Pentagon officials claim alien mothership could send ships to Earth in draft research paper

Misty Severi

March 15, 10:25 PM March 15, 10:25 PM

Officials at the Department of Defense claimed it is possible for aliens to send small probes to our solar system, and even to Earth, on missions similar to the ones conducted by NASA, according to a research report draft.

The draft was written by Sean Kirkpatrick, the director of the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, and Abraham Loeb, chairman of Harvard University’s astronomy department, last week. It centered on the physical constraints of unidentified aerial phenomena and claimed that a mothership already in the solar system could send probes to Earth.

RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT COLLIDES WITH UNMANNED US DRONE OVER THE BLACK SEA

"An artificial interstellar object could potentially be a parent craft that releases many small probes during its close passage to Earth, an operational construct not too dissimilar from NASA missions," the report said. "These ‘dandelion seeds’ could be separated from the parent craft by the tidal gravitational force of the Sun or by a maneuvering capability."

The paper suggested that the solar system had already been visited by its first interstellar traveler, referring to an exceptionally fast object detected by the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii in October 2017. Its orbit was also different than those in Earth's solar system, leading scientists to believe that the object was pulled by other forces.

The object was named “Oumuamua,” the Hawaiian term for “scout,” which Loeb and Kirkpatrick claimed could be the mothership that sends the probes to planets. Another object was spotted three years later, in 2020. Neither object had a cometary tail, leading some scientists to believe they were artificial.

“With proper design, these tiny probes would reach the Earth or other solar system planets for exploration, as the parent craft passes by within a fraction of the Earth-Sun separation — just like ‘Oumuamua’ did,” the paper read. “Astronomers would not be able to notice the spray of mini-probes because they do not reflect enough sunlight for existing survey telescopes to notice them.”

The Pentagon established AARO in July 2022 to track flying objects and objects that move underwater and in space, especially those discovered around military bases and installations. Before his role as the leader of AARO, Kirkpatrick was the chief scientist at the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center.

The report, which was released on March 7, comes shortly after the United States returned to a discussion on UFOs after a Chinese spy balloon was found traveling over the U.S. last month. The balloon was eventually shot down off the coast of the Carolinas, but other balloons have been reported since.

An old NASA satellite is falling from the sky this weekend

Misty Severi

January 07, 01:16 PM January 07, 01:19 PM

An old, retired satellite from NASA is expected to crash into the Earth this weekend, scientists at NASA said Friday. But the chances of the satellite hitting anyone are very low.

The majority of the 38-year-old satellite, which went up in 1984 on the space shuttle Challenger, is expected to burn up upon reentering the Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA. But portions of it will likely survive and are anticipated to reach the Earth on Sunday night, with an uncertainty ratio of plus or minus 17 hours, as projected by the Department of Defense.

RARE COMET WILL BE VISIBLE FROM EARTH FOR FIRST TIME SINCE UPPER PALEOLITHIC PERIOD

The space agency put the odds of the debris from the 5,400-pound satellite actually hitting someone at 1-in-9,400.

The satellite, called the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, investigated how the Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the sun for 21 years. It also made measurements of stratospheric ozone, water vapor, aerosols, and nitrogen dioxide. It remained in operation until its retirement in 2005 despite its initial service expectancy being two years.

The ERBS carried three instruments: One measured the stratospheric components, and the other two measured the Earth's radiation budget from the sun.

The satellite was launched from the Challenger by the first female astronaut in space, Sally Ride, who operated the space shuttle's robotic arm. The mission was Ride's second and last trip into space, and it also marked the first time two female astronauts flew in space together. The mission also saw the first U.S. spacewalk conducted by a woman, which was done by fellow astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, according to the .

The Challenger famously exploded in 1986, killing its entire crew just 73 seconds after it launched. However, it made nine successful trips prior to its disastrous end and spent a total of 62 days in space, according to CBS. Its launch of the ERBS satellite occurred during its sixth mission.

