NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Dec 19, 2023

NGC 1499: The California Nebula

Could Queen Calafia's mythical island exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud echoes the outline of the state of California, USA. Our Sun has its home within the Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,000 light-years from the California Nebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around 100 light-years long. On the featured image, the most prominent glow of the California Nebula is the red light characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons, stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. The star most likely providing the energetic starlight that ionizes much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula. A regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula can be spotted with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the constellation of Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?

NASA’s Tech Demo Streams First Video From Deep Space via Laser

Dec. 18, 2023

The video, featuring a cat named Taters, was sent back from nearly 19 million miles away by NASA’s laser communications demonstration, marking a historic milestone.

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment beamed an ultra-high definition streaming video on Dec. 11 from a record-setting 19 million miles away (31 million kilometers, or about 80 times the Earth-Moon distance). The milestone is part of a NASA technology demonstration aimed at streaming very high-bandwidth video and other data from deep space – enabling future human missions beyond Earth orbit.

“This accomplishment underscores our commitment to advancing optical communications as a key element to meeting our future data transmission needs,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “Increasing our bandwidth is essential to achieving our future exploration and science goals, and we look forward to the continued advancement of this technology and the transformation of how we communicate during future interplanetary missions.”

The demo transmitted the 15-second test video via a cutting-edge instrument called a flight laser transceiver. The video signal took 101 seconds to reach Earth, sent at the system’s maximum bit rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps). Capable of sending and receiving near-infrared signals, the instrument beamed an encoded near-infrared laser to the Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, where it was downloaded. Each frame from the looping video was then sent “live” to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the video was played in real time.

The laser communications demo, which launched with NASA’s Psyche mission on Oct. 13, is designed to transmit data from deep space at rates 10 to 100 times greater than the state-of-the-art radio frequency systems used by deep space missions today. As Psyche travels to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the technology demonstration will send high-data-rate signals as far out as the Red Planet’s greatest distance from Earth. In doing so, it paves the way for higher-data-rate communications capable of sending complex scientific information, high-definition imagery, and video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.

“One of the goals is to demonstrate the ability to transmit broadband video across millions of miles. Nothing on Psyche generates video data, so we usually send packets of randomly generated test data,” said Bill Klipstein, the tech demo’s project manager at JPL. “But to make this significant event more memorable, we decided to work with designers at JPL to create a fun video, which captures the essence of the demo as part of the Psyche mission.”

Feline Frequency

Uploaded before launch, the short ultra-high definition video features an orange tabby cat named Taters, the pet of a JPL employee, chasing a laser pointer, with overlayed graphics. The graphics illustrate several features from the tech demo, such as Psyche’s orbital path, Palomar’s telescope dome, and technical information about the laser and its data bit rate. Tater’s heart rate, color, and breed are also on display.

“Despite transmitting from millions of miles away, it was able to send the video faster than most broadband internet connections,” said Ryan Rogalin, the project’s receiver electronics lead at JPL. “In fact, after receiving the video at Palomar, it was sent to JPL over the internet, and that connection was slower than the signal coming from deep space. JPL’s DesignLab did an amazing job helping us showcase this technology – everyone loves Taters.”

There’s also a historical link: Beginning in 1928, a small statue of the popular cartoon character Felix the Cat was featured in television test broadcast transmissions. Today, cat videos and memes are some of the most popular content online.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-tech-demo-streams-first-video-from-deep-space-via-laser

NASA’s GUSTO Prepares to Map Space Between the Stars

DEC 18, 2023

On a vast ice sheet in Antarctica, scientists and engineers are preparing a NASA experiment called GUSTO to explore the universe on a balloon. GUSTO will launch from the Ross Ice Shelf, near the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station research base, no earlier than Dec. 21.

GUSTO, which stands for Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory, will peer into the space between stars called the interstellar medium. The balloon-borne telescope will help scientists make a 3D map of a large part of the Milky Way in extremely high-frequency radio waves. Examining a 100-square-degree area, GUSTO will explore the many phases of the interstellar medium and the abundances of key chemical elements in the galaxy.

