors rather than optical and radar tracking or other costly, complex approaches.
The new approach could assist efforts to alert people on the ground about falling space debris that could pose a danger to property and individuals.
Since the Soviet Union launched humanity’s first spacecraft in 1957, thousands of satellites and other objects have been rocketed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). As the population of space-based objects has grown, incidents of falling debris causing damage on the ground have increased. These incidents are only expected to increase as LEO continues to fill up.
While the kinetic effects of falling debris can be catastrophic, the Los Alamos researchers note that uncontrolled re-entry of spacecraft can pose additional threats. For example, a spacecraft carrying radioactive materials could pose a larger danger than a single crashed satellite. Many of these crafts also contain toxic and flammable materials, further increasing the potential hazards posed by their re-entry.
Unfortunately, predicting when and where such events will occur is extremely difficult. The problem is compounded by limitations in ground-based radar and optical tracking systems designed to monitor LEO for potential threats, since these objects begin to disintegrate as they enter the atmosphere.
These limitations motivated Los Alamos scientists Benjamin Fernando and Constantinos Charalambous to look for alternative methods to track disintegrating objects and predict when and where they might strike land.
According to a statement detailing the team’s novel debris-tracking approach, they began by examining publicly available data from ground-based seismic sensors to search for signs of shockwaves, or sonic booms, caused by reentering debris. As a test case, they focused their search on the April 2024 reentry of China’s large and heavy Shenzhou-15 orbital module.
Before its reentry, the abandoned module had been in a decaying orbit that regularly passed over many population centers around the globe. The falling object’s sheer size and toxic material components stoked fears that its eventual reentry could be catastrophic.
An artist’s impression of the re-entering debris breaking up over California and generating a sonic boom, which propagates down to the ground and is recorded by seismometers.
Image Credit: Sophia Economon and Benjamin Fernando
After scanning seismic sensor data from sensors placed throughout Southern California and Nevada, the team spotted the telltale sonic booms of Shenzou-15’s atmospheric reentry. Using mathematical models, the team successfully interpolated the arrival times of the largest shockwaves from the module’s reentry at different locations across the southern US.
The team said that this data allowed them to estimate Shenzhou-15’s altitude, speed, and ground track with surprising accuracy. Specifically, the observed reentry location and the Tracking and Impact Prediction estimate, which placed the landing spot somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, were 8,600 kilometers apart.
Shenzhou 15 Orbital Module reentry seen from Big Bend National Park (bottom right). Note also Milky Way (center) and Zodiacal Light (right).
By Astrovenator – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=148039767
The data also revealed that the module did not fall in a single event but instead fragmented over time into progressively smaller pieces. Notably, the team said that the spacecraft’s breakup matched eyewitness reports.
When discussing potential applications of their novel seismic reentry-tracking approach, the Los Alamos team said this technology could be used to track debris on the ground after impact, aiding search-and-recovery efforts. The approach could also help scientists track the spread of smaller hazardous particles in Earth’s atmosphere, which they call “crucial for recovery and contamination mitigation.”
Scientist Chris Carr noted that further research will be needed to shorten the time needed to calculate an object’s trajectory once its sonic booms and shockwaves have been detected. However, Carr also praised the Los Alamos team’s method, stating that Fernando and Charalambous’ approach “unlocks the rapid identification of debris fall-out zones, which is key information as Earth’s orbit is anticipated to become increasingly crowded with satellites, leading to a greater influx of space debris.”
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'This is the biggest UFO bombshell of 2026': Retired colonel testimony points to secret non-human recovery mission in Brazil
A retired US Air Force fighter pilot claims there is likely an extensive 'paper trail' proving that one of the most infamous UFO encounters of the last three decades really happened.
Colonel Fred Claussen, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice during his career, came forward during a press conference in Washington on Tuesday to reveal who would know about the 1996 incident in Varginha, Brazil.
The alleged incident began on January 13, 1996, when locals reported seeing a UFO crash-landing in a field near Varginha, followed by sightings of strange creatures described as walking on two legs, but having oily brown skin and large red eyes.
In fact, three young women claimed they found one of the extraterrestrials hiding behind a wall near the crash site.
