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Astrophotographer captures extraordinary footage of the ISS flying in front of the sun
July 2, 2024
This image shows the silhouette of the International Space Station (ISS) as it crosses in front of the sun's disk at a distance of 274 miles (441.5 km) from us and at a speed of about 4.5 miles per second (7.31km/s).
Seen from Figueira da Foz on northern cost of Portugal on June 2, 2024, at 1:18 p.m. local time (1218 GMT), this transit had a total duration of only 0.54 seconds.
The video shows a time-lapse of 200 images captured over the course of around 2 seconds.
The ISS transit across the sun was hard to see even with a special telescope equipped with hydrogen filters.
I was only able capture this rare moment that happened in the blink of an eye with a fast video camera from Player One Astronomy, the Apollo-M Max, with its shutter set to an high speed frame rate of 109 images per second.
The images were processed individually without being stacked, and I was impressed with the quality achieved only with single frames.
The ISS is visible in white on the first sequence, because of the inversion technique used to process the images of the sun's chromosphere with more depth. The second sequence shows the ISS in black without this inversion visible.
Its interesting that it's possible to recognize the distinct structures of the ISS in the photo, including its solar panels and modules.
The image also shows in great detail jets of gas on the sun's outer atmosphere, a large gas filament and a large active region (or sunspot), as well as a few solar prominences around the sun's limb.
With a diameter of 865,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers), our sun is composed of 73% hydrogen, 25% helium and 2% heavier elements.
The ISS completes an entire orbit around Earth each 90-93 minutes. The orbital laboratory, home to an international crew of astronauts, spans some 358 feet (109 meters) in width.
While fairly large in the sky with an angular diameter of 62.58", the ISS seems very small when compared with the massive size of the solar disc, which has an angular size of 31.6'.
That makes the sun appear some 30.3 times larger than the ISS at the moment of this photo.
I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do, and if you want to support my work as an independent artist, you can buy this image as a print and a piece of art or a wall decoration for your own home!
Explore different sizing options and different print types below or contact me if you need further assistance.
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https://www.space.com/sun-behind-iss-photo-miguel-claro
https://vimeo.com/956485313
Giant river system that existed 40 million years ago discovered deep below Antarctic ice
July 2, 2024
Geologists digging into the massive ice sheet of West Antarctica have discovered the remains of an ancient river system that once flowed for nearly a thousand miles.
The discovery offers a glimpse into the Earth's history and hints at how extreme climate change could alter the planet, according to their findings, published June 5 in the journal Science Advances.
"If we think about a potentially severe climate change in the future, we need to learn from periods in Earth's history where this already happened," Johann Klages, study co-author and a sedimentologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, told Live Science.
Between 34 million to 44 million years ago, an epoch known as the middle-to-late Eocene, Earth's atmosphere transformed drastically. As carbon dioxide levels plummeted, global cooling triggered the formation of glaciers on an ice-free Earth.
Scientists are interested in investigating how this major climate event unfolded in Antarctica, especially as carbon dioxide levels on Earth continue to rise due to human-caused climate change.
The amount of carbon dioxide during the late Eocene period was almost double the amount we have today. However, it may be similar to levels predicted in about 150 to 200 years if levels of greenhouse gases continue to rise, Klages said.
But uncovering the past has proven challenging. Most of West Antarctica today is covered in ice, making it difficult to access sedimentary rocks, which are critical to studying early environments.
Geologists often rely on the type of grains, minerals and fossils trapped within these sediments to work out the kind of conditions that characterize an area.
In 2017, Klages and other scientists onboard the research vessel Polarstern expedition traversed from the southernmost part of Chile, across the rough Drake Passage and into the western part of the icy continent. Equipped with advanced seafloor drilling equipment, Klages and his team set out to collect cores from soft sediments and hard rocks within the frozen seabed.
After drilling nearly 100 feet (30 meters) into the seafloor, the researchers retrieved sediments with layers from two distinct periods.
By calculating the half-life of radioactive elements, such as the ratio of uranium and lead in the sediment, they found that the lower part of the sediment was formed during the mid-Cretaceous period, about 85 million years ago.
