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NASA's Perseverance Prepares for Steep Climb Out of Mars Crater
August 15, 2024
After exploring the bottom of a Martian crater for three and a half years, NASA's Perseverance is preparing for the steep climb out.
NASA announced Wednesday that the car-sized rover would begin a monthslong ascent out of Jezero Crater next week.
The journey is expected to be more challenging than any Perseverance has taken on yet.
Jezero is a 45-kilometer (28-mile) crater basin in Mars' Syrtis Major quadrangle, which is characterized by igneous rocks, narrow ridges, and Earth-like buttes.
These geologic features intrigue scientists who are interested not only in understanding the Red Planet's makeup, but also in searching for signs of liquid water—and, by extension, extinct or extant life.
Since landing in Jezero in February 2021, Perseverance has snapped photos of the dusty crater, provided detailed Martian weather reports, collected (and deposited) sediment samples, and more.
But it's time for Perseverance to exit Jezero and explore the area around it instead. The week of Aug. 19, the rover will begin to climb up Jezero's western rim, kicking off its fifth science campaign, the Crater Rim Campaign.
Using its autonomous driving software, Perseverance will navigate a route designed by NASA to minimize hazards and maximize geographic exploration.
The route involves slopes of up to 23 degrees—nearing Percy's 30-degree maximum—and roughly 1,000 feet of elevation gain, making it the longest and most difficult voyage Perseverance has seen so far.
As soon as it summits Jezero's rim, Perseverance will arrive at a starting zone dubbed Aurora Park.
From there, the rover will navigate to the regions Pico Turquino and Witch Hazel Hill. NASA says Pico Turquino "contains ancient fractures that may have been caused by hydrothermal activity in the distant past," while Witch Hazel Hill possesses layered geology that could offer insight into Mars' ancient climate patterns.
Perseverance will collect additional sediment samples that, whether analyzed from 142 million miles away or brought back to Earth in an eventual return mission, will tell scientists more about the Red Planet's geologic history.
"Our [current] samples are already an incredibly scientifically compelling collection, but the crater rim promises to provide even more samples that will have significant implications for our understanding of Martian geologic history," said Eleni Ravanis, a Crater Rim Campaign science lead.
"This is because we expect to investigate rocks from the most ancient crust of Mars.
These rocks formed from a wealth of different processes, and some represent potentially habitable ancient environments that have never been examined up close before."
https://www.extremetech.com/science/nasas-perseverance-prepares-for-steep-climb-out-of-mars-crater
Precursor to onset of sloth rape?
Astrophotographers capture rare Jupiter and Mars encounter
August 15, 2024
On Aug. 14, avid astrophotographers turned their attention to the sky a couple of hours before sunrise and captured a rare planetary "meet-up" between Jupiter and Mars.
It's been over two years since Jupiter and Mars appeared this close together in the night sky and we'll have to wait until 2033 to see such a close encounter unfold again.
With Jupiter shining at magnitude -2.2 and Mars at +0.8, Jupiter outshined Mars by a factor of nearly 16 to 1, but that didn't stop the two from putting on quite the show.
"For a brief moment in time, it presented a fantastic celestial display," photographer Josh Dury told Space.com in an email.
Dury captured this incredible photograph from the summit of Glastonbury Tor, overlooking the Mendips in Somerset, U.K.
"The photograph itself captures the perspective of the alignment alongside a once-in-a-lifetime chance of a Perseid meteor entering the frame," Dury explained.
"It was a shock surprise to find this in my rushes and for me really delivers the magic and beauty of the cosmos with Jupiter and Mars being the two celestial objects that inspired me into the world of astronomy.
A pertinent moment for sure," Dury continued.
Astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project livestreamed the conjunction from his view over Maciano, Italy and captured this beautifully detailed image of Jupiter and Mars sharing the same spot in a sky filled with stars.
The two planets came as close as within a quarter-of-a-degree, or about 50% of the angular size of the lunar disk.
Lorenzo Di Cola also captured the conjunction over L'Aquila Italy. Both Jupiter and Mars were visible to the naked eye in the constellation Taurus during the cozy meet-up.
The photographer also took this amazing composition image made up of nine interval timer photos showing the two planets rising through the sky.
Mars and Jupiter are visible in conjunction and if you look carefully you can even see some of Jupiter's moons.
During the conjunction, Ganymede and Callisto were visible next to Jupiter, with Io and Europa situated between Jupiter and Callisto.
In the image below (to enlarge using the button in the top right corner) you can see bright Jupiter on the right and Mars on the very left. Now, focus on Jupiter.
To the lower left of the planet, there is a tiny speck of light. This is Ganymede.
Toward the upper right of the planet, you can just about make out a trail of three small dots of light. The closest one to Jupiter is Io, then it's Europa and Callisto.
Many people also took to X (formerly Twitter) to share some incredible photos of the planetary meet-up.
Former astronaut Chris Hadfield shared his friend Andrew Yee's photograph of Jupiter and Mars shining over Toronto, Canada.
Cont.
https://www.space.com/jupiter-mars-conjunction-close-encounter-photos-night-sky
Scientists drill longest-ever piece of Earth's mantle from underwater mountain near 'Lost City'
August 16, 2024
Researchers have drilled the deepest-ever sample of rocks from Earth's mantle, penetrating 0.7 mile (1.2 kilometers) in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the seafloor is spreading apart.
