Tag: European Space Agency

Russia and China Ready to Sign Deal to Build First Moon Base, Snubbing US

Article by Olivia Burke                                                 February 18, 2021                                            (thesun.co.uk)

• On February 11th, the Russian Federation announced plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with China to collaborate on a series of International Lunar Research Stations (ILRS) or ‘Moon bases’, as proposed by the Chinese. Both countries will carry out preparatory research throughout the 2020s with the aim of establishing Moon bases at the Moon’s south pole in the early 2030s. The bases will initially be populated by robots and will provide a long-term presence on the Moon for short crewed missions in the early 2030s, and a longer-term sustained human presence anticipated to begin between 2036-2045. The U.S. has not been asked to participate.

• The Chinese and Russians plan to use the lunar base to aid the “construction and operation of human’s first sharing platform in the lunar south pole, supporting long-term, large-scale scientific exploration, technical experiments and development and utilization of lunar resources.” The robotic base will potentially incorporate the expertise of other nations as well, who will contribute their own spacecrafts.

• Pand Zhihao, a former researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology, praised, “Russia’s expertises, including liquid oxygen kerosene engine technology as well as a complete, world-beating system for astronaut training, will all no doubt accelerate the program’s advancement.” Russia’s state corporation for space activities, Roscosmos, said the official announcement set to coincide with the Global Space Exploration Conference in 2021, held in St. Petersburg.

• Humans have not set foot on the Moon since the NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. The Americans have been planning to resume settlement of the Moon under the Artemis Accords, pledging to send astronauts back there by 2024. The Russians, however, do not favor the Artemis Accords because it proposes a global legal framework for mining on the Moon, which the Russians liken to colonialism. Roscosmos’ deputy general director for international cooperation, Sergey Saveliev, remarked, “There have already been examples in history when one country decided to start seizing territories in its (own) interest — everyone remembers what came of it.”

• It is also believed that Russia was reluctant to back the Artemis Accords plan due to the Lunar Gateway element – a small orbiting space station and communication hub similar to the ISS. U.S. legislation implemented in 2011 prohibits China from participating with the International Space Station partnership. And it is thought that the Trump Administration further isolated the U.S. from its international allies by unilaterally creating the Space Force.

• NASA’s Artemis Accords have the cooperation and support of Australia, Canada, England, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, and the UAE. “The Artemis Accords have driven China and Russia toward increased cooperation in space out of fear and necessity,” said former Congressional legislative director Elya Taichman.

• China made history in 2019 by becoming the first country to land on the dark side of the Moon. The European Space Agency is said to be closely monitoring the ILRS program in anticipation of joining. It is feared that a China-Russia-European consortium could knock NASA off the top spot as the international leader of space exploration.

 

RUSSIA and China are joining forces as they prepare to sign a historic deal to build the first moon base after they snubbed the US.

                             Apollo 17

The two countries are to collaborate on the international lunar structure, which was thought up by China – the latest build in the space-race against America.

The purpose of the International Lunar Research Stations (ILRS), is to create a long-term robotic presence on the Moon by the start of the next decade, before eventually establishing a sustained human presence.

           Elya Taichman

An Order of the Government of the Russian Federation detailing the scheme was published on February 11, but the “date to sign the above mentioned MoU has not been determined yet and is currently discussed with the Chinese partners.”

Humans have not set foot on the moon since December 1972, when Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan made tracks on it during an

     Sergey Saveliev

Apollo 17 mission.

Both countries will carry out the research, beginning with China’s upcoming Chang’e-6, -7, and -8 missions and Russia’s Luna 27 probe.

They plan to use the lunar base to aid the “construction and operation of human’s first sharing platform in the lunar south pole, supporting long-term, large-scale scientific exploration, technical experiments and development and utilisation of lunar resources.”

China and Russia plan that in the early 2030s, the ILRS development will theoretically provide a base for long-term robotic presence on the Moon with the potential for short crewed missions.

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Moving to the Moon – What Will the First Extraterrestrial City Look Like?

Article by Steve Cowan                                  December 1, 2020                                (freenews.live)

• The Chinese probe “Chang’e-5” has successfully collected lunar rock and soil samples from the Moon, and is on its way back to Earth. This feat marks another stage in China’s ultimate plan to establish a permanent base on the Moon. Russia’s Roscosmos and NASA are also planning “lunar cities”.

• The last time humans were on the Moon was on December 14, 1972 when American astronaut Eugene Cernan walked on the lunar surface. In the coming years, we will inevitably witness a substantial increase in the Moon’s active development. However, unlike in the past, space agencies find it too expensive to launch heavy rockets whenever they want to visit the Moon. Today’s space programs will be more inclined to create permanent bases both in the Moon’s orbit and on the lunar surface.

• The Moon is attractive for several reasons. First, as an outpost for flights to other planets in the solar system. Secondly, as a source of minerals – primarily helium-3 which is used to produce thermonuclear fuel. Third, scientists plan to place a radio telescope on the Moon’s far side, protected from Earth’s interference. Using this telescope, scientists hope to discover the ‘cosmic microwave background’ allowing them to reconstruct the events of the universe during the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Fourth, and perhaps the most important benefit of establishing a Moon base, will be to test experimental technologies that will assist human migration to other planets in the future.

• While the 1967 Outer Space Treaty does not specifically regulate the use of space resources, an unratified December 1979 UN General Assembly Agreement does attempt to address the activities of states on the Moon and other celestial bodies. However, on April 6, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order approving the commercial development of resources by the US on the Moon and other planets and asteroids of the solar system.

• The first problem with everyone wanting to colonize the Moon is not about science, but the legal and commercial aspects of everyone aiming to use the same locations and resources at the South Pole of the Moon (although it would be technically easier to make shuttle flights to and from an orbital space station). The South Polar Region is ideal because it contains relatively large “cold traps” where permanently shaded areas hold water ice which is essential for everything from drinking and growing food, to obtaining oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for rocket fuel. Also, it is never dark at the South Pole so you can continuously recharge solar panels. On the rest of the Moon’s surface, the night lasts for two weeks.

• Moon base developers suggest that mirrors can be fixed on craters’ edges and direct sunlight to shaded areas. The heated ice will turn into steam, which will go through a pipeline to an electrolysis plant where it is split into hydrogen and oxygen. Experts estimate that there are up to ten billion tons of ice in the cold traps near the South Pole. The water and oxygen needed to sustain a base with only four people would require several tens of tons of water per year.

• Ice can also be found in miniature cold traps, up to a centimeter in diameter, mostly in the circumpolar regions. Up to forty thousand square kilometers of the lunar surface could be covered in water ice. More recently, the SOFIA stratospheric Observatory’s infrared telescope detected signs of molecular water ice filling the voids between the grains of minerals in the lunar soil. If this ice could be harvested, the list of places to build a lunar base would expand significantly.

• The composition of lunar soil is 43 percent oxygen. By combining oxygen with hydrogen taken from other sources or delivered from Earth, you can produce water. For Moon dust to decompose in order to extract the oxygen, it needs to be heated up 900 degrees Celsius (1652 degrees Fahrenheit) which takes a lot of energy. Scientists suggest using giant mirrors that focus sunlight on the shell of a small reactor. Still, it would take years for a lunar facility to generate enough water fuel to send just one Apollo-sized spacecraft into lunar orbit.

• Despite all the difficulties, the European Space Agency (ESA) has already allocated funds to the British company, Metalysis, to finance the extraction of oxygen from lunar regolith. The company, along with scientists from the University of Glasgow, said that they successfully extracted 96 percent of oxygen from artificial lunar soil in experiments on Earth, turning the rest into useful metal powders.

• Unlike the Earth, the Moon does not have an atmosphere and a magnetic field. So structures in lunar bases must protect human inhabitants from cosmic rays, solar radiation, and a stream of meteorites. Shelters could be covered with a multi-meter layer of lunar soil, or the base could be located within a canyon or cave. Scientists have proposed a lava tunnel under the Marius Hills in the central part of the Ocean of Storms.

• The lunar base buildings themselves could be built using 3D printing from regolith particles, or with bricks made by melting regolith using a focusing solar reflector. Researchers calculate it would take three years to manufacture enough regolith bricks to build a two thousand square meter structure. Once built, the base could use a Sun reflector to illuminate residential premises and greenhouses. As part of a closed ecosystem, greenhouse plants would process organic waste and convert carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. Astronauts on the International Space Station are already hydroponically growing and eating leafy green vegetables on board the station.

 

Yesterday, the lander of the Chinese probe “Chang’e-5” successfully separated from the orbital module and started landing on the Moon. It must collect and deliver samples of lunar soil to Earth. This is the next stage of an ambitious program, the ultimate goal of which is a permanent base on the satellite. Roscosmos and NASA are also planning “lunar cities.” About what will be the first human settlement outside of our planet is in the material.

  Apollo 17’s Eugene Cernan

To Leave, To Return

The last time humans landed on the Moon was 48 years ago. Then, on December 14, 1972, American astronaut Eugene Cernan, after walking on the lunar surface, said: “We are leaving as we came, and with God’s help, we will return.”

Over the past few years, several countries have declared their readiness to resume lunar programs. The Moon is attractive for several reasons. First, as an Outpost for flights to other planets in the Solar system-it is easier to start from it than from Earth.

Secondly, as a source of minerals-primarily helium-3: it can be used to produce thermonuclear fuel.

Third, on the Moon’s far side, scientists plan to place a radio telescope protected from earth’s interference. And with its help, they discover the cosmic microwave background, which they hope to reconstruct the events of the “dark ages” of the Universe-the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang.

And last, perhaps most important, the Moon’s base should become an experimental testing ground for testing technologies for human migration to other planets.

