TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
November 25, 2024
The Horsehead Nebula
One of the most identifiable nebulas in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming. Light takes about 1,500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula. The featured image was taken from the Chilescope Observatory in the mountains of Chile.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
U.S. and Mexico to foster space, STEM partnerships
Nov. 24, 2024 / 5:43 PM
The United States and Mexico will strengthen partnerships in astronomy and astrophysics research, and look for opportunities to cooperate on economic, educational, and science, technology, engineering, and math initiatives, NASA announced.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, were in Mexico City Sunday, the start of a multi-day trip designed to further previous collaborative efforts and "advance scientific and technological collaboration between the United States and Mexico," NASA said in a statement.
Melroy is scheduled to meet with Mexican government officials, including the secretariat-designate for Science, Technology, Humanities, and Innovation. She and Fox plan to meet with academic, industry, and scientific institutional leaders.
"These discussions will emphasize expanding cooperation in space science, with particular focus on Mexico's growing astronomy programs," NASA said.
The administration said this visit is part of NASA's commitment to advancing international cooperation in space and science globally, part of the efforts of its Office of International and Interagency Relations Mission.
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2024/11/24/us-mexico-strengthen-space-stem-ties/9191732487784/
https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/
‘Unexpected odor’ inside resupply spacecraft prompts lockdown on ISS
November 25, 2024, 12:18
A Russian cosmonaut noticed an “unexpected odor” and “observed small droplets” inside the unpiloted Progress 90 resupply spacecraft after it docked at the International Space Station (ISS).
On November 24, 2024, NASA said that the strange smell prompted the ISS crew to “close the Poisk hatch to the rest of the Russian segment” until further investigation could be undertaken.
The Progress 90 resupply spacecraft successfully docked to the Poisk module on November 23, 2024, where upon the cosmonaut proceeded to open the hatch.
According to NASA, air scrubbers and contaminant sensors subsequently monitored the atmosphere on board the ISS and on November 24, 2024, “flight controllers determined air quality inside the space station was at normal levels”.
“There are no concerns for the crew, and as of Sunday afternoon, the crew is working to open the hatch between Poisk and Progress while all other space station operations are proceeding as planned,” said a spokesperson for NASA.
NASA initially celebrated the arrival of Progress 90 which launched on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 21, 2024.
The spacecraft is delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 72 crew aboard the space station and will remain docked for around six months before departing for a re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
There are three Russian cosmonauts currently aboard the ISS – Alexy Ovchinin, Ivan Wagner and Aleksandr Gorbunov.
https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/international-space-station-progress-spacecraft-odor
Rocket Lab Signs $23.9M CHIPS Incentives Award to Boost Semiconductor Manufacturing
November 25, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, has finalized a $23.9 million award from the U.S. Department of Commerce to increase its compound semiconductor manufacturing capability and capacity at the Company’s Albuquerque, New Mexico facility.
The semiconductors produced by Rocket Lab are used in space-grade solar cells and other optoelectronic products that are important components for national security and commercial applications.
Earlier this year, the Company announced the signing of a preliminary terms sheet for funding under the CHIPS and Science Act.
This award underscores Rocket Lab’s pivotal role in U.S. innovation and the space industry’s supply chain.
The funding will enhance manufacturing capabilities at the company’s New Mexico facility, enabling Rocket Lab to scale semiconductor production to meet rapidly growing demand.
In particular, the space-grade solar cells produced by Rocket Lab power satellites that require high reliability and optimum performance in extreme environments.
“We’re proud to be a part of this effort to revitalize and grow U.S. domestic semiconductor manufacturing capability.
This award will help to ensure U.S. leadership in compound semiconductor manufacturing capability while reinforcing Rocket Lab’s position as a leader in space-grade solar cell production.” said Brad Clevenger, Vice President of Rocket Lab Space Systems.
“The investment will enable Rocket Lab to expand production, create highly skilled manufacturing jobs and generate economic and workforce development activity in New Mexico.”
Rocket Lab is one of only two companies in the United States that specialize in the production of highly efficient and radiation hardened space-grade solar cells.
Rocket Lab’s solar cell facility has been a technology hub in Albuquerque for the past 25 years, employing more than 370 people that have delivered more than four megawatts of power to over 1,100 satellites in orbit.
