NASA seeks nickname for tiny, icy world on solar system edge

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Heads up, armchair travelers.

NASA is seeking a nickname for a tiny, icy world on the edge of the solar system that's the next destination for New Horizons, the spacecraft that surveyed Pluto.

New Horizons whipped past Pluto two years ago. Now it's headed for 2014 MU69 — gobbledygook to even the most die-hard scientists.

To lighten the mood as New Horizons aims for a 2019 flyby, the research team is holding a naming contest. The deadline is Dec. 1.

MU69 is 4 billion miles (6.5 billion kilometers) away and may actually be two objects, either stuck together or orbiting one another. If so, two nicknames would be needed. The nicknames will be temporary. NASA said Monday that a formal name will come after the flyby.

Earth's ozone hole shrivels to smallest since 1988

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The ozone hole over Antarctica shrank to its smallest peak since 1988, NASA said Thursday.

The huge hole in Earth's protective ozone layer reached its maximum this year in September, and this year NASA said it was 7.6 million square miles wide (19.6 million square kilometers). The hole size shrinks after mid-September.

This year's maximum hole is more than twice as big as the United States, but it's 1.3 million square miles less than last year and 3.3 million square miles smaller than 2015.

Paul Newman, chief Earth scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said stormy conditions in the upper atmosphere warmed the air and kept chemicals chlorine and bromine from eating ozone. He said scientists haven't quite figured out why some years are stormier — and have smaller ozone holes — than others.

"It's really small this year. That's a good thing," Newman said.

Newman said this year's drop is mostly natural but is on top of a trend of smaller steady improvements likely from the banning of ozone-eating chemicals in a 1987 international treaty. The ozone hole hit its highest in 2000 at 11.5 million square miles (29.86 million square kilometers).

Ozone is a colorless combination of three oxygen atoms. High in the atmosphere, about 7 to 25 miles (11 to 40 kilometers) above the Earth, ozone shields Earth from ultraviolet rays that cause skin cancer, crop damage and other problems.

Scientists at the United Nation a few years ago determined that without the 1987 treaty by 2030 there would have been an extra 2 million skin cancer cases. They said overall the ozone layer is beginning to recover because of the phase-out of chemicals used in refrigerants and aerosol cans.

Astronomers Find Twin Stars Eating Planets!!

No, it's not Marvel's Galactus "The Devourer of Worlds," but these two stars have devoured up to 15 planets so far! They're named Kronos and Krios after the Greek Titan that ate children and they orbit each other every 10,000 years.

Surprisingly, NASA didn't catch these giant stars destroying planets not too far away. A team of researchers from Princeton University spotted them. 

"Even if our sun ate the entire inner solar system, it wouldn't come close to the anomaly we see in this star," said David Hogg from the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA).

These two stars are moving as a pair in a binary system but their compositions are distinctly different from each other, leading to the discovery of their enormous appetites.

Stars HD 240430 and HD 240429, better known as Kronos and Krios, as they appear in the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Digitized Sky Survey. Though these binary stars formed together, their chemical abundances are very different, leading researchers to conclude that Kronos had absorbed 15 Earth masses worth of rocky planets.Image courtesy of the researchers

“I’m very easily excitable, so as soon as they had the same radial velocities and different chemistry, my mind already started racing,” said Adrian Price-Whelan, a Lyman Spitzer, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow in Astrophysical Sciences and a co-author on the paper.

The researchers found traces of planets inside the stars. Kronos had an unusually high level of rock-forming minerals, including magnesium, aluminum, silicon, iron, chromium, and yttrium, without an equally high level of volatile compounds — usually found in gas form, like oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and potassium.

“All of the elements that would make up a rocky planet are exactly the elements that are enhanced on Kronos, and the volatile elements are not enhanced, so that provides a strong argument for a planet engulfment scenario, instead of something else," said Semyeong Oh from Princeton University, the lead author of the study.

Thank goodness these two stars are not headed towards our earth. 

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SOURCES

http://www.mirror.co.uk/science/astronomers-discover-planet-engulfing-stars-11401711

https://www.princeton.edu/news/2017/10/12/devourer-planets-princeton-researchers-dub-star-kronos

NASA Finds a Three-Planet System in Hyades Cluster

This artist’s concept depicts a three-planet system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

It's exciting to find a younger brother planet or Earth 2.0, so to speak. But before we project our dreams of an ideal life along the lines of escaping this planet and colonizing another. We must resolve the issues on this planet and within ourselves. If not, then we may never make it to a brighter future or we may even bring our troubles with us wherever we go. 

