#Cape Canaveral Naval Space Force Station

[aria3layla]

Exploring Space: The ISS, Cape Canaveral, Propulsion Systems, and the Boeing Starliner Mission

The pursuit of space exploration has led humanity to achieve remarkable milestones. Among the most notable are the International Space Station (ISS), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, advancements in propulsion systems, and the significant progress made by the Boeing Starliner mission. Each of these elements represents a critical component of our journey into space, illustrating the collaboration, innovation, and determination that drive our quest to explore the cosmos.

International Space Station: A Beacon of International Collaboration

The International Space Station (ISS) is one of the most significant achievements in human space exploration. Launched in 1998, the ISS is a symbol of international cooperation, involving five space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada). This collaborative effort has resulted in a continuously inhabited orbital laboratory that serves as a platform for scientific research and technological development.

The ISS orbits Earth at an average altitude of approximately 420 kilometers, traveling at a speed of around 28,000 kilometers per hour. It provides a unique microgravity environment, allowing scientists to conduct experiments that are not possible on Earth. Research conducted on the ISS spans various fields, including biology, physics, astronomy, and materials science. For example, studies on fluid dynamics in microgravity help scientists understand how liquids behave without the influence of gravity, which has implications for a wide range of applications, from industrial processes to medical treatments.

The ISS also plays a crucial role in studying the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. Astronauts aboard the ISS provide invaluable data on how microgravity impacts bone density, muscle mass, cardiovascular health, and other physiological aspects. This research is essential for preparing future missions to Mars and other distant destinations, where astronauts will need to endure extended periods in space.

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station: The Launchpad of Space Exploration

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, located on Florida's east coast, has been a cornerstone of American space exploration since the 1950s. Initially known as the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, it was renamed in 2020 to reflect its mission under the United States Space Force. The station's strategic location near the equator provides an advantage for launching rockets, as it allows them to take advantage of Earth's rotational speed, reducing the amount of fuel needed to reach orbit.

Cape Canaveral has been the launch site for many historic missions, from the early days of the Mercury and Gemini programs to the Apollo missions that landed humans on the Moon. The station continues to be a hub of activity, supporting a wide range of launches, including those by NASA, the United States Department of Defense, and commercial space companies like SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA).

One of the most significant recent developments at Cape Canaveral is the integration of commercial spaceflight operations. The station has been upgraded to accommodate new types of rockets and spacecraft, reflecting the evolving landscape of space exploration. This shift towards commercial spaceflight is exemplified by the Boeing Starliner mission, which marks a significant milestone in the collaboration between NASA and private industry.

Propulsion Systems: The Engine of Space Exploration

Propulsion systems are the backbone of space exploration, enabling spacecraft to overcome Earth's gravity and travel through space. There have been significant advancements in propulsion technology since the early days of spaceflight, leading to more efficient and powerful systems that are critical for current and future missions.

Chemical propulsion is the most common type of propulsion used in space exploration. It involves the combustion of propellants (fuel and oxidizer) to produce high-speed exhaust gases that generate thrust. Liquid-fueled engines, such as those used in SpaceX's Falcon 9 and NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), offer the advantage of throttle control and the ability to be shut down and restarted. Solid rocket motors, used in boosters like those of the Space Shuttle and the SLS, provide high thrust and simplicity but lack throttle control.

Electric propulsion offers a more efficient alternative for deep-space missions. Systems such as ion thrusters use electric fields to accelerate ions to high speeds, producing thrust. Although the thrust generated by electric propulsion is much lower than that of chemical engines, the high efficiency allows spacecraft to operate for extended periods, making them ideal for missions to distant destinations like Mars or the outer planets. The Dawn spacecraft, which explored the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, is a notable example of a mission that successfully utilized electric propulsion.

Nuclear propulsion is an emerging technology that holds great promise for future space exploration. Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) uses nuclear reactions to heat a propellant, typically hydrogen, to generate thrust. This method could significantly reduce travel time to Mars, making it a key technology for future crewed missions beyond the Moon. While nuclear propulsion is still in the experimental stage, ongoing research aims to address the technical and safety challenges associated with this powerful propulsion method.

Boeing Starliner: A Milestone in Commercial Spaceflight

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner is a spacecraft developed under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which aims to enable commercial transportation of astronauts to and from the ISS. The Starliner represents a significant milestone in the shift towards commercial spaceflight, reducing reliance on government-operated vehicles and fostering a competitive space industry.

Designed to accommodate up to seven astronauts, the Starliner is a reusable spacecraft capable of multiple missions. It features advanced avionics, automated docking systems, and a launch escape system to ensure crew safety in the event of an emergency during launch. The development of the Starliner has encountered challenges, including delays and technical issues, but each hurdle has provided valuable lessons that contribute to the overall safety and reliability of the spacecraft.

In December 2019, the Starliner embarked on its first uncrewed test flight, Orbital Flight Test-1 (OFT-1). Although the mission encountered software issues that prevented it from reaching the ISS, it successfully demonstrated many of the spacecraft's capabilities. Following a thorough review and addressing the issues identified during OFT-1, Boeing conducted a second uncrewed test flight, Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), in May 2022. This mission successfully docked with the ISS, paving the way for future crewed flights.

The first crewed mission of the Starliner, called Crew Flight Test (CFT), is a critical step towards certifying the spacecraft for regular astronaut transport. This mission will test the spacecraft's performance in real-world conditions with astronauts aboard, ensuring all systems function correctly and safely. Success in this mission will mark a significant achievement for Boeing and NASA, furthering the goal of maintaining a continuous American presence on the ISS using commercially operated spacecraft.

Conclusion

The International Space Station, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, advancements in propulsion systems, and the Boeing Starliner mission are all pivotal elements of contemporary space exploration. The ISS continues to be a hub of scientific innovation and international cooperation, providing invaluable insights into space and human health. Cape Canaveral remains a cornerstone of American space endeavors, launching missions that push the boundaries of human knowledge and capability. Advancements in propulsion systems are essential for reaching farther destinations in our solar system. The Boeing Starliner represents a new era of commercial spaceflight, enhancing our ability to maintain and expand human presence in space.

Together, these components highlight the progress and potential of human space exploration, driven by both government agencies and commercial entities, and underscore the collaborative spirit essential for overcoming the challenges of exploring the final frontier.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.3

2457 BC – Gaecheonjeol, Hwanung (환웅) purportedly descended from heaven. South Korea's National Foundation Day. 52 BC – Gallic Wars: Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrenders to the Romans under Julius Caesar, ending the siege and battle of Alesia. 42 BC – Liberators' civil war: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight to a draw Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius in the first part of the Battle of Philippi, where Cassius commits suicide believing the battle is lost. 382 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I concludes a peace treaty with the Goths and settles them in the Balkans. 1392 – Muhammed VII becomes the twelfth sultan of the Emirate of Granada. 1574 – The Siege of Leiden is lifted by the Watergeuzen. 1683 – Qing dynasty naval commander Shi Lang receives the surrender of the Tungning kingdom on Taiwan after the Battle of Penghu. 1712 – The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor. 1739 – The Treaty of Niš is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia ending the Russian–Turkish War. 1789 – George Washington proclaims Thursday November 26, 1789 a Thanksgiving Day. 1792 – A militia departs from the Spanish stronghold of Valdivia to quell a Huilliche uprising in southern Chile. 1863 – The last Thursday in November is declared as Thanksgiving Day by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. 1873 – Chief Kintpuash and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War of northern California. 1912 – U.S. forces defeat Nicaraguan rebels at the Battle of Coyotepe Hill. 1918 – Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria accedes to the throne. 1919 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Latin American player to appear in a World Series. 1929 – The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Yugoslavia by King Alexander I. 1932 – The Kingdom of Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1935 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy invades Ethiopia. 1942 – A German V-2 rocket reaches a record 85 km (46 nm) in altitude. 1943 – World War II: German forces murder 92 civilians in Lingiades, Greece. 1946 – An American Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-4 crashes near Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, killing 39. 1949 – WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta. 1951 – Korean War: The First Battle of Maryang San pits Commonwealth troops against communist Chinese troops. 1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon in the Montebello Islands, Western Australia, to become the world's third nuclear power. 1957 – The California State Superior Court rules that the book Howl and Other Poems is not obscene. 1962 – Project Mercury: US astronaut Wally Schirra, in Sigma 7, is launched from Cape Canaveral for a six-orbit flight. 1963 – A violent coup in Honduras begins two decades of military rule. 1981 – The hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland ends after seven months and ten deaths. 1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight, carrying two DSCS-III Satellites on STS-51-J. 1986 – TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories in Canada, is officially opened. 1989 – A coup in Panama City is suppressed and 11 participants are executed. 1990 – The German Democratic Republic is abolished and becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany; the event is afterwards celebrated as German Unity Day. 1991 – Nadine Gordimer is announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. 1993 – An American attack against a warlord in Mogadishu fails; eighteen US soldiers and over 350 Somalis die. 1995 – O. J. Simpson murder case: O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. 2008 – The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 for the U.S. financial system is signed by President George W. Bush. 2009 – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey join in the Turkic Council.

[scifigeneration]

NASA astronauts launch from America in historic test flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon

For the first time in history, NASA astronauts have launched from American soil in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley lifted off at 3:22 p.m. EDT Saturday on the company's Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"Today a new era in human spaceflight begins as we once again launched American astronauts on American rockets from American soil on their way to the International Space Station, our national lab orbiting Earth," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "I thank and congratulate Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley, and the SpaceX and NASA teams for this significant achievement for the United States. The launch of this commercial space system designed for humans is a phenomenal demonstration of American excellence and is an important step on our path to expand human exploration to the Moon and Mars."

Known as NASA's SpaceX Demo-2, the mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations. This is SpaceX's second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard, which will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

"This is a dream come true for me and everyone at SpaceX," said Elon Musk, chief engineer at SpaceX. "It is the culmination of an incredible amount of work by the SpaceX team, by NASA and by a number of other partners in the process of making this happen. You can look at this as the results of a hundred thousand people roughly when you add up all the suppliers and everyone working incredibly hard to make this day happen."

The program demonstrates NASA's commitment to investing in commercial companies through public-private partnerships and builds on the success of American companies, including SpaceX, already delivering cargo to the space station.

