The case, labeled as 25-00860-F-HQ, stems from a September 22, 2024, FOIA request seeking “all briefings about the James Webb telescope and program, made for Congress,” including both classified and unclassified material related to discoveries made by the observatory. The request was originally denied with a “no records” determination, a conclusion later overturned on appeal.

As previously reported, NASA ultimately acknowledged that responsive records did exist and released a set of briefing slides in August 2025. However, those materials were almost entirely redacted under FOIA Exemption (b)(5), which protects pre-decisional and deliberative communications within government agencies.

Appeal Results in Limited Additional Disclosure

Following a subsequent appeal challenging those redactions, NASA issued a supplemental response on March 27, 2026, stating that “previously withheld information can now be disclosed” and providing an updated version of the records.

The newly released material primarily affects the “Themes” section of the briefing slides, which had previously been fully withheld. The updated version now reveals a series of high-level talking points prepared for NASA officials ahead of a November 16, 2022, House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics hearing.

Those themes include:

“Incredible Value of American and International Asset”
“Early Science Points Toward Vast Potential”
“Congress Can and Should Expect Great Results for Its Investments”
“Habitable Worlds Await Our Discovery”
“Our future plans are dependable routes to amazing results”

These statements provide a broad framing of how NASA intended to present JWST’s early scientific achievements and future promise to lawmakers. However, they remain general in nature and do not disclose any specific findings or detailed scientific conclusions.

Continued Reliance on FOIA Exemption (b)(5)

Despite the partial release, the vast majority of the briefing content remains withheld under FOIA Exemption (b)(5). As explained in NASA’s original response letter, this exemption covers “inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters” that would not be available in litigation and includes the deliberative process privilege.

NASA further explained that to qualify under this privilege, records must be both “pre-decisional and deliberative,” meaning they were created prior to an agency decision and reflect internal discussions, recommendations, or evaluations.

In this case, the agency argued that the withheld portions consist of internal preparations for a congressional hearing, including “the development of critical questions, evaluations, and proposals.”

The agency also warned that disclosure could inhibit candid internal discussions, stating that if such communications were released, “NASA and other Executive Branch employees would be much more cautious in their discussions with each other,” potentially impairing decision-making processes.

Redactions Persist in “Questions to Think About”

The supplemental release makes clear that while some material was disclosed, most of the document remains unchanged in its level of redaction. Sections titled “Messages?” and multiple pages of “Questions to Think About” continue to be almost entirely blacked out.

Notably, the updated version reveals only minimal fragments within these sections. In several instances, punctuation marks such as question marks are visible, along with a single discernible word: “When?” embedded within an otherwise redacted line.

Context: Public Hearing, Private Preparations

The records at the center of this case were created in preparation for a public congressional hearing held on November 16, 2022, titled “Unfolding the Universe: Initial Science Results from JWST.”

That hearing featured testimony from NASA officials and academic experts and was openly broadcast, with detailed discussions of JWST’s early scientific results. The released slides were prepared internally by NASA’s Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs ahead of that public session.

The existence of preparatory materials for such hearings formed the basis of the original appeal, which argued that it was “highly improbable that no materials… were generated or retained” in connection with a congressional briefing of that scale.

NASA ultimately agreed that additional records existed, leading to the initial release and now the supplemental disclosure.

Ongoing Questions and Broader Context

The FOIA request itself was prompted by widespread online speculation in 2024 suggesting that NASA may have provided classified briefings to Congress about JWST discoveries, including unverified claims of unusual or unexplained findings. While no evidence has emerged from the released records to support those claims, the persistence of heavy redactions adds only more mystery to the saga.

The newly disclosed “Themes” emphasize optimism about JWST’s capabilities and future discoveries, including references to “Habitable Worlds” and “vast potential.” However, the continued withholding of detailed talking points and internal questions leaves unanswered what specific issues NASA anticipated from lawmakers, or how it internally framed those discussions.

While the appeal succeeded in forcing additional disclosure, the result offers only a narrow glimpse into NASA’s internal preparation process for JWST briefings which leaves the majority of that process, and the questions it may have addressed, still out of public view.

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 FOIA Case 25-00860-F Supplemental Release Package [7 Pages, 2.9MB]

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The post NASA Partially Lifts Redactions in James Webb Briefing Records Following Appeal first appeared on The Black Vault.

In September 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed with NASA seeking records of congressional briefings on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The request asked for both classified and unclassified materials created between 2021 and 2024, including any briefings on discoveries made by the telescope.

The request filed by The Black Vault was prompted by a wave of speculation online that suggested NASA had secretly briefed lawmakers on groundbreaking discoveries made by JWST. In mid-September 2024, a YouTube video and subsequent social media posts claimed the telescope had detected a mysterious object moving toward Earth, sparking rumors that Congress had been given a classified update. These claims gained further traction when journalist Matt Laslo, through his Ask a Pol project, directly asked Representative Andre Carson whether he had attended classified JWST briefings. Carson, who had previously chaired a congressional hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena, declined to respond. His refusal to comment was interpreted by some as confirmation, further fueling speculation that confidential briefings had taken place.

However, NASA’s initial response was that no records existed. According to the October 9, 2024, denial letter, searches of the Offices of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs (OLIA) and the Science Mission Directorate turned up nothing responsive.

An appeal challenged the adequacy of this search, citing NASA’s public testimony before Congress about JWST in November 2022, which would have likely required preparatory and briefing materials, either of which should have been considered responsive to the original request. In December 2024, NASA’s Office of the General Counsel sided with the appeal. The determination stated that responsive records had in fact been located and remanded the request for further processing.

On August 29, 2025, NASA released a set of twenty-four pages of documents under the new case number 25-00860-F-HQ. The records included briefing slides prepared for a November 15, 2022, prep session ahead of a House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics hearing titled “Unfolding the Universe: Initial Science Results from JWST” to be held the following day. Witnesses included Dr. Mark Clampin, NASA’s Astrophysics Division Director; Dr. Steven Kinkelstein, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin; and Dr. Natalie Batalha, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Director of Astrobiology, at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The released material revealed the structure of NASA’s internal preparations, but not the content within. Slide headings included “Themes,” “Messages?,” “Questions to Think About,” “Further Questions to Think About,” and “Even More Questions”. However, nearly all of the content beneath these headings was withheld under FOIA Exemption (b)(5), the “deliberative process” privilege.

FOIA Exemption (b)(5) does not signify that records are classified. Instead, it protects pre-decisional, deliberative communications inside government agencies. In this case, NASA argued that releasing the withheld material would harm the agency’s ability to engage in candid internal discussions when preparing for congressional hearings. “If these pre-decisional, deliberative communications were released to the public, NASA and other Executive Branch employees would be much more cautious in their discussions with each other,” the response stated.

Despite NASA’s explanation, the decision to withhold raises questions. The records now confirmed as existing were initially denied in their entirety under a “no records” determination. Only after appeal did NASA admit the material was locatable and responsive. Even then, much of it was withheld.

This is especially notable given that the November 16, 2022, hearing was a public event. NASA officials openly testified about JWST’s science, and the video of that hearing remains available for anyone to watch. The heavily redacted slides released through FOIA were preparatory materials for that same public session. Under FOIA, Exemption (b)(5) allows, but does not require, agencies to withhold pre-decisional or deliberative content. Agencies may choose not to invoke the privilege if the material is not deemed sensitive. In this case, NASA opted for near-total redactions, leaving unclear why internal notes and suggested talking points tied to a public hearing could not be disclosed.

Given the context, and that the FOIA request stemmed from persistent rumors about possible classified JWST briefings, the redactions, and the agency’s initial “no records” claim, raise further questions about transparency. While there is no evidence that classified briefings on JWST discoveries occurred, the case illustrates how challenging it can be to obtain even basic preparatory materials for congressional hearings through FOIA, even if the hearing is a public one.

The Black Vault has filed another appeal, fighting the (b)(5) exemption use. The results of that will be published, when available.

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FOIA Case 25-00860-F Release Package [27 Pages, 2.4MB]

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The post NASA Cites FOIA Exemption to Withhold James Webb Briefing Content Despite Public Hearing first appeared on The Black Vault.