At this spot, which is rich in hydrothermal vents, the interactions between mantle rocks and seawater create chemicals that are important for life.
Previous efforts to drill into mantle rocks brought to the surface in the deep sea had reached only 659 feet (201 meters) — not deep enough to look for organisms such as heat-loving bacteria that might dwell farther down, said Gordon Southam, a geomicrobiologist at the University of Queensland in Australia and a co-author of a new study describing the core sample.
"Every time the drillers recovered another section of deep core, the microbiology team collected samples to culture bacteria to determine the limits of life in this deep subsurface marine ecosystem," Southam wrote in an email to Live Science.
"Our ultimate goal is to improve our understanding of the origins of life and to define the potential for life beyond Earth."
The rock core can also answer questions about the movement of the mantle, said Johan Lissenberg, a geochemist at the University of Cardiff in the U.K. and first author of the study, published today (Aug. 8) in the journal Science.
"We know from the rocks that erupt in oceanic volcanoes that the mantle has a lot of different 'flavors,'" Lissenberg told Live Science.
These "flavors" are varying rock compositions that come from the recycling of tectonic plates into Earth's interior.
With the new mantle sample, "we can really try to see what flavors have we got and on what scale do they vary," Lissenberg said, "and then reconstruct how those different bits of the mantle melted and then how they migrated towards the surface."
So far, the team has found that rather than traveling vertically, melts seem to move obliquely, traveling in a diagonal, inclined path toward the surface, Lissenberg said.
The core was drilled by the International Ocean Discovery Program in 2023. Researchers aboard the JOIDES Resolution research vessel drilled into the Atlantic Massif, a portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the ocean floor is pulling apart and mantle rocks are rising to the surface.
The spot drilled was near the "Lost City," a hydrothermal vent field crowded with beehive- and tower-shaped structures that release methane and hydrogen into the ocean.
Numerous microorganisms live off these molecules, supporting communities of small invertebrates like snails and tubeworms.
Mantle rock is fragile and tends to fall apart, jamming drill bits, Lissenberg said, but the team was remarkably lucky.
"For some reason, the mantle rocks in our site drilled like a dream," he said. "It was absolutely incredible to see."
The team began pulling intact sections of up to 16.4 feet (5 m) from the hole. In total, they retrieved a continuous record of more than 70% of the 0.7-mile core.
"We collected so many more samples than we had been expecting that we had already consumed many of our sample collection supplies by halfway through the expedition," study co-author William Brazelton, a microbiologist at the University of Utah, wrote in a statement emailed to Live Science.
The microbiology team was smashing rocks with sledgehammers nearly 24 hours a day for the two-month drilling project, he added.
"The nearly continuous recovery down to 1.2 km provides an excellent opportunity to document the relationships among microbial diversity, abundance, and activity with depth and temperature, including temperatures approaching the limit for life," Brazelton said.
https://www.space.com/longest-ever-mantle-sample-drilled-from-underwater-mountain-near-lost-city
Intense solar storm opens '2-way highway' for charged particles, sparking rare auroras on the sun
August 15, 2024
Auroras on Earth occur when storms from our sun engulf our planet — and in a rare cosmic feat last April, our planet returned the favor.
The sun's wind often punches into Earth's protective magnetic field, or magnetosphere, and forms a bow shock on the sunward wide of the field while detouring around our world — not unlike the way waves move when a ship is cutting through water.
This is classic solar behavior.
On April 24, 2023, however, something peculiar happened.
This is when a surge of charged particles blasted from the sun and lit up skies as far south as Arizona and Arkansas as well as parts of Australia and New Zealand.
Unconventionally, these particles momentarily switched off our planet's bow shock, an anomaly that opened up a "two-way highway" through which charged particles also flew from Earth to the sun, where they sparked a solar light show.
Compared to the sun's brightness, however, those auroras were likely far too dim to see.
"Particles trapped by Earth's magnetism suddenly had an escape — a direct path to the sun!" NASA posted last week on social media.
The "highway" was created largely due to a plasma-rich component of the solar wind called a coronal mass ejection (CME), which typically travels faster than the speed at which magnetic waves known as Alfvén waves move through plasma.
That speed is known as the Alfvén speed.
But during the April solar eruption, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft recorded the latter to be faster, which caused the bow shock to temporarily disappear.
It was by Alfvén "wings" that magnetically connected our planet to the portion of the sun that had recently erupted, NASA said.
The wings are named after Swedish physicist and Nobel laureate Hannes Alfven, who theorized the behavior of auroras and described them to occur due to charged particles from the sun falling into Earth's atmosphere via its magnetic field lines.
He shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1970 for his work on the nature of electromagnetic waves moving through charged gas, which opened up a field called magnetohydrodynamics.
The spacecraft's instruments recorded plasma spewing from our planet into the sun for about two hours, the space agency said in its social media post.
"The data revealed unprecedented insights about the sun-Earth connection."
This phenomenon is rare on Earth but common elsewhere in the universe. In our own solar system, similar magnetic highways transport charged particles from Jupiter's moons Io and Ganymede to the gas giant, where they too have sparked stunning auroras.
https://www.space.com/earth-aurora-solar-storm
The discovery of a new Earth-like planet could shed further light on what makes a planet habitable
August 15, 2024
In an exciting breakthrough for astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial life, a team of international scientists has announced the discovery of Gliese 12 b, a temperate, Earth-sized exoplanet just 40 light-years away — a relatively neighbourly 378 trillion kilometres from Earth.