"It's difficult to put into words how proud I am of the people who got us here today," said Kathy Lueders, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager. "When I think about all of the challenges overcome -- from design and testing, to paper reviews, to working from home during a pandemic and balancing family demands with this critical mission -- I am simply amazed at what the NASA and SpaceX teams have accomplished together. This is just the beginning; I will be watching with great anticipation as Bob and Doug get ready to dock to the space station tomorrow, and through every phase of this historic mission."

SpaceX controlled the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy's Launch Control Center Firing Room 4, the former space shuttle control room, which SpaceX has leased as its primary launch control center. As Crew Dragon ascended into space, SpaceX commanded the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA teams are monitoring space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock to the space station at 10:29 a.m. Sunday, May 31. NASA Television and the agency's website are providing ongoing live coverage of the Crew Dragon's trip to the orbiting laboratory. Behnken and Hurley will work with SpaceX mission control to verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the environmental control system, the displays and control system, and by maneuvering the thrusters, among other things. The first docking maneuver began Saturday, May 30, at 4:09 p.m., and the spacecraft will begin its close approach to the station at about 8:27 a.m. Sunday, May 31. Crew Dragon is designed to dock autonomously, but the crews onboard the spacecraft and the space station will diligently monitor the performance of the spacecraft as it approaches and docks to the forward port of the station's Harmony module.

After successfully docking, the crew will be welcomed aboard the International Space Station, where they will become members of the Expedition 63 crew, which currently includes NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. NASA will continue live coverage through hatch opening and the crew welcoming ceremony. The crew will perform tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew.

Three astronauts aboard the International Space Station will participate in a live NASA Television crew news conference from orbit on Monday, June 1, beginning at 11:15 a.m. on NASA TV and the agency's website (www.nasa.gov/live).

Demo-2 Astronauts

Behnken is the joint operations commander for the mission, responsible for activities such as rendezvous, docking and undocking, as well as Demo-2 activities while the spacecraft is docked to the space station. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2000 and has completed two space shuttle flights. Behnken flew STS-123 in March 2008 and STS-130 in February 2010, performing three spacewalks during each mission. Born in St. Ann, Missouri, he has bachelor's degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and earned a master's and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Before joining NASA, he was a flight test engineer with the U.S. Air Force.

Hurley is the spacecraft commander for Demo-2, responsible for activities such as launch, landing and recovery. He was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and has completed two spaceflights. Hurley served as pilot and lead robotics operator for both STS‐127 in July 2009 and STS‐135, the final space shuttle mission, in July 2011. The New York native was born in Endicott but considers Apalachin his hometown. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. Before joining NASA, he was a fighter pilot and test pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Mission Objectives

The Demo-2 mission is the final major test before NASA's Commercial Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station. As SpaceX's final flight test, it will validate all aspects of its crew transportation system, including the Crew Dragon spacecraft, spacesuits, Falcon 9 launch vehicle, launch pad 39A and operations capabilities.

While en route to the station, Behnken and Hurley will take control of Crew Dragon for two manual flight tests, demonstrating their ability to control the spacecraft should an issue with the spacecraft's automated flight arise. On Saturday, May 30, while the spacecraft is coasting, the crew will test its roll, pitch and yaw. When Crew Dragon is about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) below the station and moving around to the docking axis, the crew will conduct manual in-orbit demonstrations of the control system in the event it were needed. After pausing, rendezvous will resume and mission managers will make a final decision about whether to proceed to docking as Crew Dragon approaches 20 meters (66 feet).

For operational missions, Crew Dragon will be able to launch as many as four crew members at a time and carry more than 220 pounds of cargo, allowing for an increased number crew members aboard the space station and increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, as well as returning more science back to Earth.

The Crew Dragon being used for this flight test can stay in orbit about 110 days, and the specific mission duration will be determined once on station based on the readiness of the next commercial crew launch. The operational Crew Dragon spacecraft will be capable of staying in orbit for at least 210 days as a NASA requirement.

At the conclusion of the mission, Behnken and Hurley will board Crew Dragon, which will then autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Upon splashdown off Florida's Atlantic coast, the crew will be picked up by the SpaceX recovery ship and returned to the dock at Cape Canaveral.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program is working with SpaceX and Boeing to design, build, test and operate safe, reliable and cost-effective human transportation systems to low-Earth orbit. Both companies are focused on test missions, including abort system demonstrations and crew flight tests, ahead of regularly flying crew missions to the space station. Both companies' crewed flights will be the first times in history NASA has sent astronauts to space on systems owned, built, tested and operated by private companies.

Learn more about NASA's Commercial Crew program at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

[spaceexp]

NASA’s First Stellar Observatory, OAO 2, Turns 50

NASA - Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) 2 patch. Dec. 11, 2018 At 3:40 a.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 7, 1968, just three weeks before the highly anticipated launch of Apollo 8 and the first crewed flight to the Moon, an Atlas-Centaur rocket carrying NASA’s heaviest and most ambitious unpiloted satellite at the time blasted into the sky from Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Formally known as the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) 2 and nicknamed Stargazer, it would become NASA’s first successful cosmic explorer and the direct ancestor of Hubble, Chandra, Swift, Kepler, FUSE, GALEX and many other astronomy satellites. OAO 2 provided the first orbital stellar observations in ultraviolet light, shorter than wavelengths in the visible range spanning 3,800 (violet) to 7,500 (red) angstroms. Much of UV light is screened out by the atmosphere and unavailable to ground-based telescopes. Stargazer’s experiments made nearly 23,000 measurements, showed that young, hot stars were hotter than theoretical models of the time indicated, confirmed that comets are surrounded by vast clouds of hydrogen and discovered a curious feature of the interstellar medium that would take decades to understand. “OAO 2 was a learning experience,” said Nancy Grace Roman, the first chief of astronomy in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, Washington. “We had to learn how to point a telescope to a single object and hold it there for a half hour or so.” This makes OAO 2 the ancestor of all space telescopes that can point to a given spot on the sky and track it for an extended period.

Seas of Infinity: OAO 2's 50th Anniversary

Video above: Watch James Kupperian Jr., the project scientist for NASA’s Orbiting Astronomical Observatories, explain the Stargazer (OAO 2) satellite and its instruments in this excerpt from “Seas of Infinity,” a 1968 NASA film about the mission. Image Credit: NASA. The feat proved much harder to accomplish than anyone had expected a decade earlier, at the outset of the program. But the development of star trackers — small telescopes located around the spacecraft that lock onto appropriate guide stars — and associated control software enabled extended UV observations that were previously impossible. Prior to OAO 2, ultraviolet observations of stars were acquired by suborbital sounding rockets that collect data for only five minutes each flight as they arc above much of the atmosphere. By 1968, it was estimated that sounding rockets had captured a total of three hours of stellar UV measurements in some 40 flights. OAO 2 could collect more data than this in a single day. In June 1958, the National Academy of Science established the 15-member Space Science Board, chaired by Lloyd Berkner, to help advise the “possible new civilian space agency” — NASA, which was established the following month when the National Aeronautics and Space Act was signed into law. After the panel’s first meeting, Berkner contacted hundreds of U.S. scientists for recommendations on experiments that could be performed by a satellite with a modest payload. At the end of the year, James Kupperian Jr., a physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, first used “Orbiting Astronomical Observatories” in an outline of the project. The name stuck. In 1959, he moved to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, to become chief of its astrophysics branch and serve as project scientist for all four OAO missions.

Image above: Technicians in a clean room at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, check out the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 before the mission’s Dec. 7, 1968, launch. The white conical structures visible near the top of the spacecraft are two of its six star trackers, small telescopes that lock onto appropriate guide stars to keep the instruments on target. Image Credit: NASA. Two astronomers who responded to Berkner’s request had already determined that ultraviolet observations of stars should be the initial focus for orbital astronomy. The first was Fred Whipple, director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who became the principal investigator for OAO 2’s Project Celescope (from “celestial telescope”). The experiment used four television cameras to make two-degree-square images of the sky in UV wavelengths between 1,200 and 3,250 angstroms. The other scientist was Arthur Code, a professor of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of its Washburn Observatory. Code became the principal investigator on the Wisconsin Experiment Package (WEP), a suite of seven telescopes. Four were designed to measure the UV brightness of stars from 1,330 to 4,250 angstroms, and a fifth, operating from 2,130 to 3,330 angstroms, was optimized for measuring the brightness of extended objects like nebulosity. Two scanning spectrometers recorded target spectra from 1,050 to 3,800 angstroms in 100 angstrom steps and at different resolutions. “It’s kind of interesting that this project grew out of an institution that had never done photographic astronomy,” notes Jordan Marché II, an adjunct professor of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. At the time, imaging, processing and measuring photographic plates was a typical aspect of astronomical work, but Code and his colleagues emphasized photometric studies over photography. “They were in this completely different mode of thinking about doing research,” Marché said. Both experiments were mounted back-to-back within the 4,436-pound (2,012 kilogram) spacecraft and looked out opposite ends, taking turns viewing the universe. The first WEP flew aboard OAO 1 on April 8, 1966, along with X-ray and gamma-ray experiments from Lockheed, MIT and Goddard. Just seven minutes after separation from its rocket, the spacecraft began experiencing problems in its power supply, including high-voltage arcing in the star trackers. After three days and 20 orbits, controllers terminated the mission without activating any of the experiments.

Take a "Swift" Tour of the Andromeda Galaxy

Video above: Take a tour of the best-ever UV image of our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the closest large spiral to our own. Using its Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory acquired 330 images in three UV colors. Some 20,000 ultraviolet sources are visible here, including M32, a small galaxy in orbit around M31. Dense clusters of hot, young, blue stars light up the disk beyond the galaxy's smooth, redder central bulge. M31 is located 2.5 million light-years away. Video Credits: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler (Goddard) and Erin Grand (University of Maryland, College Park). OAO 2 fared much better, continuing to work until it was shut down in February 1973. Issues with the Celescope — primarily a gradual loss of sensitivity in its modified TV tube detectors, called uvicons — resulted in the experiment being turned off in April 1970. By then, the Celescope had captured some 8,500 images across 10 percent of the sky, and Whipple’s team ultimately published a catalog of 5,068 UV stars. The WEP experienced fewer problems. Some weeks after launch, a calibration source in the nebula photometer stuck in place, allowing no further data to be returned from that telescope. But while the filters in the other telescopes showed some degradation in orbit, the instruments performed well and were functioning when the spacecraft was shut down. In addition to providing important UV data on some 1,200 stars, the WEP also observed planets, galaxies and comets. One of its most striking finds occurred in early 1970, when the instrument observed comet Tago-Sato-Kosaka, which had recently rounded the Sun and was headed back out into deep space. Observations showed the comet was surrounded by a UV-emitting cloud of hydrogen bigger than the Sun, dwarfing the comet’s visible structure; a similar feature was seen around comet Bennett later that year. These findings confirmed earlier predictions based on the idea that a comet’s tiny solid nucleus was largely made of frozen water. Solar ultraviolet light breaks up water molecules streaming off the icy nucleus, resulting in a sparse but vast envelope of hydrogen atoms that scatters UV sunlight.