In particular, GUSTO will scan the interstellar medium for carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen because they are critical for life on Earth. These elements can also help scientists disentangle the complex web of processes that sculpt the interstellar medium.

While our galaxy brims with billions of stars, including our Sun, that are interesting in their own right, the space between them holds a wealth of clues about how stars and planets are born.

The interstellar medium is where diffuse, cold gas and dust accumulate into gigantic cosmic structures called molecular clouds, which, under the right conditions, can collapse to form new stars. From the swirling disk of material around the young star, planets can form.

GUSTO is unique in its ability to examine the first part of this process, “to understand how these clouds form in the first place,” Chris Walker, principal investigator of GUSTO at the University of Arizona, said. GUSTO is a collaboration between NASA, the University of Arizona, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON); as well as MIT, JPL, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and others.

Eventually, when massive stars die and explode as supernovae, massive shock waves ripple through molecular clouds, which can in turn lead to more stars being born, or simply destroy the clouds. GUSTO can also look at this end stage of the molecular clouds.

GUSTO functions as a cosmic radio, equipped to “listen” for particular cosmic ingredients. That’s because it senses the high-frequency signals that atoms and molecules transmit. The “T” in GUSTO stands for “terahertz” – that’s about a thousand times higher than the frequencies that cellphones operate at.

“We basically have this radio system that we built that we can turn the knob and tune to the frequency of those lines,” Walker said. “And if we hear something, we know it's them. We know it's those atoms and molecules.”

As the telescope moves across the sky, scientists will use it to map the intensity and velocities of the signals from particular atoms and molecules at each position. “Then we can go back and connect the dots and create an image that looks like a photograph of what the emission looks like,” Walker said.

Observations like these can’t be done for carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen from Earth-based telescopes because of the water vapor in our atmosphere absorbing the light from the atoms and molecules in question, interfering with measurements. On a balloon about 120,000 feet above the ground, GUSTO will fly above most of that water vapor. “For the type of science we do, it's as good as being in space,” Walker said.

The GUSTO telescope will also reveal the 3D structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud, or LMC, a dwarf galaxy near our Milky Way. The LMC resembles some of the galaxies of the early universe that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is exploring. But since the LMC is much closer than the distant early galaxies, scientists can examine it in greater detail with GUSTO.

“By studying the LMC and comparing it to the Milky Way, we'll be able to understand how galaxies evolve from the early universe until now,” Walker explained.

GUSTO is expected to fly for at least 55 days on a 39 million cubic-foot zero-pressure balloon, a type of balloon that can fly high for long periods of time in the Austral Summer over Antarctica and has the diameter of a football field as it floats.

Antarctica provides an ideal launch location for GUSTO. During the southern hemisphere’s summer, the continent gets constant sunlight, so a scientific balloon can be extra stable there. Plus, the atmospheric zone around the South Pole generates cold rotating air – creating a phenomenon called an anticyclone, which enables balloons to fly in circles without disturbance.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/scientific-balloons/nasas-gusto-prepares-to-map-space-between-the-stars/

This alien planetary system has a Jupiter world 99 times wider than Earth

Dec 19, 2023

Astronomers have discovered not one but two planetary systems with sun-like stars at their hearts.

Both of these systems contain mini-Neptune planets and one harbors a huge "super-Jupiter" world, all of which are many times more massive than Earth. Studying the realms could lead to a better understanding of how planets form and evolve around sun-like stars  —  also known as "solar analogs."

The discovery of the two systems was made using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the 1.93 meter telescope at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence (OHP) in southern France. The OHP telescope has pedigree when it comes to detecting extrasolar planets, or "exoplanets." It is the instrument that astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz used to discover 51 Pegasi b in 1995, the first exoplanet discovered orbiting a sun-like star.

These two newly discovered systems are home to at least three exoplanets, designated TOI-1736 b, TOI-1736 c, and TOI-2141 b, each of which join an exoplanet catalog that has grown to contain over 5,500 entries since the mid-1990s.

