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"Mars life may have been missed years ago" [09/04/10] "New analysis of data sent from Mars 34 years ago showing there was no organic material on the planet suggests maybe there was after all, U.S. scientists say. [...]"  Note: It wasn't 'missed'. It was suppressed.  

NASA Aims to Plunge Car-Sized Probe Into the Sun [09/03/10] "NASA is developing an ambitious new mission to plunge a car-sized probe directly into the sun's atmosphere. [...]"  

UK:  Mile-wide asteroid heading towards Earth could hit in '2019' [09/01/10] "An asteroid more than a mile wide is heading for earth, posing the greatest threat yet by an object approaching the planet, scientists have warned.  An asteroid more than a mile wide is heading for earth, posing the greatest threat yet by an object approaching the planet, scientists have warned. The asteroid – called 2002 NT7 – was spotted only three weeks ago, but could strike on 1 February 2019, the US space agency Nasa said. [...]"  Note:  There won't be anyone here on Earth, so it won't matter. 

Spy Satellites to be Used in the U.S. [08/29/10] [1:47] Related: Japan loses spy satellite "Japan's only working radar satellite has malfunctioned and officials say they may not be able to save it. [...]"  

Commentary: Space Warfare: Preparing the "Battlespace" for A New Imperial Adventure "Last spring, Antifascist Calling reported on the launch of the Pentagon's secretive X-37B mini space shuttle, a 29-foot long unmanned orbital test vehicle (OTV).  Built by Boeing Corporation, the multibillion dollar project was the  culmination of a decades-long dream of Pentagon space warriors: to field a reusable spacecraft that combines an airplane's agility with the means to travel at 5 miles per second in orbit. After the craft's successful April 22 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) denied that the X-37B was a prototype for a near-earth weapons platform. Back in 2005 however, The New York Times reported that General Lance W. Lord, then commander of AFSPC, told an Air Force conference that "space superiority is not our birthright, but it is our destiny. ... Space superiority is our day-to-day mission. Space supremacy is our vision for the future."  And with no public debate whatsoever, new weapons programs spawned in the bowels of the Pentagon's black budget parallel universe are on coming on-line. [...]"   

Asteroid Discovery From 1980 - 2010  [08/29/10] [3:09] "As the video moves into the mid 1990's we see much higher discovery rates as automated sky scanning systems come online. Most of the surveys are imaging the sky directly opposite the sun and you'll see a region of high discovery rates aligned in this manner. At the beginning of 2010 a new discovery pattern becomes evident, with discovery zones in a line perpendicular to the Sun-Earth vector. These new observations are the result of the WISE (Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer) which is a space mission that's tasked with imaging the entire sky in infrared wavelengths. Currently we have observed over half a million minor planets, and the discovery rates snow no sign that we're running out of undiscovered objects. [...]"  Note:  Notice that the patterns allow life to exist on earth .... which is 'surrounded' ...   

Mysterious bright spot found on Venus [08/27/10] "A strange spot emerged on Venus last week, and astronomers are not sure what caused it. They hope future observations will reveal whether volcanic activity, turbulence in the planet's atmosphere, or charged particles from the sun are to blame.  Amateur astronomer Frank Melillo of Holtsville, New York, first spotted the new feature, which is brighter than its surroundings at ultraviolet wavelengths, on the planet's southern hemisphere on 19 July. That same day, an amateur observer in Australia found a dark spot on Jupiter that had been caused by a meteoroid impact. The Venus spot was confirmed by other observers, and images from Europe's Venus Express, the only spacecraft in orbit around the planet, later revealed that the spot had appeared at least four days before Melillo saw it. Observations show that the spot had already spread out somewhat by the end of last week, and astronomers are awaiting more recent observations from Venus Express. [...]"   Video clip  [0:13]   

Sun storm to hit with 'force of 100m bombs' [08/26/10] "After 10 years of comparative slumber, the sun is waking up - and it's got astronomers on full alert.  This week several US media outlets reported that NASA was warning the massive flare that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet's power grid. NASA has since rebutted those reports, saying it could come "100 years away or just 100 days", but an Australian astronomer says the space community is betting on the sooner scenario rather than the latter. Despite its rebuttal, NASA's been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates - 2012.  [...]"  

US military’s top secret X-37B shuttle ‘disappears’ for two weeks, changes orbit [08/25/10] "Amateur astronomers are enjoying a cat-and-mouse game with the US military in keeping track of its secret space plane, the X-37B.  The X-37B was launched in April amid much publicity, but scant detail about its true use.  Built by Boeing’s Phantom Works division, the X-37B program was originally headed by NASA.  It was later turned over to the Pentagon’s research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit.  Only a very select few in the US military know what it’s for, but observers on Earth believe they’re putting together the puzzle piece by piece.  Several sources claim quote arms control advocates who say it’s clearly the beginning of the “weaponisation of space”.  In May, avid skywatcher Ted Molczan studied the X-37B’s orbit from his home in Toronto and said its behaviour suggested it was testing sensors for a range of new spy satellites. [...]"    

Surface cracks show the Moon is shrinking [08/22/10] "Like a deflating balloon, the satellite is contracting as its interior cools, scientists believe. The cooling has reduced the radius of the Moon by around 100m in the relatively recent lunar past, evidence indicates.  [...]"   

'Dark energy' will cause the universe to expand forever, say scientists [08/22/10] "Scientists have discovered that the universe will probably continue to expand forever. Nasa researchers using a 'galactic lens' have revealed it will eventually become a cold, deserted wasteland. The astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to work out the amount of mysterious 'dark energy' present in the cosmos. The study looked at what the energy, which is continuing to push the universe apart, is made of. Using the 'huge magnifying lens' to calculate the amount of dark energy present in space, the scientists concluded the distribution of the unexplained force meant the universe would probably never stop expanding. Scientists used Hubble to examine how light from stars became distorted in and around a huge cluster of galaxies known as Abell 1689. The size of the cluster causes light to bend round the galaxies which the astronomers utilised to measure how far away Abell 1689 is from Earth, its mass and crucially, the distribution of dark energy.  Scientists examined 34 pictures of the galaxies taken by Hubble and ground-based observatories to study the phenomenon. 'The geometry, the content and the fate of the universe are all intricately linked,' said researcher Priyamvada Natarajan from Yale University. 'If you know two, you can deduce the third. We already have a pretty good knowledge of the universe's mass-energy content, so if we can get a handle on its geometry then we will be able to work out exactly what the fate of the universe will be.'[...]"  

"Asteroid Threat Early Warning System Proposed" [08/20/10] "Scientists are taking a hard look at a proposal to keep a high-tech, yet low-cost, eye on the heavens for threatening asteroids. [...]"   

Fireball heralds arrival of meteor shower [08/12/10] "The annual Perseid meteor shower, which peaks this week, announced itself with a bright, streaking fireball over Alabama, observers said. Sky-watching cameras operated by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., captured the fireball, the online newspaper said. "It's a very good start to this year's Perseid meteor shower, which will peak on the night of Aug. 12-13 between midnight and dawn," explained NASA spokeswoman Janet Anderson in a statement from the center.  NASA said the meteor qualified as a so-called Earth-grazing meteor, a space rock that enters the planet's atmosphere at a low angle, from the point of view of a sky watcher, and appears to flame slowly and dramatically along the horizon. The Perseid shower is an annual event in mid-August when Earth passes close to the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. Material left behind by the comet slams into the Earth's atmosphere at about 37 miles per second, creating a regular show of "shooting stars." [...]"   

Strange, symmetrical structure in the charged-particle environment around Saturn's second-largest moon. [08/04/10] "Back in 2005, a suite of six instruments on the Cassini spacecraft detected what was thought to be an extensive debris disk around Saturn's moon Rhea, and while there was no visible evidence, researchers thought that perhaps there was a diffuse ring around the moon. This would have been the first ring ever found around a moon. New observations, however, have nixed the idea of a ring, but there's still something around Rhea that is causing a strange, symmetrical structure in the charged-particle environment around Saturn's second-largest moon. [...]"    

Complex Eruption on the Sun Sends Coronal Mass Ejection toward Earth [08/04/10] "On August 1st, the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of  activity. There was a C3-class solar flare, a solar tsunami, multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more. Click on the image to view just a fraction of the action: The movie recorded by extreme UV cameras onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows an enormous magnetic filament breaking away from the sun. Some of the breakaway material is now en route to Earth in the form of a coronal mass ejection (CME). Seeing the sun erupt on such a global scale has galvanized the international community of solar physicists. Researchers are still sorting out the complex sequence of events and trying to understand why they all happened at once. Stay tuned for more movies and analyses in the days ahead. [...]"   This morning around 0855 UT, Earth orbiting satellites detected a C3-class solar flare. The origin of the blast was sunspot 1092. At about the same time, an enormous magnetic filament stretching across the sun's northern hemisphere erupted."  Related: EMP Produced By Solar CME or Nuclear Explosions Could Take Out Social Infrastructure  

NASA scientists braced for 'solar tsunami' to hit earth Aug 3-4 [08/04/10] "The solar fireworks at the weekend were recorded by several satellites, including Nasa’s new Solar Dynamics Observatory which watched its shock wave rippling outwards. Astronomers from all over the world witnessed the huge flare above a giant sunspot the size of the Earth, which they linked to an even larger eruption across the surface of Sun. The explosion, called a coronal mass ejection, was aimed directly towards Earth, which then sent a “solar tsunami” racing 93 million miles across space. Images from the SDO hint at a shock wave travelling from the flare into space, the New Scientist reported. Experts said the wave of supercharged gas will likely reach the Earth on Tuesday, when it will buffet the natural magnetic shield protecting Earth.  [...]"  Related:  Strong Northern Lights display expected  "Sky watchers could be treated to a spectacular Northern Lights display Tuesday night, as a solar blast sent tons of plasma towards Earth, scientists say. [...]"  Related:  See M5V4 Segment 3 Aug 2010 for related information. Video clip    

Commentary: Massive Solar Flare Headed Our Way - A Sign of What’s to Come? [08/04/10] "It isn’t going to be an electromagnetic-Apocalypse, but certain parts of the globe may see a nice light show this evening:  Earth is bracing for a cosmic tsunami Tuesday night as tons of plasma from a massive solar flare head directly toward the planet. The Sun’s surface erupted early Sunday morning, shooting a wall of ionized atoms directly at Earth, scientists say. It is expected to create a geomagnetic storm and a spectacular light show — and it could pose a threat to satellites in orbit, as well. “This eruption is directed right at us and is expected to get here early in the day on Aug. 4,” said Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “It’s the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time.”  [...]"  

Sunspot Sunrise [08/04/10] "Sunspot 1092, a key player in the Earth-directed eruptions of August 1st, is big enough to see without the aid of a solar telescope. Oleg Toumilovitch  "spotted" it on July 31st rising over Blairgowrie, South Africa: During the first few minutes of sunrise only a fraction of the sunlight makes it's way to the observer - mostly from the red part of visible spectrum," notes Toumilovitch. "During this time large sunspots can be seen without a special solar filter." Be careful, though! Even when dimmed by clouds and haze, direct sunlight can hurt your eyes. "If you try to take a picture like this," advises Toumilovitch, "look only at the screen of your digital camera, not the optical viewfinder." More sunspot shots: from Roman Vanur of Nitra, Slovakia, EU; from Alan Friedman of Buffalo, NY; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Rogerio Marcon of Campinas SP Brasil; from Michael Boschat of Halifax, Nova Scotia; from Theo Bakalexis of Peristeri, Attikh, Greece  [...]" 

Sunspots linked to Venice flooding [08/03/10] "If you're planning a trip to Venice, Italy, avoid times of high sunspot activity -- which appear to alter weather patterns and flood the city, scientists say. [...]"   

Scientists fear hyperactive sun [08/02/10] "Scientists say solar storms may soon impact humans' daily lives as the next sunspot cycle heralding increased solar eruptions draws near. They fear that a peak in the solar flares, projected to take place by 2013 at the height of the Sun's magnetic activities, could potentially affect power grids, flights,  communications, radios and televisions. The solar storms are also a source of concerns for air passengers traveling long distances as they could be exposed to enhanced radiation. Scientists say over 900 operating satellites in space, worth an estimated $200 billion, could take the brunt of the Sun's eruptions. It is not however known how the life on earth will take the full force of intensified solar activities due to the Sun's 'erratic' behavior. The Sun undergoes an almost 11-year period of magnetic activities during which dark spots appear on its surface from where it spews matter and energy into space. However, it has been behaving inconsistently over the past years, scientists say.  [...]"   

NASA probe closing in on Mercury [08/02/10] "A NASA probe heading for Mercury is already making valuable observations although still months away from entering an orbit about the planet, scientists say. [...]"  Note:  If they wanted to surreptitiously look at the Sun ... it would be a good way to do it.

Mirrors for new orbiting telescope tested [08/02/10] "The mirrors for an ambitious new U.S. space telescope are being put through their paces in a test -- at hundreds of degrees below freezing, scientists say. [...]"   

Atmospheric Geo-engineering: Weather Manipulation, Contrails and Chemtrails [07/31/10] "At an international symposium held in Ghent, Belgium May 28-30, 2010, scientists asserted that “manipulation of climate through modification of Cirrus clouds is neither a hoax nor a conspiracy theory.” It is “fully operational” with a solid sixty-year history. Though “hostile” environmental modification was banned by UN Convention in 1978, its “friendly” use today is being hailed as the new savior to climate change and to water and food shortages. The military-industrial complex stands poised to capitalize on controlling the world’s weather.  “In recent years there has been a decline in the support for weather modification research, and a tendency to move directly into operational projects.” ~World Meteorological Organization, 2007  [...] Regarding Climate-Gate, the authors suggest that the University of East Anglia deliberately manipulated the climate data to gradually prepare the global population for its future on a hotter planet.  " 

More than water key in other Earths search [07/27/10] "The hunt for Earth-like planets in the universe, which usually looks for where water might exist, should consider photosynthesis instead, German scientists say. [...]"  Related:  700 New Planets Discovered by NASA "NASA has so far formally announced only five new exoplanets -- planets outside our solar system -- but early data analysis indicates up to 140 of the 700 identified bodies are earth-like. That is, they are solid masses containing both land and water which could allow simple lifeforms to develop. “The figures suggest our galaxy, the Milky Way [which has more than 100 billion stars] will contain 100 million habitable planets, and soon we will be identifying the first of them,” Dimitar Sasselov, professor of astronomy at Harvard University and a scientist on the Kepler Mission, told Fox News Sunday. [...]" 

ASU camera yields best Mars map ever assembled [07/27/10] "The best Mars map ever made is now available online for planetary scientists and armchair astronauts alike. And citizen scientists are invited to help make it even better. [...]"  

100+ 'Earth-Like' Planets Found In Last Few Weeks [07/24/10] "The discovery was made by the space telescope Kepler which has been scanning the skies for planets that are orbiting stars since it was launched in January last year. The breakthrough raises the tantalising prospect that we may not be alone in the Universe. Scientists now believe that there are likely to be around 100 million planets in the Milky Way that harbour exactly the right conditions for life. And they expect to be able to identify around 60 of these habitable Earth-like planets within the next two years. Kepler finds planets by detecting almost imperceptible 'winks' - the tiny amount of dimming that occurs each time a planet moves across the face of a star. It will be searching the heavens for day and night without any interruption for the next 4 years, Sasselhov said [...]"    

UT researchers discover water on the moon is widespread, similar to Earth’s [07/22/10] "Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are once again turning what scientists thought they knew about the moon on its head. Last fall, researchers, including Larry Taylor, a distinguished professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, discovered “lunar dew” on the moon’s surface — absorbed “water” in the uppermost layers of lunar soil. This discovery of water debunked beliefs held since the return of the first Apollo rocks that the moon was bone-dry. Now, scientists, including Taylor and Yang Liu, research assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, have discovered that water on the moon is more widespread — on the outside and inside of the moon — with some similarities to water in volcanic systems on Earth. Their research will be featured in the article, “Lunar Apatite with Terrestrial Volatile Abundances” in the July 22 edition of the scientific journal, Nature. [...]"  Note: I think the title ought to be "Water In Lunar Rocks" 

Scientist: SETI should switch 'channels' [07/22/10] "The SETI Institute, listening to the cosmos for signs of signals from alien civilizations, may be monitoring the wrong "channels," a U.S. astrophysicist says. [...]"   