NASA's Kepler spacecraft reborn K2 mission data just revealed a planetary system containing at 3 or more exo-planets that are orbiting around a K-type dwarf star. 

This star is labeled EPIC 247589423 (aka, LP 358-348) and is

• 194 light-years away 
• only 800 million years old
• a member of Hyades
• in Taurus constellation

“Based on EPIC 247589423’s Galactic position, the star lands 32-65 light-years from the cluster center and outside of the 16-light-year radius core, but still well within the broader population of Hyades members,” explained lead author Dr. Andrew Mann, an astronomer at the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University, and colleagues. 

In this galaxy, there are 3 planets. Two are very large and one is about the same size as our Earth, called EPIC 247589423b. It's also the first planet found in a young star cluster.

“The smallest planet has a radius comparable to Earth (0.99 Earth radii), making it one of the few Earth-sized planets with a known, young age,” the astronomers said. “The two larger planets — EPIC 247589423c and d — are likely a mini-Neptune and a super-Earth, with radii of 2.91 and 1.45 Earth radii, respectively.”

EPIC 247589423 (center). Image credit: Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD / DSS.

Each planet orbits their star much quicker than we orbit our sun:

• 7.9 days
• 17.3 days
• 25.6 days

Temperatures range from 212 to 536 degrees Fahrenheit.

“The EPIC 247589423 system contains one of the youngest Earth-sized planets known, offering the possibility of studying the history and evolution of Earth-sized planets,” the scientists said.

---

Sources:

http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/three-planet-system-hyades-cluster-05323.html

Andrew W. Mann et al. 2017. Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT) VI: a three-planet system in the Hyades cluster including an Earth-sized planet. arXiv: 1709.10328

Super Solar Storm Hits Mars with Dazzling Aurora

On September 11, 2017, a strong coronal mass ejection from our sun hit Mars, dazzling NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft's sensors. 

This Mars aurora was 25x brighter than any seen before and double surface radiation levels!

View fullsize

These images show the sudden appearance of a bright aurora on Mars during a solar storm in September 2017. The purple-white color scheme shows the intensity of UV light seen on Mars’ night side before (left) and during (right) the event. A simulated image of Mars for the same time and orientation has been added, with the dayside crescent visible on the right. The auroral emission appears brightest at the edges of the planet where the line of sight passes along the length of the glowing atmosphere layer. The data are from observations by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument (IUVS) on NASA’s MAVEN orbiter. Note that, unlike auroras on Earth, the Martian aurora is not concentrated at the planet’s polar regions. This is because Mars has no strong magnetic field like Earth’s to concentrate the aurora near the poles. Image credit: NASA / University of Colorado.

“When a solar storm hits the Martian atmosphere, it can trigger auroras that light up the whole planet in UV light. The recent one lit up Mars like a light bulb,” said Dr. Sonal Jain, a member of MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument team and a researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

“An aurora on Mars can envelope the entire planet because Mars has no strong magnetic field like Earth’s to concentrate the aurora near polar regions.”

“The energetic particles from the Sun also can be absorbed by the upper atmosphere, increasing its temperature and causing it to swell up.”

The strange thing about this large-scale event isn't its size but rather the timing. You see, our sun's activities follow an 11-year cycle with a peak in the middle, yet this massive solar storm occurred during a usually calm time. So this begs the question of what caused such unusual behavior. 

All wise ancient civilizations of our great ancestors acknowledged and studied carefully, with surprising accuracy, the celestial phenomena in our skies as well as the influence these gigantic heavenly bodies have upon our earthly bodies and behavior. 

Nowadays many people hardly look up, let alone within themselves. So remember to hit the pause button to take a breather from the hustle and bustle of busy daily life to reflect upon the direction you're heading in life or, at least, enjoy the beautiful light show above. 

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Sources:
http://www.sci-news.com/space/solar-storm-global-aurora-mars-05278.html

10 Mind Blowing Space Stories that We Were Never Told in School

Number 10: The Smuggled Sandwich

NASA equips its astronauts with the most sophisticated gear that is intended to keep them safe in space as well as help them perform their jobs comfortably while floating around in zero gravity. Coupled with that, they are also provided with food items that are suitable for space travel and would not damage any on-board equipment that could potentially cause a disaster. It goes without saying that taking ordinary “earth food” with you in a space shuttle while you are hurtling through the atmosphere is greatly discouraged and prohibited by NASA because small things like crumbs can get into tiny crevices in equipment and spark a fire.

