Saturday, October 31, 2020

Miley Cyrus: I got chased by a UFO and saw an alien

The 27-year-old singer, who admitted she had been using marijuana at the time, said she was convinced she was being followed by an alien spaceship, and that she even made eye-contact with the extra-terrestrial.

Cyrus told Interview magazine: "I had an experience, actually. I was driving through San Bernardino with my friend, and I got chased down by some sort of UFO.

"I'm pretty sure about what I saw, but I'd also bought weed wax from a guy in a van in front of a taco shop, so it could have been the weed wax.

Date: A9862C0E6E1BE95BCE0BF3D0298FD58B
Twitter: @YahooSports
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In case you are keeping track:

Trump: will 'take a good, strong look' at whether UFOs exist - Insider

"Well I'm gonna have to check on that," Trump replied. "I mean, I've heard that. I heard that two days ago, so I'll check on that. I'll take a good, strong look at that."

* * *

"I will tell you this," he said when asked about the UAPTF by Bartiromo. "We now have created a military, the likes of which we've never had before in terms of equipment. The equipment that we have, the weapons that we have — and hopefully, hope to God we never have to use them."

Publisher: Insider
Date: 2020-10-11
Author: Amanda Krause
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'The Phenomenon' takes grounded approach to UFOs with testimonies from government officials

"It sounds like the stuff of science fiction," says Barasch, 71, of Berkeley, Calif. "It's easy for all of us, myself included to say, 'Well, it's a maybe.' "

Publisher: Connecticut Post
Date: 2020-10-25 10:00:00
Author: Amanda Cuda
Twitter: @ConnPost
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'The Phenomenon' review: A new documentary updates the UFO debate through recent Pentagon

(CNN) The fascination with UFOs is hardly new, but revelations in the last few years have renewed interest in and speculation about the topic. Enter "The Phenomenon," an earnest documentary most notable for the former officials that lend credence to the notion the government knows much more than it has shared, and that the truth, well, is out there.

Publisher: CNN
Date: 2020-10-06T13:49:35Z
Author: Review by Brian Lowry CNN
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Quite a lot has been going on:

UFO videos have been officially released by Pentagon - CNNPolitics
Publisher: CNN
Date: 2020-04-27T16:35:19Z
Author: Michael Conte CNN
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Pentagon UFO report: The case for taking these videos seriously - Vox

Earlier this year, the Pentagon released three videos of UFOs recorded by the Navy — one taken in 2004 and the other two in 2015. The videos, which first leaked a couple of years ago, show … well, it's not exactly clear.

There are various objects — two of which look like aircraft — spinning through the sky and moving in ways that defy easy explanation. As the images bop across the screen, you can hear the pilots' excitement and confusion in real time as they track whatever it is they're seeing.

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Publisher: Vox
Date: 2020-05-08T08:50:00-04:00
Author: Sean Illing
Twitter: @voxdotcom
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Expecting A UFO, Onlookers In India Spot Flying Superhero : NPR

A group of people in India reported seeing a humanoid object sail through the sky and fall to earth. Instead of finding an alien, authorities discovered a balloon shaped like Ironman.

Publisher: NPR.org
Date: 2020-10-20
Author: A group of people in India reported seeing a humanoid object sail through the sky and fall to earth Instead of finding an alien authorities discovered a balloon shaped like Ironman
Twitter: @NPR
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What does the Pentagon's new UFO task force mean? Experts weigh in. | Space

If you're a fan of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and alien visitation, this is manna from heaven.

Three videos showing U.S. Navy pilots encountering mysterious, fast-moving objects emerged in 2017 and 2018. The videos were made public due to reporting by The New York Times and efforts by To The Stars Academy, a research, development and media center for cutting-edge science and technology.

One of the UAP videos was taken in November 2004, and the other two were shot in January 2015. All were captured by Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet jets with pilots utilizing Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) technology, hardware that detects heat and creates images.

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-08-17T18:24:07 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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Here's why scientists think women are better suited to space travel

Are women better astronauts than men? This question will become central to the selection of crews to the Moon, Mars, and beyond as we undertake the colonization of space.

In the struggle for gender equality, women have already proven they are capable of doing anything — including conquering space, showing that not even the sky is the limit for their success.