"We report the detection and characterization of two planetary systems around the solar analogs TOI-1736 and TOI-2141 using TESS photometry data and spectroscopic data obtained with the SOPHIE instrument on the 1.93 m telescope at the OHP," Institut d’astrophysique de Paris scientist and research lead author Guillaume Hébrard wrote with his co-authors in a paper published in the journal Astronomy& Astrophysics. "We performed a detailed spectroscopic analysis of these systems to obtain the precise radial velocities and physical properties of their host stars."

TOI-2141: A planetary system around an old star

The first planetary system discovered by Hébrard and colleagues is TOI-2141, located around 250 light-years from Earth and centered around a star that is comparable in size to the sun but appears to be older than our star. We know this because TOI-2141's star exhibits a lack of chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, which are known as "metals." By contrast, our 4.6-billion-year-old sun is very enriched in such metals. With some calculations, the team realized the metal ratio suggests the newly studied star is around 7.5 billion years old.

The planet in this system, TOI-2141 b, was spotted as it crossed, or 'transited," the face of its parent star, blocking some of the light coming from the star and therefore causing the star to dim from the telescope's vintage point. The team was able to determine that this planet is around three times as wide as Earth, with a mass around 24 times that of our planet, making it a mini-Neptune exoplanet.

TOI-2141 b is located at a distance of around 12 million miles from its star, which is approximately 13% of the distance between Earth and the sun. This means the mini-Neptune completes an orbit roughly once every 18.3 Earth days, with this proximity also sending its temperature to around 840 degrees Fahrenheit (450 degrees Celsius).

The density of this planet and its hot surface temperature indicate it consists of a rocky core surrounded by an atmosphere filled with water vapor. Thus far, TOI-2141 b is the only planet found in the TOI-2141 system, but the team hasn't yet ruled out the possibility that other smaller planets orbit the sun-like star.

And, as impressive as this first system is, the second planetary system discovered by the team is something a little more unique.

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The exotic TOI-1736

Located around 290 light-years from Earth, TOI-1736 is somewhat more exotic than TOI-2141. At first glance, its primary star is unremarkable, being approximately the same age as the sun, around 4.9 billion years old, around the same size as the sun, just 15% larger than our star, and even around the same temperature.

However, the TOI-1736 system is extraordinary because its main star has a second, smaller companion star, making this a binary system.

Massive stars are commonly found in binary systems, but this double-lifestyle is rarer for stars the size of the sun, with only around 44% of solar analogs found with a companion. What is even stranger is TOI-1736's companion star is so distant from the main star that the exoplanets the team found actually only orbit the system's main star.

More specifically, Hébrard and colleagues found two planets in this exotic star system. The first is another mini-Neptune with a width about 2.5 times that of Earth and a mass 13 times larger than our planet's. This planet, TOI-1736 b, orbits its star at a distance of just 6.5 million miles, which is around 7% the distance between Earth and the sun, and completes an orbit in around 7.1 Earth days. The proximity of TOI-1736 b to its star means it has a temperature of around 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius).

The second planet of the system, TOI-1736 c, is a so-called "super-Jupiter" with a mass around 2,800 times that of Earth and a width around 9 times that of Jupiter, making it a stunning 99 times wider than Earth.

TOI-1736 c is located around 128 million miles from its star, which is about 1.3 times the distance between Earth and the sun, meaning that it completes an orbit roughly once every 570 Earth days. This distance also puts the planet in the habitable zone of its parent star  —  the distance at which water can exist in a liquid state. TOI-1736 c is a gas giant, so it lacks a solid surface, but it could have moons with atmospheres that allow liquid water to exist at their surface s —  perhaps making them habitable?

The answers to such questions will come in time; meanwhile, the team is focused on some signs of a third planet that seems to liev around TOI-1736. Soon, they intend to investigate this clue with the SOPHIE spectrograph at the OHP.

https://www.space.com/planetary-systems-with-sun-like-stars-discovered

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SpaceX Starlink Mission

On Monday, December 18 at 11:01 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-6-34

Neil deGrasse Tyson: ‘Share the data’ on alleged alien life

Updated: DEC 18, 2023 / 12:20 PM CST

Neil deGrasse Tyson has spent his career imparting his love of physics to others, making it fun, and most times funny, to learn about science and space. What does he think about the latest claims about UFOs and alien life?