‘Monster’ star up to 320 times the mass of the Sun discovered [07/22/10] "This star R136a1 in the Large Magellanic Cloud is a super-supergiant. It’s a different species of star and didn’t even exist in theory, prior to this discovery. The Sun would look like the Moon, in comparison. The star was discovered by the Very Large Telescope in Chile. This is big news in more ways than one for astronomers. It’s part of a major star forming zone where giant, young stars are being formed. The group of stars which include R136a1 contains several stars which have temperatures measured at 40,000 degrees, compared to the Sun’s 5000 degrees. R136a1 is a blue star, one of the Main Sequence giants, at the top of the Main Sequence’s range. Even dwarf blues stars make our G class room heater look like a tennis ball. R136a1 is twice as large as the biggest giants recorded. This star is also a problem for the entropy theorists. Entropy, the “heat death of the universe” theory, has been getting a battering from recent findings. The tiny “tadpole” galaxies recently identified by Hubble and others which were the first galaxies didn’t explain much about how the massive galactic clusters of the present evolved. [...]"  Related: Astronomers detect 'monster star'  

Obama Tells John Glenn: "Space Program is a Waste of Money"; House Committee Rejects Obama Plan to Kill Space Exploration [07/22/10] "During a meeting at the White House Monday with former astronaut and former Democratic Senator John Glenn, President Obama told this American hero that the space program is a waste of money, and that we can't afford it, according to sources who talked with Glenn after the meeting. The President was described as "disrespectful, and uninterested," and cut off Glenn when he was speaking. [...]"  

European Space Agency Calls for Next Major Space Mission [07/22/10] "The European Space Agency is to call upon scientists to come up with ideas for the next great space mission. [...]"   

Russia Builds New Cosmodrome; Obama Just Expands Empty Space [07/22/10] "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that his government will allocate the funding needed to start full-scale construction of the new Vostochny [Eastern] Space Center in Russia's Far East beginning next year. [...]"  

"A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Cooling Upper Atmosphere" [07/18/10] "NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed and now is rebounding again. "This is the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years," says John Emmert of the Naval Research Lab, lead author of a paper announcing the finding in the June 19th issue of the Geophysical Research Letters (GRL). "It's a Space Age record." The collapse happened during the deep solar minimum of 2008-2009 - a fact which comes as little surprise to researchers. The thermosphere always cools and contracts when solar activity is low. In this case, however, the magnitude of the collapse was two to three times greater than low solar activity could explain. "Something is going on that we do not understand," says Emmert.  [...]"   

Senate committee extends shuttle program [07/16/10] "A U. S. Senate committee has voted to extend the space shuttle program for at least a year beyond its scheduled termination, officials said. [...]"  

Space observatory blinded by X-rays [07/14/10] "A NASA space observatory was temporarily blinded by a massive blast of X-rays from beyond the Milky Way, the largest ever detected, astronomers say. [...]"   

Support for UN Governance of Space Explains NASA Development Agenda [07/09/10] "Since 1979, the United Nations has been encouraging nations to ratify an international treaty that places the UN at the center of the governance of outer space. The so- called “Moon Agreement” requires that all activities on the moon and other celestial bodies be carried out in accordance with international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations. The Agreement also provides that the exploration and use of outer space “shall be the province of all mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development.” Recent actions taken by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama indicate that it has decided to support the UN in its quest to govern outer space for the collective good of humanity. This explains the recent statement of NASA Administrator Charles Bolden that “NASA is not only a space exploration agency, but also an earth improvement agency.”  Since being adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 5, 1979, only thirteen nations have ratified the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the “Moon Agreement”). Thus far, the United States has not ratified the Moon Agreement. No doubt, the unenthusiastic reception received by the Moon Agreement is attributable to the remarkable UN power grab and collectivist provisions contained in it, including the following: [...]"   

Scientists Admit Chemtrails Are Creating Artificial Clouds [07/05/10] "Scientists now admit that emissions from aircraft are forming artificial clouds that block out the sun, precisely what geoengineering advocates like top eugenicist and White House science advisor John P. Holdren have called for, but the article tries to insinuate that the effect is caused by natural “vapours,” when in reality it can be attributed to chemtrails that contain substances harmful to humans. “The phenomenon occurs when aircraft fly above 25,000ft, where the air temperature is around minus 30C. This causes water vapour emitted by the engines to crystallise and form the familiar white streaks across the sky, known as contrails,” writes Oliver Tree for the Daily Mail. “Reading University’s Professor Keith Shine, an expert in clouds, said that those formed by aircraft fumes could linger ‘for hours’, depriving those areas under busy flight paths, such as London and the Home Counties, of summer sunshine.” “Experts have warned that, as a result, the amount of sunlight hitting the ground could be reduced by as much as ten per cent. Professor Shine added: “Over the busiest areas in London and the South of England, this high-level cloud could cover the sky, turning bright sunshine into hazy conditions for the entire area. I expect the effects will get worse as the volume of air traffic increases.” The report also makes reference to a 2009 Met Office study which found that high-level winds did not disperse contrails that later formed into clouds which covered an astonishing 20,000 miles. Of course, this is no natural phenomenon as the article claims. Ten years ago, contrails from jet aircraft disappeared within minutes, yet apparently we are led to believe that the same substance is now causing the trails to linger for hours and form into clouds. This is impossible without something within the substance having been changed. Mainstream science and academia has gone from dismissing chemtrails as a fantasy of paranoid conspiracy theorists to now accepting that they exist but claiming that they are natural and not artificially induced. In reality, chemtrails are the consequence of the agenda to geoengineer the earth in the name of combating climate change, a science vehemently backed by people like John P. Holdren, who in his 1977 book Ecoscience advocated poisoning the water supply to involuntarily sterilize humans as part of a “planetary regime” that would control every aspect of our existence. The fact that such eugenicists are now in control of geoengineering programs that will have a direct impact on our health is alarming. [...]"  Note:  Barium in Chemtrails [3:43] 

Goce satellite views Earth's gravity in high definition  [06/29/10] "The Goce satellite returns a remarkable high-definition view of how gravity varies across the Earth. [...]"   

Hotspots leave magnetic scars on Mars [06/26/10] "Puzzling 'stripes' generate another controversial origin theory. After the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) settled into orbit around the red planet in 1997, a magnetometer on board began sending back measurements that have puzzled planetary scientists ever since. A section of the Martian crust appeared to consist of long 'stripes' of iron-bearing minerals permanently magnetized with alternating orientations. Clearly, an ancient dynamo imprinted its field in the rock during the planet's early history. But why the stripes? [...]"   

White House Won't Budge on Shutting Down Constellation, as Senators Await Legal Decision [06/25/10] "Following a meeting of a group of Senators whose states stand to lose potentially thousands of jobs related to the Constellation program, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said on June 22, regarding the on-going shut-down of Constellation contracts: "We want an independent legal opinion, which could make a difference in where we are. We think this is clearly a violation of the congressional intent. ... Earlier in the day, Sessions had a meeting with NASA administrator Charlie Bolden, which he characterized as "troubling." "I didn't get the feeling there is any real give in their position," Sessions said. "We should not think that the president at the moment has any plans to make significant alterations to what they have stated is their goal."[...]"     

What's wrong with the sun?  [06/17/10] "... What's special about this latest dip is that the sun is having trouble starting the next solar cycle. The sun began to calm down in late 2007, so no one expected many sunspots in 2008. But computer models predicted that when the spots did return, they would do so in force. Hathaway was reported as thinking the next solar cycle would be a "doozy": more sunspots, more solar storms and more energy blasted into space. Others predicted that it would be the most active solar cycle on record. The trouble was, no one told the sun.  The first sign that the prediction was wrong came when 2008 turned out to be even calmer than expected. That year, the sun was spot-free 73 per cent of the time, an extreme dip even for a solar minimum. Only the minimum of 1913 was more pronounced, with 85 per cent of that year clear. As 2009 arrived, solar physicists looked for some action. They didn't get it. The sun continued to languish until mid-December, when the largest group of sunspots to emerge for several years appeared. Finally, a return to normal? Not really. Even with the solar cycle finally under way again, the number of sunspots has so far been well below expectations. Something appears to have changed inside the sun, something the models did not predict. But what? [...]  the conveyor-belt flows of gas across the sun's surface have been speeding up since 2004.  Analysing data from 2009, they found that while the surface flows had sped up, the internal ones had slowed to a crawl. [...]  Since 2003, spaceborne instruments have been measuring the intensity of the sun's output at various wavelengths and looking for correlations with solar activity. The results point to the sun's emissions of ultraviolet light. "The ultraviolet is varying much, much, much more than we expected," says Lockwood. [...] the sun's energy output is changing ... there is also evidence that the sun is inexorably losing its ability to produce sunspots (see "The sunspot forecast"). By 2015, they could be gone altogether, plunging us into a new Maunder minimum - and perhaps a new Little Ice Age. Although sunspots are making a belated comeback after the protracted solar minimum, the signs are that all is not well. For decades, William Livingston at the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, has been measuring the strength of the magnetic fields which puncture the sun's surface and cause the spots to develop. Last year, he and colleague Matt Penn pointed out that the average strength of sunspot magnetic fields has been sliding dramatically since 1995. If the trend continues, in just five years the field will have slipped below the threshold magnetic field needed for sunspots to form."     

NASA warns that solar flares from space storm will cause destruction [06/16/10] "National power grids could overheat and air travel severely disrupted while electronic items, navigation devices and major satellites could stop working after the Sun reaches its maximum power in a few years.  Senior space agency scientists believe the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes “from a deep slumber” sometime around 2013, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. In a new warning, Nasa said the super storm would hit like “a bolt of lightning” and could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken. [...]"  Note:  Suppose this comes early, what with the departure of the Planetary entity, as well as all of us.

The end of the world as we know it [06/15/10] "Apocalyptic thought has a tradition that dates to the Persian prophet Zoroaster in the 14th century BC. Recently, anxiety has grown over the prediction of the end of the world in the Mayan calendar.  It's true that the Mayan odometer will hit zeros on 21 December 2012, as it reaches the end of a 394-year cycle called a baktun. But this baktun is part of a larger 8,000-year cycle called a pictun, and there's no evidence that anything astronomically untoward will happen as the current baktun slides into the next. However, that hasn't stopped the feverish speculating that sells books and cinema tickets.  What kind of catastrophe would it take to end the world? Astronomical intruders provide a potentially serious threat. Impacts can be caused by stray rubble from the Asteroid Belt and the rocky snowballs that travel in highly elliptical orbits in the comet cloud. There are many fewer large bits of debris than small bits, so the interval between large impacts is much longer than the interval between small impacts.  That's good news. Every century or so, a 10-meter meteor slams into the Earth with the force of a small nuclear device. Tunguska was the site of the last, in 1908, and it was pure luck that that meteor landed in the uninhabited wilderness of Siberia. Every few thousand years, Earth can pass through unusually thick parts of the debris trail of comets, turning the familiar light show of a meteor shower into a deadly firestorm. Roughly every 100,000 years, a projectile hundreds of meters across unleashes power equal to the world's nuclear arsenals. The result is devastation over an area the size of England, global tidal waves (if the impact is in the ocean), and enough dust flung into the atmosphere to dim the Sun and kill off vegetation. That could ruin your day. Then there's the "Big One". About every 100 million years, a rock the size of a small asteroid slams into the Earth, causing global earthquakes, kilometre-high tidal waves, and immediately killing all large land animals. Creatures in the sea soon follow, as trillions of tons of vaporised rock cause drastic cooling and the destruction of the food chain based on photosynthesis. There's good evidence that this happened 65 million years ago and our tiny mammal ancestors were the beneficiaries as the giant lizards were extinguished. [...]"   

Moon Has 100 Times More Water, New Study Suggests [06/15/10] "The moon's interior may harbor 100 times more water than previous estimates, according to a new study that took a fresh look at samples of moon rocks collected by Apollo astronauts nearly 40 years ago. The researchers determined that the lunar water likely originated early in the moon's formation history, suggesting that it is, in fact, native to the moon. [...]"  

A third of Mars once covered by ocean: study [06/15/10] "A huge, potentially life-giving sea likely covered more than a third of Mars some 3.5 billion years ago, according to a study released Sunday.  Spread over an area the size of the Atlantic Ocean, it would have straddled the north pole and contained the equivalent of a tenth of the water on Earth. For decades scientists have argued as to whether the Red Planet  once harboured bodies of water big enough to help nourish a true hydrological cycle marked by evaporation and rainfall. [...]"   

Boldly going nowhere: NASA ends plan to put man back on Moon [06/14/10] "NASA has begun to wind down construction of the rockets and spacecraft that were to have taken astronauts back to the Moon — effectively dismantling the US human spaceflight programme despite a congressional ban on its doing so.  Legislators have accused President Obama’s Administration of contriving to slip the termination of the Constellation programme through the back door to avoid a battle on Capitol Hill. Constellation aimed to build upon what was arguably America’s greatest technological achievement, the first lunar landing of 1969, by launching new expeditions to the Moon and to Mars and worlds beyond. Mr Obama proposed in February that it should be scrapped because it was “over budget, behind schedule and lacking in innovation”, but he has met opposition in Congress, which has yet to approve his plan. The head of NASA, Major-General Charlie Bolden — an Obama appointee — has now written to aerospace contractors telling them to cut back immediately on Constellation-related projects costing almost $1 billion (£690 million), to comply with regulations requiring them to budget for possible contract termination costs. The move has been branded a “disingenuous legal maneuver” and referred to NASA’s inspector-general for investigation. “It’s bordering on arrogance by the Administration to boldly and brazenly go forward with this approach. It shows a blatant disregard for Congress,” said the Republican Congressman Rob Bishop, of Utah, whose constituency stands to lose thousands of jobs. Two weeks ago the Senate passed legislation that compels NASA to continue work on Constellation unless Congress directs otherwise. That legislation is due to be signed into law by Mr Obama this month while Congress continues its deliberations over his proposal to cancel the current space space progamme. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican and member of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said: “The timing of NASA’s decision to push forward with these actions now, before this becomes law, is highly questionable.” NASA is “willfully subverting the repeatedly expressed will of Congress”, she added.  [...]"  Commentary:  Obama Shutdown of Constellation is Illegal Abuse of Power  "In addition to the fact that the attempt by the Obama Administration to use a 140-year-old law to shut down NASA's Constellation program is an illegal abuse of power under current statute regarding the program, in a similar case six years ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled that while the law may be on the books, the "state of the law compels us to hold this clause void and unenforceable." [...]"   

Bizarre Lightning Caught on Tape [06/11/10] Video clip "Spectacular light shows shooting out of the tops of storms clouds have been reported by pilots for decades. At first, scientists didn't believe what the pilots claimed to be seeing. Now the strange colored lights have been captured on high-speed video. The fleeting, brilliant electric phenomena are known as elves and sprites. These electric displays are produced in the upper layers of the atmosphere. They've been photographed and videotaped before, but in the new research, they have been captured in a variety of forms that will allow the researchers to study the structure and dynamics of these strange electric discharges. [...]"  

Scientists Think Something Is Living on Saturn Moon [06/08/10] "Something is sucking up hydrogen on one of Saturn's moons and NASA scientists believe it could be alive. Data from the Cassini probe suggests there is less hydrogen and acetylene on Titan's surface than scientists expected, a phenomenon that could be explained by the existence of primitive, methane-based lifeforms, the researchers write. "We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan, similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth," one of the astrobiologists says. "If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life, it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth." [...]"    

NASA Plans for Large Scale Failure, Power Grid is “Particularly Vulnerable to Bad Space Weather” [06/08/10] "For many it’s either tin foil conspiracy theory or an action packed Hollywood Armageddon flick. For the National Aeronautics and Space Administration it’s a serious threat, with the potential to wipe out the technologically driven lives we’ve become so used to.  Our sun is approaching a period of high turbulence, referred to as the solar maximum, with many scientists suggesting a peak in activity around 2013. The cycle occurs every 11 years, and the next time around it is predicted to be one of the weakest in decades. However, some contrary opinions hold that the next solar maximum may be stronger than we expect, citing a 26,000 year galactic alignment cycle, scheduled to occur on or around 2012, eerily coinciding with the end of the Mayan calendar. One organization that isn’t taking any chances is NASA. As the sun begins to awaken, scientists are keeping a close eye on space weather: “The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we’re getting together to discuss.” The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem two years ago in a landmark report entitled “Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts.” It noted how people of the 21st-century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina. A 132-page NASA funded report titled Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts, suggests that the right magnitude storm could be devastating: To estimate the scale of such a failure, report co-author John Kappenmann of the Metatech Corporation looked at the great geomagnetic storm of May 1921, which produced ground currents as much as ten times stronger than the 1989 Quebec storm, and modeled its effect on the modern power grid. He found more than 350 transformers at risk of permanent damage and 130 million people without power. The loss of electricity would ripple across the social infrastructure with “water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, fuel re-supply and so on.” “The concept of interdependency,” the report notes, “is evident in the unavailability of water due to long-term outage of electric power–and the inability to restart an electric generator without water on site.” [...]"   

Video: Jupiter takes a hit from fireball [06/05/10] "Two amateur astronomers in the South Pacific captured on video the impact of a fireball on the surface of Jupiter. NBC's Brian Williams reports. (Nightly News) [...]"  Related:   Jupiter probably hit by asteroid last year   "An object that hit Jupiter last year and left a scar the size of Pacific Ocean was probably an asteroid, say astronomers. [...]"  

