Background By Michael Davis | Archived from National Archives News, June 19, 2020 On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s historic Emancipation Proclamation, U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3, which informed the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free. Granger commanded the Headquarters District of Texas, and his troops had arrived in Galveston the previous day. This day has come to be known as Juneteenth, a combination of June and nineteenth. It is also called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, and it is the oldest known celebration commemorating…
Author: John Greenewald
By Lyle Tavernier (NASA/JPL) Perseverance, NASA’s most advanced Mars rover yet, is scheduled to leave Earth for its seven-month journey to the Red Planet this summer. Only the fifth NASA rover destined for Mars, Perseverance is designed to build on the work and scientific discoveries of its predecessors. Find out more about the rover’s science goals and new technologies below. Plus, learn how you can bring the exciting engineering and science of this mission to students with lessons and DIY projects covering topics like biology, geology, physics, mathematics, engineering, coding and language arts. Why It’s Important Perseverance may look similar to…
Background A number of years ago the Soviet Union toured several countries with an exhibition of its industrial and economic achievements. There were the standard displays of industrial machinery, soft goods, and models of power stations and nuclear equipment. Of greater interest were apparent models of the Sputnik and Lunik space vehicles. U.S. intelligence twice gained extended access to the Lunik, the second time by borrowing it overnight and returning it before the Soviets missed it. This is the story of the borrowing, which required the efforts of many people and close cooperation between covert and overt intelligence components. This…
In the realm of national security and intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States maintains a reputation for secrecy and confidentiality. However, in 2016, the agency surprised many when it published an article entitled “How to Investigate a Flying Saucer” on its official website. The article, seemingly a departure from its usual public communications, provided an unexpected look into the procedures and recommendations of the CIA regarding the investigation of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The fascination with UFOs and the potential existence of extraterrestrial life has been a persistent cultural and scientific curiosity. The modern UFO era…
NASA has awarded Astrobotic of Pittsburgh $199.5 million to deliver NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the Moon’s South Pole in late 2023. The water-seeking mobile VIPER robot will help pave the way for astronaut missions to the lunar surface beginning in 2024 and will bring NASA a step closer to developing a sustainable, long-term presence on the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. “The VIPER rover and the commercial partnership that will deliver it to the Moon are a prime example of how the scientific community and U.S. industry are making NASA’s lunar exploration vision…