However, in one mission, an extremely curious astronaut named John Young was able to smuggle a sandwich in his suit and bring it with him to space, even offering a bite to his co-pilot. The amusement turned to terror when they both realized the destructive potential of the sandwich crumbs floating around in a weightless environment. Fortunately for them, they were able to complete their mission and came home in one piece. Because of this stunt, NASA had to assure the public – and Congress – that they will be tightening their security measures and screening so that no stunt like this can ever be pulled again, placing billions of taxpayer dollars and the lives of the crew at risk.

Number 9: The Flatulence Configuration

In another story, the same astronaut, John Young, went on a mission to the moon in 1972 and have made one of history’s lesser known utterances in outer space.

While having a casual conversation with a team member, Young casually mentions some gassy digestive problems he had been experiencing and, right at that moment, let one rip while he was completely unaware that his suit’s microphone was recording everything. Luckily, the mic was not sensitive enough to record the actual “release” of his flatulence but Young was kind enough to give a colorful description of it along with a few “F” words to accompany his adjectives.

Number 8: The Diamond Denomination

You would think that this next one is all Science Fiction and could have come from the mind of an absolutely imaginative writer. However, the existence of this so-called Diamond Planet has been proven by real scientists who have been observing it with much interest.

Called PSR J1719-1438 b, the planet was said to have once been a star and that the debris it produced after it dies has managed to turn into a dwarf planet. Part of a twin-star, this diamond planet managed to survive after its brother exploded into a supernova. Managing to stabilize far enough from being obliterated, it was able to keep its carbon core that now is a colossal chunk of bling.

A pretty impressive discovery after we have all been told that Pluto has been declassified as a planet, shattering our schoolyard belief that it was.

Number 7: The Multiverse Multiplier

The debate on whether or not there are other universes outside our own is a controversial debate that has kept scientists, physicists, and astronomers on their toes and at each other’s throats for years. On one side, experts believe that there is no scientific and mathematical law that allows the existence of another universe, let alone several more.

However, on the other hand, believers of the theory have countered that neither is there evidence that disproves the theory of a multiverse that’s just waiting to be discovered.

Many have held this belief as mere fantasy and something that only happens in speculative fiction and comic books, the fact of the matter is that until scientific advancements can be made that will allow humans to explore outside the known universe, this debate will not soon be put to bed.

Number 6: The Deletion Dilemma

We are all familiar with the iconic broadcast of the first moon landing. The moment Neil Armstrong took his first step and uttered those words that are now deeply etched in human history, it was a completely new ballgame for science and the entire human civilization.

However, in 2006, a shocking twist to the story came to the public eye when NASA half-heartedly admitted that they have lost track of the recordings of the historic Apollo 11 mission but assured everyone that it was simply buried somewhere in their archives. Later, NASA announced that they have found the tapes pertaining to Apollo 11 but revealed that the recordings were “accidentally” erased.

Luckily for NASA, news agencies such as CBS who managed to record the event were able to supply a decent amount of recordings and footage from the Apollo 11 moon landing. A courtesy that was able to save NASA from disgrace.

Number 5: The Shotgun Syntax

A particularly lesser known story from the Space Race was that the USSR armed their cosmonauts with shotguns while American astronauts were busy smuggling Big Macs into space.

Modifying a TP-82 shotgun, Soviet engineers packed these firearms as they flew into space. The reason for packing some heat in the void of space, however, was not to fend off hostile aliens wanting to board their ship or in case they have to fight off space pirates. The modified shotguns were more for the trip home.

The difference between NASA and Soviet re-entry protocol was that NASA chose a much more practical approach to have their astronauts land in the Pacific region where they will then be picked up. The Soviets, on the other hand, chose the vast landscape of Siberia as their landing point. Unfortunately, when Soviet capsules re-entered the planet’s atmosphere, their capsule would sometimes fly off course and land in a different region that were mostly grizzly bear territory.

Number 4: The Giant Sun Complex

The most difficult part of understanding space is grasping the idea of how large it really is. So far, the only information we know about scale is from mock-ups of the solar system with the sun being the largest body in the universe.