More of Obama's Lies To Kill NASA's Moon/Mars Program [06/02/10] "The widespread and vocal opposition to President Obama's proposal to kill NASA's Constellation space exploration program, forced him, on April 15th, to announce that development of the Orion crew vehicle would not be cancelled, but scaled back as a crew rescue vehicle, mainly to prevent thousands of layoffs. Now, it has been revealed, this was all a ruse. The Administration is considering ending the Orion program after all, and holding a new competition to build the crew rescue vehicle. [...]"    Related: Everyone Is Going to the Moon, Except the U.S. "More than 450 delegates from 26 nations have gathered this week in Beijing, for the Global Lunar Conference. The 350 technical presentations will include the lunar exploration plans by at least China, Europe, Russia, Japan, India, and South Korea. The conference was organized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) to promote coordination among the space-faring nations in mankind's exploration of the Moon. Opening presentations were made yesterday by China, the head of the IAF, the European Space Agency, and Canada. [...]"  

Space so full of junk that a satellite collision could destroy communications on Earth [05/27/10] "Space is so littered with debris that a collision between satellites could set off an “uncontrolled chain reaction” capable of destroying the communications network on Earth, a Pentagon report has warned.  [...]"  

Amateur sky watchers 'solve mystery of unmanned US space plane' [05/25/10] "A secret, unmanned US space plane has been sent into orbit to develop a new type of spy satellite, according to a group of amateur sky watchers who have managed to track its first mission. The Boeing-built X-37B, the robotic successor to the space shuttle, took off from Florida last month tucked inside the nose cone of an Atlas rocket. The US Air Force's 29-ft long craft, known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, looks similar to the shuttle, but is about a quarter the size.  By deploying solar panels in space, it can stay in orbit for nine months before automatically landing itself back on Earth.  The US military refused to give any details about what it would be doing for all that time and was so secretive about the mission that it even refused to disclose the whereabouts of the upper stage of the launch rocket. The extreme secrecy prompted speculation that the X-37B's main purpose would be as a launch pad for a new generation of space weapons.  However, an international group of space observers that claims it has been able to track the spaceship has given credence to a rival theory that the craft is instead testing sensors for powerful new spy satellites. Ted Molczan, a space observer from Toronto, told The New York Times that the X-37B was passing over the same region on Earth every four days, which he said was the usual behaviour of American imaging satellites.  Its trajectory has been taking it over various regions where the US military has interests, including Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and North Korea.  They said the craft was about 255 miles up and orbiting the planet around every 90 minutes.  On a clear night, it can be seen moving like a bright star across the sky. Senior Pentagon officials have insisted the spaceship is not involved in new weapons but will be used to help military missions on the ground.  The 11-year-old project was originally started by Nasa but was taken over by the Air Force in 2006. [...]"    Related:  Surveillance Suspected as Spacecraft’s Main Role  [05/25/10] "A team of amateur sky watchers has pierced the veil of secrecy surrounding the debut flight of the nation’s first robotic spaceplane, finding clues that suggest the military craft is engaged in the development of spy satellites rather than space weapons, which some experts have suspected but the Pentagon strongly denies. In interviews and statements, Pentagon leaders strongly denied that the winged plane had anything to do with space weapons, even while conceding that its ultimate goal was to aid terrestrial war fighters with a variety of ancillary missions. The secretive flight, civilian specialists said in recent weeks, probably centers at least partly on testing powerful sensors for a new generation of spy satellites. The X-37B can stay aloft for as long as nine months because it deploys solar panels for power, unlike the space shuttle. Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks rocket launchings and space activity, said the secrecy surrounding the X-37B even extended to the whereabouts of the rocket’s upper stage, which was sent into an unknown orbit around the sun. In one of his regular Internet postings, he said that appeared to be the first time the United States had put a space vehicle into a solar orbit that is “officially secret.”  [...]"  Note: Why would they launch the upper stage of a rocket into orbit around the Sun?  

Jupiter Loses a Stripe [05/13/10] "Jupiter has lost one of its prominent stripes, leaving its southern half looking unusually blank. Scientists are not sure what triggered the disappearance of the band.  Jupiter’s appearance is usually dominated by two dark bands in its atmosphere – one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere. But recent images taken by amateur astronomers show that the southern band – called the south equatorial belt – has disappeared.  The band was present at the end of 2009, right before Jupiter moved too close to the sun in the sky to be observed from Earth. When the planet emerged from the sun’s glare again in early April, its south equatorial belt was nowhere to be seen. This is not the first time the south equatorial belt has disappeared. It was absent in 1973 when NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft took the first closeup images of the planet and also temporarily vanished in the early 1990s. The disappearance of the belt comes at a time of widespread – but mysterious – change on Jupiter, which has seen changes to the colour of other bands and spots in its atmosphere. “There has been a lot going on,” Orton says. [...]"  

Solar Dynamics Observatory Observes Massive Eruption, Scorching Rain [04/29/10] [0:33]  "“SDO has just observed a massive eruption on the sun—one of the biggest in years,” says Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters in Washington DC. “The footage is not only dramatic, but also could solve a longstanding mystery of solar physics.” Karel Schrijver of Lockheed Martin’s Solar and Astrophysics Lab is leading the analysis. “We can see a billion tons of magnetized plasma blasting into space while debris from the explosion falls back onto the sun surface. These may be our best data yet.” The movie, recorded on April 19th, spans four hours of actual time and more than 100,000 km of linear space. “It’s huge,” says Schrijver. Indeed, the entire planet Earth could fit between the plasma streamers with room to spare. Astronomers have seen eruptions like this before, but rarely so large and never in such fluid detail. As science team member Alan Title of Lockheed Martin pointed out at last week’s press conference, “no other telescope comes close to the combined spatial, temporal and spectral resolution of SDO.” Schrijver says his favorite part of the movie is the coronal rain. “Blobs of plasma are falling back to the surface of the sun, making bright splashes where they hit,” he explains. “This is a phenomenon I’ve been studying for years.” ..."  Related: Color-coded temperature movie [04/29/10] [0:33]   Article

Magnetic field has been detected on the surface of the moon [04/28/10] "A miniature magnetic field has been imaged on the surface of the moon, making it a rare, minimally protective lunar refuge from some aspects of the harsh solar wind.  The magnetic region could be a great place to site a lunar base, since tomorrow's lunar colonists will not only need water (check!), but some protection from the heavy radiation in the solar wind. "You can think of it as kind of a mini umbrella," said Martin Wieser of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, Sweden. "It will be effective for certain kinds of (space) weather." But it is very weak in comparison to Earth's planet-wide magnetic field or even compared to the splotchy magnetospheres of Mars.  The 224-mile- (360-kilometer-) wide magnetosphere was detected by an instrument on the Indian Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The mini magnetosphere revealed itself by fewer hydrogen atoms scattering off the surface of the moon. Generally when the solar wind rams into the airless surface of the moon, some hydrogen atoms scatter back into space.  ..."   

Hubble Space Telescope clocks up 20 years [04/23/10] "looks at a troubled history, some remarkable discoveries and the future of the instrument. ..."   

First Stunning Images From NASA’s Solar Observatory [04/22/10] Video clip [1:02]  Note:  NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory website.

U.K.'s Financial Times Says Obama Didn't Go Far Enough to Kill NASA [04/20/10] "Yesterday's Financial Times, while applauding President Obama's decision to scrap Constellation and the Moon program, opines that he "flunked the opportunity to drop it entirely," promising instead that someday there will be manned missions to Mars. The FT takes particular aim at what they call "NASA's fuzzier 'Dan Dare' mission, based on the idea of man's 'need to discover'"—i.e., the quest for scientific knowledge per se which is the very basis of NASA's true achievements, and which the British so hate. ..."  

Solar Wildcard Continues: NASA Captures Massive Solar Eruption, Largest Prominence In 15 Years [04/17/10] Video clip [0:12]  "NASA's STEREO spacecraft has captured specta Note: cular images of a solar eruption, the largest solar prominence in 15 years. The activity was caught on camera in extreme UV light as the prominence blasted away from the sun on April 12 and April 13.  Prominences are cool clouds of plasma that hover above the Sun's surface, notoriously unstable and on occasion they erupt like this one. However, this one was much more dramatic than most, NASA says. NASA pieced together images to create this amazing video clip, showing about 19 hours of activity. ..."  Note: Here we go ...  See also Solar Analysis Predicted Mexico Earthquake [04/06/10] and Biggest Solar Flare In Almost Two Years Erupts [01/21/10] articles below.  It's interesting that the story line in the recent motion picture 2012 involved a massive CME, which triggered the destruction seen in the movie.

  Documentary: The Universe: End of the Earth [04/17/10] Video clip [44:00]  "In ‘The End of the Earth’, our experts discuss how the earth has become an extremely dangerous place to live within the wider universe. According to many cosmologists, it is only a matter of time before a cosmic force will annihilate the planet. At this very moment, NASA’s top brass and other scientists are arming themselves with the latest technology to pre-empt an apocalyptic attack. We investigate a number of bizarre, unexplained and terrifying ‘end of earth’ scenarios. We meet scientists from around the world who are racing against the clock to develop technology to detect and defend our planet from apocalyptic demons. The prime suspects: asteroids, comets, gamma ray bursts, the sun and the Big Rip - a mysterious phenomenon called ‘dark energy’ which could eventually rip apart everything in the universe..."

Barack Obama ends NASA space race with slow road to Mars [04/17/10] "President Obama promised a “leap into the future” for Nasa yesterday in a speech designed to quell a growing dispute over his cuts to manned space exploration, and to persuade critics that America will eventually put astronauts on Mars. Despite cancelling Constellation, the $108 billion (more than £69 bn) programme that aimed to get astronauts to the Moon by 2020 and the Red Planet by 2030, he outlined a series of “stepping stone” destinations where Nasa will first seek a foothold in deep space using humans and robots.  ..."  Note: Yeah ..... we already knew last year that NASA was canned .... 

Massive fireball reported across Midwestern sky [04/16/10] Video clip [1:10]  "Authorities in several Midwestern states were flooded Wednesday night with reports of a gigantic fireball lighting up the sky, the National Weather Service said.  The fireball was visible for about 15 minutes beginning about 10 p.m., said the National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wisconsin, just west of Milwaukee. "The fireball was seen over the northern sky, moving from west to east," said the NWS in the Quad Cities area, which includes parts of Iowa and Illinois. "Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight," the service said. "Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes," it said. It said the fireball was seen across parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. CNN affiliate WISN-TV said that people in Ohio also saw it. Video from WISN showed a massive ball of light exploding across the sky.  ..."Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight," the service said. "Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes  ...."  

Mysterious Radio Waves Emitted from Nearby Galaxy [04/15/10] "There is something strange in the cosmic neighbourhood. An unknown object in the nearby galaxy M82 has started sending out radio waves, and the emission does not look like anything seen anywhere in the universe before. “We don’t know what it is,” says co-discoverer Tom Muxlow of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics near Macclesfield, UK. The thing appeared in May last year, while Muxlow and his colleagues were monitoring an unrelated stellar explosion in M82 using the MERLIN network of radio telescopes in the UK. A bright spot of radio emission emerged over only a few days, quite rapidly in astronomical terms. Since then it has done very little except baffle astrophysicists. ..."  

Distant planets' orbits rattle theories [04/15/10] "Some highly unusual planets orbiting other stars are calling into question theories about how solar systems are formed  ..."  

 Emerging Research:  Chile Earthquake Hypersymmetry with Full Moon - Jupiter Conjunction - Northern CME - More Storms [04/09/10] [2:57]  

Solar Analysis Predicted Mexico Earthquake [04/08/10] "A severe seismic event with several strong aftershocks, is indicated in the northern hemisphere before April 12th 2010. The event may produce severe shaking through a broad latitude from 1 degree north latitude to 25 degrees north latitude plus or minus 10 degrees. The event maybe accompanied by a very strong event 30 additional degrees north plus or minus 10 degrees.  The exact location of the events is unknown. Recent activity along the San Andreas fault and at the seams of the Philippine Plate indicates one of those regions as the most likely location. The shape of the coronal disturbances, however, seem to fit the features of the San Andreas fault. Analysis of activity in other coronal features indicates a possible tsunami in the northern reaches of the effected region.  The most likely days for the event, are April 4th 5th and 6th. This experimental log is a service of the Cosabio Virtual Institute and is not suitable for emergency response. Emergency managers are encouraged to use all available data, including other earthquake indicators, in consideration of appropriate action. An annotated video version of this forecast will be available at: http://youtube.com/astrotometry    UPDATE 1 | UPDATE 2 

Postulate: Relationship between Coronal Holes and Active Regions  [04/08/10] Video clip [2:10]  "This may be a key factor in understanding the coronal hole earthquake relationship as to why some holes appear beneath and active region and some do not. ..."   

Search on for Death Star that throws out deadly comets [03/15/10] "The star, also known as Nemesis, is five times the size of Jupiter and could be to blame for the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The bombardment of icy missiles is being blamed by some scientists for mass extinctions of life that they say happen every 26 million years.  ...Nemesis is predicted to lie at a distance equal to 25,000 times that of the Earth from the Sun, or a third of a light-year. A major clue to Nemesis's existence is a mysterious dwarf planet called Sedna that was spotted on an elongated 12,000-year-long orbit around the sun. Mike Brown, who discovered Sedna in 2003, said: "Sedna is a very odd object – it shouldn't be there! It never comes anywhere close to any of the giant planets or the sun. It's way, way out there on this incredibly eccentric orbit. The only way to get on an eccentric orbit is to have some giant body kick you – so what is out there?" Professor John Matese, of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, says most comets in the inner solar system seem to come from the same region of the Oort Cloud – launched by the pull of a companion star to the sun that scatters comets in its wake. He suggests it is up to five times the size of Jupiter or 7,000 times the size of Earth. He said: "There is statistically significant evidence that this concentration of comets could be caused by a companion to the Sun. "   

Solar Storms Could Be Earth's Next Katrina [03/01/10] "A massive solar storm could leave millions of people around the world without electricity, running water, or phone service, government officials say. ...a solar Katrina would cause damage in a much larger area than any natural disaster, Fugate says. For example, power could be knocked out almost simultaneously in countries ..."   

23,000 now expected to lose jobs after shuttle retirement [02/27/10] "The local economic forecast tied to President Barack Obama's proposed NASA budget keeps growing bleaker. Revised projections now show that about 23,000 workers at and around Kennedy Space Center will lose their jobs because of the shuttles' retirement and the new proposal to cancel the development of new rockets and spacecraft. ..."   

Cosmic-ray theory unravels [02/23/10] "Astronomers using a giant array of detectors in Argentina had thought three years ago they were close to solving the mystery of the Universe's highest energy cosmic rays. But the same researchers have now had to backpedal in the face of new observations that threaten their earlier conclusions about the origins and composition of these intense particles.  ..."  

NASA Told To Forget Space - Focus On "Muslim Outreach" [02/19/10] "Bolden referred to the new mission as an effort to reach out to “non-traditional partners,” especially countries that don’t have an established space program. Of special focus is Indonesia because it’s the world’s largest Muslim nation, Bolden explained. No word yet on how much money the U.S. government will invest in the Muslim outreach.  In the meantime, a congressional firestorm has brewed over Obama’s plans to nix the moon-mission program, according to news reports. Dozens of federal lawmakers have sent letters to NASA’s chief insisting that the Constellation moon program remain intact. Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, blasted Obama for cutting the moon program since it will likely cause the U.S. to fall behind countries like China and Russia in space exploration.  ..."   

Sun & Climate Change  [02/15/10] VIDEO [9:49] "The SOHO (Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) project is a cooperative effort between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. SOHO was designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System." Note:  Very nice clip.    Related:  SOHO C3 2009 Full Year HD VIDEO [7:52] 

Anything new under the Sun? We'll soon find out [02/12/10] "NASA has launched a spacecraft on a five-year mission to peer 140,000 miles below the surface of the Sun. ..."  

Stronger radiation from the Sun 'will cause sat-navs to fail', scientists warn [02/11/10] "Researchers said satnav devices were facing the threat from an expected increase in solar flares from the Sun that could cause unpredictable errors in navigation. ..."   

Moon Base Alpha: If Not U.S., Then Who? [02/08/10] "Forty years ago the U.S. raced to plant the first foot on the moon. Now, as India, Russia, South Korea and China compete to return for further exploration, the U.S. has all but dropped out -- and even Buzz Aldrin thinks that may be okay. ..."    

Curious:  Saturn mission 'extended again' [02/07/10] "The US space agency Nasa has extended the international Cassini-Huygens mission once again. The unmanned Cassini-Huygens probe arrived at Saturn in 2004 on a mission that was meant to come to end in 2008. Its mission had already been extended up to 2010. Nasa now says the spacecraft will explore the Saturn system until 2017. ..."  Note: What are they keeping an eye out for? 

Fireball lights up the Irish sky as 'extremely rare' meteorite falls to the Earth at 100,000 mph  [02/06/10] "Meteorite hunters are on the look-out for space rock in Ireland, after a fireball was spotted blazing across the sky on Wednesday night. People from across the country witnessed the spectacle, which happened at around 6pm. It is thought the fireball was a space rock traveling at a 100,000 miles per hour, or the equivalent of a small atomic bomb blast in the skies. ..."    

