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China launches new Gaofen-11 high resolution spy satellite
July 19, 2024
China added a fifth Gaofen-11 high resolution satellite to its CHEOS constellation with a launch late Thursday.
A Long March 4B rocket lifted off at 11:03 p.m. Eastern July 18 (0303 UTC, July 19) from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, north China.
The launcher carried the Gaofen-11 (05) high resolution optical earth observation satellite. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) declared launch success shortly after in a statement.
Airspace closure notices preceded and notified of the planned launch. The payload was only revealed after launch success was declared.
The satellite adds to China’s high resolution Earth observation capabilities. CASC states the satellite will be used for purposes for land survey, urban planning, land rights confirmation, road network design, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and mitigation.
The statement provided no images nor details of the satellite. Gaofen-11 satellites are thought to be among China’s most capable optical satellites however.
Previous Gaofen-11 missions and comments provide clues as to the nature and capabilities of the satellite. The four previous Gaofen-11 satellites launched on Long March 4B rockets. The satellites are in near-polar, roughly 500-kilometer-altitude orbits.
State television showed an apparent render of the first Gaofen-11 launched in 2018. The mission control screen depicted the satellite attached to the Long March 4B upper stage in orbit.
It suggests the Gaofen-11 series have large (1.5-meter-diameter-plus) apertures for optical remote sensing.
An article published by the Chinese Society for Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography (Chinese) in November 2020 states that Gaofen-11 has the capability to return optical imagery at a resolution on the order of around 10 centimeters.
Gaofen satellites form the civilian China High-resolution Earth Observation System (CHEOS). Optical, multispectral, hyperspectral and synthetic aperture radar satellites make up CHEOS.
Detailed information regarding resolution and capabilities has been published for Gaofen series satellites numbered 1-7. However information for Gaofen satellites numbered 8 and above has not been openly released.
This suggests the satellites are at least partially for military customers.
The launch was China’s 33rd orbital mission of 2024. CASC stated early in the year that the country was aiming to launch around 100 times.
This includes around 70 launches by CASC—China’s state-owned main space contractor—and 30 from commercial providers.
Major launches include the successfully completed Chang’e-6 lunar far side sample return mission. Tiangong space station cargo and crew missions will follow in the coming months.
The planned first orbital launch of the Tianlong-3 rocket from commercial outfit Space Pioneer appears in serious doubt following an unintentional and catastrophic launch of its first stage during a planned static-fire test late June.
The aftermath may see the rocket delayed into 2025. CASC is currently preparing for the first launch of the Long March 12. The rocket will be capable of sending up to 12,00 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 6,000 kg to sun-synchronous orbit.
https://spacenews.com/china-launches-new-gaofen-11-high-resolution-spy-satellite/
Little Mars 'snowman' spotted by NASA's Perseverance rover
July 19, 2024
If Olaf, a sweet and sensitive snowman from the Disney movie Frozen, had ancestors on other planets, could this perhaps be a dusty relative?
On July 13, which is Sol 1208 on Mars, the Perseverance rover's Right Mastcam-Z camera spotted an area with several rock formations during its daily investigation of the Red Planet's surface. It dutifully delivered a photo to Earth.
If you look closely, as we did here at Space.com, you might notice that in the bottom left corner of the photo, there's a stack of rocks that resembles a baby snowman!
This little guy might have more of a dry and dusty composition, unlike Olaf's fluffy and bright white physique, but, if you use your imagination, it could almost present itself as posing a very important question to Perseverance: "Do you want to build a snowman?"
The Perseverance rover is still located within the Jezero Crater, where it landed back on February 18, 2021, but has now started its journey to ascend the crater and move into a new location.
In theory, could it be possible for a true snowman to exist on Mars? Well, the simple answer is "probably not." However, there is also a long answer.
Mars might have a thin atmosphere, but it still can whip up dynamic climate and extreme weather events — anywhere from dust storms to, technically, even snow.
Yet, it hasn't always been this way for the Red Planet. Reports that came out from NASA's MAVEN mission concluded that, in the past, Mars had a thick enough atmosphere that water could exist on the surface for prolonged periods of time.
According to NASA scientists, there's still water on the planet — but with its presently thin atmosphere, that water would only be able to stay in a liquid state for a limited amount of time. So, water on Mars can be located below polar regions' surface, just as water-ice or as seasonal briny water that meanders down hillsides and crater walls.
