Tag: The Moon

When Will the First Child be Born in Space?

May 31, 2021                                                          (explica.co)

• In the 2017 film “A Space Between Us”, actor Asa Butterfield plays the first human being born outside of Earth – on Mars actually – after his astronaut mother dies in childbirth on the first manned mission to the red planet. In real life, the last manned trip to the Moon was back in the 1970s. Today, humans are once again poised to return to our lunar satellite, and beyond. NASA’s Artemis missions propose the construction of settlements on the Moon. But there are currently rules to prevent space pregnancies from happening. So when might we see the first off-world birth of a human baby?

• Chris Impey, a professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, says for those first extraterrestrial babies to be born, it is first important to know how the effects of cosmic radiation and low gravity might affect male and female reproductivity, gestation, childbirth and the ultimate health of the mother and the newborn. Professor Impey considers off-planet human births to be plausible, but he thinks it will take about 20 years before it can be done safely. So far, reproductive experiments have been carried out only with animals.

• In 1979, a group of Russian scientists launched a group of male and female rats into space and allowed them to copulate freely for 18 days. While no rat baby was born, it was found that the females had indeed ovulated and that two of them had become pregnant, but were aborted.

• In 2017, instead of launching animals into space to procreate, female mice were inseminated with mouse sperm that had been on the International Space Station for 288 days. While the genetic material was slightly damaged, pregnancy was achieved at a rate similar to that obtained with sperm samples that remained that same length of time on Earth. A year later, NASA launched a sample of human semen into space to analyze how the space environment might affect the sperm. No female has been inseminated with the sample sperm, but even if it were so, they would be born on Earth – not in space.

• So far, no human couple has had sex in space (that is known) and no pregnant woman has embarked on a space trip. But in 1991, two NASA astronauts (Mark Lee and Jan Davis) were married but kept it a secret because of an unwritten rule prohibiting married astronauts from traveling in space together. It was feared that engaging in sexual intercourse could endanger their health. When their secret came to light, the unwritten rule ended up being written. It is assumed that no one has had sexual intercourse in the International Space Station – or anywhere else outside of Earth.

• However, by 2027 a Dutch startup called SpaceLife Origin plans to open a luxury hotel orbiting the Earth in space. It will accommodate 280 clients and 112 crew members, and perhaps it could become the idyllic destination for a couple in love. This same company wants to send a pregnant woman 400 kilometers from Earth as a reproductive experiment. At this distance, it is still not too far for conditions to be very inhospitable, but it is far enough to give birth to the first extraterrestrial human. Of course, there are both ethical and medical impediments to overcome, and SpaceLife Origin has not made firm plans for the endeavor.

 

Almost 50 years have passed since the last manned trip to the moon. Since then, many people

          space mouse

have wondered why humans did not set foot on our satellite again. The reality is that during all this time they have been numerous space travel, aimed at getting to know the terrain better and making future missions safer for their protagonists. Now, with much already gained in that regard, the return of humans to the moon or even the first manned trip to mars, begin to materialize as a reality. Therefore, it is not surprising that we also begin to ask ourselves new questions. Like, for example, when will the first alien babies?

It sounds like science fiction, but since Neil Armstrong’s first step on selenite terrain we have seen more than enough the arguments of the Jules Verne novels they also come true.

      astronauts Mark Lee and Jan Davis

Some projects, such as Artemis missions, from NASA, already propose the construction of settlements on the Moon for the future. It would be a matter of time before, if humans want to thrive there, the first babies are born. What is not clear is when that will happen. Although, with the data in hand, some speculations can be made, such as those recently narrated in The Conversation by the professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona Chris Impey.

For those first extraterrestrial babies to be born, it is first important to know how it would affect the extreme environment of space, both to male and female reproductivity, as well as to gestation, childbirth and the health of the mother and the newborn.
The effects of cosmic radiation and low gravity. In fact, it has already been proven with some studies, although they are still very scarce. So far, no human couple has had sex in space (that is known) and no pregnant woman has embarked on a space trip.

Therefore, these types of experiments have been carried out only with animals. One of the first took place in 1979, when a group of Russian scientists launched a group of male and female rats, to copulate freely for 18 days. Of those relationships no baby was born, although it was found that the females had ovulated and that even two of them had become pregnant, but aborted.

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Massive Remnants of an Alien World are Hidden Near the Earth’s Core, Says Study

Article by Becky Ferreira                                             March 25, 2021                                         (vice.com)

• Mikhail Zolotov, a planetary geochemist at Arizona State University, is an advocate of the so-called “giant impact hypothesis” that proposes that the Moon was formed when a planet called ‘Theia’ collide with the Earth some 4.5 billion years ago when the Earth was still forming. The impact spewed enormous volumes of planetary debris into space that eventually accumulated into the natural satellite we know as the Moon.

• A 2019 study led by ASU astrophysicist Steve Desch involved an in-depth analysis of Moon rocks returned to Earth from the Apollo missions. The research suggested that if the composition of the Moon was the same as that of the rogue planet Theia, then Theia was about four times larger than Mars, with low levels of moisture and an iron-rich mantle that was about two to three percent denser than Earth’s mantle.

• Qian Yuan and some of his colleagues studying geological sciences at Arizona State University were focusing on a pair of highly peculiar subterranean zones known as ‘large low-shear-velocity provinces’ – or ‘LLSVPs’. Located more than 1,000 miles under under the Pacific Ocean and under West Africa, these continent-sized LLSVPs – hundreds of miles high and thousands of miles across – showed up as ‘blobs’ on seismic density readouts. The seismic data indicated that these LLSVP blobs’ mass composition are two to three percent more dense than the surrounding mantle.

• It struck Yuan that having similar densities, the Moon and the subterranean blobs could both have come from the same ancient collision involving the planet Theia. Yuan did some quick calculations and confirmed that the total mass of the Moon, together with the LLSVP blobs, almost perfectly matches with a planet the size of Mars. Yuan and his team then created geodynamical models of their hypothesis which they presented it to the 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021, held virtually in mid-March. Steve Desch was so excited about the hypothesis that he co-authored the new research study.

• Actually, Theia would need to have been bigger than Mars because a lot of this mantle material would be lost to space in the aftermath of the crash. “You will lose some material during the impact, for sure,” Yuan said. “You cannot transfer Theia’s mantle whole.”

• Right now, this all remains hypothetical, but Yuan is optimistic that there are ways to build on the existing evidence and perhaps prove that the LLSVPs have an extraterrestrial origin. For instance, scientists could get their hands on pristine samples of the Moon’s mantle from an exposed crater in the lunar South Pole, to compare its composition to the makeup of the LLSVPs. “If people can find some chemical relationship between the lunar mantle materials with the LLSVPs, it may suggest they have the same ancestor: Theia,” Yuan said. “The LLSVPs are thought to… have noble gas isotopes,” he continued. “If the mantle rocks of the Moon also have similar noble gas isotopes, I think that’s the final task for our hypothesis.”

 

                           Qian Yuan

Two gigantic chunks of material lurking deep under the surface of Earth might be remnants of an alien world called Theia that violently collided with our infant planet in an ancient impact that created the Moon.

That sentence may sound like the synopsis for a sci-fi epic, but it’s actually a new hypothesis proposed by scientists in a presentation at the 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021, which was held virtually last week.

A team led by Qian Yuan, a PhD student studying geological sciences at Arizona State University, suggests that two mysteriously dense zones located more than 1,000 miles under Earth’s surface are “left-over Theia mantle materials,” according to the presentation summary.

            Steve Desch
           Mikhail Zolotov

Yuan and his colleagues back up this trippy idea with geodynamical models as well as evidence collected about these subterranean zones, which are known as large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs), or more informally as the “blobs.” Located under the Pacific Ocean and West Africa, these continent-sized LLSVPs are hundreds of miles high and thousands of miles across, making them the most massive formations in Earth’s interior.

“You could say that these are the biggest and largest meteorites, if they are mostly Theia’s mantle,” said Yuan in a call. “It’s very cool.”

Yuan first started thinking about the possibility that the blobs might have been extraterrestrially punched into Earth’s interior during a class about the so-called “giant impact hypothesis” taught by Mikhail Zolotov, a planetary geochemist at ASU.

This hypothesis proposes that the Moon was formed in the fallout of a catastrophic collision some 4.5 billion years ago. Earth had barely been born before another planet crashed into it, spewing enormous volumes of planetary debris into space that eventually accumulated into the radiant natural satellite that graces our skies today. Scientists have generally estimated that this bygone planet, named Theia after the mother of a Greek lunar goddess, was about the size of Mars, but some models suggest it was both smaller and bigger than that scale.

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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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China Lunar Spacecraft is Returning to Earth

Article by Arjun Kharpal                                     December 4, 2020                                        (cnbc.com)

• The Chang’e-5 probe spacecraft (pictured above) that has been on the Moon collecting rock samples, launched from the Moon en route to the Earth, marking the first time that China has launched a spacecraft from an extraterrestrial body. China will be the third country in the world to retrieve lunar samples after the US did so in the 1960s and the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

• On December 3rd, the Chang’e-5 probe was successfully launched into a pre-determined orbit around the Moon. Chang’e-5 will meet with a return spacecraft to get back to Earth and is expected to land in China’s Inner Mongolia region around mid-December.

