TYB
FAA updates environmental review for increased Starship launches
November 24, 2024
An environmental review brings SpaceX one step closer to increasing the launch rate of its Starship vehicle from Texas.
The Federal Aviation Administration released Nov. 20 an updated version of a draft environmental assessment for an increase in the number of annual launches and landings of Starship/Super Heavy from its Starbase test site at Boca Chica, Texas.
The assessment examined the impacts of up to 25 launches a year, along with 25 landings each of the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stages.
The release of the updated draft begins a public comment period that runs through Jan. 17.
The FAA will hold five public meetings to gather input, four in-person events in Texas in early January and one online event Jan. 13.
The agency had planned public hearings on an earlier version of the draft in August, but postponed the hearings.
“The FAA is seeking additional information from SpaceX before rescheduling the public meetings,” the FAA said at the time, but did not elaborate.
The draft environmental assessment does not provide a formal recommendation on the proposal to increase the number of launches.
However, the review did not appear to find any serious issues that would prevent that increase.
The agency stated in the document that based on its assessment of environmental impacts of the increased launch and landing rate, “the FAA has concluded that the modification of SpaceX’s existing vehicle operator license for Starship/Super Heavy operations conforms to the prior environmental documentation, consistent with the data contained in the 2022 PEA [Programmatic Environmental Assessment], that there are no significant environmental changes, and all pertinent conditions and requirements of the prior approval have been met or will be met in the current action.”
A formal approval will only come after the conclusion of the public comment period and review of the comments submitted. The FAA has not stated how long that process will take.
Under an earlier environmental review, SpaceX is allowed to perform up to five launches of Starship/Super Heavy a year from Boca Chica.
SpaceX performed the fourth such launch this year Nov. 19, although it had to abort the planned “catch” landing of the Super Heavy booster back at the launch site.
In a post-flight statement, SpaceX said that it called off the booster catch attempt back at Starbase because of an issue with the launch tower, not the vehicle itself, discovered as the booster was making its way back.
“During this phase, automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt,” the company stated.
SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said on X, the social media site he also owns, that a communications issue with the tower caused the catch abort.
“Lost comms to the launch tower computer,” he posted Nov. 20. “Catch would probably still have worked, but we weren’t sure, so erred on the side of caution.”
https://spacenews.com/faa-updates-environmental-review-for-increased-starship-launches/
https://www.faa.gov/media/87646
Space Deilvery Arrives at Station Aboard Progress Cargo Craft
November 23, 2024
The unpiloted Progress 90 spacecraft arrived at the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Poisk module at 9:31 a.m. EST, Saturday, Nov. 23.
The spacecraft launched at 7:22 a.m. (5:22 p.m. Baikonur time) Nov. 21, on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Roscosmos spacecraft is delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 72 crew aboard the International Space Station and will remain docked for approximately six months before departing for a re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2024/11/23/space-deilvery-arrives-at-station-aboard-progress-cargo-craft/
SpaceX Starlink Mission
November 23, 2024
On Saturday, November 23 at 9:25 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched 20 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This was the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SDA-0A, Transporter-11, SARah-2, and now 12 Starlink missions.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-9-13
NASA identifies eerie clouds linked to UFO sightings over Florida, leaving locals puzzled
11:22 ET, Sun, Nov 24, 2024
NASA has identified a series of "eerie" clouds associated with UFO sightings over Florida, leaving locals puzzled.
The peculiar clouds resembling jellyfish or UFOs were observed just northwest of the Florida Keys. A group of men fishing off Key West in January were taken aback when they filmed the strange clouds.
This comes after Earth saw yet another close call as NASA captured another asteroid nearing hitting the planet before spotting a cosmic 'flame-throwing guitar'.
One of the men shared the video on TikTok, panning the camera towards the sky and zooming in on the circular shapes, exclaiming: "Bro look at these clouds, what is going on? What is that?"
"It's like a missing puzzle piece of something," another voice can say as they point to a large round hole in one cloud. The video was set to eerie music from Netflix's popular sci-fi show Stranger Things.
