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☆ SpaceX's mega-rocket has a 'decent chance' of making orbit on its next flight, Musk said. Last time, Starship blew up the launchpad and exploded in mid-air.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said he thinks Starship has a "decent chance" of reaching orbit on its second test flight. AdvertisementAdvertisementSpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Thursday the company's Starship vehicle has a "decent chance" of making orbit on its second test flight. But it has yet to reach orbit. AdvertisementAdvertisement"Technically, it's a scooch below orbit," Musk said Thursday. Tripathi added that he would consider this second test flight to be a success if two things happen.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, —, we've, Ashlee Vance, Vance, Abhi Tripathi, Tripathi Organizations: Service, International Astronautical Federation, SpaceX

☆ Prada and Axiom Space Collaborate to Design NASA's Lunar Spacesuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian luxury group Prada and Texas-based startup Axiom Space will collaborate to design NASA's lunar spacesuits for the Artemis III mission planned for 2025, the two companies said on Wednesday. Prada's engineers will work alongside the Axiom Space systems team throughout the design process, developing solutions for materials and design features to protect astronauts against the challenge of space and the lunar environment, they said in a joint statement. Axiom has a contract with U.S. space agency NASA to develop spacesuits for use on the moon and other space programmes. (Reporting by Elisa Anzolin)

Persons: Artemis, Elisa Anzolin Organizations: MILAN, Prada, U.S, NASA Locations: Texas

☆ Prada and Axiom Space collaborate to design NASA's lunar spacesuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Prada signage is seen at their store at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, U.S., February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Italian luxury group Prada (1913.F) and Texas-based startup Axiom Space will collaborate to design NASA's lunar spacesuits for the Artemis III mission planned for 2025, the two companies said on Wednesday. Prada's engineers will work alongside the Axiom Space systems team throughout the design process, developing solutions for materials and design features to protect astronauts against the challenge of space and the lunar environment, they said in a joint statement. Axiom has a contract with U.S. space agency NASA to develop spacesuits for use on the moon and other space programmes. Reporting by Elisa AnzolinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Artemis, Elisa Anzolin Organizations: Prada, Woodbury, REUTERS, U.S, NASA, Thomson Locations: Central Valley , New York, U.S, Texas

☆ China offers to collaborate on lunar mission as deadlines loom
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, Oct 3 (Reuters) - China, which aims to become a major space power by 2030, has opened up a key lunar mission to international cooperation as mission deadlines loom for setting up a permanent habitat on the south pole of the moon. The Chang'e-8 mission will follow the Chang'e-7 in 2026, which also aims to search for lunar resources on the moon's south pole. The two missions will lay the foundations for the construction of the Beijing-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) in the 2030s. China aims to land astronauts on the moon by 2030. On the 2025 Artemis 3 mission, two U.S. astronauts will land on the lunar south pole, a region previously unvisited by any human.

Persons: CNSA, Ryan Woo, Gerry Doyle Organizations: China National Space Administration, International Astronautical, Lunar Research, Artemis, U.S ., NASA, U.S, Artemis Accords, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Baku, Azerbaijan, Beijing, U.S, India, Russia, Venezuela

☆ NASA caught a 1.2 mile-high Martian dust devil on camera and scientists say it's way bigger than whirlwinds on Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

NASA's Perseverance rover captured a 1.2-mile-high dust devil on Mars on camera. Scientists say dust devils on Mars are much stronger than those on Earth. AdvertisementAdvertisementNASA's Perseverance rover caught a 1.2-mile-high Martian dust devil on camera that scientists say is way bigger than whirlwinds on Earth. If this dust devil were configured that way, its shadow would indicate it is about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) in height." Dust devils on Mars are much stronger than Earth'sNASA said that Martian dust devils, while not as intense as Earth's tornadoes, are much stronger and larger than dust devils on Earth.

Persons: —, Mark Lemmon Organizations: Service, NASA, Trade Center, Perseverance, National Weather Service, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Locations: York

☆ Mercury is slowly shrinking, and it's giving the planet wrinkles
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementMercury, the smallest planet in the solar system, is getting even — and getting more wrinkles as it does, a new study suggests. Mercury is wrinkling like an old appleLike any other planet, Mercury is losing heat. The study, published in Nature Geosciences on Monday, identified 48 definite and 244 likely grabens on pictures snapped by NASA's MESSENGER probe in 2015. AdvertisementAdvertisementMercury is likely constantly shaking with quakesThe study also suggests Mercury is constantly shaking with quakes, Rothery said. ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGOThe next step for Mercury, Rothery said, will be the arrival of a space probe called BepiColumbo.