The rumors intensified after U.S. Representative Andre Carson, who had previously chaired a congressional hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), declined to answer a question about classified briefings when asked by @AskaPol_UAPs run by journalist Matt Laslo on X.

The speculation prompted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, filed by The Black Vault on September 22, 2024, seeking any records—classified or unclassified—about JWST briefings provided to Congress, particularly related to the telescope’s findings. The request aimed to clarify whether any congressional briefings had been held about significant discoveries made by JWST, which has been in operation since 2021.

FOIA Request and NASA’s Response

The FOIA request specifically asked for:

“A copy of records (which includes videos/photos), electronic or otherwise, of all briefings about the James Webb Telescope and program, made for Congress. I ask that you include all CLASSIFIED and UNCLASSIFIED briefings on the James Webb telescope program, or briefings on findings made by that program.”

The request was limited to records from 2021 through the date of processing in 2024.

Earlier today, NASA responded to the FOIA request and confirmed they found “no records” related to the requested briefings. According to NASA’s FOIA response letter:

The Rumors Behind the Request

The rumors that prompted the FOIA request began circulating on social media platforms in mid-September 2024. Posts on platforms like X, YouTube, and TikTok claimed that JWST had detected a large object approximately 10 light-years away, which was allegedly moving toward Earth. These posts went as far as to speculate that the object had to be an alien spacecraft due to its supposed unnatural change in trajectory.

One of the earliest mentions of the claim came from a YouTube video posted by Psicoactivo Podcast on September 17, 2024. The video stated that members of Congress were briefed about this discovery and that the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) were investigating the object. However, the video did not cite any sources to verify these claims.

As the rumors gained traction, on September 21, 2024, @AskaPol_UAPs asked Rep. Carson if he had attended classified briefings on JWST findings, to which Carson did not respond. His silence was interpreted by some as confirmation that such briefings had taken place, while others pointed out that “no comment” does not confirm anything.

NEW EXCLUSIVE:

“No comment,” Rep. Andre Carson replies when Ask a Pol inquires about any James Webb Space Telescope classified briefings https://t.co/E606LQupo5

— @AskaPol_UAPs (@AskaPol_UAPs) September 22, 2024

Snopes Addresses the Rumor

On October 2, 2024, the fact-checking website Snopes published an article examining the claims about JWST discovering alien life. After receiving numerous inquiries, Snopes looked into the rumor and found no evidence that JWST had detected such an object, nor that Congress had been briefed on the matter. The article concluded that the claim was “unfounded and likely false.”

Snopes traced the rumor’s origins back to the September 17 YouTube video but found no corroborating information from NASA, other space agencies, or congressional sources. While it remains possible that JWST has detected unusual findings that are not yet public, Snopes found no basis for the specific claims about an alien spaceship or classified briefings.

Case Closed?

NASA’s FOIA response this morning adds further weight to the conclusion that no classified briefings related to JWST’s findings have taken place. Despite widespread speculation, NASA confirmed that no records exist of any congressional briefings—classified or unclassified—on discoveries made by the James Webb Space Telescope.

For now, it seems that the rumors about JWST discovering alien life and related briefings remain just that: rumors. As the search for life beyond Earth continues, NASA has stated on multiple occasions that while JWST is providing groundbreaking insights into the universe, no evidence has surfaced so far indicating extraterrestrial life.

UPDATE POSTED ON APRIL 23, 2025:

On April 22, 2025, NASA granted The Black Vault’s appeal, and found records responsive to the request. Here is an update posted on X:

Rumors flew months ago about a CLASSIFIED James Webb briefing to Congress. NASA first said “no records” but I appealed & won. Now they’ve found documents!

Classified or unclassified (which I know of at least one which exists) or both? We’ll see.

Bottom line: always appeal! pic.twitter.com/aOjbmDAgy9

— John Greenewald, Jr. (@blackvaultcom) April 23, 2025

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FOIA Response

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The post NASA Denies Existence of Classified Briefings on James Webb Telescope Discoveries first appeared on The Black Vault.

Lockheed Martin, based in Littleton, Colorado, will be responsible for the development and construction of the GeoXO satellites. The contract is a cost-plus-award-fee agreement, indicating that Lockheed Martin will be rewarded based on performance and cost control. The project includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and five years of on-orbit storage, ensuring a total operational lifespan of 15 years for each spacecraft. The primary work locations will be Lockheed Martin’s facility in Littleton and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The GeoXO constellation will consist of three operational satellites positioned in geostationary orbit over the east, west, and central regions. Each satellite will be equipped with three instruments designed to enhance Earth observation capabilities. The central satellite will carry an infrared sounder, an atmospheric composition instrument, and potentially a partner payload. Satellites in the east and west positions will host an imager, a lightning mapper, and an ocean color instrument. Additionally, they will support an auxiliary communication payload for NOAA’s Data Collection System relay, dissemination, and commanding.

The scope of the contract includes the tasks required to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, evaluate, and launch the GeoXO satellites. Lockheed Martin will also provide engineering development units, ground support equipment, simulators, and mission operations support at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland.

“NASA and NOAA oversee the development, launch, testing, and operation of all the satellites in the GeoXO program,” the press release states.

While NOAA funds and manages the program, operations, and data products, NASA and its commercial partners are tasked with the development and construction of the instruments and spacecraft, as well as the launch operations.

The GeoXO program is designed to build upon and succeed the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites – R (GOES-R) Series Program, continuing NOAA’s mission to protect life and property across the Western Hemisphere. The advanced capabilities of the GeoXO satellite system will significantly enhance Earth observations from geostationary orbit. These observations will provide critical information to address environmental challenges related to weather, ocean, and climate operations in the United States.

“The mission will supply vital information to address major environmental challenges of the future in support of weather, ocean, and climate operations in the United States,” the release continues. By the early 2030s, when the GOES-R Series nears the end of its operational life, GeoXO’s advanced capabilities will be essential for ongoing environmental monitoring and data collection.

For more information on the GeoXO program, visit NOAA’s GeoXO program page.

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The post Lockheed Martin to Build Advanced GeoXO Satellites for NOAA Under NASA Contract first appeared on The Black Vault.

TESS, which observes large sections of the sky for about a month at a time, tracks the brightness of tens of thousands of stars, aiming to capture transits—brief, regular dimmings caused by orbiting planets. This mission’s primary goal is to identify these transits and learn more about the exoplanets that cause them.

“We’ve found the nearest, transiting, temperate, Earth-size world located to date,” said Masayuki Kuzuhara, a project assistant professor at the Astrobiology Center in Tokyo. Kuzuhara co-led the research team with Akihiko Fukui, a project assistant professor at the University of Tokyo. Although the planet’s atmosphere is still unknown, the team is considering it as an “exo-Venus,” due to its similar size and energy reception from its star.

The host star, Gliese 12, is a cool red dwarf in the constellation Pisces. It is about 27% the size of our Sun and has roughly 60% of the Sun’s surface temperature. Gliese 12 b orbits this star every 12.8 days and is comparable to Earth or slightly smaller, with an estimated surface temperature of around 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius), assuming it has no atmosphere.

Red dwarf stars like Gliese 12 are ideal for finding Earth-size planets because their smaller size and mass make the detection of planetary transits and reflex motions easier. The lower luminosity of these stars also means that their habitable zones are closer, facilitating the discovery of potentially habitable planets.

The distance between Gliese 12 and its new planet is just 7% of the distance between Earth and the Sun. The planet receives 1.6 times more energy from its star than Earth does from the Sun and about 85% of what Venus experiences. Shishir Dholakia, a doctoral student at the Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, highlighted the significance of this discovery, stating, “Gliese 12 b represents one of the best targets to study whether Earth-size planets orbiting cool stars can retain their atmospheres, a crucial step to advance our understanding of habitability on planets across our galaxy.”

Studying Gliese 12 b could also provide insights into our solar system’s evolution. Larissa Palethorpe, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, explained, “It is thought that Earth’s and Venus’s first atmospheres were stripped away and then replenished by volcanic outgassing and bombardments from residual material in the solar system. Because Gliese 12 b is between Earth and Venus in temperature, its atmosphere could teach us a lot about the habitability pathways planets take as they develop.”

One key factor in retaining an atmosphere is the star’s activity level. Red dwarfs are often magnetically active, producing powerful X-ray flares. However, analyses by both research teams indicate that Gliese 12 shows no signs of extreme behavior, making it an even more intriguing target for study.