* * *

"The first all-women spacewalk at the International Space Station was carried out in October of 2019 and many other milestones have already been accomplished by women astronauts. But there has yet to be a first woman on the moon (or on Mars)," Katharina Buchholz writes for Statista.

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Publisher: The Next Web
Date: 2020-10-24T09:00:15 02:00
Author: The Cosmic Companion
Twitter: @thenextweb
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And here's another article:

How Did Space Travel Go Commercial? HBO Series Set to Explore the Real Story | Military.com

Ever wonder how space exploration stopped being a great national mission and became just another commercial enterprise? HBO will make a new limited series about billionaire Elon Musk and his controversial company SpaceX and how we made that transition is sure to be a focus of the show.

Musk is the Canadian-South African tech entrepreneur who hit the big time with his share in PayPal. He founded SpaceX in 2002, but has enjoyed his greatest business fame as CEO of electric car company, Tesla. He has a portfolio of other cutting edge companies involved in artificial intelligence, brain/computer interfaces and alternative transportation.

Publisher: Military.com
Date: 2020-10-14T05:00:00-07:00
Author: James Barber
Twitter: @militarydotcom
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The future of space travel could include tourism and relocation

I t's no shocker when several people loudly threaten to leave the country if an election doesn't go their way. Yet it's hard to go anywhere this year, with a pandemic locking most people in place. Will the time come when we hear promises to bolt the planet?

"Will the election make some people want to leave the planet? Probably. I've already seen some friends on Facebook say so," said Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and author of the new short book America's New Destiny in Space .

Publisher: Washington Examiner
Date: 2020-10-30T03:00:12.464
Twitter: @DCExaminer
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Space Travel of Bursa Started | RayHaber | RaillyNews

The Gökmen Space and Aviation Training Center (GUHEM), which is one of the biggest and the world's leading centers in Europe, organized in cooperation with Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry and TÜBİTAK, was opened to visitors with a ceremony attended by the Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank.

The Gökmen Space and Aviation Training Center, built in an integrated structure with the Science and Technology Center brought to Bursa by Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, and brought to the city in cooperation with the BTSO, Metropolitan Municipality and TÜBİTAK, opened its doors to space and aviation enthusiasts with a ceremony.

Publisher: RayHaber | RaillyNews
Date: 2020-10-31T10:22:48 00:00
Twitter: @ray_haber
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This may worth something:

Japan wants to bring space travel into the city - CNN Style
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Publisher: CNN
Date: 2020-10-16T07:23:58Z
Author: Rebecca Cairns CNN
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NASA Invites Media to Next SpaceX Space Station Cargo Launch | NASA
Publisher: NASA
Date: 2020-10-23T10:21-04:00
Twitter: @11348282
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SPACEPORT City: Concept for Commercial Space Travel Hub

On August 2, 2020, SpaceX Dragon 2 successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, returning private astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley from a resupply mission to the International Space Station. This historic flight marked the first manned commercial space flight; and to many, it signifies the beginning of space travel for civilians. As recreational flight shifts from science fiction to reality, designers wonder what public space travel will look like.

SPACEPORT CITY is a major transportation hub proposal created through collaboration with Space Port Japan Association , Dentsu , Canaria , and Noiz Architects . It is designed to support the commercialization of space travel while providing a center for research and other alternative space-related programs.

Publisher: My Modern Met
Date: 2020-10-17T14:25:55 00:00
Twitter: @mymodernmet
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New nuclear engine concept could help realize 3-month trips to Mars

Because chemical rockets are already near their theoretical limits and electric space propulsion systems have such low thrust, rocket engineers continue to seek ways to build more efficient, more powerful engines using some variant of nuclear energy. If properly designed, such nuclear rockets could have several times the efficiency of the chemical variety.

According to Dr. Michael Eades, principal engineer at USNC-Tech, the new concept engine is more reliable than previous NTP designs and can produce twice the specific impulse of a chemical rocket. Specific impulse is a measure of a rocket's efficiency.

Publisher: New Atlas
Date: 2020-10-25T10:14:25.432
Author: https newatlas com author david szondy
Twitter: @nwtls
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Happening on Twitter

NASA's Perseverance Rover Is Midway to Mars – NASA’s Mars Exploration Program

Sometimes half measures can be a good thing – especially on a journey this long. The agency's latest rover only has about 146 million miles left to reach its destination.