Image above: An illustration of OAO 2, nicknamed Stargazer, in orbit around Earth. Image Credit: NASA. One of the most interesting results from OAO 2 involved interstellar extinction, a measure of the way matter between the stars absorbs and scatters light. The WEP showed there was a narrow extinction “bump” — that is, an increase in the way UV light was absorbed or scattered — centered at about 2,175 angstroms. Early speculation suggested that this feature may represent evidence for graphite dust grains. But theorists have introduced more exotic possibilities in the decades since, including nanodiamonds, graphite “onions,” molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and fullerenes, large, hollow soccer-ball-shaped molecules formed by carbon atoms. “The problem is that many of the exotic forms discussed are not likely to be sufficiently abundant in interstellar space,” said John Bradley, a researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who has been intrigued by the UV bump for 20 years. Bradley and his colleagues identified a similar spectral feature from PAHs embedded within interplanetary dust particles. “PAHs are everywhere,” he said, ��and they are most likely the source of the bump, possibly with the addition of closely related fullerene-like molecules.” Related links: GALEX (Galaxy Evolution Explorer): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/galex/index.html Hubble Space Telescope (HST): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html Swift: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/main/index.html NASA History: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/index.html Images (mentioned), Videos (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Rob Garner/Goddard Space Flight Center, by Francis Reddy. Greetings, Orbiter.ch Full article

[s-c-i-guy]

NASA, ULA Launch Parker Solar Probe on Historic Journey to Touch Sun

Hours before the rise of the very star it will study, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launched from Florida Sunday to begin its journey to the Sun, where it will undertake a landmark mission. The spacecraft will transmit its first science observations in December, beginning a revolution in our understanding of the star that makes life on Earth possible.

Roughly the size of a small car, the spacecraft lifted off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. At 5:33 a.m., the mission operations manager reported that the spacecraft was healthy and operating normally.

The mission’s findings will help researchers improve their forecasts of space weather events, which have the potential to damage satellites and harm astronauts on orbit, disrupt radio communications and, at their most severe, overwhelm power grids.

“This mission truly marks humanity’s first visit to a star that will have implications not just here on Earth, but how we better understand our universe,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “We’ve accomplished something that decades ago, lived solely in the realm of science fiction.”

During the first week of its journey, the spacecraft will deploy its high-gain antenna and magnetometer boom. It also will perform the first of a two-part deployment of its electric field antennas. Instrument testing will begin in early September and last approximately four weeks, after which Parker Solar Probe can begin science operations.

“Today’s launch was the culmination of six decades of scientific study and millions of hours of effort,” said project manager Andy Driesman, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. “Now, Parker Solar Probe is operating normally and on its way to begin a seven-year mission of extreme science.”

Over the next two months, Parker Solar Probe will fly towards Venus, performing its first Venus gravity assist in early October – a maneuver a bit like a handbrake turn – that whips the spacecraft around the planet, using Venus’s gravity to trim the spacecraft’s orbit tighter around the Sun. This first flyby will place Parker Solar Probe in position in early November to fly as close as 15 million miles from the Sun – within the blazing solar atmosphere, known as the corona – closer than anything made by humanity has ever gone before.

Throughout its seven-year mission, Parker Solar Probe will make six more Venus flybys and 24 total passes by the Sun, journeying steadily closer to the Sun until it makes its closest approach at 3.8 million miles. At this point, the probe will be moving at roughly 430,000 miles per hour, setting the record for the fastest-moving object made by humanity.

Parker Solar Probe will set its sights on the corona to solve long-standing, foundational mysteries of our Sun. What is the secret of the scorching corona, which is more than 300 times hotter than the Sun’s surface, thousands of miles below? What drives the supersonic solar wind – the constant stream of solar material that blows through the entire solar system? And finally, what accelerates solar energetic particles, which can reach speeds up to more than half the speed of light as they rocket away from the Sun?

Scientists have sought these answers for more than 60 years, but the investigation requires sending a probe right through the unrelenting heat of the corona. Today, this is finally possible with cutting-edge thermal engineering advances that can protect the mission on its daring journey.

“Exploring the Sun’s corona with a spacecraft has been one of the hardest challenges for space exploration,” said Nicola Fox, project scientist at APL. “We’re finally going to be able to answer questions about the corona and solar wind raised by Gene Parker in 1958 – using a spacecraft that bears his name – and I can’t wait to find out what discoveries we make. The science will be remarkable.”

Parker Solar Probe carries four instrument suites designed to study magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles, and capture images of the solar wind. The University of California, Berkeley, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Princeton University in New Jersey lead these investigations.

Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA’s Living with a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living with a Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed and built, and operates the spacecraft.

The mission is named for Eugene Parker, the physicist who first theorized the existence of the solar wind in 1958. It’s the first NASA mission to be named for a living researcher.

A plaque dedicating the mission to Parker was attached to the spacecraft in May. It includes a quote from the renowned physicist – “Let’s see what lies ahead.” It also holds a memory card containing more than 1.1 million names submitted by the public to travel with the spacecraft to the Sun.

[citylifeorg]

NASA’s Laser Communications Tech, Science Experiment Safely in Space

NASA’s Laser Communications Tech, Science Experiment Safely in Space

NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and a NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory space weather payload to study the Sun’s radiation lifted off at 5:19 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 7. The payloads launched aboard the Space Test Program Satellite-6 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as part of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Test…

[whomi007]

12-07-2021

Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Lifts Off!

NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, or LCRD, launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on the Department of Defense's Space Test Program 3 mission from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

LCRD will showcase the unique capabilities of optical communications. The mission's Space Test Program Satellite-6 spacecraft also hosts the NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder. 

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

,credit-nasa

[retroufo58]

NICAP Special Bulletin, November, 1958

Hoo boy. This was a long one.

Transcribed below:

NEW WAVE OF UFO SIGHTINGS CRACKS CENSORSHIP WALL

A Sudden increase in UFO sightings, here and abroad, is new under intensive investigation by AF intelligence. As we go to press, a new Baltimore UFO case has just lead to the revelation of a dramatic AF sighting withheld for three years.

The Baltimore sighting, new being investigated by AF scientists as well as Intelligence teams, occurred early on Oct. 27, near Lock Raven Reservoir. About midnight, Phillip Small and Alvin Cohen, Baltimore residents, sighted an enormous "egg-shaped" object hovering above a bridge. They estimated its length to be at least 100 feet. As they neared toe bridge, they reported, their car lights went out, then their engine stopped.

As the men climbed out, they felt an intense heat from the object. They watched it 45 seconds, then it shot straight up, with "a thunderous noise."  They notified Baltimore County police, who immediately called the AF Office of Special Investigation. Because of the reported electrical interference ,and a burned area on Cohen's face, Air Research and Development experts were also called in. This ARDC development was uncovered by NICAP Special Adviser Lou Corbin, who is News Director of Station WFBR. Checking with nearby Andrews AF Base, Corbin also was given the long-withheld 1955 UFO case by a veteran AF pilot who believes the facts should be told. (Though his name and rank are known to NICAP, we have promised Adviser Corbin not to disclose the officer's identity.)In 1955, stated this AF pilot, while flying in Alabama, he and five competent witnesses chased a UFO similar to the one seen at Baltimore. Amon the witnesses as a Lockheed Aircraft representative and a jet engineering expert. All five drew up reports agreeing they hand pursued a solid object of "considerable size" which they believed was intelligently controlled.

"Don't let anyone fool you," the officer told Corbin. "That object did not come from earth. The case has never been solved by the Air Force. And I've every reason to believe it was the same kind as in the Baltimore case.

"Though Mr. Cohen has not admitted taking a radiation-exposure test, NCIAP has reason to believe the AF has arranged such a test.

The heating effects described in the Baltimore Oct. 27 case lend special interest to an earlier report just sent us from South America, which follows.

UNCONFIRMED NEWSCASTS LINK UFO WITH MOON ROCKET

In at least two radio newscasts, an unidentified flying object was reported as hovering over Cape Canaveral just before the ill-fated moon rocket "Pioneer" was launched on Oct. 10. In one broadcast, reported by several NICAP members in Washington, the announcer was quoted as saying "maybe the moon rocket will have company." A similar broadcast was reported by members in the Baltimore area.

NICAP is till checking, though it has found no confirmation of the broadcast reports. If other members heard such newscasts, or read similar news reports, please write us. It is important to prove these reports true or false. There are increasing rumors that UFOs have destroyed some of our rockets, or forced them off course. If such claims have any foundation, this will vitally affect the UFO situation. If they are false, they should be vigorously denied to prevent new ridicule of UFO investigations.

PILOT FEELS INTENSE HEAT FROM HOVERING UFOA bright silvery UFO, hovering over Uruguay on May 5, 1958, created such intense heat in the cabin of a plane that the pilot was forced to open the windows and door, and remove his jacket.

Carlos Alejo Rodriguez, flying his Piper aircraft from San Carlos to Montevideo, saw the brilliant object approach on an easterly course and apparently stop, wobbling slightly. Rodriguez, an experienced pilot and parachute instructor, closed to within 800 yards and saw a metallic-appearing "top-shaped" object, its form symmetrical above and below. Then, as the object took off at fantastic speed south toward the sea, intense heat filled the cabin of the plane. A slight vapor-like trail was noted though both the UFO and the plane were only at about 3000 feet altitude. A team of investigators for C.I.O.V.I. UFO group in Uruguay, who submitted this report to NICAP, said that Rodriguez had always been skeptical about UFOs. After this experience, however, he reported the incident to the Director of Aeronautics and Air Force authorities. Later he described it publicly over the radio.