Army astronauts troll Navy for special uniforms ahead of huge college football matchup

Misty Severi

December 10, 05:38 PM December 10, 06:03 PM

The Army officers assigned to the NASA Army Detachment trolled the Navy football team ahead of Saturday's marquee matchup, thanking the Navy for "honoring Army astronauts."

Lt. Col. Anne McClain, who was assigned to the detachment, tweeted a message of "gratitude" on Saturday, ahead of the annual college football game, which pits the Army Black Knights of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, against the Navy Midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

HOUSE PASSES MAJOR DEFENSE SPENDING BILL

"It’s Army-Navy game day! A long tradition of both teams is to design uniforms to honor our nation’s heroes," McClain tweeted jokingly. "We are humbled that Navy chose to honor us, the Army NASA astronauts this year. Thanks Navy!"

The U.S. Naval Academy Football Team chose to honor NASA by painting an astronaut on the side of their helmets and a NASA logo on the uniforms. Players are also wearing shoes designed to look similar to the boots that astronauts wear on a mission.

"When I heard that the Army wanted to honor us, the Army astronauts, with their Army-Navy football uniforms this year. I thought to myself ... that is so thoughtful," Army astronaut Col. Andrew Morgan said in a video attached to the tweet.

Other current and former Army astronauts, including McClain, shared their gratitude to the Navy for the "honor," while rooting for the Army to beat Navy in the video, which is one minute and 15 seconds long.

The Navy revealed the new uniform last month, which honors the late naval aviator and Navy astronaut Bruce McCandless II. The son of McCandless, Bruce McCandless III, said his father never watched much football, except for the Army-Navy game.

“He was not a big football fan at all,” McCandless III told the Navy Times. “But every year he’d be sure to tune in for that (game).”

The Army's uniform honors the soldiers of the 1st Armored Division during World War II. This year marked the 80th anniversary of Operation Torch, which was the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942.

The famed football game goes back to the late 1800s, and Saturday's match marks the 123rd annual game. The tradition is celebrated each year because it marks an opportunity for the two branches to compete against each other, even though they cooperate in war.

NASA successfully launches Artemis I moon rocket

Shana Donahue

November 16, 05:13 AM November 16, 06:44 AM

NASA launched its moon rocket in the early morning hours of Nov. 16, bringing the U.S. one step closer to putting astronauts back on the moon.

The Artemis I moon rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center around 1:44 a.m., marking the start of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program.

MARGOT ROBBIE SAYS DISNEY KILLED 'FEMALE-LED' PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN INSTALLMENT

“We rise together, back to the moon and beyond,” launch commentator Derrol Nail said during the NASA live stream as Artemis lifted off.

The Artemis I mission had been delayed four times prior to Wednesday’s successful launch due to fuel leaks and two tropical storms. After repairing a new leak discovered during fueling on Tuesday and replacing an ethernet switch, the mission was a go.

During the course of its mission, the rocket will propel Orion, an empty crew capsule with three test dummies, into orbit around the moon. The capsule will travel 280,000 miles from Earth and 40,000 miles beyond the far side of the moon, according to NASA.

Orion is expected to reach the moon by Monday.

The test flight is expected to last about 25 days, with Orion returning to Earth on Dec. 11, NASA said. The capsule is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

“You have earned your place in history," launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson told her team following liftoff, according to the . "You’re part of a first. Doesn’t come along very often. Once in a career maybe. But we are all part of something incredibly special: the first launch of Artemis. The first step in returning our country to the moon and on to Mars.”

Data collected during this test flight will be used to launch a manned mission to the moon.

Astronauts last visited the moon in December 1972, with the closing of the Apollo mission. NASA plans to send astronauts around the moon in 2024 and have a crew land on the moon in 2025.

NASA's Artemis I launch scrubbed soon after crack discovered forward of historic mission

Jack Birle

August 29, 07:33 AM August 29, 08:41 AM

NASA's Artemis 1 launch was scheduled to acquire position around 8:33 a.m. Eastern Time Monday but a hydrogen fuel leak and other problems delayed the start to a afterwards day.