For one, he believes Congress and the rest of the government need to be more forthcoming about what they know, like what’s happening in Mexico.

A legislative body there recently heard testimony from a journalist claiming to have mummified bodies of “non-human beings.”

“Now that you have them on display, that’s intriguing. They look awfully humanoid, by the way, to have come from another planet … scientifically this is a start, and now we say ‘share the data’ with other people, share tissue samples so that other labs can investigate,” he said Friday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” “That’s how we roll.”

The astrophysicist has been somewhat critical of claims from whistleblower David Grusch, who says the United States is covering up knowledge of a decadeslong UFO crash retrieval program.

Congress has included in this year’s annual defense authorization a measure that would require the disclosure of UFO records, a small win for those fighting for transparency.

Tyson recently published his 16th book, “To Infinity and Beyond,” which explores big questions such as what happens when two black holes emerge and what’s the shape of the universe.

“It chronicles in a very candid conversational way, the urge to think beyond ourselves in the history of human thought,” Tyson said. “Every next advance improves on what the ideas were before, and then you accomplish things that were once considered beyond reach.”

https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/neil-degrasse-tyson-ufo-claims/

Whale-SETI: Groundbreaking Encounter with Humpback Whales Reveals Potential for Non-Human Intelligence Communication

December 12, 2023, Mountain View, CA – A team of scientists from the SETI Institute, University of California Davis and the Alaska Whale Foundation, had a close encounter with a non-human (aquatic) intelligence. The Whale-SETI team has been studying humpback whale communication systems in an effort to develop intelligence filters for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. In response to a recorded humpback ‘contact’ call played into the sea via an underwater speaker, a humpback whale named Twain approached and circled the team’s boat, while responding in a conversational style to the whale ‘greeting signal.’ During the 20-minute exchange, Twain responded to each playback call and matched the interval variations between each signal.

A description and analysis of the encounter appears in a recent issue of the journal Peer J. entitled: “Interactive Bioacoustic Playback as a Tool for Detecting and Exploring Nonhuman Intelligence: “Conversing” with an Alaskan Humpback Whale.” “We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback “language,” said lead author Dr. Brenda McCowan of U.C. Davis. “Humpback whales are extremely intelligent, have complex social systems, make tools - nets out of bubbles to catch fish -, and communicate extensively with both songs and social calls,” said coauthor Dr. Fred Sharpe of the Alaska Whale Foundation.

“Because of current limitations on technology, an important assumption of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrials will be interested in making contact and so target human receivers. This important assumption is certainly supported by the behavior of humpback whales,” said Dr. Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute, a coauthor on the paper.

Similar to studying Antarctica as a proxy for Mars, the Whale-SETI team is studying intelligent, terrestrial, non-human communication systems to develop filters to apply to any extraterrestrial signals received. The mathematics of information theory to quantify communicative complexity - (for example rule structure embedded in a received message) will be utilized.

Other team members and coauthors of the paper are Dr. Josie Hubbard, Lisa Walker, and Jodi Frediani, with specialties in animal intelligences, humpback whale song analysis, and photography and behavior of humpback whales, respectively. A second paper by the team will soon be available on the non-audio communicative behavior of humpback whales - bubble rings made in the presence of (and possibly for) humans. The authors would like to acknowledge the Templeton Foundation Diverse Intelligences Program for financial support of this work.

https://www.seti.org/press-release/whale-seti-groundbreaking-encounter-humpback-whales-reveals-potential-non-human-intelligence

https://peerj.com/articles/16349/

The design of culture: US Space Force emblems

Dec. 18, 2023

In the halls of the Pentagon or on the grounds of any Space Force base, Guardians stand out from their peers because of their U.S. Space Force name tapes and the unique, colorful patches on their uniforms. Space Force emblems are distinctive and different from those of the other U.S. military branches. They are also essential to unit cohesion and esprit de corps and often highlight the heritage of individual units. While uniform patches have become familiar symbols of both the service and specific units, many Guardians may not know that unit emblems are based on the traditions of medieval heraldry and that the wearing of uniform patches in the U.S. military dates to the 19th century. The Space Force, moreover, has its own process and design standards for new units to acquire an official emblem that Guardians can proudly display on their sleeves.