Rocket Lab’s products enable critical space programs, including early missile warning and interplanetary science missions, the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Artemis lunar explorations, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, and the Mars Insight Lander in addition to 100’s of commercial telecommunications satellites.
https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-signs-23-9m-chips-incentives-award-to-boost-semiconductor-manufacturing-2/
companion link
https://www.wired.com/video/watch/we-tracked-every-visitor-to-epstein-island
SpaceX Starlink Mission
November 25, 2024
On Monday, November 25 at 5:02 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 23 Starlink satellites, including 12 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This was the 13th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Euclid, Ax-2, Ax-3, NG-21, SES 24, CRS-30, and now seven Starlink missions.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-12-1
Space firms see government contracting shakeup in second Trump term
November 25, 2024
The incoming Trump administration’s close ties to Elon Musk and other tech billionaires could upend traditional Pentagon procurement practices, space and defense industry executives said at last week’s Baird Defense & Government Conference in McLean, Virginia.
One theme that emerged from the conference is that the established defense contractor ecosystem might face disruption from newer, tech-focused players.
“Cost minus” is a new buzzword circulating among Trump transition team insiders, according to Gabe Dominocielo, co-founder and president of Umbra Space, an Earth observation satellite operator.
What this means is “whatever the opposite of what we’re doing now,” he said.
This would pose a direct challenge to the traditional “cost plus” model where the contractor is compensated for all direct costs incurred during a project along with an additional fee that serves as profit and is typically a percentage of the total project costs.
Direct line to power
A new guard of tech-driven defense contractors sees opportunity in the transition.
Vice President-elect JD Vance’s background as a venture capitalist, including investments in defense and space tech company Anduril Industries through his firm Narya Ventures, exemplifies these connections.
Vance’s close relationships with influential tech figures like the co-founder of Palantir Technologies Peter Thiel and Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey suggest a potential realignment in defense procurement.
“These entrepreneurs are in their ear,” Dominocielo noted, which was not the case during Trump’s first term. “I think we’re going to see a big difference.”
Elon Musk’s influential role as the administration’s government reform czar cuts both ways for space startups: his success proved commercial viability, but his company’s market dominance gives pause.
Frank Backes, CEO of the space radar imaging company Capella Space, expects the administration won’t “drive all business to SpaceX,” but rather use it as a model for disrupting traditional programs.
“We’re going to see more budgets moving from traditional, legacy, decades-old programs of record into the newer space community,” he said.
SpaceX’s rise over the past two decades has opened doors for many startups, Backes observed.
He emphasized the importance of export market access for commercial space firms, noting that national security customers extend beyond the Pentagon to include foreign governments using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology for border protection.
Cultural divide remains
Despite the optimistic outlook, significant challenges remain in bridging the gap between commercial innovation and military procurement.
Retired Space Force Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, now senior managing director at Cerberus Capital Management, reflected on this disconnect from his unique perspective spanning both worlds.
“We speak a different language,” Raymond acknowledged, noting that his current private sector role has revealed blind spots from his government service.
The military’s tendency to develop extensive requirements lists can clash with commercial solutions that might not check every box but still offer innovative capabilities.
Executives emphasize that government contracts remain crucial for space technology firms. Dominocielo cautioned against overestimating commercial applications for remote sensing:
“There is a bit of a fantasy about commercial remote sensing … it’s not anywhere close to the government market.”
Peter Platzer, CEO of the space data and analytics firm Spire Global, pointed out that while SpaceX has commercialized launch and satellite communications, other space industry markets — such as space-based remote sensing and weather data — remain dominated by government systems and traditional contractors.
“These are very large programs that should be 65% to 70% commercial,” he argued. Outside of a handful of firms like SpaceX, broader commercialization of space activities still lags.
Integrating commercial systems
Beyond procurement reform, industry leaders stress the need for modernized integration of commercial capabilities.
“Many of us interface with the U.S. government through very archaic interface mechanisms,” Backes noted, adding that AI-driven software services remain underutilized.
“The U.S. government is still consuming our capability the way that it was in the 80s and 90s.”
The Trump administration’s track record from its first term has set a precedent for supporting commercial space ventures, said Platzer.
However, shifting toward a commercial model could face resistance, as Congress has the final say on spending and often favors established programs tied to local jobs.
https://spacenews.com/space-firms-see-government-contracting-shakeup-in-second-trump-term/
From ROTC to DCTC: How the Space Force is Training Civilian Leaders
Nov 25, 2024
A number of prominent universities have Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs – and these include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, and Notre Dame University. In total, the 145 Air Force ROTC detachments, more than 1,100 associated cross-town universities, four regional commands, and a higher headquarters staff located at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
These programs allow students to become officers in the U.S. Air Force or U.S. Space Force.