Persons: —, David Rothery, Rothery, Ben Man, Nat, it's, we've, BepiColumbo Organizations: Service, UK's Open University, Nature Geosciences, Mercury, ESA, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Locations: et

☆ The October 2023 solar eclipse is known as a 'ring of fire.' Here's what that means, when it's happening, and how to see it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementWhat an annular solar eclipse is, and what causes itThe entire sequence of an annular solar eclipse, from the beginning to the ring of fire. The eclipse of October 14, however, will be an annular solar eclipse. AdvertisementAdvertisementAfter that, the contiguous US won't see another total solar eclipse until 2044, or an annular eclipse until 2046. The paths of the October 2023 annular solar eclipse (left) and the 2024 total solar eclipse (right). How to view a solar eclipse without burning your eyesIf you look at a solar eclipse with no protection, you could damage your eyes.

Persons: —, goh keng cheong, Guhathakurta, Sertac Kayar, They're, Alex Lockwood, Donald Trump, Melania, Barron, Kevin Lamarque, Connie Moore Organizations: Service, NASA, US, NASA's, White, National Park Service, NPS Locations: Portland , Oregon, San Antonio , Texas, Diyarbakir, Turkey, Texas, Maine, Oregon, Corpus Christi , Texas

☆ Photos show the 3.86 billion-mile journey of NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample mission from start to finish
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

NASA's OSIRIS-REx has been traveling for seven years to get an asteroid sample to Earth. Check out its 3.86 billion-mile journey from launch to asteroid sample landing in the photos below. NASA/Keegan BarberAfter collecting the largest asteroid sample ever brought to Earth, OSIRIS began its long journey home. AdvertisementAdvertisementSample retrievalRecovery team members gather around a capsule containing Bennu asteroid samples as part of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. Analyzing the sampleLockheed Martin recovery specialists Levi Hanish and Michael Kaye take the lid off NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample.

Persons: REx, —, what's, OSIRIS, imager, Bennu, NASA's, Dante Lauretta, Keegan Barber, Rick Bowmer, NASA’s, Molly Wasser, Martin, Levi Hanish, Michael Kaye, Robert Markowiz, Noah Petro, What's, It's Organizations: Service, REx, NASA, United Launch Alliance, Atlas, Goddard, University of Arizona, Survey, NASA's Goddard Space, Earth, Department of Defense's Utah, AP, US Air Force, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Space Center, JPL, Caltech Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, Salt Lake City, Houston, Houston , Texas

A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth on Wednesday after being stuck in space for just over a year. American Frank Rubio set a record for the longest U.S. spaceflight — a result of the extended stay. Rubio spent more than two weeks longer in space than Mark Vande Hei, who held NASA's previous endurance record for a single spaceflight. Russia holds the world record of 437 days, set in the mid-1990s. The Soyuz capsule that brought Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin back was a replacement launched in February.

Persons: Frank Rubio, Rubio, Mark Vande Hei, Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, Denmark’s Andreas Mogensen, Prokopyev, “, ” Rubio Organizations: NASA, Earth, Soyuz, International Space, Engineers, Helicopters, Army, U.S . Naval Academy, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Kazakhstan, Russia, Point, Petelin

☆ The world's largest airplane was destroyed by Russia — and Ukraine estimates it will cost $500 million to rebuild. Take a look at what's left of the mammoth jet.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The world's largest airplane was destroyed after Russia invaded Ukraine's Hostomel Airport in 2022. Photos show the Antonov An-225 "Mriya" being dismantled, with a few engines being salvaged. Take a look at what the mammoth aircraft looked like before and after the attack at Hostomel. A photo of the Hostomel Airport in August, about 20 miles from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Take a look at what the An-225 looked like before and after the attack at Hostomel.

Persons: — it's, Igor Lesiv Organizations: Ukraine's Hostomel, Service, Antonov Company, Boeing, NASA's, Shuttle, Paris Air, Getty, Soviet, Antonov Airlines, Hostomel Airport Locations: Russia, Ukraine's, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Kyiv, Soviet Union, Ukrainian, Hostomel

☆ NASA's first asteroid sample parachutes into Utah desert
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Sept 24 (Reuters) - A NASA space capsule carrying the largest soil sample ever scooped up from the surface of an asteroid streaked through Earth's atmosphere on Sunday and parachuted into the Utah desert, delivering the celestial specimen to scientists. It marked only the third asteroid sample, and by far the biggest, ever returned to Earth for analysis, following two similar missions by Japan's space agency ending in 2010 and 2020. OSIRIS-REx collected its specimen three years ago from Bennu, a small, carbon-rich asteroid discovered in 1999. Parachutes deployed near the very end of the descent, slowing the capsule to about 11 mph before it fell gently onto the desert floor of northwestern Utah. The Bennu sample has been estimated at 250 grams (8.8 ounces), far surpassing the 5 grams carried back from Ryugu in 2020 or the tiny specimen delivered from asteroid Itokawa in 2010.