Researchers from across the world, including key support from researchers at McGill University and Western University worked collaboratively on the hunt for Gliese 12 b within InfraRed Doppler Subaru Strategic Program (IRD-SSP) which searches for habitable zone planets around red dwarfs.
The international team detected the planet’s presence using a combination of advanced telescopes and observational techniques and its discovery presents exciting opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of the worlds beyond our own solar system.
Gliese 12 b orbits around a central star named Gliese 12, which is a type of star known as a red dwarf. Red dwarfs are smaller, cooler and more abundant than the G-Type stars like our Sun.
The planets orbiting red dwarf stars are prime candidates in the search for life beyond Earth.
Considerable effort has been made to find planets orbiting red dwarfs, as terrestrial worlds are easier to detect around these stars, compared to more massive stars like our Sun.
Gliese 12 is one of two red dwarf stars — the other being TRAPPIST-1 — within 100 light-years of Earth that play host to Earth-sized planets with relatively minimal stellar radiation.
TRAPPIST-1’s strong activity — such as high energy stellar flares — likely disrupts the habitability of its planets, as recent observations suggest TRAPPIST-1 b and c have almost no atmosphere.
Highly active stars exhibit more frequent and intense flares and emit life-threatening high-energy radiation than inactive stars. In contrast, Gliese 12 is an unusually inactive red dwarf, meaning its planets face much less harmful conditions.
What makes Gliese 12 b particularly intriguing is its size and location. It is roughly the same size as Earth, suggesting it may have similar makeup and surface environment.
However, more observations and modelling are needed to confirm this. Gliese 12 b’s location near the inner edge of its star’s habitable zone makes it especially interesting.
The habitable zone, often referred to as the “Goldilocks zone,” is the region around a star where conditions are just right for liquid water to exist on a planet’s surface.
Since water is essential for life as we know it, finding a planet around this zone is a big step in the search for life.
Gliese 12 b receives just enough starlight to be slightly closer than the inner edge of the habitable zone for red dwarfs.
However, the actual presence of liquid water depends on its atmosphere and surface conditions.
From another perspective, the amount of starlight it receives is between what Earth and Venus get from the Sun.
Further study of Gliese 12 b could shed light on the key differences between a habitable Earth and an inhospitable Venus.
Another exciting aspect of Gliese 12 b is that its relatively close proximity to Earth allows for more detailed study of its surface environment.
One particularly useful method for studying Gliese 12 b, which isn’t possible for non-transiting planets, is atmospheric transmission spectroscopy.
This technique involves analyzing the starlight that passes through a planet’s atmosphere during transit. By studying the changes in the light’s spectra, scientists can infer the composition of the planet’s atmosphere, identifying gases like oxygen, water, methane and carbon dioxide, which could indicate biological processes.
The discovery of Gliese 12 b is a stepping stone towards finding potentially habitable planets and understanding the conditions that make life possible.
Current and future telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and ground-based extremely large telescopes, will play crucial roles in further investigations.
These instruments will allow scientists to conduct more detailed studies of Gliese 12 b’s atmosphere and surface conditions.
The discovery of Gliese 12 b, a nearby possibly habitable exoplanet, is a thrilling development in the quest to find Earth-like planets and, potentially, extraterrestrial life.
As we continue to explore the cosmos, each new discovery brings us closer to answering the age-old question: Are we alone in the universe?
For now, Gliese 12 b stands as a beacon of hope and curiosity, inviting us to learn more about the possibilities that lie beyond our own solar system.
https://www.space.com/new-earth-like-planet-could-shed-light-on-habitability
Indian solid SSLV rocket launches Earth observation satellite
August 16, 2024
India successfully launched its third SSLV Thursday, placing an Earth observation satellite into orbit and completing the solid rocket’s development process.
The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) lifted off at 11:47 p.m. Eastern, Aug. 15 (0347 UTC Aug. 16) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
The rocket carried the experimental Earth observation EOS-08 spacecraft into its intended 475-kilometer circular orbit inclined by 37 degrees for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
EOS-08 separated from the upper stage 816 seconds into flight.
The 34-meter-long SSLV consists of three solid stages and a liquid propulsion Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) upper stage.
“The third development flight of SSLV, SSLV-D3 with the EOS-08 satellite, has been successfully accomplished,” ISRO chairman S. Somanath said in a live streamed post-launch address.
“The rocket has placed the spacecraft into a very precise orbit as planned.”
“Congratulations to the SSLV-D3 team… With this third development flight of SSLV we can declare the development process of SSLV completed.”
According to Somanath, the successful completion of the SSLV’s development phase paves the way for technology transfer to Indian industry, enabling serial production and operational deployment of the SSLV.
The SSLV is designed for low cost, quick turn-around time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites and minimal launch infrastructure requirements, according to ISRO.
The first SSLV flight failed in August 2022 when an upper stage malfunction left its payloads stranded in a very low orbit.
The second launch, in February 2023, was successful. The 175.5-kilogram EOS-08 satellite is based on ISRO’s Microsat/IMS-1 satellite Bus.