In addition, there are also civilian opportunities in both services and this month, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced that it is exploring new ways to recruit civilian employees.
That is important for the sixth and newest branch of the U.S. military, where civilians make up about 50% of the service.
DCTC Instead of ROTC
The Space Force is now part of a congressionally mandated pilot program, the Defense Civilian Training Corps (DCTC), which is similar to ROTC but with the aim to bring university graduates into the military as civilian employees rather than uniformed officers.
“Basically, if the college student is interested in the Space Force … they can volunteer to come and work with the Space Force on projects during their summer break,” Katharine Kelley, the U.S. Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations for human capital, said last week while speaking at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
“When they do that, they get an exposure to what is a civilian job in the Space Force, and what does it mean to be a civilian employee, or a federal employee in the Space Force,” added Kelley.
The Big Four
The DCTC was launched in May 2023, and the program is currently offered at four universities: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Purdue University, The University of Arizona, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
The highly selective pilot program provides a multidisciplinary, active-learning curriculum with summer internship projects at DoD organizations, while it also offers a 100% tuition scholarship and a two-year curriculum with a project-based summer internship that prepares scholars for direct pathways into DoD acquisition-related careers.
“There’s a whole host of scientific and problem-solving related questions that our initial students, who are civilians in this program, have both participated in on a summer rotation, and we anticipate we’ll be able to bring students in on those types of work roles,” said Kelley.
Civilians in Service
Kelley also emphasized that many Americans remain unaware that it’s possible to work for one of the military services as a skilled civilian, and DCTC helps to make that fact clear.
“There’s still a lot of data out there that shows that a lot of the United States doesn’t understand that you can be in the military but be a civilian and be supported and be supporting,” she said.
“This [program] exposes that talent population in some of these schools to those opportunities, and then they go back, they do their normal school year.
When they graduate, we guarantee them a job. They join the Space Force, as a guardian, as a civilian, when they graduate college.”
As of 2024, the U.S. Space Force has more than 14,000 military and civilian Guardians.
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2024/11/25/from-rotc-to-dctc-how-the-space-force-is-training-civilian-leaders/
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-science-space/star-systems-spaceships-0021731
https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.05038
Researcher Says Aliens May Be Using Star Systems as Spaceships
Updated 25 November, 2024 - 16:59
Astronomers have observed stars that are accelerating through space at a shockingly rapid pace.
Normally this is assumed to relate to gravitational forces in some way, or to the natural emissions of the stars that might be causing them to move at unusually fast rates.
But one researcher has a different idea about why some stars or star systems seem to be moving more rapidly than normally, presumably dragging their planets along with them as they go.
According to Clement Vidal, a philosopher from Vrije University Brussels in Belgium who has an interest in astronomy, these traveling solar systems may have been converted into fast-moving “spaceships” by advanced alien civilizations looking to explore other areas of the Milky Way galaxy.
The Solar System as UFO
Assuming for a moment they developed the technology to actually accomplish such a thing, an alien civilization might have various motivations for propelling their entire solar system through space.
“Two universal evolutionary motivations will make interstellar travel a necessity to any long-lived civilization: survival and reproduction,” Vidal wrote in a non-peer-reviewed paper about his concept published through Cornell University.
Such a civilization might want to escape the vicinity of a nearby supernova that threatens their star system’s existence.
Or they might be running out of resources on their home planet, and decide to move to another part of their galaxy where resources might be plentiful.
Or they could simply be explorers driven by curiosity or a sense of adventure. They might even be forced to take such action as a response to attacks from other alien civilizations.
Rather than constructing ships that would carry just a few of them through space as astronauts, these aliens could take everyone along for the ride, with their solar system traveling through space on the ultimate voyage of discovery.
While the journey to another solar system in a different part of the galaxy would be a long one, since the entire civilization was taking the trip together the passing of the time wouldn’t really be noticed.
This is an astonishing proposal, but it is based on an idea that has been around for a long time.
The idea of creating a “stellar engine” (a star that could be used to power space travel) was first conceived of by science fiction writer Olaf Stapledon in 1937, and the concept has always been considered sound—impractical perhaps, but not totally out of the realm of possibility.
In his theoretical study, Vidal proposes that binary star systems would make the best candidates to be converted into spaceships.
