Current Events in Astronomy

[calikid]

Not to wander to far OT, but growing up in the 60s I recall the US mindset of those times.
The USSR had put up the Sputnik satellite and launched Yuri Gagarin into outer space in the Vostok spacecraft, where he completed an orbit of the Earth April 1961. 🚀
This launched (forgive the pun) the space race.
Competition to avoid "a gap" between nation's space technologies.
It is interesting to note the apparent lack of initiative by the USA until prodded into responding/catching up.
If history holds true, once China implements a genuine startup for lunar mining, perhaps that old competitive spirit will re-ignite here in the US.

[A99]

I think you're on to something here. China's ambitions to get to the moon first and mine it is not to be taken lightly. Yesterday, I saw a You Tube video where Bigelow was expressing the same sentiment in a very forceful manner so as to tell the public that we need to be paying attention to this so as to imply that we need to focus on setting up a permanent base on the moon as soon as possible... if not sooner.

It's going to be like the wild, wild west up there and if China starts mining the moon before we do... we're in big, big trouble.

[earthman]

You know of our CubeSat 4 UFO Disclosure project but now we have a backer that wants me to send 3 CubeSat's to the Moon to image it. THey are willing to pay for it and I already talked to the rocket company that is launching the first one for us. They gave me a good price for the 3 and looks like we are a go. It will be late next summer in 2018. SO if there is something on the moon we will see it for our self.

[A99]

Keep us updated on this... how exciting!

[CasperParks]

You know of our CubeSat 4 UFO Disclosure project but now we have a backer that wants me to send 3 CubeSat's to the Moon to image it. THey are willing to pay for it and I already talked to the rocket company that is launching the first one for us. They gave me a good price for the 3 and looks like we are a go. It will be late next summer in 2018. SO if there is something on the moon we will see it for our self.

Sounds like a good project!

[calikid]

You know of our CubeSat 4 UFO Disclosure project but now we have a backer that wants me to send 3 CubeSat's to the Moon to image it. THey are willing to pay for it and I already talked to the rocket company that is launching the first one for us. They gave me a good price for the 3 and looks like we are a go. It will be late next summer in 2018. SO if there is something on the moon we will see it for our self.

Nice to see you Earthman.
For those of us who missed your appearances on radio talk shows, would appreciate an update on the current project.
Launch date ?
Package/payload status?

[calikid]

From what I can tell, gray scale images from the Juno probe are sent back to Earth, where amateur astronomers "colorize" the photos and upload them to the gallery.
Some are pretty spectacular!

NASA's $1 billion Jupiter probe just sent back breathtaking new images of the gas giant
By Dave Mosher

A probe the size of a basketball court has taken unprecedented new images of Jupiter.

NASA's $1 billion Juno spacecraft, launched in August 2011, took five years to reach and settle into orbit around the gas giant, which is more than 415 million miles from Earth.

The probe has so far photographed Jupiter's poles for the first time, detected bizarre cloud formations, recorded mysterious auroras, and scanned deep into the planet's thick cloud tops.

Juno repeatedly swings by Jupiter in a wide arc to minimize time inside the planet's intense radiation belts, which can damage sensitive electronics.

NASA planned to fire Juno's thrusters in October to increase the frequency of these flybys - from once every 53.5 days to every two weeks - but sticky engine valves botched that operation. So instead the maneuvers happen about once every two months.
Story Continues


An image of Jupiter's South Pole.

For the Image Gallery

[CasperParks]

Calikid, thanks for posting!

Fantastic images...

[Wally]

From astrobiology.com

Atmosphere Around Low-mass Super-Earth Detected

[Wally]

From space.com

Enceladus' Subsurface Energy Source: What It Means for Search for Life
Potential Energy Source for Life Spotted on Saturn Moon Enceladus