It carries the Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR) and the Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry payload (GNSS-R) payloads for Earth and atmospheric monitoring.
EOIR infrared data will be used “for applications such as satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation and industrial and power plant disaster monitoring,” according to ISRO.
GNSS Reflectometry involves collecting signals reflected from the Earth’s surface.
This is used to monitor ocean, land and ice surfaces, wind state, soil moisture, sea levels and more. Also aboard is the SiC UV Dosimeter.
This will “monitor the ultraviolet irradiance at the View Port of the Crew Module in Gaganyaan Mission and to use as a high dose alarm sensor for UV Radiation.”
Gaganyaan is India’s human spaceflight program.
The 0.2-kilogram SR-0 DEMOSAT for startup Space Kidz India was released into the same orbit just over three minutes after EOS-08’s separation.
The launch was India’s third of 2024. It follows the early January launch of the XPoSat X-ray astronomy satellite and the INSAT-3DS meteorological satellite in February.
India announced plans earlier this year to launch up to 30 times over a 15-months period. These include suborbital and commercial launches.
A first Gaganyaan uncrewed demonstration flight is planned for the second half of the year.
A PSLV rocket is expected to launch the Proba-3 formation-flying satellites for ESA in Q4.
Other PSLV and GSLV launches are planned, though scheduling is unclear.
https://spacenews.com/indian-solid-sslv-rocket-launches-earth-observation-satellite/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRmxoAb6vlo
AST SpaceMobile starts work on 17 larger direct-to-smartphone satellites
August 15, 2024
AST SpaceMobile has started producing parts for 17 larger direct-to-smartphone satellites after taking advantage of its soaring stock price to raise more capital for the broadband constellation.
The venture said it had $288 million in cash as of June 30, up 35% on the prior quarter despite production costs, thanks to an investment from Verizon and selling shares that rocketed after the telco joined U.S. rival AT&T earlier this year in partnering with the satellite operator.
Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile’s CEO, said in an Aug. 14 earnings call with investors that the first of the 17 Block 2 BlueBird satellites would be ready to launch in the first quarter of 2025.
Depending on the launch configuration and the rocket used, he said at least four Block 2 BlueBirds could be deployed on a single mission to low Earth orbit (LEO).
A Block 2 BlueBird would be about 223 square meters in size, significantly larger than each of the five Block 1 BlueBirds due to launch together next month on a Falcon 9 with solar arrays spanning 64 square meters.
AST SpaceMobile intends to equip the sixth and follow-on Block 2 BlueBirds with chips developed in-house that would enable 10 gigahertz of processing bandwidth per satellite, ten times the capacity of a Block 1 BlueBird.
The company declined to disclose the performance of a Block 2 BlueBird without the custom chipset, which is also designed to support up to 120 megabits per second (Mbps) peak data rates.
Block 1 and 2 BlueBirds are based on AST SpaceMobile’s two-year-old BlueWalker 3 prototype in LEO, which the venture said has achieved more than 21 Mbps download speeds during tests with standard smartphones.
While five Block 1 BlueBirds would be enough to cover the entire United States from LEO, the company has said it needs 45-60 satellites for continuous text, voice, and data coverage in the country.
AST SpaceMobile ultimately plans global coverage via partnerships with other mobile operators.
AST SpaceMobile is “getting close to 95% vertical integration” for its satellites, Avellan said during the earnings call, helping the Texas-based company reduce costs and accelerate production speeds.
“We have spent over seven years and over $1 billion investment to get to this point, along the way generating over 3,400 patent and patent-pending claims,” he said.
Andy Johnson, AST SpaceMobile’s recently appointed chief financial officer, said the company is working to get more prepayments from cellular partners for the space-based service, which would enable them to keep subscribers connected when cell towers are out of reach.
He said the company is focusing on getting prepayments and financing from state-backed export credit agencies to cover future capital needs, rather than selling more equity.
The Federal Communications Commission granted AST SpaceMobile conditional approval Aug. 5 to deploy and operate the five Block 1 BlueBirds slated to launch in the first half of September.
However, AST SpaceMobile said talks with the FCC are ongoing after the regulator deferred deciding whether to grant the company permission to test its services with the cellular frequencies it hopes to use in the United States.
The FCC also deferred a decision on AST SpaceMobile’s plans to operate an additional 243 satellites to improve coverage.
Along with direct-to-device competitors SpaceX and Lynk Global, AST SpaceMobile is also awaiting permission to provide commercial services to standard smartphones in the United States.
AST SpaceMobile shares closed up 50.7% to $31.36 Aug. 15 on the NASDAQ.
https://spacenews.com/ast-spacemobile-starts-work-on-17-larger-direct-to-smartphone-satellites/
Lockheed Martin to acquire Terran Orbital
August 15, 2024
Lockheed Martin is buying smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital, months after the company dropped earlier plans for an acquisition.
Lockheed said Aug. 15 it would buy Terran Orbital for $0.25 per share in cash and retire the company’s existing debt.
The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, has an enterprise value of $450 million. Shares in Terran Orbital closed Aug. 14 at $0.40.
Lockheed already owns one third of Terran Orbital from past investments and has a strategic partnership, buying smallsat buses from the company for use on Lockheed programs such as Space Development Agency contracts.
