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House Intelligence chair blasts White House over Russia’s space nuke threat
June 20, 2024
House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) is ripping into the Biden administration for not being more transparent about intelligence on Russia’s purported development of a space-based nuclear weapon.
Turner, speaking June 20 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, accused the White House of withholding details about the status of the Russian anti-satellite weapon program, which he described as the modern-day equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
“If you’re not using intelligence to impact the outcome then intelligence has no value,” Turner said. “We need the administration to declassify the status of this program.”
The GOP lawmaker first raised alarms in February about the “grave” threat posed by Russia’s efforts to place a nuclear device in orbit capable of generating a catastrophic electromagnetic pulse to disable satellites.
The next day, the White House confirmed seeing intelligence about an anti-satellite threat from Moscow but said it was not yet an operational capability.
Turner during his talk at CSIS insisted that disclosing more information would not jeopardize sources and methods, arguing it could help deter Russia and inform how the U.S. works with allies on the issue.
“Knowing more about the status of the program can inform our to-do list, and how we work with allies,” he said.
‘Day zero’ event
The congressman raised the specter of Russia detonating a nuclear weapon in space as a potential “day zero” event sparking an armed conflict that could bring “the end of the Space Age” that began with Sputnik in 1957.
“The administration was willing to come forward and say that Russia is developing an anti-satellite nuclear weapon. The administration has confirmed this. This is not speculative,” Turner said.
“There are probably differing opinions as to what needs to be done. But that’s the dialogue that we need to be having, on what should be done. And the administration is not having that debate within itself or with the American public or worldwide with our allies.”
Turner accused the Biden administration of “sleepwalking into an irreversible ‘day zero'” and alleged that some factions within the government believe the U.S. can tolerate Russia’s space-based nuclear ambitions.
He alleged that the White House is avoiding the topic to obscure the “gap between what they should be doing and what they are doing.”
He called on the U.S. and NATO to jointly declare their resolve to enforce the 1967 Outer Space Treaty banning the stationing of weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
https://spacenews.com/house-intelligence-chair-blasts-white-house-over-russias-space-nuke-threat/
Rocket Lab launches first Kinéis satellites on 50th Electron
June 21, 2024
Rocket Lab successfully launched the first set of satellites for a French startup June 20 on the 50th flight of its Electron rocket.
The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 2:13 p.m. Eastern, carrying five Internet of Things (IoT) satellites for French company Kinéis.
Those satellites were deployed from the Electron’s kick stage about an hour later into orbits at an altitude 635 kilometers and inclination of 98 degrees.
The launch is the first of five Rocket Lab will perform for Kinéis under a contract announced in September 2021. Each launch will place five satellites weighing 28 kilograms each into orbit to build out a constellation to provide IoT services.
Alexandre Tisserant, chairman and chief executive of Kinéis, said in a statement that the launch went well and that spacecraft controllers were now working to adjust the orbits of the five spacecraft.
“These first five satellites in the constellation mark the start of the IoT revolution driven by Kinéis connectivity and offer the prospect of full commercial services,” he said.
The companies have not announced the schedule of the other four launches in the contract, other than a comment by Tisserant that the second launch was planned for “later this year.”
For Rocket Lab, the launch was the 50th flight of Electron since its introduction in May 2017.
Electron has emerged as the leading commercial small launch vehicle in Western markets, particularly as competitors suffered technical or financial setbacks ranging from launch failures to bankruptcies, as well as competition from larger rockets offering rideshare services.
“When Electron lifted off the pad for the first time in 2017, we knew we’d unlocked a new era in spaceflight, one where small satellites got to call the shots for the first time with frequent, tailored and reliable access to orbit.
Fifty launches later Electron is the most successful commercial small rocket globally,” Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said in a statement.
Rocket Lab boasted that Electron reached the milestone of 50 launches faster than any other commercially developed rocket, at seven years and one month.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 made its 50th launch in March 2018, seven years and nine months after its debut.
The 50 Electron launches includes one flight of a suborbital variant called HASTE in 2023.
It also includes four launch failures, one on its inaugural launch because of a problem with ground software that triggered range safety systems and three on launches from 2020 to 2023 because of separate problems with the upper stage.
