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ESA releases new strategy for Earth observation
30/09/2024
ESA has released its new Earth Observation Science Strategy, Earth Science in Action for Tomorrow’s World.
Responding to the escalating threats from climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and extreme weather and the need to take action to address these threats, this forward-looking strategy outlines a bold vision for Earth science through to 2040.
By leveraging advanced satellite-based monitoring of our planet, ESA aims to provide critical data and knowledge to guide action and policy for a more sustainable future.
ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, said, “As a space agency, it is our duty to harness the unique power of Earth observing technology to inform the critical decisions that will shape our future.
“Our new Earth Observation Science Strategy underscores a science-first approach where satellite technology provides data that contribute to our collective understanding of the Earth system as a whole, so that solutions can be found to address global environmental challenges.”
“The choices we make today help create a more sustainable world and propel the transformation towards a resilient, thriving global society.”
The new Science Strategy presents a bold and ambitious vision for the future of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes.
It shifts focus towards understanding the feedbacks and interconnections within the Earth system, rather than targeting specific Earth system domains.
Developed through dedicated studies and over a year of extensive consultation with the Earth science community and key stakeholders, the new Science Strategy includes six major thematic objectives:
the water cycle, the carbon cycle and chemistry, energy fluxes, ecosystem health, extremes and hazards, and interfaces and coupling in the Earth system.
These themes along with a comprehensive set of Guiding Questions provide a blueprint on where to focus future efforts in understanding our planet.
These questions, 23 in all, encapsulate critical Earth system science issues and knowledge gaps in which Earth observation satellite technology provides a unique contribution, by either leveraging existing or near-future data sources, or by developing new observations from space.
As well as overarching science themes identified during the study period, these questions provide a clear framework for the Science Strategy, which now pave the way for shaping future activities within ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes.
Simonetta Cheli added, “From our groundbreaking Earth Explorer research missions, which push the boundaries of observation technology to achieve scientific excellence, to our pivotal role in developing the Copernicus Sentinel satellites with the European Union, ESA continues to define the state-of-the-art for monitoring Earth’s evolving environment.
“The Science Strategy builds on these accomplishments, aiming to drive the next generation of satellite innovations essential for tackling the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
“With this strategy now in place, we are poised to advance Earth science even further, equipping policymakers, scientists, and societies with the data and insights needed to create a more sustainable and resilient future for all.”
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/ESA_releases_new_strategy_for_Earth_observation
https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/EarthObservation/ESA_Earth_Observation_Science_Strategy_issued_Sept_2024.pdf
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Europa Clipper's Voyage to Jupiter's Ocean Moon
Oct 1, 2024
As NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft leaves Earth, it carries a message: we, too, are made of water. Europa—one of Jupiter’s moons—is a top candidate to support life, thanks to its ocean of liquid, salty water capped by a layer of ice.
Lynnae Quick-Henderson, a planetary scientist at NASA, explains how Clipper will search Europa for the building blocks of life.
The mission is also a message in a bottle, bringing a greeting from one ocean world to another.
Hear how Ada Limón, the Poet Laureate of the United States, used NASA’s mission as inspiration for her poem “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa” and why she thinks everyone—even space nerds—should step back and appreciate our connections to the universe and each other.
Get curious with NASA. As an official NASA podcast, Curious Universe brings you mind-blowing science and space adventures you won’t find anywhere else.
Explore the cosmos alongside astronauts, scientists, engineers, and other top NASA experts who are achieving remarkable feats in science, space exploration, and aeronautics.
Learn something new about the wild and wonderful universe we share. All you need to get started is a little curiosity.
NASA’s Curious Universe is an official NASA podcast hosted by Padi Boyd and Jacob Pinter
Discover more ad-free, original NASA shows at nasa.gov/podcasts
Find the full NASA’s Curious Universe catalog at nasa.gov/curiousuniverse
https://www.nasa.gov/podcasts/curious-universe/europa-clippers-voyage-to-jupiters-ocean-moon/
Solar eclipse livestream: Watch the annular eclipse online on Oct. 2
October 1, 2024
On Oct. 2, the moon and sun will produce a dazzling "ring of fire" in the sky. The annular solar eclipse is going to be a sight to behold.