Obama aide: Plans for new moon mission are ‘dead’ [01/31/10]  Note: We've heard this before ... since the black projects and US space fleet are not dealt with by NASA, it makes sense to move the US space program out of the hands of NASA. 

Spherical objects in sun's corona - New Collection and Data Source [01/29/10] Note: People make large studies of this phenomena.

"Galactic Partnership": NASA and Israel Space Agency [01/29/10] " ... NASA and the Israel Space Agency have signed a joint statement of cooperation. The agreement recognizes the Israel Network for Lunar Science and Exploration (INLSE) as an affiliate partner with the NASA Lunar Science Institute, and was signed at the agency’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California ...... The INLSE brings its technical and engineering expertise for the sake of advancing the broad goals of lunar science at the institute. The initial focus will be on laser communications, robotics, remote sensing and other technologies for future lunar missions. In addition, there will be a major emphasis on education and public outreach inspired by lunar science .... " Note: Oh great. Space Nazis .... sigh ... Israel has no technical expertise in lunar science .... or have they?

What will the next solar cycle bring? [01/28/10] "Orbiting mission will probe the Sun's activity, including flares that can disrupt electricity grids. ...The Sun is rousing from an unusually heavy slumber. On 19 January, the otherwise calm and quiet Sun erupted in a violent blast of light and energy — an M-class solar flare, the largest observed in nearly two years. Over the next 24 hours, four more M-class flares erupted from the same sunspot, each more powerful than the one before. "  Note: It's going to bring the death of this civilization, that's what. 

Was the Universe Created By A Big Bang?: World's Leading Cosmologists Say "No" [01/26/10] "Several of the worlds leading astrophysicists believe there was no Big Bang that brought the universe and time into existence."  Note: Actually, it was created with a moan. 

White House To Outsource NASA Work [01/25/10] "The White House has decided to begin funding private companies to carry NASA astronauts into space, but the proposal faces major political and budget hurdles, according to people familiar with the matter.  The controversial proposal, expected to be included in the Obama administration's next budget, would open a new chapter in the U.S. space program. The goal is to set up a multiyear, multi-billion-dollar initiative allowing private firms, including some start-ups, to compete to build and operate spacecraft capable of ferrying U.S. astronauts into orbit—and eventually deeper into the solar system. ..."  Space Exploration Taken Away From NASA ".... The Earth and climate science division will get the bulk of the money allocated to science, and that money will bolster Earth science missions that are either already in the works or proposed, "NASA will be able to turn its considerable expertise to advancing climate-change research and observations," Weiler said today in a press briefing. ..."   

Biggest Solar Flare In Almost Two Years Erupts [01/21/10] "The ongoing sequence of flares signals a sharp upturn in solar activity. Before this week, the last time the sun produced even a single M-class solar flare was in March 2008--almost two years ago. M-class solar flares have a moderate effect on Earth. Mainly, they boost the usual ionization of Earth's upper atmosphere, causing short-lived radio blackouts at some frequencies and radio enhancements at others.  ..."   

Annular Solar Eclipse Was Longest Of The Millennium  [01/16/10] "It was a once-in-a-millennium event on Friday when an annular solar eclipse plunged parts of Asia and Africa into partial darkness. The record-breaking eclipse, lasting 11 minutes, 8 seconds, will be the longest annular one until December 23, 3043, Reuters reported. According to astronomers, the best place to see the eclipse was in the Maldives, where it lasted the longest. ..."  

Jesse Ventura: Conspiracy Theory #7: APOCALYPSE 2012 [01/14/10]  Part 2  |  Part 3  | Part 4  | Part 5  | Part 6   When each of the clips start, press pause and let the clip load up for a couple of minutes and then start it, so the loading can get a head start on the playing. (slow loading) Each clip is around 8 minutes or so.

Mystery object to whizz by Earth Wednesday [01/13/10] "A mystery object from space is about to whizz close by Earth on Wednesday. It won't hit our planet, but scientists are stumped by what exactly it is. Astronomers say it may be space junk or it could be a tiny asteroid, too small to cause damage even if it hit. It's 33 to 50 feet wide at most. NASA says that on Wednesday at 7:47 a.m. EST, it will streak by, missing Earth by about 80,000 miles. In the western United States it may be bright enough to be seen with a good amateur telescope. ..."  

Military Hush-Up: Incoming Space Rocks Deemed "Classified" in June 2009 [01/10/10] "For 15 years, scientists have benefited from data gleaned by U.S. classified satellites of natural fireball events in Earth's atmosphere – but no longer. A recent U.S. military policy decision now explicitly states that observations by hush-hush government spacecraft of incoming bolides and fireballs are classified secret and are not to be released.  ... "It's baffling to us why this would suddenly change," said one scientist familiar with the work. "It's unfortunate because there was this great synergy...a very good cooperative arrangement. Systems were put into dual-use mode where a lot of science was getting done that couldn't be done any other way. It's a regrettable change in policy." Scientists say not only will research into the threat from space be hampered, but public understanding of sometimes dramatic sky explosions will be diminished, perhaps leading to hype and fear of the unknown." ... The newly issued policy edict by the U.S. military of reporting fireball observations from satellites also caught the attention of Clark Chapman, a planetary scientist and asteroid impact expert at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "I think that this information is very important to make public," Chapman told SPACE.com. ..."  Related:  Small Asteroids Deemed to Pose Big New Threat in 2007   "The explosion near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River on June 30, 1908, flattened some 500,000 acres (2,000 square kilometers) of Siberian forest. Scientists calculated the Tunguska explosion could have been roughly as strong as 10 to 20 megatons of TNT — 1,000 times more powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Wild theories have been bandied about for a century regarding what caused the Tunguska explosion, including a UFO crash, antimatter, a black hole and famed inventor Nikola Tesla's "death ray." In the last decade, researchers have conjectured the event was triggered by an asteroid exploding in Earth's atmosphere that was roughly 100 feet wide (30 meters) and 560,000 metric tons in mass — more than 10 times that of the Titanic. The space rock is thought to have blown up above the surface, only fragments possibly striking the ground. Now new supercomputer simulations suggest "the asteroid that caused the extensive damage was much smaller than we had thought," Boslough said. Specifically, he and his colleagues say it would have been a factor of three or four smaller in mass and perhaps 65 feet (20 meters) in diameter. ...All in all, the researchers suggest that smaller asteroids may pose a greater danger than previously believed. Moreover, "there are a lot more objects that size," said Boslough . NASA Ames Research Center planetary scientist and astrobiologist David Morrison, who did not participate in this study, said, "If he's right, we can expect more Tunguska-sized explosions — perhaps every couple of centuries instead of every millennia or two." He added, "It raises the bar in the long term — ultimately, we'd like to have a survey system that can detect things this small.""  Note: Well, they do ... but it's now classified.

UK: "Earth 'to be wiped out' by supernova explosion" [01/07/10] "The Earth could soon be wiped out by the explosion of a star more than 3,000 light years away, according to American scientists.  ...The star, called T Pyxidis, is set to self-destruct in an explosion called a supernova with the force of 20 billion billion billion megatons of TNT. Although the star is thought to be around 3,260 light-years away – a fairly short distance in galactic terms – the blast from the thermonuclear explosion could strip away the Earth's ozone layer, the scientists said .... Astronomers from Villanova University, Philadelphia, in the US, said the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite has shown them that T Pyxidis is really two stars, one called a white dwarf that is sucking in gas and steadily growing. When it reaches a critical mass it will blow itself to pieces. It will become as bright as all the other stars in the galaxy put together, they said. The Hubble space telescope has photographed the star preparing for its big bang with a series of smaller blasts or "burps", called novas. These explosions came regularly about every 20 years from 1890 – but stopped after 1967. So the next blast is nearly 20 years overdue, said scientists Edward M Sion, Patrick Godon and Timothy McClain at the American Astronomical Society in Washington. Robin Scagell, vice-president of the UK's Society for Popular Astronomy, said: "The star may certainly became a supernova soon – but soon could still be a long way off so don't have nightmares."  "  Note: How about next Thursday at 4:13 pm PST? Seems like a good time.

One Way Up: U.S. Space Plan Relies on Russia  [01/02/10] "Star City, Russia — This place was once no place, a secret military base northeast of Moscow that did not show up on maps. The Soviet Union trained its astronauts here to fight on the highest battlefield of the cold war: space. Yet these days, Star City is the place for America’s hard-won orbital partnership with Russia, where astronauts train to fly aboard Soyuz spacecraft. And in two years Star City will be the only place to send astronauts from any nation to the International Space Station. The gap is coming: from 2010, when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shuts down the space shuttle program, to 2015, when the next generation of American spacecraft is scheduled to arrive, NASA expects to have no human flight capacity and will depend on Russia to get to the $100 billion station, buying seats on Soyuz craft as space tourists do. As NASA celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, the time lag in the Bush administration’s plan to retire the nation’s three space shuttles and work on a return to the Moon has thrust the United States space program squarely into national politics and geopolitical controversy. ..."   

Trio of NASA missions in 2010 will probe answers to secrets of the Earth, sun [01/02/10] "NASA heads into 2010 with the bittersweet assignment of retiring the space shuttle after nearly three decades. But that's not all the agency has planned: There are also launches of three new satellites aimed at better understanding the Earth's climate and oceans, and the sun. Two of the probes will examine Earth -- specifically the concentration of salt in the world's oceans and the presence of aerosol particles, such as soot, in the atmosphere. A third mission will study the sun and its effect on space weather including solar flares that can disrupt communication on Earth. All three come at a critical time for NASA. Data from the two Earth probes will likely influence global-warming research, and the trio of launches could serve as bright spots in a year otherwise dominated by debate over the future of the agency's manned space program. "They are extraordinary timely," said Michael Freilich, head of NASA's Earth-science division, of the two Earth probes. "It is a quest for understanding of the Earth system and [to improve] our ability to predict how our wonderful environment and our planet is going to change in the future."  Combined, the three missions will cost more than $1.5 billion. ..."  

North Magnetic Pole Moving East Due to Core Flux [12/27/09] "The core is too deep for scientists to directly detect its magnetic field. But researchers can infer the field's movements by tracking how Earth's magnetic field has been changing at the surface and in space. ...Now, newly analyzed data suggest that there's a region of rapidly changing magnetism on the core's surface, possibly being created by a mysterious "plume" of magnetism arising from deeper in the core. "  Note:  This also would relate to an end point for the magnetic 'tube' between the Earth and the Sun ( science article exists) which in fact is the pathway for planetary entities back and forth between Earth and the Sun during the existence of the planet. It's where the current entity will go during endgame. When it does, everything on Earth dies immediately. Keeping an eye on things like this, and changes with the Sun could indicate some movement in the endgame dynamic. See also Changing Dynamics on Earth for other changes.

Sun is showing signs of life [12/22/09] "There are no fewer than five active regions on the sun’s surface, shown here in an extreme ultraviolet photo taken 21 Dec 2009 by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO): ..."  Note: I checked the latest image (link on top of this page) around 9:30am PST  ; we'll keep an eye on it. After two years of record-low sunspot numbers and many month-long stretches of utter quiet, this is a notable outbreak. Whether it heralds a genuine trend or merely marks a temporary, statistical uptick in activity remains to be seen. Each circle contains a sunspot or proto-sunspot belonging to new Solar Cycle 24:

Apophis Asteroid To Scrape Past Earth, Closer Than Any Known Object [12/19/09] VIDEO [0:22] "The asteroid appeared ready to give the Earth its closest shave since astronomers began looking for such things. It was judged a 4 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale for a short time, the highest rating any near-Earth object has received. Scientists have since scaled back their predictions -- they now believe the odds of it crashing into earth are 1 in 250,000 -- but astronomers do expect it to come startlingly close to the earth's surface, whizzing past our planet just 18,300 miles away in April 2029. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has created a simulation of the asteroid's path past earth. See it in action (from Apophis' perspective) below. ..."  Note: It's the one they either don't see, or the one they do see and aren't allowed to say anything, that will do the deed on Earth. 

NASA Shows Quiet Sun Means Cooling of Earth's Upper Atmosphere [12/17/09] "New measurements from a NASA satellite show a dramatic cooling in the upper atmosphere that correlates with the declining phase of the current solar cycle. For the first time, researchers can show a timely link between the Sun and the climate of Earth's thermosphere, the region above 100 km, an essential step in making accurate predictions of climate change in the high atmosphere. ..."  

FLASHBACK - Cosmic pattern to UK tree growth [12/09/09] "The growth of British trees appears to follow a cosmic pattern, with trees growing faster when high levels of cosmic radiation arrive from space. Researchers made the discovery studying how growth rings of spruce trees have varied over the past half a century. As yet, they cannot explain the pattern, but variation in cosmic rays impacted tree growth more than changes in temperature or precipitation. ..."  Note: Remember that tree ring studies were the basis for the "paleo-climate" estimates of ancient temperatures.  Related: Cosmic rays from outside the solar system are increasing [12/08/09] "Cosmic rays from outside the solar system, which can harm astronauts, spacecraft computers and electronic systems, are increasing and are now at a "space age" high, according to NASA researchers. Cosmic rays are very-high-energy particles that originate in explosions of massive stars elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy. They travel at nearly the speed of light and strike the Earth from all directions .... cosmic ray intensity in 2009 is about 20 percent higher than solar-minimum periods of recent decades, and if this trend continues, "NASA may want to reconsider how much shielding is required if astronauts return to the moon." ... scientists have been able to monitor cosmic rays' effect on Earth going back about 1,000 years by examining polar ice cores. When the rays hit Earth's atmosphere, they produce the radioactive beryllium-10 isotope, which is preserved in year-by-year layers of polar ice when it settles out of the atmosphere and is covered by snow. Those ice cores show that "in about 1700 the cosmic rays intensity was more than twice as high as it was during most of the space era. So we may be returning to the levels of past centuries. ..." 

NASA to launch sky-mapping spacecraft for 6 month sweep of heavens [12/08/09] "Nasa’s latest space telescope will scan the sky in search of never-before-seen asteroids, comets, stars and galaxies, with one of its main tasks to catalog objects posing a danger to Earth. The sky-mapping WISE, or Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, is scheduled to launch no earlier than before dawn Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast aboard a Delta 2 rocket. If all goes as planned, WISE will orbit some 325 miles (523 kilometres) above the Earth and produce the most detailed map yet of the cosmos. It is designed to detect objects that give off infrared light or heat. Infrared light is ideal for uncovering dusty, cold and distant objects that often can’t be seen by optical telescopes. The mission is expected to find millions of hard-to-see objects, said principal investigator Edward Wright of the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s really a mission to survey everything that’s out there,” Wright said. “What we’re trying to do is make a map of the universe.” Scientists estimate it will take six months for WISE to peruse the entire sky. ..."   

Scientists discover tsunami on the Sun [12/08/09] "In what is a surprising discovery, scientists have found tsunami-style towering waves that race across the face of the Sun. According to a report in ABC News, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory  ..."   

New Space Telescope to Watch the Sun [11/25/09] "A new solar telescope, scheduled to launch this winter, will probe the sun's atmosphere and inner workings. ... SDO will also follow changes in the sun's activity, which is known to rise and fall on a roughly 11-year cycle. A solar cycle is at its maximum when the greatest number of sunspots is counted in a year; the minimum occurs when the fewest are seen. Both of these markers can only be recognized after they have been passed. And of course, the solar cycle doesn't always follow that 11-year course. Between 1645 and 1715, for example, sunspots were rarely observed — a period called the Maunder Minimum — and Europe and North America both experienced bitterly cold winters — a time known as the "Little Ice Age." (The sun is currently in a lull, with next maximum expected in 2013.) The potential connection between low levels of solar activity and Earth's climate are something scientists want to better understand in the hopes that they could eventually learn to predict these ups and downs."   

High-res panoramic image of the Milky Way galaxy released [11/25/09] "The image, by Prof Axel Mellinger of Central Michigan University, was made by piecing together more than 3,000 individual photographs taken from Texas, Michigan and South Africa.  ..."  Note: Cool. 

Mars was covered by huge ocean, say experts [11/25/09] "Scientists have produced a new map showing that Martian valley networks are more than twice as extensive as had previously been thought, indicating that they were carved by rivers. They are concentrated in a belt circling the planet's equator and mid-southern latitudes. Experts believe they mark the paths of rivers that once flowed from the planet's southern highlands into a huge ocean. The evidence suggests that billions of years ago much of Mars had an ''arid continental climate'' similar to drier areas of the Earth. Rain would have fallen regularly, swelling the rivers and topping up the ocean basin. Such a wet period early in the planet's history would have greatly increased the chances of life. Until now the only global map of Martian valley networks that existed was one drawn by hand from satellite images in the 1990s. This indicated that valley networks are far more sparse on Mars than on Earth, raising doubts that they were created by the ''runoff erosion'' of rivers at all. An alternative explanation, known as ''groundwater sapping'', is that water springing or seeping out of the ground eroded the channels. The new map, created by a computerised analysis of satellite data, shows that some regions of Mars had valley networks almost as dense as those on Earth. ''It is now difficult to argue against runoff erosion as the major mechanism of Martian valley networks,'' said Professor Wei Luo, from Northern Illinois University in the US, who led the research. The belt pattern of the valley network could best be explained if there was a large northern ocean, said the scientists writing in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets. The Martian surface is characterised by lowlands located mostly in the northern hemisphere, and highlands mostly in the planet's southern half. A planet-wide ocean may once have covered the northern regions where the lowlands exist today, the scientists believe. ''All the evidence gathered by analysing the valley network on the new map points to a particular climate scenario on early Mars,'' said Prof Luo. ''It would have included rainfall and the existence of an ocean covering most of the northern hemisphere, or about one-third of the planet's surface.''  ..."   