Despite reports that Brazilian police and military captured at least two aliens, the US Air Force allegedly confiscated all of the wreckage, the bodies of dead aliens, and the survivors of the crash, starting a supposed cover-up that has lasted for 30 years.
To this date, the US military has said there has never been any physical evidence recovered that proves the existence of UFOs or alien life, and has not confirmed that this recovery ever took place.
However, Claussen spoke at an event at the National Press Club organized by investigative filmmaker James Fox, which gathered witnesses and other experts to expose what they claim has been buried about the Varginha crash.
'If true, I am certain that 30 to 40 Americans had direct knowledge of this flight and its purpose,' Claussen said.
Former Air Force pilot Fred Claussen (Pictured) claimed that dozens of US military personnel likely know about an alleged UFO crash landing in Brazil in 1996
Carlos de Souza, witness of an alleged UFO crash in Varginha, Brazil in 1996, speaks at a press conference on UFO encounters at the National Press Club on Tuesday
Often called the 'Brazilian Roswell,' Claussen said that even secret missions involve multiple military personnel and various orders that create documented evidence of their existence.
The decorated Air Force veteran explained that if the US military did launch a UFO recovery mission to Brazil, it would have started within Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
They would have received the initial order to send a cargo plane, so senior officers there would have known the Varginha crash existed.
'An international flight plan to Brazil is required even if the mission is classified. Paper trail,' Claussen declared.
From there, a specific Air Mobility Wing at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina would have received a detailed mission order, selected a crew, and prepared a C-17 aircraft for launch - involving dozens of people.
Pilots, loadmasters, schedulers, and commanders at that base would have been in the loop in 1996, and Claussen was convinced the proof of that UFO crash still exists.
Along with the witnesses from Brazil and other UFO researchers, Claussen then challenged the Air Force personnel who allegedly flew to Brazil to become whistleblowers and expose what really happened in 1996.
'We know this mission happened, and you know it, too. Come forward. The time is now,' the former pilot said.
Witnesses claimed that a cigar-shaped object crashed on a local farm and was quickly recovered by Brazilian military and police
According to witnesses, multiple non-human aliens were still alive and were captured after the crash in Varginha, Brazil in January 1996
(Stock Image)
The incident 30 years ago played out over several days and also involved the death of a Brazilian police officer who was allegedly contaminated by one of the aliens.
On January 13, 1996, witnesses in Varginha spotted a cigar-shaped UFO that looked damaged and had white smoke pouring out of it.
The supposed spacecraft crashed on a farm outside the city, where witness Carlos de Souza, who attended Tuesday's press conference, found scattered debris and a strange, lightweight metal that reshaped itself after being crumpled.
However, soldiers quickly arrived and de Souza claimed he was ordered to leave at gunpoint. Later, two mysterious men in suits allegedly threatened him at a gas station to stay silent about what he saw.
'You saw nothing. You know nothing. Or you will have problems for the rest of your life,' de Souza recounted about his meeting with the unidentified men.
Days later, on January 20, the three young women encountered a reportedly scared, non-human being in a vacant lot that had a strong ammonia smell.
Brazilian military and police captured at least two of these beings that same day, including one grabbed bare-handed by officer Marco Eli Chereze, whose skin was scratched during the capture.
Chereze developed a deadly infection from the alleged scratch and died weeks later.
Dr Armando Monteiro, a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Chereze, revealed during the press conference that he discovered a rare, aggressive bacterium that doctors suspected might have been of alien origin in the officer's wound.
Soon after, the beings and debris were reportedly transported to a Brazilian airport, where the secret C-17 cargo plane allegedly loaded them and flew back to America.
Although witnesses have maintained that everything they saw was real, no evidence from the reported crash site has been seen again, and the death of Chereze was reportedly listed as an infection due to the Earth bacteria strain Staphylococcus schleiferi.
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Network of Home Computers Detected 100 Potential Alien Signals
For over two decades, millions of people volunteered the computational capacity of their computers to help UC Berkeley scientists in their search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
The goal of the project, called SETI@home, was to trawl through data collected by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico for signs of unusual radio signals from the cosmos. It was a powerful example of “distributed computing,” which relies on a huge network of individual computers — but whether the search has borne any fruit remains unclear as scientists continue to analyze the wealth of data.