However, many of us will be nowhere near the path of annularity — a route that passes across the Pacific Ocean, southern Chile and southern Argentina.
Instead we must look to the next best thing: livestreams!
You'll find some information below about how to watch the event play out virtually, and in fact, you'll also be able to catch the eclipse action unfolding on our solar eclipse live blog.
When the time comes, we will bring you views of the eclipse as they appear online as well as some on-the-ground reporting from a lucky few who will be there in person.
During an annular solar eclipse, the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun.
As such, it doesn't block the entire solar disk like it would during a total solar eclipse. Instead, the moon's shadow covers most of the disk, leaving the outer rim, and resulting in a beautiful "ring of fire."
On Oct. 2, the moon will cover approximately 93% of the sun's disk at the point of greatest eclipse.
You can watch the annular solar eclipse online and follow along with a livestream news feed courtesy of Timeanddate.com.
The livestream will begin at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT) on the website's YouTube channel.
Watching in person
The "ring of fire" will be visible only within a path of annularity that passes across the Pacific Ocean, southern Chile and southern Argentina.
During an annular solar eclipse, it is NEVER safe to look directly at the sun without solar eclipse glasses designed for solar viewing.
Read our guide on how to observe the sun safely.
Notable locations where the "ring of fire" is visible
For an in-depth look at the timings of each stage of the eclipse depending on location, check out these resources on Time and Date.
Rapa Nui/Easter Island, Chile (5 minutes, 38 seconds to 6 minutes, 12 seconds of annularity starting at 14:03 EAST, 67 degrees above North)
Cochrane, Chile (5 minutes, 40 seconds of annularity starting at 17:21 CLST, 26 degrees above NNW)
Perito Moreno National Park, Argentina (6 minutes, 17 seconds of annularity starting at 17:21 ART, 25 degrees above NNW)
Puerto Deseado, Argentina (3 minutes, 22 seconds of annularity starting at 17:27 ART, 20 degrees above NNW)
Puerto San Julian, Argentina (5 minutes, 12 seconds of annularity starting at 17:24 ART, 21 degrees above NNW)
Notable locations where the partial solar eclipse is visible
For those outside the path of annularity, a partial solar eclipse will be visible during which the moon will appear to take a "bite" out of the sun.
Here are some notable locations where a partial solar eclipse will be visible (along with the percentage coverage of the sun) on Oct. 2, 2024.
Ushuaia, Argentina (72%)
Falkland Islands (84%)
Villarrica, Chile (63%)
Punta Arenas, Chile (75%)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (42%)
São Paulo, Brazil (10%)
https://www.space.com/watch-annular-solar-eclipse-2024-online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maq5N4okQnU
On this day in space! Oct. 1, 1958: Happy Birthday, NASA!
Oct. 1, 2024
On Oct. 1, 1958, NASA was born! The space agency officially opened for business on this day.
President Eisenhower had signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law two months earlier in response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik.
The U.S. didn't want to get left behind in the space race, so Congress created NASA as an organized effort to advance space research and technology.
NASA absorbed the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) along with its 8,000 employees and three laboratories.
https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html
https://www.space.com/milky-way-lonely-satellite-galaxies-magellanic-clouds
https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/how-special-is-the-milky-way-galaxy/
https://news.yale.edu/2024/09/25/saga-saga-putting-milky-ways-peculiarities-context
The Milky Way's 2 biggest satellite galaxies are oddly lonely, study finds
September 30, 2024
The Milky Way's system of small, orbiting satellite galaxies is quite unusual, a new 12-year study of other galaxies in the local universe has found.
The Satellites Around Galactic Analogs (SAGA) survey is being conducted by a small group of astronomers to learn how the Milky Way and its little retinue of dwarf satellite galaxies compares to other galaxy systems.
"The Milky Way's satellite population is a unique combination of small satellites containing only older stars, and its two largest satellites, which are actively forming new stars," says Marla Geha, who is a professor of astronomy and physics at Yale University and co-founder of SAGA, in a statement.
Those two largest satellites are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, known as the LMC and SMC in shorthand.