“We’ve worked with Terran Orbital for more than seven years on a variety of successful missions,” Robert Lightfoot, president of Lockheed Martin Space, said in a statement.
“Their capabilities, talent and business momentum align with Lockheed Martin Space’s strategic plans, and we’re looking forward to welcoming them to our team.”
Lockheed said that Terran Orbital will continue to be “a commercial merchant supplier to industry” of small satellite systems.
However, Terran Orbital said in recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings that Lockheed accounted for more than 90% of its funded backlog of contracts, which now excludes a $2.4 billion contract Terran Orbital won a year and a half ago to build a 300-satellite constellation for Rivada Space Networks.
“This move will open new opportunities for growth and innovation, and we couldn’t be more excited about the future,” Marc Bell, chief executive of Terran Orbital, said in the statement.
“Access to Lockheed Martin’s incredible engineers and world class facilities will only accelerate our business plan to provide low-cost, high-value solutions to our ever-growing customer base.”
The deal comes nearly six months after Lockheed first proposed to acquire Terran Orbital. At the time, it was offering $1 per share of Terran Orbital stock it did not already own, plus buying stock warrants and taking over $313 million in debt. “Terran’s superior capabilities and business momentum align with one of Lockheed Martin Space’s strategic growth priorities and the Transaction would accelerate that strategy,” Lockheed said in a letter proposing the deal.
Two months later, though, Lockheed Martin said it had withdrawn the offer. Lockheed did not disclose why it abandoned the deal but said it would continue its strategic partnership with Terran Orbital.
Since then, Terran Orbital said it was continuing to explore strategic alternatives as the company faced financial pressure.
In an Aug. 12 SEC filing, the company said it was examining a range of strategic options to address near-term capital needs, including taking on more debt, a sale of the company or some other strategic transaction.
That filing noted that, as of the end of July, it had just $14.6 million of cash and equivalents on hand, down from $30.6 million at the end of June.
https://spacenews.com/lockheed-martin-to-acquire-terran-orbital/
CMSSF visits Keesler AFB
Aug. 15, 2024
Returning to his roots, Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force John Bentivegna visited Keesler Air Force Base Aug. 9.
This was Bentivegna's first visit to Keesler AFB since completing the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory course in 1994.
The visit was part of a larger tour that included check-ins with all three bases hosting U.S. Space Force technical training to discuss quality of life, curriculum growth and visit with Guardians and Airmen.
“It's truly an honor to be back at Keesler after all these years,” Bentivenga said. “I am thrilled to see that our Guardians are receiving the same level of exceptional education and training that I received 30 years ago as an Airman.
To all the Guardians and Airmen who work at Keesler, I want to express my deepest gratitude for your hard work and dedication.
Your efforts in developing the future of the force are of the utmost importance, as we prepare to meet the challenges of Great Power Competition.
Thank you for your unwavering commitment to mastery, and for your tireless work in shaping the next generation of warriors.
You are truly the backbone of our nation's defense, and I am proud to stand alongside you."
Bentivegna kicked off his visit with an office call with Maj. Gen. Matthew Wolfe Davidson, Second Air Force commander, highlighting the strong connection between the Space Force’s line of effort, partner to win, with Second Air Force’s mission in supporting basic military and technical training for the Space Force.
From there, CMSSF visited the 533rd Training Squadron Detachment 2, where leadership briefed Bentivegna on their efforts to develop Guardians and gave an overview of the unit-led Space Cyber Fundamentals and Cyber Combat courses.
They also showed him how the service's newest members actively cultivate the Guardian spirit through student-led programs and leadership opportunities.
Before departing to Stennis Hall, Bentivegna highlighted how vital cyber is to space operations and how critical space is to the joint fight.
CMSSF toured the 333rd Training Squadron’s Cyber Warfare Operations course, observing how the course equips students with skills to develop, execute and refine cyber warfare tactics, enabling them to attack adversary targets while fortifying U.S. national defenses against potential threats.
Instructors also showcased the tunneling lab’s integration of simulated scenarios to create opportunities for students to hone their cyber skills.
Before concluding the tour, CMSSF hosted a Guardian all-call, where he explained how significant defending the ground architecture is to our core function of Assured Space Access.
As Bentivenga prepared to leave Keesler AFB, he left them with a powerful message: “The landscape of space has changed dramatically since the establishment of the Space Force in 2019.
In just a few short years, the number of objects in space has increased by 75%, with 45,000 objects now orbiting the Earth, including 10,000 satellites.
This level of activity underscores the importance of the Space Force and the need to protect this critical domain.”
This level of activity underscores the importance of the Space Force and the need to protect this critical domain.
The Space Force is responsible for three core functions: Space Superiority, Global Space Operations and Assured Space Access.
These functions are critical to maintaining and protecting the space domain, which is all of our responsibility.
As we continue to see an increase in activity in space, it is more important than ever to recognize the vital role that the Space Force plays in ensuring the security and stability of this domain.”
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3875048/cmssf-visits-keesler-afb/
SSC Guardian competes in Olympic demonstration event
Aug. 16, 2024
Beach handball is fast-moving and high-scoring sport, played on a sand court between two teams of four each. To an observer, it looks something like beach volleyball -crossed with rugby.