Persons: REx, NASA's, Steve Gorman, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: NASA, University of Arizona, Empire, NASA's Johnson Space Center, Thomson Locations: Utah, Salt Lake City, military's, Bennu, Ryugu, Houston, Los Angeles

A space capsule carrying NASA’s first asteroid samples streaked toward a touchdown in the Utah desert Sunday to cap a seven-year journey. Flying by Earth, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft released the capsule from 63,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) out. About a teaspoon was returned by Japan, the only other country to bring back asteroid samples. By the time it returned Sunday, the spacecraft had traveled 4 billion miles (6.2 billion kilometers). Political Cartoons View All 1176 ImagesNow free of the sample capsule, Osiris-Rex is already targeting another asteroid.

Persons: Rex, Rex rocketed Organizations: Utah, Scientists, Space Center, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Utah, Japan, Houston

☆ Capsule with NASA's first asteroid sample heads for Utah touchdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to release the gumdrop-shaped capsule, transporting about a cup of gravelly asteroid material, at 6:42 a.m. EDT (1042 GMT) for a final descent to Earth, climaxing a seven-year voyage. The spacecraft departed Bennu in May 2021 for a 1.2-billion-mile (1.9-billion-km) cruise back to Earth, including two orbits around the sun. The Bennu sample is estimated at 250 grams (8.8 ounces), far surpassing the 5 grams of material carried back from Ryugu in 2020 or the tiny specimen delivered from asteroid Itokawa in 2010. Scientists hope the integrity of the capsule and inner cannister bearing the asteroid material will be maintained through re-entry and landing, keeping the sample pristine and free of any terrestrial contamination. The main portion of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, meanwhile, is expected to sail on to explore yet another near-Earth asteroid, named Apophis.

Persons: Joel Kowsky, REx, climaxing, NASA's, Steve Gorman, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: United Launch Alliance, V, Cape Canaveral Air Force, NASA, Handout, Reuters, University of Arizona, Empire, NASA's Johnson Space Center, Thomson Locations: Florida, U.S, Utah, Salt Lake City, military's, Ryugu, Houston, Los Angeles

☆ NASA will preserve asteroid samples from OSIRIS-Rex for centuries to come so that scientists not even born yet can study them
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Maiya Focht | Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An asteroid sample collected by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed in the Utah desert Sunday. The landing marked the end of NASA's first ever mission to collect an asteroid sample. The rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu will prove useful to scientists for centuries to come. It was carrying rock and dust samples collected by the spacecraft from the asteroid Bennu in 2020. The team had to pivot, storing the sample inside its return capsule straight away instead of weighing it first as planned.

Persons: NASA's OSIRIS, REx, NASA's, REx —, Noah Petro, Petro, Richard Burns, OSIRIS, " Burns, Dante Lauretta, hasn't, Lauretta Organizations: Service, NASA Locations: Utah, Wall, Silicon

☆ 4 of Russia's deadliest military systems in its war against Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider has compiled a list of four of the most effective ones Russia has used so far in the war. Insider has taken a look at four key military systems that Russia has used to do this, from Ka-52 attack helicopters to Lancet drones. Ka-52 "Alligator" attack helicoptersA serviceman checks a Russian Ka-52 "Alligator" attack helicopter. It can also be fitted with VIKHR anti-tank missiles, ATAKA missiles, B8V-20 rocket launchers, and IGLA-V anti-aircraft guided missiles, per the site. Danilov said the number of Russian mines was "insane" and stressed the importance Ukraine was placing on saving its front-line soldiers.