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission has logged a lot of flight miles since being lofted skyward on July 30 – 146.3 million miles (235.4 million kilometers) to be exact. Turns out that is exactly the same distance it has to go before the spacecraft hits the Red Planet's atmosphere like a 11,900 mph (19,000 kph) freight train on Feb. 18, 2021.

Publisher: NASA's Mars Exploration Program
Date: 2020-10-27 17:11:36 UTC
Author: mars nasa gov
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Quite a lot has been going on:

China chooses landing site for its Tianwen-1 Mars rover | Space

China has apparently chosen a primary landing site for its Tianwen-1 Mars rover ahead of the spacecraft's arrival at the Red Planet in February 2021.

Tianwen-1, consisting of an orbiter and a lander-rover duo, is currently on its way to Mars following launch on a Long March 5 rocket on July 23. Mission team members have already tested its science instruments .

China has already stated that the rover will attempt to land in a designated area of Utopia Planitia, a huge basin formed by a large impact far back in Mars' history. The area is to the south of NASA's Viking 2 landing site and northwest of the spot where the American space agency's Mars InSight lander touched down in November 2018.

Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-10-28T11:54:18 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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Planet Mars is at its 'biggest and brightest' - BBC News

Mars is at its biggest and brightest right now as the Red Planet lines up with Earth on the same side of the Sun.

Every 26 months, the pair take up this arrangement, moving close together, before then diverging again on their separate orbits around our star.

* * *

"But you don't have to wait until the middle of the night; even now, at nine or 10 o'clock in the evening, you'll easily see it over in the southeast," says astrophotographer, Damian Peach. "You can't miss it, it's the brightest star-like object in that part of the sky," he told BBC News.

Publisher: BBC News
Author: https www facebook com bbcnews
Twitter: @BBCWorld
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Sensors on Mars 2020 Spacecraft Answer Long Distance Call from Earth | NASA
Publisher: NASA
Date: 2020-10-21T16:03-04:00
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Were you following this:

NASA's Perseverance Rover Bringing 3D-Printed Metal Parts to Mars – NASA's Mars Exploration

For hobbyists and makers, 3D printing expands creative possibilities; for specialized engineers, it's also key to next-generation spacecraft design.

If you want to see science fiction at work, visit a modern machine shop, where 3D printers create materials in just about any shape you can imagine. NASA is exploring the technique – known as additive manufacturing when used by specialized engineers – to build rocket engines as well as potential outposts on the Moon and Mars. Nearer in the future is a different milestone: NASA's Perseverance rover, which lands on the Red Planet on Feb.

Publisher: NASA's Mars Exploration Program
Date: 2020-10-19 16:21:35 UTC
Author: mars nasa gov
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SpaceX Will Make Its Own Laws on Mars: Elon Musk Colonizing Mars

Earthlight goes on to say that as long as people don’t interfere with each other’s property, the foundation believes space is “free by all, for all, and to all.” Unlike the international outer space treaties, the Earthlight Foundation dates back to just 2012.

What it's describing isn’t freedom, though—at least not for everyone. It’s just colonization.

Maybe what Musk imagines is something more militaristic. Maybe he’ll immediately declare himself president of Mars. But when the rubber hits the road, it seems unlikely he’d do very much to upset the people on Earth—who will still have to greenlight his supply ships.

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Publisher: Popular Mechanics
Date: 2020-10-30 04:13:00
Twitter: @PopMech
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Artificial intelligence helps classify new craters on Mars | Space

An innovative artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by NASA has helped identify a cluster of craters on Mars that formed within the last decade.

The new machine-learning algorithm, an automated fresh impact crater classifier, was created by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California — and represents the first time artificial intelligence has been used to identify previously unknown craters on the Red Planet , according to a statement from NASA .