Rodriguez said that the head from the object caused him to "sweat profusely." The outside temperature was only about 77° F. He estimated that the object, which was hovering in the vicinity of a Naval Air Base was about 50-60 feet in diameter.

The current sighting increase coincides with Mars' 1958 approach to Earth, though it does not prove a definite connection. Beginning with '48, every Mars opposition (at 26-month intervals) has been accompanied by increased UFO sightings, usually noted two or more months before and after the opposition. This time, the first spurt of sightings, in August, came in our northeast states, with a later concentration in the midwest. (Mars will be closest in early November.) Here is a digest of several sightings during the present "flap".

Aug. 11, Chautauqua Lake, N.Y. Between 9:15 and 10:30 pm Dr. Fred C. Fair, a retired professor of engineering, observed several inexplicable lights in the sky. On two occasions he saw groups of lights in roughly geometrical patterns. In the last of these sightings, Dr. Fair noted a white light rapidly moving north. Through a transit telescope the object appeared as five white lights spaced "as though on circumference of an oval." A red light was visible above and slightly to the rear of the white lights. Dr. Fair followed the object with the telescope until it disappeared behind some nearby trees.

Aug. 24, Brook, Ind. Theater manager Henry Hermansen and his cashier, Mrs. Ethel Tinder, at about 6:45 pm saw a brightly-lighted object "like a pie plate sailing through the air on its rim." It moved "very fast" toward the NE, then suddenly changed direction and disappeared toward the SE. Mr. Hermansen's description of the object recalls the 1947 reports which gave rise to the name "flying saucer."

Sept. 8; Omaha, Nebr. A NICAP member who is an Air Force Reserve officer has reported that he and several high-ranking officers sighted a huge "pencil-shaped" UFO in the western sky at 6:40 pm. They watched it for about 20 minutes. More details are expected. Observers in California next day reported a long, rocket-like object with an orange flame-tail.

Sept. 21; Sheffield Lake, Ohio. A brilliant light at 3:00 am attracted Mrs. Wm. Fitzgerald and her son Johnto their windows. From separate rooms they watched a disc-shaped object descend, with a slight side-to-side oscillation, low over a neighbor's lot. The object, flat and circular with a dome in the center, was illuminated by glowing gas which came out of "tubes" on one edge. Both witnesses heard a humming and whirring noise. After maneuvering around above the lot, the object ascended vertically.

We are indebted to Robert J. Durant, NICAP member in Lorain, Ohio, for his report of the incident.

Oct. 3; Stephensberg, Ky. Four Hardin County residents - Mrs. Harvey DeVore, Miss Ella Sutzer, Mr. Leslie Sutzer, and Mr. Alvin Duncan - reported seeing a UFO at about 6 am in a field 500 yards away. It was silvery, and had stubby protrusions which were seen to move. As Mr. Sutzer approached, the object took off, moved and hovered about 4 feet off the ground, then flew away. In the air, it appeared cone-shaped. It made no sound. Where the object had touched, the grass was said to be mashed, with markings visible. Fort Knox said that it knew of no military equipment in the area. The U.S. Weather Bureau could not account for the object.

Oct. 8; Newark, Ohio. For the second time in less than a month, formations of odd lights maneuvering over Newark were reported by police officers H. E. Sherburn and T. H. Francis. In mid-September, they reported similar white, red, and green lights hovering and performing erratically over the city. Sherburn, an Air Force veteran, said the lights were arranged in a crescent. (See the Aug. 11 report by Dr. Fair.) Sherburn was "certain" the lights were not on conventional aircraft.

Oct. 12; Aurora Ill. Between 9:50 and 10:15 pm DuPage County police officers saw brightly-lighted golden UFOs from several viewpoints in the Aurora area. Shortly thereafter, a patrol car in Lisle spotted the objects moving southeast over DuPage County. The patrol-men said the objects were well-lighted and had "spotlights" turned toward the ground. Other patrol cars confirmed the report. At 10:10 pm the Aurora  police called the sheriff's office to report seeing similar objects headed southeast over Batavia. DuPage County Deputy Sheriff Jack Adams said he saw three objects near Batavia, one brighter than the others. Officials at O'Hare AFB were then notified, and jets apparently in pursuit, were heard shortly afterward. When questioned by the Aurora Beacon-News O'Hare officials refused comment.

Oct. 14; Aurora, Ill. For three consecutive nights, residents in Aurora, Wheaton, and Glen Ellyn watched brilliantly lighted objects maneuvering through the skies. Many witnesses, including police officers, saw four "incredibly bright" objects over Aurora between 8:39 and 8:45 pm. The objects then took off eastward over DuPage county in perfect formation. As the UFOs moved, their color changed from intense white to a dazzling gold.

DuPage County Deputy Louis Parreant attempted to follow one of the objects in a squad car near Downers Grove, but it soon left him behind. Another deputy, Melvin Lowe, said he saw one of the UFOs rise straight up and vanish after hovering about 1000 feet off the ground. (Allan Etzler, a former Army radar operator for guided missiles, recently told NICAP investigators that on Oct. 10 he had seen a large round glowing object hover about 60 feet over a field in Laytonsville Md. He said the watched it about 8-10 seconds when it suddenly shot straight up.)

NICAP ANNOUNCES NEW PROGRAMA new plan to speed of UFO investigations, through local committees of scientists, engineers, pilots and other experts, is now being set up by NICAP. With such committees established throughout the U.S. and all countries outside the Iron Curtain, a mass of scientifically evaluated headquarters for release to our members and Congress.

The new system, suggested by Associate Editor Richard H. Hall, will not only offset the scarcity of UFO reports in the press, but should make possible valid conclusions about several points including:

Any correlation with A-bomb tests.

Sighting cycles linked with Mars or Venus approaches to the earth.

Specific areas apparently under special UFO observation.

Any correlation with launchings of satellites, moon probes or other space rockets.

The question of possible UFO links with certain aircraft accidents and disappearances.

Reports of strange radio signals, suggested as linked with space craft.

Reports of UFO interference with radio, television, engine ignitions and other electrical systems.

Here is how the plan will work. Let's say a UFO sighting occurs near City A, in the midwest. The report may be published or broadcast locally, with no national pickup. The chairman of the local NICAP subcommittee will arrange for interviews (taped if possible) with key witnesses. If a photo was taken, the subcommittee will ask to examine the negative. Information will be collected on the time, weather, lighting conditions, UFO maneuvers, other aircraft involved (as in a jet chase) etc.

The group's astronomer will see if there is any astronomical answer, and its meterologist will check such "weather answers" as temperature inversions or sundogs. A subcommittee pilot, or other aviation expert, will check possible mistaken identification of a plane or balloon. If no conventional answer is found, the group will evaluate the evidence, reach a conclusion if possible, and forward a report to NICAP.

Where there is no conclusion, or there are unsettled questions, final evaluation will be made by NICAP Special Advisers or Board Members or both. Final conclusions and key points will then be given to the membership and appropriate groups in Congress. In press releases, the full credit will be given to the subcommittees; also, local publicity by subcommittees will be recommended, via newspapers and broadcasts.

This system requires that highly trained NCIAP members volunteer their services -- men and women expert in astronomy, photography, aviation (including aviation medicine), electronics, rocketry, meterology etc. Fortunately, NCIAP has members in all these fields, also analysis specialists, researchers, detectives and former Intelligence men. Some have already volunteered, and probably many others, both American and foreign, will help if the working time involved is not too great.

Where enough specially trained members are not available, subcommittees may secure the help of non-member experts interested in the UFO problem. A subcommittee member can keep such service confidential, though the use of the experts' names will be of value when the reports are made public. Special subcommittees may analyze individual problems, such as propulsion methods, artificial gravity and the "angels hair" reports. The system may be broadened to cover non-technical questions such as religious aspects, general publicity, approaches to Congress, etc., in which members without technical training could participate.

Meantime, all NICAP members can help by reporting sightings and other technical UFO information to local subcommittees. (Names, addresses, to be listed.) The Washington, D.C. subcommittee is already partly formed, and we are working to start others quickly. Whether you live in the U.S. or abroad, if you have special training, as indicated, we hope you will help form a local subcommittee. The only other provision is that you accept NICAP's policy of factual approach. If you volunteer, please list your special qualifications and whether you have access to a laboratory or other analysis equipment. We will be glad to have suggestions from all members regarding this new plan.

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Note: The Chicago Daily News said on October 14th that Air Force B-47 jet bombers in a 3:00 am SAC exercise were responsible for at least one "flying saucer" report in Chicago. No explanation was offered for the sightings of the previous nights.

Oct. 14; Indiana. Residents in south-central Indiana reported sighting UFOs in pre-dawn hours. Police discussed the reports on police radio and confirmed sightings in Columbus, Franklin, Greensburg, Greenwood, and Indianapolis.

Oct. 15; Southeast U.S. The Civil Aeronautics Administration control office in Atlanta, Ga., asked if the AF to investigate a "strange flying object" seen over several southeaster states. the CAA said airline pilots had seen the object, one estimating its altitude at 65,000 feet. Citizens in North and South Carolina, and other states, said the object was very large and appeared triangular in shape.

Early on the morning of Sept. 29, 1958, a UFO sighting was officially reported at the Army's Nike missile base, dear Derwood, Md. Later, news and radio reports from Maryland and other states indicated that a firey object seen by hundreds at the same time was a disintegrating meteor. On-the-spot investigations by  a NICAP team confirm this. But because of the contradictory official answers given the press - one of them known to be false at the time, as NICAP can prove - a detailed account will be given. The Nike story, kept quiet for a week, broke on Oct. 6 in the Jersey Journal, which ran an interview with Pvt. Jerome Scanlon, one of the Nike base witnesses. According to the news story, Scanlon and a Sgt. Riney Farris had seen a "cigar-shaped craft" land and take off near the base. A scorched strip a half-mile long was said to have been found where the object landed.

An Associated Press query led to an Army news release at Ft. Meade, Md., confirming the two soldiers' report and adding that 12 investigatiors (later revealed as AF) had quizzed them and searched the area.