“Most people, when I tell them I play handball, they'll say, ‘oh yeah, I played that’ and they'll be thinking of that one-on-one handball that's played against the wall - which is handball, but not the handball I play,” said U.S. Space Force Maj. Andrew Donlin, a United States Air Force Academy graduate who currently serves as a deputy program manager with Space Systems Command at Los Angeles Air Force Base in southern California.
“The way I describe it usually is water polo on land, and kind of a mix of soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, all in one - it's very physical; there's a lot of contact,” Donlin said.
Donlin should know; he plays both indoor and beach handball at world class levels.
He led the Men's USA National Handball Team to two victories in the International Handball Federation Men's World Championships, was named a Department of the Air Force athlete of the year in 2023, and is considered one of the best American-born players in the game.
“I've been really fortunate, the way it's coincided with my Air Force and now Space Force career,” Donlin said.
“To be able to play a high-level sport internationally, and to keep up with my career and work on cool projects and serve my country – it’s been this perfect meld of two things that I really enjoy.”
In July, he was one of only three Americans selected for a series of “All Star” demonstration games in Paris in a collaborative effort between the IHF, the Paris 2024 Olympic committee, the French Handball Federation, and the International Olympic Committee.
“In this tournament, I was playing with the guys that I'm usually competing against, so the dynamic was definitely different,” said Donlin, one of 64 players (32 men, 32 women) from 18 countries who played in Paris.
“We all had the common goal of trying to make the sport attractive, and played at a high level … so overall, it was a really positive experience.”
Indoor team handball and beach handball are similar, although the indoor teams are larger (seven players, including the goalie) and the rules are slightly different.
Donlin’s position in both is as his team’s ‘pivot,’ akin to the center in basketball, playing near the opponent’s goal and acting as the focus of the team’s offensive play.
“I've been fortunate to get to continue to play both,” Donlin said. “For me, it's fun because I don't really get burned out on one or the other.”
Sports have been part of Donlin’s life since high school; raised in Minneapolis, he played high school football, baseball, and basketball before entering the Air Force.
Throughout his military career, his athletic pursuits have been supported by the Department of Defense and his commanders.
“It's really because of my leadership (who) have seen the benefits of it,” the major said. “There are benefits to the service of me getting to compete, and representing the Air Force and Space Force, as well as Team USA.”
This has included support from the Air Force World Class Athlete Program, established in 1995 to continue the legacy of Airman Malvin G. Whitfield.
Whitfield became the first active-duty American serviceman to win Olympic gold in 1952 in Helsinki; previously, he’d won two golds and a bronze in track during the 1948 Olympics in London.
In announcing the establishment of WCAP, then Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman wrote, “This new program is not only good for a small number of Airmen-athletes, it’s also good for the Air Force,” citing strong recruiting and retention benefits.
The USAF program is mirrored by the other services; Army Capt. Samantha Sullivan was part of the U.S. women's rugby team that won a 14-12 upset victory over Australia in Paris, bringing home a bronze medal, while Army Sgt. Sagen Maddalena won a 2024 silver medal in the women's 50-meter rifle competition.
If the IOC recognizes beach handball as an Olympic sport, it might make it to the 2032 Brisbane games; Donlin, for his part, is looking forward to the 2028 Los Angeles Games, where the U.S. indoor team is expected to qualify.
“We went through all the qualifications for Paris; we didn't quite make it, but we’re looking ahead to ‘28,” said Donlin, whose wife Julia - a two-time beach volleyball national champion and first alternate for the 2024 Olympics who is also likely to compete in Los Angeles – cheered him on in Paris. “That's kind of the clear goal right now – for both of us.”
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3876054/ssc-guardian-competes-in-olympic-demonstration-event/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3875289/daf-senior-leaders-discuss-quality-of-life-modernizing-forces/
DAF senior leaders discuss quality of life, modernizing forces
Aug. 15, 2024
Alex Wagner, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force John Bentivegna, and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flosi and hosted a quality-of-life fireside chat at the Air Force Sergeants Association Summit 2024 in Houston, Texas, Aug. 13, 2024.
Each senior leader defined that the Department of the Air Force must address quality of life issues to win in today’s complex warfighting environment.
They also discussed various initiatives aimed at improving the wellbeing of military member and their families.
“Quality of life is really about setting conditions for Airmen, Guardians and their families to be successful,” Flosi said. “It’s foundational.
We can’t talk about readiness without setting those conditions right … It’s an integral part of what each and every service member needs, and we’re absolutely focused on getting it right.”
During the fireside panel, Flosi touched on how the Air Force and Space Force have worked to institute policies and develop a culture that ensure Airmen and Guardians are highly focused and ready to compete, and how integral the quality-of-life of service members contributes to the quality-of-service the department needs.
Another key component each of the leaders talked about was holistic readiness, and how the department must recognize and address factors that could negatively affect service members’ ability to be ready and prepared.
“We must be ready today,” Flosi said. “We must continue to train, exercise, qualify, and certify more as a unit. This increases demand in garrison to make it necessary for us to learn our downrange mission without delay.”
The three senior leaders emphasized the Department must have a new mindset that relies on the readiness and resiliency of Airmen, Guardians and their families to bolster the Air Force’s and Space Force’s ability to deter and, if necessary, win against a near-peer adversary.
“Our focus is on Great Power Competition…all that comes down to readiness,” Wagner said.