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-10-25T12:03:04 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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NASA's Perseverance Rover Will Peer Beneath Mars' Surface – NASA's Mars Exploration Program

RIMFAX at Work on NASA's Perseverance (Illustration): Perseverance's Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) uses radar waves to probe the ground, revealing the unexplored world that lies beneath the Martian surface. Full image and caption ›

Unlike similar instruments aboard Mars orbiters, which study the planet from space, RIMFAX will be the first ground-penetrating radar set on the surface of Mars. This will give scientists much higher-resolution data than space-borne radars can provide while focusing on the specific areas that Perseverance will explore. Taking a more focused look at this terrain will help the rover's team understand how features in Jezero Crater formed over time.

Publisher: NASA's Mars Exploration Program
Date: 2020-10-08 18:15:35 UTC
Author: mars nasa gov
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Happening on Twitter

Quanta Magazine

In a series of breakthrough papers, theoretical physicists have come tantalizingly close to resolving the black hole information paradox that has entranced and bedeviled them for nearly 50 years. Information, they now say with confidence, does escape a black hole. If you jump into one, you will not be gone for good. Particle by particle, the information needed to reconstitute your body will reemerge.

This is a peculiar role reversal for gravity. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, the gravity of a black hole is so intense that nothing can escape it. The more sophisticated understanding of black holes developed by Stephen Hawking and his colleagues in the 1970s did not question this principle.

Publisher: Quanta Magazine
Twitter: @QuantaMagazine
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Friday, October 30, 2020

Rare Halloween 'Blue Moon' is a spooky treat for us all | Space

Skywatchers, ghouls and (especially) werewolves take note: The moon will be full this Halloween night across the entire United States.

This is a truly special confluence of spookiness; a Halloween full moon visible for all time zones on Earth hasn't happened since 1944, according to the Farmers' Almanac . It won't happen again until 2039.

But wait, there's more: The Oct. 31 full moon also happens to be a " blue moon ," a designation for the second full moon to occur in a single calendar month. Blue moons are relatively rare as well, occurring on average just once every 2.5 years or so. We last saw one in March 2018.

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-10-30T11:38:14 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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Not to change the topic here:

The Full Blue Moon on Halloween - The New York Times

The moon remains, perpetually and since antiquity, a source of cultural wonder. Last week, when NASA announced that it would reveal "an exciting new discovery" about the moon in a matter of days, the internet, thirsty for distraction, went wild speculating about it. (It happened to be exciting news for space scientists — water and ice on the moon are more accessible than previously thought — but not the supernatural or extraterrestrial news many yearned for.)

Moon updates have been plentiful this year. In August, scientists reported they had flashed a laser onto a NASA spacecraft that was gliding over the moon's surface at thousands of miles per hour in order to measure distance between our moon and planet. (It worked.) In February, two astronomers discovered a mini-moon orbiting Earth.

Date: 2020-10-29T16:30:50.000Z
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What's the bright star next to the moon tonight? It's Mars - Deseret News

Just a couple of days before we are visited by a rare blue moon on Halloween night , two of our closest celestial neighbors will appear side by side in the night sky.

According to Thrillist , the nearly full moon and Mars will appear together in close proximity for the second time this month on the nights of Oct. 28 and 29, and they'll be visible together until approximately 5 a.m. local time.

According to the site, "the moon will appear sitting just southwest of Mars," on Oct. 28 and on Oct. 29 it'll be situated to the southeast of the red planet.

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Publisher: Deseret News
Date: 2020-10-29T18:00:00-06:00
Author: Nate Schwartz
Twitter: @deseretnews
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Who can own property on the moon and mars?- The New Indian Express

Reflecting its vintage, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty is primarily about peaceful space exploration and limiting the Cold War there. It didn’t anticipate property rights in space

Published: 31st October 2020 01:16 AM   |   Last Updated: 31st October 2020 07:21 AM   |   A+ A  A-

* * *

A few months ago, amidst Covid, newspapers in West Bengal carried reports about a man who bought an acre of land on Mars. When he brandished the title deed, the media asked whether he planned to spend his honeymoon (he was about to get married) on the red planet. Those who buy a bottle of Laphroaig also get a title deed, with a lease on one square feet of land in Islay. But Islay is terrestrial, Mars is not.

Publisher: The New Indian Express
Date: E3846DEF0DE4D18E294A6521B2CEBBD2
Twitter: @newindianexpress.com
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And here's another article:

October 2020 - Part II: The Next Full Moon is a Halloween Hunter's Moon and "Micro"

The next full Moon will be on the morning of Halloween, Saturday, October 31, 2020, appearing "opposite" the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 10:49 AM EDT. The Moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Thursday night through Sunday night, making this a full Moon weekend.