The particular types of binary systems he identifies are known as spidar pulsars and redback pulsars, and each consists of a star that is smaller than our sun revolving around a dense neutron star with a powerful gravitational field.
In such systems the neutron stars create an enormous amount of energy.
They do this through the combination of their rapid rotation (rapidly spinning stars are known as pulsars) and the gravitational forces they generate, the latter of which causes high-powered ejections of materials from their partner stars.
It is these forces, Vidal says, that could be controlled or redirected by an advanced alien civilization to actually propel an entire star system through space at a high rate of speed.
The idea would be to take control of the pattern of ejections by the neutron’s companion star, and to point them in a specific direction.
This would essentially turn that star into a massive rocket, propelling the solar system and all of its inhabitants toward the region of space they would like to explore.
Making changes of direction in the material ejection patterns would allow the alien engineers to steer their moving solar systems, giving them total control over their final destination.
An alien civilization would have to be enormously advanced to have developed the technology necessary to manipulate stellar forces.
But if they were, converting their entire solar system into a spaceship could be feasible and logical, Vidal argues, and in such a circumstance there would be no shortage of reasons why such a civilization might want to put this idea into practice.
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Let the Investigation Begin!
It would be easy to dismiss an idea like this as 100-percent speculation, rooted in science fiction more than science reality.
But it is an idea that can be investigated, which is really all that Clement Vidal is recommending that astronomers do.
In fact scientists have already looked closely at the anomalous movements of hypervelocity stars, strange objects that were apparently ejected from the center of the Milky Way after passing too close to a black hole.
Astronomers have identified and analyzed 16 hypervelocity stars so far, but as Vidal readily admits none of them show movement patterns that would suggest they are under intelligent control.
Vidal is convinced, however, that binary star systems with the neutron star-small companion star arrangement would make the best stellar engines, because of their unique gravitational dynamics.
In fact, he has already identified two candidates that match the characteristics of the solar systems he wants investigated.
These are a “black widow” pulsar designated PSR J0610-2100, and a "redback" pulsar known as PSR J2043+1711. Both of these binary star systems are accelerating, and as of now there is no good explanation for that.
And just last year, Vidal notes, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory spotted five more binary pulsar systems like these in the Omega Centauri globular cluster, a grouping of 10 million stars that are about 17,000 light-years from earth.
Vidal’s idea is that the movement patterns of all of these binary star systems should be closely analyzed, to see if they show any signs of speeding up or slowing down, changing direction, moving faster than predicted, and so on.
“I see the highlighted spider stellar engine candidates and predictions as promising starting points and clues that require further attention, observation, modeling, and follow-up,” he wrote.
Should such evidence be observed, it would of course not prove these solar systems were being driven across the galaxy by aliens.
But if any of them are, perhaps one day thousands of years in the future they will decide to park in orbit for awhile around our sun and stop in for a visit.
Should this ever happen, the result would be the largest and most spectacular mass UFO sighting in world history, followed up by actual alien contact.
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https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-second-term-ufo.html
Will We Get More Answers About UFOs in a Second Trump Term?
Nov. 24, 2024
At first glance, the story of the U.S. government grappling with evidence of unidentified flying objects has cooled off since last year, when a whistleblower claimed (without firsthand evidence) that the Pentagon had alien bodies and otherworldly spacecraft in its possession.
But the past few weeks have seen a number of developments in the UFO story in Congress, where lawmakers like Chuck Schumer are trying to make the Department of Defense be more forward with their information on the unknown objects hovering over U.S. airspace.
Meanwhile, the incoming Trump administration — and its UFO-curious intelligence staffers — could provide more clarity on a topic that has disappointed some alien hopefuls in the past couple years.
To get an update on where things stand, I spoke with former Defense appointee and State Department staffer Marik von Rennenkampff, who has been following the story closely since leaving government.
Q: What are the most recent developments in the government’s approach to UFOs?
A: There have been two House hearings within about a week. On one side, we have these whistleblowers or individuals who are claiming that there are unreported programs or activities that allegedly retrieve and reverse-engineer craft of nonhuman origin.
There was also a hearing with Jon Kosloski, the new director of the government’s UFO analysis office, called AARO.
It was an astounding change in tone because for 80 years, the government had said there’s nothing to this. “It’s all nonsense.”
We’ve gone from that to the sitting head of the government’s UFO analysis office saying, in essence, we have true anomalies.
