The United States Congress just passed legislation that directs the U.S. government to release records related to UFOs. Some UFO records, anyway. According to new provisions in the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, the law that funds the U.S. military and related activities, the U.S. National Archives must collect for release all documents that “pertain to unidentified anomalous phenomena, technologies of unknown origin, and non-human intelligence.” None of those terms is defined in the bill, however. “Unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or UAP, is a relatively a newly adopted and…
Read MoreSpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of X-37B space plane now targeted for Dec. 28
SpaceX’s powerful Falcon Heavy rocket will fly again before the end of the year, if all goes according to plan. SpaceX is now targeting Dec. 28 for the launch of the U.S. Space Force‘s X-37B space plane, which will fly atop a Falcon Heavy from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. You can watch the action here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, when the time comes. Related: The Space Force’s secretive X-37B space plane: 10 surprising facts SpaceX had originally planned to launch the robotic X-37B on Dec. 11. But…
Read MoreHow the songs of stars can help perfect Gaia’s sweeping map of our galaxy
Astronomers have developed a new way of measuring cosmic distances by listening to the frequencies of “music” played by vibrating stars that collectively act as a vast orchestra of different cosmic instruments. The results could help the European Space Agency (ESA) satellite Gaia better measure the positions of about two billion stars as well as their distances from Earth and movements while building a precise, 3-dimensional map of the Milky Way. Scientists typically use a process called parallax, the apparent shift in an object’s position when seen from two different…
Read MoreWorld’s best space-based thermometer dead 2 months after 1st image release
The world’s most advanced space-based thermometer thrilled scientists when it first came online. The HOTSAT-1 satellite’s first images, released in early October, revealed in unprecedented detail how temperatures change on Earth‘s surface. The satellite’s camera was so sensitive it could even track trains from space from their thermal signatures. But now, only six months after its launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the experimental spacecraft is out of order. SatVu, HOTSAT-1’s maker and operator, announced on Friday, Dec. 15, that the spacecraft suffered an “anomaly, which is expected…
Read MoreNASA SCoPE at AGU: Fueling Curiosity, Fostering Diversity
2 min read NASA SCoPE at AGU: Fueling Curiosity, Fostering Diversity In December 2023, approximately 24,000 scientists from around the world gathered together in San Francisco, California to attend the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. During this meeting, the NASA Science Activation team NASA Science Mission Directorate Community of Practice for Education (NASA SCoPE), facilitated key activities with the following goals: Broaden participation and representation of scientists attending the conference through travel grants. Provide science communications training to these early career scientists awarded travel grants. Provide opportunities for scientists…
Read MoreResearch Physical Scientist Tra-My Justine Richardson
“When I mentor students, their academic [talents] are a given. They’re very bright. They’re very smart. But I mentor them to teach them what they don’t learn in school: how to work with other people, how to seek help, and how to mature from a student to a professional. “[I teach them that] when you fail, it’s OK. Admit what you did wrong, be honest about it, and talk through it. Don’t hide it. Don’t avoid it. We will deal with it together. “That takes a lot of courage and…
Read More120th Anniversary of the First Powered, Controlled Flight
Library of Congress In this image from Dec. 17, 1903, Orville Wright makes the first powered, controlled flight on Earth as his brother Wilbur looks on. Orville Wright covered 120 feet in 12 seconds during the first flight of the day. The Wright brothers made four flights that day, each longer than the last. The aircraft, Flyer 1, was wrecked beyond repair after the fourth flight, but Orville took the wreckage home to Ohio and restored it. It went on display at the London Science Museum until 1948 when the…
Read MoreSierra Space’s Dream Chaser New Station Resupply Spacecraft for NASA
NASA and Sierra Space are making progress on the first flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft to the International Space Station. The uncrewed cargo spaceplane is planned to launch its demonstration mission in 2024 to the orbital complex as part of NASA’s commercial resupply services. Sierra Space NASA and Sierra Space are making progress on the first flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft to the International Space Station. The uncrewed cargo spaceplane is planned to launch its demonstration mission in 2024 to the orbital complex as part of…
Read MoreNASA Geologist Paves the Way for Building on the Moon
5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) By Jessica Barnett For many at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, a love – be it for space, science, or something else – drew them to the career they’re in today. For geologist Jennifer Edmunson, there were multiple reasons. Her love for geology dates back to her childhood in Arizona, playing in the mud, fascinated by the green river rocks she would find and how they fit together. As she grew older, her love for astronomy…
Read MoreKennedy Space Center’s NASA Causeway Bridge Construction
In this aerial view, crews with Orion Marine Construction work to complete the westbound span of the Indian River Bridge, while daily traffic moves along the upgraded eastbound lanes of the bridge leading to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The bridge crosses the Indian River Lagoon and connects Kennedy and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to the mainland via State Road 405/NASA Causeway in nearby Titusville. The new high-rise bridge serves as the primary entrance and exit to the space center for employees…
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