This sediment contained fossils, spores and pollens characteristic of a temperate rainforest, which existed at that time. The upper part of the sediment contained mostly sand from the mid-to-late Eocene epoch, about 30 million to 40 million years ago.
Upon closer inspection, they recognized a strongly stratified pattern in the Eocene sand layer that resembled those coming from a river delta, very similar to something one would encounter in the Mississippi River or Rio Grande, Klages said.
The scientists performed a lipid biomarker analysis, in which they quantified the amount of lipid and sugar in the sediment, and found a unique molecule commonly found in cyanobacteria that live in freshwater.
The finding confirmed their suspicions that an ancient river once snaked across the continent.
The researchers traced the Eocene grains to a distinct salt region in the Transantarctic Mountains, traversing an area that spanned about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) before draining into the Amundsen Sea.
"This is exciting — just having this exciting image in your brain that there was this gigantic river system flowing through Antarctica that is now covered by kilometers of ice," Klages said.
Klages and his team are now analyzing parts of the core sediments that belong to a more recent Oligocene-Miocene period, about 23 million years ago. That will help refine models to better predict future climate.
https://www.space.com/giant-river-40-million-years-old-discovered-below-antarctic-ice
King, queen of Denmark, Greenland prime minister visit Pituffik SB
July 1, 2024
Pituffik Space Base hosted King Frederik X, king of the Kingdom of Denmark, his wife, Queen Mary, queen of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede, June 29.
The visit offered the opportunity to emphasize the U.S. Space Force’s dedication to its partnership with the Kingdom of Denmark, to include Greenland, and its commitment to upholding a safe and secure presence in space.
Located in Greenland, Pituffik SB, formerly known as Thule Air Base, is the Department of Defense’s northernmost installation and is operated by the 821st SBG and part of Space Base Delta 1.
Pituffik SB exists today due to agreements between the U.S. and the Kingdom of Denmark, specifically addressing mutual defense.
While the base is locked in by ice nine months out of the year, the airfield is operational year-round, and despite its secluded appearance, Pituffik SB serves a vital role in ensuring mission success for the U.S. Space Force and Space Operations Command.
U.S. Space Force Col. Jason Terry, 821st SBG commander, discussed the value that the U.S. Space Force’s partnership with the Kingdom of Denmark brings to deterrence capabilities.
“Pituffik Space Base hosts a variety of organizations with logistical support in the Arctic, including NASA, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and multi-national climatic, seismic and deep space research,” Terry said.
“Pituffik Space Base also provides for NATO partners’ trans-shipment and resupply of isolated Danish and Canadian bases, and occasional long-distance flight training and critical emergency medical support to Northwestern Greenland, nearby sea-lanes and civilian overflying aircraft.”
During their visit, King Frederik X, Queen Mary and Prime Minister of Greenland MĂşte Bourup Egede were given a tour of Pituffik SB as well as the outskirts of the base where they enjoyed a view of the iconic Mount Dundas, which served as a base camp for polar expeditions in the late 19th century and into the 20th century.
To finish their visit, the King and Queen alongside Greenland’s Prime Minister, visited the historic U.S. military site – D Launch. In pursuit of nuclear deterrence, D-launch served as an underground ice filled missile silo for the U.S. during the Cold War.
Today, the base supports numerous missions – Missile Warning, Missile Defense and Space Surveillance from the solid-state phased-array radar operated by the 12th Space Warning Squadron and Satellite Command and Control through the Pituffik Tracking Station operated by the 23rd Space Operations Squadron, Detachment 1.
Pituffik SB allows for the U.S. Space Force to have a “Top of the World” vantage point, ultimately enabling space superiority for the U.S. and its allies.
“The United States seeks an Arctic region that is peaceful, stable, prosperous and cooperative. One of our priorities is to deepen relations with allies and partners, which is particularly true for the Arctic,” Terry said.
“We are working to strengthen our cooperation with the entire Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland, and all countries that uphold international law, rules, norms and standards in the region.”
With modern life being so dependent on space, protecting U.S. and allied nations space infrastructure is more pivotal than ever before.