SETI@home concluded after 21 years in 2020, producing a whopping 12 billion detections, according to a UC Berkeley press release, making it “one of the most popular crowd-sourced research projects ever.”
Over the years, researchers whittled down the data to just 100 signals that were “worth a second look” by eliminating radio frequency interference and noise with the help of a supercomputer. Since July, they’ve been using China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), in the hopes of catching another glimpse of the identified targets.
Unfortunately, the Arecibo Observatory — once the world’s largest radio telescope — collapsed during a storm in 2020, and is being decommissioned.
Even if the project never leads to first contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial species, it doesn’t mean SETI@home was a waste of time. Researchers are still trawling through the FAST data, but early conclusions of the project and its effectiveness have already resulted in two papers that were published last year in The Astronomical Journal.
“If we don’t find ET, what we can say is that we established a new sensitivity level,” said project cofounder David Anderson in a statement. “If there were a signal above a certain power, we would have found it.”
The team is hoping to inspire a successor to the crowdsourced research project, while applying what they’ve learned.
“Some of our conclusions are that the project didn’t completely work the way we thought it was going to,” Anderson said. “And we have a long list of things that we would have done differently and that future sky survey projects should do differently.”
Astronomer and project director Eric Korpela also pointed out that the considerable amount of radio interference, which can emanate from other sources, including radio and TV broadcasts and even microwave ovens, could seriously mess with the data.
“We have to do a better job of measuring what we’re excluding,” he said. “Are we throwing out the baby with the bath water? I don’t think we know for most SETI searches, and that is really a lesson for SETI searches everywhere.”
Given the lack of a smoking gun after trawling “billions and billions” of stars in the Milky Way, the project left the alien-hunting organizers somewhat deflated.
“We are, without doubt, the most sensitive narrow-band search of large portions of the sky, so we had the best chance of finding something,” Korpela explained. “So yeah, there’s a little disappointment that we didn’t see anything.”
However, the researcher hasn’t given up on the idea, particularly given the immense advancements in computer power and improved internet connections.
“I think that you could still get significantly more processing power than we used for SETI@home and process more data because of a wider internet bandwidth,” Korpela said. However, “the biggest issue with such a project is that it requires personnel, and personnel means salaries. It’s not the cheapest way to do SETI.”
And plenty of what-ifs remain, especially considering the limitations of the SETI@home project.
“There’s still the potential that ET is in that data and we missed it just by a hair,” he pondered.
More on radio signals:
NASA Scientist Proposes Theory of Alien Civilizations Throughout Milky Way
Humanity returns to the Moon: Artemis II mission flight plan
Soon we will witness a truly spectacular event. For the first time since 1972, a rocket carrying four astronauts will embark on a journey to the Moon. We will explain when the Artemis II flight is scheduled to take place and how it will proceed.
NASA cannot launch a mission to the Moon at any given time. The launch date is determined by orbital mechanics and the relative positions of celestial bodies, which allows the Moon’s gravity to be used to return the spacecraft with astronauts to Earth without using its main engine (this reduces the risks for the expedition).
Possible launch dates for the Artemis II mission.
Source: NASA
The closest launch windows for the Artemis II flight to the Moon will be open from February 6 to 8 and February 10 to 11. If the SLS rocket cannot be launched within these time frames, the next launch windows will be open on the following dates:
It is interesting to note that almost all of the upcoming ballistic windows suggest that Artemis II will only be launched at night. Theoretically, the mission could be launched at dawn at the end of the ballistic window on April 1. The window on April 30 provides an opportunity to launch shortly before sunset.
Launch of the SLS rocket.
Source: Bill Ingalls/NASA
The exact launch date will depend not only on the technical readiness of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, but also on several external factors, such as weather conditions, wind speed, and cloud cover. Solar activity will also be taken into account. The Artemis II flight will take place outside the Earth’s magnetic field. If, during the launch period, the Sun produces powerful flares or there is a high probability of them occurring, NASA will almost certainly postpone the flight.