The direct quote is, “There are interesting cases that I — with my physics and engineering background and time in the [intelligence community] — I do not understand, and I don’t know anybody else who understands.”
Q: The other big development seems to that lawmakers are still saying that they are not getting the full reports, and the Defense Department is still obscuring what they’re supposed to be seeing.
Last week at the House hearing, Nancy Mace said that “there are certain individuals who didn’t want this hearing to happen because they feared what might be disclosed.” What are those fears?
A: If the intelligence community and the military had their way, nothing would ever be released, period, ever, right? Because anything out there is a potential advantage for an adversary.
But there’s nothing inherently classified about the forward-looking infrared pods that are on U.S. aircraft. It’s just infrared technology. You can scrub out any of the metadata and all the symbology.
You can redact that stuff and you can put out what the actual object is. But if some of this is foreign intelligence-gathering operations, we don’t want our adversaries knowing what we know about them and what we’ve discovered.
So it’s challenging.
Q: UFO disclosure is a bipartisan concern, with senators Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds proposing a bill for further transparency. What is in this bill?
A: I think it is the most extraordinary legislation that has ever been proposed in the U.S. Congress. I mean, you literally have nonhuman intelligence defined and mentioned 24 times.
It defines legacy programAny government or private efforts as “endeavors to collect, exploit, or reverse engineer technologies of unknown origin or examine biological evidence of living or deceased non-human intelligence that pre-dates the date of the enactment of this Act.”.
It’s exactly what these whistleblowers are claiming. There’s a provision for, you probably know this, but there’s a provision for the U.S. government specifically inserted into this legislation to assert eminent domain over retrieved craft and biological evidence of nonhuman intelligence.
I mean, that’s just stunning to see in black-and-white, let alone that this isn’t some random representative from who knows where. This is the Senate majority leader leading a bipartisan effort.
Q: Does it have a chance at passing?
A: I am a little pessimistic. After it failed in December of last year, Schumer went on the Senate floor and was furious. I mean, you could see it. He called out House Republicans for blocking this.
I believe that’s where he also said that we’ve been informed by multiple credible sources that elements of the government are withholding information from Congress illegally.
That’s a pretty remarkable assertion on any topic, let alone on UFOs. But Senator Rounds is locked onto this. He wants to get, he said he’s personally fairly confident that eventually some kind of review board will be approved.
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Q: I’m speaking very anecdotally here, but I feel like I’ve known a good number of people who were really excited by the UFO developments, beginning with the New York Times story in 2017 about Harry Reid funding this research.
Over time, that’s become more skeptical. Some of that is due to terrestrial explanations, like balloons and camera issues.
But I’ve heard some frustration about whistleblowers like David Grusch, who presents his bombshell claims with multiple degrees of separation between him and the source.
Wondering what you think about that skeptics’ case of, Oh, it’s all just balloons or something.
A: That’s the mind-set we should all have. We should all be skeptical about this, right?
I will say, let’s talk about balloons, let’s talk about GOFAST. I’m sure you’re familiar with the GOFAST. This was a UFO incident released in 2017 showing an object that pilots thought was pulling off impossible feats.
UFO research committee head Jon Kosloski said at a recent hearing that it was “a trick of the eye.”. But according to former pilot Ryan Graves, GOFAST was part of a formation of four objects that were flying in a line- abreast formation.
Balloons don’t do that 300 miles off the coast of Florida.
Q: How did you become interested in the UFO story?
A: I’ll be brutally honest with you, I didn’t think about UFOs. I thought it was completely tinfoil, conspiracy territory, and I missed, I’m sure you’re well familiar with the New York Times story that came out in December of 2017.
I missed that completely, just as to prove the point here that I just did not think about this topic. I thought it was all nonsense. Then I stumbled upon a Joe Rogan episode with Navy commander Dave Fravor, the pilot who encountered the Tic Tac object in 2004.
I knew the type, and he’s a hundred percent the real deal. I mean, I think he’s very, very well respected in the naval aviation community. So that was my ticket down the rabbit hole.
Q: And how is the second Trump administration going to push UFO disclosures forward?
A: Some of the key nominees for national security positions have all made some remarkable statements about this topic in recent years. I go first and foremost to Senator Marco Rubio, who has over and over vouched for the credibility of the individuals coming forward.
Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, has said he’s interested. John Ratcliffe, the CIA nominee, has said perhaps the most eyebrow-raising quote, which is that UFOs exhibit technologies that we don’t have and that we cannot defend against.