The findings by Kuzuhara and Fukui’s team were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, while Dholakia and Palethorpe’s research appeared in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. These studies highlight the potential of using transmission spectroscopy to analyze the atmospheres of temperate planets like Gliese 12 b. Michael McElwain, a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, emphasized, “To better understand the diversity of atmospheres and evolutionary outcomes for these planets, we need more examples like Gliese 12 b.”

TESS, a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission, is managed by NASA Goddard and operated by MIT. The mission involves multiple partners, including Northrop Grumman, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, and the Space Telescope Science Institute, along with more than a dozen universities, research institutes, and observatories worldwide.

The discovery of Gliese 12 b opens new avenues for understanding the potential for habitability on planets beyond our solar system, marking another significant achievement for NASA’s TESS mission.

The post Gliese 12 b: A New Temperate Exoplanet Found Just 40 Light-Years Away first appeared on The Black Vault.

Key findings from the analysis include:

• The azimuthal angular field of view of the Luna-9 camera was determined to be 360 degrees, with a vertical angular field of view of 30 degrees.
• The tilt of the scanner rotation axis varied between 16 and 22.5 degrees during different transmissions.
• The axis of spacecraft movement was approximately 35 degrees relative to a prominent feature on the spacecraft.
• Dimensions of the Luna-9 capsule and various lunar surface features were estimated based on the analysis of the photography and ground photography from a Luna-9 exhibit.

The report also provides detailed technical explanations of the photogrammetric basis for the preliminary results, including calculations for the angular field of view, tilt values, axis of spacecraft movement, and dimensions of lunar surface features. The analysis was based on a combination of Luna-9 panoramas, ground photography, telemetry reports, and other sources.

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Preliminary Analysis of Luna 9 Photography, June 1966 [14 Pages, 4.7MB]

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Initial studies of the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu sample collected in space and brought to Earth by NASA show evidence of high-carbon content and water, which together could indicate the building blocks of life on Earth may be found in the rock. NASA made the news Wednesday from its Johnson Space Center in Houston where leadership and scientists showed off the asteroid material for the first time since it landed in September.

This finding was part of a preliminary assessment of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) science team.

“The OSIRIS-REx sample is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever delivered to Earth and will help scientists investigate the origins of life on our own planet for generations to come,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Almost everything we do at NASA seeks to answer questions about who we are and where we come from. NASA missions like OSIRIS-REx will improve our understanding of asteroids that could threaten Earth while giving us a glimpse into what lies beyond. The sample has made it back to Earth, but there is still so much science to come – science like we’ve never seen before.”  

Although more work is needed to understand the nature of the carbon compounds found, the initial discovery bodes well for future analyses of the asteroid sample. The secrets held within the rocks and dust from the asteroid will be studied for decades to come, offering insights into how our solar system was formed, how the precursor materials to life may have been seeded on Earth, and what precautions need to be taken to avoid asteroid collisions with our home planet.

Bonus sample material

The goal of the OSIRIS-REx sample collection was 60 grams of asteroid material. Curation experts at NASA Johnson, working in new clean rooms built especially for the mission, have spent 10 days so far carefully disassembling the sample return hardware to obtain a glimpse at the bulk sample within. When the science canister lid was first opened, scientists discovered bonus asteroid material covering the outside of the collector head, canister lid, and base. There was so much extra material it slowed down the careful process of collecting and containing the primary sample.

“Our labs were ready for whatever Bennu had in store for us,” said Vanessa Wyche, director, NASA Johnson. “We’ve had scientists and engineers working side-by-side for years to develop specialized gloveboxes and tools to keep the asteroid material pristine and to curate the samples so researchers now and decades from now can study this precious gift from the cosmos.”

Within the first two weeks, scientists performed “quick-look” analyses of that initial material, collecting images from a scanning electron microscope, infrared measurements, X-ray diffraction, and chemical element analysis. X-ray computed tomography was also used to produce a 3D computer model of one of the particles, highlighting its diverse interior. This early glimpse provided the evidence of abundant carbon and water in the sample.

“As we peer into the ancient secrets preserved within the dust and rocks of asteroid Bennu, we are unlocking a time capsule that offers us profound insights into the origins of our solar system,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, University of Arizona, Tucson. “The bounty of carbon-rich material and the abundant presence of water-bearing clay minerals are just the tip of the cosmic iceberg. These discoveries, made possible through years of dedicated collaboration and cutting-edge science, propel us on a journey to understand not only our celestial neighborhood but also the potential for life’s beginnings. With each revelation from Bennu, we draw closer to unraveling the mysteries of our cosmic heritage.”

For the next two years, the mission’s science team will continue characterizing the samples and conduct the analysis needed to meet the mission’s science goals. NASA will preserve at least 70% of the sample at Johnson for further research by scientists worldwide, including future generations of scientists. As part of OSIRIS-REx’s science program, a cohort of more than 200 scientists around the world will explore the regolith’s properties, including researchers from many U.S. institutions, NASA partners JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), CSA (Canadian Space Agency), and other scientists from around the world. Additional samples will also be loaned later this fall to the Smithsonian Institution, Space Center Houston, and the University of Arizona for public display.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Lauretta, the principal investigator, leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft, provided flight operations, and was responsible for capsule recovery. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace were responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Curation for OSIRIS-REx, including processing the sample when it arrived on Earth, is taking place at NASA Johnson.

OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The post NASA’s Bennu Asteroid Sample Contains Carbon, Water first appeared on The Black Vault.

The Program’s Objectives

The primary objective of the SR-183 program was scientific observation. The lunar observatory was intended to monitor celestial bodies, study the cosmic phenomena, and potentially track Soviet satellite and missile activities. By placing an observatory on the Moon, the United States hoped to gain a strategic advantage by having the ability to observe space from a unique vantage point, uninhibited by the Earth’s atmosphere.

Additionally, the program aimed to demonstrate American technological capabilities and assert its dominance in the space race. Following the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union, there was a sense of urgency within the United States to develop innovative technologies and establish a presence in space.

The Development Process

The development of the SR-183 Lunar Observatory program involved various challenges, including the development of advanced technologies required to establish and operate an observatory on the Moon. These included the creation of durable materials that could withstand the harsh environment of space, advanced communication systems to transmit data back to Earth, and innovative power sources that could sustain the observatory’s operations.

Additionally, there were logistical challenges associated with transporting the observatory to the Moon and establishing it in a way that would allow for optimal observations. These included determining the best location for the observatory, developing a method for its transportation and installation, and creating systems that would allow it to operate autonomously.

The Cancellation of the Program

Despite its innovative ambitions and the significant resources invested in its development, the SR-183 Lunar Observatory program was eventually discontinued. There are several reasons speculated for its cancellation, including technological limitations, financial constraints, and a shift in focus towards other space exploration efforts.

The technological challenges associated with developing, transporting, and operating an observatory on the Moon were immense, and it is possible that the technology required was not advanced enough at the time to make the program feasible. Additionally, the financial investment required to develop and implement the program was significant, and it is possible that the cost-benefit analysis did not justify its continuation.

Finally, the focus of the United States’ space exploration efforts shifted towards manned missions, culminating in the Apollo program, which successfully landed astronauts on the Moon. With the success of the Apollo program and the subsequent shift in focus towards other space exploration initiatives, the SR-183 Lunar Observatory program was deemed non-essential and ultimately canceled.

Conclusion

The SR-183 Lunar Observatory program was an ambitious initiative developed during the Cold War era with the goal of establishing an observatory on the Moon. Despite its innovative objectives and the significant resources invested in its development, the program faced numerous challenges and was ultimately discontinued. Although the program did not come to fruition, it represents an important chapter in the history of space exploration and the strategic initiatives developed during the Cold War era.

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SR-183 Lunar Observatory. Lunar Observatory Study Liaison Visits [13 Pages, 1.5MB]

The post SR-183 Lunar Observatory Program first appeared on The Black Vault.