However, scientists have now clarified what these clouds are. NASA's Terra satellite also captured an image of the "Cavum clouds" from above in late January.
The US Space Agency shared a photo this week, highlighting that unusual clouds sometimes lead people to mistakenly believe they've spotted a UFO.
For nearly 70 years, scientists were uncertain about the cause of Cavum clouds, which are also known as "hole-punch clouds" or "fallstreak holes."
However, in 2010, weather experts finally solved this mystery. They discovered that these peculiar shapes form when planes fly through "altocumulus clouds."
Researchers at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) have unlocked the secrets behind the rare Cavum clouds.
These small, patchy clouds form at mid-level altitudes, between 7,000 and 23,000 feet above the ground, and consist of highly pure water vapor that has been "supercooled" to approximately -15°C, remaining in a liquid state despite the low temperature.
Scientists have found that the unique conditions required for Cavum clouds to form are disrupted when an airplane flies through them.
By analyzing data from aircraft flights, satellite observations, and weather models, they discovered that the movement of the plane's wings or propellers alters the air pressure around the water droplets.
This change causes the droplets to undergo "adiabatic expansion," which disrupts the delicate balance that keeps them in a liquid state.
A striking example of this phenomenon was captured by NASA's Earth Observatory on January 30, 2024, off the coast of the Florida Keys, and it was featured as their Image of the Day.
https://www.the-express.com/news/space-news/155402/nasa-shares-eerie-clouds
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/exotic-or-mundane-dfd9f0b92bca
https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/galileo/publications-highlight
Exotic or Mundane?
Nov 21, 2024
The opportunity to encounter exotic phenomena makes life thrilling. In contrast, the boring routine is to meet the mundane. We crave for the exotic over the mundane.
Because of this tendency, Richard Feynman warned: “We must be careful not to believe things simply because we want them to be true. No one can fool you as easily as you can fool yourself.”
This pearl of wisdom cautions not to get carried away with the interpretation of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
Yesterday, a reporter from the New York Post sent me a video taken by a television news crew from a helicopter over Manhattan, showing a fast-moving ball of light during daytime.
He asked: “Do you believe it is an object or a phenomenon of the camera or light? Does it appear to bear any resemblance to other types of UAP that have been reported to be seen around the world?”
I thanked the reporter for sharing the interesting video, and explained that the moving spot is most likely an optical artifact from the helicopter glass in front of the camera, namely a bright spot from reflection of sunlight as the camera gradually changed its orientation relative to the Sun and the ground. But even if this was a real object, its apparent speed is of order the speed of sound and not extraordinary.
The Galileo Project that I am leading just posted last week a new extensive paper that describes a detailed careful analysis of commissioning data on half a million aerial objects, collected over a period of five months.
The paper was posted on this webpage. In the coming months, our research team will attempt to triangulate outliers and figure out whether they are exotic or mundane based on their measured distances.
Two days ago, the new director of the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, Jon Kosloski, stated in a U.S. Senate hearing: “We do have some very anomalous objects…
Many reports resolve to commonplace objects like birds, balloons and unmanned systems, while others lack sufficient data for comprehensive analysis… only a small percentage of reports received by AARO are potentially anomalous.”
Kosloski mentioned a UAP observed in 2013 near Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The infrared video from a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol helicopter, shows the object flying above the ocean before disappearing into it, or possibly splitting in two.
AARO assessed that the UAP was actually flying over the airport the entire time, and disappeared in the infrared imagery because it had the same temperature as the water behind it.
The apparent splitting was due to two distinct objects that were close to each other, coming in and out of view.
Kosloski also reported that AARO explained the well-known GOFAST video, shot by a U.S. Navy fighter jet in 2016 off the coast of Florida.
In that case, the object’s apparent speed in the video was actually due to parallax associated with the camera’s perspective.
In another case from 2018, a drone flying over Mt. Etna “was actually 170 meters away from the plume — not flying through it.”