Perhaps one could make a "snowman" out of those substances with enough tinkering, but I can't imagine it'd look like a classic Earth-based snowman.
Still, it can't hurt to take a moment to enjoy what we can spot in the NASA rover's new image.
Attaching sentimental shapes to rocks on Mars is quite the same thing as laying on the grass and identifying animals in the clouds overhead.
https://www.space.com/snowman-rock-perserverance-mars-rover
Sauce, please?
Astra completes deal to go private
July 19, 2024
Astra Space ended more than three years as a public company July 18 by completing a deal to take the company private at a tiny fraction of what it was once valued at.
The company announced before the markets opened that it had closed a deal announced earlier this year with the company’s co-founders, Chris Kemp and Adam London, to take the company private at 50 cents per share.
Shares had closed at 53.9 cents July 17.
The agreement ends Astra’s time as a publicly traded company a little more than three years after it made its debut on the Nasdaq.
Astra went public through a merger with Holicity, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Such mergers offered a shortcut for companies to go public compared to the traditional initial public offering process.
The market, though, soured on SPAC mergers in general and Astra in particular.
Shares in Astra, when corrected for reverse stock splits, have fallen by more than 99% from its peak in the days after going public in July 2021.
The company’s market capitalization went from several billion dollars to about $12 million.
Astra, running low on cash, considered bankruptcy several times in recent months before electing to accept the deal offered by Kemp and London, even after they slashed the per-share price by two thirds.
A board committee concluded the only alternative to the deal was a bankruptcy filing that could liquidate the company.
Astra went public with plans to offer high-frequency, low-cost launches of small satellites on its Rocket 3 vehicle.
However, that vehicle managed only two successful orbital launches on seven attempts, and the company retired the vehicle after a failure in June 2022 on a NASA mission.
The company planned to develop a larger vehicle, Rocket 4, but that have been delayed by the company’s financial problems.
It has generated modest revenues from sales of electric propulsion systems using a design from Apollo Fusion, a company it acquired in 2021.
The announcement of the deal to go private offered few clues about the company’s future plans and how it will finance them. Kemp, appearing at the June 15 premiere in Washington of Wild, Wild Space, a documentary about Astra as well as Planet and Rocket Lab, said he had raised a “ton of money” to take the company private but did not disclose specifics.
“The team is super excited to, as a private company, just put our heads down, get focused on putting Rocket 4 back on the pad,” Kemp said at the screening. “Hopefully that will be a much more successful flight.”
https://spacenews.com/astra-completes-deal-to-go-private/
Venus’ alien surprise: Gassy clues hint at possible life in the clouds
Jul 19, 2024 07:16 AM EST
Scientists have long dreamt of finding life beyond our planet. Venus hasn’t exactly been a strong contender, with its hostile environment.
However, two new findings have scientists buzzing. Astronomers have detected two gases in Venusian clouds that could be signs of life – phosphine and ammonia.
On Earth, both phosphine and ammonia are linked to living process. The Guardian reported that the new findings were presented by scientists at the national astronomy meeting in Hull on Wednesday, July 17.
Strong evidence of phospine
The surface of Venus is super hot around 450°C. That’s hot enough to melt common metals.
The air is super thick too, 90 times thicker than Earth’s air, and the clouds are filled with sulfuric acid. But there’s a weird thing – about 50 kilometers up, it’s not quite as hot or squished, and maybe some super tough microbes could survive there.
Phosphine was first spotted on Venus in 2020, but the finding was controversial as the authors were not able to substantiate the detection.
On Earth, some microbes are the usual suspects when it comes to phosphine synthesis, mainly in oxygen-free zones. Volcanoes can also cough up a little phosphine, but it’s a measly amount.
New observations confirm its presence and even link it to the planet’s day-night cycle. Dave Clements and the team from Imperial College London conducted the observations using the James Clerk Maxwell telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii.
They used the telescope to track the presence of phosphine signatures in the Venusian clouds.
This helped to solidify the evidence that phosphine gas is indeed hanging around in the Venusian atmosphere.
“Our findings suggest that when the atmosphere is bathed in sunlight the phosphine is destroyed,” Clements told in the meeting as the Guardian reported.