This was posted on Twitter by the U.S. Space Command’s official Twitter account on April 6, 2022:

6/ “I had the pleasure of signing a memo with @ussfspoc’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Mozer, to confirm that a previously-detected interstellar object was indeed an interstellar object, a confirmation that assisted the broader astronomical community.” pic.twitter.com/PGlIOnCSrW

— U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) April 7, 2022

That memorandum and Twitter post prompted an April 23, 2022, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by The Black Vault seeking out communication beyond the memorandum, from within the email box of Dr. Zurbuchen. The keyword search requested was “interstellar origin”.

The result came in on June 7, 2022. The publicly available material was omitted to help expedite the request, but those records are referenced with links in the FOIA response letter. The remaining records, not available publicly previous to this posting, totaled 28 pages, and were released with redactions.

Those records are all available below.

The redactions primarily consisted of referred material to Space Force; privacy information like emails and phone numbers; and what is tagged as (b)(5) FOIA exempted material.

The Black Vault was not going to publish the material until the Space Force responded, however, a lot of time has passed and that information has yet to be processed. Therefore, what has been released is being posted here, and the remaining information once it comes in, will be posted and this article will be updated.

The key document from the NASA release is Dr. Zurbuchen’s emailed response to Lt. General Shaw. Note the overuse of (b)(5) redactions.

A second record worth noting is the original correspondence from Dr. Loeb to Dr. Zurbuchen, asking about the meteor and the possible interstellar nature of it.

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“Confirmation of Interstellar Object” Related Documents – NASA Release [43 Pages, 0.7MB]

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NRL to Launch First In-Space Laser Power Beaming Experiment

WASHINGTON  –  The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is set to launch the Space Wireless Energy Laser Link (SWELL) to demonstrate laser power beaming in space as part of the scheduled U.S. Department of Defense Space Test Program (STP) H9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) March 15.
 
SWELL is one of several experiments that will launch aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle to the ISS for the yearlong mission to collect data during a laser power beaming link in space conditions. The experiment, which is sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment (OUSD (A&S)) and supported by the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF), will explore challenges for power beaming’s viability for space applications, and also highlight the possibilities for using power beaming to address energy challenges on Earth.
 
“With this modest experiment, we will identify key focus areas for developing links of greater power and longer distance for space,” said Paul Jaffe, Ph.D., Electronics Engineer and SWELL Principal Investigator. “By employing laser transmitters and photovoltaic receivers, power beaming links will be established that will pave the way for rapid, resilient, and flexible energy delivery systems.”
 
Power beaming is a means of delivering energy in the form of electromagnetic waves that does not require the transport of mass, so energy can be sent almost instantly. Its feasibility and safety have been proven on the ground, and now these efforts are expanding to space.
 
“This is the next step in extending this capability for space, lunar, and planetary applications,” said Chris DePuma, SWELL Program Manager. “Power beaming is poised as a critical enabler for power distribution on the moon and elsewhere in space.”
 
The yearlong SWELL experiment should provide data that shows how the hardware functions in the space environment and show which constraints are likely to affect the deployment of future operational systems.
 
By eliminating the need for moving fuel or batteries, or for stringing wires, SWELL could be a compelling option for the utilization of lunar resources and development on the Moon.“Power beaming might also be used for distributing power for and around Earth, including from satellites that collect solar energy in space,” Jaffe said. “SWELL is the next step into this new frontier.”
 
About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California, and employs approximately 3,000 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel.

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Following a successful launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, the agency’s Orion spacecraft is on its way to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. Carrying an uncrewed Orion, SLS lifted off for its flight test debut at 1:47 a.m. EST Wednesday from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

#Artemis Liftoff!

In case you missed the launch early this morning (EST) from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, here's this beast roaring to the moon!

MORE: https://t.co/fc9jrOAs0H pic.twitter.com/brcv4mQMTn

— John Greenewald, Jr. (@blackvaultcom) November 16, 2022

The launch is the first leg of a mission in which Orion is planned to travel approximately 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and return to Earth over the course of 25.5 days. Known as Artemis I, the mission is a critical part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which the agency explores for the benefit of humanity. It’s an important test for the agency before flying astronauts on the Artemis II mission.

“What an incredible sight to see NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft launch together for the first time. This uncrewed flight test will push Orion to the limits in the rigors of deep space, helping us prepare for human exploration on the Moon and, ultimately, Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

After reaching its initial orbit, Orion deployed its solar arrays and engineers began performing checkouts of the spacecraft’s systems. About 1.5 hours into flight, the rocket’s upper stage engine successfully fired for approximately 18 minutes to give Orion the big push needed to send it out of Earth orbit and toward the Moon.

Orion has separated from its upper stage and is on its outbound coast to the Moon powered by its service module, which is the propulsive powerhouse provided by ESA (European Space Agency) through an international collaboration.

“It’s taken a lot to get here, but Orion is now on its way to the Moon,” said Jim Free, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. “This successful launch means NASA and our partners are on a path to explore farther in space than ever before for the benefit of humanity.”

Over the next several hours, a series of 10 small science investigations and technology demonstrations, called CubeSats, will deploy from a ring that connected the upper stage to the spacecraft. Each CubeSat has its own mission that has the potential to fill gaps in our knowledge of the solar system or demonstrate technologies that may benefit the design of future missions to explore the Moon and beyond.

Orion’s service module will also perform the first of a series of burns to keep Orion on course toward the Moon approximately eight hours after launch. In the coming days, mission controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will conduct additional checkouts and course corrections as needed. Orion is expected to fly by the Moon on Nov. 21, performing a close approach of the lunar surface on its way to a distant retrograde orbit, a highly stable orbit thousands of miles beyond the Moon.

“The Space Launch System rocket delivered the power and performance to send Orion on its way to the Moon,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager. “With the accomplishment of the first major milestone of the mission, Orion will now embark on the next phase to test its systems and prepare for future missions with astronauts.”

The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived at Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 4 where they rode out Hurricane Nicole. Following the storm, teams conducted thorough assessments of the rocket, spacecraft, and associated ground systems and confirmed there were no significant impacts from the severe weather.

Engineers previously rolled the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) Sept. 26 ahead of Hurricane Ian and after waving off two previous launch attempts Aug. 29 due to a faulty temperature sensor, and Sept. 4 due to a liquid hydrogen leak at an interface between the rocket and mobile launcher. Prior to rolling back to the VAB, teams successfully repaired the leak and demonstrated updated tanking procedures. While in the VAB, teams performed standard maintenance to repair minor damage to the foam and cork on the thermal protection system and recharge or replace batteries throughout the system.

Artemis I is supported by thousands of people around the world, from contractors who built Orion and SLS, and the ground infrastructure needed to launch them, to international and university partners, to small businesses supplying subsystems and components.

Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars.

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Analysis of data obtained over the past two weeks by NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) investigation team shows the spacecraft’s kinetic impact with its target asteroid, Dimorphos, successfully altered the asteroid’s orbit. This marks humanity’s first time purposely changing the motion of a celestial object and the first full-scale demonstration of asteroid deflection technology.

“All of us have a responsibility to protect our home planet. After all, it’s the only one we have,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “This mission shows that NASA is trying to be ready for whatever the universe throws at us. NASA has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet. This is a watershed moment for planetary defense and all of humanity, demonstrating commitment from NASA’s exceptional team and partners from around the world.”

Prior to DART’s impact, it took Dimorphos 11 hours and 55 minutes to orbit its larger parent asteroid, Didymos. Since DART’s intentional collision with Dimorphos on Sept. 26, astronomers have been using telescopes on Earth to measure how much that time has changed. Now, the investigation team has confirmed the spacecraft’s impact altered Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos by 32 minutes, shortening the 11 hour and 55-minute orbit to 11 hours and 23 minutes. This measurement has a margin of uncertainty of approximately plus or minus 2 minutes.

Before its encounter, NASA had defined a minimum successful orbit period change of Dimorphos as change of 73 seconds or more. This early data show DART surpassed this minimum benchmark by more than 25 times.

“This result is one important step toward understanding the full effect of DART’s impact with its target asteroid” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “As new data come in each day, astronomers will be able to better assess whether, and how, a mission like DART could be used in the future to help protect Earth from a collision with an asteroid if we ever discover one headed our way.”

The investigation team is still acquiring data with ground-based observatories around the world – as well as with radar facilities at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Goldstone planetary radar in California and the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. They are updating the period measurement with frequent observations to improve its precision.