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AARO’s new report examines UAP cases dated between May 1, 2023 and June 1, 2024 as well as historical incidents that were not included in previous reports.
AARO’s ability to resolve cases “remains constrained by a lack of timely and actionable sensor data.” AARO’s 2022 report studied 510 UAP cases reported by government agencies and the U.S. military.
Out of those UAP, AARO was not able to identify a minority of 171 objects and stated: “Some of these uncharacterized UAP appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities, and require further analysis.”
Identifying most of the unidentified might be satisfactory for national security purposes. But even if one object in a million is exotic, that particular one could inspire a revolution in astronomy.
This is why the Galileo Project is conducting a thorough and careful systematic study of the sky over many months rather than rely on anecdotal reports by those who happened to be at the right place at the right time.
By summer 2025, we hope to have three operating observatories with triangulation capabilities for identifying distances to millions of aerial objects.
There is precedent for U.S. government data uncovering exotic phenomena while seeking the mundane, and as a result promoting new knowledge in astronomy.
In 1967, gamma-ray bursts were discovered by the Vela satellites which were searching for flashes of high-energy photons from covert nuclear weapon tests above the atmosphere.
After the bursts were identified as cosmic in origin, their existence was revealed to astronomers through a paper published in 1973 by a research team in Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 1997, the X-ray afterglows of the gamma-ray burst were linked to galaxies at cosmological distances.
Long-duration bursts, lasting more than a few seconds, are now known to be emitted by relativistic jets piercing through the envelope of massive stars as their core collapses and gives birth to a black hole.
The possibility that some UAP might have been sent by intelligent cosmic neighbors is the reason that the public is fascinated by their existence.
Following Feynman’s advice, we should let data guide us rather than wishful thinking. The nature of UAP will most likely be revealed by scientists, not journalists or politicians.
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I Work At NOAA. Extraterrestrials Are Under The Oceans
Nov 13, 2024
Whenever insiders discover something that doesn’t fit with the status quo, they file it away without further investigation.
We’ve seen and recorded some pretty weird stuff with various ocean equipment. Believe it or not, we still use the multibeam sonar method developed in the late 1970s.
Combined with more advanced Sidescan sonar for the most extreme depths, we have an unmistakable picture of what lies below, despite the narration provided to the audience.
Multibeam Sonar
I have personally heard the recordings of the beings and their vessels. As we have observed them, their means appear to be at least partially organic.
They can survive outside their ships without any apparent apparatus. Their vessels can enter and exit any substantial body of water without disturbing the surface or displacing water.
They are humanoids. Their ships travel through the water as fast as they travel through the atmosphere.
Speeds of 200 knots have been recorded underwater. Let this be digested. The sea’s fastest-known creature is the sailfish, which can travel at around…
The rest is behind paywall.
https://medium.com/@Unsolvedmystery/i-work-at-noaa-extraterrestrials-are-under-the-oceans-1c906bcc0f8d
Pacific Rim
Steven Greer to Newsmax: End Cover-Up of UFOs
Thursday, 14 November 2024 04:01 PM EST
Steven Greer, a ufologist and founder of the Disclosure Project, told Newsmax on Thursday that it is time for more transparency on what the government knows about UFOs.
Greer appeared the day after House Republicans held a hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena, formerly called UFOs.
The House Oversight Committee held the hearing in an effort "to further pull back the curtain on secret UAP research programs conducted by the U.S. government, and undisclosed findings they have yielded."
The hearing will, in part, follow up on information provided by whistleblower David Grusch, who asserted in July 2023 that the Pentagon has been operating a secret crash retrieval program for UAPs, something the Defense Department has denied.
Last year's initial hearing documented at least 400 sightings, many of them by U.S. military pilots, and 11 near collisions. However, the Pentagon released a report in March saying there is "no evidence" of any government investigation that has "confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented extraterrestrial technology."
Greer told "Newsline" that he believes the government has been running illegal UFO research dating back to the 1950s, with no oversight from the legislative or executive branch.