This will be the Hunter's Moon, the full Moon after the Harvest Moon. According to the Farmer's Almanac, with the leaves falling and the deer fattened, this was the time to hunt. Since the harvesters had reaped the fields, hunters could easily see the animals that have come out to glean (and the foxes that have come out to prey on them). The earliest use of the term "Hunter's Moon" cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1710.

Publisher: NASA Solar System Exploration
Date: 2020-10-27 17:27:45 -0700
Author: By Gordon Johnston
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What Is A 'Blue Moon' And When Is The Next One? Halloween's Lunar Curiosity Explained

"Once in a Blue Moon" means this coming Saturday—Halloween. On that date a "Blue Moon" will rise at dusk and set at dawn.

* * *

Just to be awkward, there are actually two different types of "Blue Moon." The most easy-to-understand type happens this Saturday, while the other type is much rarer. 

The third full Moon in an astronomical season (the period between an equinox and a solstice, or vice versa) that contains four full Moons. This is the original scientific definition. 

Publisher: Forbes
Date: 2020-10-27
Author: Jamie Carter
Twitter: @forbes
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Halloween safety tips, trick-or-treat hours, full moon, weather forecast and clock change - nj.com

The lingering coronavirus pandemic, and fears the outbreak will worsen, has taken the fun out of Halloween 2020. But there are some ways to safely celebrate this holiday.

Halloween 2020 will likely go down in the history books as one of the most unusual Halloweens on record, thanks to a wicked force that has disrupted our routines — the coronavirus pandemic.

Yes, the lingering spread of COVID-19, and fears the outbreak will worsen, has sapped some of the fun out of what is normally an enjoyable holiday for kids and adults.

Publisher: nj
Date: 2020-10-30T13:00:00Z
Author: lmelisur
Twitter: @njdotcom
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Lunar base: How NASA's moon water discovery could support human habitats

On Monday, agency researchers announced they had detected abundant water on the Moon's surface, trapped in small icy pockets throughout the lunar soil. The signals were detected by NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, also known as SOFIA. Taken together, the water is equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle per cubic meter of lunar soil, they estimate.

They also found the first evidence that water exists on the sunlit areas of the Moon, not just at the poles.

Publisher: Inverse
Twitter: @inversedotcom
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Happening on Twitter

There's an asteroid in space worth $10 quintillion - CNN Video

Publisher: CNN
Date: 2020-10-30T05:32:17Z
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While you're here, how about this:

NASA expert identifies mystery object once thought an asteroid - CBS News

The jig may be up for an "asteroid" that's expected to get nabbed by Earth's gravity and become a mini moon next month. Instead of a cosmic rock, the newly discovered object appears to be an old rocket from a failed moon-landing mission 54 years ago that's finally making its way back home, according to NASA's leading asteroid expert. Observations should help nail its identity.

Chodas speculates that asteroid 2020 SO, as it is formally known, is actually the Centaur upper rocket stage that successfully propelled NASA's Surveyor 2 lander to the moon in 1966 before it was discarded. The lander ended up crashing into the moon after one of its thrusters failed to ignite on the way there. The rocket, meanwhile, swept past the moon and into orbit around the sun as intended junk, never to be seen again — until perhaps now.

Twitter: @CBSNews
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Study offers more complete view of massive asteroid Psyche

"We've seen meteorites that are mostly metal, but Psyche could be unique in that it might be an asteroid that is totally made of iron and nickel," Becker said. "Earth has a metal core, a mantle and crust. It's possible that as a Psyche protoplanet was forming, it was struck by another object in our solar system and lost its mantle and crust."

Becker observed the asteroid at two specific points in its rotation to view both sides of Psyche completely and delineate as much as possible from observing the surface at ul-traviolet (UV) wavelengths.

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Hubble Telescope used to study rare metal asteroid which could have been a protoplanet | Science

The asteroid is one of the largest pieces of space debris floating in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

* * *

An asteroid made of iron and nickel first discovered in 1852 could have been a protoplanet, according to scientists.

