Science & TechnologyS


Moon

Russia launches first Luna mission in 50 years, will search south pole for evidence of water

Roscosmos moon
© Russian Space Agency Roscosmos / AFPIn this handout picture taken and released by the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos on August 11, 2023, a Soyuz 2.1b rocket with the Luna-25 lander blasts off from the launch pad at the Vostochny cosmodrome, some 180 km north of Blagoveschensk, in the Amur region.
Russia launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on Friday in a bid to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to hold coveted pockets of water ice.

The Russian lunar mission, the first since 1976, is racing against India, which launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month, and more broadly with the United States and China, both of which have advanced lunar exploration programs targeting the lunar south pole.

A Soyuz 2.1 rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 3,450 miles (5,550 km) east of Moscow, at 2:11 a.m. on Friday Moscow time (1111 GMT on Thursday).

Comment: See also:
Station 'Luna-25' flew away from the Vostochny cosmodrome and will be on the Moon in about 5 days. Who missed the historic live broadcast of RT and 'Roskosmos' - you can watch here https://vk.com/video-40316705_456415899 . I am fiercely proud of my country and employees!



Satellite

JWST reveals colors of Earendel, most distant star ever detected

most distant star earendel jwst
© NASA, ESA, CSA, D. Coe (STScI/AURA for ESA; Johns Hopkins University), B. Welch (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; University of Maryland, College Park). Image processing: Z. Levay.This image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope of a massive galaxy cluster called WHL0137-08 contains the most strongly magnified galaxy known in the universe's first billion years: the Sunrise Arc, and within that galaxy, the most distant star ever detected. In this image, the Sunrise Arc appears as a red streak just below the diffraction spike at the 5 o'clock position
Full-resolution, uncompressed version available here.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has followed up on observations by the Hubble Space Telescope of the farthest star ever detected in the very distant universe, within the first billion years after the Big Bang. Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals the star to be a massive B-type star more than twice as hot as our Sun, and about a million times more luminous.

The star, which the research team has dubbed Earendel, is located in the Sunrise Arc galaxy and is detectable only due to the combined power of human technology and nature via an effect called gravitational lensing. Both Hubble and Webb were able to detect Earendel due to its lucky alignment behind a wrinkle in space-time created by the massive galaxy cluster WHL0137-08. The galaxy cluster, located between us and Earendel, is so massive that it warps the fabric of space itself, which produces a magnifying effect, allowing astronomers to look through the cluster like a magnifying glass.

Evil Rays

Scientist admits the 'overwhelming consensus' on the climate change crisis is 'manufactured'

Climate scientist Judith Curry
© IMDBClimate scientist Judith Curry says climate change is a "manufactured consensus."
We are told climate change is a crisis, and that there is an "overwhelming scientific consensus."

"It's a manufactured consensus," climate scientist Judith Curry tells me.

She says scientists have an incentive to exaggerate risk to pursue "fame and fortune."

She knows about that because she once spread alarm about climate change.

Media loved her when she published a study that seemed to show a dramatic increase in hurricane intensity.

"We found that the percent of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes had doubled," says Curry.

"This was picked up by the media," and then climate alarmists realized, "Oh, here is the way to do it. Tie extreme weather events to global warming!"

Mr. Potato

NASA asteroid strike unleashes boulder storm 'as deadly as Hiroshima'

Dimorphos
© Nasa/ESA/David Jewitt (UCLA)/Alyssa Pagan (STScI)Nasa’s test knocked the asteroid Dimorphos, in blue, off course, but accidentally released a swarm of boulders, circled
A storm of boulders "as deadly as Hiroshima" was accidentally unleashed by Nasa during tests to change the trajectory of an asteroid, scientists have found.

Last September, the agency crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos in the first planetary defence experiment aimed at finding ways to protect humanity from an extinction-level event.

Now astronomers have found that although the impact succeeded in knocking Dimorphos slightly off course, it also dislodged 37 boulders, which are currently zipping through space at 13,000mph.