Persons: Bradley, Danilov, James Patton Rogers, Forbes, Patton Rogers, Oleksiy Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Airforce Technology, UK Ministry of Defence, US stingers, Forbes, Emergency Services, REUTERS Ukraine's, National Security and Defense, CNN, Presidential, University of Southern, Soviet, State Emergency Service, FAB, REUTERS, Razumkov, New York Times Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Ka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukrainian, University of Southern Denmark, Kharkiv, REUTERS Russia

☆ An amateur astronomer caught one of the brightest fireballs ever seen on Jupiter. Watch the rare video footage.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Maiya Focht | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

About 14 seconds into the video below, you can see a bright flash appear in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. AdvertisementAdvertisementOne of the brightest, biggest Jupiter fireballs ever recordedKo Arimatsu, an astronomer at Kyoto University, confirmed to The New York Times that there were six reports of this flash on August 28. AdvertisementAdvertisementA fragment of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impacts Jupiter’s night side in 1994. Jupiter is the 'vacuum cleaner of the solar system'As the largest planet in our solar system, by far, Jupiter has a powerful gravity that pulls in comets and asteroids. In fact, Jupiter's appetite for asteroids and comets has earned it the nickname "vacuum cleaner of the solar system," according to NASA.

Persons: Tadao Ohsugi, It's, Arimatsu, Shoemaker, Levy, Peter Vereš, NASA's OSIRIS, NASA's, Leigh Fletcher Organizations: Service, Kyoto University, The New York Times, TNT, NASA, ESA, Space Science Institute, Jupiter, JPL Arimatsu, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, University of Arizona, University of Leicester, Times Locations: Wall, Silicon, Japan, Boulder, Colo, Siberia

☆ NASA scientists plan to bake, slice, and fire lasers at the asteroid sample from OSIRIS-REx to understand the creation of our solar system
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to deliver a return capsule with asteroid dust on Sunday. Scientists hope to study the asteroid dust and dirt in every way possible. After nearly three years, NASA's OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to finally deliver the largest asteroid sample ever to the Utah desert at approximately 10:55 a.m. That's right, an asteroid sample is headed for Earth. A rotating mosaic of asteroid Bennu, composed of images captured by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft over a four-hour period.

Persons: NASA's, REx, Noah Petro, Petro, Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS, Lauretta, NASA's OSIRIS, University of Arizona Lauretta, Lori Glaze, they'll Organizations: Service, Empire, NASA's Goddard Space, NASA, Goddard, University of Arizona, Planetary Science, JPL, Caltech Locations: Utah, Wall, Silicon

☆ NASA's first asteroid sample on track for Sunday parachute landing in Utah
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreLOS ANGELES, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A NASA space capsule carrying a sample of rocky material plucked from the surface of an asteroid three years ago hurtled toward Earth this weekend headed for a fiery plunge through the atmosphere and a parachute landing in the Utah desert on Sunday. OSIRIS-REx collected its specimen from Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid discovered in 1999 and classified as a "near-Earth object" because it passes relatively close to our planet every six years. The Bennu sample is estimated at 250 grams (8.8 ounces), far surpassing the amount of material carried back from asteroid Ryugu in 2020 and asteroid Itokawa in 2010. The main portion of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, meanwhile, is expected to sail on to explore yet another near-Earth asteroid. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles, Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: REx, Sandra Freund, Lockheed Martin, Dante Lauretta, NASA's, Steve Gorman, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: United Launch Alliance, V, Cape Canaveral Air Force, NASA, Lockheed, University of Arizona, Empire, NASA's Johnson Space Center, Thomson Locations: Florida, U.S, ANGELES, Utah, military's, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Houston, Los Angeles

☆ NASA scientists calculated the exact date an asteroid could hit Earth with the force of at least 24 nuclear bombs. Thankfully, it's a long way off.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Asteroid Bennu has a slim chance of hitting our planet on September 24, 2182, NASA said. It would release as much energy as about 24 nuclear bombs, so NASA is keeping a close eye on it. Dust grabbed from the asteroid by NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft is due to arrive on Earth on Sunday. NASA scientists are keeping a close eye on asteroid Bennu, a 1,610-foot-wide cosmic object that could smash into our planet. Bennu was photographed under all angles by NASA's Osiris-Rex mission.

Persons: NASA's Osiris, Tsar Bomba, NASA's, — it's, there's, Bennu, Rex Organizations: NASA, Service, Empire, Eiffel, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, University of Arizona NASA, NASA's Goddard Space Locations: Wall, Silicon, Bennu, Chelyabinsk, Russia, Utah

☆ A NASA probe got slammed by a massive eruption from the sun — and caught it all on camera
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A NASA probe caught a massive eruption from the sun on camera. The Parker Solar Probe flew right through a major coronal mass ejection last year. NASA said that the CME that struck the Parker Solar Probe was "one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections ever recorded." The Parker Solar Probe's mission to touch the sunAn artist's illustration of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun. NASAThe Parker Solar Probe was designed specifically to study the sun.