The leak together with other challenges in the Cape Canaveral, Florida region have triggered the hugely-predicted start to be pushed to a distinctive working day.

The launch is part of the U.S. mission to return to the moon for the 1st time in nearly 5 a long time, with Vice President Kamala Harris and 2nd Gentleman Doug Emhoff in attendance Monday for the scheduled launch. It is not known no matter if the Vice President will show up at the delayed launch.

The unmanned launch is scheduled to be the very first take a look at-operate of devices for the space agency's return to the moon. If all goes perfectly with the Artemis 1 mission, the hope is a flight with astronauts likely close to the moon will take position as shortly as 2024, with a lunar landing with astronauts having spot in 2025.

NASA past manned-mission to the moon was Apollo 17 in December 1972. Delays have plagued the place agency's return to the moon, with Monday's canceled launch the most up-to-date in that sequence.

Scientists uncover what could possibly be the youngest planet in the galaxy

Ryan King

August 10, 12:09 PM August 10, 12:09 PM

Researchers believe they could have identified the youngest planet at any time observed in the galaxy.

The planet, thought to be about 1.5 million many years previous and positioned 395 light-weight-yrs from Earth, is nonetheless staying formulated, with gas and dust bordering it, according to study released in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER PEAK Anticipated TO BE MUTED THIS 7 days

"If confirmed, this CPD-web hosting world would be a person of the youngest exoplanets detected to date. Observing planets at this young age makes it possible for us to position powerful constraints on the system and timescale of planet development, very important to attaining new insights into the development and evolution of large planets," the researchers wrote in the analysis.

For comparison, Earth is believed to be about 4.54 billion yrs aged. The planet is located in the constellation Ophiuchus in close proximity to a young star named AS 209, which is also about 1.5 million a long time outdated, according to the research.

Experts utilized a system known as the Atacama Big Millimeter/submillimeter Array and the ALMA telescope to accumulate details about the earth. They concluded that the planet has been enveloped by product that customarily will make planets, these types of as gasoline and dust, frequently referred to as circumstellar disks.

“It is like seeking at our own previous,” Myriam Benisty, an astronomer who co-authored the analyze, stated, according to the New York Times.

The discovery of the circumplanetary disk has presented proof that many planets are usually cradled by the material that types them for prolonged intervals of time during their formation, according to the research. It is not clear how substantial the Earth's circumplanetary disk was throughout its early many years, Anders Johansen, an astronomer who did not take part in the examine, informed the outlet.

NASA to start 3 rockets from non-public spaceport in Australia

Christopher Hutton

June 08, 08:17 AM June 08, 08:17 AM

NASA has taken a journey down under.

The area company declared on Tuesday that it has partnered with the privately owned spaceport Equatorial Start Australia to launch three suborbital sounding rockets in June and July from the company's spaceport in the Outback. NASA will use these rockets to conduct astrophysics experiments from a distinct point of view.

MUSK'S SPACEX STARLINK Internet Preserving UKRAINE FROM RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA: ZELENSKY

"This industrial start variety in Australia opens up new access to the Southern Hemisphere's evening sky, growing the opportunities for long term science missions," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, in a press release.

“We’re enthusiastic to be able to launch critical science missions from the Southern Hemisphere and see targets that we just can't from the United States,” mentioned Nicky Fox, director for NASA’s Heliophysics Division. “The launches this summer season will enable us to investigate how a star’s mild can influence a planet’s habitability, amongst other factors."

Two of the 3 rockets will precisely concentration on two planets orbiting Alpha Centauri, one particular of the closest stars to the solar. The third rocket will analyze X-rays emanating from the clouds of fuel and particles that lingers in the house between stars.