Falcon 9 suffered one in-flight failure in its first 50 launches as well as the loss of another Falcon 9 in a pad test in 2016.
This launch was the eighth of this year for the Electron.
Rocket Lab had previously projected performing 22 Electron launches, including two HASTE missions, in 2024, but in a May earnings call backed off of those projections, citing customer delays.
The company did not announce after the Kinéis launch the date or the customer of its next Electron mission.
https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-launches-first-kineis-satellites-on-50th-electron/
DARPA's military-grade 'quantum laser' will use entangled photons to outshine conventional laser beams
June 20, 2024
Researchers are developing a new, military-grade "quantum laser" that can cut through fog and operate across long distances.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $1 million grant to scientists building a prototype "quantum photonic-dimer laser" that uses quantum entanglement to "glue" light particles together and generate a highly concentrated laser beam.
Lasers play a crucial role in military operations and are used in everything from satellite communications and targeting technology to mapping and tracking systems like lidar (light detection and ranging).
Conventional lasers work by stimulating electrons in atoms to oscillate in unison. When these electrons move from a high-energy state to a low-energy state, they release a form of light called "coherent light" — light with uniform wavelength and phase.
As this light is bounced between mirrors inside the laser device, it is refined into a concentrated laser beam.
But by using entangled photons, the quantum photonic-dimer laser can maintain precision and strength over greater distances and in adverse conditions, the scientists said in a statement.
Quantum lasers could therefore provide better performance for military applications like surveillance and secure communications in harsh environments.
"Photons encode information when they travel, but the travel through the atmosphere is very damaging to them," project lead Jung-Tsung Shen, associate professor of electrical & systems engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.
"When two photons are bound together, they still suffer the effects of the atmosphere, but they can protect each other so that some phase information can still be preserved."
The two-color photonic dimer laser works by bonding pairs of photons — fundamental particles that represent the smallest building blocks of electromagnetic radiation — through a process called quantum entanglement.
Quantum entanglement is a strange and complex phenomenon in the field of quantum mechanics that occurs when two or more particles become interconnected in such a way that one particle instantly influences the state of the other — regardless of the distance between them.
When two photons are linked together through quantum entanglement, they create what are known as photonic dimers, the researchers said.
These pairs of photons are easier to manipulate because they act as a single entity, with any change applied to one photon directly affecting the other.
This binding of light particles increases the energy and stability of the laser, making it better at performing over long distances and in adverse conditions like extreme temperatures and fog.
Previous work by Shen and his team, published in December 2020, explored how quantum photonic-dimer laser technology could be used to improve deep brain imaging. In that study, they used photonic dimers to map intricate neural structures.
The technology can also play a role in quantum computing and telecommunications, the researchers said, possibly leading to faster and more secure ways of transmitting data.
"We are trying to exploit the property of entanglement to do something innovative. The entanglement can do many things that we can only dream of — this is just the tip of the iceberg," Shen said.
https://www.space.com/darpa-quantum-laser-will-use-entangled-photons
The 1st 'major lunar standstill' in more than 18 years is about to occur. Here's how to see it
June 19, 2024
In addition to the April 8 total solar eclipse and vibrant displays of auroras, there's another celestial treat for skywatchers this year: the first "major lunar standstill" since 2006.
During this event, the moon rises and sets at its most extreme northerly and southerly positions on the horizon, reaching its highest and lowest points in the 18.6-year lunar cycle.
This is possible because the moon doesn't follow the same path as the sun. Its rising and setting positions on the horizon change constantly due to the movements of Earth and the moon.
The solar system is flat, with the planets orbiting the sun on the same plane, known as the ecliptic.
Earth rotates on an axis tilted by 23.4 degrees with respect to this ecliptic, causing the sun to rise and set within almost 47 degrees — a range it gradually covers over an entire year.
The moon's orbit is tilted by 5.1 degrees relative to the ecliptic, allowing it to rise and set within a 57-degree range in any given month.
This explains why the moon can sometimes rise and set at points on the horizon farther north and south than the sun can.
A major lunar standstill, or lunistice, occurs when the tilts of both Earth and the moon are at their maximum. During this period, the moon rises and sets at the extremes of its range.
