Steven Spielberg's new film “Disclosure Day” explores extraterrestrial life and its impact on religion. UFOs, now also called UAPs, are gaining mainstream attention. The Pentagon released UFO files in May, sparking public curiosity. Former President Barack Obama set off a media frenzy by suggesting aliens exist in an interview. Some believe extraterrestrial life could challenge religious beliefs, while others see it as beneficial. Some Catholic figures — such as Vice President JD Vance and Monsignor Stephen Rossetti — view UFOs as demonic, though the Catholic Church remains open to the idea of alien life. Theologians and historians note that interest in otherworldly beings dates back centuries.
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SpaceX opens for trading at $150 per share, up 11%, giving rocket maker a market value of $1.96 trillion.
NASA has revealed the crew for its Artemis III mission, the next step in eventually landing astronauts on the moon. NASA’s Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, Andre Douglas and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano won’t fly to the moon or land on the surface. Instead, they’ll orbit Earth while practicing docking their Orion capsule with lunar landers. The demo is targeted for 2027. NASA’s Artemis program aims to land astronauts on the moon for the first time since the 1970s.
NASA's Maven spacecraft around Mars has been declared dead after six months of radio silence. Maven was launched in 2013 to study the red planet's atmosphere. It fell silent in December after passing behind Mars. NASA confirmed Wednesday that the mission is over. Data indicated that the spacecraft went into a fast spin, which disrupted its orbit and drained the onboard batteries. A review board convened by NASA earlier this year concluded that the spacecraft is useless and unable to be recovered. Besides studying Martian weather, Maven helped relay information from NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance rovers on the surface.
Blue Origin investigates rocket explosion as public is warned about possible wreckage washing ashore
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is assessing damage to its Florida launch pad after a rocket exploded during a test firing. The company fueled the massive New Glenn rocket Thursday night, hoping to briefly ignite the engines ahead of a satellite launch next week. But the 321-foot rocket blew up, taking part of the pad with it. Emergency officials are warning the public to avoid any wreckage that might wash ashore and instead call 911. New Glenn is the rocket that Blue Origin plans to use to launch landers to the moon for NASA.
AP Wire
A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has exploded during a test at the launch pad. Thursday night's blast was felt in nearby Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, Florida, and briefly turned the sky orange. Blue Origin said its New Glenn rocket exploded during an engine-firing test and everyone is safe. Space Force officials said emergency responders remained on the scene more than an hour later. New Glenn is the rocket that Bezos' company must use to launch landers to the moon for NASA. It made its debut more than a year ago, soaring three times.
AP Wire
NASA is already ordering landers, rovers and drones for a sprawling moon base, less than two months after the Artemis II mission. The space agency outlined the first phase of its moon base plans on Tuesday, awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to U.S. companies. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will provide the landers that will deliver a pair of moon buggies to the lunar surface at a spot near the moon's south pole. Those will be built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. Firefly Aerospace will get drones to the moon. All this hardware should arrive ahead of the first Artemis astronauts' landing, which is planned for as early as 2028.
SpaceX has launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet. The rocket blasted off from the southern tip of Texas on Friday, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites on a test flight extending halfway around the world. Nothing was recovered as planned. It’s the 12th test flight of the rocket that Elon Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA’s Artemis astronaut program. SpaceX’s newest Starship model made its debut two days after Musk announced he’s taking his company public.
SpaceX launches its biggest Starship yet on a test flight.
A team of scientists, as well as students and faculty, at Morehead State University in Kentucky built the Lunar IceCube Satellite.