>>21502083

TYB

'One of the cleanest flights I've seen.' Blue Origin launches 6 people to space, lands safely on NS-26 flight

August 29, 2024

Blue Origin launched and landed its eighth suborbital space tourism mission this morning.

Blue Origin, which is run by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, sent the six-person NS-26 flight to space from its West Texas spaceport today. Liftoff occurred at 9:07 a.m. EDT (1307 GMT; 8:07 a.m. local Texas time).

The flight reached a maximum altitude of around 341,000 feet (104,000 meters) before coming back for a touchdown in the West Texas dust around 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT or 8:19 a.m. local time).

As the crew stepped out of the RSS First Step capsule, they cheered to the friends and family gathered to watch their return.

"I went to space!" screamed passenger Nicolina Elrick as she pumped her hands in the air as the first crewmember out.

The mission appeared to have gone flawlessly. "Up and back. That is just one of the cleanest flights I've seen from this rocket.

But behind every rocket is an extraordinary team," said Blue Origin launch commentator Ariane Cornell upon the capsule's return.

As the mission's name suggests, NS-26 was the 26th flight overall for New Shepard.

The mission launched atop the company's New Shepard rocket, Blue Origin's reusable rocket-capsule combo.

It was the eighth such mission to carry people.

New Shepard flights last 10 to 12 minutes from liftoff to capsule touchdown.

Passengers aboard the vehicle get to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and travel above the Kármán line, the 62-mile-high (100-kilometer-high) marker that many people regard as the boundary of outer space.

Blue Origin has not revealed how much a seat aboard New Shepard costs.

Virgin Galactic, the company's main competitor in the suborbital space tourism field, currently charges $450,000 per ticket.

The six people that flew on NS-26 included philanthropist and entrepreneur Nicolina Elrick, university professor Rob Ferl, businessman Eugene Grin, cardiologist Eiman Jahangir, college student Karsen Kitchen and entrepreneur Ephraim Rabin.

Ferl became the first NASA-funded researcher to fly to space with the flight, during which the University of Florida scientist and director of the university's space institute conducted experiments on plant growth in microgravity.

"As commercial space programs have advanced and access to space has become more available, I always hoped I might be able to conduct our experiments myself in microgravity," Ferl said in a University of Florida statement.

"I feel very grateful for this opportunity. After years, decades even, of working with astronauts to conduct our experiments, it's an honor to be at the forefront of researchers conducting their own experiments in space," Ferl said.

The 21-year-old Kitchen set a record on the flight, becoming the youngest woman ever to cross the Kármán line, according to Blue Origin.

But not everyone will regard her as the youngest woman to reach space; NASA and the U.S. military award astronaut wings to anyone who gets above 50 miles (80 km), a mark that 18-year-old Anastatia Mayers hit on a Virgin Galactic flight in August 2023.

NS-26 was the third launch for New Shepard since the vehicle failed on a robotic research flight in September 2022, resulting in the loss of the first-stage rocket. (The capsule landed safely.)

New Shepard returned to flight with an uncrewed launch in December 2023, then flew people this past May on NS-25.

https://www.space.com/blue-origin-ns-26-suborbital-space-tourism-launch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xps0TJdKxgU

Archaeologists find huge, 2,500-year-old Egyptian astronomy observatory

August 29, 2024

An apparent record-breaking ancient astronomy "observatory," complete with a sundial, was uncovered recently during a temple dig in the old capital of lower Egypt.

The mud-brick temple building was found in a larger complex known now as the Temple of Buto, but which was named after Wadjet during the sixth century BCE, from which it dates.

(Buto is a later Greek name for the ancient Egyptian Wadjet, according to the Wiley Online Library, and "Wadjet" has various spelling variations in English.)

The building sprawls over a quarter of an acre (850 square meters), making it the first — and largest — observatory building of the sixth century BCE, according to investigators.

It was used to "observe and record astronomical observations and the movement of the sun and stars," according to Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (translation from Arabic provided by Google.)

Temple astronomers of that era performed their work at an unstable time, during the transition to the late phase of Egyptian pharaonic power in which many foreign rulers took the throne.

The newly found observatory is part of a larger dig in modern-day Tell el-Faraeen, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Alexandria.

As the archaeology work progresses, the investigators said they expect to learn how the ancient Egyptians performed astronomy, using tools slowly being analyzed as they are uncovered.

A notable newfound tool was a "sloping stone sundial" that measured time by the movements of the sun.

The temple building itself faced east, the direction from which the sun rises.