A NICAP team - Assoc. Ed. Richard Hall and Washington members Richard Lechaux and Samuel Coe - made three trips to Derwood, interviewed Sgt. Farris, two other Army witnesses, the Nike duty officer, and area citizens. The team also mapped and photographed the area. No scorched area or signs or a landing were found, though the rough, hilly terrain prevented a complete search.

In addition, NY member Ted Bloecher (a CSI officers) reached Pvt. Scanlon, on leave at Jersey City, quizzed him for 45 minutes. Scanlon had not seen the object take off, or even land, but merely saw it pass behind trees. This tallied with Sgt. Farris' statement to NICAP; he had merely seen the object flash overhead. But it added a puzzle: why had the Ft. Meade news release gone along with the landing and take-off story?

Soon after, a new puzzle was added by NICAP Adviser Lou Corbin, radio news director at Baltimore, in an exclusive interview with Lt. Richard Platt, Nike base duty officer who also saw the fiery object. Platt did not see a landing, but insisted he saw a strange glow where the object was supposed to have landed. He said he watched it 45 minutes, saw the pulsating glow alternate from greenish white to orange. (the AF later said a helicopter search found no trace of such an object's presence.) Reports from astronomers and others in states as far as Ohio and Kentucky, and an analysis by NICAP Adviser Jas. C. Bartlett, Jr., strongly backed the meteor answer. But instead of using this answer, the AF hastily rushed out a typical debunking story, claiming solution of over 98% of UFO sightings. (This may have been caused by uneasiness over the sightings increase and the possible Mars link.)

Immediately afterward, the AF put out a news story "solving" the Nike report. The Nike men, it said, had been misled by the reflection of arc-welders' torches as Potomac Electric Power Co. (PEPCO) men worked on nearby high-tension lines. A NICAP check proved this untrue, and obviously known to be false when released. At PEPCO, a spokesman told NICAP this was impossible and the AF knew it. A Capt. Maxwell at Andrews Field, said the PEPCO official, had tried to establish this answer; he had been told that no PEPCO men worked at that hour (5:30 am) and none had been in the area. A NICAP call to Capt. Maxwell resulted in a prompt refusal to comment, because of Air Force Reg. 200-2.The PEPCO spokesman also told NICAP that Newsweek had called and had been given the facts. (Later, Newsweek cited an AF explaination that the Nike men had seen a 200-watt lamp on a distant barn; no mention was made of the false arc-welder answer. Lt. Platt, informed of the barn-lamp story, flatly said it was impossible.)

What Platt saw is unknown. One suggestion is that there was another object beside the meteor, or that a fragment of the meteor fell from the meteor and started a fire. Lt. Platt denies the glow as an ordinary flame. Regardless of this unexplained angle, the case is important. Again, the AF UFO policy is clearly revealed: hurried debunking of any news report, even to planting of a false answer - and, simultaneously, serious investigation by Intelligence teams, behind the scenes.

Reprint of Issue No. 1

In response to frequent requests, we have arranged to reprint Issue 1 of the UFO INVESTIGATOR. This contains 32 pages of still timely information, including several unexplained UFO cases: A CAA radar report of UFOs flying at 3600 mph., two important sightings by former Navy pilots, the Pan American Airways UFO incident of March, 1957, which the Civil Aeronautics Board says is still unsolved, and other authentic UFO reports. Issue NO. 1 also contains a flying saucer history installment, options by Board members, an 8-point cooperation plan offered the Air Force and full details of NCIAP's policy on "contact" claims. If you wish Issue No. 1, please send your check for $1.00 and it will be mailed postpaid in a 9 by 11 inch manila envelope. Also please indicate whether you are interested in ordering copies of Issues 2 and 3 (each containing 32 pages of important information). If there are enough requests, we shall reprint either issue or both, at the same price of $1.00 each.

MAJORITY BACKS NICAP

Though the ballots are still coming in, the votes received indicate that over 90% of our members back NCIAP's policies, as stated in the Aug.-Sept. issue.

Question 1. Should NICAP keep trying to end secrecy about UFOs? Yes, 98.9%.  Yes, 1.1%

Question 2. Do you think NICAP is a smokescreen, an AF cover-up? No, 99%. Yes, 1%

Question 3. Do you agree with NICAP's policy on contact stories? Yes. 89.14%. No, 10.86% Apparently, from comments on several ballots, some voting "no" believed NICAP meant to ignore all contact reports. This is not correct; NICAP is steadily collecting such reports and will evaluate them after its stated first goals are reached. (See discussion of p. 7, Aug.-Sept. issue.) Possibly the new NICAP committee system (which see) will expedite examination of contact claims.

Question 4. Do you vote for re-election of the Board of Governors until Oct. 1, 1959? Yes, 98.32%. No, 1.68%

Question 5. Will you do everything possible to promote NICAP, secure new members and end the financial crisis? Yes, 99.3%. No, .07%

We greatly appreciate our members' vote of confidence, also ballot suggestions indicating a majority desire for:

1. More UFO sighting reports.

2. Digest treatment of news items, to cover more subjects.  

3. More discussion of possible UFO sources, motives, types of beings.

4. A question-and-answer section in the magazine.

These ideas will be carried out as fully as space permits.If you have not yet voted, please mail your ballot - and your suggestions for improving our publications.

Several members have suggested NICAP memberships as Christmas gifts. If you wish, we will enclose your personal Christmas card with a NICAP memebership card and the current publication - or we will forward a NCIAP signed Christmas gift notice, if you prefer.

----Washington Meeting Scheduled

A meeting of NICAP members in the Washington area has been set for 7:45 pm, Saturday Nov. 15 at the auditorium of the Washington Post and Times Herald Building, 1515 L St. NW. After a 10 minute report by NICAP's Director, the meeting will be thrown open for questions and answers and general discussion of the UFO problem and NCIAP's operations. Out-of-town members in Washington at the time are cordially invited to attend. Please show your NICAP card at the door.----

If by error you receive NICAP literature for prospective members, please pass it on to a friend or to your local library.

JUSTICE DEPT. HUNTING

"Straith" Hoaxer

The State Dept. has informed NICAP that the Dept. of Justice is investigating the so-called "Straith Case," in which a hoax letter on State Dept. letterhead was written to Mr. George Adamski. NICAP believes it knows the identity of the hoaxer and has given the State Dept. another letter apparently written on the same typewriter and maliciously aimed at an officer of Civilian Saucer Intelligence, N.Y. Mr. Lonzo Dove, a NICAP member, also has loaned Government investigators several letters written to him on the same typewriter and signed by the supposed hoaxer, a man well known in UFO investigation.

The "Straith" letter, widely publicized by Adamski, implied State Dept. endorsement of his claims to contact with spacemen. NICAP has been given an official copy of a State Dept. letter sent Adamski by Acting Depty Ass't. Secretary Jameson Parker, which flatly denies Adamski's claims about the hoax document.

"As you have been told orally, this is a spurious letter," Secretary Parker wrote Adamski. "Neither is there an R.E. Straith connected with the Department of State nor is there any record of any person of that name having been an employee of the Department.

"Secretary Parker also said there never has been a "Cultural Exchange Committee" in the Department, as the "Straith" hoaxer claimed. Referring to the Department letterhead used by the hoaxer, Secretary Parker added:

"This stationery has the seal impressed at the time of manufacture, not at the time of mailing. That is, the seal is placed on blank paper, and any person who had access to supplies of this paper would be in a position to misappropriate it and to write an unauthorized letter such as the one in your possession."

Secretary Parker then officially cautioned Adamski not to keep on claiming the "Straith" letter was genuine:

"I should appreciate your informing all who inquire about this letter that is spurious, and request that you cease distributing copies of it."

If Adamski persists, legal action may be taken.

NICAP hopes the State or Justice Dept. will publicly expose the hoaxer and remove one of the troublemakers in UFO investigation. IF not, NICAP will do everything legally possible to reveal his identity.

FRY WITHHOLDS DATA ASKED FOR NICAP ANALYSIS

To date, Mr. Daniel Fry has failed to send the data requested by NICAP regarding a small round object Fry offered for analysis. No UFO link is claimed by Fry, nor does he reveal where he got it.

NICAP PROGRESS REPORT

Thanks to those members who quickly renewed, or who generously sent us contributions, the danger of suspending operations has been averted. We have tried to thank all of these members personally; if anyone was overlooked, please forgive the error.

Thus far, this life-saving help has been limited to about 9% of the members. However, we have not had time to hear from all areas, because of the slower third-class mail delivery of Issue 5. Not everyone can make donations, of course. But everyone can try to get us new members. We must have continued support, through renewals or new memberships every month, to operate on schedule. We urgently need more full-time office workers; though several Washington members have kindly volunteered to help in their spare time, our correspondence and editorial work are still accumulating.

Prompt help by 9% of NICAP's membership has kept us from disaster. If each of the others - or most of them - will get us one new member, our financial problem will be licked. Investigations, editing and other work will be speeded up, along with liaison with Congress and other important projects. More information will reach NICAP members; publications can be enlarged, or printed more frequently.

Please do all you can do promote NCIAP. Urge your public libraries to subscribe to NCIAP publications. Send us the names of interested friends. Send us the names of interested friends - or write us for membership blanks. Another helpful step is to ask your local broadcasting stations and newspapers to mention NICAP's work; many are glad to interview NICAP members.  You can write letters to editors, quoting key items from our publications, names of Board members and Advisers, and giving NICAP's address.

A new NICAP, operating at full speed, is bound to have a strong impact on Congress, press and public. We believe we can end the secrecy, given full membership backing. Please help us reach this goal.

CORRECTION OF MOSELEY STATEMENT

In his latest UFO publication, James W. Moseley quote NICAP's director as saying he had "fired" Mrs. R. H. Campbell and Mrs. Bessie M. Clark. As Associate Editor Richard Hall will testify, Mr. Moseley was told specifically that Mrs. Campbell had resigned and had planned to have Mrs. Clark assist her in other work. Mr. Moseley has been asked to retract this statement.

Mr. D. W. Opperman, editor, the Olympic Review, says he will gladly correct the NICAP membership statement he attributed to Mrs. Campbell, that we had 35,000 members. We wish this were true. She evidently said NICAP had about 3500 members, and the actual number is some 3200. We thank Mr. Opperman for the correction.