Now let’s talk in more detail about how the Artemis II flight itself will proceed. Approximately 3.5 hours before launch, the four astronauts will board the Orion spacecraft, after which technicians will close the spacecraft hatch. The first stage engines of the SLS rocket will be activated 6 seconds before launch – at this stage, the launch can still be canceled. Once the side solid rocket boosters ignite, this will no longer be possible.
Artemis II mission launch diagram.
Source: NASA
The separation of the SLS solid rocket boosters will occur at 129 seconds into the flight, when the rocket will be at an altitude of 47.5 km. Approximately one minute after that, the “tower” – a solid rocket motor installed at the top of the nose cone – will be jettisoned. It is used as an emergency rescue system: in the event of an emergency, the rocket must “pull out” the capsule with the astronauts and take it away from the SLS. The separation will occur at an altitude of 87 km, which is slightly below the Kármán line, accepted as the boundary of outer space.
At 495 seconds into the flight, the first stage will separate. At this point, Orion will still be on a suborbital trajectory. When the spacecraft reaches apogee, the upper stage of the SLS will be activated. An hour later, another altitude increase maneuver will be performed. They will bring Orion into an elongated near-Earth orbit with a perigee altitude of 185 km and an apogee altitude of 70,000 km. For comparison, the ISS is in a circular orbit at an altitude of approximately 415 km.
Upon completion of the maneuvers, Orion will separate from the upper stage, after which the next stage of the flight will begin, lasting 23 hours. Initially, the astronauts will switch the spacecraft to manual control and perform a series of approaches to the upper stage of the SLS. These operations will provide a unique experience that cannot be gained on Earth and will yield valuable data that will be useful in planning future missions involving docking and undocking in lunar orbit.
Artemis II mission flight plan.
Source: NASA
After completing the rendezvous, the crew will return control of Orion to mission controllers and spend the remaining time checking the functionality of all spacecraft components. Key attention will be paid to the life support system. The astronauts will also test communications and navigation. Orion will briefly leave the coverage area of GPS and TDRS satellites, which will allow NASA to test the technical capabilities of its Deep Space Network.
At this stage, a payload will also be deployed – several CubeSats provided by countries that are parties to the Artemis Accords.
If the checks do not reveal any significant problems, NASA will give the green light to the next stage of the mission – the flight to the Moon. On the second day, Orion will activate its main engine and perform a maneuver that will send it towards our planet’s satellite. The spacecraft will follow a trajectory resembling a giant figure eight. As for the upper stage of the SLS, NASA will also activate its engine and direct it into the atmosphere above an uninhabited area of the Pacific Ocean to prevent it from becoming space debris.
During the flight to the Moon, the spacecraft will perform three minor course corrections. Before the crew goes to sleep on the fifth day of the flight, Orion will enter the Moon’s sphere of influence, where its gravitational pull will become stronger than Earth’s gravitational pull.
The Orion spacecraft against the backdrop of the Moon.
Source: NASA
The exact distance at which the Artemis II crew will fly past the Moon will depend on the launch date. In each of the possible ballistic windows, the Moon will be in a different location, and the flyby distance will vary accordingly: it can range from 6,500 to 13,000 km. This is hundreds of thousands of kilometers closer than any human has come to our planet’s satellite since 1972. At this distance, the Moon will appear to the crew to be the size of a basketball held at arm’s length.
The closest approach will occur when Orion flies over the far side of the Moon. At that moment, depending on the launch time, the crew will lose contact with Earth for 30 to 50 minutes. During this interval, the astronauts will take photographs and videos of the far side of the Moon, as well as conduct observations. At approximately this time, the Artemis II crew is expected to break the record for distance from Earth, set by Apollo 13.
The Artemis II flight path is designed so that the crew will not need to perform any maneuvers using the main engine, eliminating the risk of an accident and the possibility of them getting “stuck” near the Moon. When the spacecraft rounds the Moon and leaves its sphere of influence, Earth’s gravity will “catch” it and direct it toward our planet. As during the flight to the Moon, the crew will perform three small course corrections during this leg for more accurate guidance. The last maneuver will be performed on the 10th day of the flight, five hours before landing.