Focus now is shifting toward measuring the efficiency of momentum transfer from DART’s roughly 14,000-mile (22,530-kilometer) per hour collision with its target. This includes further analysis of the “ejecta” – the many tons of asteroidal rock displaced and launched into space by the impact. The recoil from this blast of debris substantially enhanced DART’s push against Dimorphos – a little like a jet of air streaming out of a balloon sends the balloon in the opposite direction.

To successfully understand the effect of the recoil from the ejecta, more information on of the asteroid’s physical properties, such as the characteristics of its surface, and how strong or weak it is, is needed. These issues are still being investigated.

“DART has given us some fascinating data about both asteroid properties and the effectiveness of a kinetic impactor as a planetary defense technology,” said Nancy Chabot, the DART coordination lead from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. “The DART team is continuing to work on this rich dataset to fully understand this first planetary defense test of asteroid deflection.”

For this analysis, astronomers will continue to study imagery of Dimorphos from DART’s terminal approach and from the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube), provided by the Italian Space Agency, to approximate the asteroid’s mass and shape. Roughly four years from now, the European Space Agency’s Hera project is also planned to conduct detailed surveys of both Dimorphos and Didymos, with a particular focus on the crater left by DART’s collision and a precise measurement of Dimorphos’ mass.

Johns Hopkins APL built and operated the DART spacecraft and manages the DART mission for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office as a project of the agency’s Planetary Missions Program Office. Telescopic facilities contributing to the observations used by the DART team to determine this result include: Goldstone, Green Bank Observatory, Swope Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, the Danish Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, and the Las Cumbres Observatory global telescope network facilities in Chile and in South Africa.

Neither Dimorphos nor Didymos poses any hazard to Earth before or after DART’s controlled collision with Dimorphos.

For more information about the DART mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/dart

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Mission control at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, announced the successful impact at 7:14 p.m. EDT.

As a part of NASA’s overall planetary defense strategy, DART’s impact with the asteroid Dimorphos demonstrates a viable mitigation technique for protecting the planet from an Earth-bound asteroid or comet, if one were discovered.

“At its core, DART represents an unprecedented success for planetary defense, but it is also a mission of unity with a real benefit for all humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “As NASA studies the cosmos and our home planet, we’re also working to protect that home, and this international collaboration turned science fiction into science fact, demonstrating one way to protect Earth.”

DART targeted the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, a small body just 530 feet (160 meters) in diameter. It orbits a larger, 2,560-foot (780-meter) asteroid called Didymos. Neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth.

The mission’s one-way trip confirmed NASA can successfully navigate a spacecraft to intentionally collide with an asteroid to deflect it, a technique known as kinetic impact.

The investigation team will now observe Dimorphos using ground-based telescopes to confirm that DART’s impact altered the asteroid’s orbit around Didymos. Researchers expect the impact to shorten Dimorphos’ orbit by about 1%, or roughly 10 minutes; precisely measuring how much the asteroid was deflected is one of the primary purposes of the full-scale test.

“Planetary Defense is a globally unifying effort that affects everyone living on Earth,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now we know we can aim a spacecraft with the precision needed to impact even a small body in space. Just a small change in its speed is all we need to make a significant difference in the path an asteroid travels.”

The spacecraft’s sole instrument, the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO), together with a sophisticated guidance, navigation and control system that works in tandem with Small-body Maneuvering Autonomous Real Time Navigation (SMART Nav) algorithms, enabled DART to identify and distinguish between the two asteroids, targeting the smaller body.

These systems guided the 1,260-pound (570-kilogram) box-shaped spacecraft through the final 56,000 miles (90,000 kilometers) of space into Dimorphos, intentionally crashing into it at roughly 14,000 miles (22,530 kilometers) per hour to slightly slow the asteroid’s orbital speed. DRACO’s final images, obtained by the spacecraft seconds before impact, revealed the surface of Dimorphos in close-up detail.

Fifteen days before impact, DART’s CubeSat companion Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube), provided by the Italian Space Agency, deployed from the spacecraft to capture images of DART’s impact and of the asteroid’s resulting cloud of ejected matter. In tandem with the images returned by DRACO, LICIACube’s images are intended to provide a view of the collision’s effects to help researchers better characterize the effectiveness of kinetic impact in deflecting an asteroid. Because LICIACube doesn’t carry a large antenna, images will be downlinked to Earth one by one in the coming weeks.

“DART’s success provides a significant addition to the essential toolbox we must have to protect Earth from a devastating impact by an asteroid,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer. “This demonstrates we are no longer powerless to prevent this type of natural disaster. Coupled with enhanced capabilities to accelerate finding the remaining hazardous asteroid population by our next Planetary Defense mission, the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, a DART successor could provide what we need to save the day.”

With the asteroid pair within 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) of Earth, a global team is using dozens of telescopes stationed around the world and in space to observe the asteroid system. Over the coming weeks, they will characterize the ejecta produced and precisely measure Dimorphos’ orbital change to determine how effectively DART deflected the asteroid. The results will help validate and improve scientific computer models critical to predicting the effectiveness of this technique as a reliable method for asteroid deflection.

“This first-of-its-kind mission required incredible preparation and precision, and the team exceeded expectations on all counts,” said APL Director Ralph Semmel. “Beyond the truly exciting success of the technology demonstration, capabilities based on DART could one day be used to change the course of an asteroid to protect our planet and preserve life on Earth as we know it.”

Roughly four years from now, the European Space Agency’s Hera project will conduct detailed surveys of both Dimorphos and Didymos, with a particular focus on the crater left by DART’s collision and a precise measurement of Dimorphos’ mass.

Johns Hopkins APL manages the DART mission for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office as a project of the agency’s Planetary Missions Program Office.

For more information about DART, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/dart

The post NASA’s DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test first appeared on The Black Vault.

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Preliminary Study of Capsule Recovery for the First Series of Project Mercury Orbital Flights – July 1, 1959 [241 Pages, 30MB]

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NASA’s Webb Reveals Cosmic Cliffs, Glittering Landscape of Star Birth

The seemingly three-dimensional “Cosmic Cliffs” showcases Webb’s capabilities to peer through obscuring dust and shed new light on how stars form. Webb reveals emerging stellar nurseries and individual stars that are completely hidden in visible-light pictures. This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” is actually the edge of a nearby stellar nursery called NGC 3324 at the northwest corner of the Carina Nebula. So-called mountains — some towering about 7 light-years high — are speckled with glittering, young stars imaged in infrared light. A cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located above the area shown in this image. The blistering, ultraviolet radiation from these stars is sculpting the nebula’s wall by slowly eroding it away. Dramatic pillars rise above the glowing wall of gas, resisting this radiation. The “steam” that appears to rise from the celestial “mountains” is actually hot, ionized gas and hot dust streaming away from the nebula due to the relentless radiation. Objects in the earliest, rapid phases of star formation are difficult to capture, but Webb’s extreme sensitivity, spatial resolution and imaging capability can chronicle these elusive events.

This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth.

Called the Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s seemingly three-dimensional picture looks like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, it is the edge of the giant, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 7 light-years high. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image.

The blistering, ultraviolet radiation from the young stars is sculpting the nebula’s wall by slowly eroding it away. Dramatic pillars tower above the glowing wall of gas, resisting this radiation. The “steam” that appears to rise from the celestial “mountains” is actually hot, ionized gas and hot dust streaming away from the nebula due to the relentless radiation.

Webb reveals emerging stellar nurseries and individual stars that are completely hidden in visible-light pictures. Because of Webb’s sensitivity to infrared light, it can peer through cosmic dust to see these objects. Protostellar jets, which emerge clearly in this image, shoot out from some of these young stars. The youngest sources appear as red dots in the dark, dusty region of the cloud. Objects in the earliest, rapid phases of star formation are difficult to capture, but Webb’s extreme sensitivity, spatial resolution, and imaging capability can chronicle these elusive events.

These observations of NGC 3324 will shed light on the process of star formation. Star birth propagates over time, triggered by the expansion of the eroding cavity. As the bright, ionized rim moves into the nebula, it slowly pushes into the gas and dust. If the rim encounters any unstable material, the increased pressure will trigger the material to collapse and form new stars.

Conversely, this type of disturbance may also prevent star formation as the star-making material is eroded away. This is a very delicate balance between sparking star formation and stopping it. Webb will address some of the great, open questions of modern astrophysics: What determines the number of stars that form in a certain region? Why do stars form with a certain mass?