Speaking of scale, let us put the sun as an example. We all know that it is a massive star that the planets revolve around on and it has different effects on each planetary body. However, a recent discovery has been made that the sun, which is 109 times larger than the Earth, is dwarfed by an even bigger star called VY Canis Majoris: a hyper-gigantic star that is, roughly, 1.7 billion – yes, BILLION – miles in diameter.

Also, bigger means brighter and hotter. Simply put, if we were to place this hyper-giant star to replace out own sun, chances are, every single planet and moon within its reach will instantly be obliterated. Fortunately for our solar system, VY Canis Majoris is 4900 lightyears away – a distance that makes it difficult for scientists to study. However, experts predict that in about 100,000 years, this star will explode and die and – probably, take a few systems with it along the way. A literal Death Star.

Number 3: The Problematic Pee Postulation

NASA engineers make sure that before they send someone off to space they have covered all the bases from suits to ships – and one of these bases involve getting rid of human waste while in outer space.

To the layman, the answer may be as simple as cracking open a chute and just let things all and float freely out of the ship. However, the solution is much, much more complicated than that. Engineers have to consider, on top of comfort and hygiene, scenarios that can possibly damage a craft or any part of it during the process of waste elimination.

One example posed an almost catastrophic scenario. In 1984, the crew of the space shuttle Discovery was stunned to discover a large icicle made of urine sticking out of the urinal discharge unit. The way it is done, in layman’s terms, is that astronauts would urinate in receptacles that are then ejected into space rather than spray it freely. Due to the technology at that time, a technical problem occurred and resulted in a bright yellow icicle. While it was hilarious to look at, the astronauts had to find a way to remove the shard of iced pee as it could cause serious problems upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The solution, after trying different ways to get rid of it, was using the shuttle’s mechanical arm grabbing the icicle and breaking it off.

Number 2: The Dark Matter Mystery

We have somehow heard of this mysterious Dark Matter from science shows and movies. With a name that sounds like it was lifted directly from a Space Opera, it is one of the most mysterious anomalies in space and physics.

Dark Matter occurs when Einstein’s famous equation of E=MC^2 is applied to space. Using the equation, scientists are able to determine just how much matter exists in the universe. Surprisingly, however, scientists have only found 4% of matter and are boggled about where the 96% are.

Some theorists believe that the 96% of missing matter is present but comes in the form of the so-called Dark Matter; a form of matter that exists wherever no visible matter is found.

To this very day, scientists and experts are debating if in fact Dark Matter is a real thing since no conclusive evidence is pointing them in the right direction. What is even more frustrating is that Dark Matter, upholding its namesake, cannot be seen or touched; light and radio waves also pass through it seamlessly.

Since it is a fundamental scientific fact that matter – in this case, Dark or otherwise – cannot be created or destroyed, who knows? Maybe it’s right in front of us, staring at us straight in the face.

Number 1: The White Hole Conjecture

Speaking of Einstein, we know that he became famous for proving the existence of Black Holes and how they behave through mathematics.

However, while we have celebrated his discovery of the existence Black Holes and have discovered – through the advancement of our technology – several of them in space, what is less known is Einstein’s discovery of the existence of “White Holes” through his equations.

As you may come to conclude, White Holes are the complete opposite of their darker counterparts. Where Black Holes devour light and matter, White Holes seem to spit them out as if creating them from nothing. With this uncanny quality of creating matter “out of nothing”, they should be easy to spot but, to this day, at least a trace of it is yet to be found.

What is interesting to note is that if ever one is found in space, it can present answers to questions that science has yet to provide such as the origin of the material that is basically the make-up of galaxies.

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Sources:

http://listverse.com/2009/12/31/top-10-mysteries-of-outer-space/
http://www.cracked.com/article_19479_the-6-most-mind-blowing-things-ever-discovered-in-space.html
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/12/5-insane-space-stories-we-were-never-taught-in-history-class-sawn-off-shotguns-for-russian-cosmonauts

7 Government Officials Who Confirmed That Aliens Exist

The question of whether or not there are indeed extraterrestrial life forms has been a hotly-debated issue for a very long time. One side maintains a skeptical standpoint on the subject matter, refusing to believe in alien existence unless government authorities provide definitive proof or positive confirmation. Another side insists that not only do extraterrestrials exist; they have also visited our planet and are perhaps even walking among us today. 