So from a transparency perspective, I’m cautiously optimistic based on what we’ve heard from these key individuals over the last few years.
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'Happy V Day!': Robert Englund Reflects on His Alien Invasion Series 41 Years Later
November 24, 2024
Shortly before changing the horror genre forever with his role as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Robert Englund appeared in V, a sci-fi series that originally debuted in 1983.
41 years later, Englund reflected on the series with a post shared on social media.
"Happy V day! Original miniseries was released in ‘83," Englund said in a Facebook post, going on to share how the show wasn't initially envisioned as sci-fi.
"The series was originally intended to be a political thriller about a fascist movement in the United States, inspired by Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here.
However, network executives changed the series to science fiction to capitalize on the success of other science fiction hits."
Englund touted how the miniseries brought about a franchise by adding, "The series was successful and spawned a sequel, V: The Final Battle, and a short-lived weekly television series, V: The Series, that aired in 1984–1985.
The weekly series ended on an unresolved cliffhanger. In 2009, ABC aired a new version of V, which also ended on an unresolved cliffhanger after two seasons."
V was created by Kenneth Johnson and it first premiered on NBC in 1983. The series imagines invading reptilian aliens, dubbed the "Visitors," trying to take control of the planet.
Englund played Willie, one of the Visitors, alongside Jane Badler, Richard Herd, and Andrew Prine. The series also starred Marc Singer, Diana Badler, Faye Grant, Richard Lawson, and Penelope Windust.
Englund's Willie was about as far removed from Freddy Krueger as the actor could get, demonstrating the impressive range of the accomplished actor, even if he's best known for scaring filmgoers with his horror performances.
Willie is one of only three characters to appear in every episode of the original series run along with Badler and Singer.
V would serve as a stepping stone for Englund to land his biggest role of all.
He'd debut as Freddy Krueger in 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street, and it was when the actor was accepting an international award for his role in V when he started to realize just how big the Freddy role would become for him.
"There were already fans mobbing me in Europe as far back as the end of ’84 or ’85," Englund recently told Bloody Disgusting,
"I literally was there for another project, and all the fans were Freddy fans. I understood what global success meant then and what it meant to be an international actor.”
Englund has also been celebrating the 40th anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street, recently opening up to CBR about the new 4K remastered release of the film.
Meanwhile, V can be streamed
https://www.cbr.com/robert-englund-remembers-v/
https://www.facebook.com/robertbarton.englund/posts/9084762061575845
Elon Musk calls himself a 'time-travelling vampire alien'. Here's how it all started
November 24, 2024
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has amused social media users after calling himself a "time-traveling vampire alien".
It all started after Musk posted a meme at 2:30am on November 24 that said: "Would you believe it?
My neighbour was knocking on my door at 2:30 this morning. Luckily, I was still up playing my bagpipes." The caption of his post said: "Since it's almost 2:30 ET".
Responding to the meme, an X user said: "You don't sleep because you're a vampire?" to which Musk replied: "I'm a time-travelling vampire!"
This claim made by Musk triggered social media users to examine his profile on X. Soon after, an X user noticed that the Tesla CEO's profile on the microblogging platform has been verified since 3000 BCE.
In a post on X on November 25, the user named DogeDesigner shared a screenshot of Musk's verified account that said: "Verified since 3000 BCE."
"Elon Musk's X profile says he's verified since 3000 BCE. Yesterday, he posted that he is a time-travelling, vampire alien," DogeDesigner captioned the post.
Musk, then, shared DogeDesigner's post and said: "See, this proves that I'm a time-travelling vampire alien! Even though I'm 5000 years old, I think I look much younger."
Elon Musk's X profile humorously claims it has been verified "since 3000 BCE", noting that it is due to being an affiliate of X on the platform.
The "3000 BCE" mention appears to be a playful addition by Musk, aligning with his tongue-in-cheek persona as a "time-travelling, vampire alien."
https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/elon-musk-calls-himself-a-time-travelling-vampire-alien-here-s-how-it-all-started/ar-AA1uICAU
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1860766441122996246?
V
S1.E1
Liberation Day
Episode aired Oct 26, 1984
TV-PG
48m
The evil Diana, captured and set to stand trial for her crimes against the human race, is kidnapped by corrupt corporate magnate Nathan Bates, who wants to know the secrets of the Visitors' advanced technology.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0738550/