Persons: NASA's Parker, Parker, Johns Hopkins, it's, Jim Kinnison, We're, Russ Howard Organizations: NASA, Parker, Probe, Service, Solar Probe, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics, CME, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Locations: Wall, Silicon, CMEs

Forecasting solar storms is especially difficult right now, even as the sun is getting more active. CMEs fling charged, super-hot plasma into space, and sometimes — like in the case of this CME — that plasma strikes Earth. On the bright side, these solar storms also make stunning displays of the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, visible in the middle of the US. On a different day, all of these effects combined could have created a very violent solar storm. In the worst-case scenario, which is very rare, all the conditions align to send a very fast and very powerful solar storm to Earth.

Persons: oozing, Keith Strong, Lockheed Martin, Dean Pesnell, Rune Stoltz Bertinussen, Matt Owens, Bryan Brasher, Daniel Verscharen, Owens Organizations: Service, Lockheed, NASA, Dynamics, Prediction, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reuters, CME, University of Reading, University College London, NASA Solar Dynamics Locations: Wall, Silicon, Tromso, Norway, Montana , Missouri, Virginia

☆ A giant eruption from the sun could bring the Northern Lights as far south as New York, Chicago, and Portland overnight Monday and early Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The reason for this brilliant display is the sun, which shot a giant eruption of charged particles toward Earth on Sunday. The colorful Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, appear when electrically charged particles from the sun interact with molecules in Earth's atmosphere. Northern Lights may appear unusually far southTypically these dazzling green, red, pink, and purple lights only appear around the Arctic Circle, or around the South Pole (there it's called the aurora australis). That's because our planet's magnetic field lines channel the steady stream of particles, called the "solar wind," to the poles. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhere the aurora might appear tonightThe below map of the Space Weather Prediction Center's aurora forecast shows where late-night or early-morning sky watchers might be lucky enough to see the Northern Lights.

Persons: Dean Pesnell, Keith Strong, Lockheed Martin, Mike Hapgood, there's Organizations: Service, NASA, Dynamics, Lockheed, NOAA, Prediction Center, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Administration Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York , Illinois, Oregon

☆ Germany signs U.S.-led space norms pact Artemis Accords
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Germany on Thursday became the 29th country to sign the Artemis Accords, a U.S.-led multilateral agreement meant to establish norms of behavior in space and on the lunar surface. India, which last month became the fourth nation to achieve a soft landing on the moon, agreed to join the Artemis Accords in June but China and Russia have not. "It's a big deal, because Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe and has been a part of the European space program forever," Nelson told Reuters on Thursday before the signing. Japan, various European countries and other nations with big to small space programs have joined the accords. The European Space Agency (ESA), which represents 22 member states including Germany, is a core NASA partner on Gateway, a planned space station that will orbit the moon as part of the Artemis program.

Persons: Bill Nelson, Walther Pelzer, Nelson, NASA's, Artemis, Mike Gold, Joey Roulette, Will Dunham Organizations: Artemis Accords, NASA, German Space Agency, Reuters, European Space Agency, ESA, Thomson Locations: Germany, U.S, United States, China, India, Russia, Washington, Europe, Japan

A highly anticipated report published by NASA on Thursday underscored challenges to understanding unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, including stigma and poor data quality. The report, which comes from NASA’s UAP Independent Study Team, found no evidence to suggest that UFOs have an extraterrestrial origin. “The NASA independent study team did not find any evidence that UAP have an extra terrestrial origin,” Nelson said. “Stigma has limited reporting by pilots, both civilian and military,” David Spergel, chair of the UAP Independent Study Team, said at the press briefing. When asked during a briefing in May why the team doesn’t use the term UFO for the report, Evans said “because of the stigma associated with UFOs.”

Persons: Bill Nelson, ” Nelson, ”, “, Daniel Evans, ” David Spergel, Evans Organizations: NASA, NASA’s, UAP

☆ NASA installs new chief of UFO research after expert panel report
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The mission of NASA is to find out the unknown," Nelson said. The NASA panel, comprising experts in scientific fields ranging from physics to astrobiology, issued the report after holding its first public meeting in June. NASA said the new director of UAP research will handle "centralized communications, resources and data analytical capabilities to establish a robust database for the evaluation of future UAP." The report said defense and intelligence analysts lacked sufficient data to determine the nature of some of the objects. The NASA panel studying UAPs held its first public meeting in June, comprising experts in scientific fields ranging from physics to astrobiology.

Persons: Joe Skipper, Bill Nelson, Nelson, UAPs, Joey Roulette, Will Dunham Organizations: NASA, Vehicle, Kennedy Space Center, REUTERS, Rights, UAP, National Intelligence, Navy, U.S, East, Pentagon, Thomson Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S, West

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