Inside the building, the team found construction features that also suggested alignments with the sun.

Three stone blocks on the ground, for example, were used to "take measurements of the sun's location."

Another set of five flat limestone blocks mounted on long (16-foot, or 4.8 m) slabs had inclined lines "used to measure the inclinations of the sun and shadow, and to monitor the movement of the sun during daylight hours," the ministry wrote.

Also found was a possible observatory tower built of stone, a stone platform in a large hall with inscriptions of sunrises and sunsets, and miscellaneous inscription measurements "indicating time and astronomy," the statement said.

The hall was also festooned with images of deities linked with the sky.

For example, Horus (as a falcon) typically has a right eye symbolizing either the sun or the "morning star" Venus, while his left eye symbolizes the moon or "evening star" (also Venus, in its setting phase), according to Britannica.

Horus is the son of Wadjet, the protector goddess of Lower Egypt after whom the temple is named, according to Britannica.

Sometimes Wadjet and the deity Nekhbet, who represents Upper Egypt, are represented as an ensemble on the pharaonic jeweled crown or diadem, symbolizing how the pharaoh united both Upper and Lower Egypt.

Wadjet/Buto is well-attested in history, including mentions in works by Herodotus. Herodotus was a fifth-century chronicler of events known today as one of the first historians.

(Herodotus has complex origins, having been born in Anatolia under the Persian Empire, but then probably living in Athens and becoming a citizen of Thurii, an Athenian colony located in modern-day Italy.)

Smaller finds on the temple site include a beaded necklace known as a Menat, tablets with offerings, amphorae covers and pottery believed to be used for both temple rituals and the needs of everyday life.

The current phase of ministry digs in the area in and around the Buto complex date back to at least 2018, according to news reports.

https://www.space.com/ancient-egyptian-observatory-tracked-sun-stars

>>21502318

Can we make a city like El Salvador?

https://www.domusweb.it/en/news/gallery/2021/12/10/announced-worlds-first-bitcoin-city.html

Galactic Energy launches six satellites with third sea launch

August 29, 2024

China’s Galactic Energy conducted its third Ceres-1 solid rocket sea launch Thursday, successfully sending six satellites into orbit.

The Ceres-1 lifted off from a transport erector launcher on a mobile sea platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong province, at 1:22 a.m. Eastern (0522 UTC) Aug. 29.

Galactic Energy confirmed launch success within an hour of liftoff. Aboard were six remote sensing satellites for commercial customers.

Three of the satellites were Yunyao-1 spacecraft, equipped with GNSS occultation (GNSS-RO) and infrared imaging payloads, intended to provide meteorological data for commercial firm Yunyao Yuhang.

Also aboard was Jitian-A03, the first satellite for Suzhou Jitian Xingzhou Space Technology Co. Ltd.

The satellite is equipped with a hyperspectral remote sensing payload for high-resolution optical remote sensing technology verification.

Hyperspectral sensors capture data across hundreds of narrow, contiguous spectral bands, allowing these sensors to distinguish between materials, making these useful for applications including mineral exploration, agriculture, and environmental monitoring.

Jitian Xingzhou is focused on developing and manufacturing advanced optical payloads, high-efficiency remote sensing satellites, and providing unique data services for various applications.

It previously contributed a lightweight optical camera for the Star Pool-1B satellite launched on another Ceres-1 launch in August 2023.

The Suxing-1 (01) was developed by Shanghai AIS Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. and carries an optical payload.

The satellite will be used by Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) Taicang Yangtze River Delta Research Institute, according to Beijing News.

The hyperspectral Tianfu Gaofen-2 satellite, also known as Huaxiangyuan-1, was developed by Hunan Hangsheng Satellite Technology Co., Ltd.

The satellite will be operated by Xiamen Tianwei Technology Co., Ltd., which will use the data for applications in fields including environmental monitoring, resource management and urban planning.

The mission, codenamed “How far I’ll go,” was the 15th flight of the Ceres-1 solid rocket and the third sea launch.

The launcher experienced its only failure in September 2023.

Sea launches from off Haiyang provide China with another option for spaceport access.

Mobile sea platforms have provided launch opportunities for Long March 11, Jielong, Gravity-1 and Ceres-1 solid rockets.

Chinese language news reports in July stated that the company was working on Ceres-2, an upgraded solid rocket.

Galactic Energy was founded in February 2018. It is also preparing for the first launch of its Pallas-1 kerosene-liquid oxygen launcher.

Launch is expected late this year or in early 2025, according to July statements.

