NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
Jan 13, 2024
Circling the Sun
Earth's orbit around the Sun is not a circle, it's an ellipse. The point along its elliptical orbit where our fair planet is closest to the Sun is called perihelion. This year, perihelion was on January 2 at 01:00 UTC, with the Earth about 3 million miles closer to the Sun than it was at aphelion (last July 6), the farthest point in its elliptical orbit. Of course, distance from the Sun doesn't determine the seasons, and it doesn't the determine size of Sun halos. Easier to see with the Sun hidden behind a tall tree trunk, this beautiful ice halo forms a 22 degree-wide circle around the Sun, recorded while strolling through the countryside near Heroldstatt, Germany. The Sun halo's 22 degree angular diameter is determined by the six-sided geometry of water ice crystals drifting high in planet Earth's atmosphere.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
Burchett: Classified UFO briefing ‘energized’ Congress on issue, more hearings expected
01/13/24 8:56 AM ET
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said the classified briefing around unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), more commonly known as UFOs, may have only moved the needle a little bit, but it “energized” the House on the issue.
“I’d say on a scale of one to ten, I’d give it a four. I’d say the needle moved … it was bipartisan,” Burchett told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo in an interview Friday, when asked about how the hearing went.
He noted that “the whole gang” was in the room, pointing out Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.).
“At one time, we had 16 congressmen in there,” he added. “And these were people that normally … you wouldn’t see.”
Lawmakers left the hearing with mixed feelings. Some were frustrated with the limited information and some claimed they were given more insight after an explosive testimony by a whistleblower began conversations last summer.
Thomas Monheim, inspector general of the intelligence community, spoke with House Oversight and Accountability Community members in an attempt to improve transparency around what the government knows about UAP.
Burchett told Cuomo that he couldn’t tell him “what the big issue” of the meeting was, but said the closed-door conference provided “some validity to what’s been said.”
The Tennessee Republican noted there will be more hearings on the issue and said what the meeting Friday did accomplish, was that it “energized” Congress to keep looking into the issue.
The secret meeting comes after a hearing in July, when David Grusch — a former military intelligence officer — provided a stunning testimony and asserted that the Pentagon and other agencies are withholding information about UAPs. The Defense Department has denied those claims.
Burchett previously said he believes in the existence of extraterrestrial life and has accused the government of covering up evidence of it.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4406775-burchett-classified-ufo-briefing-energized-congress/
NASA: No Evidence of Drug Use at Elon Musk's SpaceX
Friday, 12 January 2024 09:20 AM EST
NASA said it has no proof of drug use at Elon Musk's SpaceX.
"The agency does not have evidence of non-compliance from SpaceX on how the company addresses the drug- and alcohol-free workforce regulations," NASA said Thursday in a statement, according to Bloomberg. "We expect our commercial partners to meet all workplace safety requirements in the execution of those missions and the services they provide the American people."
NASA said alcohol- and drug-free workplace contract clauses stipulate that contractors maintain a "robust and effective" corporate culture and safety program, Bloomberg noted.
The statement came after The Wall Street Journal reported that some high-ranking SpaceX officials were worried about Musk's drug use.
Musk, the world's wealthiest person, has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms, often at parties where attendees sign nondisclosure agreements, according to the Journal.
He's also smoked marijuana in public and has claimed he received a prescription for the anesthetic ketamine, the The Wall Street Journal noted.
Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Musk, said the Journal article contained "false facts."
In a Friday post on X, Musk wrote: "I and all employees of SpaceX passed random drug testing for years. NASA received all those results."
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/elon-musk-drugs-spacex/2024/01/12/id/1149335/