Therefore, in the coming years, we will inevitably witness the Earth’s satellite’s active development. But it is too expensive to send heavy missiles there every time. Today, no space agency will finance the sending of crews, as in the Apollo program. Everyone is inclined to create permanent bases — first in the Moon’s orbit and then on its surface. But this is not an easy task.

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Europe’s Space Agency is Spending $103 Million to Remove Space Junk

Article by George Dvorsky                                    November 30, 2020                                       (gizmodo.com)

• The time has come for us to clean up our mess. So the European Space Agency has hired Swiss startup ClearSpace to remove the first item of space debris in 2025 for $103 million. More importantly, it will herald the beginning of an entirely new space industry of removing the 22,300 (at last count) pieces of debris currently in low earth orbit. The presence of useless machine parts traveling at up to 17,400 miles per hour creates a dangerous environment for satellites, astronauts, and possibly even the International Space Station.

• This particular useless piece of debris is the 247-pound Vega Secondary Payload Adapter (or Vespa), which has been circling in low earth orbit since 2013.

• The ClearSpace mission will test the concept of a “conical net” that will engulf the Vespa payload adapter (as pictured above). This will require unimaginable precision. Slight miscalculations could make the target object bounce out before the net can close or even cause a serious collision. With its cargo secured, the ClearSpace spacecraft will simply fall into Earth’s atmosphere and burn up on re-entry. Several other companies are developing their own concepts. RemoveDEBRIS, for example, uses a harpoon to snatch wayward objects in orbit. Only time will tell which strategy works best. Ultimately, ESA is hoping to launch “a new commercial sector in space.”

• ClearSpace is a spin-off of the commercial provider, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, and it will seek the help of partners in Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, and several other European countries.

 

The European Space Agency has signed a historic deal with Swiss startup ClearSpace to remove a single item of space debris in 2025. The $103 million price tag is steep, but this mission—involving an orbiting, mouth-like net—could herald the beginning of an entirely new space industry.

The new contract, announced late last week, is unique in that the mission will involve “the first removal of an item of space debris from orbit,” according to ESA. ClearSpace, a spin-off of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), is the commercial provider for this mission, and it will seek the help of partners in Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, and several other European countries.

The target in question is the Vega Secondary Payload Adapter (or Vespa), which has been circling in low Earth orbit (LEO) since 2013. This 247-pound (112-kilogram) payload adapter successfully dispatched a Proba-V satellite to space, but, like so many other items in LEO, it currently serves no purpose, presenting a potential hazard to functioning satellites and possibly even the International Space Station.

€86 million (USD $103 million) seems like an awful lot of money to spend on the removal of a single item of space debris, but ESA is making an important investment. The technology required for the ClearSpace-1 mission, in which a spacecraft will “rendezvous, capture, and bring down” the Vespa payload adapter, will likely be leveraged in similar future missions (assuming this particular strategy will work). Ultimately, ESA is hoping to launch “a new commercial sector in space.”

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Russian Cosmonauts On How to Greet Extraterrestrials

September 24, 2020                                (sputniknews.com)

• On September 24th, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov spoke at a press conference organized by the government news agency, Rossiya Segodnya. Flight engineer Kud-Sverchkov will join mission commander Sergei Ryzhikov and NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins in the ‘Expedition 64’ (all pictured above) to the International Space Station in October. This will be Kud-Sverchkov’s first flight to space.

• Russian scientists join with those from other countries in the search for extraterrestrial life, making plans to launch multiple new scientific missions to the Moon, Mars and Venus, and, earlier this year, announcing the construction of a high-powered telescope that can be used to search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations transmitted in the optical spectrum.

• In 2012, veteran cosmonaut Gennady Padalka told Chinese media that “detailed instructions” had been created at the United Nations “in case of first contact” with extraterrestrial beings. He added at the time that “sooner or later we will meet our like-minded brothers” from another planet.

• However, Kud-Sverchkov sats that Russian cosmonauts have not been given any special instructions when it comes to greeting aliens, but would try to do so in a diplomatic matter. “I think that when meeting intelligence extraterrestrial life, we will exhibit friendliness, goodwill and consideration, just as we do when meeting intelligent and unintelligent life on Earth,” the cosmonaut said.

• The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft will blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 14th upon a Soyuz-2.1 ‘carrier rocket’. The spacecraft expected to reach the ISS in a record 3 hours, 20 minutes. The mission will last until April 2021, during which the team will activate the Bartolomeo scientific platform outside the European Space Agency’s Columbus lab module. Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov and Rubins will be joined by three more NASA astronauts and a Japanese astronaut, who will make their way to the ISS in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule shortly after the Soyuz craft’s arrival.

• A cosmonaut doll knitted by Kud-Sverchkov’s wife will become the expedition’s mascot, named Yuri after Yuri Gagarin, the first human being in space. Mission commander Ryzhikov told reporters that he would take with him a miniaturized set of Gospels, as well as a handful of Russian soil and stones from Mount Tabor, which Christians believe was the site of the transfiguration of Jesus following his resurrection.

• NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins said she plans to collect thousands of microbial samples inside the space station, and revealed that she plans to vote in the US presidential election from aboard the ISS.

 

    Sergei Kud-Sverchkov

As one of the world’s major space powers, Russia has done its part helping humanity search for extraterrestrial life,

                      Kathleen Rubins

recently beginning the construction of a powerful telescope capable of searching for signals coming from distant alien civilisations.

Russian cosmonauts have not been given any special instructions when it comes to greeting aliens, but would try to do so in a diplomatic matter, cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov has said.

“I think that when meeting intelligence extraterrestrial life, we will exhibit friendliness, goodwill and consideration, just as we do when meeting intelligent and unintelligent life on Earth,” the cosmonaut said, speaking at a press conference organized by Rossiya Segodnya, on Thursday.

Kud-Sverchkov will join mission commander Sergei Ryzhikov in Expedition 64 to the International Space Station in

              Sergei Ryzhikov

October as a flight engineer. This will be his first flight to space.
The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft will carry the two Russian cosmonauts and NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins to the ISS aboard a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 14,

        Yuri Gagarin

with the spacecraft expected to reach its destination in a record 3 hours, 20 minutes.

Kud-Sverchkov says a knitted cosmonaut doll named Yuri will become the mascot for Expedition 64, with the doll knitted by his wife, and named after Yuri Gagarin, the first human being in space.

Mission commander Ryzhikov told reporters that he would take with him a miniaturized Gospels, as well as a handful of Russian soil and stones from Mount Tabor, which Christians believe was the site of the transfiguration of Jesus following his resurrection.

For her part, NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins said her plans include work collecting thousands of microbial samples inside the space station, and revealed that she plans to vote in the US presidential election from aboard the ISS.

 

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Scientists Use Moon as Mirror to Detect Extraterrestrial Life

Article by Claire Bugos                             August 10, 2020                            (smithsonianmag.com)

• In January 2019, there was a total lunar eclipse. During a two-day period, light from the Sun passed through the Earth’s atmosphere and hit the Moon, and was reflected back toward the Earth. The Hubble Space Telescope was able to intercept and gather data from this ultraviolet light. Though similar ground-based studies have been done before, this is the first time that scientists have used a space telescope to capture ultraviolet wavelengths. From this data, scientists from NASA and the European Space Agency are able to analyze the Earth’s own atmospheric spectrum. They reported their findings in an article published August 6 in The Astronomical Journal. (see 3-minute NASA video below)

• The main focus was on the Earth’s protective ozone layer. Ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation. During the eclipse, Hubble detected lower amounts of UV radiation from the light reflected off the Moon than is present from unfiltered sunlight. Therefore, the Earth’s atmosphere absorbed some of it. If they can simulate this with a distant exoplanet, they can determine whether that planet’s atmosphere contains ozone. And along with oxygen, the detection of an ozone layer is considered an indication of possible life on that planet.

• Using this unique method, scientists can simulate observations of exoplanets. When an exoplanet crosses in front of its star, the star light is filtered through the planet’s atmosphere, creating a “halo” effect. Chemicals in the atmosphere filter out certain colors of starlight. Therefore, scientists can determine that planet’s atmospheric composition.

• “But how would we know a habitable or an uninhabited planet if we saw one?” queries Allison Youngblood of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and lead researcher of Hubble’s observations. By developing a model of the Earth’s chemical spectrum, scientists can use this as a template for categorizing the atmospheres of exoplanets in other solar systems.

• The age of the planet is also be taken into account when determining its ability to host life. Earth had low concentrations of oxygen for more than a billion years, while organisms used photosynthesis to build the ozone layer. So it may be challenging to detect ozone in younger planets. Still, ultraviolet may be “the best wavelength to detect photosynthetic life on low-oxygen exoplanets,” says Giada Arney of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and a co-author of the study.

• The Hubble telescope was launched in 1990, even before astronomers first discovered exoplanets. While its ability to observe extraterrestrial atmospheres is “remarkable,” NASA says future observations of Earth-sized planets will require much larger telescopes and longer observational periods, which the James Webb Space telescope, scheduled to launch in 2021, will provide.

 

In the quest to discover life beyond Earth, scientists are harnessing a very large and proximate tool—the moon.

     Allison Youngblood

During a total lunar eclipse in January 2019, the moon acted like a giant mirror, reflecting sunlight that had passed

                   Hubble Telescope

through our atmosphere back toward Earth, reports Chelsea Gohd for Space.com. The Hubble Space Telescope, which was positioned between the Earth and moon, intercepted the reflected ultraviolet light for scientists to analyze.

Scientists from NASA and the European Space Agency studied the reflected light from a lunar eclipse during a two-day window. They reported their findings in an article published August 6 in The Astronomical Journal.

For the first time, scientists used a space telescope to capture ultraviolet wavelengths. Though similar ground-based studies have been done before, using a space telescope for this observation allows scientists to simulate future observations of exoplanets, Space.com reports.