These two satellites are far and away the largest in the Milky Way's family and are readily visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere.
Most of the other 59 known satellite galaxies of the Milky Way are exceedingly faint, requiring the Hubble Space Telescope or large ground-based telescopes to detect them.
SAGA conducted a census of 101 galaxies similar in size and mass to our Milky Way, playing host to 378 satellite galaxies in total.
The number of visible satellite galaxies per host galaxy ranged from 0 to 13.
This is compared to the Milky Way, where SAGA (using data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, DESI) on the Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona could detect only four satellites.
The rest of our galaxy's satellites are simply too faint for DESI to see.
"The Milky Way appears to host fewer satellites if you consider the existence of the LMC," said Yao-Yuan Mao, of the University of Utah and also a SAGA co-founder, in a statement.
That's because the trend discovered by SAGA is for host galaxies to feature more satellite galaxies in general if they also have at least one Magellanic-type galaxy orbiting them.
However, galaxies without Magellanic-types do tend to have fewer satellites. One explanation is that the Magellanic Clouds are recent additions to the Milky Way's family.
For example, research back in 2007 by Gurtina Besla, now at Steward Observatory in Arizona, found that the Magellanic Clouds are first-time visitors, snagged by our Milky Way's gravity in the last three billion years and trapped in orbit.
So before the Magellanic Clouds arrived, the Milky Way wouldn't have been expected to have many bright satellite galaxies, based on the trends observed by SAGA.
The assumption is that other Magellanic-type galaxies in other systems formed around their host galaxy.
Plus, Magellanic-type galaxies are quite rare in and of themselves.
Previous research in 2012 led by Aaron Robotham of the University of Western Australia, as part of the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, concluded that only 3% of spiral galaxies similar to the Milky Way had Magellanic Cloud-type satellites.
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In what is the final data release from SAGA (the first two batches of data from the project were produced in 2017 and 2021), astronomers also learned other things about dwarf satellites.
It found, for example, that the closer a satellite galaxy is to its host galaxy, the more likely that satellite's star-formation rate will be zero, or close to it.
The closer to the host galaxy, the more deeply ensconced the satellite is in the host's gravity well and dark matter halo, and the closer it is to any radiation poured out by hot, young stars or supernova explosions that can remove star-forming gas from an orbiting satellite galaxy.
Astronomers call the cessation of star formation in a galaxy "quenching," and SAGA's findings directly connect quenching to the environment around the host galaxy.
Most of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies have been quenched, and that's at least partly why they are so faint — because they haven't managed to form many stars.
SAGA's results also imply that quenched galaxies should be in more isolated environments, rather than in systems that are crowded with other satellite galaxies that they could interact with, stirring up more star formation within them.
But what does any of this really mean? Dwarf satellite galaxies exist within the huge halo of dark matter that surrounds all large galaxies.
This halo acts as the gravitational scaffolding for the formation of those galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are the building blocks of their larger host galaxies; the model of hierarchical galaxy formation described by the Standard Model of cosmology, in which larger galaxies are assembled from small galaxies, predicts that there should actually be many more dwarf satellites around the Milky Way than we currently detect.
Where these missing galaxies are remains a mystery, but by sampling and studying dwarf galaxies around other galaxies, we can learn about the dark matter haloes around other galaxies, their influence on galaxy formation and evolution, and where small satellite galaxies might be hiding.
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Gogo buys rival to tackle Starlink aviation expansion
September 30, 2024
Gogo is acquiring inflight connectivity rival Satcom Direct to counter rising competition from SpaceX’s Starlink in the market for providing Wi-Fi to business jets.
Satcom Direct would get $375 million in cash and five million shares from Gogo under a deal announced Sept. 30, subject to regulatory approvals, and up to $225 million in extra payments tied to performance targets over the next four years, suggesting around $636 million in maximum total proceeds.
Gogo has historically dominated the small and midsize part of the business aviation market and connects about 7,000 planes, according to William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma, while Satcom Direct has a commanding market share for long-haul.
Combined, William Blair estimates the companies are providing Wi-Fi to around 8,200 of the 9,200 business jets that currently have connectivity — or nearly 90% of the market.