The Hubble Space Telescope was used to study the asteroid, named 16 Psyche, during two points in its rotation.

Dr Tracy Becker, a scientist from the Southwest Research Institute, said: "We've seen meteorites that are mostly metal, but Psyche could be unique in that it might be an asteroid that is totally made of iron and nickel."

Publisher: Sky News
Twitter: @skynews
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This may worth something:

NASA: Asteroid Could Still Hit Earth in 2068 - ExtremeTech

Earth has been bombarded by space rocks throughout its history, but we’re lucky no large ones have slammed into the planet lately. Astronomers keep a careful watch on the skies, hoping to spot potential impactors far enough in advance that we can do something about it, and one of the most worrying objects is 99942 Apophis. This skyscraper-sized asteroid might still hit Earth in 2068 , according to a new analysis from the University of Hawaii and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Publisher: ExtremeTech
Date: 2020-10-28T13:21:45-04:00
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NASA's Asteroid Mission Packs Away Its Cargo. Next Stop: Earth. - The New York Times

A NASA spacecraft 200 million miles away from Earth has packed up a sample of an asteroid it collected last week.

That chased away concerns that it had traveled for years across the solar system but lost much of the scientific payload it had gone to collect . The mission's managers are now beginning preparations to head back to Earth.

"I am confident, and this team is confident, that we still have hundreds of grams of sample that we plan to bring back to the Earth," Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator of the OSIRIS-REX mission, said during a telephone news conference on Thursday.

Date: 2020-10-29T22:45:54.000Z
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Asteroid Bennu has been hanging out with Earth for over a million years - CNN

(CNN) The near-Earth asteroid Bennu has been keeping our planet company for a long time. Bennu, new research suggests, has been in an orbit that brings it near to Earth for 1.75 million years.

Publisher: CNN
Date: 2020-10-26T16:00:21Z
Author: Ashley Strickland CNN
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The strange story of 2020 SO: How an asteroid turned into rocket junk and the NASA scientist who

As soon as he saw the data, Paul Chodas knew something was strange about the near-Earth object that had been designated 2020 SO.

It should have been just another of the tens of thousands of space rocks that astronomers have spotted breezing through our neighborhood in space. This solar system rubble is mostly harmless, but scientists identify and track all they can in case an object appears to be on a collision course with Earth. As head of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Chodas evaluates observations of these objects every day.

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-10-19T11:37:22 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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Happening on Twitter

Europe will help build NASA's moon-orbiting Gateway space station | Space

The European Space Agency (ESA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday (Oct. 27) formalizing its collaboration on Gateway, a planned outpost in lunar orbit that NASA sees as key to its Artemis program of crewed moon exploration.

Under this new agreement, ESA will provide Gateway with a habitation module and a refueling module, both of which the European agency will operate once the hardware is up and running. ESA contributions will also include two additional service modules for NASA's Orion capsule, the spacecraft that will launch Artemis astronauts from Earth atop the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rockets.

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-10-27T19:49:24 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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Were you following this:

Super-Earth and sub-Neptune found orbiting a red dwarf star | Space | EarthSky

Astronomers using a telescope in Mexico have found two more exoplanets – a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune – orbiting a red dwarf star 120 light-years from Earth.

Size comparison of TOI-1266 b, TOI-1266 c, Earth, Venus and Mercury. Image via Institute of Astronomy, UNAM/ Juan Carlos Yustis/ Centauri Dreams .

The innermost of the two planets – TOI-1266 b – is just under 2 1/2 times Earth’s diameter and so is classified as a sub-Neptune (smaller than Neptune but much larger than Earth). The outer planet – TOI-1266 c – is just over 1 1/2 times Earth’s diameter, making it a super-Earth (smaller than Neptune but a bit larger than Earth).

Publisher: EarthSky
Date: 2020-10-26T07:00:22-05:00
Author: Paul Scott Anderson
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As Of Right Now We Have A Mystery 'Mini-Moon' Orbiting Earth. Is It An Asteroid Or 'Space Junk?'

Ironically, it could turn out to be a spent rocket booster that was supposed to visit our one, true Moon back in 1966, but instead got lost in space and is now making an unexpected return visit to Earth. 

Here's everything you need to know about 2020 SO, what's going to happen to it, and how scientists will endeavour to find out exactly what it really is. 