FOUR HUGE UFOS PACE FREIGHT TRAINA freight train southbound on the Monon Railroad in Clinton County, central Indiana, was paced by four glowing UFOs for over an hour early Friday October 3, 1958. All five of the crew saw the objects, which stayed with the train for 40 miles between Rossville and Kirklin. The objects, glowing white at high speeds and red-orange at lower speeds, dipped low over the train and maeuvered in formation.

Fireman Cecil Bridge, a former Air Force bomber crewman, and Engineer Harry Eckman first spotted a formation of 4 odd white lights crossing the tracks ahead of them at about 3:10 am. The lights turned down to about 200-300 feet, and traversed the full length of the train (about one-half mile.) The crew in the caboose, notified by the intercom, then saw the objects wheel east in formation and turn back to follow the train.

Conductor Ed Robinson at one point shone a powerful flashlight on the objects, which immediately flew away, returning a few minutes later. Finally, after maneuvering around the train for an hour and ten minutes, the UFOs moved off to the northeast and disappeared.

Robinson said the UFOs flew and tree-top level part of the time, and appeared to be about 40 feet in diameter and 8 to 10 feet thick. At times, they flew in a vertical position, and occasionally sped up approaching the caboose. No definite configuration could be discerned through the bright glow.

That night, on WTTV, Bridge and Robinson described the incident to Frank Edwards, NICAP Board Member in Indianapolis, who relayed it to NICAP. Brakeman Morris Ott and Flagman Paul Soshey also saw the objects and agreed with the descriptions given by other crew members.

About 50-60 miles west of the Monon Line, a New York Central Railroad engineer in the railroad yard near Danville, Illinois, reported seeing blinding blue-white objects in the eastern sky between 3:00 and 5:00 am that same morning.

REASONS FOR FIRST CLASS MAILING

Though it is considerably more expensive, we are sending this bulletin by first class mail. We hope this will make up for the unexpected delay, in some areas, of issue No. 5, which went third-class. Also, this should speed up organization of the new local subcommittees, and prompt news of the current sighting "flap" may help members interest other persons in joining NICAP. Even though we will have to go back to third-class mailing for the next issue (an approximate saving of $150 in postage, envelope, and stuffing costs) the interval will not be so great because of this special first class mailing.

[moyssidis]

The race for the U.S. Space Command headquarters entered the next stage w/a long list of competitors seeking to land the $1B economic development prize. Air Force officials will whittle down by November nominations from 26 states received by the June 30 deadline. The Air Force, which is handling site selection, didn’t detail which states & cities submitted bids. Once the list is narrowed, the Air Force officials plan to conduct site visits before selecting a preferred location in January expected to have 1,400 military & civilian personnel working there. An environmental analysis could take up to 24 months after the selection. The Air Force is seeking a location among the top 150 metropolitan statistical areas. It also wants a home 25 miles or less from a military base that scores at least 50 points of 100 on the American Association of Retired Persons Public Policy Institute’s livability index. Florida bids included Brevard County, home to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Flight Center. Pensacola and Jacksonville, both of which have Naval Air Stations, submitted bids. Miami-Dade County, which has the U.S. Southern Command. #developmentopportunity #spacetravel #spacex #spaceexploration #commercialbroker #commercialinvestment #commercialdevelopment #ellimancommercial #elliman #ellimanagents #ellimanfl #spaceforce https://www.instagram.com/p/CCo3TgcJ3gM/?igshid=1u4qu6mw9nezs

[aria3layla]

Milestones in Space Exploration: The ISS, Cape Canaveral, Advanced Propulsion Systems, and the Boeing Starliner

The International Space Station (ISS) stands as a testament to human ingenuity and international collaboration. Orbiting roughly 420 kilometers above Earth, it serves as a microgravity laboratory, hosting cutting-edge research across various scientific disciplines. The ISS is a partnership between space agencies from the United States (NASA), Russia (Roscosmos), Europe (ESA), Japan (JAXA), and Canada (CSA), representing one of the most ambitious and complex engineering projects ever undertaken.

International Space Station: A Hub of Scientific Research

Since its first module, Zarya, launched in 1998, the ISS has expanded to include multiple laboratories, living quarters, and observation decks. This orbital laboratory allows researchers to conduct experiments that are impossible on Earth due to gravity's influence. Studies conducted on the ISS have contributed to our understanding of physics, biology, human health, and materials science. For instance, experiments on fluid dynamics in microgravity help improve our understanding of how liquids behave without gravity, which has implications for numerous industries on Earth.

The ISS also plays a critical role in studying human health in space. Astronauts living on the station for extended periods provide data on how prolonged exposure to microgravity affects the human body. This research is crucial for planning future long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station: The Launchpad of Innovation

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, located on Florida's east coast, has been at the forefront of American space exploration since the 1950s. Initially known as the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, it was renamed in 2020 to reflect its transition to a space-centric mission under the United States Space Force. This launch site has seen the liftoffs of historic missions, from the early days of the Mercury and Gemini programs to the Apollo missions that landed humans on the Moon.

Cape Canaveral's strategic location near the equator allows rockets to take advantage of Earth's rotational speed, providing an additional boost during launch. This efficiency is vital for achieving the velocities necessary to reach orbit and beyond. Over the decades, Cape Canaveral has evolved to accommodate a wide range of launch vehicles, from small research rockets to massive heavy-lift launchers.

Propulsion Systems: The Backbone of Space Travel

At the heart of any space mission is its propulsion system, which is responsible for overcoming Earth's gravity and navigating through space. Rocket propulsion has seen significant advancements since the early days of space exploration. Modern propulsion systems can be broadly categorized into chemical, electric, and nuclear propulsion.

Chemical propulsion remains the most common method for launching rockets. It involves the combustion of propellants (fuel and oxidizer) to produce high-speed exhaust gases that propel the rocket forward. Liquid-fueled engines, such as those used in SpaceX's Falcon 9 and NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), offer the advantage of throttle control and the ability to be shut down and restarted. Solid rocket motors, used in boosters like those of the Space Shuttle and the SLS, provide high thrust and simplicity but lack throttle control.

Electric propulsion, such as ion thrusters, offers a more efficient alternative for deep-space missions. These systems use electric fields to accelerate ions to high speeds, producing thrust. While the thrust generated is much lower than chemical engines, the high efficiency allows spacecraft to operate for extended periods, making them ideal for missions to distant destinations like Mars or the outer planets.

Nuclear propulsion represents a promising yet underdeveloped technology. Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) uses nuclear reactions to heat a propellant, typically hydrogen, to generate thrust. This method could significantly reduce travel time to Mars, making it a key technology for future crewed missions beyond the Moon.

Boeing Starliner: A Milestone in Commercial Spaceflight

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner is a spacecraft developed under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which aims to facilitate the transport of astronauts to and from the ISS using commercially operated spacecraft. The Starliner represents a significant milestone in the shift towards commercial spaceflight, reducing reliance on government-operated vehicles and fostering a competitive space industry.

Designed to accommodate up to seven astronauts, the Starliner is a reusable spacecraft capable of multiple missions. It features advanced avionics, automated docking systems, and a launch escape system to ensure crew safety in the event of an emergency during launch. The Starliner's development process has not been without challenges, including delays and technical issues, but each hurdle has provided valuable lessons that contribute to the overall safety and reliability of the spacecraft.

In December 2019, the Starliner embarked on its first uncrewed test flight, Orbital Flight Test-1 (OFT-1). Although the mission encountered software issues that prevented it from reaching the ISS, it successfully demonstrated many of the spacecraft's capabilities. Following a thorough review and addressing the issues identified during OFT-1, Boeing conducted a second uncrewed test flight, Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), in May 2022. This mission successfully docked with the ISS, paving the way for future crewed flights.

The first crewed mission of the Starliner, called Crew Flight Test (CFT), is a critical step towards certifying the spacecraft for regular astronaut transport. This mission will test the spacecraft's performance in real-world conditions with astronauts aboard, ensuring all systems function correctly and safely. Success in this mission will mark a significant achievement for Boeing and NASA, furthering the goal of maintaining a continuous American presence on the ISS using commercially operated spacecraft.

Conclusion

The ISS, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, propulsion systems, and the Boeing Starliner are all pivotal elements of contemporary space exploration. The ISS continues to be a hub of scientific innovation and international cooperation. Cape Canaveral remains a cornerstone of America's space endeavors, launching missions that push the boundaries of human knowledge and capability. Advancements in propulsion systems are crucial for reaching farther destinations in our solar system. The Boeing Starliner represents a new era of commercial spaceflight, enhancing our ability to maintain and expand human presence in space.

Together, these components highlight the progress and potential of human space exploration, driven by both government agencies and commercial entities, and underscore the collaborative spirit essential for overcoming the challenges of exploring the final frontier.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.3