• China has ramped up its space efforts in the last few years. Earlier this year, President Xi Jinping urged the industry to make China a “great space power as soon as possible.” In June, China launched the final satellite to complete “Beidou”, its rival to the US government-owned Global Positioning System (GPS), which is widely used across the world. And in July, China also launched a mission to Mars called Tianwen -1.

 

GUANGZHOU, China — A Chinese spacecraft carrying lunar samples has blasted off from the moon and is preparing to come back to Earth.

It’s the first time China has launched a spacecraft from an extraterrestrial body and the first time it has collected moon samples. If the moon samples make it back to Earth, China will be only the third country in the world to retrieve lunar samples after the efforts by the U.S. in the 1960s and the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

At 23:10 p.m. Beijing time on Thursday, the Chang’e-5 spacecraft took off from the moon, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The spacecraft was successfully launched into a pre-determined orbit around the moon.

The probe will meet with a return spacecraft to get back to Earth and is expected to land in China’s Inner Mongolia region around mid-December.

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What a Joe Biden Presidency May Mean in Orbit and Beyond

Article by Ian Whittaker and Gareth Dorrian                                 November 11, 2020                                       (theconversation.com)

• Donald Trump set bold goals for space exploration during his time in office – from crewed missions to the Moon and Mars to a Space Force. Joe Biden has pledged to sign Executive Orders that will undo most of the Trump administration’s work – in the same way that Trump undid most of Obama’s work. But Biden has been relatively quiet on space policy. So how is space exploration likely to change going forward?

• During the Trump administration, NASA committed to the return of astronauts to the Moon in 2024 under the Artemis program. This builds on the Constellation program which was implemented by Republican president George W Bush in 2005 but was subsequently cancelled by Democratic president Barack Obama due to its high cost and difficulty.

• In a document released by the Democratic Party entitled “Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy”, the Democrats “support NASA’s work to return Americans to the Moon and go beyond to Mars, taking the next step in exploring our solar system.” Canada, the European Space Agency and Japan are all formal partners in the construction of the Lunar Gateway – a lunar orbiting outpost designed to support multiple expeditions to the Moon’s surface. It would be difficult for a Biden administration to unilaterally withdraw from the project.

• The Trump administration also pushed for a first crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s. An independent report by the Science and Technology Policy Institute in 2019 stated that a crewed Mars mission in the 2030s is currently unfeasible. It is unlikely Biden will try to resurrect this any time soon, especially since confronting the COVID-19 pandemic will likely drain discretionary funding.

• Viewing space as a potential war zone, the Trump administration formed Space Force. With a public approval rating of only 31%, Americans aren’t too impressed with the Space Force. But there are doubtlessly many difficulties of reintegrating Space Force back into the US Air Force. It is therefore likely that Space Force will remain in a Biden administration, possibly with reduced focus.

• US human spaceflight policy rarely survives a change in a Presidential administration. NASA’s chief, Jim Bridenstine, appointed by Trump, has already announced he is stepping down, saying that he wanted to let somebody with a “close relationship with the president” take over. Still, the success of the crewed SpaceX launch to the International Space Station means the commercial crew program is likely to keep running – taking the burden off NASA.

• Biden has made it clear that tackling climate emergency is a priority. While this is likely to be focused on industrial pollution limits and renewable energy sources, it does suggest that space policy could be more focused on Earth environmental observation satellite missions such as oil spills, deforestation and carbon emissions.

• Changes notwithstanding, many scientists will breath a sigh of relief at the prospect of not having to fight the kind of anti-science position that we have seen from Trump during his time in office.

 

Donald Trump set bold goals for space exploration during his time in office – from crewed missions to the Moon and Mars to a Space Force. By contrast, his successor Joe Biden has been relatively quiet on space policy. So how is space exploration likely to change going forward?

It is clear is that there will be change. NASA’s current chief, Jim Bridenstine, has already announced he is stepping down. And we know that US human spaceflight policy rarely survives a change in presidency.

That said, the amazing success of the crewed SpaceX launch to the International Space Station (ISS), however, means the commercial crew programme is likely to keep running – taking the burden off NASA. Indeed, the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon by commercial company SpaceX is due for launch on November 15, with four astronauts bound for the ISS.

During the Trump administration, NASA also committed to the return of astronauts to the Moon in 2024 under the Artemis program. This is due for its first test launch (uncrewed) next year with Artemis-1. This builds on the Constellation program which was implemented by Republican president George W Bush in 2005 but was subsequently cancelled by Democratic president Barack Obama due to its high cost and difficulty.

The only substantial clue as to the direction of a Biden presidency with regard to astronaut flights to the Moon can be found in a document by the Democratic Party entitled “Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy”. In one paragraph, the Democrats state that they “support NASA’s work to return Americans to the Moon and go beyond to Mars, taking the next step in exploring our solar system.”

No detail is offered on possible timelines. But, with international cooperation now a major feature of the Artemis program, it would be difficult for a fledgling Biden administration to unilaterally withdraw from the project. For example, Canada, the European Space Agency and Japan are all formal partners in the construction of the Lunar Gateway – a lunar orbiting outpost designed to support multiple expeditions to the surface.

The programme is also rapidly advancing research, particularly in terms of building materials, power supplies and food production. Just this week, the European Space Agency awarded a contract to the British company Metalysis to develop techniques to simultaneously extract oxygen and metals from lunar soil.

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There’s More Water on the Moon than Previously Thought

Article by Kate Sheehy                                    October 26, 2020                                      (nypost.com)

• NASA scientists have found more water on the Moon, beyond its frigid poles, in the form of “glass beads’’ about the size of a pencil tip in the soil. Said Paul Hertz, NASA’s astrophysics director, “This discovery that water might be distributed across the lunar surface and not limited’’ to ice at the poles, as the space agency thought, raises the possibility that it could be “accessible as a human resource.”

• Enough water was detected in a cubic meter of sunlit soil to fill a 12-ounce bottle, said Casey Honniball of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Honniball believes the water may have come from a combination of hydrogen molecules in solar rings mixed with oxygen in the Moon’s powdery soil. “We think the water is trapped in these glass beads … which protects and preserves [it].’’

• The discovery was made by a Boeing 747SP jet-turned-space laboratory known as SOFIA, or ‘Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy’. SOFIA, is a data-collecting aircraft that has been examining the Moon since 2018. “[N]ow that we know we can do this, we’re planning more flights to do more observation,’’ SOFIA scientist Naseem Rangwala said.

• In 2018, NASA found water in the form of ice around the Moon’s poles. The water ice formed in permanently shadowed craters where temperatures never go above minus 250 degrees. But the newly discovered ice beads have been found in the soil within sunlit areas. Scientists still have to determine what form the newly discovered water is in, how much of it exists and whether it can be extracted.

• Water on the Moon could be used for everything from drinking, to the extraction of oxygen to breath, to the manufacturing of rocket fuel. With enough water to support a Moon base, man could eventually planet-hop around the galaxy. “It’s far easier to travel when you don’t have to carry everything with you for the entire trip,’’ said Jacob Bleacher, head of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA.

• NASA plans to send the first woman along with a man to the lunar surface in 2020 to prepare for putting humans on Mars in the 2030s. Scientists say they will use SOPHIA to search for potential water on other heavenly bodies, too, such as asteroids.

 

                        Paul Hertz

NASA scientists have found more water on the moon than previously thought — a crucial discovery that

could help greatly fuel deep-space exploration, the agency revealed Monday.

The water — which was discovered for the first time in areas outside the moon’s sunless frigid poles — is possibly trapped in “glass beads’’ about the size of a pencil tip in the soil, scientists said at a press conference.

“This discovery that water might be distributed across the lunar surface and not limited’’ to ice at the poles, as the space agency thought, raises the possibility that it could be “accessible as a human resource,’’ said Paul Hertz, NASA’s astrophysics director.

        Casey Honniball

Enough water was detected in a cubic meter of sunlit soil to fill a 12-ounce bottle, said Casey Honniball of NASA’s

            Naseem Rangwala

Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

She said the water may have come from a combination of hydrogen molecules in solar rings mixed with oxygen in the moon’s powdery soil.
“We think the water is trapped in these glass beads … which protects and preserves [it],’’ Honniball said.

The stunning discovery was made by a Boeing 747SP jet-turned-space laboratory known as SOPHIA (sic), the Sratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.

The data-collecting spacecraft typically tracks stars — but its operators decided to use it to examine the moon starting in 2018.
“It’s incredible that this discovery came out of what was essentially a test, and now that we know we can do this, we’re planning more flights to do more observation,’’ SOFIA scientist Naseem Rangwala said in a statement.