            Giada Arney

The goal was for the telescope to detect the Earth’s ozone layer. The ozone molecule that makes up the Earth’s protective layer absorbs ultraviolet radiation. During the eclipse, Hubble detected lower amounts of UV radiation from the light reflected off the moon than is present from unfiltered sunlight, meaning the Earth’s atmosphere must have absorbed some of it, according to a NASA press release.

If scientists are able to detect an ozone layer or oxygen on a neighboring exoplanet, there’s a possibility that the planet may harbor life. On Earth, oxygen is often produced by life forms, especially those that photosynthesize. If scientists detect an oxygen-rich atmosphere on an exoplanet, especially if the amount of oxygen varies seasonally, there is a chance that it also hosts life. But scientists would need to further analyze the atmosphere using other tools before determining if it’s life-hosting, Allison Youngblood of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and lead researcher of Hubble’s observations, says in the press release.

3-minute video “Hubble Views Moon to Study Earth” (‘NASA Goddard’ YouTube)

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Mysterious ‘Fast Radio Burst’ Found Only 30,000 Light-Years from Earth

Article by Chris Ciaccia                                      August 10, 2020                                     (msn.com)

• In 2014, astronomers discovered a dormant neutron star in the Vulpecula constellation, 30,000 light-years (or 6 trillion miles) from Earth, but still within the Milky Way galaxy. On April 28, 2020, scientists trained the European Space Agency’s Integral satellite on this powerful neutron star, also called ‘a magnetar’, and found that it had become active again, shooting out radio waves and X-rays at random intervals. These are known as ‘Fast Radio Bursts’.

• The research study’s lead author, Sandro Mereghetti of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome, said, “We’ve never seen a burst of radio waves, resembling a Fast Radio Burst (FRB), from a magnetar before.” “It truly is a major discovery, and helps to bring the origin of these mysterious phenomena into focus.” The study has been published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

• Within seconds of his discovery, Merghetti enacted the “Burst Alert System”, sending out a global FRB alert to “the scientific community to act fast and explore this source in more detail.” Astronomers monitoring the CHIME radio telescope in Canada worldwide also spotted the “short and extremely bright burst of radio waves” on April 28th. Subsequent confirmation came from California and Utah the following day.

• Fast Radio Bursts are a mysterious but not an uncommon observation in deep space. First discovered in 2007, FRBs are relatively new to astronomers. Some of them can generate as much energy as 500 million suns in just a few milliseconds. It’s unknown why some FRBs repeat while others do not. Some researchers speculate that they originate from an extraterrestrial civilization.

 

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are often mysterious in nature, but not an uncommon observation in deep space. However, researchers have discovered the first FRB to emanate from the Milky Way galaxy, according to a newly published study.

                   Sandro Mereghetti

The research details magnetar SGR 1935+2154, which was discovered in 2014, but it wasn’t until April 2020 when scientists saw it become active again, shooting out radio waves and X-rays at random intervals.

“We’ve never seen a burst of radio waves, resembling a Fast Radio Burst, from a magnetar before,” the study’s lead author, Sandro Mereghetti of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF–IASF), said in a statement.

This FRB likely comes from a neutron star, approximately 30,000 light-years from Earth in the Vulpecula constellation, LiveScience reports. A light-year, which measures distance in space, is approximately 6 trillion miles.

Mereghetti and the other researchers detected the FRB using the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Integral satellite on April 28.

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Beneath the Surface is Best Place to Find Life on Mars

Article by Sean Martin                               July 28, 2020                               (express.co.uk)

• The European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia’s Roscosmos’ ExoMars mission to Mars that was scheduled for launch this year has been postponed until 2022 due to the lock-downs imposed by the coronavirus outbreak. When it does launch in 2022, the ExoMars’ ‘Rosalind Franklin Rover’ will be attached with a subsurface drill, to look beneath the surface for signs of life.

• Astrophysicist and research scientist Dimitra Atri at the Center for Space Science at NYU Abu Dhabi believes that subsurface conditions on the Red Planet could be the best for any microorganisms, because there are still traces of water – a main ingredients for life – beneath the surface. Also, any life beneath the surface will be protected from deadly solar radiation.

• In addition, the launch was delayed due to issues with some of the electronics in the robot, and a hardware concern for the solar panels. With the borders closed due to the pandemic, neither the engineers nor the parts to correct these issues are readily available. Professor of planetary and space science at the Open University Monica Grady says, “Each of the hardware issues could be solved, as could problems with software – but in combination, there was too great a risk that the time remaining before the launch was too short to ensure * full and thorough final testing.”

• “The final staging place before moving to the launch site is Turin, in northern Italy, where illness from coronavirus has practically closed the country and brought movement across its borders to a halt,” noted Grady. “Engineers from the UK, France, Russia and the US (at the very least) will be needed alongside those in Italy for the final testing.”

• [Editor’s Note]  The place to look for life on Mars is indeed under the planet’s surface. Mars is teeming with a variety of subsurface civilizations, from indigenous intelligent reptilian and raptor species, to indigenous humanoids hiding in the crevasses, to secret space program bases belonging to the Nazi German/Draco Reptilians, industrial colonies belonging to the Interplanetary Corporate Conglomerate, and the ICC’s mercenary military divisions: the Mars Defense Force and the Interplanetary Defense and Reaction Forces.

 

               Rosalind Franklin Rover
                       Dimitra Atri

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia’s Roscosmos is set to up the ante in the search for life on Mars when it launches the ExoMars rover to the Red Planet in 2022. The machine will be attached with a subsurface drill which will be able to look beneath the surface for signs of life. By doing so, it will become the first rover to look for signs of life beneath the surface.
Some experts believe this could be the best hope of finding alien life.

Astrophysicist and research scientist Dimitra Atri at the Center for Space Science at NYU Abu Dhabi has conducted research, and found that subsurface conditions of the Red Planet could be the best for any microorganisms, according to the research published in the journal Scientificace to loo.

                        Monica Grady

This is because beneath the surface, there are still traces of water – one of the main ingredients for life.

On top of that, any life beneath the surface will be protected from deadly solar radiation – protection which is lacking on the surface due to the Red Planet’s lack of atmosphere.

Mr Atri said: “It is exciting to contemplate that life could survive in such a harsh environment, as few as two meters below the surface of Mars.

“When the Rosalind Franklin rover on board the ExoMars mission (ESA and Roscosmos), equipped with a subsurface drill, is launched in 2022, it will be well-suited to detect extant microbial life and hopefully provide some important insights.”

ExoMars was set to be launched this year, but the coronavirus outbreak put a halt to that.

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Swiss Start-up ClearSpace Has Support from Microsoft to Clean Up Space

Article by Microsoft Schweiz                            June 22, 2020                            (news.microsoft.com)

• With a rapidly increasing number of satellites launched every year, the population of man-made debris orbiting Earth has exploded over the last ten years. Today there are more than 3,000 failed satellites orbiting Earth. These uncontrollable objects present risks of explosions or collisions with other satellites.

• After repeated notifications by the US Air Force Space Observation Center of collision risks between the SwissCube and other Space objects, the European Space Agency selected ClearSpace to execute the first-ever capture and removal of an uncontrolled satellite orbiting at 7 Kilometers per second at more than 600 Kilometer above sea level. The mission, called ClearSpace-1, is scheduled for 2025. In the meantime, ClearSpace, based in Ecublens, Switzerland, will focus on developing state-of-the-art technologies for sensor fusion, autonomous navigation and space robotics, integrating them into an agile satellite chaser.

• Luc Piguet, CEO and founder of ClearSpace, said, “ClearSpace-1…is the first milestone on the road to a future Space debris removal service at an affordable cost. …We are honored and delighted to have been selected for the Global Social Entrepreneurship Program and look forward to taking our collaboration to the next level – benefitting from Microsoft’s deep expertise and global reach while pursuing our quest in a cutting-edge, secure environment.”

• Andrew Reid, Head of the Swiss Microsoft for Startups program is very excited about the support from Microsoft saying, “The fact that ClearSpace has been selected to join Microsoft’s Global Social Entrepreneurship Program is a well-deserved recognition of the achievements and commitment of the entire team. This enables us to support ClearSpace on a global level and with even more international resources.”

 

Today there are more than 3,000 failed satellites orbiting Earth. These uncontrollable objects present risks of explosions or collisions with other satellites. With a rapidly increasing number of satellites launched every year, the population of man-made debris orbiting Earth has exploded over the last ten years. Keeping space clean in order to ensure sustainable growth in the future has become a huge challenge.

                         Luc Piguet

ClearSpace is committed to solve this problem. The international team, which brings together many years of experience from science and research (EPFL, MIT), agencies (ESA, Nasa/JPL and DLR) and major prime integrators (Airbus, Thales, Ruag, SSTL and others), can also count on the support of a high-ranking Advisory Board, including Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier. The idea emerged from the joint work of some of the founding members of ClearSpace at the EPFL Space Center after the launch of the SwissCube satellite in 2009. The team decided to tackle the problem following repeated notifications by the US Air Force Space observation center of collision risks between the SwissCube and other Space objects.

Pioneering the capture and removal of space debris

The European Space Agency (ESA) has decided to break the ground into sustainable Space development by pioneering this landmark mission and selected ClearSpace to lead it. ClearSpace’s mission is to execute the first-ever capture and removal of an uncontrolled satellite, that is orbiting at 7 Kilometers per second at more than 600 Kilometer above sea level. The team, in collaboration with renowned industrial partners, will focus on developing state-of-the-art technologies for sensor fusion, autonomous navigation and space robotics, integrating them into an agile chaser. The mission called ClearSpace-1 is scheduled for 2025.