Pallas-1 is a kerosene-liquid oxygen rocket which will eventually be adapted for first stage reusability.

It will have a payload capacity of 8,000 kg to a 200-kilometer-altitude low Earth orbit (LEO), according to the company’s website.

A version with three core stages will be capable of carrying 17,500 kg to LEO.

Galactic Energy will be competing with firms such as Landspace, Deep Blue Aerospace and Space Pioneer for contracts to launch batches of satellites for China’s megaconstellations.

Thursday’s launch was the 38th Chinese orbital launch attempt of 2024. The mission followed the launch of the classified ChinaSat-4A satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit Aug. 22.

China’s state-owned main space contractor stated early this year that the country targeted around 100 launches across 2024, including commercial activity.

The debut of the new Long March 12 launcher could take place from a new commercial pad as soon as next month.

https://spacenews.com/galactic-energy-launches-six-satellites-with-third-sea-launch/

Space Force No. 2 Says There Is Risk of China or Russia Launching Large-Scale Attack in Orbit

Aug. 28, 2024

China and Russia have been monitoring U.S. efforts to protect its space assets and are trying to devise ways to counter them, to include a potential large-scale attack, the Space Force’s No. 2 officer said Aug. 28.

The Space Force and the Department of Defense have turned to proliferated constellations to make the U.S. satellites less vulnerable to attack and say the U.S. remains ahead in space.

“Proliferation means I’m now spreading out orbitology across multiple different orbits, so that they can’t just take out one satellite; they have to take out a bunch of satellites,” Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein said at the AFCEA/INSA Intelligence and National Security Summit.

“Then through proliferation, we’re partnering with other entities to get just more assets on orbit. That is a significant investment for the United States Space Force.”

But when asked if even disaggregated satellites would be at risk of a “large-scale” attack, Guetlein did not hesitate.

“Yes, I do,” he said.

“How is to be determined, what the impact of it is to be determined,” Guetlein said, referring to such an attack.

“But they are watching what’s going on in places like Ukraine and Gaza, and they are understanding how the world has become dependent upon space.

They’re understanding the impact of those disaggregated architectures, and they are actively working on how to counter that capability.”

Russia has apparently not only been monitoring U.S. assets in space but has also been keeping close tabs on American space officials.

On Aug. 28, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement announcing it has permanently banned Guetlein, along with 91 other individuals, from visiting Russia because of the “Biden administration’s Russophobic policy.”

Other people banned included Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, the head of U.S. Space Command; Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant, the head of Space Systems Command; and former Pentagon space policy chief John Plumb.

U.S. officials have said that Russia is developing a nuclear-armed anti-satellite weapon, among other capabilities.

While the Space Force is facing increasing threats, it is also dealing a flat budget of $30 billion—a slight decrease when accounting for inflation.

“That may sound like a lot, but that’s a drop in the bucket,” Guetlein said. “That’s an enormous amount of heavy lift the nation is getting for three and a half percent of the DOD budget.”

The Space Force’s No. 2 officer said the budgetary constraints are preventing the service from addressing “some of the additional mission areas that we think we need to get after.”

When it comes to countering future Chinese or Russian threats, Gutlein said he was hopeful the soon-to-be-established Space Futures Command would help the Space Force field a more resilient force.

“What we’re hoping comes out of Space Futures Command is what we call the ‘objective architecture,’” Guetlein said.

“That’s the architecture that we want tomorrow to look like.

What that does for you is it defines your risk, because the difference between your objective architecture and your fielded architecture is the risk that you’re accepting today, and the difference between your objective architecture and the architecture that you have funded is the risk that you’re accepting in your current budget.

So that really now starts to define where can we go as a Space Force.”

The threat is not just to American military assets but to the broad U.S. economy as well, he added.

Guetlein cited a study that he said found the loss of GPS—which is operated by the Space Force—for even just 15 minutes would cause over a billion dollars in economic damage.

While the U.S. has pledged not to test any direct-ascent kinetic anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons, the Pentagon is developing counterspace capabilities to stay ahead of China and Russia.

“What has become abundantly clear to us is that the adversary has been watching us for the past 20-plus years and the way we operate,” Guetlein said.

“They’ve been studying the way our economy works, our way of life, and they have not only become very intent on denying our ability to use space, but they’ve become very capable at it as well.

And that … should be enough of an alarm that we all start paying attention.”

