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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
March 24, 2025
A Total Lunar Eclipse Over Uruguay
If the full Moon suddenly faded, what would you see? The answer was recorded in a dramatic time lapse video taken during the total lunar eclipse last week from Uruguay. During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the Moon and the Sun, causing the Moon to fade dramatically. The Moon never gets completely dark, though, since the Earth's atmosphere refracts some light. As the featured video begins, the scene may appear to be daytime and sunlit, but actually it is nighttime and lit by the glow of the full Moon. As the Moon becomes eclipsed and fades, background stars become visible. Most spectacularly, the sky surrounding the eclipsed moon suddenly appears to be full of stars and highlighted by the busy plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Nearly two hours after the eclipse started, the Moon emerged from the Earth's shadow and its bright full glare again dominated the sky.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
No discoveries were made beneath Pyramid of Khafre: Zahi Hawass
Sunday 23 Mar 2025
Renowned Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass rejected viral claims of pillars and structures beneath the Pyramid of Khafre, swiftly debunking the speculative research that gained widespread attention on social media.
“All this information is completely wrong and has no scientific basis,” he stated, adding that Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities had not authorized any work inside or around the Khafre pyramid.
He also rejected claims that radar had been used inside the pyramid.
"This is false,” Hawass said, noting that those spreading the rumours were amateurs who had used unapproved, unvalidated techniques.
“The details they announced could not have been detected using such methods.”
The controversy began when conspiracy theorists spread research by Italian scholars Corrado Malanga of the University of Pisa and Filippo Biondi of the University of Strathclyde on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) scan of the Giza Plateau revealed a network of structures extending roughly two kilometres beneath the pyramids.
They claimed to have found five identical structures connected by pathways near the Khafre pyramid's base and eight deep vertical wells extending 648 metres underground.
Archaeologists debunked all of these claims.
The Giza Plateau, home to the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Sphinx, and other ancient marvels, draws millions of visitors annually.
Three pyramids lie in the Giza Plateau: one for King Khufu, the second built by his son King Khafre, and the third for Menkaure, the son of Khafre and Khufu's grandson.
The trial operation of the Giza Pyramids area, currently under construction, will begin on 7 April via the Fayoum Desert Road entrance, as the area’s official inauguration is scheduled for 3 July, coinciding with the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/9/543433/Antiquities/No-discoveries-were-made-beneath-Pyramid-of-Khafre.aspx
Trump officials to take ‘private visit’ to US space base in Greenland
Updated 13:03 March 23, 2025
Several senior Trump administration officials are set to travel to Greenland next week as the Arctic island coveted by the US president is in talks to form a new government and holds local elections.
Mike Waltz, the US national security adviser, Usha Vance, wife of vice-president JD Vance, and the army and energy secretaries will travel to Greenland in what is being billed as “a private visit” from Thursday until Saturday, according to people with knowledge of the trip.
A source familiar with the visit confirmed that Waltz and energy secretary Chris Wright would visit Pituffik Space Base, the US military installation on Greenland.
Danish and Greenlandic officials have said they are open to an increased US presence on the island, but not to it being taken over.
The trip has caused consternation among Greenlandic and Danish officials, as it comes on the eve of local elections and just weeks after a parliamentary vote on the island, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, head of Demokraatit, the winner of this month’s elections, said the visit, at a time when coalition talks and local elections were ongoing, “once again shows a lack of respect for the Greenlandic people”.
Múte Egede, Greenland’s outgoing prime minister, added that the visit “can in no way be characterised as a harmless visit from a politician’s wife” and that its “sole purpose is a demonstration of power towards us”.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to acquire the Arctic island, and even refused to rule out using military force to take it over from a fellow Nato ally.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr, also travelled to the island on a “private visit” in January.
Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s prime minister, reacted with dismay at the new US visit, saying it could not be “seen independently from the public statements” made by Trump and other officials.
“In the Kingdom [of Denmark], we want to co-operate with the Americans. But it must and should be a co-operation based on the fundamental values of sovereignty and respect between countries and peoples.
This is something we are looking at seriously,” she said.
Trump and other US officials have hailed the Greenlandic parliamentary election result, appearing to equate voters’ preference for pro-independence parties with a push to become American.
But a recent poll showed just 6 per cent of Greenlanders wanted to join the US and fully 85 per cent were opposed. All the leaders of the current parties represented in the island’s parliament condemned Trump’s behaviour as “unacceptable”.
Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic MP in Denmark’s parliament, told Danish television that the visit was an “untimely interference” in the island’s politics so close to elections.
“Everyone who tries to interfere, but is not part of Greenlandic society, must stay away. We are at a point in time in Greenland’s history that is particularly challenging because we are so influenced by what is happening abroad,” she said.
Martin Lidegaard, a former Danish minister and current opposition MP, said the visit crossed the line of what was acceptable for both Denmark and Greenland. “Now it will be crucial for Denmark and Greenland to stick together,” he added.