It is through the partnership between the U.S. and Kingdom of Denmark that allows Space Operations Command to ensure the U.S. Space Force can generate, present and sustain combat-ready intelligence, cyber, space and combat support forces that defend critical infrastructure.
“We have maintained an unbreakable bond working towards the collective defense and stability of the Arctic,” Terry said.
“Together, the Guardians and Airmen of Pituffik Space Base and our Greenlandic and Danish partners will ensure a safe, secure and prosperous future both in space and the Arctic.”
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3824064/king-queen-of-denmark-greenland-prime-minister-visit-pituffik-sb/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3823432/combat-ready-embracing-a-new-us-space-force-generational-model/
=Combat-Ready – Embracing a new US Space Force Generational Model
July 1, 2024
The current international order, which has provided decades of relative security and stability, is at risk from authoritarian regimes seeking to promote their own self-interests.
An ambitious China and an overtly belligerent Russia are aggressively challenging established rules and norms upon which global security and stability depend.
These security challenges have now extended into the space domain, with both regimes conducting destructive anti-satellite missile tests, striking their own satellites to demonstrate the ability to target U.S. and allied satellites.
These tests generated more than 4,000 pieces of debris, threatening human life and requiring on-orbit assets like the International Space Station to maneuver out of harm’s way.
Both nations are also developing and fielding on-orbit counter-space weapons and intelligence and surveillance systems to find, fix, track, and target U.S. forces.
Moreover, China demonstrated a fractional orbital bombardment system in July 2021, and more recently to the alarm of many in the international community, Russia appears to be pursuing a nuclear anti-satellite capability in space.
It is these actions and ambitions that have transformed space into no less than a “warfighting domain.”
The irresponsible behavior of Russia and China threatens not just our national security, but also the systems critical to a smooth functioning global economy and to everyday essentials such as GPS, satellite communications, arms control verification, and international banking.
That is why Congress, with bipartisan support, established the United States Space Force in 2019.
Our purpose is straightforward: to provide a “space enabled combat edge in order to out-see, out-shoot, out-maneuver, and out-communicate” any adversary and to protect the joint force from space-enabled attack.
Our mission is to “secure our nation’s interests in, from, and to space!” The U.S. remains the world’s leading spacepower, but that superiority is being challenged and threatened at an unrelenting pace.
Rest assured, the Space Force is responding, evolving, and presenting combat-ready capabilities in, from, and to space that allow the U.S. and our allies to deter and, if necessary, defeat any potential threat to U.S. space capabilities.
As senior leaders helping to formulate and lead our efforts in space, we know that prevailing in space demands excellence and innovation here on earth.
To meet the demands of Great Power Competition, July 1 marks the implementation of the United States Space Force’s new readiness model delivering optimized and tailored mission readiness for combatant command and service-assigned missions.
Our Space Force Generation (SPAFORGEN) model is an unprecedented improvement in how we organize, train and equip our Guardians, as well as our joint and coalition teammates.
This foundational approach builds on the successes of the past five years to field combat-credible space forces and better postures our Guardians and Airmen to defeat threats to the United States, our allies and our partners.
Organizing to deter and win
SPAFORGEN organizes forces into combat squadrons and combat detachments with integrated mission planning; mission support; intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and cyber capabilities required to accomplish the mission. Combat forces increasingly leverage our network of installations as power-projection platforms to provide force protection and security, combat support maintenance and sustainment, mission enhancements and engineering capability. As we employ combat squadrons as our tactical unit of action, we are deliberately and conscientiously prioritizing combat effectiveness over organizational efficiency. These combat squadrons will be committed to USSF service component commands around the globe to execute warfighting missions. For example, the commander, U.S. Space Forces-U.S. Space Command will receive forces on behalf of U.S. Space Command and will have command and control of these forces to seamlessly execute the space warfighting mission powered by a constant flow of fully trained and ready forces who now have dedicated time to “prepare” and “ready” themselves for presentation as a “committed force” and as an integrated team.