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-no-2-risk-china-russia-large-scale-attack/

https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3888203/afrotc-ots-jrotc-educational-development-efforts-boosted-by-holm-center-space-d/

AFROTC, OTS, JROTC educational development efforts boosted by Holm Center, Space Delta 13 collaboration

Aug. 28, 2024

Space Delta 13’s Detachment 2, in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force’s Holm Center, has played a key role in educational development efforts here in Air Force ROTC, Officer Training School, and in both the Air Force and Space Force Junior ROTC programs.

“Over the past year, Space Delta 13, Detachment 2 and the Holm Center have worked to provide a similar experience for Guardian accessions, regardless of commissioning source.

The team updated both the Air Force ROTC and Officer Training School curriculum to capture Space Force equities and infuse foundational space-related material,” said Col. Bryan Dutcher, Space Delta 13 commander.

“Now, both services’ cadets and officer trainees are exposed to the Guardian Ideal, which outlines the Space Force core.”

Over the past six months, Space Delta 13’s Detachment 2 and Holm Center Academic Affairs developed 13 space-centric lessons for the Air Force Junior ROTC curriculum and coordinated and hosted the first-ever Space Force Junior ROTC Virtual Summit.

“These efforts fostered connections and communication among the 10 Space Force Junior ROTC units, 21 leaders, and 988 high school cadets, building networks and establishing U.S. Space Force culture while uniting nationwide units toward a common goal,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Taylor, Space Delta 13, Detachment 2 commander.

The detachment has also been on-site at local schools over the last year.

“In October 2023, our team served as judges for the Stanhope Elmore High School Area 4 drill competition, observing and judging drill disciplines for 12 local high school Junior ROTC teams,” Taylor said.

“We also had the opportunity to personally inspire cadets at Space Force Junior ROTC units at Falcon High School in Falcon, Colorado, Arlington Career Center in Arlington, Virginia, and Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix to learn, share, and challenge each other in pursuit of becoming citizens of character.”

Participation by Space Force cadets in ROTC is up, with 319 Guardian Cadets across 105 of the 145 Air Force ROTC detachments.

“In class, they are exposed to three space heritage lessons, including Space Force Generation information within the ‘How the Department of the Air Force Deploys’ lesson, and the ‘Department of the Air Force Commands’ lesson was updated to include details on each Space Force Field Command and Delta, providing a foundation for future officer education,” Taylor said.

Throughout the past academic year, Detachment 2 hosted 12 virtual Space Force supplemental briefs to Air Force ROTC detachments, providing additional Space Force information to cadets interested in becoming Guardians or simply wanting to learn more about the Space Force.

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>>21502582

“These sessions included information for cadets on why they should consider service in the U.S. Space Force, as well as information on the service’s organizational makeup and career fields they could choose from, challenges in space, the Guardian Ideal, and space power disciplines,” Taylor said.

Taylor also noted how Detachment 2 supported all four Air Force ROTC Field Training encampments, including supporting cadet Space Force patching ceremonies for 152 Space Force cadets, “Ask Me Anything” panels, and virtual reality immersions depicting the Earth and satellites in various orbits.

Air Force ROTC also had four Guardian cadre supporting Field Training, instructing 2,132 Air Force ROTC cadets in Space Force and Air Force lessons.

Taylor stated Detachment 2 has also partnered with the Holm Center to help build Space Force culture at Officer Training School.

“We provided space-centric experiences for 94 officer trainees across six cohort classes during fiscal year 2024,” Taylor said.

“These experiences included seven Space Force patching ceremonies and five immersion trips where our team took the Space Force cohort to visit the 20th Space Surveillance Squadron at Eglin Site C6 for a day of immersion in Space Domain Awareness operations.”

To meet the demands of Great Power Competition, Space Delta 13 and the Holm Center are committed to reoptimizing their approach to space education.

“This team’s efforts now and in the future, help move us in the right direction to educate space-minded warriors in support of national interests who are intellectually prepared and ready to prevail in competition and conflict,” Dutcher said.

Air Force readiness for any future high-end fight depends on mission-focused training that empowers Airmen and Guardians to think strategically, solve problems and respond quickly when applying what they've learned to the real-world battlespace of strategic competition.

“Developing mission-ready, combat-credible Airmen and Guardians who are empowered and successful in operational units begins with foundational training,” said Col. Eugene Moore III, Air Force ROTC commander.

“Enhancing the education experience of our cadets is essential for gaining the upper hand against our competitors.”

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Did Military Black Ops Unit Shoot Each Other Recovering An Alien?

Updated August 29, 2024 9:46 AM EDT

A wild UFO claim is gaining traction online.

As OutKick readers know, we have a bit of a fascination with UFOs here. I enjoy writing and reading stories about unexplained sightings and UPA/UFO/alien legends.