2457 BC – Gaecheonjeol, Hwanung (환웅) purportedly descended from heaven. South Korea's National Foundation Day. 52 BC – Gallic Wars: Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrenders to the Romans under Julius Caesar, ending the siege and battle of Alesia. 42 BC – Liberators' civil war: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight a decisive battle with Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius. 382 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I concludes a peace treaty with the Goths and settles them in the Balkans. 1392 – Muhammed VII becomes the twelfth sultan of the Emirate of Granada. 1574 – The Siege of Leiden is lifted by the Watergeuzen. 1683 – Qing dynasty naval commander Shi Lang receives the surrender of the Tungning kingdom on Taiwan after the Battle of Penghu. 1712 – The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor. 1739 – The Treaty of Niš is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia ending the Russian–Turkish War. 1789 – George Washington proclaims a Thanksgiving Day for that year. 1792 – A militia departs from the Spanish stronghold of Valdivia to quell a Huilliche uprising in southern Chile. 1863 – The last Thursday in November is declared as Thanksgiving Day by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. 1873 – Chief Kintpuash and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War of northern California. 1912 – U.S. forces defeat Nicaraguan rebels at the Battle of Coyotepe Hill. 1918 – King Boris III of Bulgaria accedes to the throne. 1919 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Latin American player to appear in a World Series. 1929 – The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Yugoslavia by King Alexander I. 1930 – The German Socialist Labour Party in Poland – Left is founded. 1932 – The Kingdom of Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1935 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy invades Ethiopia. 1942 – A German V-2 rocket reaches a record 85 km (46 nm) in altitude. 1943 – World War II: German forces murder 92 civilians in Lingiades, Greece. 1949 – WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta. 1951 – Korean War: The First Battle of Maryang San pits Commonwealth troops against communist Chinese troops. 1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon in the Montebello Islands, Western Australia, to become the world's third nuclear power. 1957 – The California State Superior Court rules that the book Howl and Other Poems is not obscene. 1962 – Project Mercury: US astronaut Wally Schirra, in a Sigma 7, is launched from Cape Canaveral for a six-orbit flight. 1963 – A violent coup in Honduras begins two decades of military rule. 1981 – The hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland ends after seven months and ten deaths. 1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight, carrying two DSCS-III Satellites on STS-51-J. 1986 – TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories in Canada, is officially opened. 1989 – A coup in Panama City is suppressed and 11 participants are executed. 1990 – The German Democratic Republic is abolished and becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany; the event is afterwards celebrated as German Unity Day. 1991 – Nadine Gordimer is announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. 1993 – An American attack against a warlord in Mogadishu fails; eighteen US soldiers and over 350 Somalis die. 1995 – O. J. Simpson murder case: O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. 2008 – The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 for the U.S. financial system is signed by President George W. Bush. 2009 – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey join in the Turkic Council. 2013 – At least 360 migrants are killed when their boat sinks near the Italian island of Lampedusa. 2015 – Forty-two people are killed and 33 go missing in the Kunduz hospital airstrike in Afghanistan. 2021 – Eight people are killed in an airplane crash near Milan, Italy.

[damajority]

DaMajority Fresh Article https://www.damajority.com/hbo-celebrates-50th-anniversary-of-apollo-moon-landing-with-special-encore-of-emmy-winning-miniseries-from-the-earth-to-the-moon/

HBO CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO MOON LANDING WITH SPECIAL ENCORE OF EMMY®-WINNING MINISERIES “FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON”

HBO CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO MOON LANDING WITH SPECIAL ENCORE OF EMMY®-WINNING MINISERIES “FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON”

HBO will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo mission moon landing with a special encore presentation of the Emmy®-winning 1998 miniseries FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON.

Miami, FL. – July 10, 2019. On Monday, July 15, all 12 digitally remastered episodes will launch on HBO GO and HBO On Demand. On Saturday, July 20, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo mission moon landing, HBO will air a marathon of all 12 episodes.

To celebrate the anniversary, the standard definition visual effects have been replaced with brand-new CG effects that are based on reference models from NASA. In addition, an HD BluRay edition, set for release July 16, will feature remixed audio in Dolby ATMOS, as well as an exclusive “Inside the Remastering” featurette, which delves into the decision-making process and work put into updating and replacing the previous CG effects.

Winner of the Primetime Emmy® for Outstanding Miniseries, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON stars David Andrews, Adam Baldwin, David Clennon, Gary Cole, Matt Craven, Brett Cullen, Tim Daly, Cary Elwes, Sally Field, Dave Foley, Al Franken, Tony Goldwyn, Mark Harmon, Tom Hanks, Peter Horton, Chris Isaak, Tcheky Karyo, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Ted Levine, Ann Magnuson, DeLane Matthews, Jay Mohr, Elizabeth Perkins, Kevin Pollak, James Rebhorn, Stephen Root, Alan Ruck, Diana Scarwid, Peter Scolari, Nick Searcy, Grant Shaud, Lane Smith, Cynthia Stevenson, Jobeth Williams and Rita Wilson. Tom Hanks executive produced the miniseries, with Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, Rob Howard and Michael Bostick producing.

The HBO production was the largest client to date at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Fla., utilizing its two sound stages as well as all available office space for an entire year. More than 100 locations were used in the filming, including Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, plus numerous other Florida locations, such as the Naval Training Center and the Utility Commission (both in Orlando), as well as Edwards Air Force Base and Tustin Marine Air Corps Station in California, Anza Borrego State Park in California, and Washington, D.C. NASA allowed production access to many areas and buildings at the Kennedy Space Center that were actually used during the space program, including the launch pads, the vehicle assembly building, astronaut corridors, NASA medical offices, and Mercury Command Center (Mercury Mission Control).

FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON was produced by HBO in association with Imagine Entertainment and Clavius Base. Executive producer, Tom Hanks; producers, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Michael Bostick; co-executive producer, Tony To; supervising producers, Graham Yost and John Melfi; co-producers, Erik Bork, Bruce Richmond and Janace Tashjian; associate producer, Terry Odem; consulting producer, Bridget Potter; technical consultant, Dave Scott.

  ###

Find all HBO news and media materials on http://www.HBOLApress.com

  About HBO Latin America 

HBO Latin America is the leading premium, subscription-based, television network in the region, recognized for the quality and diversity of its programming. Featuring exclusive original series, films, documentaries and specials, the network is also the place to see some of the most recent Hollywood blockbusters before they appear on any other premium channel. The content is transmitted in HD in more than 40 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean through the channels HBO®, HBO2, HBO Signature, HBO Plus, HBO Family, MAX, MAX Prime, MAX Up, and the ad-based Cinemax® channel. Its programming is also offered across multiple platforms, such as HBO GO® and HBO On Demand®. HBO Latin America is a joint venture between Home Box Office, Inc. (a subsidiary of Warner Media, LLC) and Ole Communications, Inc.

Press Contact

HBO Latin America Gabriel Andriollo Tel. +1 (786) 501-8474 gandriollo@hbo-la.com

[sciencespies]

U.S. Air Force X-37B spaceplane off to its sixth mission

https://sciencespies.com/space/u-s-air-force-x-37b-spaceplane-off-to-its-sixth-mission/

U.S. Air Force X-37B spaceplane off to its sixth mission

The Air Force said OTV 6 will carry more experiments than any of the previous X-37B missions.

WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance on May 17 launched an Atlas 5 rocket carrying the U.S. Air Force X-37B spaceplane to orbit for its sixth mission. The vehicle lifted off at 09:14 AM Eastern time from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida

The launch was originally scheduled on Saturday, May 16, but was scrubbed due to ground winds.

The X-37B is an autonomous reusable spaceplane sent to low Earth orbit for long missions that can last up to two years. The aircraft that was launched on Sunday — Operational Test Vehicle 6 — carries several U.S. military and NASA science experiments. The Air Force operates two X-37B spacecraft made by Boeing.

The spaceplane is a derivative of the X-37A designed by NASA in the late 1990s to deploy from the space shuttle. The program later was transferred to the Defense Department as is now managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.

Encapsulated X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. Credit: Boeing

The Air Force for a decade kept the X-37B in a cloak of secrecy but it is now openly showing it off as a symbol of U.S. space dominance. The spaceplane is featured in the U.S. Space Force’s new recruiting video unveiled May 6 by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett.

Barrett told reporters that the X-37B is “worthy of disclosure” and a capability with which the American public should be familiar.

The specifics of what the X-37B does in space, however, are classified. ULA only could show the first five minutes of the flight in its live webcast.

“The details of the vehicle, the mission it will do on orbit, and where it will go, all that is classified,” ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno told reporters. “We have to stop the live broadcast early so we don’t provide adversaries too much data about the flight.”

The Atlas 5 flew with a five-meter payload fairing, a single-engine upper stage and no solid rocket motors strapped to the core stage. At about 11,000 pounds and nearly 29-foot long, the X-37B is large enough that it requires a big rocket like the Atlas 5 to get to orbit but not heavy enough to need extra solid boosters.

This was the 84th flight of the Atlas 5 since it entered service in 2002.

The Air Force said OTV 6 will carry more experiments than any of the previous X-37B missions. One of the satellites is the U.S. Air Force Academy’s FalconSAT-8 with five science payloads focused on propulsion technologies. There are also NASA experiments to study the results of radiation and other space effects on materials and seeds used to grow food. A U.S. Naval Research Laboratory experiment will test the use of microwave beams to send solar power to Earth from space. The experiment will convert solar power into radio frequency microwave energy which could then be transmitted to the ground.

The chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force Gen. John Raymond and Barrett were at Cape Canaveral to observe the launch of the mission code named USSF-7.

Raymond said during a call with reporters that the U.S. military gains valuable insights from each of the X-37B missions. “We learn a lot about the value of reusability and autonomy,” said Raymond. In its five flights the X-37B spent 2,865 days on orbit.

When the X-37B completes its mission, it autonomously cruises back to Earth and lands on a runway.

#Space

[shirlleycoyle]

The Air Force’s Top Secret Space Plane is Launching Again This Weekend

A mysterious military space plane that has operated largely in secret over the past decade is scheduled to launch on its sixth voyage on Saturday, according to the U.S. Air Force.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, which looks like a miniature version of NASA’s Space Shuttle, was built by Boeing and is owned by the Air Force, though this mission will be operated by the newly formed Space Force. It is currently slated to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket between 8:24 and 10:53 AM EDT on May 16.

While most of the military research planned for this mission is secret, as is usually the case for the plane, the X-37B will carry unclassified experiments from NASA, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and the Air Force Academy.

"This sixth mission is a big step for the X-37B program," said Randy Walden, director and program executive officer for the department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, in a statement.

"This will be the first X-37B mission to use a service module to host experiments,” he noted. “The incorporation of a service module on this mission enables us to continue to expand the capabilities of the spacecraft and host more experiments than any of the previous missions."

Perhaps the most exciting experiment is a prototype solar panel, developed by NRL, which represents the first orbital test of a dazzlingly futuristic idea: space-based solar power. This decades-old concept envisions a massive solar power plant in space that collects sunlight and converts it into microwave energy that can be beamed down to Earth.

The dream is to establish an off-Earth power grid that could meet the entire world’s energy needs with renewable and clean solar power from space. But there are still countless technical challenges that stand in the way of this lofty goal, and it could take decades, or longer, to develop such advanced space-based power infrastructure.

That said, every revolutionary technology starts with modest prototypes like the NRL’s solar panel, which will test out the process of converting sunlight into microwave beams in an orbital environment.

“This is a major step forward,” Paul Jaffe, an electronics engineer at the Naval Research Lab and lead researcher on the project, told Daniel Oberhaus at WIRED. “This is the first time that any component geared towards a solar-powered satellite system has ever been tested in orbit.”

