Fireball over Texas

While many say these are meteorites, others feel it is something else. No one will say with 100% certainty what this is. Logic says it is a meteor, but then again who knows for certain?


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Still think there is no other life in outer space?

When someone tells you it's nonsense to think there might be other life or alien life out there in space, show them this:

The Shapley SuperCluster was discovered back in the 1930's.
Boasting more than 8000 galaxies and with a total mass more than ten million billion times the mass of the Sun, it is the most massive structure within a distance of about a billion light-years from our Milky Way Galaxy. But of course, there is no way any "life" can exist there....right?

GOCE end of mission

After nearly tripling its planned lifetime, the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer – GOCE – has completed its mission and will soon reenter our atmosphere.

UFO Researchers and Travis Walton

Well known UFO abducte Travis Walton has passed 16 lie detector tests over the years. He was a logger and had no training in passing such tests. This is a well put together video with some interesting suggestions. Rather than making fun of the subject, we invite you to have an open mind and treat the UFO subject as research in the same way NASA and the European Space Agency are researching Mars and other planets looking for signs of life or past life.

Earth’s protective shield is weakening.

16 October 2013

With launch just a month away, ESA’s Swarm constellation has been fuelled. Engineers will soon be focusing on the careful task of attaching the three identical satellites to the upper stage of the rocket for simultaneous release into orbit around Earth.

The Swarm satellites and all the equipment needed to prepare them for liftoff arrived at the Plesetsk launch complex in Russia just over three weeks ago. The cargo plane made three round trips to transport the whole shipment amounting to about 60 tonnes from Munich, Germany.

Since their safe arrival, the three satellites have been unpacked, have undergone various tests to make sure their components work as they should, and have been fuelled with Freon 14 and tested for leaks.

The valves in the propulsion system have also been tested – which, interestingly, included listening to them with a stethoscope.

All this has not only been a technical undertaking, but also a logistical challenge because the three satellites have had to be moved one by one in and out of the fuelling hall.

The completion of fuelling marks a significant milestone in the campaign to prepare the Swarm mission for launch on 14 November at 12:02 GMT (13:02 CET).

Now that the task of fuelling has finished, the focus will turn to fixing multilayer insulation to the satellites and carrying out a set of mechanical tests.

The satellites will then be attached to the ‘Breeze’ upper stage of the Rockot launcher. Breeze and the fairing arrived from Moscow a few days ago and are being cleaned in preparation.

Swarm is ESA’s first constellation of satellites for Earth observation.

The design of the satellites is not only a result of the instrument package they carry, but also because they have to be compact enough to all fit into the launcher fairing. 

A tailor-made dispenser will ensure that the three separate simultaneously from the upper stage.

Next in ESA’s series of Earth Explorers, Swarm follows GOCE, SMOS and CryoSat.

Each satellite in this ongoing series is developed to fill gaps in our knowledge of how the planet functions and demonstrate new technologies for observing Earth from space.

Swarm is dedicated to delivering information to help us understand Earth’s magnetic field.

Equipped with magnetic sensors and flying in carefully selected orbits, the three Swarm satellites will identify and measure, very precisely, the different magnetic signals that stem from Earth’s core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere – which together form our magnetic field.

Although invisible, the magnetic field and electric currents in and around Earth generate complex forces that have immeasurable impact on everyday life.

The field can be thought of as a huge bubble, protecting us from cosmic radiation and charged particles that bombard Earth in solar wind.

Swarm will provide a window into different natural processes, from those occurring deep inside the planet driving Earth’s ‘dynamo’ to weather in space resulting from solar activity. This, in turn, will yield a deeper understanding of why Earth’s protective shield is weakening.

Comet-Chasing Rosetta Spacecraft To Awaken From Deep-Space Hibernation (VIDEO)

Europe's comet-chasing space probe Rosetta has been hibernating for more than two years, but in January, the spacecraft will be jolted awake to prepare for the climax of its mission.

Rosetta launched in March 2004 and has been racing after the distant comet 67-P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko ever since. To reach the comet, the spacecraft has performed an intricate series of gravitational slingshots around Earth and Mars, which this video animation of the Rosetta flight shows

In August 2014, Rosetta will finally catch up to its comet target as it sails just inside the orbit of Jupiter, about 373 million miles (600 million km) from the sun.. [Best Close Encounters of the Comet Kind]

Scientists hope the comet images and data collected by the $1.4 billion Rosetta probe will help them piece together the early history of our solar system since comets are among the most primitive objects in our cosmic neighborhood. By searching for organic molecules on the comet's surface, Rosetta also could help scientists examine the possibility that space rocks planted the seeds of life on Earth, researchers said.

The 6,600-pound (3,000 kg) spacecraft was put in a deep sleep in July 2011 for the final and longest leg of its journey. During its hibernation, Rosetta was tilted so that its solar wings faced the sun to receive as much sunlight as possible, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

Now mission officials are counting down to the spacecraft's wakeup call, scheduled for 1000 GMT, Jan. 20, 2014.

"We are very excited to have this important milestone in sight, but we will be anxious to assess the health of the spacecraft after Rosetta has spent nearly 10 years in space," Fred Jansen, ESA's Rosetta mission manager, said in a statement.

Once awake, the probe will still have another 5.5 million mles (9 million km) to travel before it reaches itscomet destination, according to ESA. Mission managers will use that time to activate Rosetta's instruments and perform a series of health checks.

In late May, at less than 1.2 million miles (2 million km) from its target, Rosetta is due to execute a major maneuver to prepare for its rendezvous with 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. From that relatively short distance, the probe will also start snapping more detailed images of the comet to glean better information on its topography, rotation speed and orientation.

An artist's illustration of the European Space Agency's comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft. Rosetta will explore Comet 67-P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko when it arrives at the object in August 2014.

Then, in August, Rosetta will arrive at the comet. Then in November 2014, it will deploy a lander named Philae to take an up-close look at the icy body, which measures about 2.4 miles (4 kilometers) across.

In its decade in space, Rosetta has already provided scientists with an up-close view of asteroids. It flew by a space rock named Steins in September 2008 and snapped close-up photos of the asteroid Lutetia in during a July 2010 flyby.

3D Printing in outer space

A metal 3D-printing revolution is entering space. AMAZE is a recently announced project that aims to perfect the printing of space-quality metal components on Earth and beyond within five years.
3D printing builds a solid object from a series of layers, each one printed on top of the last. This ‘additive manufacturing’ technique produces very complex structures with minimal waste and maximum flexibility.
Never before have titanium structures been so flexible. Leaving traditional casting techniques aside, the AMAZE team printed its logo in titanium as an intricate net shaped to millimetre precision. The project is working with materials that can withstand temperatures up to 3500°C.
Pieces like the example in this photo were shown in the London Science Museum, UK, on 15 October, where international experts presented the world’s largest metal 3D-printing project, lead by ESA and the EU.
AMAZE – Additive Manufacturing Aiming Towards Zero Waste & Efficient Production of High-Tech Metal Products – involves 28 industrial partners across Europe.
Most of the work to tune this novel technology for industrial applications on Earth is being done on the ground in laboratories. ‘Factories of the future’ are being set up in Germany, Italy, Norway and the UK. Little-to-no material is wasted and cutting the number of steps in the manufacturing chain offers enormous cost benefits.
Before taking a 3D printer to the International Space Station, ESA will test the technology on parabolic aircraft flights and suborbital rockets to see how weightlessness affects the behaviour of the liquid metals.

UFO video

Interesting UFO video, impressive shots. Some originated with NASA.

UFO's Hover over Burning Ship

Interesting video. Speculation as to what these are ranges from flares to military aircraft.