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Russian Scientists Prove Life Can Survive on Mars, Venus, and Jupiter’s Ice Moon

Article by Sput Nick                        April 26, 2020                      (sputniknews.com)

• Researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Space Research Institute conducted simulations of Venus’ atmospheric conditions and discovered that microscopic fungi can survive and thrive in high levels of ionizing radiation and sharp jumps in temperature. Scientists believe that microorganisms may be present in the upper layers of Venus’s atmosphere.

• The researchers also studied microorganisms in temperatures of -50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Arctic to simulate conditions on the surface of Mars. Here too, the bacteria proved quite adaptable to survival.

• The Russian scientists then studied soil bacteria present in the Mojave Desert, which is considered analogous to the kinds of microbial communities that may be found on Mars. The micororganisms were highly resistant to temperature, pH levels, and the presence of salts and strong oxidizing agents.

• The researchers also tested whether microorganisms could survive in conditions found on Jupiter’s moon, Europa, known to have a water-ice crust. Recreating bacteria embedded in ice at -130 degrees Celsius (minus 202 degrees Fahrenheit), scientists found that the bacteria could still theoretically survive at depths of 10-100 cm over a period of 1,000-10,000 years in the moon’s subglacial oceans.

• The prestigious Space Research Institute is a complement to Russia’s manned space program, taking part in multiple ongoing Roscosmos, European Space Agency and NASA missions on the study of the solar system, and goes back to Soviet-era probes of Venus and Mars.

 

Theories about the possible habitability of Earth’s closest neighbours go back to the dawn of the space age, with scientists creating increasingly complex instruments to try to confirm beyond a doubt whether such life exists in the years since.

Researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Space Research Institute have completed simulations of the Venetian atmosphere’s conduciveness to sustaining life, discovering that micromycetes (a type of microscopic fungi) can survive and thrive in Venus-like atmospheric conditions, where high levels of radiation and sharp jumps in temperature are the norm. Specifically, laboratory testing found that high doses of ionizing radiation do not lead to the fungi’s demise.

Scientists conducted their experiments on the basis of long-held scientific theories that microorganisms associated with mineral particles may be present in the upper layers of Venus’s atmosphere.

The researchers also performed research involving microorganisms found in the Arctic to simulate conditions on the surface of Mars – subjecting them to radiation and temperatures of -50 degrees Celsius. Here too, scientists found that the bacteria proved quite adaptable to survival.

Additionally, the Russian scientists studied soil bacteria present in the Mojave Desert, considered by many academics to be a terrestrial analogue to the kinds of microbial communities that may be found on Mars. The research showed that these micororganisms are highly resistant to a range of stress factors, such as cultivation temperature, pH levels, and the presence of salts and strong oxidizing agents.

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NASA Close to Finding Life on Mars

Article by Tewodros Kore                            April 10, 2020                             (waltainfo.com)

• In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph discussing the March launches of both the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars rover ‘ExoMars’ and the NASA Mars rover ‘Mars 2020’, NASA Chief Scientist Dr. Jim Green was quoted as saying that he expected the rovers to find life on the red planet. “This revolutionary discovery will open a whole new way of thinking,” said Green. “But I think humans are not ready for this result.”

• During the mission, the ESA’s ExoMars will drill two meters deep for samples, and both of the Mars rovers will target rock formations in their respective searches for extraterrestrial life and organic matter. Recent data from the Martian surface collected by the “Mars Express” orbiting satellite revealed geological evidence of large-scale water resources below the Martian surface, and an “underground lake” that once existed. The rovers will take rock samples mainly in the ancient seabed area of Mars.

• Francisco Selsey of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands stated in the journal Geophysics that 3 or 4 billion years ago, Mars was a watery world. But as the climate changed, the water receded below the Martian surface to form ponds and “groundwater.” “We have found geological evidence that Mars has widespread groundwater systems,” said Selsey.

 

The chief scientist of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) predicted that the Mars probe launched this year will find life on this red planet, but he warned that humans on Earth are not yet ready for this “revolutionary” discovery.

According to the British “Daily Mail” reported, the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars rover ExoMars and NASA Mars rover Mars 2020 launched

                       Dr. Jim Green

together in March this year to Mars. ESA’s Mars rover is also known as Rosalind, in honor of British chemist Rosalind Franklin. They will target rock formations and search for extraterrestrial life and organic matter. Among them, the ExoMars will drill a sample of 2 meters deep.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, NASA Chief Scientist Dr. Jim Green, who participated in these two missions, said that within a few months, signs of extraterrestrial life were expected. He said, “This revolutionary discovery will open a whole new way of thinking, but I think humans are not ready for this result.”

According to reports, the two Martian rover will take rock samples mainly in the ancient seabed area of Mars. Dr. Green said, “When the environment becomes extreme, life will turn into rocks.”

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‘Racing Certainty’ There’s Life on Europa and Mars, Leading UK Space Scientist Says

 

Article from Liverpool Hope University                   February 6, 2020                     (phys.org)

• Recently installed Chancellor at Liverpool Hope University and Professor of Planetary and Space Science, Monica Grady told a university audience recently that the notion of undiscovered life in our galaxy isn’t nearly as far-fetched as we might expect. It’s ‘almost a racing certainty’, says Grady.

• “[I]f there’s going to be life on Mars, ‘it’s likely to be very small bacteria’ and it’s going to be under the surface of the planet,” said Grady. Under the surface of Mars “you’re protected from solar radiation. And that means there’s the possibility of ice remaining in the pores of the rocks, which could act as a source of water.”

• “I think we’ve got a better chance of having slightly higher forms of life on Europa, perhaps similar to the intelligence of an octopus.” Jupiter’s moon Europa is covered by a layer of ice up to 15 miles deep, and there’s likely liquid water beneath where life could dwell. The ice acts as a protective barrier against both solar radiation and asteroid impact. The prospect of hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor – as well sodium chloride in Europa’s salty water – also boost the prospects of life.

• As for what lies beyond the Milky Way galaxy, Professor Grady says that it is ‘highly likely’ that the environmental conditions that led to life on Earth could be replicated elsewhere. “Our solar system is not a particularly special planetary system, as far as we know, and we still haven’t explored all the stars in the galaxy,” says Grady, who has worked with the European Space Agency. “I think it’s highly likely there will be life elsewhere …made of the same elements.”

• Grady notes that based purely on a statistical argument, dinosaurs killed by an asteroid impact making way for furry mammals from which humans evolved is theoretically possible to replicate in this vast universe. “Whether we will ever be able to contact extraterrestrial life is anyone’s guess, purely because the distances are just too huge.” “As for so-called alien ‘signals’ received from space, there’s been nothing real or credible.”

• At least three separate missions will be launched to Mars this year. The ExoMars 2020 mission, a joint project of the European Space Agency and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, launches in July and is planned to reach the red planet in February 2021. The space exploration probe, the Hope Mars Mission funded by the United Arab Emirates, is set to launch in the summer.

• Grady has been studying a single grain of rock that was brought back to Earth in 2010 from the asteroid ‘25143 Itokawa’ by the Japanese Hayabusa mission. “When we look at this grain, we can see that most of it is made up of silicates, but it’s also got little patches of carbon in it,” says Grady. “[W]e can see that it’s been hit by other bits of meteorite, asteroid, and interstellar dust. “It’s giving us an idea of how complex the record of extra-terrestrial material really is.”

• In order to avoid contaminating the Earth with a Mars virus, Professor Grady described how a NASA mission will collect soil samples in tubes and leave them on Mars. Then in 2026, an ESA mission will collect those samples and put them in orbit around Mars. Then, a third mission will come and collect that orbiting capsule. Says Grady, “It’s about breaking the chain of contact between Mars and the Earth, just in case we bring back some horrendous new virus.” “[W]e don’t want to contaminate Mars with our own terrestrial bugs.”

• Professor Grady points out that space mission sterilization protocols will also prevent other planets from being contaminated by Earth viruses. Current protocol requires boiling equipment in acid or heating it to high temperatures.”We could be all there is in the galaxy. And if there’s only us, then we have a duty to protect the planet.”

• [Editor’s Note]   As usual, the universities dependent on deep state funding intend to maintain the status quo, giving the public the impression that they are open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the universe, but limiting it to bacterial life in underground crevasses or primitive sea life hidden underneath miles of ice. They will note that there is no “real or credible” evidence of any other type of extraterrestrial life. University chancellors and professors must remain in denial of the vast amount of evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, the presence of ET beings here on Earth, and the existence of several secret space programs in order to keep their well-paid jobs and comfortable life styles.

 

It’s ‘almost a racing certainty’ there’s alien life on Jupiter’s moon Europa—and Mars could be hiding primitive microorganisms, too.

That’s the view of leading British space scientist Professor Monica Grady, who says the notion of undiscovered life in our galaxy isn’t nearly as far-fetched as we might expect.

              Professor Monica Grady

Professor Grady, a Professor of Planetary and Space Science, says the frigid seas beneath Europa’s ice sheets could harbor ‘octopus’ like creatures.

Meanwhile the deep caverns and caves found on Mars may also hide subterranean life-forms—as they offer shelter from intense solar radiation while also potentially boasting remnants of ice.

Professor Grady was speaking at Liverpool Hope University, where she’s just been installed as Chancellor, and revealed: “When it comes to the prospects of life beyond Earth, it’s almost a racing certainty that there’s life beneath the ice on Europa.

“Elsewhere, if there’s going to be life on Mars, it’s going to be under the surface of the planet.

“There you’re protected from solar radiation. And that means there’s the possibility of ice remaining in the pores of the rocks, which could act as a source of water.

“If there is something on Mars, it’s likely to be very small—bacteria.

“But I think we’ve got a better chance of having slightly higher forms of life on Europa, perhaps similar to the intelligence of an octopus.”

Professor Grady isn’t the first to pinpoint Europa as a potential source of extraterrestrial life.

And the moon—located more than 390 million miles from Earth—has long been the subject of science fiction, too.