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Strange Video of UFOs Landing on the Moon

Article by Stacey Williams                                   October 14, 2020                                   (gentside.co.uk)

• A short YouTube video shows two UFO’s flying in close proximity to the Moon before seemingly landing just moments after. (see 1:10 minute video below)

• YouTube user ZeaL uploaded the video from YouTuber Jean-Michel Tenac, who uploaded it from an anonymous poster in Montréal, France. ZeaL says that he has permission from the original uploader of this video. The anonymous source says that he ‘only wants the video to be known’.

• According to the anonymous source who filmed the footage on March 26, 2020, “I regularly film the Moon by day, at time of the first and last crescent. I think hidden activity has to be visible on the Moon, it is at that moment the population does not observe it because the first and last crescent makes it more discreet.”

 

Shared on April 3, 2020 and already amassing hundreds of thousands of views, the video shows what the man filming describes as “hidden activity […] visible on the Moon”.

YouTube user ZeaL was responsible for uploading this video depicting UFO activity that has already been viewed over 350,000 times, but he has admitted that he’s not the one behind the camera filming. Apparently, this video has seen itself passed on multiple times before it landed on ZeaL’s channel.

“I see a lot of channels spreading false information about where this video was captured. Please take note that we were the first to speak with the original uploader of this video and given permission to share it by him.”

As we trace back the video to its origins, we can find the first appearance of it on YouTube featured on the channel of a user by the name of Jean-Michel Tenac. At the time of posting, he had 0 subscribers but has since seen that number jump up to nearly 2,000. However, despite being the first one to upload the video, it wasn’t actually Jean-Michel behind the camera.

Jean states that this video was filmed somewhere from Montréal, France NOT Canada. This footage was given to him by his friend who wishes to remain anonymous. We have asked him to reach out and take full credit but if he decides not to then we will respect that. At the current moment he only wants the video to be known.

 

1:10 minute video of two objects near the Moon’s surface (‘Jean-Michel Tenac’ YouTube)

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China’s Space Program Has ‘Outmatched’ Decades of US Space Research and Investment

Article by Eurasian Times Desk                                    October 4, 2020                                (eurasiantimes.com)

• Although it currently trails the United States and Russia in volume of orbiting satellites, China has been expanding its network of military intelligence satellites. Last year, it conducted 32 successful rocket launches while the US executed 21 successful launches. And China is set to launch the core module for its Tianhe space station next year. According to ‘the Center for Strategic and International Studies’, China will become a major space power by 2030.

• The US House of Representatives ‘China Task Force’ has stated that “If the PRC [People’s Republic of China] succeeds in its efforts to launch its first long-term space station module in 2022, it will have matched the U.S.’ nearly 40-year progression from first human spaceflight to first space station module in less than 20 years.” Meanwhile, the China Manned Space Agency announced last month that the first Tianhe module of China’s first crewed space station has passed a final review, and has selected the crew of eighteen astronauts for its planned 2021 launch.

• A US DoD ‘Pentagon 2020 report’ notes that “Beijing has devoted significant resources to growing all aspects of its space program, from military space applications to civil applications such as profit-generating launches, scientific endeavors, and space exploration.” Beijing’s stated defense policy is to safeguard China’s security interests in outer space, electromagnetic space, and cyberspace.

• The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is vocal about plans to establish a human base on the Moon. The US should be concerned about the technological innovations and leadership role for the CCP that could come from missions crewed by PRC-nationals to the Moon,” the Pentagon 2020 report said.

• Analysts believe that the race between the US and China to militarize space increases the risk of war between the two global powers. “China is not the Soviet Union,” Chinese air force major general Qiao Liang warned. “If the United States thinks it can also drag China into an arms race and takedown China as it did with the Soviets … in the end, probably it would not be China who is down on the ground.” “China has little choice but to enhance its own capabilities,” said Qiao. “China’s purpose to develop space capabilities, firstly, is we do not want to be blackmailed by others.”

• Qiao insists that China hopes to use space peacefully. “But if others want to oppress us by occupying the heights of space and opening up a fourth battlefield, China will certainly not accept it,” said General Qiao. China and the US have seen a military escalation in the South China Sea where Washington has deployed several warships along with the B-52 Bomber. Beijing has mirrored these actions and has threatened to take action against US provocations. But China’s space capabilities may provide a strong counter to the US Space Force, and may reduce the risk of war if tensions escalate any further.

 

          AF General Qiao Liang

In recent developments, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) that works under the wing of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) announced last month that the first module of China’s space station, the ‘Tianhe’ module, has passed the final review.

Moreover, CMSA has selected 18 new astronauts to participate in the country’s upcoming space station project,

         China’s Chang’e 4 lunar mission

said a SPACENEWS report.

Out of 2,500 candidates, 18 were selected consisting of seven pilots, seven spaceflight engineers, and four payload specialists. It includes only one woman. This is the first time that the selection process was open for civilians.

Earlier in 1998 and 2010, only air force pilots were eligible to participate in the process, said the report.

With both the US and China racing to militarise space, the analysts believe is increasing the risk of war between the two global powers. “China is not the Soviet Union,” said Qiao Liang, a major general in the Chinese air force, in an interview with SCMP.

“If the United States thinks it can also drag China into an arms race and takedown China as it did with the Soviets … in the end, probably it would not be China who is down on the ground.”

Beijing’s stated defense policy is to safeguard China’s security interests in outer space, electromagnetic space, and cyberspace. “Beijing has devoted significant resources to growing all aspects of its space program, from military space applications to civil applications such as profit-generating launches, scientific endeavors, and space exploration,” stated the Pentagon 2020 report.

China who is currently trailing Russia and the US is set to become a space power by 2030. It has been expanding its network of military intelligence satellites. Last year, it conducted 32 successful rocket launches as per the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

This puts China on top for the second year in a row, exceeding the 21 launches in the US in 2019.

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The Moon is ‘Rusting’ Say Stunned Scientists

Article by Chris Ciaccia                                  September 6, 2020                                (foxnews.com)

• A study from the University of Hawaii, published in Science Advances, says that the Moon is rusting. “It’s very puzzling,” said the study’s lead author, Shuai Li. The rust may be a result of water discovered on the Moon, but it’s still shocking, given the lack of oxygen and dearth of water on the lunar satellite.

• Li was looking at data from the JPL Moon Mineralogy Mapper when he realized the instrument detected “spectra – or light reflected off surfaces – that revealed the Moon’s poles had a very different composition than the rest of it. The polar surfaces showed spectra that matched the mineral hematite (aka ‘iron oxide’ or ‘rust’), according to the study’s abstract. (see here)

• According to the study, “Our analyses of the Moon Mineralogy Mapper data show that hematite, a ferric mineral, is present at high latitudes on the Moon… and is more prevalent on the nearside than the farside.” But the hematite is not near any of the water ice that has been discovered on the Moon, adding another layer of complexity to the findings. “It could be that little bits of water and the impact of dust particles are allowing iron in these bodies to rust,” said study co-author, NASA JPL planetary geoscientist Abigail Fraeman.

• “At first, I totally didn’t believe it. It shouldn’t exist based on the conditions present on the Moon,” said Fraeman. “But since we discovered water on the Moon, people have been speculating that there could be a greater variety of minerals than we realize if that water had reacted with rocks.”

• With no atmospheric oxygen on the Moon and the Sun’s solar wind delivering hydrogen – which should act as a “reducer” to prevent oxidation – scientists are baffled where the rust is coming from. However, they believe it could stem from Earth, given the Moon does have “trace amounts of oxygen” thanks to Earth’s magnetic field.

• According to a study published in March 2019, the Moon actually loses water when meteoroids smack its surface. NASA’s ARTEMIS mission revealed that solar winds greatly impact the lunar surface and expose it to radiation from the Sun, leaving scars on the surface, akin to a “sunburn,” due to the Moon’s weak magnetic field. (see here)

• A study published in August 2019 suggested the Moon was 100 million years older than previously believed, basing their findings on analyzing the lunar rocks taken by the Apollo astronauts. (see here)

• And a study published in January 2019 suggested that a 4.1-billion-year-old chunk of Earth may have been found and dug up on the Moon by Apollo astronauts. (see here)

• [Editor’s Note]  The Moon is rusting, and scientists don’t know why? Could it be because the Moon is an ancient artificial construct that is hollow or honeycombed, and was parked next Earth for some reason? And now its superstructure is rusting?

 

                     Shuai Li

A newly published study notes that the moon is “rusting,” leaving experts perplexed by the discovery.

          Abigail Fraeman

The research, published in Science Advances, notes that the rust may be a result of water discovered on the moon, but it’s still shocking, given the lack of oxygen and dearth of water on Earth’s celestial satellite.

“It’s very puzzling,” the study’s lead author, Shuai Li of the University of Hawaii, said in a statement. “The moon is a terrible environment for hematite to form in.”

Li was looking at data from the JPL Moon Mineralogy Mapper when the researcher realized the instrument detected “spectra – or light reflected off surfaces – that revealed the Moon’s poles had a very different composition than the rest of it,” the statement added.