Perhaps surprisingly for a new service focused on the future, Space Force emblems have a heritage dating back hundreds of years. Utilizing emblems to identify military organizations is a practice that has its roots in the traditions of medieval heraldry—some of which date back to the eleventh century—where European nobles designed coats of arms that used meaningful symbols to identify themselves and their supporters. More recently, the U.S. Army employed different badges to identify its corps and divisions during the Civil War. And in World War I, the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, Gen. John J. Pershing, directed all of its divisions to design and wear a unique shoulder patch. At the same time, Army Air Service squadrons developed unique symbols to distinguish their units and airplanes.

That tradition of heraldry is alive and well in the United States Space Force. In fact, even prior to the creation of the service on Dec. 20, 2019, the Space Force Planning Task Force (SFPTF) at the Pentagon recognized the importance of service heraldry and began generating concepts for a service seal. Gen. John W. Raymond, the first Chief of Space Operations, wanted a seal to serve as a “focal point” upon which to build the Space Force’s culture and identity. Indeed, on Jan. 15, 2020, Raymond and other leaders met with President Donald J. Trump at the White House, where the president reviewed several options and selected the final seal design, which had been developed by two members of the public affairs team.

Although new, the U.S. Space Force seal recognized the history of military space operations. In a nod to the service’s origins, it contained all the elements present in the official emblem of Air Force Space Command. Even though many media outlets criticized the seal for allegedly copying Star Trek, a Department of the Air Force (DAF) representative noted that the new emblem honored the department’s “proud history and long-standing record of providing the best space capabilities in the world.” The delta symbol that has come to represent space, and which features so prominently in Space Force emblems, actually dates to the early 1940s and originally represented aircraft.

After the release of the seal in January 2020, Secretary of the Air Force Barbara M. Barrett and Raymond approved a service flag design in February 2020. They presented the first flag to President Trump on May 15, 2020, in the White House’s Oval Office. Taken together, the seal and the flag established a foundation for the Space Force’s visual culture. They introduced its basic color palette and what became the dominant iconography of the Space Force: the delta, globe and orbit.

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The Space Force next turned its attention to organizational emblems. A service patch and basic emblem criteria for the three Field Commands and the first wave of emblems for Space Deltas appeared in the summer of 2020. These showed the distinctive nature of Space Force emblems. First, the service selected different shapes for different levels of organization. Field Commands, Deltas, Squadrons and Space Base Deltas each had their own recognizable shape. The Space Force also borrowed a tradition from the U.S. Army by choosing distinctive border colors for each Field Command. Perhaps the most unique twist came in early 2021, when the service decided to move away from textile patches and instead use patches made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The PVC patches allowed much greater detail and were almost 3D in their design.

With service colors and shapes established, Space Force organizations began devising their emblems in the fall of 2020. Units had several options—simply transferring their U.S. Air Force emblem to the appropriate Space Force shape and changing the colors; bringing over parts of the design; or creating something completely new. Final designs ranged all over the spectrum. Many of these designs were unique and inspiring works of art in their own right. While there was an effort to move out swiftly on emblems in 2020, it quickly became apparent that enthusiasm was outpacing the process.

As the new emblems began taking shape, the service had to maintain a balancing act between allowing Space Force units to contribute their talents to the endeavor and requiring that they follow DAF policy and standards. The Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) is responsible for assisting Space Force organizations with designing emblems that meet the standards of the US Space Force. The U.S. Army’s Institute of Heraldry takes the designs approved by AFHRA and provides final renditions and ensures the PVC patches can be manufactured. It is a long process, but it ensures that Space Force emblems meet high design and manufacturing quality standards that reflect favorably on the service.

