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Space Station Astronaut Starts Mixing Cement for Future Moon Base
Aug 18, 5:30 AM EDT
As countries continue cementing plans for their lunar bases, one International Space Station astronaut is busy quite literally mixing the stuff.
In a press release, NASA said that its astronaut and flight engineer Matthew Dominick has begun studying how microgravity affects cement mixed in space by whipping up his own small batch on board the space station.
The goal is to build a Moon base using lunar soil — important groundwork for our future efforts to establish a more permanent presence on the Moon.
As part of the agency's Material Science on the Solidification of Concrete Hardening investigation, Dominick mixed together a simulated version of lunar soil with some undisclosed "other materials" and a liquid cement solution inside two bags sandwiching another containing hot water.
The flight engineer then put the mixed-up concoctions in the Freezer/Refrigerator/Incubator Device for Galley and Experimentation (FRIGE), the space station's futuristic experiment-conditioning refrigerator, to incubate the solutions overnight.
Now, they're going to settle for a few more weeks at "ambient temperatures" and then return to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon capsule for analysis.
Mixing concrete, which requires cement, is an energy-intensive process that can release plenty of carbon dioxide.
The gas can make the material brittle and full of air bubbles when mixed incorrectly. Scientists are hoping to get a better idea of how microgravity could affect the situation.
Rather than spend extra money lugging fully-built dwellings into space, NASA is preparing to have buildings assembled in space by astronauts.
While this isn't the first time cement has been mixed in space or on the ISS, this experiment's inclusion of lunar soil could bring humans one step closer to building a home away from home hundreds of thousands of miles away.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-station-astronaut-mixes-cement
Watch the Supermoon Blue Moon rise today
August 19, 2024
The Supermoon Blue Moon occurs today, and you can watch it rise live from Central Italy in a free livestream — courtesy of astronomer Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project.
The livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), and you can catch the action live here on Space.com or directly on the Virtual Telescope Project's WebTV page or YouTube channel, weather permitting.
"The show of the full moon (and of course of the "Supermoon") offers its best when our satellite rises or sets, which happens at sunset and at dawn, respectively," Masi wrote on the Virtual Telescope Project's event page.
Supermoons can be particularly striking as they occur when the moon is within 90% of its closest approach to Earth.
The moon thus appears about 30% brighter and 14% larger than usual at this time.
However, that difference is often difficult to spot with the unaided eye. August's Supermoon Blue Moon will officially be full at 2:26 p.m. EDT (1826 GMT), rise times vary depending on location.
August's supermoon is the first of four in a row this year, with the closest supermoon occurring on Oct. 17.
https://www.space.com/supermoon-blue-moon-watch-livestream-free-august-2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxvZCD7FhbI
Philippine Space Council told to bring space technology closer to the people
Aug 19, 2024 03:40 PM PHT
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the Philippine Space Council to bring space technology "closer to the people" by using it to help government agencies fulfill their mandates.
The Philippine leader recently presided over the 8th meeting of the Philippine Space Council in Quezon City, where officials discussed ways government agencies can work together to make the most of satellite imagery data.
“So there’s a directive to make this data more accessible and useful to government agencies in carrying out their mandates," PhilSA Director General Joel Marciano Jr. said in a televised briefing.
"Whether it’s for disaster risk reduction and management, environmental protection, maritime domain awareness, monitoring of our natural and built environment — agriculture, especially,” he said.
Marcos Jr. earlier announced the planned launch of the Philippine-made Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA) satellite, which is expected to be completed and launched into space by 2025.
“This achievement was made possible by the hard work and dedication of 16 Filipino engineers.
MULA will provide the country with vital data for disaster resilience, environmental conservation and national security,” the President posted on social media.
According to Marciano Jr, once launched, the MULA satellite will have the capability to take multispectral images of the country 120 kilometers wide, allowing government to monitor "1,200 kilometers of the country in a single pass or during the day."
He said this can help measure the health of vegetation and crops or check water quality.
The MULA satellite can also help government to improve its capability to respond to calamities and disasters such as typhoons, oil spills, and droughts.
Marciano says that aside from helping government agencies, the agency also wants to use satellite data in training students on how to maximize these information.
"So we want to promote further utilization, not to mention how the data can also be used in schools to train the next generation of students who will process all of these data and learn about the techniques on how to produce maps out of satellite data," he said.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/19/-dutertes-have-nothing-to-fear-in-house-probe-if-they-have-nothing-to-hide-2159
Help scientists find new black holes with this free smartphone app
August 19, 2024
I'm sitting on a plane staring at three grainy black-and-white images on my phone.