"I have provided briefing documents to every president since Mr. [Bill] Clinton, and we are preparing one for the incoming president," Greer said.
"This is a huge constitutional crisis that nobody is really talking about." Greer said he has 760 whistleblowers who have come forward to him about the secret projects being run.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/steven-greer-ufos-cover-up/2024/11/14/id/1188106/
US is accused of using alien technology for espionage
November 22, 2024
Former military officials have reiterated their belief that the United States possesses alien technology, despite official Pentagon objections.
The hearing before the House Oversight Committee contained conflicting statements ranging from the sensational to the more reasoned.
A key witness was Luis Elizondo, a former Defense Department intelligence officer who had previously worked on a secret UAP (unknown aerospace phenomena) project.
In his statement, he noted that the U.S. and its adversaries are actively using secret alien technology to spy on military installations around the world.
Elizondo’s words, however, are controversial. Earlier this year, he claimed that the government had a program to “catch” extraterrestrial spacecraft.
But during a recent conference, he admitted that the photo he presented of the so-called UFO “mothership” was actually a fake.
Other witnesses included retired Navy Admiral Tim Gallaudet, who is now researching possible alien ships underwater.
Gallaudet said that about ten years ago he witnessed an object that was superior to anything known to mankind.
He also got a video called Go Fast, which was declassified in 2019. However, the record mysteriously disappeared the next day.
To counter these claims, former NASA space policy chief Michael Gold called for a scientific approach.
He believes that understanding the UFO issue requires an unbiased approach and open-mindedness in research.
Declassification of UFO documents
Public interest in UFOs remains high. Many documents related to research on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) have long been available online.
Specifically, the U.S. Navy website has published documents on the subject. The FBI also provides access to its own archive of records covering the years 1947 through 1954.
One of the most famous projects dedicated to UFO research is the Blue Book, which was conducted by the U.S. Air Force from 1947 to 1969. The documents of this project are now stored in the National Archives.
A total of 12,618 cases involving UFO sightings were investigated as part of the Blue Book Project. Most of them received a logical explanation, but 701 cases remained classified as “unidentified.”
Despite this, the Air Force notes that there is no evidence to support the extraterrestrial origin of objects classified as “unidentified.”
https://universemagazine.com/en/us-is-accused-of-using-alien-technology-for-espionage/
Aliens are trying to send three-word warning about nuclear weapons, claims ex-US army official
18:40, 23 NOV 2024
Aliens are trying to send humans a three-word message about nukes, an ex-US army official has claimed – "WTF" .
A video posted on social media shows former United States Army weapons controller and drone pilot Robert Salas in conversation with Congressman Nancy Mace during the recent UFO hearing in Congress.
The pair were seen in a meeting room, with others who attend the hearings. The pair were talking for an interview, with part of it being filmed by the Total Disclosure Podcast and shared online.
In it, Salas talks about several instances where UFOs were said to have visited nuclear bases all over the world and how none of the visits had caused “significant damage” to weapons systems bar turning of navigations systems.
But, he said when asked about what message aliens could be trying to send to humans by only doing this, he said: “To me, that says that they were sending us a message about nuclear weapons – 'WTF, nuclear weapons'.”
He apologised for using adult language in front of the Congresswoman (who was not bothered). The claim comes days after another expert claimed that aliens have visited “every major nuclear missile base” – and do it several times a year.
Those are the words of Robert Hastings, who has spent years interviewing former and current United States army personnel about UFO sightings and encounters.
And speaking to News Now he said: “I can tell you that all the major nuclear missile bases, from the ones operational in the 60s and the 70s, and the ones that are currently operational, have been visited repeatedly year after year according to the sources that I have interviewed.”
No further context or explanation – or evidence – was provided in the clip or further interviews, but the comments come a few months after he made similar claims in a book, where he mused about the possible motives of non-human entities.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/us-news/aliens-trying-send-three-word-34174370
https://x.com/DisclosurePod/status/1857061484053848546
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc73d-Sx4zc
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc73d-Sx4zc
>The Most Dangerous Game