The polar surfaces showed spectra that matched the mineral hematite (Fe2O3), according to the study’s abstract.

“Although oxidizing processes have been speculated to operate on the lunar surface and form ferric iron–bearing minerals, unambiguous detections of ferric minerals forming under highly reducing conditions on the Moon have remained elusive,” the researchers wrote in the study’s abstract. “Our analyses of the Moon Mineralogy Mapper data show that hematite, a ferric mineral, is present at high latitudes on the Moon, mostly associated with east- and equator-facing sides of topographic highs, and is more prevalent on the nearside than the farside.”

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Japan Vows to Work Closely on Lunar Exploration With the US

Article from Kyodo News                            August 26, 2020                              (english.kyodonews.net)

• In August 26th, US and Japanese officials met in Tokyo to further discuss Japan’s role in the NASA-led joint lunar exploration project culminating in a return to the Moon in 2024, actual exploration of the lunar surface beginning in 2028, and ultimately the international ‘Artemis’ lunar habitat project. This will be the first time that humans walk on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

• The meeting was attended by Scott Pace, executive secretary of the US National Space Council, Gen. John Raymond, chief of Space Force, and Japanese government officials from the Cabinet Office, Defense Ministry and other Japanese agencies.

• Pursuant to a lunar cooperation accord signed in July 2020, the US and NASA acknowledged opportunities for “Japanese crew activities” on the ‘Gateway’, a small spaceship that will orbit the Moon, as well as participate in activities on the lunar surface.

• US officials also acknowledged Japan’s new ‘Space Operation Squadron’, an Air Self-Defense Force space unit monitoring threats to Japanese satellites in outer space. Japanese officials acknowledged the significance of the US Space Command and Space Force.

• Tokyo and Washington also touched on “growing concern for threats to the continuous, safe and stable use of outer space,” a veiled reference to the growing space capabilities of countries such as China and Russia.

 

                       Scott Pace

Japan and the United States on Wednesday pledged to work closely on a lunar exploration project led by

           Gen. John Raymond

the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration after Tokyo joined it last month.

In a joint statement issued after a meeting in Tokyo, the two governments said they “reaffirmed their commitment to Artemis,” the multilateral project intended to return humans to the Moon by 2024 and establish sustainable lunar surface exploration with NASA’s commercial and international partners by 2028.

The two sides “also acknowledged opportunities for Japanese crew activities” on the Gateway, a small spaceship that will orbit the Moon, as well as on the lunar surface, as highlighted in a lunar cooperation accord they signed in July, the statement said.

The last humans to walk on the Moon were American astronauts from the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

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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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Astronaut’s Son Says Neil Armstrong ‘Believed in Aliens’ After Trips to Moon

Article by Anna Savva                                August 5, 2020                                  (dailystar.co.uk)

• Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the ‘first man on the Moon’, would have been 90 this August 5th. He died in 2012. His son, Mark Armstrong, 57 (pictured above), is a Silicon Valley software engineer. Mark says that while his famous father didn’t admit to believing in God – he did believe in alien life forms.

• Mark Armstrong was six-years old in the summer of 1969 when he and his family went to Cape Canaveral, Florida to watch his father’s rocket launch toward the Moon. The family then went back to their Houston, Texas home to watch the rest of the Apollo 11 mission, culminating with the Moon landing on July 20.

• Interviewed last year to mark the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, Mark Armstrong said that his dad “had a wonderful spirit with a great sense of humor.” But he was a an engineer and scientist first. “Whatever religious beliefs he had he kept very close to the vest throughout his life.” “A lot of astronauts claim to have had a spiritual experience (in space),” said Mark. “[T]hat was not true of my father.”

• Mark once heard someone ask his father if he believed in extraterrestrial life. Neil’s response was “it would be arrogant not to”. As Mark puts it, “The universe is unimaginably vast and we know so little about it that his (father’s) belief was, statistically speaking, the chances were overwhelmingly high that we are not the only life in the universe.”

• The Apollo lunar flights ended in 1972 and were an inspiration to the world. Mark is very proud of this. But the Moon has remained of great interest to NASA and scientists. A new generation of space exploration has begun with missions to Mars and another lunar landing, this time at the Moon’s South Pole by 2024. “The human spirit was uplifted by the Apollo program,” says Mark. “It inspired a generation of people to want to be work harder because they believed something good could happen in their future if they prepared themselves.”

• Mark notes that, while a global hero, his father was very humble and ‘down to Earth’. “My dad often said that he was ‘born at the right time’ to put himself in the candidate pool for Gemini and Apollo.” “[I]t’s difficult to imagine the pressures that he was under without actually being in his shoes.”

• [Editor’s Note]   I’ve always felt sorry for Neil Armstrong. With all of his accomplishments that culminated in being an Apollo astronaut, in the end he would just be used as a propaganda tool for the deep state. When he saw the alien craft hovering at the crater’s edge during his Apollo 11 Moon landing, had he been read into the truth?  i.e: the military-industrial-complex’s ongoing interaction with various alien species including Draco Reptilians and the Nazi space fleet; the Navy’s development of electromagnetic warp drive technology during the 1960s (provided by extraterrestrials), allowing it to build its own secret space program, ‘Solar Warden’; the Air Force’s separate development of advanced alien technology to create its own separate secret space program; the Illuminati-owned corporate conglomerate; and NASA’s own secret space program.

I feel that Armstrong was an unsuspecting player in the public relations campaign called the NASA Apollo program, complete with backup “Moon” footage shot by Stanley Kubrick (as a Plan B just in case the mission went south). The public NASA missions, using known rocket technology, were devised to keep the various other advanced space programs top secret. By his astonishment at seeing the alien craft on the Moon over his restricted radio transmissions to Houston, it is apparent that Armstrong wasn’t aware of the reality of the situation. Of course, there was a possibility that these astronauts wouldn’t survive. So why bother to read them into the big picture until after the mission? it is most likely that the deep state authorities didn’t debrief the Apollo astronauts until after they had returned with a whole lot of questions.

When Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were finally told about the alien presence on the Moon and everywhere else, and the development of advanced secret space programs, they were also told that they would put them and their families in dire jeopardy if they told anyone about this top secret reality. Thus, rather than proudly exemplifying the role of ‘the first man on the Moon’ as a hero to the world, Armstrong retired to live a secluded life away from the media and the public – in constant fear for his and his family’s safety because of what he knew. He seemed to have gotten more comfortable with covering up the truth in his later years.

In the ‘Good Morning Britain’ interview below (promoting the movie “Armstrong”), Mark Armstrong states that, although “the world wanted (Neil) to be ‘different'” (i.e.: a more gregarious hero figure), “he wanted to be the same, and he wanted (his) family dynamics to stay the same. That was just the kind of guy that he was.” Mark attributes his dad’s life-long agoraphobia to his private personality. It seems that Mark is trying hard to rewrite his father’s history. Or is this a push for a more public-friendly version of Neil Armstrong, with the posthumous release of movies such as “Armstrong” and “First Man”, meant to abate the widespread suspicion that his strange behavior was due to being freaked out by seeing alien UFOs on the Moon and being threatened by the deep state?

 

 

        astronaut Neil Armstrong

Legendary NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong believed in alien life, his son has revealed.

Neil and Janet Armstrong with their sons, Rick and Mark

Mark Armstrong, a Silicon Valley software engineer, was just six-years-old when his dad changed the course of history with his “giant leap for mankind.”

It was during the summer of 1969, and the Armstrong clan went to Florida for the launch at Cape Canaveral and back to to their Houston home to watch the rest of the mission and the all important touchdown on July 20.

First man on the Moon Armstrong died in 2012.

Were he alive today he would be marking his 90th birthday on August 5 – but his legacy lives on.

Reflecting on his dad’s achievements, Mark, 57, said despite Armstrong touching the heavens in the historic Apollo 11 mission, he didn’t admit to believing in God – but he did believe in alien life forms.

        Neil Armstrong in later years

Speaking from his home in Cincinnati, Ohio, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings last year, he said: “A lot of astronauts claim to have had a spiritual experience, that was not true of my father.

“My dad was an engineer and scientist first and foremost but had a wonderful spirit with a great sense of humour.

“Whatever religious beliefs he had he kept very close to the vest throughout his life.

“There have been a lot of claims from different religions about his converting to their religion, but none of that is true.

“But I once heard someone ask him if he believed in extraterrestrial life and his response was ‘it would be arrogant not to’.”

He continued: “The universe is unimaginably vast and we know so little about it that his belief was, statistically speaking, the chances were overwhelmingly high that we are not the only life in the universe.”

 
7:33 minute video interview of Mark Armstrong in 2019 (‘Good Morning Britain’ YouTube)

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We Are in a Space Race That America Needs to Win

Article by Richard M. Harrison and Peter Garretson                          July 10. 2020                          (newsweek.com)

• The Trump administration views space as a new arena of strategic competition. The Pentagon’s recently released ‘Defense Space Strategy’ defines the space domain as “vital to our nation’s security, prosperity and scientific achievement.” Today, the space market is estimated to be $350 billion. But the US Department of Commerce says that current projections put the global space economy at $1 trillion by 2030 and $3 trillion by 2040.