In addition to the NRL prototype, the X-37B will carry two NASA experiments into orbit that will examine the effects of the space environment on seeds and material samples. The plane will also deploy a small satellite built by Air Force Academy cadets, called FalconSAT-8, into orbit.

Presumably, the X-37B will be getting up to all sorts of other secret stuff as well, but it could be many years–if ever—before we find out about its classified activities.

The Air Force’s Top Secret Space Plane is Launching Again This Weekend syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[kansascityhappenings]

NASA selects 9 astronauts for first crewed Boeing, SpaceX capsule test flights

Watch Video

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has tapped nine astronauts to become the first to launch to space from American soil since the Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011.

The seven men and two women will also be the first astronauts to fly in capsules developed and built by the private sector as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Since 2011, the United States has relied on Russia to ferry astronauts to the space station. SpaceX and Boeing were picked by NASA in 2014 to develop spacecrafts to return that capability to the United States, and both companies are slated to launch their first crewed missions in the next year. Some, however, deem that target ambitious.

During an announcement Friday to introduce the astronauts at Johnson Space Center in Texas, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said the “health of NASA and our space exploration program is as strong as it’s ever been.”

All nine astronauts have military experience, and most are seasoned veterans of space.

The seven men and two women will also be the first astronauts to fly in capsules developed and built by the private sector as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Chris Ferguson, a former NASA astronaut who has worked with Boeing as it developed its Starliner spacecraft, will fly as a private astronaut. As the other astronauts donned NASA patches on their blue jumpsuits, Ferguson wore a Boeing applique.

“I’m just grateful to help usher in this new era of American spaceflight,” Ferguson told the crowd.

Ferguson will fly with NASA astronauts Eric Boe, a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, and Nicole Aunapu Mann on the first crewed test flight of Starliner, which is currently projected to take place in mid-2019. It will mark Mann’s first trip to space.

The first crewed test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule will include NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. That flight is currently projected to lift off in April of 2019. It will be the third trip to space for both Behnken and Hurley.

The first full mission of Boeing’s Starliner, which will fly to the ISS for a long-duration stay, will take ISS veteran Suni Williams and spaceflight newcomer Josh Cassada. Williams has already spent more than 300 days in space.

Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins, who has spent more than 160 days in space, were selected to crew SpaceX’s first full mission. It will be Glover’s first mission.

NASA ended the shuttle program seven years ago after 135 missions as the space agency shifted its priorities to developing hardware for deep space travel. Since the final shuttle mission ended, NASA has paid Russia about $70 million per seat to carry astronauts to and from ISS.

NASA’s deal with Russia is due to run out at the end of the decade, and delays faced by SpaceX and Boeing have the firms bumping up close against deadlines.

The Government Accountability Office recently issued a warning to NASA that it needs to have a contingency plan in place to ensure continued access to the space station, which costs the US about $3 billion annually.

Over the past several years, NASA has pushed the private sector to maintain a presence in low-Earth orbit. Meanwhile, the space agency has turned its attention to developing the Space Launch System launch vehicle and Orion spacecraft that could travel to the Moon or Mars.

Here’s a look at the astronauts who will fly on the first Commercial Crew missions:

Eric Boe: Boe was born in Florida and grew up in Atlanta. He began his career with the Air Force, and served as a fighter pilot, test pilot and colonel. While in the Air Force, he flew in 55 combat missions over Iraq. Boe was selected by NASA to be an astronaut in 2000. He flew on a Space Shuttle Endeavour mission in 2008 and a Space Shuttle Discovery mission in 2011.

Nicole Aunapu Mann: Mann was born in California and is a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps. She has a master’s in mechanical engineering. As a naval aviator, she flew combat missions during operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom before becoming a naval test pilot. She was selected by NASA to be an astronaut in 2013.

Chris Ferguson: A Philadelphia native, Ferguson served as a US Navy captain before he joined NASA in 1998. He has logged more than 40 days in space across three space shuttle missions. He commanded the final shuttle mission in 2011 and retired from NASA that same year. He has since worked with Boeing to develop and test the Starliner spacecraft.

Bob Behnken: Behnken is a native of St. Ann, Missouri. He is an Air Force colonel with a doctorate in engineering. Behnken was selected by NASA in 2000 and served as the agency’s chief astronaut between 2012 and 2015. He flew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor in 2008 and 2010. He’s performed six spacewalks totaling nearly 40 hours.

Doug Hurley: Hurley’s hometown is Apalachin, New York. He served more than 24 years in the US Marine Corps as a fighter pilot and a test pilot. He began his career at NASA in 2000 and piloted two space shuttle missions, one on Endeavor in 2009 and the final shuttle mission on Atlantis in 2011.

Josh Cassada: Cassada grew up in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He has a master’s degree in physics and is a US Navy test pilot who has served in more than 20 combat missions. A rookie to spaceflight, Cassada was selected by NASA in 2013.

Suni Williams: Williams grew up in Needham, Massachusetts. She is a retired Navy captain and test pilot and was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1998. She has spent 322 days in orbit during two missions to the space station. Her first was a space shuttle mission that launched in 2007, and the second was a Soyuz-launched mission in 2012.

Victor Glover: Glover is a native of Pomona, California and he has three master’s degrees. He also serves as a Navy commander, naval aviator and was a test pilot. Glover was selected by NASA in 2013, and his mission with SpaceX will mark his first time in space.

Mike Hopkins: Hopkins was raised on a farm near Richland, Missouri, and he has a master’s in aerospace engineering. He is an Air Force colonel. He was selected by NASA in 2009, and spent 166 days aboard the International Space Station during a mission that launched on a Russian rocket in 2013.

The biographical information in this report was provided by NASA.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2018/08/03/nasa-selects-9-astronauts-for-first-crewed-boeing-spacex-capsule-test-flights/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/08/04/nasa-selects-9-astronauts-for-first-crewed-boeing-spacex-capsule-test-flights/

[theinvinciblenoob]

NASA has announced the names of the first astronauts who’ll fly to the International Space Station on American-made, commercial spacecraft.

The crews will fly to the space station on rockets built by NASA commercial partners Boeing and SpaceX. “Today, our country’s dreams of greater achievements in space are within our grasp,” said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, in a statement. “Today’s announcement advances our great American vision and strengthens the nation’s leadership in space.”

Nine astronauts were selected to crew the first test flights and missions of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. 

“The men and women we assign to these first flights are at the forefront of this exciting new time for human spaceflight,” said Mark Geyer, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, in a statement.

After each company completes their crewed test flights successfully, NASA will start the process to finally certify the spacecraft and systems for regular crew missions to the space station.

So far, NASA has contracted for six missions with each company, with as many as four astronauts crewing each commercial spacecraft.

In the 18 years that NASA has had a presence on the space station, the space agency has conducted experiments in biology, biotechnology, physics and space science that have resulted in thousands of spin-off technologies, the agency said.

With the new spaceflight capabilities through Boeing and SpaceX (initially), NASA says it will maintain a crew of seven astronauts on the space station for continued scientific research and experimentation on understanding and mitigating the challenges of long-duration spaceflight.

Here are the astronauts who will be taking flight:

Starliner Test-Flight Astronauts

Eric Boe/ Photo courtesy of NASA

Eric Boe: The Miami-born and Atlanta-raised Boe came to NASA from the Air Force, where he rose to the rank of colonel as a fighter pilot and test pilot. Boe was first selected as an astronaut in 2000 and piloted the space shuttle Endeavor. Boe was also on the final flight of the Discovery before the Space Shuttle Program was sunset.

Christopher Ferguson/Photo by Robin Marchant/FilmMagic

Christopher Ferguson: A retired Navy captain who hails from Philadelphia, Ferguson piloted space shuttle Atlantis, and commanded the shuttle Endeavour. Ferguson was on the Atlantis for its final flight with the Space Shuttle Program.

Nicole Aunapu Mann/ Photo courtesy of NASA

Nicole Aunapu Mann: A lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, Nicole Aunapu Mann is an F/A-18 test pilot with more than 2,500 flight hours in more than 25 aircraft and was selected to be an astronaut in 2013. The test flight with Boeing will be her first trip to space.

The Starliner will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, according to a NASA statement.

Crew Dragon Test-Flight Astronauts

Robert Behnken/Photo courtesy of NASA

Robert Behnken: Missouri native Robert Behnken has a doctorate in engineering and is a flight test engineer and colonel in the Air Force. Behnken first joined the astronaut corps in 2000 and flew aboard space shuttle Endeavour twice, performing six spacewalks that totaled 37 hours.

Douglas Hurley/ Photo courtesy of NASA

Douglas Hurley: Douglas Hurley joined the Marine Corps and served as a test pilot before joining NASA in 2000. The Apalachin, N.Y. native piloted both the space shuttle Endeavor and Atlantis.

According to NASA, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Starliner First-Mission Astronauts

Josh Cassada/Photo courtesy NASA

Josh Cassada: From his home in Minnesota to a career in the Navy, commander and test pilot Josh Cassada has spent more than 3,500 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft. He was selected as an astronaut in 2013. His Starliner mission will be his first spaceflight.

Sunita Williams/Photo courtesy of NASA

Sunita Williams: A Needham, Mass. by-way-of Euclid, Ohio naval test pilot, Williams was a captain in the Navy before her retirement. She was selected as an astronaut in 1998 and has spent 322 days on the International Space Station. Williams commanded the space station and has also performed seven spacewalks.

Crew Dragon First-Mission Astronauts

Victor Glover/ Photo courtesy NASA

Victor Glover: Pomona, Calif.-born Victor Glover is a Navy commander, aviator and test pilot who has flown more than 3,000 hours in more than 40 different aircraft. With 24 combat missions and 400 carrier landings, Glover was selected as part of the 2013 astronaut candidate class and will be making his first spaceflight aboard the Dragon.

Michael Hopkins/ Photo courtesy NASA

Michael Hopkins: A former farm boy who grew up near Richland, Mo., Michael Hopkins went on to be a colonel in the air force where he was a flight-test engineer before being selected to be a NASA astronaut in 2009. Hopkins spent 166 days on the International Space Station and has been on two space walks.

NASA said that additional crew members would be assigned by international partners at a later date.

via TechCrunch