Asteroid 25% Size of Tunguska passes just 8,700 miles from Earth - with only 15 hours warning [11/12/09] " Although no one noticed at the time, the Earth was almost hit by an asteroid on November 6, 2009. The previously undiscovered asteroid came within 8,700miles of Earth but astronomers noticed it only 15 hours before it made its closest approach. Its orbit brought it 30 times nearer than the Moon, which is 250,000 miles away. The tumbling rock was only 23ft across. Similar sized objects pass by this close to Earth about twice a year and impact on the planet about once every five years. The Nasa NEO programme aims to detect and track at least 90 per cent of the 1,000 asteroids and comets that approach Earth and are larger than 0.6miles in diameter, by 2020. They monitored a 100ft asteroid that whizzed 45,000 miles above the Earth's surface on March 2 this year. A similar sized object slammed into Tunguska, Siberia in 1908. The impact created a blast so powerful it levelled 1,200 square miles of forest. ..."   

NASA Irradiate Monkeys "To Study Long Human Space Trips" That Will Never Happen  [11/03/09]   Note: Space exploration is done.

"New 'SuperEarth' planets point to alien life" [10/26/09] "Astronomers have found dozens of new planets outside the solar system, adding weight to the theory of developed life in other parts of the universe...."  Note: If they only knew. Ha!  

NASA: Finding A Second Earth Could Happen Anytime Now [10/2/09] "Astronomers may be on the brink of discovering a second Earth-like planet, a find that would add fresh impetus to the search for extraterrestrial life. Astronomers from six major centers, including NASA, Harvard and the University of Colorado, agreed at a conference last year that advances in technology suggest scientists are on the verge of being able to detect the presence of small, rocky planets, much like our own, around distant stars for the first time. The planets are considered the most likely habitats for extraterrestrial life ..."  Note: Ha! Somewhere in the sequential hierarchy they're hoping to find the location for the next simultaneous world.

India’s lunar mission finds evidence of water on the Moon [09/24/09] Dreams of establishing a manned Moon base could become reality within two decades after India’s first lunar mission found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface. Data from Chandrayaan-1 also suggests that water is still being formed on the Moon. Scientists said the breakthrough — to be announced by Nasa at a press conference today — would change the face of lunar exploration. ..."  Note: I wouldn't call an acre of soil for one cup of water "large quantities". What difference does it make? Space travel, as far as the public is concerned, has been cancelled.   

Too much radiation for astronauts to make it to Mars  [09/18/09] "Radiation may be the biggest hurdle to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and could put a damper on a recently proposed mission to Mars orbit. ..." Related: Obama space panel says moon return plan is a no go [09/10/09] "A White House panel of independent space experts says NASA's return-to-the-moon plan just won't fly. The problem is money. The expert panel estimates it would cost about $3 billion a year beyond NASA's current $18 billion annual budget. "Under the budget that was proposed, exploration beyond Earth is not viable," panel member Edward Crawley, a professor of aeronautics at MIT, told a news agency Tuesday. ..."   Note: Now we can see that future space travel is now effectively terminated. 

U.S. Navy to Conduct Massive Atmospheric Tests  [09/16/09] "The U.S. Navy, NASA, and the U.S. Defense Department have made a decision to conduct one or more an atmospheric tests, in order to create an aluminum oxide dust cloud without the permission and for the most part, the knowledge of the citizens of the United States. These aluminum oxide particles will eventually return to earth polluting our air, water and soils. The tests may damage the various atmospheric boundaries that protect life on earth – no one has any idea what damage this dust cloud and the testing on this dust cloud may do to our climate, agriculture, human health or the amount of infrared and UV radiation reaching the Earth. It is time to contact elected officials today and protest this action which may begin as early as today, September 14, 2009. The Navy is already conducting warfare testing in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico and has more ranges in the planning and permit stages. Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer noted in a June 19, 2009. Letter to Dr. Jane Lubchenco, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce: “…the Navy plans to increase the number of its exercises or expand the areas in which they may occur, and virtually every coastal state will be affected. Some exercises may occur in the nation’s most biologically sensitive marine habitats, including National Marine Sanctuaries and breeding habitats…” This involves the decimation of more than 11.7 million marine mammals over five years and will increase with each new warfare testing range expansion ..."   

Astronauts concluded final spacewalk  [ 09/06/09 ] "Astronauts from the US space shuttle Discovery late Saturday concluded a third and final spacewalk of their mission, installing new equipment on the International Space Station, but failing to connect some of the cables...."  

Sun Run of 51 Days Without a Spot Now Among the Top 5 Longest  [ 08/31/09 ] "Sunday, August 30th marked the 51st straight day without a sunspot, one of the longest stretches in a century ..."  

UK: Scientists propose 'a spacecraft to save Earth' from Asteroids  [ 08/31/09 ] "British scientists have designed a spacecraft which they claim is capable of saving Earth from a catastrophic asteroid collision. A team at British space company EADS Astrium has made the spacecraft, "gravity tractor", which will be deployed when an orbiting rock is detected on a collision course with Earth -- in fact, it will intercept the asteroid and position itself to fly alongside it, just 160 feet from its surface. And, from this position, the ten-tonne craft is able to exert a small gravitational force on the rock, pulling the asteroid towards it. By gradually modifying its course, over several years, the gravity tractor is able to slowly shift the asteroid's trajectory enough to ensure it misses the Earth. According to the scientists, the spacecraft could divert asteroids that are up to 430 yards across -- big enough to release 100,000 times more energy than the nuclear bomb dropped by the US on Hiroshima in 1945. Dr Ralph Cordey of Astrium was quoted by 'The Daily Telegraph' as saying: "Anything bigger than 30 metres across is a real threat to the Earth. Unfortunately it is a matter of when rather than if one of them hits us ..."  

 Death Rays From Space: How Bad Are They?  [ 08/28/09 ] "... One way to tell whether an extinction event was due to cosmic rays is to look for radioactive isotopes that would have formed in a nearby supernova and then were blown onto our planet by the associated blast wave. In 1999, a group from the Technical University of Munich in Germany detected iron-60 in rock samples from the deep ocean. This extremely rare iron isotope is forged in the fires of supernovae. It is also radioactively unstable, with a half-life of 1.5 million years, so it must have come from a fairly recent supernova. From the iron-60's location and concentration, the German group later calculated that the putative supernova went off 2.8 million years ago at a distance of about 100 light years away. Fields believes this was probably too far away to have caused an extinction-level event. "I'd call it a near miss," he says. The cosmic rays from this supernova may have had an effect on the climate, but to cause serious biological damage, a supernova would need to explode within about 30 light years of Earth.  Although 30 light-years is small on a galactic scale, Fields thinks it likely that Earth has been caught in a supernova "kill radius" as many as a dozen times over our 4.5-billion-year history. ..... However, a nearby supernova is not the only way to increase the cosmic ray intensity. As our Sun orbits around the galactic center, it regularly passes through one of the galaxy's spiral arms where the cosmic ray radiation is higher than average, says Ferrari. Some researchers speculate that each passage through a spiral arm spawns an Ice Age on Earth through cosmic-ray-induced cloud formation. .... In a similar vein, Melott and his colleagues found a possible link between the bobbing of our Sun up and down in the galactic plane and a 63-million-year cycle in fossil biodiversity. The hypothesis is that our solar system is exposed to more cosmic rays every time the solar system peaks out of one side of the galaxy ...  Related: Video - Supernova, Creator and Destroyer  |  Hypothesis: Cosmic Forces Control Life on Earth

A Doubling of the Sun’s Magnetic Field during the Last 100 Years  [ 08/23/09 ] "One recent study by Dr. Mike Lockwood from Rutherford Appleton National Laboratories in California has been investigating the Sun activity for the last hundred years. He reports that since 1901 the overall magnetic field of the Sun has become stronger by 230 percent. Scientists do not understand what that means for us ... Some of the sunspot activity in this last cycle was greater than anything ever recorded before in history. But scientists claim that they don’t understand what means either. “Obviously, the sun is Earth’s life blood,” said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics division at NASA. “To mitigate possible public safety issues, it is vital that we better understand extreme space weather events caused by the sun’s activity."  

Cosmic rays detected deep underground reveal secrets of the upper atmosphere   [ 08/11/09 ] "Cosmic-rays detected half a mile underground in a disused U.S. iron-mine can be used to detect major weather events occurring 20 miles up in the Earth's upper atmosphere, a new study has revealed. The number of high-energy cosmic-rays reaching a detector deep underground, has been found to closely match temperature measurements in the upper atmosphere ..."

Mysterious bright spot found on Venus   [ 08/01/09 ] "A strange spot emerged on Venus last week, and astronomers are not sure what caused it. They hope future observations will reveal whether volcanic activity, turbulence in the planet's atmosphere, or charged particles from the sun are to blame ..."

Images of Betelgeuse reveal how explosive red supergiant is losing mass   [ 08/01/09 ] "We have detected a large plume of gas extending into space from the surface of Betelgeuse,’ lead researcher Pierre Kervella from the Paris Observatory told the website PhysOrg. The plume bursts out to at least six times the diameter of the star - about the distance from Sun to Neptune. ‘This is a clear indication that the whole outer shell of the star is not shedding matter evenly in all directions ... Combined, the unrivalled observations have led the astronomers to propose that these large-scale gas motions roiling under Betelgeuse’s red surface are behind the ejection of the massive plume into space ..."

Betelgeuse and Antares are confirmed to be on the path to Supernova  [ 07/27/09 ] "Under a verbal agreement of confidentiality with the nation that confirmed, we are not disclosing where one of our associates secured the information we were looking for regarding Betelgeuse and Antares. When stars start showing spectral signs of the isotopes Nickel-56 and Cobalt-56 it is a sure sign that the acceleration to Supernova has begun. Those two isotopes have a very short half-life. Nickel-56 has a half-life of about 6 days and converts into Cobalt-56. The Cobalt-56 isotope has a half-life of 77 days. That is then decayed into Fe-56 or the Iron Core of the super massive star. When that reaches the critical point, supernova occurs. Antares is showing a higher Ni56 and Co56 conversion rate but that information is dated by 600 years due to the distance in light years. That may explain why it was larger than Betelgeuse and is now contracted to a size smaller than. That is a clear indication that it is headed to Supernova, too. So, both Betelgeuse and Antares are confirmed to be on the path to Supernova. Betelgeuse is about 400 light years away so that information is dated by that amount of time. Antares is about 600 light years away and also dated by that amount of time. Chances are one or both of them may have already reached the threshold and went to Supernova, we just do not see the news yet. With Antares being about 15 solar masses it could wind up either a black hole or a super-dense neutron star, maybe a pulsar. With Betelgeuse being at 20 solar masses its most probable end result would be a black hole. Might fool everyone but stars of that mass normally turn into a black hole when the event happens. Either one or both could deliver bad results for Earth. I guess one could say we live in interesting times."   Related:  Supernova Waves Rolled Over Mammoths  [ 07/27/09 ] "Our research indicates that a 10-kilometer-wide comet, which may have been composed from the remnants of a supernova explosion, could have hit North America 13,000 years ago," says Firestone. "This event was preceded by an intense blast of iron-rich grains that impacted the planet roughly 34,000 years ago ... The 150 percent increase of radiocarbon found in 41,000-year-old marine sediment is consistent with a supernova exploding 250 light years away, when compared to observations of a radiocarbon increase in tree rings from the time of the nearby historical supernova SN 1006," says Firestone. Firestone adds that it would take 7,000 years for the supernova's iron-rich grains to travel 250 light years to the Earth, which corresponds to the time of the next marine sediment radiocarbon spike and the dating of the 34,000-year-old mammoth tusks. The most recent sediment spike corresponds with the end of the Clovis era and the comet-like bombardment ..."  

Jupiter and Saturn usually shield the Earth from catastrophic comet collisions  [ 07/25/09 ] "Jupiter and Saturn have protected life on Earth for hundreds of millions of years by shielding us from comets. Many large comets hurtling towards Earth all the way from the edge of the Solar System have been batted away by the two gas giants, preserving life as we know it. The guardian planets effectively act as the planet's bouncers, research has shown ... Most scientists agree that a catastrophic asteroid collision 65 million years ago wiped out the dinosaurs. But the new research suggests few, if any, mass extinctions have been caused by the 'long-period' comets that take from 200 to tens of millions of years to orbit the Sun ... Previously it was thought that long-period comets, originating from a mysterious region called the 'Oort Cloud', occasionally destroyed life on Earth. Astronomers know that Jupiter and Saturn's gravitational fields can eject comets into interstellar space, or draw them in so that they crash into the giant planets ... About 3,200 long-period comets are known, one of the most famous being Hale-Bopp which was visible to even the naked eye during 1996 and 1997. Halley's Comet, which reappears about every 75 years, is a 'short-period' comet from a different part of the Solar System called the Kuiper Belt ... The computer simulations showed that no more than two or three comets from the Oort Cloud could have struck the Earth during what is believed to have been the most powerful comet shower of the last 500 million years. One minor extinction event 40 million years ago was probably caused by an unusually intense burst of comets that slipped past Jupiter and Saturn. Astronomer Nathan Kaib, from the University of Washington, who led the study, said: 'That tells you that the most powerful comet showers caused minor extinctions and other showers should have been less severe, so comet showers are probably not likely causes of mass extinction events.' It was clear the Earth had benefited from Jupiter and Saturn standing guard like giant 'catchers mitts', deflecting or absorbing comets that might otherwise strike the Earth. 'We show that Jupiter and Saturn are not perfect, and some of the comets from the inner Oort Cloud are able to break through, but most don't,' said Mr Kaib."  

World's largest telescope to be built in Hawaii [ 07/22/09 ]  "Hawaii was chosen Tuesday as the site for the world's biggest telescope, a device so powerful that it will allow scientists to see some 13 billion light years away and get a glimpse into the early years of the universe ..."

Various Videos of the Eclipse from around the world [ 07/22/09 ]  "People throughout Asia gathered on Tuesday and Wednesday to view the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century. Here are some videos of the eclipse from Japan, the Philippines and China."

Century's longest solar eclipse will plunge millions in Asia into darkness   [ 07/21/09 ] "Millions of people in Asia will experience a blackout during a six-minute solar eclipse tomorrow morning. The total eclipse, the longest to happen this century, will be experienced by swathes of India, China and southern Japanese islands. Streams of amateur stargazers and scientists are travelling long distances to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event. The previous total eclipse, in August 2008, was two minutes and 27 seconds. This one will last 6 minutes and 39 seconds at its maximum point. 'We'll have to wait a few hundred years for another opportunity to observe a solar eclipse that lasts this long, so it's a very special opportunity,' said Shao Zhenyi, an astronomer at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. ..."   

Mysterious, Glowing Clouds Appear Across America’s Night Skies  [ 07/18/09 ] "Mysterious, glowing clouds previously seen almost exclusively in Earth’s polar regions have appeared in the skies over the United States and Europe over the past several days.  Photographers and other sky watchers in Omaha, Paris, Seattle, and other locations have run outside to capture images of what scientists call noctilucent (”night shining”) clouds. Formed by ice literally at the boundary where the earth’s atmosphere meets space 50 miles up, they shine because they are so high that they remain lit by the sun even after our star is below the horizon ... they were first observed in 1885 by an amateur astronomer. No observations of anything resembling noctilucent clouds before that time has ever been found. There is no lack of observations of other phenomena in the sky, so atmospheric scientists are fairly sure that the phenomenon is recent, although they are not sure why ...  Vincent Wickwar, an atmospheric scientist at Utah State University whose team was first to report a mid-latitude noctilucent cloud in 2002. Temperature does not explain their observations from around 42 degrees latitude.  ...Wickwar’s explanation is that a vertical atmospheric wave discovered in their LIDAR data lowered the temperature in the region above their radar installation near Logan, Utah. But then you have to ask, he noted, “Where’d the wave come from?” "  Note: Here's a polar shot from July 11, 2009; remembering that the graduation stream exits the pole ('NP"), who knows what's up.

 Jet stream deep inside the sun is migrating slower than usual through the star's interior [ 07/10/09 ]  "... the stream associated with the next solar cycle has moved sluggishly, taking three years to cover a 10 degree range in latitude compared to only two years for the previous solar cycle ..."