• Meanwhile, American private sector space firms have reduced launch costs, making the positioning of technologies in space more feasible and affordable than ever before. New technological breakthroughs have made activities like mining asteroids achievable within a decade. But this future space economy depends on investment, which depends on security, which depends on a committed US military presence in space. The US Space Force must be capable of defending American interests against both global adversaries who would disrupt US space architecture, as well as natural threats such as asteroids and comets.

• Undoubtedly, the biggest danger is the People’s Republic of China. Beijing recognizes the value of the space domain, and is now trying in earnest to utilize space to achieve its great power ambitions. In April 2019, Dr. Namrata Goswami told the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission that China had plans to become the world’s leading space power by 2045. To this end, China has already landed on the far side of the Moon and created a lunar biosphere simulation, housing inhabitants within its closed ecosystem for a year. China is developing techniques for asteroid mining, and has developed nuclear-powered shuttles for space exploration and for the industrialization of the Moon. It plans to fabricate satellites that can harness energy in space to become the world’s top supplier of non-carbon producing energy.

• More specifically, China plans to create space-based commercial and industrial facilities and transportation by 2021; space-based power generation by 2030; lunar mining by 2030; and asteroid mining by 2032. China could also gain advantages in areas such as artificial intelligence and cyber-related technologies, thereby increasing its war-fighting capabilities and telecommunications

• The strategic role in space to which Beijing aspires is potentially threatening to the United States, both economically and militarily. The United States will need a concrete plan to go on the strategic offensive to prevail as the planet’s dominant space power.

 

The Trump administration is getting serious about space. Although they have been mocked by critics ignorant of their importance, steps like the administration’s commissioning of the U.S. Space Force, its establishment of a dedicated Space Command and the creation of a dedicated space technology development arm are all signs that the White House is beginning to view space as a new arena of strategic competition. The latest sign in this regard came last month, when the Pentagon formally released its Defense Space Strategy, which defines the space domain as “vital to our nation’s security, prosperity and scientific achievement.”

       Dr. Namrata Goswami

This bold statement reflects a potentially transformative reality: that space is still a largely untapped resource. Today, the current space market is estimated to be $350 billion, but in three decades, it could be worth exponentially more. By the middle of the 21st century, both Bank of America and Merrill Lynch estimate, the space economy will be worth roughly $2.7 trillion.

American policymakers are eager to tap into that potential wealth. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross gave a speech earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos in which he noted that, “Current industry projections place the 2040 global space economy at between $1 trillion and $3 trillion. And I think we will certainly get to a trillion before 2030.” He specifically mentioned America’s near-term priorities in this domain to include lunar mining, asteroid mining and space tourism.

Industry, meanwhile, is already moving in this direction. American private sector space firms have reduced launch costs, making the positioning of technologies in space more feasible and affordable than ever before. Meanwhile, new technological breakthroughs have made activities like mining asteroids achievable within a decade.

But all of that hinges upon investor confidence, and that in turn requires security. For the space economy to expand to its full potential, tech firms and investors alike need to know that their stakes will be safeguarded by a U.S. government that is serious about space. Increasingly, American national security, and our growing list of space-based economic assets, requires a committed military presence with the capability to defend against dangerous naturally occurring phenomena (including asteroids and comets), as well as potential adversaries who are actively developing the means to disrupt, degrade and destroy vital components of the emerging U.S. space architecture.

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Artwork by Dave Simonds for The Economist

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Japan Aims to Put Man on the Moon, Collaborate With US

July 2, 2020                              (wionews.com)
• The Japanese government announced the country’s 10-year ‘Basic Plan on Space Policy’. Japan aims to double its space industry budget from $11 billion to $22 billion by the early 2030s, and work with the United States to track missiles and use intelligence-gathering satellites during natural disasters.

• One of the key components of the plan is to put a Japanese man on the Moon by 2024, while working with NASA. Japan plans to utilize its resources to strengthen its space policy through the ‘whole-of-government’ approach, while promoting public-private collaborations.

• Japan recently inaugurated the first ‘Space Operations Squadron’ at Fuchu Air Base in Tokyo as an “Air Self-Defense Force”, which will become fully operational by 2023. The squadron will work with the US Space Command to protect the country’s satellites from damage, including armed attacks according to the ‘Basic Space Law’.

• Japan already operates the ‘Quasi-Zenith Satellite System’ to enhance the US’s Global Positioning System in the Asia-Oceania regions. Japan plans to launch a new GPS navigation system of its own in 2023 with 7 satellites. It is concerned over China’s capability to jam or attack satellites with other neighboring countries North Korea and Russia capable of upsetting the regional balance in arms technology.

• In January 2019, China became the first nation to land a rover on the dark side of the lunar surface. This month, China plans to launch a mission to remote-controlled robot on the surface of Mars. The US has already sent four exploratory vehicles to Mars, and intends to launch a fifth this summer which should arrive around February 2021.

• China recently completed its own GPS-type geolocation system which it began in the early 1990s. 120 countries including Pakistan and Thailand are using the Chinese GPS system for port traffic monitoring, to guide rescue operations during disasters and other services, according to Chinese state media.

• When Donald Trump announced the creation of the new Space Force in December, Russia accused the US of seeing space as a place to wage war. In return, the US accused China and Russia of developing tools for jamming and cyberattacks that directly threaten US satellites.

• The Pentagon has stressed that it intends to maintain superiority in space to protect its GPS satellites. In the midst of an escalating space war, the US and Japan have strengthened their “space relations” to build their joint space network and strengthen their satellite force over the next 10 years.

 

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese government for the first time in five years updated its Basic Plan on Space Policy while outlining the country’s 10-year basic space policy. It will work with the United States to not only track missiles but use intelligence-gathering satellites during natural disasters.

Japan’s President, Shinzo Abe, and US President Donald Trump

Japan aims to double its space industry by the early 2030s, which currently stands at $11 billion.

One of the key components of the plan is to put a Japanese man on the Moon by 2024 while working with NASA scientists.

Experts say Japan’s space policy is being led as a reaction to China’s 2013 Jade Rabbit lunar rover mission.

Public-private collaboration

“The Government of Japan, recognizing such huge potential of outer space and the severe situation that it is facing, hereby decides a basic plan on space policy for coming ten years with the view of the next two decades, and will secure sufficient budgetary allotments and other necessary resources, and effectively and efficiently utilize these resources to strengthen its space policy through the whole-of-government- approach, while promoting public-private collaborations,” the Japanse government said in a statement.

Air Self-Defense Force

Japan recently inaugurated the first Space Operations Squadron in Tokyo at Fuchu Air Base as an “Air Self-Defense Force” which will become fully operational by 2023.

It is meant to protect the country’s satellite from damage, including armed attacks while working with the US Space Command.

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China’s New Crew Capsule Just Landed, Along With Parts of Their New Rocket

Article by Matt Williams                             May 15, 2020                             (universetoday.com)

• Two milestones have brought China closer to becoming a full-fledged superpower in space. One was the successful return on May 8th of a next-generation crewed spacecraft that launched into low earth orbit on May 5th and spent 67 hours in space. The other was the launch of China’s new Long March 5B (CZ-5B) heavy-lift rocket carrying a target payload for the first time. The heavy-lift rocket took the new spacecraft into orbit, although the spacecraft was unmanned for this test mission.

• The purpose of the spacecraft mission was to test its deep space capabilities since it will be carrying Chinese astronauts, or “taikonauts”, to the Moon and beyond in the coming years. The spacecraft reached a maximum distance of 4,970 miles from earth. The spacecraft deployed its three parachutes to slow down during its descent back to earth and airbags were deployed to cushion the landing. The previous Shenzhou spacecraft relied on only one parachute and had no airbags. Once it returns to Earth, crews will refurbish the new spacecraft by replacing the ‘foldable’ heat shield and removing any additional scoring from the hull.

• The purpose of the heavy-lift rocket mission was to test its payload ability, as it will be used to bring materiel to build a space station orbiting the Moon. The Chinese wanted to make sure that the heavy-lift rocket could handle a 22 US ton payload because they intend to eventually carry into orbit the components needed to construct the Tiangong-3 Modular Space Station. The uncrewed spacecraft and 22,000 lbs of fuel propellant brought its launch mass to 23.8 US tons.

• The rocket and spacecraft were launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center – located on Hainan Island in the South China Sea. Upon reaching orbit, the booster and spacecraft separated. The spacecraft brought along a composite materials 3D printing system, a time-triggered Ethernet system, and a range of seeds intended to test the effects of microgravity and radiation from the Van Allen belts on the growth of plants, which is essential to any plan to build space stations and habitats in orbit. On its return, the spacecraft touched down at the Dongfeng landing area in China’s northeastern Jilin province.