And to these believers, the only reason that this reality has yet to become public knowledge is that government institutions are deliberately hiding this fact by withholding photographic and documentary evidence and by downgrading the credibility of those who have stepped forward and exposed the truth. The conviction of these believers in the existence of extraterrestrial life is further strengthened by the fact that several government officials have stepped forward and admitted to this closely-guarded secret. 

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER VIDEO

John Podesta – Former Counselor to President Obama

John Podesta, Former Counselor to President Barack Obama. Podesta is currently the chair and counselor of the Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for American Progress, but in the past, he previously served in the U.S. government as an advisor to President Barack Obama and as a chief of staff of President Bill Clinton. He is also known as a “longtime advocate for government disclosure of UFO files,” having provided his support in some petitions to publicly release documents proving that many UFOs are sightings of actual alien spacecraft. He has even expressed in the past that one of his failings while working for the Obama administration is his neglect in successfully releasing UFO files. He also made Hilary Clinton promise that she would “get to the bottom” of the UFO issue if she became the president.

Edgar Mitchell – Astronaut for NASA

Telegraph

Edgar Mitchell, NASA Astronaut. Edgar Mitchell was an aeronautical engineer and a U.S. Navy officer who also served as an astronaut for NASA during the 1971 Apollo 14 moon mission, which makes him the sixth person to have walked on the moon. Mitchell is also a believer in the existence of extraterrestrial beings and went so far as to say that there is currently plenty of hard evidence that we are not alone in the universe and that military authority have taken lengths to make sure that they are not revealed to the public. However, to this day, NASA has denied involvements in such cover-ups about alien life on the planet or anywhere else in the galaxy. 

Paul Hellyer– Canadian Minister of Defense

CSGlobe

Paul Hellyer, Former Minister of National Defence of Canada. Paul is a Canadian engineer and politician who is the longest serving member of the Privy Council of Canada and formerly served as the country’s minister of National Defence. Aside from his extensive political career, he is also a firm believer that UFOs are proof that aliens have been visiting our planet frequently, claiming that he had personally seen a UFO at least once in his life. He also urged world governments to unveil hidden alien technology which could be helpful in solving the global problem of climate change. 

Ellen Stofan – NASA Chief Scientist

Openminds.tv

Ellen Stofan, Former NASA Chief Scientist. Ellen Stofan previously served as the chief scientist of NASA but resigned from her position back in December 2016. In 2015, Stofan predicted that humankind would be discovering definitive proof of alien life “within 20 to 30 years.” She also said:

“We know where to look. We know how to look. In most cases, we have the technology, and we’re on a path to implementing it.”

While her statements may be indirect, to some people, it seemed like she knew more about the existence and actual whereabouts of these alien life forms. 

Phil Schneider– Geologist and Engineer for the U.S. Naval Intelligence

Phil Schneider, Geologist, and Engineer for the U.S. Naval Intelligence. Phil Schneider was a geologist and engineer who supposedly served for the United States Government and allegedly helped in the construction of Deep Underground Military Bases in different parts of the country. He emerged in the 1990s with his story that he survived a battle against alien beings back in 1979, and criticized the government for keeping the American citizens in the dark about the truth. Unfortunately, Schneider supposedly committed suicide in 1996, but the mysterious circumstances of his demise led some people to believe that he was eliminated by the government to maintain the secrecy of alien existence. 

Philip Corso– Lieutenant Colonel of the U.S. Army

Openminds.tv

Philip Corso, Former Lieutenant Colonel of the U.S. Army. Philip Corso served as an officer in the United States Army between the 1940s and the 1960s. In 1997, he published a book titled “The Day After Roswell,” in which he detailed his involvement in researching about extraterrestrial technology following the alleged recovery of bodies and wreckage from the famous Roswell UFO incident which took place in 1947. Corso also claimed in his book that the U.S. government had reverse engineered the alien technology they found at the site, which resulted in the technological advances that humanity has achieved in recent years. 

Isaac Koi

Marina Popovich – Retired Soviet Air Force Colonel

Marina Popovich, Retired Colonel of the Soviet Air Force. Marina Popovich is a retired colonel in the Soviet Air Force, and a multiple world record-holder in aviation, making her one of the most renowned Russian pilots in modern history. The esteemed pilot has largely spoken about her experience with UFOs in public lectures as well as in interviews. She also published a book about it back in 2003 titled “UFO Glasnost.” She claimed that there are around 3000 confirmed UFO sightings across the globe and that the KGB and the Soviet Air Force are in possession of UFO fragments from a handful of crash sites across the Soviet territory.