“All that we can say is that phosphine is there. We don’t know what’s producing it. It may be chemistry that we don’t understand. Or possibly life.”
The ammonia puzzle
Another team led by Prof Jane Greaves, an astronomer at Cardiff University, found hints of ammonia in the Venusian clouds.
This gas is also associated with life on Earth produced by bacteria that metabolize nitrogen. It is also linked to industrial processes.
Greaves mentioned in his talk that the detection is preliminary, and needs follow-up observations for confirmation.
The findings are fascinating, but they are far from conclusive evidence of life on Venus. There could be unknown chemical processes at play. Nonetheless, they warrant further investigation.
Greaves said: “Even if we confirmed both of these [findings], it is not evidence that we have found these magic microbes and they’re living there today.
The planet is an extremely hostile world because its atmosphere is filled with toxic gases. So, finding life on the planet seems next to impossible. Scientists believe life may have flourished on Venus in the distant past when the planet was more Earth-like.
However, several million years ago, it witnessed dramatic climatic shifts. Theories suggest that a runaway greenhouse effect then took hold, trapping heat and causing the Venusian atmosphere to become incredibly dense and hot.
The discoveries open fresh questions: What’s creating these gases? Could these gases be lingering remnants of that ancient life?
Perhaps, future NASA missions, VERITAS and DAVINCI, could help in finding some direct evidence.
https://interestingengineering.com/space/venus-alien-surprise-gassy-clues-hint-life-in-clouds
Are aliens behind Microsoft outage?
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/are-aliens-behind-microsoft-outage-pentagon-tracks-650-ufo-sightings-and-congress-subcommittee-discusses-aliens/articleshow/111868249.cms?
New Film States That A UFO Landed At A Royal Estate
Friday 19th Jul 2024
A new documentary - The King Of UFOs - explores the British Royal family's interest in UFOs and the paranormal.
It also looks at the role that King Charles can play in bringing UFO disclosure to the UK and USA.
One incredible moment in the film is where John Hanson a retired CID Police Officer with close links with Lord Louis Mountbatten recounts an event at Mountbatten's Broadlands Estate in Hampshire where a labourer Fred Briggs was knocked off his bike after watching a UFO descend a land at the estate!
The testimony that Briggs gave is in the archives at Broadlands and there is also a statement from Lord Mountbatten vouching for the integrity of Mr Briggs!
Other fabulous Royal encounters include the time when Prince Phillip nearly encountered a possible ET called Janus at a Chelsea flat.
Phillip's query Sir Peter Horsley was a UFO fanatic and used to keep Prince Phillip up to date with all the latest UFO sighting and one time arranged a meeting with what Horsley thought was a real Alien called Janus - who wanted to speak to people in authority who could help spread the alien message in order to save humanity.
Prince Phillip decided, wisely, not to attend and we now know that this Janus character was most likely a Soviet spy!
Both the Queen and Prince Phillip's interest in UFOs and crop circles continued and the film recounts a story of Queen Elizabeth II dispatching her own scientific advisor in the middle of the night to check out the latest crop circle formation in Wiltshire.
John Hanson author and retired CID Police Officer used to receiver letters from the Queen and Prince Phillip thanking him for his UFO books (Haunted Skies) and they told him that they had their own library of UFO books!
The film also looks at the testimony an evidence from former Naval diver Dan Costello who claims in 1975 to have seen Prince Charles fly a UFO craft in Nova Scotia! Costello claims in the film that Charles was one of 3 pilots in a dome shaped craft that had a strange electro magnetic propulsion powering it and had a trailing blue ionic flame.
Film-maker Mark Christopher Lee - Costello's testimony is fantastical but we have verified a lot of the information and evidence that he provided and I have also written to King Charles to verify the version of events.
If they are true then we have to question what sort of technology was this and why was Charles flying it?
Former Ministry Of Defence officer Nick Pope looks at the role that King Charles would play if we had first contact.
"He would have an important role to play as head of state and head of the Anglican Church. People will look to him to provide a lead in how we react and deal with being visited by extra terrestrials."
The film is coming soon to Amazon prime and Tubi,
https://pressat.co.uk/releases/new-film-states-that-a-ufo-landed-at-a-royal-estate-b87bbe7daa5c8f0c6239a618d102822c/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEZT9NotoVY