Europa, one of Jupiter’s 79 known moons, is covered by a layer of ice up to 15 miles deep—and there’s likely liquid water beneath where life could dwell.

The ice acts as a protective barrier against both solar radiation and asteroid impact.

Meanwhile, the prospect of hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor—as well sodium chloride in Europa’s salty water—also boost the prospects of life.

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Breathing New Life Into Colonizing the Moon? ESA to Produce Oxygen From Lunar Dust

 

January 20, 2020                       (rt.com)

• NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are working together towards “a sustained human presence on the Moon and maybe one day Mars.” Toward that end, the ESA has built a prototype oxygen plant in Noordwijk, Netherlands that extracts breathable oxygen from moon rocks, or “lunar regolith”. The space agency’s goal is to create a functional, portable version of the system, ready for testing by the mid-2020s, that could one day be flown to the Moon .

• “Being able to acquire oxygen from resources found on the Moon would obviously be hugely useful for future lunar settlers, both for breathing and in the local production of rocket fuel,” says Beth Lomax of the University of Glasgow, a researcher working on the prototype at the European Space Research and Technology Centre.

• It turns out that lunar regolith (moon rock) is made up of 40 to 45 percent oxygen by weight, making it the Moon’s single most abundant element. Lunar rocks are placed in a metal basket with calcium chloride salt and then heated to 950 degrees Celsius (or 1742 degrees Fahrenheit). Then, by passing an electric current through the heated rock it releases the oxygen contained within.

• With this process, the regolith becomes a usable metal alloy which may also have uses beneficial to a future colony on the Moon, such as raw material for lunar-based 3D printers to construct parts for lunar bases or even spacecraft.

 

        Beth Lomax

The European Space Agency (ESA) has fired up its prototype oxygen plant to begin producing the element out of

                a moon rock

simulated moondust, with a view to creating a sustainable breathable air production facility on the Moon.

“Being able to acquire oxygen from resources found on the Moon would obviously be hugely useful for future lunar settlers, both for breathing and in the local production of rocket fuel,” says Beth Lomax of the University of Glasgow, a researcher working on the prototype at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC).

The current prototype is set up in a lab in Noordwijk in the Netherlands, but the next step is to begin fine-tuning, reducing the operating temperature and streamlining the design to create a portable version of the system that could one day be flown to the Moon.

Based on samples brought back from the Moon over the years, it turns out that lunar regolith (moon rock) is made up of 40 to 45 percent oxygen by weight, making it the satellite’s single most abundant element, which is incredibly fortunate for future human colonization plans.

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How Europe’s Exoplanet Hunter Will Unravel the Mystery of Extraterrestrial Life

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Article by Samhati Bhattacharjya                        December 19, 2019                          (ibtimes.sg)

• On December 18, 2019, the 11 member states of the European Space Agency launched the European Cheops space telescope – an acronym for ‘Characterizing Exoplanet Satellite’ – on a Russian-built Soyuz rocket. Didier Queloz, the 2019 Nobel Physics Prize winner, told AFP in French Guiana, “Cheops is (440 miles) away, exactly where we wanted it to be. It’s absolutely perfect. This is really an exceptional moment in European space history and in the history of the exoplanets.”

• Scientists say that there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy, and at least 100 billion galaxies in the universe. CHEOPS will help them to have a better understanding of what those planets are made of, says mission chief David Ehrenreich. This will be an important step to unraveling the mystery of extraterrestrial life. “[T]he first results can be expected within months,” said Queloz.

• The CHEOPS telescope will measure the density, composition and size of the 4,000 identified exoplanets. The telescope will measure the reflected light from the planets to discover new insights about the planet’s surface and atmosphere. The European Space Agency’s director of science, Guenther Hasinger, says the aim of the satellite is to compose “a family photo of exoplanets”.

• “In order to understand the origin of life,” says Queloz, “we need to understand the geophysics of these planets. It’s as if we’re taking the first step on a big staircase.”

 

             David Ehrenreich

The European Cheops planet-hunting space telescope was launched on Wednesday (December 18, 2019) to study the exoplanets outside our solar system. Cheops, an acronym for Characterizing Exoplanet Satellite, a joint endeavor of 11 member states of the European Space Agency (ESA), will observe the bright stars that are already known to be orbited by planets.

                      Didier Queloz

The telescope will measure the density, composition and size of the exoplanets. Didier Queloz, 2019 Nobel Physics Prize winner, told AFP in French Guiana, “Cheops is 710 kilometers (440 miles) away, exactly where we wanted it to be, it’s absolutely perfect. This is really an exceptional moment in European space history and in the history of the exoplanets.”

The first exoplanet, dubbed 51 Pegasi b, was identified by Queloz and his colleague Michel Mayor about 24 years ago. Since then roughly a total of 4,000 such exoplanets have been discovered.

           Guenther Hasinger

Existence of extraterrestrial life

The launch of the satellite took place a day after its lift-off was delayed due to a technical rocket glitch during the final countdown. However, on Wednesday it successfully took off at around 0854 GMT French Guiana. This year, it was the third launch for the Russian-built Soyuz rocket.

According to the scientists, there are at least as many galaxies as there are stars —approximately 100 billion and CHEOPS will help them to have a better understanding of what those planets are made of. “We want to go beyond statistics and study them in detail,” mission chief David Ehrenreich had told AFP ahead of Wednesday’s launch.

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Astronomer Has ‘Little Doubt’ We Are Not Alone in the Universe

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Article by Sebastian Kettley                            December 15, 2019                               (express.co.uk)

• The discovery of extraterrestrial life is at the top of the priority list for NASA, the European Space Agency and the scientific community. In 2020, NASA will put another Mars rover on the Red Planet to look for evidence of past life. SETI continues listening to the night skies for signs of contact.

• Scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock recently told The Guardian that she had very “little doubt” humans are not the only intelligent life to call this cosmos home. “There are just too many planets, galaxies, solar systems, moons and stars to think there can’t be more life,” said Aderin-Pocock. But she also shed doubt on ever finding any extraterrestrial life saying, “Maybe they came in the age of the dinosaurs and left because they had no one to communicate with.” “I think though that there’s a great many variables that would need to happen to result in us making contact.”

• Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins told the New York Daily News: “It seems to me the height of arrogance to say that our little stupid Sun off in one obscure corner of an odd galaxy called the Milky Way should be the only one in the whole universe capable of developing what we sometimes refer to as intelligent life.”

• SpaceX founder and South African billionaire Elon Musk thinks aliens could be real, but we will likely never find them. He points out that the universe is 13.8 billion years old – plenty of time for alien civilizations to rise and fall without humans ever noticing.

• NASA has been focusing on the discovery of habitable exoplanets situated in a ‘habitable zone’ where life could evolve around stars far outside of our solar system. NASA’s William Borucki said, “If we find lots of planets like ours, we’ll know it’s likely that we aren’t alone, and that someday we might be able to join other intelligent life in the universe.”

• NASA’s now-retired Kepler space telescope uncovered thousands of distant exoplanets since 2009. Kepler scientist Padi Boyd stated, “I think it’s a really exciting time to be a scientist.” “Here we are in a position to actually answer the question, ‘Are we alone?’ and be able to get a scientific answer.”

• [Editor’s Note]  Excuse me, but the discovery of extraterrestrial life is NOT at the top of the priority list for NASA, the European Space Agency or the scientific community. This is a load of “scientific” misdirection and double-talk.  In spite of this article’s optimistic title, it is nothing more than a parade of deep state puppets (with the exception of Michael Collins) spouting the deep state’s agenda that while it may be possible that intelligent extraterrestrials exist somewhere, or may have existed in the past, our Earth civilization will never meet them. This is regarded as the “exciting” scientific point of view. They maintain this extraordinary lie so that the public won’t pay attention to the “kooks on the fringe” who claim that extraterrestrial life exists throughout the galaxy, that many alien races have visited the Earth, and they continue to do so. For the past seventy years, the deep state shadow government has done everything within its considerable power to hide this reality. The public is absolutely brain-washed to believe that aliens do not exist anywhere near our solar system, despite the overwhelming evidence of UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation. But very soon the truth will be revealed. And when the truth is finally revealed, people will remember these deep state institutions and ‘scientists’ who made a long and lucrative career of lying to the world.

 

The question of ‘are we alone in the universe’ has fascinated the scientific community for decades. Aliens and other extraterrestrial organisms are the top of the priority list for bodies like NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

    NASA scientist Padi Boyd
          Deep State Stooge, Elon Musk

In 2020, NASA will launch a Mars rover to the Red Planet to trawl the alien world for evidence of past life.

And projects like SETI or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence are continuously listening to the night skies for signs of contact.

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is one of the scientists who have very “little doubt” humans are not the only intelligent life to call this cosmos home.

The space scientist told The Guardian the numbers are stacked in favour of a diverse universe.

Dr Aderin-Pocock said: “I sometimes wonder where the aliens are, but I have little doubt that they’re out there. It’s the numbers game.

naive astronomer who is just happy to be in the public limelight, Maggie Aderin-Pocock
    NASA’s William Borucki

“There are just too many planets, galaxies, solar systems, moons and stars to think there can’t be more life.

“I think though that there’s a great many variables that would need to happen to result in us making contact.

“Maybe they came in the age of the dinosaurs and left because they had no one to communicate with.

“I actually think that aliens arriving would be brilliant for us. Us putting aside our differences and getting our act together to face invading aliens might finally unite humanity.”

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Will 2020 Be the Year We Find Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life?

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Article by Leonard David                            November 26, 2019                        (space.com)

• So far, astronomers have found more than 4,000 exoplanets and more are being discovered, suggesting that every star in the Milky Way galaxy hosts more than one planet. Space.com asked top SETI experts whether they will detect life elsewhere in the galaxy or even intelligent extraterrestrials?