• On May 11th, a spent rocket stage of the Long March 5B re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean. The booster landed safely in the ocean off the west coast of Africa. Some pieces of the rocket landed on an African village, however. If it had re-entered earth’s atmosphere fifteen minutes earlier, the debris would have landed on New York City. No injuries were reported.

• This latest mission has sent a clear message to the global astronomical community that China will be expanding its presence in ‘low earth orbit’ in the coming years. In this decade, China will have the capability to send taikonauts to the Moon, followed by the creation of a permanent lunar base in the next decade, and maybe crewed missions to Mars.

 

China’s next-generation crewed spacecraft, which will replace the venerable Shenzou spacecraft in the coming years, recently returned to Earth after spending almost three days in space. The purpose of this mission was to test the deep space capabilities of the spacecraft that will be sending Chinese astronauts (taikonauts) to orbit, to the Moon, and beyond in the coming years.

                  Chinese ‘taikonauts’

In addition, this mission also saw China’s new Long March 5B (CZ-5B) heavy-lift rocket launch a payload to space for the first time. This rocket is the latest installment in the Long March family and will be vital to the creation of the third and largest Chinese space station. These two milestones have brought China a step closer to becoming a full-fledged superpower in space.

The uncrewed spacecraft and Long March 5B launched on their maiden voyage together in the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 5th, from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center – located on Hainan Island in the South China Sea. Once they reached orbit, the booster and spacecraft separated, and the second part of the mission commenced (i.e. the validation of the crewed spacecraft prototype).

Over the course of the next 67 hours, the spacecraft performed seven orbit-raising maneuvers and reached a maximum distance (apogee) of around 8,000 km (4,970 mi) from Earth’s surface. This is similar to what was done during Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) with the Orion spacecraft back in 2014 – though that mission lasted only 4 hours and completed 2 orbits.

By Friday, May 8th, at 01:21 AM EST (10:21 PM, May 7th, PST) the spacecraft completed its deorbit burn, which was followed by the separation of the service and crew modules about twelve minutes later. The new spacecraft deployed its three parachutes to slow down during descent and airbags were deployed from the underside to cushion the landing.

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US to Agree to PACT on Space Mining, ‘Safety Zones’ on Moon, Sidelining Russia

May 6, 2020                          (rt.com)

• The Trump administration is ironing out details of a plan that would legitimize the regulation of mining on the Moon and establishing “safety zones” around off-planet bases. According to Reuters, Trump plans to ask allies such as Canada, Japan, the UAE, and European nations, to sign such an agreement, but not Russia.

• The agreement could pave the way for private companies to claim ownership over the resources they extract, some of which hope to mine the Moon for water, which can then be converted into rocket fuel. The proposed pact also provides for “safety zones” around bases which could soon be established on the Moon.

• Washington has long eyed the vast resources that space has to offer. In 2015, Congress passed a law allowing American companies and individuals to tap into Moon and asteroid resources. Last month, Trump signed an executive order (see Executive Order, Public Law 114-90 here) declaring that the US does not view space as “a global commons” and arguing that “Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space.”

• The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans nations from staking territorial claims over any part of a celestial body beyond Earth. The Trump administration will argue that the agreement is aimed at boosting coordination between nations, and therefore only reinforces the 1967 treaty.

• The US will begin negotiating the pact with its allies “in the coming weeks.” However, early talks will not include Moscow, which has repeatedly blasted Washington for its continuous push to make space the legal equivalent of the Wild West, including plans to militarize the outer realms and seize territory on other planets.

• [Editor’s Note]  The pact agreement could also pave the way for private companies to claim ownership over the resources they have already extracted through mining activities in the asteroid belt and other celestial bodies throughout the solar system, and ‘safety zones’ around existing off-planet bases.

 

The US has been working on a draft deal that would regulate mining on the Moon as well as establishing “safety zones” around would-be extraterrestrial bases. However, the proposal reportedly excludes Russia, a major space power.

The Trump administration is ironing out details of a plan that would give its potential mining activities on the Moon a semblance of legality – even if not all the space-faring nations, including major ones such as Russia, are on board – a source told Reuters on Tuesday.

Citing US officials, the outlet reported that Washington will ask some of its allies, such as Canada, Japan, the UAE, and European nations, to sign an agreement that would regulate mining on the lunar surface in preparation for greater human activity on the Moon.

The agreement could pave the way for private companies to claim ownership over the resources they extract, some of which hope to mine the Moon for water, which can be converted into rocket fuel.

The proposed pact also provides for the establishment of “safety zones” around bases which, according to Washington’s vision, could soon pop up on the Moon. The zones would vary in size depending on the “operation,” the source told Reuters.

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“The Search for Techno-Artifacts” From an Earlier Civilization in the Solar System

May 2, 2020                             (dailygalaxy.com)

• In his 2016 study, ‘Prior Indigenous Technological Species’, Penn State’s Jason Wright discussed possible origins and locations for “technosignatures” of a technological species’ civilization that could have existed in the solar system prior to humanity’s rise on Earth, or on nearby planets Venus and Mars. “From a purely scientific standpoint, it’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask whether life may have existed elsewhere in the Solar System, or does today,” said Wright, who is also a member of the ‘Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds’ at Penn State.

• What could have ended a prior technologically advanced civilization within our solar system? “The most obvious answer is a cataclysm, whether a natural event, such as an extinction-level asteroid impact or self-inflicted, such as a global climate catastrophe,” says Wright. “[S]uch an event would only permanently extinguish the species if there were many cataclysms across the solar system closely spaced in time, (such as) a swarm of comets or interplanetary warfare, …an unexpected nearby gamma ray burst or supernova…”

• In the case of Venus, its global greenhouse and resurfacing might have erased all evidence of a prior civilization’s existence on the Venusian surface. In the case of Earth, erosion and plate tectonics may have erased most of such evidence if the species lived a billion years ago. Remaining indigenous technosignatures would be extremely old, limiting the places they might still be found to beneath the surfaces of Mars and the Moon, or in the outer solar system.

• In a 2019 study co-written by Manasvi Lingam (at Florida Tech) and Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb entitled, “The Moon as a Fishing Net for Extraterrestrial Life”, Loeb suggested that Earth’s Moon might yield traces of technological equipment that crashed on the lunar surface a billion years ago. “The absence of a lunar atmosphere,” wrote Loeb, “guarantees that these messengers would reach the lunar surface without burning up. In addition, the geological inactivity of the Moon implies that the record deposited on its surface will be preserved and not mixed with the deep lunar interior. Serving as a natural mailbox, the lunar surface collected all impacting objects during the past few billions of years. Most of this “mail” comes from within the solar system.”

 

         Jason Wright

One of the primary open questions of astrobiology is whether there is extant or extinct life elsewhere the Solar System. Astrophysicists Avi Loeb at Harvard and Penn State’s Jason Wright have both explored the question, with Loeb suggesting that ancient technological artifacts from beyond the Solar System may exist on Earth’s Moon amounting to a letter from an alien civilization saying, “We exist.”

Wright, a member of the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, has considered the possibility that a technological

             Avi Loeb

species could have existed in the Solar System prior to humanity’s rise on Earth in his study, Prior Indigenous Technological Species.

In 2016, Wright authored a paper that discussed possible origins and locations for “technosignatures” of such a civilization while other astronomers have suggested looking for lights on Kuiper Belt Objects that “may serve as a lamppost which signals the existence of extraterrestrial technologies and thus civilizations.”

The origins and possible locations for technosignatures of such a prior indigenous technological species might have arisen on ancient Earth or another body, such as a pre-greenhouse Venus or a wet Mars. In the case of Venus, the arrival of its global greenhouse and potential resurfacing might have erased all evidence of its existence on the Venusian surface. In the case of Earth, erosion and, ultimately, plate tectonics may have erased most such evidence if the species lived a billion years ago. Remaining indigenous technosignatures, observes Wright, might be expected to be extremely old, limiting the places they might still be found to beneath the surfaces of Mars and the Moon, or in the outer Solar System.

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Trump Order Encourages US Mining on the Moon

 

Article by Oliver Milman                         April 7, 2020                        (theguardian.com)

• In 1979, nations on planet Earth signed the ‘Moon Treaty’, stipulating that activities in space should conform to international law. The United States never signed that treaty. In fact, a 2015 law explicitly allows American companies to use resources from the Moon and asteroids. On April 6th, President Trump signed an Executive Order encouraging the U.S. to mine the Moon for minerals. The order states that “Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space.” (see Trump’s Executive Order here)

• The Executive Order makes clear that the US reserves the right to mine the Moon without any sort of international treaty. Furthermore, the US will object to any attempt to use international law to hinder American efforts to mine chunks of the Moon, Mars, or “other celestial bodies”.

• Trump’s zeal to commence the drilling on the Moon is consistent with his enthusiasm for mining here on Earth. The administration has opened up vast tracts of federal land for oil and gas drilling, with Trump rolling back various environmental laws in an attempt to revive the ailing coal industry. Although, not all of the drilling leases have been taken up by fossil fuel companies. The executive order states that the federal government will “require partnership with commercial entities to recover and use resources, including water and certain minerals, in outer space”. But it is uncertain what interest there might be in the private sector to blast into space to mine the Moon.

