Lifeboat Foundation

Spotting asteroids near the sun

Astronomers have gotten good at detecting even small asteroids that might be headed toward Earth. But an unknown number of asteroids have paths that might carry them toward us from the sun’s direction. And it’s tough – or impossible – to spot those asteroids coming toward us. ESA’s planned NEOMIR mission will orbit between Earth and the sun at the first Lagrange point (L1). It’ll act as an early warning system for asteroids – 65 feet (20 meters) and larger – that instruments on Earth’s surface cannot see.

NEOMIR stands for Near-Earth Object Mission in the Infrared.

AstroForge plans to mine asteroids, not for gold, but for platinum and other high-value metals. Will it succeed where others haven’t?

Using the ALMA telescope in Chile and Einstein’s theory of relativity, scientists observed a young galaxy in the early universe that is invisible in nearly every wavelength.

Scientists and government agencies have been worried about the space junk surrounding Earth for decades. But humanity’s starry ambitions are farther reaching than the space just around Earth.

A disruptive new planet-hunting technology, now under study as part of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, could literally detect and then look for biosignatures from every Earth 2.0 within a thirty-light-year radius of our solar system.

Known as DICER (The Diffractive Interfero Coronagraph Exoplanet Resolver), the key to this NIAC study’s revolutionary means of detecting these planets is that unlike conventional optical space telescopes — which use curved, highly polished mirrors to collect starlight — this mission would employ flat sets of what are known as diffraction gratings.

Who says you need a conventional telescope to find exoplanets? NASA has funded a ‘Phase I’ study for the development of a whole new means of detecting and then teasing spectra from very nearby exoplanetary earths.

Continue reading “NASA Funds Disruptive Space Tech To Detect Very Nearby ExoEarths” »

Data from BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter during Venus gravity assists reveal how a magnetic field protects the Venusian atmosphere.

The acoustically generated force will help astronomers better understand the sun’s photosphere and the causes of space weather.

There’s apparently a dearth of close-orbiting Neptune-size planets in our galaxy, and two observation techniques are starting to explain why.

Astronomers picked up extraterrestrial signals which they previously missed in an area they thought was devoid of potential ET activity. It could be the first hint that humans are not alone in the universe.

Mysterious Signals Detected

Continue reading “3 Reasons Technosignatures Detected by AI-Trained Algorithm Can Be Extraterrestrial Activities” »