• In searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, senior SETI astronomer Seth Shostak relies on detecting narrow-band radio signals or brief flashes of laser light from nearby star systems. If there are 10,000 extraterrestrial societies broadcasting radio signals in the galaxy, then he estimates that SETI will need to examine 10 million star systems to find one. That will take at least two more decades.

• But with the new receivers for the Allen Telescope Array in northern California that is scheduled for 2020, SETI will be able to search for laser technosignatures, which may improve their chances. Says Shostak, “[O]ne can always hope to be taken by surprise.”

• Michael Michaud, author of the book: Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials, says that improvements to search technologies could boost the odds of success. But there are still vast areas of the galaxy that we are not looking at. In searching for chemical technosignatures, we’ll most likely find simple life forms before finding a technological civilization.

• If SETI did find evidence of life in the galaxy, Michaud thinks the news will leak quickly. How should they announce the discovery? “[G]overnmental authorities won’t have much time for developing a public-affairs strategy,” says Michaud. Premade plans for such an announcement are unlikely because agency personnel won’t be able to get past the “giggle factor”, thinking that it is all just too absurd.

• Pete Worden, executive director of the Breakthrough Initiatives, which is affiliated with SETI, said, “I think this is going to be a long-term project. I estimate a very small probability of success (of finding extraterrestrial life) in any given year.” Nevertheless, “The Breakthrough Initiatives is committed to full and immediate disclosure of any and all results,” said Worden.

• Steven Dick, an astrobiology scholar and author of the book: Astrobiology, Discovery, and Societal Impact, says despite the work by Breakthrough Listen and NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), there’s no reason to think 2020 would be the year for discovery. “[A]ll these things combine to increase the chances over the next decade of finding extraterrestrial intelligence. I would caution, though, that any discovery will be an extended process, consisting of detection and interpretation before any understanding is achieved,” said Dick. “I see the search advancing incrementally next year, but with an accelerating possibility that life will be discovered in the near future.” “One thing that is certain is that we are getting a better handle on the issues of societal impact, should such a discovery be made.”

• Douglas Vakoch, president of the SETI-affiliated nonprofit Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI), notes that “We are right now on the verge of finding out whether there is life elsewhere in the universe.” We scan with available technologies: Earth-based observatories, space-based telescopes, and even craft that travel to other planets and moons in our solar system. “It all depends on how plentiful intelligent extraterrestrials are. If one in 10,000 star systems is home to an advanced civilization trying to make contact, then …the news we’re not alone in the universe could well come in 2020,” Vakoch says.

• “As the next generation of space telescopes is launched, we will increase our chances of detecting signs of life through changes to the atmospheres of planets that orbit other stars, giving us millions of targets in our search for even simple life in the cosmos,” says Vakoch. But we probably won’t have “definitive proof” until after 2020 when NASA launches the James Webb Space Telescope, or 2028 when the European Space Agency starts its Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, or ARIEL, to study the atmospheres of exoplanets for potential signs of life.

• “[D]on’t hold your breath for discovery by 2020,” says Vakoch. Humans cannot control whether or not there is life elsewhere in the universe. “Either it’s there or it’s not.” “To be human is to live with uncertainty.” “If we demand guarantees before we begin searching, then we are guaranteed to find nothing. But if we are willing to commit to the search in the coming year and long afterwards, even without knowing we will succeed, then we are sure to discover that there is at least one civilization in the universe that has the passion and the determination to understand its place in the cosmos — and that civilization is us.”

• [Editor’s Note]   Seth Shostak and his band of idiots at SETI make their living by covering up the widespread existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life all around us, on behalf of their puppet masters, the Deep State elite. Are they liars or are they being fooled themselves? If they are half the scientists they claim to be, they must know the truth. Therefore, they are the very face of the Deep State lying to the public. They are reprehensible. They talk in scientific terms about the new technologies that they employ in their phony search to find a needle in a haystack. But they insist that it will take years, and probably lifetimes before they find a microbe on a distant exoplanet. Then they add platitudes of what a grand discovery it will be if they ever find life in the universe besides humanity. But make no mistake. Their job is to never find life beyond the Earth, and they have gotten very good at it.

 

In the past three decades, scientists have found more than 4,000 exoplanets. And the discoveries will keep rolling in; observations suggest that every star in the Milky Way galaxy hosts more than one planet on average.

                  Seth Shostak

Given a convergence of ground- and space-based capability, artificial intelligence/machine learning research and other tools, are we on the verge of identifying what is universally possible for life — or perhaps even confirming the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence?

Is 2020 the celestial payoff year, in which objects of interest are found to offer “technosignatures,” indicators of technology developed by advanced civilizations?

Space.com asked top SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) experts about what next year may signal regarding detecting other starfolk.

Michael Michaud

Gaining speed
“Well, despite being the widely celebrated 100-year anniversary of the election of Warren G. Harding, 2020 will not likely gain fame as the year we first discover extraterrestrial life,” said Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

The search for intelligent beings elsewhere, Shostak said, is largely conducted by checking out nearby star systems for either narrow-band radio signals or brief flashes of laser light. And those might succeed at any time, he told Space.com.

“But one should remember that this type of search is gaining speed in an exponential fashion, and that particular technical fact allows a crude estimate of when SETI might pay off. If we take — for lack of a better estimate — Frank Drake’s opinion that there might be 10,000 broadcasting societies in the Milky Way, then we clearly have to examine at least one [million] – 10 million stellar systems to have a reasonable chance of tripping across one. That goal will be reached in the next two decades, but certainly not in 2020,” Shostak said.

             Pete Worden

Improved searches

But there are still reasons for intelligent-alien hunters to be excited and optimistic about the coming year. Multiple existing projects will either be expanded or improved in 2020, Shostak said. For example, the SETI Institute will get new receivers for the Allen Telescope Array in northern California, and both the SETI Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, will conduct new searches for possible laser technosignatures.

“And, of course, there’s always the unexpected,” Shostak said. “In 1996, the biggest science story of the year was the claim that fossilized Martian microbes had been found in a meteorite. No one really saw that coming. So one can always hope to be taken by surprise.”

Previous predictions

“I am skeptical about picking a specific year for the first discovery. Previous predictions of success have been wrong,” said Michael Michaud, author of the thought-provoking book “Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials” (Copernicus, 2007).

“I and others have observed that the continued improvement of our search technologies and strategies could boost the odds for success,” Michaud said, noting that the primary focus of SETI remains on radio signals. “However, we still don’t cover all frequencies, all skies, all of the time. Other types of searches have failed, too, such as looking for laser signals or Dyson spheres [ET mega-engineering projects]. Those campaigns usually have limited funding and often don’t last long.”

                   Steven Dick

A new possibility has arisen because of exoplanet discoveries, Michaud said: “In some cases, astronomers now can look for chemical evidence of life in planetary atmospheres. It is conceivable that we will find simple forms of life before we find signals from a technological civilization.”

     Douglas Vakoch

Prevailing opinion

If astronomers do someday confirm a SETI detection, how should they announce the discovery? It is an old question that has been answered in several ways.

“The prevailing opinion among radio astronomers has been that the news will leak quickly. If that is correct, scientific and governmental authorities won’t have much time for developing a public-affairs strategy,” Michaud said.

“It remains possible that the sophisticated monitoring capabilities of intelligence agencies might be the first to detect hard evidence,” Michaud said. “One might think that the government would have a plan to deal with such an event.”

But, Michaud said that his own experience suggests that such plans are unlikely to be drawn up due to a “giggle factor” and would be forgotten as officials rotated out of their positions. He previously represented the U.S. Department of State in interagency discussions of national space policy.

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International UFO Congress Holds 28th Annual Conference in Downtown Phoenix

Listen to “E99 9-17-19 International UFO Congress Holds 28th Annual Conference in Downtown Phoenix” on Spreaker.

Article by Chelsea Hofmann                 September 8, 2019                (azcentral.com)

• In the first week of September, the International UFO Congress held its 28th annual conference and film festival at the Sheraton Hotel in Phoenix. The Guinness World Records lists it as the largest UFO conference. It contained five days of lectures including two dinner banquets, lunch workshops and a film festival that began the day before the conference.

• The Saturday panel addressed the question: “Mainstream Attitudes Toward UFO’s: Are UFOs now being taken seriously?” Panelist George Knapp said that attitudes have shifted dramatically in the media following the New York Times story in December 2017, making UFOs a more respectable topic to cover. Richard Dolan agreed, saying, “For the New York Times to cover UFOs in a way that’s not snarky, not insulting to our intelligence, which it always has been, that’s a sea change, and I don’t think they’re going to be able to go back to the old days.”

• But still, Dolan warned that these mainstream publications may have an agenda. “My take is that there are a faction of people who are motivated to promote their version of disclosure,” said Dolan during the panel discussion. Panelist Marc D’Antonio echoed Dolan’s concern, “I think that the truth really lies somewhere in the middle. I don’t think that the truth is being entirely told by any one news outlet.”

• Dolan also said that social media has skewed the topics discussed within the UFO community. “I think social media has somewhat ruined our ability to have a civil discourse, not just in ufology but in society in general, and in that kind of environment it’s very difficult to have a reasoned, careful, cautious examination of issues.” Knapp chimed in, “[E]verybody becomes an authority.” “Just because you’ve got a keyboard doesn’t mean you’re a journalist. Just because you file a FOIA request doesn’t mean you’re a journalist.”

• D’Antonio insisted that UFO research is not an actual science. “I think that we’re going to… solve (the UFO issue) with astronomers astrophysicists (and) with the assistance of NASA and the European Space Agency…” to determine “whether there’s life elsewhere.”