"Real or bogus," I mutter to myself. Real, I decide, and move on to the next trio.
I'm on the hunt for newly formed black holes, using the new citizen science app Black Hole Finder.
Developed by the Dutch Black Hole Consortium, the mobile app allows members of the public to help the consortium sort through thousands of images to identify potential targets of interest.
Ultimately, the Dutch Black Hole Consortium is looking for kilonovas — a powerful explosion of electromagnetic radiation created by the merger of a neutron star and a black hole.
A kilonova, in turn, can create a stellar-mass black hole.
To search for kilonovas, the consortium uses the BlackGEM array of telescopes in Northern Chile to image wide swaths of the night sky looking for these bright, but very short-lived, explosions.
Their light may only be visible to us for a few days.
Now, here's the problem — some of these images show real stellar sources, while others show false ones, such as light bouncing off a communications satellite.
While AI filters can help weed out some of the false sources, they can't catch everything.
That's why the Dutch Black Hole Consortium is turning to the public for help through the Black Hole Finder app.
"People are still much better at identifying patterns than our algorithms," Radboud University's Steven Bloemen, project manager of the BlackGEM telescopes, said in an emailed statement.
"By using the app, citizens across the world can help train our AI algorithms to distinguish between real and false sources and pinpoint the most interesting candidate sources more quickly."
Using the app is very simple: You take a look at three images and decide whether or not the image shows a real source or a false one (or, you can select "unknown" if you're not sure).
Of course, the app teaches you all the factors you need to consider to make that determination. And that's it!
The Black Hole Finder app is available in eight languages (Dutch, English, Spanish, German, Chinese, Bengali, Polish, and Italian) across both Apple and Android devices.
There's also a web version available to those using a computer.
So if you have a few minutes of spare time each day, consider downloading the app and giving the Dutch Black Hole Consortium a helping hand in exploring the vast cosmos.
https://www.space.com/black-hole-finder-smartphone-app
https://app.blackholefinder.org/home
South Korea hires SpaceX to launch GEO satellite in 2027
August 19, 2024
South Korea has signed a contract with SpaceX to launch the GEO-KOMPSAT-3 multipurpose communications satellite to geostationary orbit in the second half of 2027, the nation’s newly established Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) this month.
South Korea’s Growing Partnership with SpaceX
The agreement is the latest in a series of launch contracts South Korea has clinched with the Elon Musk-owned space company for its key space missions.
The nation’s first robotic lunar orbiter launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in August 2022.
Two of the five military reconnaissance satellites involved in the “425 Project” were launched on Falcon 9 rockets in December 2023 and April 2024, respectively, with the remaining three scheduled to launch SpaceX through 2025.
The GEO-KOMPSAT-3 Mission
GEO-KOMPSAT-3, the 3.7-ton satellite to be launched under the latest deal, is also known as Chollian-3.
Designed to replace the aging GEO-Kompsat-1 launched in 2010, Chollian-3 will feature advanced payloads for communications, disaster prevention, maritime safety and the safe flight of aircraft, according to KASA’s Aug. 8 statement.
The satellite’s development began in 2021 with a budget of 411.8 billion won ($309 million).
While the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is responsible for developing the satellite bus, Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) is in charge of the payloads.
Among the private partners involved is Thales Alenia Space, which will provide a fully reprogrammable Digital Processor for the satellite’s Ka-band broadband communication system payload.
“The development of a multipurpose geostationary communications satellite will play a role in advancing the nation’s technologies for GEO satellites,” said Kim Jin-hee, head of KASA’s satellite directorate, in the statement.
“It will also enhance the country’s safety by providing satellite communication services for disaster prevention and public safety.”
KASA’s Vision for Space Development
KASA is simultaneously developing a ‘positioning paper,’ due out this year, to outline new plans to bolster the competitiveness of its four key business fields: space transportation, satellites, space science and exploration, and aeronautics.
KASA Deputy Administrator Roh Kyung-won said these plans would build upon the agency’s first policy paper published in May, with new elements designed to enhance the private sector’s role in the nation’s space development.
Among the ambitious projects proposed in KASA’s first policy paper are the development of a partially reusable launch vehicle, very-high-resolution imaging satellites with a resolution of 15 centimeters, and the construction of a second national launch site.