 Sudden Super Sunspot - Intense Say Astronomers  [ 07/06/09 ]  "Sunspot 1024 is crackling with B- and C-class solar flares...." Related: The Sun puts on some fireworks for the 4th of July

 World's Largest Commercial Satellite Launched to Space  [ 07/03/09 ]  "The largest commercial satellite ever built - the massive TerreStar-1 - launched into space on Wednesday, riding a European-built rocket into orbit. Weighing in at 15,233 pounds (6,910 kg), TerreStar-1 lifted off atop an Ariane 5 ECA rocket at 1:52 p.m. EDT (1752 GMT) from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. In addition to its mass, TerreStar-1 is distinguished by a giant, 60-foot (18-meter) wide S-band antenna that will be unfurled in the coming weeks ..."

 Scientists find first conclusive signature for uranium on Moon [ 07/01/09 ]  "A team of scientists has found the first conclusive signature for the presence of uranium on the lunar surface, an element not seen in previous Moon-mapping efforts. The uranium signatures were detected by Robert C Reedy, a senior scientist at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute, who is mapping the Moon’s surface elements using data gathered by an advanced gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) that rode aboard the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft ..."

 Spacefaring Bacteria  [ 06/24/09 ] "In 2002, several scientists claimed that bacteria high in Earth's atmosphere came from space. Last year, scientists said that bacteria in the upper atmosphere may actually make rain. Specifically, they said that bacteria can freeze at fairly warm temperatures, so that the "biological ice nuclei" form condensation nuclei which triggers rain. Indeed, some scientists have speculated that bacteria cause rain as a means of transportation, so that they will "rain out" from the upper atmosphere to the surface of a planet..."

 Moon probe enters lunar orbit: NASA  [ 06/23/09 ]   "The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) space probe successfully entered orbit around the moon at 1027 GMT, the US space agency said in a statement ... "Once we enter the moon's orbit, we can begin to build up the dataset needed to understand in greater detail the lunar topography, features and resources," said Cathy Peddie, LRO deputy project manager at NASA's Goddard Center ..." Note: Why bother, if funding for moon exploration is being curtailed:  Lawmakers Slash $670 Million From NASA Budget Request

 NASA moon bombing violates space law & may cause conflict with lunar ET/UFO civilizations  [ 06/22/09 ]   "The planned October 9, 2009 bombing of the moon by a NASA orbiter that will bomb the moon with a 2-ton kinetic weapon to create a 5 mile wide deep crater as an alleged 'water-seeking and lunar colonization experiment', is contrary to space law prohibiting environmental modification of celestial bodies. The NASA moon bombing, a component of the LCROSS mission, may also trigger conflict with known extraterrestrial civilizations on the moon as reported on the moon in witnessed statements by U.S. astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, and in witnessed statements to NSA (National Security Agency) photos and documents regarding an extraterrestrial base on the dark side of the moon ..."

 After 40 years' reflection, laser moon mirror project is axed  [ 06/21/09 ]   "An experiment, begun when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left a mirror on the lunar surface 40 years ago to allow Earth-based astronomers to fire lasers at it, has been ended by American science chiefs. The National Science Foundation (NSF) last week wrote to scientists working at the McDonald Laser ranging station at Fort Davis in Texas to tell them the annual $125,000 funding for their research project was going be terminated following a review of its scientific merits. The decision means that four decades of continuous lunar laser research at the McDonald Observatory, run by the University of Texas at Austin, will be halted by the end of this year. Among the project's unlikely achievements has been the discovery that the moon is moving away from Earth at a rate of two-and-a-half inches a year. The mirror's existence, and the fact that astronomers can bounce lasers off it and detect the returning beam, has also provided Nasa and other scientists with compelling evidence to refute the claims of moon-landing deniers who claim the Apollo lunar mission were hoaxes filmed in an Earth-based studio ..." Note: The FIRST missions WERE hoaxes ... real missions happened later ... the public was convinced that ALL missions were actual missions. Notice how this TRUTH has been subverted by the 'binary' thought process (only two opposite options for things are acceptable answers) , which says that 'we went' OR 'we didn't'. In fact, BOTH are TRUE.

 NASA Launches Rocket To The Moon, First In A Decade  [ 06/18/09 ]   "NASA launched its first moon shot in a decade Thursday, sending up a pair of unmanned science probes that will help determine where astronauts could land and set up camp in years to come. The liftoff occurred just one month and two days shy of the 40th anniversary of the first lunar footprints. The mission is a first step in NASA's effort to return humans to the moon by 2020 ... Scientists cheered as the Atlas V rocket carrying the two spacecraft blasted off in late afternoon, ducking through clouds and providing an exhilarating start to the $583 million mission. "It was amazing," said John Keller, a deputy project scientist. The two spacecraft should reach the moon in four to five days _ or by early next week. One will enter into an orbit around the moon for a mapping mission. The other will swing past the moon and go into an elongated orbit around Earth that will put it on course to crash into a crater at the moon's south pole in October. NASA expects the dramatic moon-impacting part of the mission to be "a smashing success." It's a quest to determine whether frozen water is buried in one of the permanently shadowed craters. Water would be a tremendous resource for pioneering astronauts. "We're going to be doing some lunar prospecting, if you will, excavation style," said project manager Dan Andrews ... It's an unusual two-for-one moon shot. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will provide a high-precision, three-dimensional map of the lunar surface. It will circle the lunar poles and, via its seven science instruments, provide a new atlas of the moon as well as a guidebook for future explorers."  Note: They HAVE all this shit. It's a surveillance mission, if anything. Why now. Why bother?  Related:  Lawmakers Slash $670 Million From NASA Budget Request "In a move that reflects the uncertainty surrounding NASA's current strategy for replacing the space shuttle and returning astronauts to the Moon by 2020, House appropriators slashed by 16 percent the space agency's $4 billion request for manned space exploration in 2010 ..." Note:  So ... what's really going on?  

 Military Hush-Up: Incoming Space Rocks Now Classified  [ 06/14/09 ]   "For 15 years, scientists have benefited from data gleaned by U.S. classified satellites of natural fireball events in Earth’s atmosphere – but no longer. A recent U.S. military policy decision now explicitly states that observations by hush-hush government spacecraft of incoming bolides and fireballs are classified secret and are not to be released, SPACE.com has learned. The satellites’ main objectives include detecting nuclear bomb tests, and their characterizations of asteroids and lesser meteoroids as they crash through the atmosphere has been a byproduct data bonanza for scientists. The upshot: Space rocks that explode in the atmosphere are now classified. “It’s baffling to us why this would suddenly change,” said one scientist familiar with the work. “It’s unfortunate because there was this great synergy…a very good cooperative arrangement. Systems were put into dual-use mode where a lot of science was getting done that couldn’t be done any other way. It’s a regrettable change in policy ..."

 14-year-old hit by 30,000 mph space meteorite  [ 06/13/09 ]   "Gerrit Blank survived a direct hit by a meteorite as it hurtled to Earth at more than 30,000 mph. Gerrit Blank, 14, was on his way to school when he saw "ball of light" heading straight towards him from the sky. A red hot, pea-sized piece of rock then hit his hand before bouncing off and causing a foot wide crater in the ground. The teenager survived the strike, the chances of which are just 1 in a million - but with a nasty three-inch long scar on his hand ..."

Mars orbiter enters safe mode after glitch  [ 06/06/09 ] "NASA says its powerful Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is in safe mode after being hit by a cosmic ray or solar particle. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched in 2005 and entered Martian orbit in 2006. The spacecraft's initial two-year, $720 million mission has been extended to at least 2010."  Related: Orbiter glitch stalls Red Planet science

Venetia Phair Dies at 90; named Pluto  [ 06/05/09 ] "As an 11-year-old in Britain, Mrs. Phair suggested the name Pluto to her well-connected grandfather." Note: Phair enough.

US Navy Physicist warns of 'several decades of crushing cold temperatures and global famine'  PDF [ 05/20/09 ] An interesting report with an analysis of SOLAR changes, done in April 2009 by Retired U.S. Navy Physicist and Engineer James A. Marusek. " ... Recent periods of quiet sun were the Dalton Minimum (1790-1830 A.D.), the Maunder Minimum (1645-1715 A.D.) and the Spörer Minimum (1420 to 1570 A.D.). The Maunder Minimum and Spörer Minimum were solar Grand Minima and each were individually referred to as the Little Ice Age...We are now at a crossroad. Two paths lie before us. Both are marked with a signpost that reads “Danger”! Down one path lies monstrous solar storms. Down the other path lies several decades of crushing cold temperatures and global famine. If either of these threats materializes, this nation will be hit blind-sighted. Both are related to the current state of the sun. The sun has been in a “Grand Maxima” for most of the past century. This has accounted for much of the natural warming the earth has experienced. But as evident in this solar minimum, the sun is changing states. It might (1) revert to the old solar cycles or (2) the sun might go even quieter into a “Dalton Minimum” or a Grand Minima such as the “Maunder Minimum”. It is still a little early to predict which way it will swing. Each of these two possibilities holds a great threat to our nation."  Note: Some really good observations relative to past history with the sun and climate. Observations of the Sun are useful because: The graduation path for the planetary entity (Nature Spirit) came into being in not too long ago, connecting the Sun to the Earth. When the planetary spirit leaves, independently of any other dynamic, we all drop to the ground, dead, and much of the atmosphere bleeds off into space. On the hypothesis that interesting changes in the current pattern may precede this, I thought that monitoring it would be useful. Check the 'Solar Cycle 24" website (also featured above) periodically if you wish to keep an eye on how things change.

Hubble is back from the dead [ 05/19/09 ] "The Space Telescope Imaging Spectograph ... It’s really important if we want to learn about how fast an object is moving ... It was installed on Hubble in 1997 but failed when its five-volt power supply cut out in 2004 after 69,000 hours of service, leaving it dead for the last five years ... Since this is the final servicing mission to Hubble, Nasa does not have the opportunity to bring the Spectograph down to Earth and return it on a later flight. The space agency took the decision that it would be worth the risk. ..."   Note: Now, why would they want to maintain the ability to detect what's coming and how fast something would be moving ... what are they preparing for ...

Two European telescopes have launched into space [ 05/16/09 ] "Two European telescopes have launched into space today which could solve the mystery surrounding the origins of the universe. The Herschel and Planck observatories were sent into orbit together from French Guinea at 2.12pm (BST). They will begin their scientific observations in around two months. The primary mirror of the Herschel telescope is 1 1/2 times the size of the Hubble Space Telescope's main reflector."  Video included.  Note: I don't think that telescopes are going to explain that the 'universe' is a manifested creation of Higher Selves.

NASA's most dangerous shuttle mission ever prepares to blast off to fix Hubble Telescope  [ 05/11/09 ] "NASA is set to dispatch seven astronauts on its most dangerous ever shuttle mission as it attempts to rescue the $7 billion Hubble Space Telescope from meltdown. Led by former US Navy fighter pilot Scott Altman, 49, a one-time stunt flier for actor Tom Cruise in the film Top Gun, the crew of Atlantis will repair and upgrade the orbiting observatory, risking a potentially deadly space-junk collision that could leave them stranded 350 miles above Earth. The mission, which is costing NASA $1.4 billion and is due to blast off from Florida tomorrow, is considered so perilous that it was once cancelled by space agency chiefs who feared that it could cost the astronauts their lives."

British space mission to uncover 'secrets of universe' [ 05/03/09 ] "A British space mission, which would include two deep space telescopes, dubbed Herschel and Planck, will probe the ancient history of the cosmos going right back to the dawn of time at the Big Bang - and possibly before."  Note: We will no doubt see them all go down to the old Cock and Bull pub for a few rounds ...

The missing sunspots: Is this the big chill?   [ 04/28/09 ] "The disappearance of sunspots happens every few years, but this time it’s gone on far longer than anyone expected – and there is no sign of the Sun waking up. “This is the lowest we’ve ever seen. We thought we’d be out of it by now, but we’re not,” says Marc Hairston of the University of Texas. And it’s not just the sunspots that are causing concern. There is also the so-called solar wind – streams of particles the Sun pours out – that is at its weakest since records began. In addition, the Sun’s magnetic axis is tilted to an unusual degree ... 

The Geomagnetic Apocalypse   [ 04/25/09 ] "For scary speculation about the end of civilization in 2012, people usually turn to followers of cryptic Mayan prophecy, not scientists. But that's exactly what a group of NASA-assembled researchers described in a chilling report issued earlier this year on the destructive potential of solar storms. Entitled "Severe Space Weather Events —  Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts," it describes the consequences of solar flares unleashing waves of energy that could disrupt Earth's magnetic field, overwhelming high-voltage transformers with vast electrical currents and short-circuiting energy grids. Such a catastrophe would cost the United States "$1 trillion to $2 trillion in the first year," concluded the panel, and "full recovery could take four to 10 years." That would, of course, be just a fraction of global damages. Needless to say, shorting out the electrical grid would cause major disruptions to developed nations and their economies. Worse yet, the next period of intense solar activity is expected in 2012, and coincides with the presence of an unusually large hole in Earth's geomagnetic shield, meaning we'll have less protection than usual from the solar flares. The report received relatively little attention, perhaps because of 2012's supernatural connotations. Mayan astronomers supposedly predicted that 2012 would mark the calamitous "birth of a new era." But the report is credible enough that some scientists and engineers are beginning to take the electromagnetic threat seriously. According to Lawrence Joseph, author of "Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation into Civilization's End," "I've been following this topic for almost five years, and it wasn't until the report came out that this really began to freak me out ....." 

Scientists Have No Idea What's Up With the Sun  [ 04/23/09 ] "The observations are baffling astronomers, who are due to study new pictures of the Sun, taken from space, at the UK National Astronomy Meeting." See also BBC: 'Quiet Sun' baffling astronomers  

New knowledge of the Galactic magnetic fields [ 04/14/09 ] PDF "The magnetic fields of our Milky Way galaxy are the main agent for cosmic rays to transport. In the last decade, much new knowledge has been gained from measurements of the Galactic magnetic fields. In the Galactic disk, from the RMs of a large number of newly discovered pulsars, the large-scale magnetic fields along the spiral arms have been delineated in a much larger region than ever before, with alternating directions in the arm and interarm regions...."

Scientists pinpoint the 'edge of space'  [ 04/09/09 ] "Where does space begin? Scientists at the University of Calgary have created a new instrument that is able to track the transition between the relatively gentle winds of Earth's atmosphere and the more violent flows of charged particles in space – flows that can reach speeds well over 1000 km/hr. And they have accomplished this in unprecedented detail. Data received from the U of C-designed instrument sent to space on a NASA launch from Alaska about two years ago was able to help pinpoint the so-called edge of space: the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. With that data, U of C scientists confirmed that space begins 118 km above Earth and the results were published this week in the Journal of Geophysical Research ..."

Deep Solar Minimum  [ 04/08/09 ] "The sunspot cycle is behaving a little like the stock market. Just when you think it has hit bottom, it goes even lower. 2008 was a bear. There were no sunspots observed on 266 of the year's 366 days (73%). To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go all the way back to 1913, which had 311 spotless days: plot. Prompted by these numbers, some observers suggested that the solar cycle had hit bottom in 2008. Maybe not. Sunspot counts for 2009 have dropped even lower. As of March 31st, there were no sunspots on 78 of the year's 90 days (87%). It adds up to one inescapable conclusion: "We're experiencing a very deep solar minimum," says solar physicist Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "This is the quietest sun we've seen in almost a century," agrees sunspot expert David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center. But is it supposed to be this quiet?  [ It is, on the cusp of the process relative to the planetary spirit and the Endgame graduation process ]

[1] In 2008, the sun set the following records: A 50-year low in solar wind pressure: Measurements by the Ulysses spacecraft reveal a 20% drop in solar wind pressure since the mid-1990s—the lowest point since such measurements began in the 1960s. The solar wind helps keep galactic cosmic rays out of the inner solar system. With the solar wind flagging, more cosmic rays are permitted to enter, resulting in increased health hazards for astronauts. Weaker solar wind also means fewer geomagnetic storms and auroras on Earth.

[2] A 12-year low in solar "irradiance": Careful measurements by several NASA spacecraft show that the sun's brightness has dropped by 0.02% at visible wavelengths and 6% at extreme UV wavelengths since the solar minimum of 1996. The changes so far are not enough to reverse the course of global warming, but there are some other significant side-effects: Earth's upper atmosphere is heated less by the sun and it is therefore less "puffed up." Satellites in low Earth orbit experience less atmospheric drag, extending their operational lifetimes. Unfortunately, space junk also remains longer in Earth orbit, increasing hazards to spacecraft and satellites." 

[3] A 55-year low in solar radio emissions: After World War II, astronomers began keeping records of the sun's brightness at radio wavelengths. Records of 10.7 cm flux extend back all the way to the early 1950s. Radio telescopes are now recording the dimmest "radio sun" since 1955: plot. Some researchers believe that the lessening of radio emissions is an indication of weakness in the sun's global magnetic field. No one is certain, however, because the source of these long-monitored radio emissions is not fully understood ..."