It rises at its very highest northeasterly point and sets at its very highest northwesterly point. During this period, it also rises at its most southeasterly point and sets at its most southwesterly point.
The major lunar standstill significantly affects how long the moon is in the sky at night. A moon rising farthest northeast in the Northern Hemisphere climbs higher into the sky and stays in the sky longer.
It shines in a noticeably different position than during a minor lunar standstill, when the range of where it rises and sets is at its narrowest.
Historical sites such as Stonehenge, Callanish and Newgrange appear to be aligned with moonrise and moonset points during a major lunar standstill, indicating the celestial event’s past importance.
This major lunar standstill will be at its most extreme around the equinoxes in September 2024 and March 2025.
However, visibility depends on the moon's phase, your location and the weather.
Good times to look include when the moon rises and the sun sets, and vice versa, during a full moon.
https://www.space.com/1st-lunar-standstill-in-18-years-about-to-occur-how-to-see-it
'Hairy aliens' used mind control to scare off officials from UFO crash site ex CIA scientist claims
June 19, 2024
Startling allegations have surfaced, claiming that diminutive "hairy, grey aliens" once visited Earth and used mind control on undercover US officials to prevent the recovery of a UFO crash site.
These astonishing revelations emerge from recently disclosed emails between former CIA scientist Hal Puthoff and ex-CIA Life Sciences Division analyst Kit Green.
Their exchanges were revealed in a 1999 issue of a UFO magazine, penned under the false name Greg Halifax.
Here, the narrative of an individual known as Sedge Masters was detailed, who was part of a squad tasked with securing a downed UFO/UAP.
Sedge alleges that this operation constituted the "blackest of American covert operations", roping in various intelligence community members all thoroughly screened for psychological soundness, reports the Daily Star.
Locations involved in these incidents, named after zodiacal constellations and ranging from New Mexico to Denmark to the Midwest of the US, sparked great intrigue.
However, the most mysterious one, dubbed Zodiac, centered on the Nordic territories.
A fresh analysis of the emails and accounts suggests that extraterrestrial beings were present, described as: "small, grey and hairy."
Recorded recovery sites include spots in New Mexico, the Danish coastline, and the Midwest.
In the account, an anonymous Colonel recounts to a psychologist how during one crash retrieval, a massive UAP 'craft' materialized overhead the crash location, telepathically instructing the recovery crew against salvaging the downed vessel.
"The team then experienced 90 minutes of missing time and were not able to share that information with staff at WPAFB (CIA) until they were telepathically 'released' and able to do so; the psychologist states 'the little gray b**tards have thought control and empathy projection'."
Although no further details of the encounter were made public, a document shared on Reddit this week alleges that WPAFB (CIA) holds over "two million accounts of UAP/UFO sightings by military personnel and US civilians which were never investigated."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/hairy-aliens-used-mind-control-to-scare-off-officials-from-ufo-crash-site-ex-cia-scientist-claims/ar-BB1ovoKR
Sri Lanka's Fishermen Report UFO Sightings Following Earthquake
June 20, 2024
In a scenario reminiscent of a sci fi movie, fishermen in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka have reported sightings of Unidentified flying objects in the sky following an earthquake in the Vavuniya District.
Responding to these UFO Sightings, Jaffna University's Department of Geography announced that they are paying special attention to these claims.
According to the fishermen, two blue lights, believed to be unidentified flying objects, were seen moving slowly in the sky. Local reports suggest that these UFOs were more visible over the ocean than on land. The bright lights were clearly discernible in the night sky.
Fishermen in the Mullaitivu District claimed similar objects were seen prior to the Boxing Day Tsunami, which devestated Sri Lanka's coastline and claimed over 30,000 lives. They reported that these UFO sightings disappeared after the tsunami struck.
The fishermen and the community in the Mullaitivu District have urged authorities to investigate the sightings and take necessary precautions. A representative from the Department of Geography at Jaffna University stated the department has received reports of these sightings and has informed the relevant officials to take prompt action.
https://lankasara.com/news/sri-lankas-fishermen-report-ufo-sightings-earthquake/
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