Experts said it showed that deflection strategies could have unintended consequences that leave smaller rocks on a collision course with Earth.


Comment: This consequence was predictable.


Comment: It might be that this belongs on the growing list of NASA's (avoidable) blunders and miscalculations:


Pi

Smoking-gun evidence for modified gravity at low acceleration from Gaia observations of wide binary stars

smoking gun evidence
© The Astrophysical Journal (2023). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ace101The left panel shows an elliptical orbit in an orbital plane viewed face-on. The right panel indicates the 3D geometry of the observation and shows the relation between the orbital plane and the observer's plane of sky .
A new study reports conclusive evidence for the breakdown of standard gravity in the low acceleration limit from a verifiable analysis of the orbital motions of long-period, widely separated, binary stars, usually referred to as wide binaries in astronomy and astrophysics.

The study carried out by Kyu-Hyun Chae, professor of physics and astronomy at Sejong University in Seoul, used up to 26,500 wide binaries within 650 light years (LY) observed by European Space Agency's Gaia space telescope. The study was published in the 1 August 2023 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

For a key improvement over other studies, Chae's study focused on calculating gravitational accelerations experienced by binary stars as a function of their separation or, equivalently the orbital period, by a Monte Carlo deprojection of observed sky-projected motions to the three-dimensional space.

Chae explains:
"From the start it seemed clear to me that gravity could be most directly and efficiently tested by calculating accelerations because gravitational field itself is an acceleration. My recent research experiences with galactic rotation curves led me to this idea. Galactic disks and wide binaries share some similarity in their orbits, though wide binaries follow highly elongated orbits while hydrogen gas particles in a galactic disk follow nearly circular orbits."

Comment: See also:


Bizarro Earth

Boeing's plagued Starliner delayed again over safety concerns, grounded until next year

starliner
The Starliner team works to finalize the mate of the crew module and new service module for NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test that will take NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams to and from the International Space Station.
Last month, the debut crewed flight test of Boeing's Starliner astronaut capsule was delayed indefinitely because of safety and hardware-related concerns, the latest in a slew of problems that have kept the spacecraft grounded for over a year.

Now, company and NASA officials have announced a Starliner flight to the International Space Station won't be possible any time this year.

Mark Nappi, vice president of Boeing's Starliner program, said in a Tuesday teleconference that the spacecraft won't be ready for operation until at least March of next year. The earliest launch date Starliner could actually fly, however, remains unknown by both NASA and Boeing.

"Based on the current plans, we're anticipating that we're going to be ready with the spacecraft in early March," Nappi told reporters. "That does not mean that we have a launch date in early March."

Comment: Whilst setbacks can be expected with cutting edge space technologies, the number of repeated issues that both NASA and Boeing have encountered in recent years - and in the case of Boeing, deadly design faults have also affected its airplanes - one does wonder whether these reflect deep problems within the companies themselves:


Seismograph

Violent solar outburst in 2021 detected on Earth, Moon, Mars, in scientific first

X-class flare solar
© NASA/GSFC/SDOOn 28 October 2021, the Sun erupted in a powerful X-class flare accompanied by a CME that buffeted the Solar System.
An outburst that erupted from the Sun in 2021 was so violent that it was simultaneously felt on multiple Solar System bodies as it blasted through.

For the first time, instruments on Earth, the Moon, and Mars all recorded powerful solar activity, even though the planets were on opposite sides of the Sun at the time.

It's a suite of detections that can help us better understand solar activity - and assess the potential impact of that activity on space exploration efforts.

The Sun spewing radiation and particles into space is nothing new. It's kind of the Sun's whole thing. Nor are coronal mass ejections - in which the Sun ejects billions of tons of material and magnetic fields out into the Solar System - rare or particularly worrisome, mostly.