Usha Vance’s office confirmed that she would travel with her son “and a United States delegation . . . to visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dog-sled race”.
The organisation behind the dog-sled competition told Greenlandic media that it had received a large but confidential sum of money from the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital.
https://www.ft.com/content/5d4d990a-0ffe-4d57-a035-5e6d5862049f
3D-printed, turbojet-powered kamikaze drone completes first flight on U.S. Army test range
Mar 24, 2025
Cummings Aerospace's Hellhound S3, a turbojet-powered, 3D-printed kamikaze drone that flies faster than 375 mph, completed a demonstration at the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) 2025.
The demonstration marked a significant milestone: the Hellhound S3's first flight on a U.S. Army test range, validating the S3's ability to operate in a tactically relevant environment.
Hellhound S3 is an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) designed to equip the U.S. Army's Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) with the same combat power as Armored Brigades, enabling precise, long-range strikes against tanks, armored vehicles and fortified positions.
Hellhound's performance at AEWE 2025 highlighted a fundamental reality — speed matters, and quadcopters and prop-driven drones take too long to get downrange," said Sheila Cummings, CEO of Cummings Aerospace.
"While quadcopters and propeller-driven drones will still be puttering along behind friendly lines, Hellhound will already be over the target area, giving IBCTs the ability to strike faster, reach deeper into the battlespace, and decisively engage fleeting, time-sensitive targets."
The demonstration also enabled Cummings Aerospace engineers to gather important feedback from warfighters, enabling the company to further refine the system.
The demonstration
Fort Moore, Georgia, Jan. 30, 2025.
One GPS-guided tactical mission using an inert warhead payload.
All primary mission objectives met.
Revalidated the airframe and key subsystems at Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL-7), proving reliable performance in operationally realistic conditions.
Builds on previous milestones, including 12 flight tests conducted on the Hellhound airframe over the past two years that established the system's core capabilities.
About Hellhound
Faster time on target: Powered by a turbojet engine, Hellhound S3 demonstrated a speed of 384 mph during a series of tests in early January.
Affordable: Combines 3D printing and U.S. Department of Defense-approved commercial components to reduce production costs, simplify logistics and deliver advanced capabilities at lower costs than traditional systems.
Manportable: All-up round (vehicle, launch canister and ground control system) weighs less than 25 pounds, allowing single-Soldier deployment and enhancing Infantry mobility.
Mission flexibility: The modular design supports warhead, Electronic Warfare, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance payloads.
Soldiers can field-swap payloads in less than 5 minutes without tools.
On the horizon
In the coming months, Cummings Aerospace will:
Conduct additional flight tests of the Hellhound S3 to bring the entire system to TRL-7.
Submit a proposal formally offering Hellhound to the U.S. Army's Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program.
Conduct demonstrations and tests of Hellhound for other customers.
Built for Infantry Brigade Combat Teams, scalable for the future
Hellhound S3 is specifically engineered to meet the U.S. Army's LASSO program requirements, providing Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) with:
Precision lethality: Capable of engaging tanks, armored vehicles and fortified positions while minimizing collateral damage.
Extended range and endurance: Loitering capability allows Soldiers to acquire and strike targets within the IBCT battlespace, including beyond line of sight.
Operational scalability: Modular design ensures Hellhound can support additional payload options and mission profiles as LASSO evolves.
Future growth: The baseline Hellhound's scalable design allows it to adapt to evolving missions and expand to support other military branches and allied mission requirements.
https://www.wvnews.com/news/around_the_web/partners/pr_newswire/subject/new_products_services/3d-printed-turbojet-powered-kamikaze-drone-completes-first-flight-on-u-s-army-test-range/article_5204c7c9-c624-5199-9c44-fd4ad7ed7c53.html
NASA’s Parker Probe Just Flew Through Solar Fire at 430,000 MPH
March 23, 2025
On March 22, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 23rd close encounter with the Sun, reaching a distance of just 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) from the solar surface, matching its previous record for proximity.
During the flyby, the spacecraft also hit its top speed of 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometers per hour), a milestone it first achieved during its December 24 encounter.
All four of Parker’s scientific instruments were active during the flyby, collecting valuable data from inside the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona.
The spacecraft had been operating autonomously during its closest approach, as planned, and was confirmed to be functioning normally during its most recent contact with mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland, where it was designed and built.
Parker is expected to transmit health and science data back to Earth on Tuesday, March 25.
The flyby, as the second several at this distance and speed, is allowing the spacecraft to conduct unrivaled scientific measurements of the solar wind and related activity.
At the same time, scientists continue to dig into the data still streaming back from the December closest approach.
The Parker Solar Probe is a NASA spacecraft designed to study the Sun up close. Launched in 2018, it’s the first mission to enter the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona.
The probe’s goal is to help scientists better understand solar wind, space weather, and the Sun’s overall behavior—factors that can affect satellites, astronauts, and power grids on Earth.