Space smells funny, astronauts say  [ 03/28/09 ] "Likened to burnt gunpowder or the ozone smell of electrical equipment. Discovery pilot Dominic "Tony" Antonelli said after a March 21 spacewalk. "Space definitely has a smell that's different than anything else." The odor, Antonelli said, could be smelled once spacewalkers locked the station airlock's outer hatch and reopened the inner door. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who launched to the station aboard Discovery and stayed behind when it left to join the outpost's crew, said he also could smell the odd odor that wafted in from outside the station. Former NASA astronaut Thomas Jones, a veteran of three spacewalks before retiring from spaceflying in 2001, thinks the odor could stem from atomic oxygen that clings to spacesuit fabric. he smell, he adds, only occurs on a shuttle or the space station after a spacewalk and is unmistakable to astronauts working with the spacesuits and equipment that was used in the vacuum of space."

Mars has liquid water, scientists assert  [ 03/15/09 ] "A team of scientists believes it has found strong evidence of liquid water on Mars, a discovery that would greatly increase the likelihood that some form of life may exist on the Red Planet."

NASA's Planet-Hunting Telescope Blasts Into Space [03/08/09] "NASA's planet-hunting telescope, Kepler, rocketed into space Friday night on a historic voyage to track down other Earths in a faraway patch of the Milky Way galaxy ... Once it's settled into an Earth-trailing orbit around the sun, Kepler will stare nonstop at 100,000 stars near the Cygnus and Lyra constellations, between 600 and 3,000 light years away. The telescope will watch for any dimming, or winks, in the stellar brightness that might be caused by orbiting planets." Note: What with all the OTHER telescopes and surveillance satellites trained away from Earth, another one won't matter. They don't have all these up there except to look for things coming towards us.

Asteroid 2009 DD45's Passing Was A Cosmic Near-Miss [03/04/09] "An asteroid about the size of one that blasted Siberia a century ago just buzzed the Earth. The asteroid named 2009 DD45 was about 48,800 miles from Earth when it zipped past early Monday, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported. That is just twice as high as the orbits of some telecommunications satellites and about a fifth of the distance to the Moon. "This was pretty darn close," astronomer Timothy Spahr of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said Wednesday. But not as close as the tiny meteoroid 2004 FU162, which came within 4,000 miles in 2004. The space rock measured between 69 feet and 154 feet in diameter. The Planetary Society said that made it about the same size as the asteroid that exploded over Siberia in 1908 and leveled more than 800 square miles of forest. Scientists at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia spotted 2009 DD45 and began tracking it in late February when it was about 1 million miles away. Spahr said he knew within an hour of that discovery that it would pose no threat to Earth ..."  Related: Asteroid plays chicken with Earth

Obama backs Moon return in NASA budget [02/28/09] "NASA will stay on track to return humans to the Moon by '2020', according to an overview of President Obama's '2010' budget request released on Thursday. Recently, various groups - including Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the space advocacy group the Planetary Society - have called for NASA to send astronauts to new destinations, such as asteroids."   Note: Ah, yes, the old sequential longing for space and conquest ....

NASA warns of 'space Katrina' radiation storm  [02/13/09] "A study funded by NASA has flagged up yet another terrible hazard for those no longer able to get excited about nuclear war, global pandemics, terrorism, climate change, economic meltdown and asteroid strike. Top space brain boxes say that even if the human race survives all those, there is a serious risk of civilisation being brought crashing to its knees by a sudden high-intensity solar radiation storm."

Big satellites collide 500 miles over Siberia  [02/12/09] "Two big communications satellites collided in the first-ever crash of its kind in orbit, shooting out a pair of massive debris clouds and posing a slight risk to the international space station. NASA said it will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the crash, which occurred nearly 500 miles over Siberia on Tuesday. "We knew this was going to happen eventually," said Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA believes any risk to the space station and its three astronauts is low. It orbits about 270 miles below the collision course. There also should be no danger to the space shuttle set to launch with seven astronauts on Feb. 22, officials said, but that will be re-evaluated in the coming days. The collision involved an Iridium commercial satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian satellite launched in 1993 and believed to be nonfunctioning. The Russian satellite was out of control, Matney said. The Iridium craft weighed 1,235 pounds, and the Russian craft nearly a ton. No one has any idea yet how many pieces were generated or how big they might be. "Right now, they're definitely counting dozens," Matney said. "I would suspect that they'll be counting hundreds when the counting is done." As for pieces the size of micrometers, the count will likely be in the thousands, he added ... This was the first high-speed impact between two intact spacecraft, NASA officials said. There have been four other cases in which space objects have collided accidentally in orbit, NASA said. But those were considered minor and involved parts of spent rockets or small satellites."

Booga Booga: Unseen dark comets 'could pose deadly threat to earth'   [02/11/09] So what? Stupid people typically pose more of a 'deadly threat'. Trying to inculcate 'fear of the unknown' is what 'they' dose people with every day to curtail experience and re-stimulate body id, and the British are very good at that. Also, any stories that have the word 'could', 'would', 'may', 'might, or similar future conditionals embedded in the title are 'conditioning propaganda' masquerading as 'news' or 'discoveries' which, in truth, reflect something that does not exist, all in an attempt to manipulate people who are dumber than a box of rocks. Notice also that the article, which is astronomy related, is written by a 'medical correspondent'. Messing with people's heads is sort of ... 'medical' ... in an Orion sort of way.

What Happens When Satellites Fall  [01/24/09] "There are actually a few possibilities, some good, and others not so much."

Mystery Roar from Faraway Space Detected  [01/08/09] "Space is typically thought of as a very quiet place. But one team of astronomers has found a strange cosmic noise that booms six times louder than expected. The roar is from the distant cosmos. Nobody knows what causes it."

Decrypting the Eclipse: A Solar Eclipse, Global Measurements and a Mystery  [12/25/08 ] " ... In 1954, Maurice Allais reported that a Foucault pendulum exhibited peculiar movements at the time of a solar eclipse. If true, his finding raises new questions about the nature of such phenomena ..."  Related: Gravity anomaly during the 1997 China total solar eclipse | Eclipse Anomalies in Atmospheric Motion 

A Giant Breach in Earth's Magnetic Field [12/17/08 ] "First we have the interplanetary magnetic field that took an abrupt dive in October 2005 and has not recovered since and remains at very low level. NASA's five THEMIS spacecraft have discovered a breach in Earth's magnetic field ten times larger than anything previously thought to exist. ... The big discovery came on June 3, 2007, when the five probes serendipitously flew through the breach just as it was opening. Onboard sensors recorded a torrent of solar wind particles streaming into the magnetosphere, signaling an event of unexpected size and importance ... The opening was huge—four times wider than Earth itself," says Wenhui Li, a space physicist at the University of New Hampshire who has been analyzing the data. Li's colleague Jimmy Raeder, also of New Hampshire, says "1027 particles per second were flowing into the magnetosphere—that's a 1 followed by 27 zeros. This kind of influx is an order of magnitude greater than what we thought was possible." ... The event began with little warning when a gentle gust of solar wind delivered a bundle of magnetic fields from the Sun to Earth. Like an octopus wrapping its tentacles around a big clam, solar magnetic fields draped themselves around the magnetosphere and cracked it open. The cracking was accomplished by means of a process called "magnetic reconnection." High above Earth's poles, solar and terrestrial magnetic fields linked up (reconnected) to form conduits for solar wind. Conduits over the Arctic and Antarctic quickly expanded; within minutes they overlapped over Earth's equator to create the biggest magnetic breach ever recorded by Earth-orbiting spacecraft."

Boundary Between Earth's Upper Atmosphere And Space Has Moved  [12/17/08 ] "Observations made by NASA instruments onboard an Air Force satellite have shown that the boundary between the Earth's upper atmosphere and space has moved to extraordinarily low altitudes." 

Unprecedented 16-year-long study tracks stars orbiting Milky Way black hole  [12/15/08 ]  "By watching the motions of 28 stars orbiting the Milky Way's most central region with admirable patience and amazing precision, astronomers have been able to study the supermassive black hole lurking there. ...

5 Cosmic Events That Could Kill You Before Lunch  [12/06/08 ]  "Sure, everybody has seen Armageddon and knows that if an asteroid should come hurdling toward us, we'd just have to send up a bunch of dudes to stuff a bomb inside it. Easy! But it turns out there are a whole lot of other, less well-known threats out there in the cosmos that that could wipe us out at any moment. And we'd probably never see them coming ..."

Swift Detects X-Ray Emissions from  Mysterious 'Comets'    [12/05/08 ]  "Things appeared to get a little strange in the field of X-ray astronomy when the NASA/ESA ROSAT observatory started seeing emissions from a series of comets. This discovery in 1996 was a conundrum; how could X-rays, more commonly associated with hot plasmas, be produced by some of the coldest bodies in the Solar System? ... It was a big surprise in 1996 when the NASA-European ROSAT mission showed that comet Hyakutake was emitting X-rays," said Dennis Bodewits, NASA Postdoctural Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Centre. "After that discovery, astronomers searched through ROSAT archives. It turns out that most comets emit X-rays when they come within about three times Earth's distance from the sun."  In terms of their rationale on how this happens, I am not entirely convinced. It may also be possible that some of these objects are 'comets in disguise'. 

NASA Mars photo leaked - wood plank found on mars    [11/28/08 ]  "Someone at NASA released a photo that they shouldn’t have, a picture of a piece of timber the size of a railroad tie, a photo that could get someone killed. There is no mistaking that the object in the print below is a piece of wood. NASA claims that Mars is a desert planet with no life at all. NASA lies, repeatedly. Where would a piece of timber this size come from? There are vast forests on Mars, ones that are kept from the public. This piece of wood looks like it floated to its present location, being partially sunk in the soil. The ground around it is very interesting. Notice the flat rock formation of the soil and the crevices in between them. Does this look familiar? It appears to be the bed of a dried up pond. There had to be a significant amount of water in this area, water high enough to lift that railroad tie sized piece of timber and float is perhaps several miles. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed that vast regions of the Red Planet have been altered by floods. This dried pond effect should come as no surprise ..."

Discovered: Cosmic Rays from a Mysterious, Nearby Object    [11/21/08 ]  "An international team of researchers has discovered a puzzling surplus of high-energy electrons bombarding Earth from space. The source of these cosmic rays is unknown, but it must be close to the solar system and it could be made of dark matter. Their results are being reported in the Nov. 20th issue of the journal Nature. "This is a big discovery," says co-author John Wefel of Louisiana State University. "It's the first time we've seen a discrete source of accelerated cosmic rays standing out from the general galactic background ... The source of these exotic electrons must be relatively close to the solar system—no more than a kiloparsec away," says co-author Jim Adams of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center ... the incoming electrons have had their directions scrambled to some degree by galactic magnetic fields ... "Our data could be explained by a cloud or clump of dark matter in the neighborhood of the solar system ... "Whatever it is," says Adams, "it's going to be amazing."

Long-lost lunar photos get another day in the sun    [11/16/08 ]  "Mankind's first up-close photos of the lunar landscape have been rescued from four decades of dusty storage, and they've been restored to such a high quality that they rival anything taken by modern cameras. NASA and some private space business leaders spent a quarter million dollars rescuing the historic photos from early NASA lunar robotic probes and restoring them in an abandoned McDonald's. In 1966 and 1967, NASA sent five Lunar Orbiters to the moon to take up-close photos to prepare for man's first visit in 1969. The probes shot the pictures, developed the film and beamed back the images to Earth, where they were stored on specialized tapes that require a certain type of machine to be seen. The astronauts who landed on the moon took more photos and the Lunar Orbiter images were essentially forgotten. The tapes with the images were put in storage. The specialized machines were offered free to anyone who would haul them away ..."  See website.

"Long-Awaited Solar Cycle 24 Starting To Take Off"    [11/13/08 ]  "After two-plus years of few sunspots, even fewer solar flares, and a generally eerie calm, the sun is finally showing signs of life. "Last month we counted five sunspot groups," he says. That may not sound like much, but in a year with record-low numbers of sunspots and long stretches of utter spotlessness, five is significant. Four of the five sunspot groups belonged to Solar Cycle 24, the long-awaited next installment of the sun's 11-year solar cycle ... At first glance, old- and new-cycle sunspots look the same, but they are not. The magnetic polarity of new-cycle spots is reversed compared to old-cycle spots ... On Nov. 3rd and again on Nov. 4th, one area on the sun unleashed a series of B-class solar flares. Although B-flares are considered minor, the explosions made themselves felt on Earth. X-rays bathed the dayside of our planet and sent waves of ionization rippling through the atmosphere over Europe."

Unknown "Structures" Tugging at Universe, Study Says   [11/08/08 ]  "On the outskirts of creation, unknown, unseen "structures" are tugging on our universe like cosmic magnets, a controversial new study says. Everything in the known universe is said to be racing toward the massive clumps of matter at more than 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) an hour—a movement the researchers have dubbed dark flow. The presence of the extra-universal matter suggests that our universe is part of something bigger — a multiverse — and that whatever is out there is very different from the universe we know ... in the cosmological case, Kashlinsky speculates that "this motion is caused by structures well beyond the current cosmological horizon, which is more than 14 billion light-years away." 

Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth   [11/02/08 ]  "The implications of this ... the path through which the connection to the Sun was established in Feb 2008 for the planetary spirit to reach the Sun during graduation processes. At some point in the process of Endgame, the planetary nature path entity will leave, and all life will cease on Earth. The path between the Earth and the Sun for the graduation has been in place for 11 months. Time is ticking

Is the Sun Changing?   [11/05/08 ]  "On Nov 2, 2008, solar X-Ray activity greatly increased. No large solar flares have been visible to create the increased X-ray activity .... and we see no real increase in sunspot activity. There are however, very unusual right-angled patterns that have appeared with no explanation."  . Related: Solar Particle Activity Has Virtually Flat-Lined   [11/06/08 ]   

Lost NASA Ozone Hole Movie   [11/05/08 ]  "One evening back in the 1980's, a "movie" was aired comprised of still frames. No commentary or sound and very little on-screen text except a brief description before the movie ran. It was a compendium of data from a NASA satellite stationed over the South Pole. It took one image per day in the ultraviolet region to capture the progress of the hole. The movie ran for several minutes, and covered 10 years. It was impressive to see the hole grow large, grow small, grow large again over a ten year period. Every six months the hole reached either it's maximum or minimum size depending on the time of year. But it never became any larger over the ten years. There was only ONE year where another very small hole formed, perhaps about 200 miles across. But that ozone hole was out in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, about 1,000 miles from Australia and only existed for a few weeks. Then it disappeared. As the movie ran, the date and year could be seen incrementing down in the lower left corner of the screen at the rate of about 30 days/second. The movie was repeated several times which was useful for collecting the above details. Today we hear only panic about the ozone hole getting larger, but I submit this is nothing but hysteria. It has been acknowledged by some scientists today that back in the year 2000, the ozone hole reached it's largest size. Since that day some 20 years ago, this NASA movie has never been aired or seen again."  So he's saying that all the concern about permanent damage is for nothing. 

NASA probe finds opals in Martian crevices: Mars became uninhabitable later than thought   [11/03/08 ]  "NASA space probe orbiting Mars has discovered deposits of opals in the mighty Valles Marineris canyon system* east of Tharsis. Opals aren't valuable enough to justify interplanetary trade, but the discovery is significant as it suggests that liquid water existed on Mars a billion years more recently than had been thought ..."  Related: Phoenix Lander listens to Mars murmurings  " ... The mission controllers plan to switch the mike on and see if they hear the Lander's tools working away at the Martian surface. If they can pick up sounds like a shovel passing through gritty sand or scraping a rock, then they'll try listening when the Lander's tools are idle. The imaging system will also be switched on and take pictures of dust sticking to the Lander's legs. These have apparently, and mysteriously, moved around on the legs and been described as quasi-barnacles ... "

October 28, 2008 Fireball   [11/01/08 ]  "This fireball occurred at 7:29 PM MDT over central Colorado. I have received over 100 witness reports, from Casper, WY in the north, Albuquerque, NM is the south, the Western Slope to the west, and the Front Range to the east."

Is Solar System's Heliosphere Shrinking?  [10/20/08 ]  "Illustration of our sun and solar system protected inside heliosphere “bubble” of solar wind blowing out to meet cold, interstellar gases at the heliopause. NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft, called IBEX, is about the size of a bus tire and was launched Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008, into high orbit at 130 miles above Earth. For the next two years, IBEX will investigate what's happening to the heliosphere, a protective bubble around our solar system “blown” into the interstellar medium by the solar wind. The heliopause is the boundary where the solar wind meets cold, interstellar gases. Scientists recently discovered that the solar wind pressure is the weakest it's been in fifty years, raising the question: is the heliosphere shrinking and what would the consequences be for Earth and the other planets? IBEX will also help scientists understand how life on Earth and astronauts in space can be more protected from galactic cosmic rays." Like gamma rays bursts which could extinguish all life on Earth.  