 

The world may be racked by the coronavirus, but Donald Trump has less earthly concerns on his mind, too, after signing an executive order encouraging the US to mine the moon for minerals.

The executive order makes clear that the US doesn’t view space as a “global commons”, opening the way for the mining of the moon without any sort of international treaty.

“Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space,” the order states, noting that the US had never signed a 1979 agreement known as the moon treaty. This agreement stipulates that any activities in space should conform to international law. In 2015, the US Congress passed a law explicitly allowing American companies to use resources from the moon and asteroids.

According to Trump’s executive order, the US will object to any attempt to use international law to hinder its efforts to remove chunks of the moon or, should the opportunity arise, additional mining of Mars and “other celestial bodies”.

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Footage Catches UFOs Flying Over Surface of the Moon

Article by Susan Leighton                       April 6, 2020                       (1428elm.com)

• On March 26th, Jean-Michel Tenac was video recording the moon with a Nikon P1000. At the 40-second mark, a small silvery object comes into frame and is then joined by a similar object. While there are no details about where it was taken and no links to an original source, a fascinating aspect of the video are the shadows cast on the moon’s surface by the UFOs. (see 2:20 minute video below)

 

UFOs are a hot subject lately with various series on the air like Project Blue Book and The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch that question whether or not we are truly alone in the universe. There are some schools of thought that believe most Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon are explainable.
They cite swamp gas, weather balloons, weather anomalies and the list goes on and on. Others feel that we have been visited before and are still being visited today by otherworldly beings.

With access to complex video editing technology, anyone can create a UFO sighting by just pointing and clicking their mouse. That is why when presented with something out of the ordinary perhaps people shouldn’t just jump to the conclusion that an unfamiliar craft in the sky is automatically the product of extraterrestrials.

 

2:20 minute video of two objects moving over the Moon’s surface (‘willease’ YouTube)

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Alien Life Will Be Found ‘Within the Next Few Decades’, Claims NASA Study

Listen to “E178 Alien Life Will Be Found ‘Within the Next Few Decades’, Claims NASA Study” on Spreaker.

Article by Jasper Hamill                       November 23, 2019                        (metro.co.uk)

• A NASA-backed study (see here) proposes that a 126 antennae array observatory be established on the far side of the Moon that would scan the sky and look for habitable planets capable of sustaining extraterrestrial life. The FARSIDE array, which stands for Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark Ages and Exoplanets, would scour the sky for planets having a magnetic field like our own, which is considered ‘a key ingredient for planetary habitability’, as well as looking for gases and other ‘biosignatures’ indicating the presence of alien organisms.

• In addition to searching for exoplanets within the ‘habitable zone’ of distant star systems, the Moon observatory could also aid in the search for ‘Planet 9’, a mysterious and as-yet-undiscovered world believed to be lurking in the furthest reaches of the solar system. It could also aid in trying to find ‘dark matter’, a substance believed to make up a large proportion of all the matter in the universe. The FARSIDE array can also study ‘coronal mass ejections’ from the surface of distant stars and explore the evolution of the universe itself.

• The placement of the FARSIDE observatory on the back of the Moon would shield it from both radio frequencies from the Earth and ‘noise’ created by the Sun’s solar wind.

• Authors of the FARSIDE observatory proposal include scientists from NASA as well as academics from various American universities. They write that: “The discovery of life on a planet outside our solar system is at the heart of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. … Such a discovery may arrive within the next few decades and is the focus of a number of planned and concept NASA missions.”

• While NASA has not actually committed to building FARSIDE,optimistic scientists have claimed that alien life could be found on an ‘exoplanet’ outside our own system ‘within a few decades’.

• [Editor’s Note]   Considering that a previous report titled: ‘Final Report: Design of a Lunar Far Side Observatory’ was written in 1989, NASA hasn’t put a lot of effort into making an observatory on the far side of the Moon a reality. It is likely that NASA has never had any real intention of establishing a public presence on the far side of the Moon.  For if they did, it would expose that the back of the Moon is a veritable beehive of activity, with spacecraft flying to and from a number of lunar bases occupied by a variety of extraterrestrial species, including the Lunar Operations Command – a large base located on the back of the Moon at the ten o’clock position (from our point of view), that serves as US military alliance headquarters with many subsurface levels. The LOC was originally built by German Nazis in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, and was then modernized and expanded through a formal alliance of the American military industrial complex with the Nazis in the 1950’s, which continues to the present day.

 

Humanity could be on the verge of answering the biggest question in the universe.

A Nasa-backed study has claimed that alien life could be found on an ‘exoplanet’ outside our own system within a few decades.

Researchers have just published a proposal paper calling for an observatory to be placed on the dark side of the moon.

The proposed FARSIDE instrument (Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark ages and Exoplanets) would scan the sky and look for habitable planets capable of sustaining extraterrestrial organisms.

It would also search for Planet 9, a mysterious and as-yet-undiscovered world believed to be lurking in the furthest reaches of the solar system, as well as trying to find dark matter, a substance believed to make up a large proportion of all the matter in the universe.

As well as these impressive ambitions, the overachieving instrument would ‘explore how the universe began and evolved’ and look for ‘coronal mass ejections’ – outbursts from the surface of stars.

But the goal which is likely to get the most attention is the search for exoplanets capable of sustaining life.

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Apollo 11 Moon Landing Showed That Aliens Might Be More Than Science Fiction

Listen to “E51 8-03-19 A Private Tour of Roswell with a UFO Expert Looking for the Truth” on Spreaker.

Article by Brandon Specktor                       July 20, 2019                      (livescience.com)

• On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. Four days later, the astronauts were quarantined aboard the USS Hornet for a 21-day isolation period. This was to ensure that no potentially hazardous lunar microbes had hitchhiked back to Earth with them. The NASA scientists found no microbial aliens on the astronauts themselves or in the 50 pounds of lunar rocks they brought back.

• Senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, Seth Shostak (pictured above), thinks that the Apollo 11 Moon mission did bring back aliens, in a sense. “Today, about 30 percent of the public thinks the Earth is being visited by aliens in saucers, despite the evidence of that being very poor,” says Shostak. “I think the Moon landing had something to do with that.” Live Science.com recently spoke with Shostak to find out more about how the Moon landing changed the scientific community’s pursuit of aliens and the world’s perception of them.

• LS: What did the Moon landing teach humans about extraterrestrial life?  Shostak: Not too much. By 1969, most scientists expected the Moon would be dead. The Moon has no atmosphere, no liquid, and temperatures that range from hundreds of degrees to minus hundreds of degrees. “It’s awful!” But the Apollo missions showed that you could travel from one world to another on a rocket – and maybe aliens could, too. Suddenly, the universe was a little more open.

• LS: In 1969, did scientists think there might be aliens somewhere else in the solar system?  Shostak: Mars was the ‘Great Red Hope’ of extraterrestrial life in the solar system. People were very optimistic in 1976 when the Viking landers plopped down onto Mars that there would be life. There wasn’t. These days, scientists will suggest looking at the moons of Jupiter or Saturn, such as Enceladus, where geysers shoot possible microbial material right into space, so you don’t have to land a spacecraft on the surface to find it.

• LS: What did the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) look like around 1969? Shostak: Modern SETI experiments began in 1960 with astronomer Frank Drake and his Project Ozma, where he searched for inhabited planets around two stars using a radio telescope. (After four years of searching, no recognizable signals were detected.) By 1969, SETI research was being conducted informally by people who were working with telescopes in their spare time, looking up the coordinates of nearby stars and hoping to pick up radio waves. It wasn’t really organized until the NASA SETI program began in the 1970’s with a budget of $10 million a year. In 1993, a democratic congressman from Nevada killed the SETI funding, in spite of the fact that the NASA program profited from the public’s fascination with aliens more than from anywhere else.

• [Editor’s Note]  Previous articles have established that Seth Shostak and SETI are Deep State assets whose objective is to lull the public into complacency by reassuring them that every planet and heavenly body, besides the Earth, is ‘dead’ and unable to support life beyond possible microbial life. Lately, SETI and Shostak have been shilling for the restoration of Deep State government funding, so they can line their pockets while maintaining the ongoing Deep State cover-up of a teeming extraterrestrial presence on, within, and orbiting our planet.

 

On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on Earth’s moon for the first time in human history. Four days later, they — along with Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins — were locked up on an American battleship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The triumphant astronauts were in quarantine. Per a NASA safety protocol written half a decade earlier, the three lunar visitors were escorted directly from their splashdown site in the central Pacific to a modified trailer aboard the USS Hornet, where a 21-day isolation period began. The objective? To ensure that no potentially hazardous lunar microbes hitchhiked back to Earth with them.

Of course, as NASA quickly confirmed, there were no tiny aliens lurking in the astronauts’ armpits or in the 50 pounds (22 kilograms) of lunar rocks and soil they had collected. But despite this absence of literal extraterrestrial life, the Apollo 11 astronauts still may have succeeded in bringing aliens back to Earth in another way that can still be felt 50 years later.