So, when you see a Guardian, check out the distinctive patch on their shoulder. The patch that Guardian is wearing follows a long tradition of military heraldry. While its origins may date back to the knights and their heralds, Space Force emblems have developed into something new and unique. They not only honor a common heritage but help bring Guardians together in a new service culture.

https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3621032/the-design-of-culture-us-space-force-emblems/

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US Space Force, DIU delegation participate in commercial partnering dialogues held in Norway, US

Dec. 18, 2023

Maj. Gen. John Olson, Mobilization Assistant to the Chief of Space Operations and Space Force lead for Joint All Domain Command and Control, recently led a delegation from the U.S. Space Force Headquarters and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to participate in the Spaceport Norway conference held in Oslo.

Olson provided keynote remarks and spoke about U.S.–Norwegian partnership opportunities and the need for resilient architectures, responsive space infrastructure and robust partnerships for global mission success and sustainability in the modern era. He highlighted that one of the three primary lines of effort for the United States Space Force Chief of Space Operations is partnering to win—something that resonated strongly with the multitude of Norwegian partners and stakeholders. He also participated in the panel discussion: “Space Infrastructure: The Frontline of Security and Emerging Threats.”

Merrick Garb, Commercial, Civil and Interagency Partnerships Branch Chief, Global Partnerships Directorate (S5P) spoke on a panel “Race Against Time: Strategies for Faster Innovation.”

While attending the conference, the delegation met with multiple Norwegian government and industry representatives across the space, technology, data/AI, innovation and security spectrum for presentations, engagement and discussions to learn more about the policies, products and solutions being developed and offered within the Norwegian space industry.

The increased, rapid use of commercial solutions is key to increase the pace of and access to innovation. Working closely with Innovation Norway as the official trade and investment promotion agency of Norway, this series of engagements both assisted the U.S. Space Force with identifying opportunity for global commercial partnerships and illuminated the collaboration and partnership potential for much closer ties at the strategic, operational, and tactical level.

The delegation visited the municipality of Bodø, where they met with the Civil Aviation Authority and Nordland County Council. The U.S. contingent shared valuable lessons learned and insight regarding space traffic management, launch and re-entry licensing and dynamic space and ground operations. There was also a tour of the Norwegian Aviation Museum, where the U.S. delegation learned about Norway’s rich history in aviation and aerospace. This newfound knowledge of Norway’s history of pioneering aerospace activities underpinned focused and energetic discussions about actionable steps that can launch an incredible future.

The highlight of the fast-paced series of meetings was touring the recently opened Andøya Spaceport, one of only two orbital launch facilities in Europe and the only one with no land overflight. Building on a rich history of sounding rocket launches that have been instrumental in advancing global knowledge about the poles and Van Allen radiation belts, the first orbital launch is scheduled for early 2024.

The contingent participated in detailed guided tours of both Andøya Spaceport and Andøya airport from Andøya Space and Isar Aerospace, which unveiled their newly finished pad and satellite, assembly, integration and test (AIT) facilities and informed the delegation regarding future development plans and opportunities for collaboration. His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway officially opened the Andøya spaceport immediately after the visit by the U.S. contingent.

Olson summarized the trip by saying, “Norway is a trusted and vitally important partner, NATO ally and Nordic leader with an important portfolio of capabilities bolstered by a visionary set of innovative government, industry and institutional leaders. This series of fast-paced engagements and meetings was just the bold first step as we look to take a giant leap forward in the near future – together.”

Olson added, “We look forward to continuing our discussions with the Norwegian Ministry of Defense, Innovation Norway, Business Norway, Andøya Spaceport and the organizations we met to further explore, expand and engage partnership opportunities that deliver mutual benefit and timely outcomes for a more safe, secure, stable and sustainable future in space.”

“Innovation Norway views commercial engagements with both the USSF and DIU as a huge opportunity for the Norwegian space and defense industry and a potential catalyst to the rapid development of the new space economy here in Norway,” said Per Niederbach, Executive Vice President of the Division Trade and Investment at Innovation Norway.

https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3620399/us-space-force-diu-delegation-participate-in-commercial-partnering-dialogues-he/