However, realizing these big-budget projects is contingent upon securing parliamentary approval, leaving their future uncertain.
https://spacenews.com/south-korea-spacex-geo-kompsat-3-launch/
SecAF travels within EUCOM AOR to strengthen international partnerships
Aug. 19, 2024
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall has begun traveling through the U.S. European Command area of responsibility beginning Aug. 19, 2024, to strengthen international partnerships.
Kendall’s trip reinforces the shared relationship between the United States, the Department of the Air Force, and NATO and the importance of the indispensable alliance that ensures transparent and effective collaboration across all warfighting domains to ensure collective security for the region.
“As threats have evolved, NATO remains as unified as ever,” Kendall said.
“This trip will reinforce the Department of the Air Force’s commitment to deter aggression and defend our allies and partners in the region.”
The initial stop of the trip in Belgium included meetings with key Belgian officials, as well as Vice Admiral Shoshana S. Chatfield, the U.S. Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee, and other senior U.S. leaders at NATO to emphasize the criticalities of the space domain and value of air power’s deterrent effects.
“As the NATO alliance continues to grow, we need to ensure there is interoperability across multiple domains,” Kendall said.
“The ability to link our forces together so they can fight more effectively as an organization will be key as we continue to shift our focus to re-optimizing for Great Power Competition.”
Kendall is joined by Kelli Seybolt, the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, as they emphasize the importance of training alongside joint and multinational partners, providing support to Airmen, Guardians and allies across the region, and safeguarding European airspace from potential aggressors.
Kendall’s trip will include stops in Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Estonia and Poland, and include meetings with international senior leaders, NATO representatives, and Airmen and Guardians deployed and stationed across the U.S. EUCOM region.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3877382/secaf-travels-within-eucom-aor-to-strengthen-international-partnerships/
Is the Vatican Hiding UFO Secrets? Whistleblower Claims Pope Has Knowledge About Mystery ‘Crash’
August 18th, 2024
Alien enthusiast, Steve Bassett, has come forward with claims that the Vatican is hiding evidence of UFOs.
Knewz.com has learned Basset believes that the religious enclave thinks UFOs are important and has long hinted at it in its art.
“The Catholic Church, we have always known, has been aware of this subject going back perhaps hundreds and hundreds of years,” Basset said.
“It’s gone so far as to say whoever these beings are, they [the Church] would be happy to baptize them if they wanted to be baptized.”
He claims that to prove that the extraterrestrials exist researchers would need access to the Vatican’s library—and they will find proof there that the Catholic church has been aware of existence down through the ages.
Basset further alleges Pope Pius XII was also in the loop and that when the so-alleged discovery of a UFO was made in Italy, in 1933, he “back channeled” it to then-United States President Franklin Roosevelt who collected the find and stashed it somewhere state-side.
The Vatican is known to have a formidable intelligence division which believed to cooperate with other organizations like the CIA.
With this being the case, Bassett believes that the idea of the former cooperating with the latter to hide a UFO, would not be far-fetched.
“I’m told the Vatican does have a very efficient intelligence service and it’s long collaborated with intelligence services like the CIA providing useful intelligence, and especially in the wake of the Second World War,” a reporter who interviewed David Grusch – the former U.S. intelligence officer who first made claims about the 1933 coverup in front of Congress.
Basset says that it was the first time he heard of the debacle.
“As far as I know, there have been many, many books written on the research of this phenomena and it’s the first time I’d ever heard about this potential crash in ’33.”
The Vatican, however, denies the 1933 coverup with its archive secretary Marco Grilli saying: “I don’t know where (Grusch) got this information.”
“One can laugh at it,” per United States Conference Bishops.
If proof of the crash could be found in the Vatican archives it would also prove that the U.S. knew UFOs existed long before the 1947 Roswell incident—what the United States Air Force still claims was a crashed weather balloon.
Bassett believes that the military elements around during the Roswell incident were not willfully deceptive.
“Obviously the people at Roswell didn’t, because they put out a press release that they found a flying saucer so clearly that there was no significant impediment to putting that story out at the time.”
To prove their beliefs, researchers, and enthusiasts are already lobbying the Vatican for access to its library.
Bassett is confident that the researchers will eventually have their requests granted, but not before the U.S. acknowledges the existence of UFOs and aliens in an official capacity.
https://mitechnews.com/guest-columns/is-the-vatican-hiding-ufo-secrets-whistleblower-claims-pope-has-knowledge-about-mystery-crash/
'Are we alone?': William Shatner challenges UFO skepticism with bombshell testimonies in new Fox Nation show
August 18, 2024 7:00am EDT
Are we earthlings truly alone in this universe?