Comment: And mainstream science would still have us believe that Co2 has a greater impact on our planet's climate than solar activity? Recent studies are bringing mainstream scientists closer to the true nature of space, stars and planets, and we can find more clues as to what's in the book Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk write:
External power sources of celestial bodies

The reason capacitors can repeatedly discharge and yet maintain an electric potential difference between their anodes and cathodes is because they are plugged into an external source of energy. So where does all the electricity in our solar system come from? University of Michigan astrophysicist Michael J. Longo has thoroughly studied more than 40,000 galaxies.1 Following numerous steps in data treatment and analysis - I'll spare you the details of his calculations, which you can check in his paper - his conclusion was the following:
The worrisome alignment of the equinoxes and ecliptic with the AE is now seen as an accident due to the ecliptic's definition along RA [right ascensions] =180° and 0°, near the Galactic poles. It is not a sign of a serious foreground bias in the WMAP data. All the alignments can be explained with a cosmic magnetic field that aligns electrons' cyclotron orbit axes and imprints its multipoles on the CMB.2
In simpler terms, what Longo concluded was that the rotation axes of galaxies are aligned along the same curve and that this alignment could not be due to random chance. Along with Longo, Alfven3, Campanelli4 and Schwarz5 have all strongly suggested that the alignment of galactic rotation axes is due to a giant ring of electric current. Although the ultimate source of this giant electric ring circling the cosmic 'void' is still unknown, the alignment of the galaxies' rotation axes is indirect proof of its existence. The picture below depicts this alignment of galactic rotation axes on a ring-shaped intergalactic current (pink color):


A recent study seems to confirm this, notably the results surprised scientists: Milky Way not unusual


This giant ring of Birkeland current (see next chapter on 'Currents in plasma') may be the external source of energy that powers galaxies. It may also explain the 'handedness' addressed by Longo in his paper, by electrically inducing a specific direction and speed of rotation in the galaxies located along its current6. As shown in the picture below, intragalactic space seems to follow the same process as intergalactic space:

[...]

In addition to aligning galaxies along the 'intergalactic ring' and making them spin, as well as grouping the stars within galaxies along galactic arms, Birkeland currents may also be the external electric source that powers the stars themselves8 and makes them spin. In their turn, stars may be the external electric source that powers planets and makes them spin.
Birkeland
© Sott.netA Birkeland current crossing 'empty' interstellar space.
These remain hypotheses only. Today the external electric sources that power celestial bodies is still unknown. Even plasma cosmologists have no definite answer to this question:

Studies of magnetic fields in the spiral arms of galaxies shows that electrical currents flow along the arms in the form of spiraling Birkeland filaments.  Ultimately, we don't know where the power comes from.9

[...]

Birkeland noticed that before the discharge circle divided, discharges were mostly localized in the equatorial and polar regions of the electrodes, as indicated in the picture below. This strongly suggests that most of the current injected into the electrode at the level of the polar regions escaped through the equatorial region. This is consistent with observations of the Sun, which shows a predominant glow and faster rate of rotation19 around the equatorial region.

Birkeland
© Sott.netBirkeland's terrella experiment.
Reasoning by analogy and applying the principles of the homopolar motor to celestial bodies like stars and planets, we find that the 'internal' magnet of the celestial body plays the role of the cylindrical magnet of the motor. The external power source of the celestial body plays the role of the battery. The partial vacuum generated in the lab plays the role of the partial vacuum that constitutes outer space. And the Birkeland current crossing the plasma that surrounds the celestial body plays the role of the electric wire which closes the circuit by connecting the battery to the magnet.

If a celestial body is a conductor crossed by an electric current and an electromagnetic field, it will also be subjected to the Lorentz force. In this sense, stars and planets are giant homopolar motors, hence their spin. Therefore, when electric current or magnetic field decreases in strength, the rate of rotation decreases as well.

Note that the Moon doesn't spin. As explained above, the Moon hasn't developed a Double Layer (DL) of its own. It has no plasmasphere because its electric potential is equal to that of its surrounding space. Electric potentials being equal, the Moon is not subjected to any electric current, so no Lorentz force can be generated, hence the absence of spinning20.

