Our Awesome Universe

What is the Galileo Project?

Posted on March 22, 2022 by onespaceman2000

After mentioning this organization in a previous post, I thought I would look a little further at its work. The Galileo Project was set up for one purpose:

…to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations (ETCs) from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends to the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research. This project is complementary to traditional SETI, in that it searches for physical objects, and not electromagnetic signals, associated with extraterrestrial technological equipment.

I do not see the acronym ETC very often, but maybe like SETI it will become commonly known someday. It certainly sounds more sophisticated than terms such as UFO or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) as it looks for “technological equipment,” aka spacecraft. The ‘Oumuamua interstellar object is the first potential ETC that helped to stimulate this group.

The Project’s three areas of activity are:

Obtain High-resolution, Multi-detector UAP Images, Discover their Nature;
Search for and In-Depth Research on ‘Oumuamua-like Interstellar Objects; and
Search for Potential ETC Satellites.

For instance, the third area of activity discusses using telescopes to discover “…potential 1 meter-scale or smaller satellites that may be exploring Earth, e.g., in polar orbits a few hundred km above Earth…”

We are no longer talking about listening for signals from another planet or monitoring distant objects rolling through our solar system, but instead searching for Earth-focused intelligence gathering by a distant civilization. Where is the Jodie Foster movie for this one?

Space Quote: Keeping an Open Mind

Posted on March 21, 2022December 3, 2023 by onespaceman2000

^{Image (Credit): An artist’s rendering of ‘Oumuamua. (European Southern Observatory / Science Photo Library)}

“Human history is very often driven by a group of people feeling superior to another group of people. If we find that we are not the smartest kid on the cosmic block, it will give us a different perspective. All the differences between humans will become irrelevant.”

-Harvard University Professor Avi Loeb quoted in the Independent discussing his search for extraterrestrial life and his new effort called The Galileo Project. His book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, on the the mysterious object ‘Oumuamua that visited our solar system has caused quite a stir.

Cosmonauts Arrive at the International Space Station

Posted on March 20, 2022March 22, 2022 by onespaceman2000

^{Image (Credit): The Soyuz MS-21 crew ship with three cosmonauts aboard approaches the International Space Station. (NASA)}

On Friday, a Soyuz space capsule arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) with three Russian cosmonauts – Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov. This will bring the ISS crew to 10. On March 30th, three crew members will return to the surface of the Earth – NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov. You can read more about the mission here.

With the ongoing disagreements between the Russian and Western governments regarding Ukraine, it is good to see some normal operations related to the ISS. Let’s hope the science can continue in space while discussions continue back here on Earth to end the ongoing war.

Update: The media was abuzz regarding the blue and yellow outfits of the three astronauts arriving at the station. Was it support for Ukraine or their alma mater? One cosmonaut said there was simply an excess of yellow material. Another space mystery.

The Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency and the Mission to Mars

Posted on March 19, 2022March 19, 2022 by onespaceman2000

^{Image (Credit): Artist’s image of UAE’s Hope probe orbiting Mars. (UAE Space Agency)}

You may want to visit Time magazine and view the article “The Woman Who Took the UAE to Mars.” It summarizes Sarah Al Amiri’s efforts related to the United Arab Emirates’ mission to Mars as well as her plans for the country’s space agency, which she now heads as Chairwoman.

Prior to becoming Chairwoman, Ms. Amiri was deputy project manager of a mission to map the Martian atmosphere. Her team, which was 80 percent female, developed the Hope probe to accomplish this goal. The probe was launched aboard a Japanese rocket in July 2020 and now orbits Mars. The data obtained from this mission is being shared openly to assist others studying the Martian atmosphere.

Another mission mentioned in the Time article by Chairwoman Amiri is a tour of seven asteroids as well as a flyby of Venus. A UAE space page defines the mission in this way:

The spacecraft will undertake a 3.6 billion-kilometre, five-year journey, which will see it perform gravity assist manoeuvres by orbiting first Venus, then Earth in order to build the velocity required in order to reach the main asteroid belt, located beyond Mars…The mission will study seven main belt asteroids…The mission will make its first close planetary approach orbiting Venus in mid-2028, followed by a close orbit of Earth in mid-2029. It will make its first fly-by of a main asteroid belt object in 2030, going on to observe a total of seven main belt asteroids before its final landing on an asteroid 560 million kilometres from Earth in 2033. This will make the Emirates the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on an asteroid.

What was not mentioned in the story but is available via another UAE government page is plans for several other space endeavors, including:

Sending a rover to the Moon in 2024. The rover’s name is Rashid, named in honor of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, former Ruler of Dubai.
Establishing a settlement on Mars by 2117, and building a Mars Science City within the UAE to make this Martian mission possible.

A Day in Astronomy: Orbiting Mercury

Posted on March 18, 2022April 5, 2022 by onespaceman2000

^I^{mage (Credit): Artist’s image of MESSENGER orbiting Mercury (NASA).}

On this day in 2011, NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) probe became the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. NASA prepared the 10-year summary below explaining MESSENGER’s accomplishments from the time it was launched on August 3, 2004 through August 1, 2014. The probe later impacted the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015.

NASA issued this high-level summary of the mission:

The MESSENGER spacecraft fundamentally changed our understanding of Mercury during its four-year orbital exploration of the planet, returning nearly 300,000 photographs and a wealth of information from its instruments. The formatted data totaling more than 10 terabytes reside in NASA’s Planetary Data System archive. Among the major findings were that Mercury harbors water ice and organic compounds at its north pole, that volcanism played a major role in shaping the planet’s surface, and that Mercury’s surface materials are more volatile-rich and chemically reduced than expected.