Shortly before entering the atmosphere, the astronauts will separate the Orion service module. This will expose the heat shield of the crew capsule. At its peak, it will be exposed to temperatures of up to 2,800 °C. This is about a thousand degrees higher than missions returning from the ISS. This difference is because Orion will enter the Earth’s atmosphere at a much higher second cosmic velocity. As the heated plasma completely envelops the spacecraft, NASA will lose all contact with it for several minutes.
Landing of the Orion spacecraft capsule.
Source: NASA
If everything goes well, Orion will first deploy two brake parachutes, followed by three main parachutes. The capsule with four astronauts will splash down in the Pacific Ocean, after which it will be picked up by ships.
The Artemis II mission is largely a test mission. It is intended to demonstrate the reliability of Orion and its ability to support interplanetary missions. The flight will also have enormous symbolic significance. For the first time in more than half a century, humans will leave the vicinity of our planet. The Artemis II mission could help to increase the popularity of space exploration.
Starship HLS on the Moon (concept).
Source: SpaceX
Artemis II will pave the way for the next mission, Artemis III, which plans to land two astronauts on the south pole of the Moon. It is currently scheduled for 2027. However, in reality, the date will almost certainly change, as many elements of the expedition are not yet ready – from the Starship HLS spacecraft to the lunar spacesuits. However, the success of Artemis II may serve as a significant stimulus to accelerate its preparation.
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Hand stencil made almost 68,000 years ago is the oldest cave art ever found
Handprints reveal sharpened fingertips in the Maros region of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Ahdi Agus Oktaviana / Maxime Aubert / AP
The world’s oldest known example of cave art, dating back at least 67,800 years, has been discovered by researchers studying handprints in Indonesia.
The find, along with others recently made in the Southeast Asian nation, helps scientists trying to determine when and where early humans first learned to make art, and at what point their art became more complex.
The reddish hand stencils, though faded and barely visible, were found inside the Liang Metanduno limestone cave on Muna, an island off the larger eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi. One of them was found to be at least 67,800 years old.
The team also identified animal figures inside a cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia
Maxime Aubert
Indonesian and Australian researchers said the stencils were made by blowing pigment onto a hand pressed against the rock surface, leaving an outline. Fingertips reshaped to appear more pointed suggest that the hands belonged to humans, possibly connected to the ancestors of the first Australians.
The paintings were dated by analyzing mineral crusts that had gradually formed on top of them.
The finding “is pretty extraordinary, because usually rock art is very difficult to date, and it doesn’t date back to anywhere near that old,” said Adam Brumm, a professor of archaeology at Griffith University in Brisbane and a co-author of the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
The hand stencil is more than 15,000 years older than a painting in another cave on Sulawesi that the same team dated in 2024. That painting, which depicted three human-like figures interacting with a pig, is thought to be about 51,200 years old.
“I thought we were doing pretty well then, but this one image just completely blew that other one away,” Brumm said.
“It really just shows how long people have been making rock art in that part of the world,” he said. “It’s a very long time.”
Researchers hope to find even older art, including storytelling art, in and around Indonesia, much of which remains archaeologically unexplored, he added.
Liang Metanduno is a well-known site for cave art that is open to tourists. But most of the art found so far is paintings depicting chickens and other domesticated animals that are thought to be much more recent, about 4,000 years old.
In 2015, Indonesian rock art specialist Adhi Oktaviana, the paper’s lead author, noticed faint images behind more recent ones that he thought could be hand stencils.
“No one had ever observed them before. No one even knew that they were there,” Brumm said. “But Adhi spotted them.”
For generations, researchers studying Ice Age cave paintings in places like France and Spain, which are about 30,000 to 40,000 years old, “thought, wow, this is really where true art began, true modern human artistic culture,” Brumm said.
Recent discoveries in Indonesia, he said, show that humans outside Europe were making “incredibly sophisticated” cave art tens of thousands of years earlier, “before our species ever even set foot in that part of the world.”
Brumm said the discovery was also interesting because it may shed light on when the first humans arrived in his home country of Australia.
Though Aboriginal peoples are widely accepted as being in Australia for at least 50,000 years, one archaeological site in the country is said to be 65,000 years old.