For plasma cosmologists the driving force of spinning stars is indeed electricity:
 within the visible universe we find magnetic fields linking galaxies, showing that the galaxies are 'threaded like beads on a string', along cosmic power lines. The galaxies and stars within them are driven to rotate like the very simplest of electric motors, known as the 'homopolar' or Faraday motor. The ubiquitous spiral arms of galaxies trace the current paths between the galactic nucleus and the periphery From an electrical standpoint we make the simple observation that increasing electric current input to stars results in increasing maximum rotational speeds.21
In Part III, we will see how the Lorentz force (the result of the interaction between electric current and magnetic field) plays a role in numerous natural phenomena on Earth.

So far, in Part I we have introduced some basic concepts of the Electric Universe theory and plasma cosmology: the primary role of electrically charged plasma, the way in which different electrical potentials form around celestial bodies and set up an electrical gradient through which current can flow, the relative charges of the bodies in our solar system, and the role of electricity (specifically the Lorentz force) in structuring galaxies and solar systems, making them spin. Now, in Part II, we'll take a closer look at the Nemesis theory, and how it might fit into the framework created by the above concepts.
  1. 1 Longo, M., 'Does the Universe Have a Handedness?', arXiv:0812.3437 [astro-ph], 2008
  2. 2 ccapp.osu.edu/workshops/GLCW8/glcw8/talks/mLongo.pdf
  3. 3 Alfvén, Hannes et al. (1978). 'Interstellar clouds and the formation of stars'. Astrophysics and Space Science 55 (2): 487-509.
  4. 4.Campanelli L. et al, 'Ellipsoidal universe can solve the cosmic microwave background quadrupole problem'. Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Sep 29;97(13):131302.
  5. 5 Schwarz Domink, 'Is the low-l microwave background cosmic?', Astrophysics Journal, November 24th, 2004
  6. 6 See Chapter 12: 'Homopolar motors'
  7. 7 Byrd, D., 'Which spiral arm of the Milky Way contains our Sun?', Earthsky
  8. See: earthsky.org/space/does-our-sun-reside-in-a-spiral-arm-of-the-milky-way-galaxy
  9. 8 Scott, Donald E., The Electric Sky, p. 85
  10. 9 Thornhill, W. & Talbott, D., The Electric Universe, p.61
  11. 10 Tsytovich, V.N., Elementary Physics of Complex Plasmas, p. 7
  12. 11 Luis Alvarez (1911-1988), University of Berkeley researcher, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1968.
  13. 12 Trower, W.P., 'Luis Walter Alvarez - A biographical memoir', p. 7
  14. 13 Ex-CNRS researcher and ex-secretary of the French section of IAGA (International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy)
  15. 14 Nodon, A., 'Prévisions météo d'après les taches solaires'. See : albert-nodon.e-monsite.com/pages/recherche-au-20-siecle/previsions-meteo-d-apres-les-taches-solaires/
  16. 15 Pinches are created in the laboratory in equipment related to nuclear fusion. Pinches may also become unstable and generate radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, including radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays, and also neutrons and synchrotron radiation. There are different kinds of pinches including theta pinch, the screw pinch and the Z-pinch. The name refers to the direction of the current in the devices, i.e., the Z-axis on a mathematical diagram. Any machine that causes a pinch effect due to current running in that direction is correctly referred to as a Z-pinch system, and this encompasses a wide variety of devices used for an equally wide variety of purposes including fusion power research. Pinches are used to generate X-rays, and they have applications to particle beams including particle beam weapons, and astrophysics.
  17. 16 Christian Birkeland had written in 1913 that what is now called the 'solar wind' generates currents in space that cause the auroras. Birkeland's theory was disputed at the time by the British geophysicist and mathematician Sydney Chapman, a senior figure in space physics, who argued the mainstream view that currents could not cross the vacuum of space and therefore the currents had to be generated by the Earth. However, in 1967 Birkeland's theory, referred to previously as 'fringe', was proved correct thanks to the data collected by U.S. Navy satellite 1963-38C. These magnetic field-aligned currents are now named Birkeland currents in his honor.
  18. 17 Anthony L. Peratt is a leading plasma physicist. He's the author of a foundational book titled Physics of the Plasma Universe. Peratt is currently investigating archaeological evidence for major space plasma events in prehistory.
  19. 18 Jago, L., The Northern Lights, Alfred a Knopf, NY, 2001.
  20. 19 According to the movements of the sunspots, the Sun rotates once every 27 days at the equator, but only once in 31 days at the poles.
  21. 20 However the moon has not always been devoid of a magnetosphere. The Moon's surface does bear remnant magnetism. The rocks returned to Earth by Apollo missions show evidence of this magnetism.
  22. Scott, D.E., The Electric sky, p. 214
  23. 21 Ibid, p.130