• [Editor’s Note]  This conference is a good example of the rift occurring between separate factions of the broader UFO community. This Phoenix conference is made up of the more ‘conservative’ UFO researchers who still rely on the government, academic institutions, NASA, and the ESA to bring out the truth about UFOs and the extraterrestrial presence. Others, as represented at last month’s Dimensions of Disclosure conference in Ventura, California, don’t hold any faith in the government or NASA to assist in the disclosure of the truth. In fact, these progressive UFO researchers see the government and NASA as sources of disinformation, stagnating the progress of UFO/ET disclosure as they have done for the past 75 years. The revelations published in the NY Times and Politico, while intriguing, still portray only a limited disclosure which the government is willing to reveal. At this rate, it will take a hundred years for full disclosure to eventually reach the public. And this is the Deep State’s agenda.

The Sheraton Phoenix conference room filled with skeptics and believers alike Saturday, and all attendees were there to discuss the same topic: UFOs.

                       Richard Dolan

The International UFO Congress held its 28th annual conference and film festival Wednesday through Sunday in downtown Phoenix, which was named the largest UFO conference by Guinness World Records, according to the International UFO Congress website.

          Marc D’Antonio

The conference hosts five days of lectures including two dinner banquets, lunch workshops and a film festival that began the day before the conference.

Attendees can participate in “Experience Sessions” hosted by a certified therapist, which provide a welcoming, safe environment for those who wish to share stories, as well as visit tables promoting healing energy, sacred geometry and psychic ability in the vendor room.

UFOs have become more respectable in news media

          George Knapp

Experts in the field hosted the Saturday panel “Mainstream Attitudes Toward UFO’s: Are UFOs now being taken seriously?”

Panelist George Knapp said during the panel that attitudes have shifted dramatically in the media following the New York Times story, making UFOs a more respectable topic to cover and allowing other news organizations to go down the same path.

“Everyone seems to want in on it now,” Knapp, the chief investigative reporter for KLAS TV in Las Vegas, said in the panel discussion.

 

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ESA Antenna Could Intercept Alien Messages From Black Holes, Scientists Say

by Niño Cabatingan                      May 10. 2019                        (ibtimes.com)

• When launched, the next-generation ‘Laser Interferometer Space Antenna’ (LISA – pictured above) developed by the European Space Agency will be the first-ever space-based gravitational wave detector. It will consist of space probes arranged in a triangular formation with distance of about 2.5 million kilometers from each other.

• Professor Marek Abramowicz, the lead researcher from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, believes that LISA may also be able to detect extraterrestrial communication. If the space antenna array were placed around a black hole, it could possibly decipher encrypted messages from an advanced alien civilization. Abramowicz said that that there is a chance of finding such an alien civilization if we know where to look. Technologically advanced civilizations may use the black hole’s innermost stable orbit to send messages to the rest of the galaxy.

• Abramowicz and his colleagues suggest that in the Milky Way, the central black hole called Sagittarius A* would be the ideal spot for a technologically advanced alien civilization to broadcast communications for the rest of the galaxy. “In order to be recognized as (a message), a gravitational wave Messenger beacon must emit a clearly unnatural signal, such as a persistent emission of gravitational waves at a constant frequency,” added Abramowicz.

• “We argue that if a sophisticated extraterrestrial civilization would decide to construct a device to study the massive black hole in the galactic center, or to extract energy from it, or even for intentions unfathomable to the human mind, this device can also serve as a Messenger,” Abramowicz explained.

• The ESA’s LISA is scheduled to launch into space to study gravitational waves by the year 2034.

 

A sophisticated space-based antenna developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) is designed to measure gravitational waves, but it could possibly also decipher encrypted messages from an advanced alien civilization, a new paper suggests.

A team of physicists suggested that the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) would be able to detect messages from an advanced alien civilization if it is placed around a black hole where the hypothetical extraterrestrials could look to.

LISA is the next-generation space instrument that is designed by ESA to detect and measure gravitational waves from space. If successfully launched, it will be the first-ever space-based gravitational wave detector. It will consist of space probes arranged in a triangular formation with distance of about 2.5 million kilometers from each other.

Professor Marek Abramowicz, the lead researcher from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, believes that LISA is the answer to uncovering alien life in the Milky Way galaxy.

“Gravitational waves phenomena are omnipresent in the universe and with sufficient technological prowess relatively straightforward to detect,” the researchers said, adding they believe LISA plays a role in detecting extraterrestrial communication.

With the number of habitable planets in our galaxy and the estimation of the existence of advanced alien life using the Drake Equation, Abramowicz said that that there is a chance of finding one if we know where to look.

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ESA Shares Incredible Images of Martian Ice Crater

December 21, 2018                      (www.rt.com)

• The European Space Agency (ESA) has released a composite image showing a 82-kilometer-wide (50-mile wide), 2-kilometer-deep crater on Mars that is filled with water ice all year long.

• The ESA posted this online message along with the images (seen above and below) on December 20th: “A beautiful #winter wonderland… on #Mars! This ice-filled crater was imaged by our Mars Express spacecraft. Korolev crater is 82 kilometres across and found in the northern lowlands of Mars.” The northern lowlands of Mars is near the planet’s north pole which is known as Olympia Undae.

• The composite image was taken from five different “strips,” photographed by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera as it orbited Mars. This year marks the 15-year anniversary of the probe’s orbit insertion at the Red Planet.

• The 2,200 cubic kilometers of water ice could be important for the survival of future colonists, and may even enable them to return back home, as water could be split into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.

 

The European Space Agency has shared an incredible composite image showing a 50-mile wide crater on Mars that is filled with water ice all year long.

Budding future colonists hoping for a white Christmas on Mars will be somewhat disappointed as the ESA has confirmed that sitting in the Korolev crater is, in fact, a thick block of water ice, not snow. The enormous, 82-kilometer-wide, 2-kilometer-deep “ice trap” could still be good for ice skating though.

A beautiful #winter wonderland… on #Mars! This ice-filled crater was imaged by our Mars Express spacecraft. Korolev crater is 82 kilometres across and found in the northern lowlands of Mars.  — ESA (@esa) December 20, 2018

Even better, the 2,200 cubic kilometers of water ice – same as the volume of Canada’s Great Bear Lake – could be important for the survival of future colonists, and may even enable them to return back home, as water could be split into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.

For those of you asking – yes it is water ice.

The crater is found in the northern lowlands of Mars near the planet’s north pole which is known as Olympia Undae for its wavy, dune-filled terrain. The crater’s ice is protected by the topography and by a lair of cold air that shields it from the elements.

The composite image was taken by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and was actually formed from five different “strips,” with each strip gathered over a different orbit as the Mars Express probe flew overhead. The 2003-launched mission this month marks the 15-year anniversary of the probe’s orbit insertion at the Red Planet.

The icy crater is named after chief rocket engineer and spacecraft designer Sergey Korolev, known as the father of Soviet space technology and the head of iconic space exploration missions including the Sputnik, Vostok, and Voskhod programs. A lesser known fact is that Korolev dreamt about a flight to Mars for decades and was actually working on a rocket that would have brought a man to the Red Planet – and who knows where this unfinished project might have ended if it wasn’t for the Soviet visionary’s untimely death in 1966.

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Scientists Weigh in On Cigar-Shaped UFO, Believed to Carry Alien Life

by Rhian Deutrom                  September 26, 2018                  (news.com.au)

• A group of astronomers from NASA, the European Space Agency and the German Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, have released a report, appearing in The Astrophysical Journal this week, on the origins of the cigar-shaped asteroid known as Oumuamua.

• First observed in October 2017, Oumuamua is a metallic or rocky object, approximately 400 metres in length and about 40 metres wide with a dark red surface. “(The red surface suggests) either an organic-rich surface like that of comets and outer solar system asteroids, or a surface containing minerals with nanoscale iron, such as the dark side of Saturn’s moon Iapetus,” the report said.     [organic-rich surface = alien life]

• The report suggested Oumuamua left its deep space home millions of years ago and was likely sent on its lonely journey when it was “ejected during planet formation and migration” and has been linked to four possible star systems.

• It was also calculated that Oumuamua moved faster than the existing laws of celestial mechanics.

• Scientists have struggled to explain what exactly the long, thin asteroid was and why it was flying so close to Earth, prompting suggestions that the rock was actually an alien spaceship or probe, used to explore our solar system.

 

Scientists have uncovered the truth about a mysterious space rock called Oumuamua which has been hurtling through Earth’s solar system and was spotted last year.

A group of acclaimed astronomers, including members from NASA, the European Space Agency and the German Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, released a report this week on the origins of the cigar-shaped asteroid which was first observed in October 2017.

The name Oumuamua is Hawaiian for “messenger from afar arriving first” and was named by the site who first spotted it.

According to the report, “a fast moving object on an unbound orbit was discovered close to the Earth” by a high-powered telescope, located in Hawaii.

The report claims Oumuamua is a metallic or rocky object, approximately 400 metres in length and about 40 metres wide.

It has a “comet-like density” and a dark red surface.

“(The red surface suggests) either an organic-rich surface like that of comets and outer solar system asteroids, or a surface containing minerals with nanoscale iron, such as the dark side of Saturn’s moon Iapetus,” the report said.

The report suggested Oumuamua left its home millions of years ago and was likely sent on its lonely journey when it was “ejected during planet formation and migration” and has been linked to four possible star systems.

It was also calculated that Oumuamua moved faster than the existing laws of celestial mechanics.

The report has been accepted into The Astrophysical Journal.

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“Enigma” –Unexpected Gain in Speed: Oumuamua, First Interstellar Object Discovered in the Solar System

September 12, 2018             (dailygalaxy.com)

 

• ‘Oumuamua’, the first interstellar object discovered in the Solar System, is moving away from the Sun faster than expected. Oumuamua is still slowing down because of the pull of the Sun — just not as fast as predicted by celestial mechanics. Oumuamua has been the subject of intense scrutiny since its discovery in October 2017. Mainstream scientists now believe that Oumuamua is most likely an interstellar comet and not an asteroid. “The true nature of this enigmatic interstellar nomad may remain a mystery,” concluded Olivier Hainaut, an astronomer at the European Space Agency.