“Now that we’re finding rock art dating to 67-68,000 years ago on the island of Sulawesi, which is essentially on Australia’s doorstep, it does make it considerably more likely that modern humans indeed were in Australia at least 65,000 years ago,” Brumm said
The world's oldest cave art: Scientists discover 67,000–year–old painting of a red hand in Indonesia – and it could rewrite the origins of human creativity
A painting of a red hand found in a cave in Indonesia is believed to be the world's earliest rock art.
Discovered in a cave on the island of Sulawesi, experts think the stencil was made by our species at least 67,800 years ago.
This is 15,000 years earlier than the previous discovery in the same region.
While the stencil was likely based on a human hand, it was altered before being used on the cave wall.
Its creator had deliberately narrowed the negative outlines of the fingers – creating the impression of a claw–like hand.
According to researchers from Griffith University, the finding could rewrite the origins or human creativity.
What's more, its discovery could advance our understanding of exactly how and when Australia – which is just south of Sulawesi – first came to settled.
'It is very likely that the people who made these paintings in Sulawesi were part of the broader population that would later spread through the region and ultimately reach Australia,' explained team lead Dr Adhi Agus Oktaviana.
A painting of a red hand discovered in a cave in Indonesiais believed to be the world's earliest rock art
Discovered in a cave on the island of Sulawesi, experts think the stencil was made by our species at least 67,800 years ago
Beyond rewriting the origins of human creativity, the findings could also shed light on the settlement of Sahul – the supercontinent that encompassed what is now Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea – which is just south of Sulawesi
The hand stencil was found preserved in limestone caves in southeastern Sulawesi, on the satellite island of Muna.
Using advanced uranium–series dating techniques, the team analysed microscopic mineral deposits to understand exactly when the stencil was created.
The results revealed a minimum age of 67,800 years – making it the oldest reliably dated cave art ever discovered.
An analysis of the stencil itself suggests it was deliberately altered to give the impression of a claw.
However, the symbolic meaning of this remains unclear.
'This art could symbolise the idea that humans and animals were closely connected, something we already seem to see in the very early painted art of Sulawesi, with at least one instance of a scene portraying figures that we interpret as representations of part–human, part–animal beings,' Professor Adam Brumm, co–lead author of the study said.
Alongside the hand stencil, the researchers found paintings of a much more recent origin – around 20,000 years.
This suggests the Muna cave was used for making art over an 'exceptionally long period', according to the researchers.
The hand stencil was found preserved in limestone caves in southeastern Sulawesi, on the satellite island of Muna
Using advanced uranium–series dating techniques, the team analysed microscopic mineral deposits to understand exactly when the stencil was created. The results revealed a minimum age of 67,800 years – making it the oldest reliably dated cave art ever discovered
'It is now evident from our new phase of research that Sulawesi was home to one of the world's richest and most longstanding artistic cultures, one with origins in the earliest history of human occupation of the island at least 67,800 years ago,' said Professor Maxime Aubert, co–lead author of the study.
Beyond rewriting the origins of human creativity, the findings could also shed light on the settlement of Sahul – the supercontinent that encompassed what is now Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea – which is just south of Sulawesi.
Until now, scientists have been divided on the timing and route for humans' arrival.
Some have suggested they arrived at least 65,000 years ago, while others are adamant it's more like 50,000 years ago.
Meanwhile, certain studies indicate a northern route to the New Guinea portion of this landmass via Sulawesi and the 'Spice Islands', while others have put forward a more southerly route directly to the Australian mainland via Timor or adjacent islands.
The new cave art helps to settle both of these debates – suggesting the first Australians arrived at least 65,000 years ago via the northern route.
'With the dating of this extremely ancient rock art in Sulawesi, we now have the oldest direct evidence for the presence of modern humans along this northern migration corridor into Sahul,' said the study's co–lead author, Professor Renaud Joannes–Boyau.
The most famous cave art can be found in Spain and France, but it exists throughout the world.
The famed Upper Palaeolithic cave art of Europe dates back to around 21,000 years ago.
In recent years scholars have recorded cave art found in Indonesia that is believed to be about 40,000 years old - predating the most popular European cave art.