Webb will also reveal the impact of star formation on the evolution of gigantic clouds of gas and dust. While the effect of massive stars – with their violent winds and high energy – is often apparent, less is known about the influence of the more numerous low-mass stars. As they form, these smaller stars create narrow, opposing jets seen here, which can inject a lot of momentum and energy into the clouds. This reduces the fraction of nebular material that seeds new stars.

Up to this point, scientists have had very little data about the influence of the multitude of young and more energetic low-mass stars. With Webb, they will be able to obtain a full census of their number and impact throughout the nebula.

Located roughly 7,600 light-years away, NGC 3324 was imaged by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).

NIRCam – with its crisp resolution and unparalleled sensitivity – unveils hundreds of previously hidden stars, and even numerous background galaxies.

In MIRI’s view, young stars and their dusty, planet-forming disks shine brightly in the mid-infrared, appearing pink and red. MIRI reveals structures that are embedded in the dust and uncovers the stellar sources of massive jets and outflows. With MIRI, the hot dust, hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds on the surface of the ridges glow, giving the appearance of jagged rocks.

NGC 3324 was first catalogued by James Dunlop in 1826. Visible from the Southern Hemisphere, it is located at the northwest corner of the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), which resides in the constellation Carina. The Carina Nebula is home to the Keyhole Nebula and the active, unstable supergiant star called Eta Carinae.

NASA’s Webb Sheds Light on Galaxy Evolution, Black Holes

The close proximity of Stephan’s Quintet gives astronomers a ringside seat to galactic mergers and interactions In an enormous new image, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals never-before-seen details of the galaxy group called “Stephan’s Quintet.” The close proximity of this group gives astronomers a ringside seat to galactic mergers and interactions. Rarely do scientists see in so much detail how interacting galaxies trigger star formation in each other, and how the gas in these galaxies is being disturbed. Stephan’s Quintet is a fantastic “laboratory” for studying these processes fundamental to all galaxies. The image also shows outflows driven by a supermassive black hole in one of the group’s galaxies in a level of detail never seen before. Tight galaxy groups like this may have been more common in the early universe when superheated, infalling material may have fueled very energetic black holes.

Stephan’s Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies, is best known for being prominently featured in the holiday classic film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Today, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals Stephan’s Quintet in a new light. This enormous mosaic is Webb’s largest image to date, covering about one-fifth of the Moon’s diameter. It contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files. The information from Webb provides new insights into how galactic interactions may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe.

With its powerful, infrared vision and extremely high spatial resolution, Webb shows never-before-seen details in this galaxy group. Sparkling clusters of millions of young stars and starburst regions of fresh star birth grace the image. Sweeping tails of gas, dust and stars are being pulled from several of the galaxies due to gravitational interactions. Most dramatically, Webb captures huge shock waves as one of the galaxies, NGC 7318B, smashes through the cluster.

Together, the five galaxies of Stephan’s Quintet are also known as the Hickson Compact Group 92 (HCG 92). Although called a “quintet,” only four of the galaxies are truly close together and caught up in a cosmic dance. The fifth and leftmost galaxy, called NGC 7320, is well in the foreground compared with the other four. NGC 7320 resides 40 million light-years from Earth, while the other four galaxies (NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, and NGC 7319) are about 290 million light-years away. This is still fairly close in cosmic terms, compared with more distant galaxies billions of light-years away. Studying such relatively nearby galaxies like these helps scientists better understand structures seen in a much more distant universe.

This proximity provides astronomers a ringside seat for witnessing the merging and interactions between galaxies that are so crucial to all of galaxy evolution. Rarely do scientists see in so much detail how interacting galaxies trigger star formation in each other, and how the gas in these galaxies is being disturbed. Stephan’s Quintet is a fantastic “laboratory” for studying these processes fundamental to all galaxies.

Tight groups like this may have been more common in the early universe when their superheated, infalling material may have fueled very energetic black holes called quasars. Even today, the topmost galaxy in the group – NGC 7319 – harbors an active galactic nucleus, a supermassive black hole 24 million times the mass of the Sun. It is actively pulling in material and puts out light energy equivalent to 40 billion Suns.

Webb studied the active galactic nucleus in great detail with the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). These instruments’ integral field units (IFUs) – which are a combination of a camera and spectrograph – provided the Webb team with a “data cube,” or collection of images of the galactic core’s spectral features.

Much like medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the IFUs allow scientists to “slice and dice” the information into many images for detailed study. Webb pierced through the shroud of dust surrounding the nucleus to reveal hot gas near the active black hole and measure the velocity of bright outflows. The telescope saw these outflows driven by the black hole in a level of detail never seen before.

In NGC 7320, the leftmost and closest galaxy in the visual grouping, Webb was able to resolve individual stars and even the galaxy’s bright core.

As a bonus, Webb revealed a vast sea of thousands of distant background galaxies reminiscent of Hubble’s Deep Fields.

Combined with the most detailed infrared image ever of Stephan’s Quintet from MIRI and the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the data from Webb will provide a bounty of valuable, new information. For example, it will help scientists understand the rate at which supermassive black holes feed and grow. Webb also sees star-forming regions much more directly, and it is able to examine emission from the dust – a level of detail impossible to obtain until now.

Located in the constellation Pegasus, Stephan’s Quintet was discovered by the French astronomer Édouard Stephan in 1877.

NASA’s Webb Captures Dying Star’s Final ‘Performance’ in Fine Detail

The second star in the Southern Ring Nebula comes into full view, along with exceptional structures NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has cast the Southern Ring Nebula in an entirely new light. By observing the nebula in mid-infrared wavelengths, Webb has unveiled the second, dusty star at the center of the nebula in far more detail. The star closely orbits its companion as it periodically ejects layers of gas and dust. Together, the swirling duo have created a fantastic landscape of asymmetrical shells. Webb’s near-infrared light image hones in on “spotlights” from the stars, where light travels through holes in the nebula’s dusty ejections.

Some stars save the best for last.

The dimmer star at the center of this scene has been sending out rings of gas and dust for thousands of years in all directions, and NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed for the first time that this star is cloaked in dust.

Two cameras aboard Webb captured the latest image of this planetary nebula, cataloged as NGC 3132, and known informally as the Southern Ring Nebula. It is approximately 2,500 light-years away.

Webb will allow astronomers to dig into many more specifics about planetary nebulae like this one – clouds of gas and dust expelled by dying stars. Understanding which molecules are present, and where they lie throughout the shells of gas and dust will help researchers refine their knowledge of these objects.

This observation shows the Southern Ring Nebula almost face-on, but if we could rotate it to view it edge-on, its three-dimensional shape would more clearly look like two bowls placed together at the bottom, opening away from one another with a large hole at the center.

Two stars, which are locked in a tight orbit, shape the local landscape. Webb’s infrared images feature new details in this complex system. The stars – and their layers of light – are prominent in the image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the left, while the image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the right shows for the first time that the second star is surrounded by dust. The brighter star is in an earlier stage of its stellar evolution and will probably eject its own planetary nebula in the future.

In the meantime, the brighter star influences the nebula’s appearance. As the pair continues to orbit one another, they “stir the pot” of gas and dust, causing asymmetrical patterns.

Each shell represents an episode where the fainter star lost some of its mass. The widest shells of gas toward the outer areas of the image were ejected earlier. Those closest to the star are the most recent. Tracing these ejections allows researchers to look into the history of the system.

Observations taken with NIRCam also reveal extremely fine rays of light around the planetary nebula. Starlight from the central stars streams out where there are holes in the gas and dust – like sunlight through gaps in a cloud.

Since planetary nebulae exist for tens of thousands of years, observing the nebula is like watching a movie in exceptionally slow motion. Each shell the star puffed off gives researchers the ability to precisely measure the gas and dust that are present within it.

As the star ejects shells of material, dust and molecules form within them – changing the landscape even as the star continues to expel material. This dust will eventually enrich the areas around it, expanding into what’s known as the interstellar medium. And since it’s very long-lived, the dust may end up traveling through space for billions of years and become incorporated into a new star or planet.

In thousands of years, these delicate layers of gas and dust will dissipate into surrounding space.