To survive the extreme heat and radiation, the probe is equipped with a heat shield that protects its instruments as it flies closer to the Sun than any spacecraft in history.
Over its seven-year mission, Parker will complete multiple close flybys, gathering data that could unlock long-standing solar mysteries.
https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-parker-probe-just-flew-through-solar-fire-at-430000-mph/
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/asteroid-comet-missions/meteorites-and-asteroids-tracked-back-to-their-place-of-origin-in-the-solar-system
https://www.seti.org/press-release/meteorites-geologic-map-asteroid-belt
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/maps.14321
Meteorites and asteroids tracked back to their place of origin in the solar system
March 24, 2025
Ten years ago, astronomers from various institutions, including NASA and SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence), set out to map the asteroid belt by tracking meteorites as they blazed through Earth’s atmosphere.
To do this, they built a network of all-sky cameras across the globe, which they named the Global Fireball Observatory.
"This has been a decade-long detective story, with each recorded meteorite fall providing a new clue," one of the project’s founders, Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center, said in a statement.
"We now have the first outlines of a geologic map of the asteroid belt."
Jennisken’s colleague, Hadrien Devillepoix of Curtin University, added: "Others built similar networks spread around the globe, which together form the Global Fireball Observatory.
Over the years, we have tracked the path of 17 recovered meteorite falls."
From the main asteroid belt to Earth's atmosphere
Meteorites are rocks from space that survive their fiery descent through Earth's atmosphere and reach the ground.
More than just dazzling streaks of light as meteors, these ancient fragments are among the oldest materials in our solar system, originating from planets, asteroids, and comets.
Most meteorites, however, originate from the solar system's main asteroid belt—a vast region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where more than a million asteroids circle the sun.
Its formation remains a subject of debate, but astronomers believe it dates back around 4.5 billion years to the formation of the solar system's planets.
These asteroids are thought to consist of leftover planetesimals, the building blocks of planets that never fully coalesced into a larger body.
The asteroid belt contains debris fields known as clusters, which form when larger asteroids break apart due to random collisions.
These smaller fragments remain grouped together and are called asteroid families.
By measuring the radioactive elements present in a meteorite, astronomers can determine their age and match it to the "dynamical age" of asteroid debris fields.
The dynamical age is the amount of time that has passed since an asteroid or group of asteroids was disrupted or scattered, determined by studying how the objects have spread out over time due to their movements and interactions, like gravitational forces or collisions.
The more spread out the asteroids are, the older the debris field is likely to be. Essentially, it gives an estimate of how long it has been since the original disruption that caused the objects to scatter.
By analyzing data gathered from watching the night sky and by using a combination of video footage and photographic observations of meteors, Devillepoix, Jenniskens, and their teams have tracked the origins of 75 meteorites in the asteroid belt.
"Six years ago, there were just hints that different meteorite types arrived on different orbits, but now, the number of orbits (N) is high enough for distinct patterns to emerge," they wrote in their paper.
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One particularly interesting finding centers around iron-rich ordinary chondrite meteorites or "H chondrites," one of the most common types of meteorites that land on Earth.
Their chemistry is considered primitive because they have never undergone melting and have experienced very few chemical interactions since their formation—making them valuable time capsules for understanding the early solar system.
"We now see that 12 of the iron-rich ordinary chondrite meteorites (H chondrites) originated from a debris field called 'Koronis,' which is located low in the pristine main belt," said Jenniskens.
"These meteorites arrived from low-inclined orbits with orbital periods consistent with this debris field.
"By measuring the cosmic ray exposure age of meteorites, we can determine that three of these twelve meteorites originated from the Karin cluster in Koronis, which has a dynamical age of 5.8 million years, and two came from the Koronis2 cluster, with a dynamical age of 10-15 million years," he continued.
“One other meteorite may well measure the age of the Koronis3 cluster: about 83 million years.”
The team also discovered that several groups of meteorites, including H-chondrites, originated from different regions in the asteroid belt.
Some H-chondrites, with an age of about 6 million years, come from the Nele asteroid family, while others, with an exposure age of 35 million years, come from the inner main belt, likely from the Massalia asteroid family.
They also found that the second most common group of meteorites, stony L chondrites, and the least abundant stony meteorites, LL chondrites, which are primarily from the inner main belt, trace back to the Flora and Hertha asteroid families.
The L chondrites, in particular, experienced a violent origin 468 million years ago and are linked to a massive collision.
While this provides one of the most comprehensive maps of the asteroid belt to date, not all meteorites in the database were assigned, and some assignments still carried uncertainty.
But for Devillepoix and Jenniskens, this is just the beginning. "We are proud about how far we have come, but there is a long way to go," said Jenniskens.
"Like the first cartographers who traced the outline of Australia, our map reveals a continent of discoveries still ahead when more meteorite falls are recorded.
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