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Training to deter and win
Simultaneously, we are taking a fundamentally new approach to training our combat forces. SPAFORGEN integrates unit, mission area (e.g. Missile Warning and Tracking, Space Electromagnetic Warfare, Orbital Warfare, Space Domain Awareness), and integrated warfighting team training evolutions tailored to the latest threat intelligence and combatant commander needs and requirements. This building-block approach allows unprecedented reach, at speed, across USSF units to establish the mutually supporting relationships needed to pace any threat.
Advanced training beyond weapon system procedural processes and day-to-day operations enables Guardians and Airmen to better understand the threat and the combat mission needs of their weapons systems, enabling innovative solutions to warfighting scenarios. Future investments in training and simulator development will increase training fidelity and span the continuum of conflict, providing our Guardians and Airmen a more realistic environment to refine or challenge our current tactics, techniques and procedures.
Equipping to deter and win
Our Guardians and Airmen are committed to the safety, stability, and security of the space domain, and as such need the right tools to conduct their missions. To speed weapon system improvements and sustainment and to align responsibility, authorities, and resources under a single commander, the secretary of the Air Force and the chief of space operations designated the commander of Space Operations Command as the executive agent for weapon system sustainment and activated integrated mission deltas to harness the power of our operations, ISR, cyber and sustainment professionals under a single chain of command. This important step will allow mission area commanders to better balance current and future risk for their weapon systems and aligns resources and accountability to drive readiness improvements. Further, we are also accelerating the removal of the historical security barriers to advanced capability development through common training and committing to a new security access baseline for planning and employment. Finally, we are increasing the resilience of our current space architectures through the proliferation of space systems and the fortification of our weapon system infrastructure, all while modernizing legacy systems to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Committed to deter and win
After forces have been properly prepared and readied, the Space Force strategically allocates and assigns crews and their inherent capabilities to operational missions under combatant commanders. This mission assignment ensures these elements are effectively employed, maximizing their impact and support to the joint and combined force. Among the force elements offered by the Space Force are employed-in-place combat squadrons, which are assigned to combatant commands like U.S. Space Command through the component field commands. Additionally, the Space Force provides deployable combat detachments that can be allocated to other combatant commands, as needed. This flexible approach to readiness allows for space service components to provide real-time feedback to their combatant commanders and to Space Operations Command so force offerings in the future can be tailored and, as directed, reallocated to effectively respond to evolving scenarios.
Our Guardians and Airmen have made remarkable advances and have evolved to meet the growing threat in the space domain in this first SPAFORGEN cycle. We will continue to enhance this model base on feedback and critical analysis from our most vital source for process improvement – the exceptional Guardians and Airmen who comprise the SPAFORGEN force elements.
The implementation of the new SPAFORGEN model is providing the framework to deliver synchronized, combat-focused Space Forces that combatant commanders demand to face growing threats to the joint and combined force. The increasing recklessness and irresponsible behavior of our competitors necessitates a critical shift in our thinking about generating and presenting combat-ready spacepower.
As China and Russia continue to act aggressively in space, we will remain clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. By remaining flexible and putting our Space Force Guardians at the forefront of deterrence operating concepts, we will ensure the United States and our allies continue to have unfettered access to and continued use of the space domain now and into the future.
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Space Force begins first synchronized SPAFORGEN Commit cycle
July 1, 2024
The U.S. Space Force is continuing implementation of its Space Force Generation (SPAFORGEN) model across the force, beginning its first synchronized Commit phase cycle July 1 after the successful completion of the Prepare and Ready phases.July 1, 2024
The start of this phase marks a major milestone in the Space Force’s efforts to reoptimize for great power competition.
“As the lead Field Command for executing SPAFORGEN, we are focused on generating, presenting, sustaining and improving combat-ready space forces for Service and Combatant Command missions,” said Lt. Gen. David Miller, Jr., Space Operations Command commander.
“Aligning the timing of these phases for all units across our command helps us ensure combat-credible force elements and warrior leaders across our formations are postured and ready for employment.”
The SPAFORGEN model allows the service to balance presenting forces in support of global combatant command mission requirements with maintaining the highest possible level of Guardians’ overall readiness; implementation began October 2022.