“This is a nifty transaction from the standpoint that it likely would not have been approved by antitrust regulators if it were proposed as recently as last year,” DiPalma said.
However, he said regulators would likely approve the deal because Starlink has emerged as an existential threat to the entire satellite connectivity industry.
Air France recently became the latest major airline to announce plans to add SpaceX’s low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband service across its entire fleet.
Starlink’s business aviation customers include JSX, Pro Star Aviation and Flexjet.
DiPalma noted that Gogo shares have plummeted by roughly 70% from a peak in 2022 as Starlink gained momentum.
Multi-orbit plans
Gogo and Satcom Direct enable Wi-Fi on planes via an air-to-ground (ATG) network of terrestrial cellular towers and capacity leased from satellite operators in geostationary orbit (GEO).
Gogo has used GEO satellites from Intelsat, SES and Eutelsat, while Viasat is Satcom Direct’s main capacity provider.
The companies have partnered separately with Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO constellation to provide multi-orbit broadband services next year.
The incoming LEO service for business airlines from Gogo, which sold its commercial aviation division to Intelsat four years ago, is called Galileo and uses an electronically steered antenna (ESA) from Hughes.
Satcom Direct, which generates a fifth of revenues from connecting military and government customers, has ordered LEO ESA terminals from Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks.
Gilat announced a $245 million deal in June to take over Stellar Blu, a Texas-based aircraft equipment integration specialist, to bolster its place in the fast-evolving inflight connectivity market.
“This transaction accelerates our growth strategies of expanding our total addressable market to include the 14,000 business aircraft outside North America,” Gogo chair and CEO Oakleigh Thorne said in a news release.
He added: “This transaction also uniquely positions us to sell our Galileo LEO solution integrated into Satcom Direct’s GEO and L-band offerings as part of a multi-band, multi-orbit solution for the fast-growing military/government mobility market.”
DiPalma noted that the deal also helps Gogo upsell Galileo LEO services to prevent Satcom Direct customers from defecting to Starlink.
Novaspace consultant Vishal Patil said the acquisition would open up the international business aviation market to Gogo, which is currently largely confined to North America.
SmartSky, which aimed to compete with Gogo in North America, recently shut down operations after failing to raise funds for its ATG network.
https://spacenews.com/gogo-buys-rival-to-tackle-starlink-aviation-expansion/
US Space Command begins dual-track operations of spaceflight safety services with Office of Space Commerce
Published Oct. 1, 2024
U.S. Space Command and the Department of Commerce, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Space Commerce, will begin dual-track operations in the provision of space situational awareness information and services to satellite owners and operators.
The two partners are migrating the provision of public services relating to spaceflight safety, currently provided via space-track.org, from USSPACECOM to OSC’s new Traffic Coordination System for Space. TraCSS went live for a beta group of satellite owners and operators Sept. 30.
During this first of multiple phases, TraCSS will lean on USSPACECOM’s data and distribute TraCSS-generated conjunction data messages (space traffic safety notifications) to beta users through the space-track.org interface. USSPACECOM will not cease or change its operations and will continue to provide publicly available SSA data and services to avoid a disruption to current spaceflight operations.
“TraCSS represents a modern approach to spaceflight safety, integrating the latest technologies and providing on-ramps for continuous improvements that will scale into the future,” said Richard Dalbello, director of NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce.
“I’m thankful for our team and partners for doing the hard work to launch the first phase on schedule.”
Over time, TraCSS will integrate more data, incorporate revisions and add capabilities, while USSPACECOM continues services in parallel with an emphasis on national security.
A full migration will be complete when both parties meet agreed upon conditions.
At that point, USSPACECOM will continue to maintain the authoritative space catalog and will remain the provider of SSA and space domain awareness data supporting national security issues in space, including classified data sharing and threat awareness in support of mission requirements.
USSPACECOM currently tracks and publishes information about approximately 47,000 objects in space, to include military, civilian and commercial objects, through space-track.org.
Since 2010, U.S. Air Force, now U.S. Space Force, units have provided spaceflight safety services known as conjunction assessments and a resident space object database.
