Space Quote: Not Meeting Russia’s Space Goals

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: CNN

“Every penny should be spent for some purpose and some task…Therefore, we do not just check expenses, we also make sure that the results that were announced in state programs are achieved.”

-Statement by Alexei Kudrin, chairman of Russia’s Accounts Chamber, to Russia’s President Putin regarding the substandard performance of Russia’s space program, as reported in a Newsweek story, “Putin’s Space Chief Clashes With Top Economist Over Russian Space Program.” The invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions have hit the Russian economy and led to the cancellation of various space missions and contracts, and the situation is not expected to get better while Russia spends its time and resources attacking neighbors rather than focusing on its future in space.

Space Quote: Early View of the Cosmos

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): James Webb Space Telescope mirrors. (NASA)

“It’s really hard to not look at the universe in a new light and not just have a moment that is deeply personal…It’s an emotional moment when you see nature suddenly releasing some of its secrets, and I would like you to imagine and look forward to that.”

-Statement by Thomas Zurbuchen, who leads NASA’s scientific programs, regarding the James Webb Space Telescope’s early images, which should be released to the public on July 12, 2022. He was quoted in an Arstechnica story, “NASA Scientists Say Images from the Webb Telescope Nearly Brought Them to Tears.”

Space Quotes: Worry about Asteroids, Not Aliens

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Image of a UFO. (SETI Institute)

“This paper attempts to provide an estimation of the prevalence of hostile extraterrestrial civilizations through an extrapolation of the probability that we, as the human civilization, would attack or invade an inhabited exoplanet once we become a Type-1 civilization in the Kardashev Scale capable of nearby interstellar travel. The estimation is based on the world’s history of invasions in the last century, the military capabilities of the countries involved, and the global growth rate of energy consumption. Upper limits of standard deviations are used in order to obtain the estimated probability of extraterrestrial invasion by a civilization whose planet we send a message to. Results show that such probability is two orders of magnitude lower than the impact probability of a planet-killer asteroid. These findings could serve as a starting point for an international debate about sending the first serious interstellar radio messages to nearby potentially habitable planets.”

-Abstract to a study, Estimating the prevalence of malicious extraterrestrial civilizations, by amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero. I suppose the results of this latest study is encouraging since we can expand to other planets in the solar system and beyond to reduce the impact of an asteroid on the human race, but trying to outrun another civilization could be somewhat more difficult. This gives us a green light for SETI as well as exploration on Mars.

Space Quote: NASA and ESA Cooperation

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): European Space Agency (ESA) headquarters in Paris. (ESA)

“From understanding our changing planet to exploring Mars, I hugely value the cooperation we have with NASA…By contributing key European hardware and services to exciting programmes such as Artemis and Mars Sample Return, we are building Europe’s autonomy while also being a reliable partner.”

-Statement by ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher as part of the June 14-15 ESA Council meeting. See the press release, “N° 30–2022: From the Earth to the Moon and on to Mars – ESA and NASA take decisions and plan for the future.” for more on the meeting. The document also discusses plans to place a European astronaut on the Moon.

Space Quote: The Search for UAPs

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s impression of UFOs. (iStock)

“NASA believes that the tools of scientific discovery are powerful and apply here also…We have access to a broad range of observations of Earth from space – and that is the lifeblood of scientific inquiry. We have the tools and team who can help us improve our understanding of the unknown. That’s the very definition of what science is. That’s what we do.

– Statement by Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. This was part of NASA’s statement committing to a 9-month study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, also known as UFOs. You can read the full press release from NASA here.