“Solidifying how the Space Force presents forces is an important way we are optimizing for great power competition,” said Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman.
“Form must follow function. Our force presentation must reflect that every mission we perform requires expertise in intelligence, cyberspace operations, space system operations, engineering and sustainment.”
To reflect the Space Force requirement of presenting integrated expertise, the service has designated combat formations as its unit of action.
There are two types of combat formations that will be presented to the Joint Force: combat squadrons that will execute employed-in-place activities, and combat detachments that will conduct deployable activities.
Unlike pre-existing force generation processes built around physically deployable forces, space forces are primarily employed in-place, driving the need for a unique force generation model.
This model has three phases—Prepare, Ready, and Commit—establishing a predictable, standardized battle rhythm that combat squadrons or detachments rotate through.
“Day-to-day space operations, while critical, do not routinely offer Guardians the opportunity to practice for the challenges they will face in a combat environment,” Saltzman said.
“Rotating force elements through Prepare, Ready, and Commit phases creates the opportunity to deliberately build the high-end readiness we need.”
During the Prepare phase, Guardians build expertise in their assigned roles through training, positional upgrades and professional military education.
This time also allows forces to focus on resiliency and includes planned leave.
In the Ready phase, Guardians in force elements conduct advanced training, small and large force employment exercises, squadron-level validations and other preparations for operations.
Finally, Guardians then rotate into the Commit phase, during which force elements are fully resourced, validated, and ready to conduct combat operations. They are then allocated or assigned to an operational mission in support of combatant commanders.
As a rotational model, SPAFORGEN enables high-end readiness as it allows space forces to conduct daily operations while still having capacity to train for executing missions in the highly congested and contested space domain characterized by great power competition.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3823483/space-force-begins-first-synchronized-spaforgen-commit-cycle/
World UFO Day – July 2, 2024
“I want to believe.” These are the words of notorious X-Files hero Fox Mulder, who convinced an entire generation that the truth is out there – we just have to find it. But on July 2, it won’t only be sci-fi enthusiasts trying out their ET sleuthing skills, as everyone on planet earth will have to opportunity to celebrate World UFO Day. UFOs have been the stuff of legend for centuries, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that freaky flying saucers grabbed national and international mainstream attention.
Since then, UFOs have captured the minds of old and young alike, and witness’ stories have proliferated around the world.
World UFO Day serves as a way for everyone to come together and watch the skies on the same night in search of UFOs, but that’s not its only purpose.
Many see the holiday as a way to spread knowledge and awareness of UFOs, making a case for their existence, and hoping to make disciples out of the dubious.
So why July 2? For many, this date represents the anniversary of the famed and all-but-confirmed 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico.
Believers claim a UFO crash landed here, deep in the American southwest, but that the government has been covering it up ever since. What do you believe?
WORLD UFO DAY ACTIVITIES
Have a “Welcome to Earth” party
In case you needed a reason to throw a party, there’s plenty of opportunity here. Alien and UFO costumes are simple and funny, while the food ideas are endless.
Alien cupcakes with green icing, red jello with rocket ships suspended in the middle or even prepackaged moonpies are all great ideas.
For an older-earthlings party, try mixing vodka, blue curacao, grenadine, cranberry juice and sours for a Purple People Eater cocktail.
Do some investigative research
There are more than enough stories, legends and actual scientific findings on UFOs and space exploration to keep you busy for a day.
Use the power of the internet to separate fact from fiction, and try coming up with your own theories on whether the truth really is out there.
Finish the evening by gazing up at the stars before going to bed. You never know what you might see.
Have a UFO movie marathon
Depending how far you want to go back, try watching a few UFO films from different eras. The Flash Gordon-types of the 30s were genre-defining.
The Martian marauders story typical of the 50s and 60s may be a bit campy for you, but you could have some friends over to watch them a la Mystery Science Theater 3000, and let the heckling begin.
Or settle in for the visually stunning films of the last few decades - take your pick, sit back, and blast off.
https://nationaltoday.com/world-ufo-day/