"Chemical Equator" Divides Earth's Hemispheres   " ... A worldwide weather "barrier" that can block air pollution from traveling southward, has been discovered, a new study says."

Galaxy Clusters Have a Mysterious Motion   " ... Researchers found an unexpected motion, or "flow," of galaxy clusters across a wide patch of the sky up to at least a billion light years away."

Solar Wind Pressure Lowest in 50 Years   "The entire sun is blowing solar wind significantly less harder, about 20% to 25% less harder and 13% lower temperature, than it was during the previous solar minimum a decade ago. ...Over the entire record of solar wind observations (about 50 years), this is the lowest prolonged pressure that we’ve ever observed.”

Hubble Found Unidentified Object in Space in 2006    " ... In a paper published last week in the Astrophysical Journal, scientists detail the discovery of a new unidentified object in the middle of nowhere ... It just wasn't there before. In fact, they don't even know where it is exactly located because it didn't behave like anything they know. Apparently, it can't be closer than 130 light-years but it can be as far as 11 billion light-years away. It's not in any known galaxy either. And they have ruled out a supernova too. It's something that they have never encountered before. In other words: they don't have a single clue about where or what the heck this thing is ..." Related:  Hubble Finds a Mystery Object [Sky & Telescope, 9/11/08]. Report: [PDF] Discovery Of An Unusual Optical Transient With The Hubble Space Telescope " ... If this transient does indeed represent a new class of either galactic or extragalactic transients, such objects will be of great interest for future extensive surveys of the time-variable sky." 

'Naked Eye' Gamma Ray Burst Was Aimed Squarely At Earth    "A powerful stellar explosion in a galaxy halfway across the Universe was aimed almost directly at Earth. The event, called a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), was bright enough for human eyes to see ... In the seconds after it first pointed at GRB 080319B, the infrared telescope PAIRITEL was blinded by the brilliant explosion. Early in the morning of March 19, the Swift satellite, a joint NASA/UK/Italian mission, pinpointed an extremely bright GRB and immediately sent out an alert to observatories around the world."    

New Milky Way map reveals a complicated outer galaxy    "Toward the constellation Virgo, where SDSS images revealed an excess of stars covering a huge area of sky, Newberg finds that there are at least two superposed structures, and possibly three or more. The SEGUE velocity measurements can separate systems that overlap in sky maps, Newberg explained in her symposium talk. "Part of what we see toward Virgo is a tidal arm of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, whose main body lies on the opposite side of the Milky Way, but we don't know the origin of the other structures. There really aren't enough pasta varieties to describe all the structures we find ..." 

Space espionage: a high priority   "The U.S. possesses the most powerful space intelligence network, having launched over 500 satellites by now. The Key Hole imagery intelligence satellites, also codenamed Big Bird, are the heart of the U.S. space intelligence system ... The further operation of "Big Birds" is at risk. The Misty program, launched by Boeing and Lockheed Martin and aimed at the creation of advanced imagery intelligence satellites, has already consumed $7.6 billion with no significant results. In late winter last year, a U.S. Navy cruiser fired a missile and shot down the malfunctioning satellite USA-193, which, military experts believe, could be the latest KH-14. In September 2007, a transitional model of Key Hole, the KH-12-4, which was a prototype of the KH-13 series, fell to earth in Peru ... In Russia, the fate of the intelligence satellite program is inseparable from the fate of the national space program. There was a great decline between the late 1990's and early 2000's. By 2005, only one Russian electronic reconnaissance satellite was in orbit, compared to 12 American satellites, surveying Russia's territory. Currently Russia has almost nothing to match the Big Bird. In November 2006 and August 2007, optical reconnaissance satellites ceased operation ... In late July this year, a Persona optical reconnaissance satellite was placed into orbit. It is a modern intelligence space vehicle, able to transmit images via a radio channel. Russia's Defense Ministry plans to launch two Persona satellites a year, starting with 2009 ..."      Of course, the cultural preoccupation with this is made rather unimportant when one considers all the flying triangles and cylinders in Earths atmosphere, as well as all the other things going on in this reality, never mind Endgame dynamics, the ultimate layer.

New Red Spots Have Formed On Jupiter Since 2005, Moon Europa Shifts Poles 90 degrees in 2008    Connected with graduation endgame scenario. "Inexplicable phenomena take place on Jupiter, the largest planet of the solar system. The gas giant has been quiet for hundreds of years. However, two new red spots have been formed in its atmosphere over the recent three years. Each spot is five or ten times bigger than the Earth. Jupiter’s satellite, Callisto, has the oldest ice shell among all natural satellites of all planets of the solar system. The explosion of its shell will lead to nuclear winters on Earth. It will be a horrible disaster for the biosphere, scientists say.."

NASA to Engineer Explosion Inside Dark Lunar Crater     "Sometime between May and August 2009, depending on launch dates, the booster stage for NASA's LCROSS probe will deliberately crash into a permanently-shadowed lunar crater at 9,000 km/hr, producing an explosion equivalent to about 2,000 pounds of TNT (6.5 billion joules) ... to 'look for signs of water'."

Radio Telescope the size of Planet Earth is ready to work     "This fall, the world's largest telescope will begin its scientific mission. Made up of radio telescopes in Chile, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and Sweden, the e-VLBI - for electronic very long baseline interferometer - creates in effect a telescope with a diameter of 11,000 kilometers. Earth's own diameter is about 12 750 km at the equator. Because a telescope's resolution is proportional to its size, the e-VLBI should see farther out in space and time and elucidate the finer structures of the most energetic phenomena in the universe, such as supernovas, pulsars, and black holes ... astronomers will get the most from the e-VLBI when they're tracking stellar explosions and other transient cosmic activity, including gamma-ray bursts and flaring microquasars. “It is now possible to observe a number of candidate cosmic sources and, if one of them is seen to come into an active state, do one or several follow-up observations, thus catching a flare in a microquasar at a very early moment, something which was not possible previously.”  What they're looking for will be upon them before they can blink. No warning for these kinds of things. Endgame is in progress. 

Solar System's "Bouncing" Linked To Mass Extinction Events     "A new computer model of our solar system's movement relative to the Milky Way indicates that it "bounces" up and down through the plane of the galaxy; a cycle that scientists say is a "beautiful match" with the mass extinction events that occur periodically on Earth ... "This is a seminal paper which places the comet-life interaction on a firm basis, and shows a mechanism by which life can be dispersed on a galactic scale," commented Centre director Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe. And in case you're interested in when the next comet infestation might occur, our present position in the galaxy suggests we are now very close to another such period."

Martian Soil May Contain Detrimental Substance     "Scientists previously reported that the soil where Phoenix landed in May was Earth-like, containing nutrients such as magnesium, sodium and chloride. The latest lab tests show the presence of an oxidizing substance. NASA is investigating whether the substance could have gotten there by contamination." Right. With all the hoopla about 'going to Mars', water on Mars, life on Mars .... now they want to ward people off? What's up?

Water, Water Everywhere on Mars      "The red planet was once awash in water, say scientists -- not boiling water, but benign seas that may have been suitable for life ... "There was apparently pervasive water present during the first 600 to 700 million years," said Brown University geologist John Mustard, co-author of a paper scheduled to be published today in Nature .."

It's Official: There's Water on the Moon       "Saal has employed a high powered imaging technique termed secondary ion mass spectrometry. He has identified a wealth of volatile compounds including water molecules. The molecules were concentrated in the center of the pebbles rather than coating their surface. This is being taken as evidence that the moisture is incumbent to the moon rather than being a coating from external contact."  Then there must be an atmosphere.

NASA sets date for final shuttle mission in 2010     "NASA has tentatively set the final space shuttle mission for May 31, 2010, four months before the shuttle fleet retires. NASA has 10 missions remaining for the shuttle fleet, which President Bush ordered to retire by Sept. 30, 2010. The schedule announced Monday includes five flights this year, five in 2009 and three in 2010. The space agency has already begun work on developing a new spacecraft to send astronauts back to the moon."

Mercury is shrinking, Nasa space probe reveals    "The Messenger space probe, which began its 5 billion mile journey to Mercury four years ago, has provided new evidence that the closest planet to the sun is contracting in on itself. Nasa scientists revealed images of cliffs and faults crossing the planet's surface, which they say are result of the crust buckling as Mercury's molten core cools down and solidifies. The planet may have lost around 3 miles from its 3,000 mile diameter through out its history. They said Messenger had revealed the shrinking caused by this cooling is far greater than had previously been thought ... Messenger is due to return to Mercury for another fly-by in October this year and again in September next year before setting into an orbit around Mercury in 2011.

Interesting Effects Of Light On Small Molecules On Earth And In Space    "The interaction between light and matter is vitally important for a wide range of applications, such as the modeling of chemical processes in the Earth's atmosphere, research into combustion processes and the measurement and modeling of processes in astrophysics. Under the influence of light, molecules can vibrate, rotate, disintegrate or even be formed out of individual atoms." 

NASA ties up with universities to develop planet-searching satellites   "The NASA Ames Research Center will develop the first of the planet-searching satellites along with scientists from MIT, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, as part of the six proposed spacecraft concepts that NASA has picked for its Small Explorer (SMEX) satellite programme." 

NASA: Shuttle Shutdown Will Cost 4,000 Jobs   "Those jobs will be created to build and fly new spaceships to the international space station and, ultimately, to the moon ... NASA is under presidential orders to complete the space station and stop flying its three remaining space shuttles in 2010, then shift its focus to moon exploration ... Many if not most of the engineering jobs needed to sustain the new moon program, called Constellation, will likely be based in Cape Canaveral, Griffin said."

NASA Study Provides Next Step to Establishing Lunar Outpost   "NASA engineers and scientists completed a milestone review June 20 that will help determine the systems needed to return humans to the moon and establish a lunar outpost ... "We confirmed that Constellation's conceptual designs for both Ares V and Altair will enable us to land astronauts and cargo anywhere on the moon and to build an outpost supporting widespread exploration of the lunar surface," said Jeff Hanley, Constellation Program manager."

Congress Wants Shuttle Flight for Science   "But the bill drew opposition from the Bush administration, which said the additional shuttle flight threatened NASA's ability to phase out the nearly three-decade-old program in 2010 and concentrate on the new equipment it needs to return man to the moon ... The next-generation spacecraft is key to President Bush's goal of resuming manned flights to the moon by 2020 and then traveling on to Mars." 

Extra $2.6 billion for NASA soars through House   "Lampson said the extra funding is necessary to close the gap between when the shuttles are retired and when the Constellation program begins excursions to the moon, by giving NASA enough money for a couple extra shuttle missions. With the current schedule, NASA is set to retire the shuttles in 2010 and begin flights with the Constellation program in 2015." 

NASA Phoenix Lander Bakes Sample, Arm Digs Deeper (and puts head up own ass) "One of the ovens on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander continued baking its first sample of Martian soil over the weekend."   Pat them on the head and give them a cookie!

Sun goes longer than normal without producing sunspots     "The sun has been laying low for the past couple of years, producing no sunspots. It continues to be dead," said Saku Tsuneta with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, program manager for the Hinode solar mission. "That's a small concern, a very small concern." The last cycle reached its peak in 2001 and is believed to be just ending now, Longcope said. The next cycle is just beginning and is expected to reach its peak sometime around 2012. Today's sun, however, is as inactive as it was two years ago, and scientists aren't sure why. "It's a dead face," Tsuneta said of the sun's appearance." 

Incorrect Assumptions in Astrophysics     "Halton Arp has amassed a collection of strong evidence (published in peer reviewed journals) that the Hubble relation (redshift ~= recessional velocity ~= distance), which Hubble himself admitted may not be the only viable explanation, is not the only interpretation of redshift and is not necessarily mutually exclusive with other interpretations (there may be both an intrinsic and a cosmological component to redshift, with the intrinsic component being dominant). Arp's assertion is that redshift is primarily a measure of the youth of an object with relation to other nearby less-redshifted objects, rather than a measure of its cosmological distance. If the underpinning assumption of ultra-luminous astronomy (and much of the Big Bang model) is found to be incorrect, then it may be necessary for astronomers to radically revise their understanding of the universe. Objects currently assumed to be "extremely distant," "super- massive," "ultra-luminous," or " extraordinarily fast" based upon Hubble relation distance assumptions may in fact be found to be far more local, small, dim, and slow." 

The "Big Bang" Is Just Religion Disguised As Science  "More and more evidence surfaces that the story of a supreme moment of creation is not based in fact." 

EU's GPS satellite in orbit     " An experimental satellite for a much-delayed European Union rival to the United States' GPS navigation system blasted into orbit Sunday after a successful launch atop a Russian rocket, the Russian and European space agencies said." 5/8/08

Radiation too great for astronauts to undertake long-term moon and Mars missions     It is well-known that deep-space radiation would be risky for future astronauts on long-lasting missions to targets such as Mars, but new research puts the danger in stark relief. The health risks could include cancer, especially colon cancer, and premature aging ... Astronauts on shuttle or space station missions (relatively short-duration missions) sometimes see flashes of light when they close their eyes — the result of high-energy particles striking and probably killing retinal cells in their eyes ...Astronauts on proposed long-duration missions to the moon, Mars or beyond would encounter high-energy radiation once outside the Earth's protective magnetic field and endure months of exposure."       Only the secret space program would be in operation, were everything to continue on Earth.

Astrophysicist Links Temperature Change with Sun's Energy Output   "Global temperature change can be attributed to slight variations in the sun's energy output, not man-made carbon dioxide emissions. That's according to astrophysicist Dr. Willie Soon, who was in Salt Lake City today to present his research to a crowd at The Sutherland Institute."

Solar Cycle Heats Up, Threatens Satellites   "Solar radiation reaches an 11-year high again in 2011, making things interesting for those reliant on satellites -- the U.S. military included. As Inside the Air Force notes this week, the solar cycle -- "the frequency in which sun spots and solar flares occur" -- waxes and wanes every 11 years. The last one reached its apex in April 2000, so it's gonna get warm again soon. And while solar flares can and do damage satellites even in non-peak times, 2011 still looms big ..."

Possible US Nuclear Weapons Platform in Orbit since 2006   "For the first time in the history of planet Earth, a nuclear weapons platform, with the warheads pointing down, has been placed in orbit. I apologize for the reporting delay but it is a secret program after all, and the first clues were sparse. They were buried in the information gathered about an issue that was much more urgent at the time. They described something being placed in orbit, but the actual significance was not clear. Was it a future event or already accomplished? The information appeared within the context of a plan that led from a nuclear incident on U.S. soil to an attack on Iran that would most likely also be nuclear. Did the use of the word "munition" describe the orbital package, or was it a coincidence that it appeared where it did? "  Note:  Interesting research, but mostly supported by 'reverse speech' analysis, if that has any validity. So who knows?  However, with all the things orbiting the planet, no doubt there is equipment like this up there.

  Solar X-Rays Momentarily Drop To Zero Feb 18/19 "Something interesting is happening with our Sun. X-Rays are a well known product of the fusion process which is what our Sun is. It appears that on more than one occasion, X-ray emission levels have dropped to incredibly low levels - if not virtually down to zero. Up until now, I have not discussed very much about this observation in previous solar reports. This has recently appeared sporadically in other X-ray charts, even though I've not specifically mentioned it recently. Another virtual "zero X-ray event" apparently has occurred again, according to two NOAA instruments measuring two different X-Ray wavelengths on one satellite ..."    Endgame is in progress, after all.

  Surveillance Applications of High-Frequency Gravitational Waves  See Video  "Presentation by Dr. Robert Baker explores the possibility of utilizing a novel means of imaging to establish a system of surveillance that may allow for the observation in three- dimensions of activities within and below structures and within the Earth and its oceans. Applications of this technology include satellite-based surveillance systems to image subterranean weapons of mass destruction or WMDs, personnel of interest inside and behind buildings, deeply submerged submarines, hidden missiles and rockets, oil and mineral deposits, etc. as well as acoustical surveillance. Baker is regarded as the preeminent researcher in the field of High-Frequency Gravitational Waves, and this documentary showcases one of the many potential applications for this stunning 21st-century technology."

  Million-Degree Plasma May Flow throughout the Galaxy   "On a large scale, the Milky Way is considered to be a vast cold region punctured with isolated hot clouds and star clusters. While much of this space is cold and empty, researchers have recently discovered the phenomenon of funneling hot plasma. Flowing plasma may funnel from one region to another through empty space, connecting otherwise isolated clouds and clusters throughout the galaxy." 

Hubble Space Telescope Upgrade to Increase Power 90x    "An unprecedented in-orbit repair of key Hubble Space Telescope (HST) instruments during the servicing mission scheduled for August 2008. The repairs, along with the addition of two new instruments, will make Hubble 90 times as powerful as it was after its flawed optics were corrected in 1993. "  For a system that they were ready to dump a couple of years ago, in view of events of late, this is no surprise. They're clearly expecting to expand their search for ...... out there, and they want plenty of warning before ...... gets here.

 

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