• An international team of astronomers, led by the ESO’s Marco Micheli, explains the faster-than-predicted speed of Oumuamua as due to the venting of material from its surface due to solar heating, or “outgassing”. The thrust from this ejected material is thought to provide the small but steady push that is sending `Oumuamua hurtling out of the Solar System faster than expected. Such outgassing is a behaviour typical for comets.

• The research team could not detect any visual evidence of outgassing, however. “We did not see any dust, coma, or tail, which is unusual,” explained co-author Karen Meech of the University of Hawaii. “We think that ‘Oumuamua may vent unusually large, coarse dust grains.”

• Not only is Oumuamua’s hypothesized outgassing an unsolved mystery, but also its interstellar origin. The team originally performed the new observations on Oumuamua to exactly determine its path which would have probably allowed it to trace the object back to its parent star system. The new results means it will be more challenging to obtain this information.

• The theory that `Oumuamua could be an interstellar spaceship was rejected because the object is tumbling on all three axis, inconsistent for an artificial object.

• [Editor’s Note]  Mainstream scientists are reaching for any reason they can find to explain Oumuamua’s anomalous behavior, or its very existence. If it is a derelict space craft, as insiders have said, then that would explain its out of control tumbling and the reason why it’s characteristics are consistent with neither an asteroid or a comet.

`Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered in the Solar System, is moving away from the Sun faster than expected. This anomalous behavior was detected by a worldwide astronomical collaboration including ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. New results this June suggest that `Oumuamua is most likely an interstellar comet and not an asteroid.

“The true nature of this enigmatic interstellar nomad may remain a mystery,” concluded team member Olivier Hainaut, an astronomer at ESO. “`Oumuamua’s recently-detected gain in speed makes it more difficult to be able to trace the path it took from its extrasolar home star.”

Oumuamua was first discovered using the Pan-STARRS telescope at the Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii. Its name means “scout” in Hawaiian, and reflects its nature as the first known object of interstellar origin to have entered the Solar System.

`Oumuamua — the first interstellar object discovered within our Solar System — has been the subject of intense scrutiny since its discovery in October 2017. Now, by combining data from the ESO’s Very Large Telescope and other observatories, an international team of astronomers has found that the object is moving faster than predicted. The measured gain in speed is tiny and `Oumuamua is still slowing down because of the pull of the Sun — just not as fast as predicted by celestial mechanics.

The team, led by Marco Micheli (European Space Agency) explored several scenarios to explain the faster-than-predicted speed of this peculiar interstellar visitor. The most likely explanation is that `Oumuamua is venting material from its surface due to solar heating — a behaviour known as outgassing. The thrust from this ejected material is thought to provide the small but steady push that is sending `Oumuamua hurtling out of the Solar System faster than expected — as of 1 June 2018 it is traveling at roughly 114 000 kilometres per hour.

Such outgassing is a behaviour typical for comets and contradicts the previous classification of `Oumuamua as an interstellar asteroid. “We think this is a tiny, weird comet,” commented Marco Micheli. “We can see in the data that its boost is getting smaller the farther away it travels from the Sun, which is typical for comets.”

The team tested several hypothesis to explain the unexpected change in speed. They analyzed if solar radiation pressure, the Yarkovsky effect, or friction-like effects could explain the observations. It was also checked if the gain in speed could have been caused by an impulse event (such as a collision), by `Oumuamua being a binary object or by `Oumuamua being a magnetised object. The unlikely theory that `Oumuamua is an interstellar spaceship was also rejected: the facts that the smooth and continuous change in speed is not typical for thrusters and that the object is tumbling on all three axis speak against it being an artificial object.

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Space Agency Captures Bizarre Flashes of Light on Dark Side of the Moon

by Sebastian Kettley                     July 30, 2018                         (express.co.uk)

• “On July 17, 2018, an ancient lump from space thwacked into the Moon with enough energy to produce a brilliant flash of light.” “With another rock seemingly in pursuit, a second flash lit up a different region of the Moon almost exactly 24 hours later.” This statement was released by the European Space Agency.

• Three astronomical observatories in Spain scan the Moon on a daily basis for the transient flashes on behalf of the MIDAS project. The observatories use powerful telescopes and CCD cameras to detect and identify the various impacts that rock the glowing orb.

• Despite the force of impact, these “lumps” that hit the Moon were no larger than the average walnut. They most likely originated from the dusty comet trail left behind in the wake of the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower which starts as early as July 15 and continues until mid-August.

 

The bizarre phenomena were observed from Earth by the Moon Impacts Detection and Analysis System (MIDAS) on the nights of July 17 and July 18.

MIDAS observatories in Spain scan the surface of the Moon on a daily basis, in search of asteroid and meteor impacts.

A European Space Agency (ESA) statement revealed the flashes were registered almost exactly 24 hours apart, “seemingly in pursuit” of one another.

Detailed photographs of the Moon’s bumpy surface, captured by high-sensitivity CCD cameras, show the exact moment of impact.

But could this footage be the evidence UFO hunters need to finally settle the debate on whether alien visitors to Earth exist or not?

It is extremely unlikely the lunar photos have anything to do with aliens but both MIDAS and the ESA agree the flashes were very much extraterrestrial in origin.

The ESA said: “On July 17, 2018, an ancient lump from space thwacked into the Moon with enough energy to produce a brilliant flash of light.

“With another rock seemingly in pursuit, a second flash lit up a different region of the Moon almost exactly 24 hours later.”

Despite the force of impact, current estimates suggest the foreign impactors were no larger than the average walnut.

Space rocks of this size dubbed meteoroids are typically remnants of bigger asteroids and comets drifting aimlessly through space.

The flashing meteoroids in question most likely originated from the dusty comet trail left behind in the wake of the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower.

The Alpha Capricornids shower usually starts as early as July 15 and continues until mid-August.

 

4:37 video of light on Moon, with ragtime jazz courtesy of Fox News

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Rosetta comet radio signals and UFO claims spark controversy

Comet 67 P UFO
Image Source: UFO Sightings Daily

The Huffington Post today attempted to debunk claims that Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is transmitting radio signals and may in fact be an ancient spaceship. Post writer Michael Rundle picked up on an earlier September 29 story released on the popular UFO Sightings Daily blogsite titled: “NASA Records Radio Signals Coming From Comet 67P For Over 20 Years!” The UFO Sightings Daily story repeated claims made a week earlier in a Youtube video that is going viral allegedly showing UFOs and a radio transmission tower on Comet 67P. Rundle concludes that the claims are a sensationalist take on flimsy evidence. Is he correct?

First, let’s start with last week’s announcement that the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission had set November 12 as the date that its lander, Philae, would land on the 2.5 x 2.2 mile Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The scheduled landing will be the first time that a spacecraft will have successfully landed on a comet. In 2005, Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft failed in its landing attempt on another asteroid. For astrobiologists, the landing will be an opportunity to look for and examine any organic materials on Comet 67P to assess their potential as building blocks for life. If Comet 67P is found to contain amino acids, for example, that would make it possible that comets are an effective means to disseminate organic material essential for the creation of life. This would make the comet landing a continuation of a long series of NASA and ESA missions to find where the conditions for life may be found on our solar system.

A recent photograph of the comet taken by the Rosetta spacecraft suggest another reason for the mission. According to BPEarthWatch’s Youtube video one of these photos reveals a number of UFOs flying over the surface of Comet 67P and what looks like a radio transmission tower. BP Watch also displayed an anonymous email from an alleged ESA insider who claims that the Rosetta mission was indeed established to investigate radio signals detected 20 years ago suggestive of an extraterrestrial intelligence in association with the comet. Scott Waring from UFO Sightings agreed and posted his endorsement of BPEarthWatch’s claims on September 28.

The images are too blurry to conclude anything according to Rundle, who in addition points out that the claims fail to address a number of questions:

If the comet is emitting radio waves, why has no one else been able to tune it? If there are UFOs inside, why haven’t they been caught in any detail in any of the hundreds of high-resolution photographs taken by the comet? If the radio waves were picked up by NASA, why did they leave the space mission to investigate to the European Space Agency?

While one can agree with Rundle’s assessment that the blurred objects in the photograph are inconclusive, that is not the same as saying they are NOT artificial objects. Furthermore, his questions fail to acknowledge NASA’s long history of deceiving the public over evidence of extraterrestrial life. For example, on August 19, Russian scientists announced that they had discovered microbes flourishing on the windows of the International Space Station. If true, this would show that microbial life could exist in the vacuum of space. This would revolutionize the scientific understanding of how life can be disseminated through space via comets, thereby lending critical support to the theory of Panspermia. What was NASA’s response to this significant public revelation by Russian scientists? Silence!

There are other examples of NASA deliberately muzzling evidence pointing to the existence of extraterrestrial life. Veteran scientists such as Richard Hoover, who worked for NASA for 46 years, have publicly disagreed with NASA’s muzzling which goes high up the chain of command.

In response to Rundle’s questions, it may be that NASA, with the cooperation of the European Space Agency, is again muzzling evidence of extraterrestrial life. A dissident scientist from the European Space Agency may well have leaked the truth about Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko through an anonymous email. Based on the photos released so far by the Rosetta Mission showing a tower-like structure, Comet 67P may be transmitting radio signals that were picked up as long as 20 years ago by NASA, and has UFOs flying on its surface. On the other hand, Rundle might be right, and the most we can look forward to after November 12 is that some amino acids are found on the surface of Comet 67P lending support to the theory of Panspermia.

© Copyright 2014. Michael E. Salla, Ph.D. Exopolitics.org

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