The 3 unmanned rockets will launch among June 26 and July 12 while carrying instruments for facts collection into the atmosphere. These launches will be the very first despatched up by ELA's Arnhem House Center, primarily based in Dhupuma Plateau near Nhulunbuy, on the lands of the Yolngu people today.

"We are excited and very pleased that our Arnhem House Centre will be the first spaceport in Australia to conduct a business house launch," said Michael Jones, ELA government chairman and group CEO.

Australian leaders had superior factors to say about the start. “This task will convey alongside one another global and community business to take Australia’s area sector into a new era,” reported Primary Minister Anthony Albanese, in accordance to the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We've been doing work tough considering the fact that 2015 to construct the ASC to make ELA the preeminent multiuser business place launch organization in the environment," Jones reported. "Acquiring NASA as our 1st purchaser will let us to verify the capabilities of ELA and the ASC as nicely as the gains of launching close to the equator. It will imply that about the following 5 several years, the ASC will ramp up to be capable of launching far more than 100 launches a calendar year."

NASA previous released rockets from Australia in 1995 when it despatched many rockets into orbit from the military services-operated Royal Australian Air Power Woomera Selection Intricate.

Fired up: NASA discovers exoplanet that is regularly ablaze

Christopher Hutton

June 01, 11:36 AM June 01, 11:36 AM

One not long ago investigated exoplanet seems to be the epitome of "hell on earth."

NASA declared options on Thursday to examine two exoplanets with the James Webb Area Telescope right after it finalizes its set up in the future couple weeks. One of these planets, regarded as "55 Cancri e," is regarded a "super-Earth" and seems to be a crimson-incredibly hot ball of lava and fireplace.

"Visualize if Earth ended up substantially, substantially nearer to the Sunlight," NASA claimed in a push statement. "So shut that an entire yr lasts only a couple of hours. So near that gravity has locked a person hemisphere in long lasting searing daylight and the other in countless darkness. So near that the oceans boil absent, rocks get started to soften, and the clouds rain lava."

SEE IT: NASA RELEASES Closing Photo OF Solar-Driven Insight LANDER

55 Cancri e orbits much less than 1.5 million miles from its home star, or 1/25 the length amongst Mercury and the sunshine in our photo voltaic program.

A single of the many thoughts that NASA researchers wish to remedy features regardless of whether it is "tidally locked." Whilst most planets like 55 Cancri e do not usually rotate, the warmth signature of the exoplanet, or tremendous-Earth, appears to imply otherwise thanks to its shifting warmth condition.

"Observations of 55 Cancri e from NASA's Spitzer Room Telescope recommend that the most popular region is offset from the section that faces the star most instantly," NASA explained. "Although the complete amount of money of warmth detected from the day side does fluctuate."

A handful of theoretical explanations might provide insight, this kind of as the existence of a dynamic environment that forces the warmth to shift close to.

"55 Cancri e could have a thick ambiance dominated by oxygen or nitrogen," explained Renyu Hu of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. This would contain the heat within the planet's environment and induce it to change all around depending on different planetary variables.

It is also probable that the earth is slowly rotating and so has a day-evening cycle.

"That could describe why the best aspect of the planet is shifted," stated Alexis Brandeker, a researcher from Stockholm College whose staff normally focuses on 55 Cancri e. "Just like on Earth, it would choose time for the floor to heat up. The hottest time of the working day would be in the afternoon, not ideal at noon."

The James Webb Place Telescope could help researchers recognize this remarkably heated planet. 55 Cancri e will be one particular of two planets to provide as the concentration for the initial 12 months of James Webb House Telescope's use. The other planet, regarded as "LHS 3844 b," is drastically cooler than 55 Cancri e and would offer you scientists an chance to analyze "strong rock on an exoplanet surface area." The telescope is currently being run as a result of various tests to verify the instrument's viability.

55 Cancri e was found in 2004 by researchers on the lookout for variants in a star's radial velocity. The earth is approximated to be 7.99 times as huge as Earth and is made up of notably large quantities of volcanic exercise.