With the global increase of commercial, military and civil space activities, Space Policy Directive-3 (2018) recognized the need for the Department of Defense to focus resources on maintaining access to, and freedom of action in space.
It further directed the Department of Commerce to serve as the lead civil agency to provide basic SSA data and basic space traffic coordination services to the public.
“This step is a significant milestone in a team effort between the Office of Space Commerce and the DoD.
It represents our shared commitment to ensuring spaceflight safety to all operators.” said Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command.
“The eventual migration to TraCSS will allow us to focus on the space domain awareness needed to plan, integrate, execute and assess military space operations.”
USSPACECOM, working with allies and partners, plans, executes, and integrates military spacepower into multi-domain global operations in order to deter aggression, defend national interests, and when necessary, defeat threats.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3921902/us-space-command-begins-dual-track-operations-of-spaceflight-safety-services-wi/
Armada Of Alien Ships Heading Towards Earth? Alexa Video Goes Viral
September 30, 2024
A video of Amazon's Alexa claiming that an 'armada of alien ships' are heading towards Earth is going viral on social media.
The clip starts with a user asking 'What did the James Webb Telescope detect is coming towards Earth?'.
The bot attributes to Github.io, to say that a fleet of alien ships are coming at the speed of light.
However, officials have not made any such claims. Amazon is yet to react to the viral Alexa video.
Earlier this week, Cindy Adams DeRossett - who is the founder and CEO of The Hippie Puppy - posted the Alexa video on social media. The clip has gone viral.
Reacting to the Alexa claim, one person wrote: "Interesting.🤔 Apparently Alexa is saying that an armada of alien ships is heading towards Earth. I think the news reported its an asteroid (2nd moon)."
"There is an Extraterrestrial 👽 Armada of ships moving towards our planet at light speed! Things are rapidly turning up on the planet and a huge shift is happening," another person added.
"Yall hear about the armada of Alien space ships coming to us?" a third one asked.
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/techandscience/armada-of-alien-ships-heading-towards-earth-alexa-video-goes-viral/ar-AA1rqhDo
https://www.facebook.com/rhonda.reid.54/posts/pfbid02h7AvMtRcjsL174zXcyuAMEhGpxPeTEnhqrjGXKcx3qowvE1j1rCmSTcW7R58x8Dhl
Alleged Air Force Whistleblower Claims Aliens Are About To Reveal Themselves
Last Updated Oct 1, 2024 9:57 am
There have been quite a few rather credible whistleblowers that have come forward with some wild stories about what they claim to know about the United States government, aliens and UFOs.
Charles McNeal, may or may not be one of them.
McNeal, who claims he was part of a top-secret United States Air Force intelligence unit, says he and his team were responsible for keeping in tact a 70-year-long truce between Earth and an alien civilization.
McNeal also claims that said truce between Earth and the aliens expired this week on September 30, 2024.
According to the Mirror, the end of the truce now means “a planned series of events, including the partial – or possibly total – destruction of the state of Israel, a brief global conflict and a staged alien invasion using reverse-engineered UFO technology will soon follow.”
This supposed series events will include a new alliance between the United States and Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
In addition to all of that, Charles McNeal also claims there will be an orchestrated third world war, created to cull the world’s population.
That will then be interrupted by an alien invasion that has been planned to take place for decades.
It is then that humans will be introduced to aliens for the first time – aliens that the U.S. government first encountered in the 1940s.
“Type A-C have a grey or greyish pigmentation that can come off a bit chalky sometimes,” he claims.
“They have four fingers with little suction cups on the ends of each finger and some have webbing in between their fingers and toes.
Type D have a brownish pigmentation and five fingers and five toes.
“This species started off fully biological until they ventured out into the cosmos and came into contact with what they now answer to, something called ‘The Keeper.’
They now worship technology and started to incorporate mechanics into their biological makeup thousands of years ago.”
As for proof that what he says will actually happen (or that he actually was part of any such Air Force task force)?
Charles McNeal has yet to provide much of that. Luckily, we won’t have to wait too long to find out if he is telling the truth!
https://brobible.com/culture/article/air-force-whistleblower-aliens-reveal-themselves/