“Today, about 30 percent of the public thinks the Earth is being visited by aliens in saucers, despite the evidence of that being very poor,” Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute — a nonprofit research center focused on the search for alien life in the universe — told Live Science. “I think the moon landing had something to do with that.”

Shostak has been searching for signs of intelligent life in the universe for most of his life (and, fittingly, shares a birthday with the Apollo 11 landing). Live Science recently spoke with him to find out more about how the moon landing changed the scientific community’s pursuit of aliens and the world’s perception of them. Highlights of our conversation (lightly edited for clarity) appear below.

LS: What did the moon landing teach humans about extraterrestrial life?

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NASA Covered Up Apollo 11 UFO Encounter By Deleting Photos

Listen to “E39 7-23-19 NASA Covered Up Apollo 11 UFO Encounter By Deleting Photos” on Spreaker.
by Inigo Monzon                      July 11, 2019                     (ibtimes.com)

• NASA and the government didn’t want the public to know the truth about what the Apollo 11 astronauts encountered when they landed on the Moon in July of 1969.

• Former U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Bob Dean, who served for NATO, says that NASA erased up to 40 rolls of film from the mission, including “the flight to the Moon, and flight around the Moon, the landings on the Moon, the walking guys here and there.”

• Founder of the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Steven Greer, confirmed that there exists video footage of the Apollo 11 astronauts’ UFO sightings. The footage, however, has never been released to the public. Greer relates how friends and relatives of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin told Greer that the astronauts saw UFOs on the Moon during their mission.

• On July 8th in an official statement (see here), NASA admitted some of the tapes from the Apollo 11 mission are currently missing and may have been erased. The agency stated on its website that “NASA searched for but could not locate some of the original Apollo 11 data tapes – ‘original’ in the sense that they directly recorded data transmitted from the Moon.”

• “An intensive search of archives and records concluded that the most likely scenario was that the program managers determined there was no longer a need to keep the tapes – since all the video and data were recorded elsewhere – and they were erased and reused,” NASA added. The space agency did not elaborate on the contents or theories surrounding the missing video footage.

 

Several conspiracy theorists including a U.S. Army officer who served for NATO have openly blamed NASA for covering up the UFOs encountered by astronauts from the Apollo 11 Moon mission. According to them, the space agency allegedly destroyed evidence of the encounter by deleting tapes from the event.

Bob Dean, a former U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major, noted that NASA erased up to 40 rolls of film from the mission. He said this was the agency way of ensuring that the public will never learn about what truly happened during the first human mission to the Moon.

Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong,  Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin

“My government, NASA, which many of us in the United States say stands for ‘Never A Straight Answer’, proceeded to erase 40 rolls of film of the Apollo Program – the flight to the Moon, and flight around the Moon, the landings on the Moon, the walking guys here and there,” Dean said, according to Express.

Dean’s accusations against NASA were strengthened by the revelation of Steven Greer, the founder of the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence. In a video posted on YouTube, Greer said that the friends and relatives of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin told him that the astronauts saw UFOs on the Moon during their mission.

Greer added that military officials confirmed that there are footages of the astronauts’ UFO sightings. The videos, however, were not released to the public.

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US and Japan to Cooperate on Return to the Moon

by Jeff Foust                    May 29, 2019                   (space.com)

• At a May 27th joint press conference in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump announced their agreement for the two nations to cooperate in space exploration. “I am pleased to confirm that Prime Minister Abe and I have agreed to dramatically expand our nations’ cooperation in human space exploration,” Trump said. “Japan will join our mission to send U.S. astronauts to space. We’ll be going to the moon. We’ll be going to Mars very soon. It’s very exciting.”

• The agreement between the two leaders was not released, and neither Trump nor Abe would elaborate. A State Department fact sheet noted that the two “agreed on the importance of a sustained human presence on and around the moon.” “Building on its International Space Station (ISS) experience, Japanese astronauts will strive to join American astronauts on the moon and destinations beyond,” the fact sheet noted.

• Japan, a major partner on the ISS, had shown an interest in participating in aspects of NASA’s renewed push to return to the moon, including contributing modules to the Gateway facility NASA plans to develop in lunar orbit to support human lunar landings. The agreement could include Japanese astronauts going to the moon.

• NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted that he was “very excited” about the agreement announced by Trump and Abe. “Japan and [JAXA] are critical partners in our efforts to go forward to the Moon and on to Mars!”

• In a video released by NASA, Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of the Japanese space agency said, “It’s a great pleasure to collaborate with NASA in that endeavor.”

• With the White House’s urging, NASA accelerated its plans to return humans to the lunar surface by 2024, versus the 2028 date in its previous plans. Major roles for international partners will mostly be deferred to the second phase, which will focus on establishing a sustainable human presence on and around the moon after the 2024 landing. Ken Bowersox, deputy associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA, said that if international partners can accelerate their contributions, “they’re welcome to participate in the early phases.”

• The Japanese company ‘ispace’ is developing commercial lunar landers as part of a team led by the American company, Draper, that won one of nine Commercial Lunar Payload Services agreements from NASA last November to transport research payloads to the lunar surface. Founder and chief executive of ispace Takeshi Hakamada stated, “We are thrilled to learn that the U.S. and Japan will deepen its strong relationship in space exploration through a focused effort on lunar exploration.”

 

WASHINGTON — The governments of the United States and Japan have agreed to further cooperation in space which could include flying Japanese astronauts to the moon.

At a joint press conference in Tokyo May 27 with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Donald Trump mentioned cooperation in space exploration as one outcome of their meetings during the president’s visit to the country.

“I am pleased to confirm that Prime Minister Abe and I have agreed to dramatically expand our nations’ cooperation in human space exploration,” Trump said. “Japan will join our mission to send U.S. astronauts to space. We’ll be going to the moon. We’ll be going to Mars very soon. It’s very exciting.”

Neither Trump nor Abe elaborated on the nature of that agreement, which was not released. A fact sheet released by the State Department May 27 noted that the two “agreed on the importance of a sustained human presence on and around the moon.”

“Building on its International Space Station (ISS) experience, Japanese astronauts will strive to join American astronauts on the moon and destinations beyond,” the State Department fact sheet noted.

A cooperative agreement of some kind between the United States and Japan was expected to be signed during Trump’s visit. Japan, a major partner on the ISS, had shown an interest in participating in aspects of NASA’s renewed push to return to the moon, including contributing modules to the Gateway facility NASA plans to develop in lunar orbit to support human lunar landings.

“It’s a great pleasure to collaborate with NASA in that endeavor,” Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of the Japanese space agency JAXA, said in a video released by NASA May 28 about international cooperation on the development of the Gateway and its overall lunar plans.

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Huge UFO Spotted Near Moon Sparks Invasion Fear

by Nirmal Narayanan                April 15, 2019                 (ibtimes.co.in)

• The YouTube channel, UFO Mania, has released mysterious video that shows a huge UFO trying to hide behind the moon. The video was taken by Daniil Tumanny of Indianapolis, Indiana.

• The UFO seems to be so large in size that it appears right next to the Moon, and looks like a classic Hollywood space vessel. Is it going behind the Moon toward a ‘dark side’ base?

• Some YouTubers think that it is an alien craft. Others say that it indicates that Donald Trump’s Space Force is already operational and patrolling in ‘near space’.

• “At this point, people are so dumbed down you could have space ships flying all over the place and people wouldn’t even notice because they are too addicted to looking at their cellphones. I have seen many UFO’s flying around over my house in the last two years but who would believe me? It is sad how most humans are now just zombies,” commented YouTuber Synthia Burns.

• “A 500km diameter object not seen in any other country in the entire world… I don’t buy it. Besides it’s a computerized model of Kubrick’s space station in 2001: A Space Odyssey,” commented YouTube skeptic Diego Rucci.

 

Conspiracy theorists and alien enthusiasts have long been claiming that extraterrestrials from deep space used to visit the earth to monitor human activities. As per these conspiracy theorists, the rise in UFO sightings all across the world is an indication of alien activities, and some of them even believe that disclosure is going to happen soon. Adding heat to their views, popular conspiracy theory channel UFO Mania has now released a mysterious footage that shows a huge UFO trying to hide behind the moon.

image from the movie
                    2001: A Space Odyssey

The video was originally uploaded to YouTube by a user named Daniil Tumanny, but it gained popularity after it was shared by UFO Mania. In the video, the UFO which seems so large in size can be seen hovering very near to earth’s natural satellite. Interestingly, the shape and nature of the flying object spotted near the moon seem very similar to the alien vessels that we have seen in Hollywood sci-fi films.

As the video went viral on YouTube, most of the people who watched the clip argued that this UFO is nothing but an alien spaceship from the deep space. Some conspiracy theorists even went a step ahead and revealed that aliens have a secret base on the far side of the moon.

2:18 minute video of circular object hiding behind the Moon

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