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Moon

Flashback Huge granite 'body' on far side of the moon offers clues to ancient lunar volcanoes

moon
© NASA/Nature/Robert LeaMicrowave data shows heat below a volcanic feature on the moon called Compton-Belkovich.
A large formation of granite discovered beneath an ancient lunar volcano is further evidence that the far side of the moon once glowed with volcanic eruptions.

The granite was found under a suspected volcanic feature on the surface of the moon called Compton-Belkovich. This feature was likely formed as the result of cooling magma that fed fiery eruptions of lunar volcanoes around 3.5 billion years ago.

Finding the remains of volcanic activity in this region of the moon isn't completely unexpected, as researchers have long suspected this area to be an ancient complex of volcanoes. What has come as a surprise to the team, however, is just how large this patch of cooled magma is, with an estimated width of around 31 miles (50 kilometers). The discovery of this large body of granite beneath the Compton-Belkovich volcanic complex could help scientists explain how the lunar crust formed in the moon's early history.

Better Earth

Geomagnetic field protects Earth from electron showers, harmful effects of UV radiation, simulation reveals

geomagnetic
© Tohoku UniversityTime histories of the altitude profiles of the collision rate per electron obtained by a series of simulations with mirror force. The initial kinetic energy of (a, d, g) 1 keV, (b, e, h) 3 keV, and (c, f, i) 10 keV and the initial pitch angle of (a-c) 0 degree, (d-f) 30 degree, and (g-i) 60 degree are assumed at 400 km
Understanding the ionosphere high in the Earth's atmosphere is important due to its effects on communications systems, satellites and crucial chemical features including the ozone layer. New insights into the activity of high energy electrons have come from a simulation study led by geophysicist Yuto Katoh at Tohoku University, reported in the journal Earth, Planets and Space.

"Our results clarify the unexpected role of the geomagnetic field surrounding the Earth in protecting the atmosphere from high energy electrons," says Katoh. The ionosphere is a wide region between roughly 60 and more than 600 kilometers above the Earth's surface. It contains electrically charged particles that are a mixture of ions and free electrons generated by the interaction of the atmosphere with radiation from the sun.

Comment: And, since there's reason to believe that Earth's geomagnetic field is changing, one could assume that the stability and protection it provides will also change with it: And check out SOTT radio's:


Moon

The mystery of what's inside the Moon is still puzzling scientists

moonrise
© Grant Faint/Getty ImagesMoonrise over the ocean
Earth has thrown up some surprises lately, with scientists finding that our planet's inner core is actually a textured sphere that, every once in a while, stops spinning and revolves the other way.

But the Moon's insides are much more of a mystery. Beneath its cratered crust, the Moon's mantle sits atop what scientists think is a partially molten layer where clues to the Moon's formation could lie.

But according to a new study, there might be no oozy layer after all.

If future data confirm new modeling by researchers from Germany, the Czech Republic, and the US, the lunar mantle might be solid all the way through, without a melt-bearing layer like geoscientists currently theorize. Depending on which interpretation of the lunar interior is correct, future findings could either reset or reaffirm our understanding of the Moon's inner realms and how they formed.

At this stage, both a molten middle and a solid mid-section are still possibilities for the Moon based on the limited geological data we have. More lunar samples are needed to solve this mystery, the researchers behind this latest study say.