Captain Kirk himself sets out to find the answer to this burning question in his new show "Aliens Among Us," streaming now on Fox Nation.
"I spent decades pretending to explore space, and then I got the chance to go there," "Star Trek" actor William Shatner said as he previewed the show.
"I want to know: is anybody out there? We asked pilots, space psychologists and government officials the big question: are there aliens among us?"
Shatner's new show challenges skepticism about UFOs, incorporates bombshell testimony and looks at interesting studies that all make the case for the existence of something sentient beyond the world we know.
"We don't say, 'Look, here's a piece of a spaceship," he said, during a special appearance on "Fox & Friends," Wednesday.
"But there are rumors that the American government has reverse engineered things.
They've found debris that they think came from spaceships, but the mystery is, why haven't they landed on the White House grounds and said, 'Here we are, and we've got to stop the wars and the squabbling, and there's bigger things than that out there.' Why they haven't revealed themselves? I don't know."
Recently, airline pilots reported suspected UFOs "dancing in the sky" during a flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Abuja, Nigeria and captured footage of three shining dots in the sky.
Van Pangemanan, who was responsible for capturing the footage, said he saw as many as four dots, each aligned in a way reminiscent of the Phoenix Lights phenomenon that happened over Arizona 27 years ago, according to the New York Post.
"They're seeing something, right? But what are they seeing?" Shatner said of the phenomenon.
"And that's the problem. What are they? What are they doing?
Why are they there? We don't know. Part of the mystery of life is that we're surrounded by mystery…"
"These strange things are happening, and beyond the strange things they're seeing in the sky, they're finding debris on the ground," he added.
"They're seeing things go into the ocean, and what are they? Where are they? Where do they come from? Do they really exist, or are they fata morgana [a mirage], which is a bit like seeing water in the desert?"
UFO mysteries have even captivated Americans at the federal level, prompting lawmakers to launch historic congressional hearings on alleged sightings last year.
Harvard academics, earlier this year, caught attention after releasing a speculative paper coined as a "thought experiment," noting that aliens could be here already.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/william-shatner-challenges-ufo-skepticism-bombshell-testimonies-new-fox-nation-show
Bizarre 'alien mummies' found with 'mobile phones' buried inside them
13:59, 19 Aug 2024
The "alien mummies" from Peru reportedly had mobile phone-like devices implanted in their bodies, according to claims.
Jaime Maussan, a UFOlogist and controversial journalist, suggests that scientists have found rare metals and alloys embedded in the chests of these mysterious corpses, which he believes could be interstellar communication devices.
One such compound is a rare metal known as osmium, which can be lethal to humans. Mexican-born Maussan stated:
"I believe this is a device for communication. I don't really know how it works, but the experts will have to go in depth to understand why they put this inside the body.
"My guess is this was for health, to communicate something or a kind of cellular phone.
The metal is made of osmium, which is used for telecommunications and satellites in the space field. It is very rare. It's not easy to find and it's very, very expensive and besides it's very toxic.
For a human to have that inside them could create a big injury in the body or probably could kill the body.
"So it's difficult to understand why they did it. If you are going to create a hoax like this, are you going to put a very rare metal inside?"
Currently, scientists are testing the bodies - which Maussan alleges he discovered concealed in a cave in Nazca, Peru, in 2017 - in forensic labs.
Claims have been made that these centuries-old "ETs", with elongated skulls, possess "30 per cent unknown" DNA.
Sceptics have waved off the findings as a hoax, suggesting they could have been fabricated using parts from different animals.
However, Maussan is adamant that the unique bodily compounds of the creatures suggest "the possibility that this is from somewhere else or was created by someone else."
Maussan has teamed up with investigative filmmakers Serena DC and Michael Mazzola to document the scientific investigations for an upcoming documentary.
Michael said: "My initial take away from looking at these beings is that these bodies are a new species unknown to mankind previously.
It is a major discovery for mankind.
"It is completely bizarre to me that these discoveries have been ignored, dismissed and ridiculed; instead of being considered as the biggest story in the world of science.
People are always eager to invoke some kind of conspiracy theory to explain why some injustices have happened.
"But in my experience you do not need a conspiracy theory when human frailty or failure will do just fine."
Despite the ongoing debate over the authenticity of the aliens, with some asserting they are fake and others convinced of their reality, the truth about them remains shrouded in mystery - a puzzle that Maussan is determined to unravel.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/bizarre-alien-mummies-found-mobile-33494016