Do I believe them all? Not even close, but I do find them wildly entertaining. I know many people reading this feel the same way.

That leads us to an absolutely insane claim circulating Reddit.

Investigative journalist and author Ross Coulthart hosted a Reddit AMA Wednesday, and a story popped up that is nothing short of shocking.

"Is there any merit to the claim that in 2004 there was a blue-on-blue fire fight between a JSOC unit and a Lockheed Martin Recovery Team over UAP craft resulting in the death of two JSOC members," Coulthart was asked.

His response was stunning. He wrote back, "Yes…And that's not the only incident." You can see the full exchange in the screenshot below.

I have to throw a challenge flag on this claim until serious evidence and exact specifics are revealed. There are five JSOC units and they are as follows:

Delta Force

SEAL Team 6

Task Force Orange

24th STS

RRC

The best shooters are in Delta Force and SEAL Team 6 as they're direct action units.

What unit would be used to recover a crashed craft or an alien body?

Logic would seem to dictate it'd be Delta in some kind of coordination with Task Force Orange - a Tier One intelligence SMU.

So, with all of that laid out, we're supposed to believe two JSOC operators were killed and nobody found out about it.

I find that borderline impossible to believe.

Now, the government absolutely sometimes hides specific details of how a JSOC operator was killed, but the truth always comes out.

There are stories coming out now from the GWOT about guys dying the public didn't know the full details of for more than a decade.

However, we always knew they died in direct combat operations, even if specific details were withheld.

You have to remember JSOC operators have families, parents, friends and other people they interact with.

If they just disappeared or died without a baseline explanation, it would raise all kinds of red flags.

The idea two JSOC operators could have been killed in a shootout against themselves hunting a UAP or alien wouldn't be able to stay secret.

The deaths would have to be explained and the survivors would likely never stay silent. Could I be wrong?

Sure. The black ops world is a wild place, but without evidence, I'm not buying this claim.

https://www.outkick.com/culture/reddit-ama-ufo-uap-jsoc-unit-story

Former Senior Presidential Advisor Claims CIA Briefed Him On ‘Otherworld Technologies’

Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 10:16 am

Yet another former government official has come forward with claims about the United States having obtained technology not of this Earth.

In 2020, Eric W. Davis, an astrophysicist who worked as a subcontractor and then a consultant for the Pentagon UFO program, said he examined materials that “we couldn’t make it ourselves” and “off-world vehicles” that were not made by humans.

In 2023, David Grusch, a veteran of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), claimed the United States had retrieved and studied UFOs of non-human origin.

And now, in 2024, Harald Malmgren, who served as a senior adviser under Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, claims the CIA briefed him on what he calls “otherworld technologies.”

“60+ years ago I was provided highest level classifications to lead DOD work on nuclear weapons & anti-missile defense,” Malmgren wrote on X (Twitter) this week.

“Informally briefed on ‘otherworld technologies’ by CIA’s Richard Bissel (who had been in charge of Skunkworks, Area 51, Los Alamos, etc.) but sworn to secrecy.”

In another post replying to a comment, Mamlgren wrote, “Bissell briefed me off the record after his resignation as CIA Deputy Director Specal Ops.

I am not seeking public confirmation status–just telling my personal story. Confirmations will be up to others directly involved, in coming months.”

Those comments came in the wake of comments Harald Malmgren made earlier this year claiming to have been told by rocket scientist Lawrence Preston Gise, the grandfather of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, about “his alleged work on reverse-engineering of [UAP] objects” during a conversation at Los Alamos in 1963.

Malmgren’s daughter, former White House adviser Dr. Pippa Malmgren, has also been busy discussing UFOs, includiing a 2023 blog post and a recent post on X in which she addresses a new book published by Luis Elizondo, a lead UFO investigator in the the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).

“Here’s the question: what is the cost of asking “what if this is true?” vs the cost of assuming it is not true and being wrong?,” she wrote.

“Real/Serious scientists will want to bring all our new tech to bear on this to prove things one way or another.

We have to question those who insist on not investigating all this. What is there to lose? Nothing. What is there to gain?

Possibly a transformation of our understanding of reality. Seems odd that so many go to such lengths to dismiss something that is potentially so consequential before we even consider it.”

https://brobible.com/culture/article/former-presidential-advisor-malmgren-cia-otherworld-technologies/

https://x.com/Halsrethink/status/1825658208175702074

https://brobible.com/culture/article/former-presidential-advisor-malmgren-cia-otherworld-technologies/