“How can you be ready if you’re worried whether or not you have enough money in the bank account to support your family? How can you be ready if you're worried whether or not your kids are going to be taken care of when you're working full time?”
Wagner continued by describing how spouse employment opportunities and better childcare options are key areas for him and his team as they work on policies and programs that support military families.
He also talked about how the quality-of-life challenges Airmen face vary by location to location.
For example, the Department recently implemented Cold Weather Assignment Incentive Pay for seven installations and are working on other programs to help address and eliminate financial hardships Airmen and Guardians face.
The Space Force is also promoting the “Value of Service,” and Bentivegna underlined how the Space Force Values and the Department of the Air Force’s Holistic Health Approach are interconnected aspects that Guardians must maintain to reach their full potential, beginning from when they’re Basic Military Training trainees to life post-service.
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"To become the best version of yourself, it is essential to prioritize your wellbeing," emphasized Bentivegna.
"Maintaining balance and health across all pillars is crucial."
Bentivegna explained the transition from civilian to Guardian life is the initial stage where warfighters build the resiliency they need and prepares them for the challenges they may face later in their career.
He also described that it’s important for Guardians to embrace the Holistic Health Approach the service promotes because it directly contributes to the service’s warfighting capability.
"We're cultivating a culture that encourages our members to strive for personal excellence, which ultimately translates to service readiness,” he said.
“This is a key aspect of our value proposition, as is the Guardian Experience that we're working to define - the essence of what it means to be a Guardian in the Space Force."
Both Bentivegna and Wagner spoke about the Space Force Personnel Management Act, which will allow for Air Force Reservists in certain space-related career fields to integrate into the active-duty Space Force, allowing for both full- and part-time service options.
They both also highlighted how it both improves the warfighting capabilities of the service and incentivizes the personal growth and goals of Guardians.
As Bentivegna explained, "This approach not only helps us retain top talent by providing flexibility and options, but also streamlines our processes to reduce bureaucratic barriers. In doing so, we aim to create a more efficient and conducive environment for our members to thrive as Guardians."
Wagner added the act will offer the force the ability to retain people and develop skills within and outside of the Space Force that directly benefit the service.
“It offers the Space Force the ability to have a type of person who is not only able to prioritize important milestones in their life or challenges in their life … and then come back and bring those skills back into the force,” Wagner said.
This panel highlighted recruiting efforts, spouse employment, and furthering the identity of what it means to be an Airman and a Guardian, but the resonating theme was that taking care of Airmen, Guardians and their families today and into tomorrow is what will make the Air Force and Space Force ready and capable in the face of pacing challenges.
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SpaceX Transporter-11 Mission
SpaceX is targeting Friday, August 16 for Falcon 9’s launch of the Transporter-11 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 11:56 a.m. PT with additional opportunities available until 12:13 p.m. PT. If needed, there is a backup opportunity on Saturday, August 17 during a 53-minute window that opens at 11:20 a.m. PT.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about 10 minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX.
This will be the 12th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission which previously launched SDA-0A, SARah-2, and nine Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9 will land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Transporter-11 is SpaceX’s 11th dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. There will be 116 payloads on this flight, including CubeSats, MicroSats, and an orbital transfer vehicle carrying eight of those payloads, five of which will be be deployed at a later time. To date, SpaceX has launched more than 1,000 smallsats for 130+ customers across our entire Rideshare program.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=transporter11
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/16/books/booksupdate/imminent-luiz-elizondo.html
A Memoir Offers an Insider’s Perspective Into the Pentagon’s U.F.O. Hunt
Aug. 16, 2024, 10:21 a.m. ET
Luis Elizondo made headlines in 2017 when he resigned as a senior intelligence official running a shadowy Pentagon program investigating U.F.O.s and publicly denounced the excessive secrecy, lack of resources and internal opposition that he said were thwarting the effort.
Elizondo’s disclosures at the time created a sensation.
They were buttressed by explosive videos and testimony from Navy pilots who had encountered unexplained aerial phenomena, and led to congressional inquiries, legislation and a 2023 House hearing in which a former U.S. intelligence official testified that the federal government has retrieved crashed objects of nonhuman origin.
Now Elizondo, 52, has gone further in a new memoir. In the book he asserted that a decades-long U.F.O. crash retrieval program has been operating as a supersecret umbrella group made up of government officials working with defense and aerospace contractors.
Over the years, he wrote, technology and biological remains of nonhuman origin have been retrieved from these crashes.
“Humanity is, in fact, not the only intelligent life in the universe, and not the alpha species,” Elizondo wrote.
The book, “Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for U.F.O.s,” is being published by HarperCollins on Aug. 20 after a yearlong security review by the Pentagon.
Pentagon clearance does not imply endorsement. The New York Times obtained an advance copy of “Imminent” under embargo.
The Pentagon program currently working to address sightings of U.F.O.s — or U.A.P., for “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” as they are now called — “continues its review of the historical record of U.S. government U.A.P. programs,” said Sue Gough, a Department of Defense spokesperson.
To date, Gough added, the program “has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.”
Elizondo was, for years, a high-ranking military intelligence officer, and ran highly classified programs for both the White House and the National Security Council.
In 2009, he was recruited into the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, which investigated reports of U.F.O.s.