Gordon Cooper – Astronaut for NASA in Project Mercury

The Black Vault

Gordon Cooper, Nasa Astronaut for Project Mercury. Gordon Cooper was an American aerospace engineer who is known to be a member of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, which was the United States’ first initiative for manned space travel. Cooper was also the first American to sleep in space, having spent 34-hours all alone in space during his orbital mission. In his illustrious career as a pilot, he claimed to have personally experienced a UFO sighting, and he purportedly wrote to the United Nations back in 1978 about his position on this mystery, saying: 

"I do believe UFOs exist and that the truly unexplained ones are from some other technically advanced civilization... I believe that these extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which are obviously a little more advanced than we are here on earth...”

The claims of many of these individuals, all of whom had served in government institutions at some point in their lives, have been ignored by the public mainly because the governing bodies they were once a part of had either denied their allegations or had refused to comment on them. But does that mean there isn’t, at the very least, a grain of truth in what these former government officials have said about the existence of extraterrestrial life forms? Is it so hard to believe that there are creatures out there – possibly far more advanced than we are – who have taken a glimpse or two at our planet and our way of life? And, should aliens do exist, is it so unlikely for the world government to keep this truth from us if most of us are potentially unprepared for such a reality?

Perhaps, the day will soon come when our government authorities will deem us ready to see and hear the truth, and will finally put an end to the mystery of whether extraterrestrial beings do exist and are possibly already among us. 

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Sources:

https://youtu.be/giQ9BF3pVa0
http://listverse.com/2016/08/21/10-government-officials-who-admitted-the-existence-of-aliens/
https://www.trend-chaser.com/politics/weve-got-em-these-government-officials-admitted-aliens-exist/?view-all
http://www.snopes.com/john-podesta-discussed-alien-technology-with-former-nasa-astronaut/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/08/the-long-strange-history-of-john-podestas-space-alien-obsession/?utm_term=.99caf11348ed
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/20/ufo.conference/index.html?eref=rss_
https://www.space.com/29041-alien-life-evidence-by-2025-nasa.html
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/607504-alien-human-battle-of-1979-in-new-mexico-alleged-eye-witness-report/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_J._Corso
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Popovich#Popovich_and_UFOs
http://www.ufoevidence.org/news/article162.htm

NASA Denies Mars Child Slave Colony

Susana Gonzalez | Getty Images

Mars has been a hot topic lately.

Elon Musk's Space X is building rockets to shuttle Earthlings to colonize Mars before an extinction-level event, President Tump recently signed both an Executive Order to reestablish the National Space Council and the NASA Transition Authorization Act, giving NASA $19.5 billion for 2018 to send a “crewed mission to Mars in the 2030's.”

NASA | President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order to reestablish the National Space Council, Friday, June 30, 2017. 

The latest, and most sensational, Mars news comes from Robert David Steele, former CIA Operations Officer and a member of their Advanced Information Processing & Analysis Steering Group. During an interview on the Alex Jones Show last Thursday he said “We actually believe that there is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space on a 20-year ride so that once they get to Mars, they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony.” 

Alex Jones talks with CIA insider Robert David Steele about the insanity and depravity of the elite and what their end game is. InfoWars

NASA spokesperson, Guy Webster, has since denied NASA's involvement in such activity by stating “There are no humans on Mars. There are active rovers on Mars. There was a rumor going around last week that there weren’t. There are, but there are no humans."

Artist impression of a Mars settlement with cutaway view. Credit: NASA Ames Research Center

If there are no humans ON Mars, could there still be humans IN Mars?

Wouldn't it be smarter to keep a secret slave colony underground? Otherwise, everyone could see photos of it from NASA satellites and rovers. And what would they be slaving away at in Mars? Perhaps some rare Martian minerals for military advantages? Who knows. 

InfoWars show host, Alex Jones claims “Look, I know that 90 percent of the NASA missions are secret and I’ve been told by high-level NASA engineers that you have no idea. There is so much stuff going on.”

The RedWorks habitat design argues for building down, rather than up for life on Mars. Courtesy of RedWorks.

Companies like RedWorks have been designing 3D-printed housing structures that would be built down into the Martian ground as protection from the atmosphere, meteorites... and aliens!

"What ISAC offers for Mars is Resource Independence: the ability to survive and thrive using just the materials at hand. ISAC will let future pioneers cut the cost of flying to Mars by packing to build rather than to maintain what they already have.