* * *

2020 SO is orbiting the Sun. In fact, its orbit of the Sun is on the exact same plane as Earth's. It orbits the Sun in 387 days. That's all very rare for an asteroid. So too is its velocity, which is reckoned to be a pedestrian 1,500 mph/2,414 kmh.

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Publisher: Forbes
Date: 2020-10-14
Author: Jamie Carter
Twitter: @forbes
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Earth Will Soon Have a Second Moon-Like Object Orbiting It | The Swaddle

Astronomers have discovered an object is on track to enter the Earth’s orbit in the next few weeks, becoming our newest mini-moon . But, they are beginning to suspect the object might not be an asteroid floating in space, but instead, manmade space junk from the 1960s.

Named 2020 SO , the new mini-moon is expected to start orbiting the Earth sometime in October or November of this year and pop out of orbit in May 2021. Reportedly, scientists had first spotted this object from a Hawaiian observatory in August, but as they continued studying it, they became more and more convinced that it may not be a new asteroid at all.

Publisher: The Swaddle
Author: The Swaddle
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While you're here, how about this:

Meet the Pi planet. It orbits its star every 3.14 days | Space | EarthSky

In a fun cosmic coincidence, researchers used old Kepler spacecraft data to discover an Earth-sized exoplanet with an orbital period of 3.14 days, a number that matches the mathematical constant pi.

Artist’s concept of K2-315b, which has on orbital period of 3.14 Earth-days, the same value as the mathematical constant pi . Image via NASA Ames/ JPL-Caltech/ T. Pyle/ Christine Daniloff/ MIT .

The pi planet was discussed in a new peer-reviewed paper published in The Astronomical Journal on September 21, 2020.

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Publisher: EarthSky
Date: 2020-10-04T06:30:30-05:00
Author: Paul Scott Anderson
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D-Orbit Satellite Carrier delivers Planet SuperDoves to desired orbits - SpaceNews

SAN FRANCISCO – D-Orbit of Italy demonstrated the first commercial last-mile delivery service when it finished a two-month campaign Oct. 28, dropping off 12 Planet SuperDove Earth-imaging satellites in orbit.

"Many people talk about this upcoming market of in-orbit transportation or last-mile delivery, filling the gap between the drop off condition provided by the launch vehicle and the target orbit relevant for the operational or business purposes of the end users," Renato Panesi, D-Orbit chief commercial officer, told SpaceNews . "We have been able to fill that gap. We are the first in the world to do that."

Publisher: SpaceNews
Date: 2020-10-28T19:54:27 00:00
Author:
Twitter: @SpaceNews_Inc
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Studying craters on asteroid Bennu shows how long it has been orbiting near Earth

To learn more about the age of the asteroid and its time spent orbiting near the Earth, the researchers focused their efforts on craters in boulders on the surface of the asteroid. Prior research has suggested that Bennu was once part of a larger body and was knocked off by a collision with another object while orbiting in the circumstellar disc, an asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter.

After the collision, researchers believe Bennu slowly made its way out of the asteroid belt. During that time, it was struck by other objects, some of which hit boulders on its surface, resulting in large craters. After it made its way out of the asteroid belt, Bennu continued to be hit by other smaller objects, some of which also struck boulders on its surface, but the researchers with this new effort believe those newer strikes resulted in smaller impact craters.

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New work reveals the likely original locations of Saturn and Jupiter - Tech Explorist

When the sun was young, it was surrounded by a rotating disk of gas and dust from which the planets were born. The orbits of early formed planets were believed to be initially close-packed and circular. Still, gravitational interactions between the more massive objects perturbed the arrangement and made the baby giant planets reshuffle rapidly, creating the configuration we see today.

Carnegie’s Matt Clement said, “There are thousands of planetary systems in our Milky Way galaxy alone. But it turns out that the arrangement of planets in our Solar System is highly unusual, so we use models to reverse engineer and replicate its formative processes. This is a bit like trying to figure out what happened in a car crash after the fact — how fast were the cars going, in what directions, and so on.”

Publisher: Tech Explorist
Date: 2020-10-30T12:05:38 00:00
Author: https www facebook com malewar amit
Twitter: @TechExplorist
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