In “Imminent,” Elizondo described his struggle within the program to investigate the phenomena, and his effort, since his resignation in 2017, to push for greater transparency on what is officially known about U.A.P. He also wrote about personal encounters with U.A.P. — green orbs that he said visited his home while he worked for the Department of Defense.
In the book, he expressed alarm over the potential danger to humanity posed by the existence of technology that he said far exceeds what the United States or other countries have, or can explain.
Elizondo wrote that the craft and “the nonhuman intelligence controlling them present, at best, a very serious national security issue, and at worst, the possibility of an existential threat to humanity.”
In a foreword to the book, Christopher Mellon, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence, wrote that, without Elizondo, “the U.S. government would still be denying the existence of U.A.P. and failing to investigate a phenomenon that may well be the greatest discovery in human history.”
The program led by Elizondo investigated sightings, near-misses and other encounters between U.A.P. and Navy jets.
It also collected data from incidents involving military and intelligence operations, including images of extraordinary craft maneuvers that were repeatedly captured by sophisticated sensors.
Within the program, he said, he learned that vehicles demonstrating “beyond next generation technology” have been observed since the 1940s.
In the early 1950s, when U.F.O.s became a Cold War national security concern, strict secrecy was enforced. “Whoever controlled such technology could control the world,” Elizondo wrote.
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Much of the information collected by this program remains classified, but two unclassified Navy videos of U.A.P. were cleared for public release at Elizondo’s request and posted by The New York Times when it broke the news of the Pentagon’s secret U.F.O. unit in December 2017.
In an interview, Elizondo said that he had firsthand knowledge of what he was discussing, but that his security clearances prevented him from explaining the source of his knowledge.
He got Pentagon approval to publish his book partly by attributing some of the information to other sources whose comments had previously been approved.
Elizondo also said he was not approved to discuss his involvement in any other secret projects beyond the program he once led.
With no prior interest in U.F.O.s., Elizondo grew up in Florida, the son of an American mother and a Cuban father who fought alongside Fidel Castro before breaking with him and joining the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.
Taught to shoot, drive a motorcycle and fly a plane by his father, he went to college and enlisted in the Army. He served in Afghanistan and also ran antiterrorism missions against ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, and later led secret programs at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and prison.
In 2007, the Defense Intelligence Agency launched the U.F.O.-related Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications Program, funded with $22 million buried in an undeclared budget secured by Harry Reid, who was then the Senate majority leader.
In 2009, Elizondo became the senior ranking officer running that program’s successor, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, along with James Lacatski and Jay Stratton.
Lacatski, a rocket scientist for the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Stratton, an intelligence official with U.S. Strategic Command, were both part of the precursor program.
Frustrated by what he described as internal opposition and a lack of resources to deal with what he felt was a serious national security threat, Elizondo resigned and decided to bring his concerns to the broader intelligence community, Congress and the public.
“There remains a vital need to ascertain capability and intent of these phenomena for the benefit of the armed forces and the nation,” he wrote to James Mattis, then secretary of defense, in his resignation letter dated Oct. 4, 2017.
After Elizondo’s departure, the program transitioned to become the U.A.P. Task Force.
By 2022, it had morphed again into the more visible All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or A.A.R.O, mandated by Congress to study reports of U.A.P. and release information to the public.
Elizondo said that he met with the A.A.R.O. director and his staff for three hours in a secure facility on Feb. 2, 2023, and gave them classified information about the history of the crash retrieval program.
Elizondo continues to hold the highest security clearances, and to consult for the government.
A veteran scientist with top security clearance whom Elizondo quotes in the book, Harold E. Puthoff, was part of Elizondo’s U.F.O. program.
A physicist and engineer with a Ph.D. from Stanford University, Puthoff worked as the chief scientist on highly classified projects for the government for 50 years, often reporting directly to the head of the C.I.A. and to White House advisers.
Elizondo “has briefed us on information that he obtained that appears to be firsthand data and I have no reason to discount that,” Puthoff said in an interview. “He certainly had clearances to get primary information.”
Elizondo also wrote in the memoir of personal encounters with U.A.P., describing green-glowing orbs about the size of a basketball that invaded his home on and off for over seven years.
The objects were able to pass through walls, and behaved as if they were under intelligent control, he wrote.
The orbs were also witnessed by his wife, two daughters and their neighbors, he wrote.
As for “our friends from out of town,” they do not appear to be benevolent, he wrote; perhaps they are neutral. Or they could be a threat to humanity.
“We can no longer stick our heads in the sand,” he writes. “We know we are not alone.”
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The Children of the Night with Dr. Lois Lee | The Roseanne Barr Podcast #61
Aug 15, 2024
Roseanne welcomes a personal hero and a truly remarkable woman on the podcast this week. Dr. Lois Lee has spent the last 45 years devoted to rescuing children who are victims of child trafficking and prostitution. Dr. Lois Lee is the founder of Children of the Night, a non-profit organization that has rescued and rehabilitated well over 5,000 children. In 1984 She personally received the President's Volunteer Action Award from President Ronald Reagan. In this enlightening, and sometimes uncomfortable episode, Dr. Lee tells Roseannes about the “game” and the corruption of our government. We promise you don’t want to miss this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf-oTgJT_Wo
https://rumble.com/v5b44fx-the-children-of-the-night-with-dr.-lois-lee-the-roseanne-barr-podcast-61.html