From creating surface outposts to colonizing huge lava tubes, with resource independence, colonists will be free to explore what a new frontier has to offer."

I guess we won't know what's up there until we catch a ride on Elon Musk's private shuttle and go to Mars for ourselves or wait until NASA sends someone up there in 2030-something. Either way, it's exciting to imagine the possibilities.

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Sources

• The Alex Jones Channel (Youtube): https://youtu.be/f9cgm1B7Rew
• http://www.thedailybeast.com/nasa-denies-that-its-running-a-child-slave-colony-on-mars
• https://wall.alphacoders.com/by_sub_category.php?id=195147

NASA to Disclose Aliens Exist?

When NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, recently said “...we are on the verge of making one of the most profound, unprecedented, discoveries in history,” the hacktivist group Anonymous took this out of context, exciting many people with a video claiming NASA will finally disclose the existence of aliens. Dr. Zurbuchen replied to this on Twitter:

"Contrary to some reports, there’s no pending announcement from NASA regarding extraterrestrial life." - @Dr_ThomasZ

So it seems this recent news is not so important as people were led to believe. However, NASA astronauts have actually already been sharing their experiences of UFO's for a long time now. 

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NASA Astronaut Whistle Blowers

The existence of aliens and government cover-ups have been some of the hottest topics on the internet practically since it was created and people all over the world have shared their experiences and thoughts on the matter. While anonymous internet users may not be credible or believable, United States astronauts who actually flew into space and have reports documenting their experiences have some very revealing quotes. 

Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Pilot, the Sixth Astronaut on the Moon, a UFO-ologist and Founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences

"I've changed my position in the last two or three years - the last two years to be precise - to suggest that the evidence is strong enough that we really need to have serious open discussion and release of information that it is quite clear the government and other governments do hold, and that this become a part of our official knowledge... Now, whether it's true or not, it deserves to be handled with a serious investigation. There is too much smoke here not to be fire, and so I personally in the last couple of years have come out - I don't know the answers, but I've come out - and I say, this has gone far enough. If it's real, let's get it out in the open; let's break the deadlock that bureaucracy has on this. There is enough evidence pointing in the direction that clearly there is information being withheld. How far we can go with it, I don't know."

Major Gordon Cooper, One of the Original Seven Astronauts Participating in NASA's Project Mercury and the Last American to Fly in Space Alone

"For many years I have lived with a secret, in a secrecy imposed on all specialists in astronautics. I can now reveal that every day, in the USA, our radar instruments capture objects of form and composition unknown to us. And there are thousands of witness reports and a quantity of documents to prove this, but nobody wants to make them public. 

Why? Because authority is afraid that people may think of God knows what kind of horrible invaders. So the password still is: We have to avoid panic by all means."

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NASA Distraction & Cover-Up?

While NASA has been launching project after project over the years in a continual supposed search for extra-terrestrial life on distant planets in other solar systems, they indirectly deny finding any so far, including in our own solar system, or even right here in Earth's atmosphere.

“While we’re excited about the latest findings from NASA’s Kepler space observatory, there’s no pending announcement regarding extraterrestrial life. For years NASA has expressed interest in searching for signs of life beyond Earth. We have a number of science missions that are moving forward with the goal of seeking signs of past and present life on Mars and ocean worlds in the outer solar system. While we do not yet have answers, we will continue to work to address the fundamental question, ‘are we alone?’” - Laurie Cantillo, NASA Lead Communications Specialist

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So why is NASA denying the existence of UFO's and aliens when their own astronauts present contrary eyewitness accounts? Are the expensive interstellar NASA projects really just for gathering information about the nature of the universe and finding distant planets to occupy? Is NASA making secret deals with extra-terrestrial civilizations and using their projects as a front to enable continual development? 

What do you think?

Did Humans Accidentally Create an Artificial Barrier Around Earth?

Last month, NASA’s Van Allen probes (which are designed to study electrons and ions in space) reported that there is actually an artificial barrier surrounding Earth created by none other than human beings.

How was this barrier made? This artificial barrier was the result of low frequency radio communications created by human activity. Very low frequency signals, or VLF, are often emitted by radio telescopes that have the task of contacting submarines in the ocean.  But while most of the signals are sent down into the deep, dark waters, some signals also float into the atmosphere, resulting in something called a VLF bubble that surrounds the earth. The VLF bubble extends all the way to the inner edge of the Van Allen radiation belts, 3 belts that have energetic charged particles held by Earth’s magnetic field. The interaction between the VLF bubble and the radiation belts results in the artificial barrier that we’re talking about.