Hand stencils found in the El Castillo cave in Cantabria, Spain
Expert Shigeru Miyagawa authored a study in 2018 which examined cave art to try to shed light on how human language evolved.
He said: 'Cave art is everywhere. Every major continent inhabited by homo sapiens has cave art.
'You find it in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia, everywhere - just like the human language.'
RELATED
Metallic cloud orbits mysterious object
The star J0705+0612 was a mystery to scientists for some time. Similar to our Sun, it suddenly dimmed. Now scientists know that the reason for this is a dust cloud containing large amounts of metal and orbiting this star.
A metallic cloud around a star.
Source: phys.org
Strong winds of evaporated metals were discovered in the enormous cloud that obscured the star’s light for nearly nine months. This discovery, made using the Gemini South telescope in Chile, part of the Gemini International Observatory, provides a rare glimpse into the chaotic and dynamic processes that still shape planetary systems long after their formation.
In September 2024, a star 3,000 light-years away suddenly became 40 times dimmer than usual and remained so until May 2025. The star J0705+0612 is similar to our Sun, so the sharp decline in its brightness caught the attention of Nadia Zakamska, a professor of astrophysics at Johns Hopkins University. “Stars like the sun don’t just stop shining for no reason,” she says, “so dramatic dimming events like this are very rare.”
Recognizing the opportunity to study this phenomenon over many months, Zakamska and her team began observations using the Gemini South telescope located on Cerro Pachón in Chile, as well as the 3.5-meter Apache Point Observatory telescope and the 6.5-meter Magellan telescope.
By combining their observations with archival data on J0705+0612, the team determined that the star was occulted, or temporarily obscured, by a huge, slow-moving cloud of gas and dust. They estimate that the cloud is about two billion kilometers from its parent star and has a diameter of about 200 million kilometers.
The data indicate that this cloud is gravitationally bound to a secondary object, which itself orbits the star at the outer limits of the planetary system. Although the nature of this object remains unknown, it is thought to be massive enough to hold the cloud together. Observations limit its mass to at least several times that of Jupiter, although it may be larger. Possibilities range from a planet to a brown dwarf to a very low-mass star.
If the mysterious object is a star, the cloud will be classified as a secondary disk — a disk of debris orbiting around the less massive member of a binary system. If the object is a planet, it will be a circumplanetary disk. In any case, direct observation of a star obscured by a disk surrounding a secondary object is an extremely rare phenomenon, with only a few known examples.
To study the cloud’s composition, the team used Gemini South’s most advanced instrument, the Gemini High-resolution Optical Spectrograph (GHOST). In March 2025, GHOST observed the occultation for just over two hours, breaking down the star’s light into a spectrum that revealed the chemical elements present in the intervening material.
GHOST data detected several metals — elements heavier than helium — in the cloud. More remarkably, the high precision of the spectra allowed the team to directly measure how the gas moves in three dimensions. This is the first time astronomers have measured the internal motions of gas in a rotating disk around a secondary object, such as a planet or low-mass star. The observations reveal a dynamic environment with winds of gaseous metals, including iron and calcium.
“The sensitivity of GHOST allowed us not only to detect gas in this cloud, but also to actually measure how it moves,” says Zakamska. “This is something we have never been able to do before in such a system.”
Precise measurements of wind speed and direction show that the cloud is moving separately from its parent star. This, combined with the duration of the occultation, further confirms that the occulting object is a disk around a secondary object and that it is orbiting outside the parent star’s stellar system.
The source emits excess infrared radiation, usually associated with disks around young stars. However, J0705+0612 is more than two billion years old, which means that the disk is unlikely to be the remnants of debris from the early stages of planet formation in the system. So how did it form?
Astronomers suggest that it was formed after two planets collided at the outer edges of this star’s planetary system, ejecting dust, rocks, and debris that formed a massive cloud passing in front of the star.
This discovery highlights how new technologies can provide new insights into the Universe. GHOST has opened a new window for studying hidden phenomena in distant star systems, and the data obtained provide valuable clues about the long-term evolution of planetary systems and how disks around old stars may form.
Scientists say that the case of star J0705+0612 shows that even in mature planetary systems, dramatic, large-scale collisions can still occur.