Two doughnut-shaped regions of high-energy particles make up the Van Allen radiation belts. Credit: NASA

Phil Erickson, one of the scientists involved in the discovery, said: “A number of experiments and observations have figured out that, under the right conditions, radio communications signals in the VLF frequency range can in fact affect the properties of the high-energy radiation environment around the Earth”.

In fact, if the VLF bubble didn’t exist, then we would be much closer to the radiation belt than we currently are. As shown in data from the 1960s, the Van Allen radiation belt was actually much closer to Earth back then than it is right now. This means that the barrier is actually protecting the earth from space radiation. Not only that, scientists also say that this barrier will be able to shield space from other dangers like coronal mass ejections, which are explosions that occur on the sun that may result in geomagnetic storms that can destroy communication satellites and power grids as well as affect the weather in space.

Scientists are now saying that the barrier could also potentially remove excess radiation around earth and are carrying out experiments as we speak. This newfound artificial barrier proves that we, as human beings, not only have a huge impact on the earth, but also in space as well.

Alien Megastructure Star On the Move Again

KIC 8462852, also known as Tabby’s Star

Moving away from man-made barriers and onto the topic of aliens. Yes, it just gets weirder and weirder.

A report today has announced that one of the strangest stars in the universe, the KIC 8462852, also known as Tabby’s Star, has started behaving very strangely again.This star, nicknamed the ‘alien megastructure star’, was originally discovered in 2009 and is located 1,500 light years away from earth between the Cygnus and Lyre constellations of our Milky Way galaxy. The reason why this star is called the ‘alien megastructure star’ is because in late 2015, astronomers led by Tabetha Boyajian (AKA Tabby, the woman the KIC 8462852 is named after) of Yale University discovered that the star was emitting light in very strange patterns.

To give a little background info: stars usually emit light in very slight dips of less than 1 percent every few weeks, days, or months. But to the astronomers’ surprise,  KIC 8462852 was emitting light dips of up to 22 percent! And the strange thing was that the light dips didn’t follow a particular pattern either, which left astronomers and scientists completely baffled. No one had a clue what was going on, and could think of no explanations as to why the star was behaving the way it was. As a result, one scientist offered the possibility that an 'alien megastructure' was messing with the star, which is how it got it’s nickname ‘alien megastructure star’.

According to Jason Wright, Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Penn State, the star started dimming again last Friday, and has already dimmed by 3 percent in the matter of a few days. He immediately tweeted about the phenomenon on Twitter, which caused everyone in the astronomical community to freak out and run for their telescopes.  "As far as I can tell, every telescope that can look at it right now is looking at it right now," says astronomer Matt Muterspaugh from Tennessee State University.

The reason why this second dimming of the KIC  8462852 is so important is because it allows scientists to gather more data about its bizarre dip patterns. During the last dipping in 2015, astronomers were not able to collect enough data to provide reasonable explanations about the strange star’s light patterns. "We were kind of stuck in a spot where we couldn't do anything," Tabetha Boyajian said: "We had all the data we could, and to learn anything more, we needed to catch it in action again."

Some explanations surrounding the star’s bizarreness include comet swarms, the remnants of a devoured planet, or that the star is actually distorted in a way that gives it a bigger radius at the equator than at the poles. Of course, people are even considering the possibility of alien intervention. In fact, this star is one of the few phenomena where no one has even discounted the aliens yet….That’s how weird it is.

Jason Wright even said that: "Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider, but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilisation to build." in fact, Wright believes that the star’s irregular light emission is caused by something like the Dyson sphere we see in sci-fi movies, a huge sphere created around a star that surrounds it and absorbs all of the energy output of the star so that lifeforms can live on the star’s surface.

Even someone like Wright, a professional astronomer with a solid background who considers aliens as the LAST possible explanation, believes that alien intervention is a very likely explanation for the star’s weird behavior. Regarding Wright’s theory about the Dyson sphere, Matt Muterspaugh says: "That theory is still a valid one...we would really hate to go to that, because that's a pretty major thing. It'd be awesome of course, but as scientists, we're hoping there's a natural explanation."

So what do you guys think? Do you think aliens actually built a huge Dyson sphere around the KIC  8462852 so that more aliens can live on the star’s surface?