Webb Reveals Steamy Atmosphere of Distant Planet in Exquisite Detail

In a dream come true for exoplaneteers, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has demonstrated its unprecedented ability to analyze the atmosphere of a planet more than 1,000 light-years away. With the combined forces of its 270-square-foot mirror, precision spectrographs, and sensitive detectors, Webb has – in a single observation – revealed the unambiguous signature of water, indications of haze, and evidence for clouds that were thought not to exist based on prior observations. The transmission spectrum of the hot gas giant WASP-96 b, made using Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph, provides just a glimpse into the brilliant future of exoplanet research with Webb.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the distinct signature of water, along with evidence for clouds and haze, in the atmosphere surrounding a hot, puffy gas giant planet orbiting a distant Sun-like star.

The observation, which reveals the presence of specific gas molecules based on tiny decreases in the brightness of precise colors of light, is the most detailed of its kind to date, demonstrating Webb’s unprecedented ability to analyze atmospheres hundreds of light-years away.

While the Hubble Space Telescope has analyzed numerous exoplanet atmospheres over the past two decades, capturing the first clear detection of water in 2013, Webb’s immediate and more detailed observation marks a giant leap forward in the quest to characterize potentially habitable planets beyond Earth.

WASP-96 b is one of more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets in the Milky Way. Located roughly 1,150 light-years away in the southern-sky constellation Phoenix, it represents a type of gas giant that has no direct analog in our solar system. With a mass less than half that of Jupiter and a diameter 1.2 times greater, WASP-96 b is much puffier than any planet orbiting our Sun. And with a temperature greater than 1000°F, it is significantly hotter. WASP-96 b orbits extremely close to its Sun-like star, just one-ninth of the distance between Mercury and the Sun, completing one circuit every 3½ Earth-days.

The combination of large size, short orbital period, puffy atmosphere, and lack of contaminating light from objects nearby in the sky makes WASP-96 b an ideal target for atmospheric observations.

On June 21, Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) measured light from the WASP-96 system for 6.4 hours as the planet moved across the star. The result is a light curve showing the overall dimming of starlight during the transit, and a transmission spectrum revealing the brightness change of individual wavelengths of infrared light between 0.6 and 2.8 microns.

While the light curve confirms properties of the planet that had already been determined from other observations – the existence, size, and orbit of the planet – the transmission spectrum reveals previously hidden details of the atmosphere: the unambiguous signature of water, indications of haze, and evidence of clouds that were thought not to exist based on prior observations.

A transmission spectrum is made by comparing starlight filtered through a planet’s atmosphere as it moves across the star to the unfiltered starlight detected when the planet is beside the star. Researchers are able to detect and measure the abundances of key gases in a planet’s atmosphere based on the absorption pattern – the locations and heights of peaks on the graph. In the same way that people have distinctive fingerprints and DNA sequences, atoms and molecules have characteristic patterns of wavelengths that they absorb.

The spectrum of WASP-96 b captured by NIRISS is not only the most detailed near-infrared transmission spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere captured to date, but it also covers a remarkably wide range of wavelengths, including visible red light and a portion of the spectrum that has not previously been accessible from other telescopes (wavelengths longer than 1.6 microns). This part of the spectrum is particularly sensitive to water as well as other key molecules like oxygen, methane, and carbon dioxide, which are not immediately obvious in the WASP-96 b spectrum but which should be detectable in other exoplanets planned for observation by Webb.

Researchers will be able to use the spectrum to measure the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, constrain the abundance of various elements like carbon and oxygen, and estimate the temperature of the atmosphere with depth. They can then use this information to make inferences about the overall make-up of the planet, as well as how, when, and where it formed. The blue line on the graph is a best-fit model that takes into account the data, the known properties of WASP-96 b and its star (e.g., size, mass, temperature), and assumed characteristics of the atmosphere.

The exceptional detail and clarity of these measurements is possible because of Webb’s state-of-the-art design. Its 270-square-foot gold-coated mirror collects infrared light efficiently. Its precision spectrographs spread light out into rainbows of thousands of infrared colors. And its sensitive infrared detectors measure extremely subtle differences in brightness. NIRISS is able to detect color differences of only about one thousandth of a micron (the difference between green and yellow is about 50 microns), and differences in the brightness between those colors of a few hundred parts per million.

In addition, Webb’s extreme stability and its orbital location around Lagrange Point 2, roughly a million miles away from the contaminating effects of Earth’s atmosphere, makes for an uninterrupted view and clean data that can be analyzed relatively quickly.

The extraordinarily detailed spectrum – made by simultaneously analyzing 280 individual spectra captured over the observation – provides just a hint of what Webb has in store for exoplanet research. Over the coming year, researchers will use spectroscopy to analyze the surfaces and atmospheres of several dozen exoplanets, from small rocky planets to gas- and ice-rich giants . Nearly one-quarter of Webb’s Cycle 1 observation time is allocated to studying exoplanets and the materials that form them.

This NIRISS observation demonstrates that Webb has the power to characterize the atmospheres of exoplanets – including those of potentially habitable planets – in exquisite detail.

NASA’s Webb Delivers Deepest Image of Universe Yet

A flurry of bright white galaxies is stirring up this scene – captured in high resolution by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Known as galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, the group of galaxies is also bending and warping the light from more distant galaxies behind them, stretching and repeating their appearances. Webb’s near- and mid-infrared imaging – and highly detailed data known as spectra – will allow future researchers to finely catalog the precise compositions of galaxies in the early universe, which may ultimately reshape our understanding of how galaxies changed and evolved over billions of years.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far. Affectionately known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this is galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 and it is teeming with thousands of galaxies – including the smallest, faintest objects ever observed.

Webb’s image is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length, a tiny sliver of the vast universe. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying more distant galaxies, including some seen when the universe was less than a billion years old. This deep field, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours – achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest fields, which took weeks. And this is only the beginning. Researchers will continue to use Webb to take longer exposures, revealing more of our vast universe.

This image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, with many more galaxies in front of and behind the cluster. Much more about this cluster will be revealed as researchers begin digging into Webb’s data. This field was also imaged by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which observes mid-infrared light.

Webb’s NIRCam has brought distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features.

Light from these galaxies took billions of years to reach us. We are looking back in time to within a billion years after the big bang when viewing the youngest galaxies in this field. The light was stretched by the expansion of the universe to infrared wavelengths that Webb was designed to observe. Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions.

Other features include the prominent arcs in this field. The powerful gravitational field of a galaxy cluster can bend the light rays from more distant galaxies behind it, just as a magnifying glass bends and warps images. Stars are also captured with prominent diffraction spikes, as they appear brighter at shorter wavelengths.

Webb’s MIRI image offers a kaleidoscope of colors and highlights where the dust is – a major ingredient for star formation, and ultimately life itself. Blue galaxies contain stars, but very little dust. The red objects in this field are enshrouded in thick layers of dust. Green galaxies are populated with hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds. Researchers will be able to use data like these to understand how galaxies form, grow, and merge with each other, and in some cases why they stop forming stars altogether.

In addition to taking images, two of Webb’s instruments also obtained spectra – data that reveal objects’ physical and chemical properties that will help researchers identify many more details about distant galaxies in this field. Webb’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) microshutter array observed 48 individual galaxies at the same time – a new technology used for the first time in space – returning a full suite of details about each. The data revealed light from one galaxy that traveled for 13.1 billion years before Webb’s mirrors captured it. NIRSpec data also demonstrate how detailed galaxy spectra will be with Webb observations.

Finally, Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) used Wide-Field Slitless Spectroscopy to capture spectra of all the objects in the entire field of view at once. Among the results, it proves that one of the galaxies has a mirror image.

SMACS 0723 can be viewed near the constellation Volans in the southern sky.

The post A Compilation of the James Webb Telescope First Released Images first appeared on The Black Vault.

• President Joe Biden unveiled this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, during a White House event Monday, July 11
• Webb’s image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground – and reveals thousands of galaxies in a tiny sliver of vast universe
• Webb’s sharp near-infrared view brought out faint structures in extremely distant galaxies, offering the most detailed view of the early universe to date
• NASA and its partners will release the full series of Webb’s first full-color images and data, known as spectra, Tuesday, July 12, during a live NASA TV broadcast

(Download the FULL Resolution)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.

Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.

This deep field, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours – achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest fields, which took weeks.

The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s NIRCam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions, as Webb seeks the earliest galaxies in the universe.

This image is among the telescope’s first-full color images. The full suite will be released Tuesday, July 12, beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT, during a live NASA TV broadcast. Learn more about how to watch.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

The post NASA’s Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet, July 11, 2022 first appeared on The Black Vault.

However, this MDR case was a little strange. In most cases, an MDR “success” is when redacted are lifted, even in part. An MDR “failure” is when nothing changes. This? Not sure what you call this, but additional redactions were ADDED, and not removed.

In a rather humorous (albeit frustrating) outcome, I highlighted both releases below so you can see what they felt the need to cover-up now vs. not cover up in the past.

Note: The below montage of images may be too small to read, depending on your monitor. Simply click on the pages individually to make them larger. Each page is side by side with its corresponding page from the old release to the new one.

Document Archive

The post DoD/CIA-NASA Agreement on NASA Reconnaissance Programs, 28 August 1963 first appeared on The Black Vault.

In November of 2021, The Black Vault filed a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request to have the redacted information further reviewed.

The below, was the result, and additional information was released.

One particular section now declassified, talks about how NASA was hiding “Unclassified” information from the general public and they wanted to thwart future FOIA requests/questions.

Document Archive

Data and Information Release Committee of the Program Review Board Meeting Summary – August 10, 1977 [7 Pages, 4MB]

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The post Data and Information Release Committee of the Program Review Board Meeting Summary – August 10, 1977 first appeared on The Black Vault.

This report presents the results of the preliminary analysis of the potential of a small, new, generic type of manned spaceplane as a military, manned research vehicle. A specific spaceplane research vehicle configuration, termed the Space Cruiser is presented. The Space Cruiser is designed for full- envelope cislunar Earth-moon space, Transatmospheric, and endoatmospheric flight research. Man-in-space, vehicular research and research on internal and external payloads would extend to manned space vehicles, the Space Shuttle, unmanned space vehicles, space station, space structures, transatmospheric and endoatmospheric vehicles. Results of a nation-wide preliminary survey for research and technology tasks for the Space Cruiser are reported. Initial planning for developmental and operational programs is presented.

Note: The Black Vault originally received this document in the late 1990s, with the purchase of a multi-set CD-ROM collection of the Department of Defense’s FOIA reading room. However, a better copy was discovered within the holdings on the DTIC. So, a file was created with the best pages out of both files. Each file also had additional pages the other did not. All were added to the below.

Document Archive

Spaceplane Technology and Research (STAR), August 1984 [167 Pages, 9.5MB]

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The post Spaceplane Technology and Research (STAR), August 1984 first appeared on The Black Vault.

DART will be the world’s first planetary defense test mission, heading for the small moonlet asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits a larger companion asteroid called Didymos, and intentionally crashing into the asteroid to slightly change its orbit. While neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth, DART’s kinetic impact will prove that a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and kinetically impact it. Then, using Earth-based telescopes to measure the effects of the impact on the asteroid system, the mission will enhance modeling and predictive capabilities to help us better prepare for an actual asteroid threat should one ever be discovered.

“DART will be the first demonstration of the ‘kinetic impactor’ technique in which a spacecraft deliberately collides with a known asteroid at high speed to change the asteroid’s motion in space,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer. “This technique is thought to be the most technologically mature approach for mitigating a potentially hazardous asteroid, and it will help planetary defense experts refine asteroid kinetic impactor computer models, giving insight into how we could deflect potentially dangerous near-Earth objects in the future.”

Over the last year and a half, while following pandemic health and safety protocols, engineers built DART from a collection of parts to a fully assembled spacecraft. Engineers outfitted the spacecraft with the various technologies that the mission will test, including NASA’s NEXT-C ion propulsion system that was designed to improve performance and fuel efficiency for deep-space missions, and a flat, slotted high-gain antenna for efficient communication between Earth and the spacecraft.

During the summer and early September, engineers installed the spacecraft’s onboard camera DRACO (its only instrument), its two roll-out solar arrays that each unfurl to 28 feet, and the Italian Space Agency’s miniature satellite LICIACube that is designed to capture images of DART’s kinetic impact and its immediate aftereffects.

“It’s a miracle what this team has accomplished, with all of the obstacles in the way like COVID and the development of so many new technologies,” said Elena Adams, DART mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. “But the reason why we succeeded so far is because our team is excited, extremely sharp, and they genuinely want to show that if an asteroid was coming toward Earth, we could prevent a catastrophe.”

The spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) near Lompoc, California, in early October after a cross-country drive. DART team members have since been preparing the spacecraft for flight, testing the spacecraft’s mechanisms and electrical system, wrapping the final parts in multilayer insulation blankets, and practicing the launch sequence from both the launch site and the mission operations center at APL.

DART headed to the SpaceX Payload Processing Facility on VSFB on Oct. 26. Two days later, the team received the green light to fill DART’s fuel tank with roughly 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of hydrazine propellant for spacecraft maneuvers and attitude control. DART also carries about 130 pounds (60 kilograms) of xenon for the NEXT-C ion engine. Engineers loaded the xenon before the spacecraft left APL in early October.

Starting on Nov. 10, engineers will “mate” the spacecraft to the adapter that stacks on top of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. A day before launch, the rocket will roll out of the hangar and onto the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), where it will propel the spacecraft into space and kick off DART’s journey to the Didymos system.

“I’m both amazed and grateful that DART has gone from a twinkle in the eye to a spacecraft in final preparation for launch within 11 years,” said Andy Cheng, DART investigation team lead at APL and the one who came up with the idea of DART. “What made it possible was a great team that overcame all the challenges of building a spacecraft to do something never done before.”

DART’s first launch opportunity is scheduled for Nov. 23 at 10:20 p.m. PST. If weather or other issues prevent a launch on the first night, the team will have an additional opportunity to launch the next day. If necessary, subsequent launch attempts can take place through February 2022.

Johns Hopkins APL has been directed to manage the DART mission for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office as a project of the agency’s Planetary Missions Program Office. The agency provides support for the mission from several centers, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Johnson Space Center in Houston, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The post NASA’s DART Prepares for Launch in First Planetary Defense Test Mission first appeared on The Black Vault.

Background

Back in late 1967/early 1968, NASA had transferred a cache of documents to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The transmittal slip, and index of records, labeled them as, “NASA Fragology Files consisting of reports of space objects recovery, analysis of fragments to determine national ownership and vehicle origin.”

In 1996, NARA had told NASA in the letter shown below, that the boxes of material transferred were “lost,” and they were marked as such even going back to 1987. The hunt for these records even generated a lawsuit by Leslie Kean (Kean v. NASA), but the records were never found.

This page setup by The Black Vault, archives the records available, and new FOIA requests have been filed in May of 2021 to have new searches done and see if with new personnel, technology upgrades, and the passage of time; records can be found. It has happened before.

July 2021 NASA Release

In July of 2021, NASA released more than 220 pages of records on the Kean v. NASA lawsuit. This revealed numerous pages on Project Moon Dust, and the recovery of unknown fragments (most likely space debris / fallen satellites). However, what is interesting, is the Moon Dust related files that came up in my NASA request, which were Department of State records, did not come up in my FOIA request to the Department of State on Project Moon Dust. That, in itself, was a neat find, since Project Moon Dust files are hard to come by. (It should be noted, The Black Vault has not yet cross references other files released by DIA that yielded some Moon Dust files, though it does appear many of these records are not online.)

In addition to the Project Moon Dust and related files, NASA also released many of the communications in during the case with Kean and her attorneys. It was also revealed that despite those records surviving, an untold number of others were destroyed per NASA’s records retention schedules.

This page will be updated, when the above cases are complete.

Document Archive

Kean v. NASA

Court Documents [21 Pages, 0.2MB]

NASA Release – July 2021 – For ALL Records pertaining to the above lawsuit [222 Pages, 23MB]

During the course of the above NASA FOIA case, 13 pages were referred to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.  All 13 pages were withheld [2 Pages, 0.1MB]

NARA Records

NASA’s “Fragology Files” – Space Object Recovery and Analysis Records [40 Pages, 2.5MB]

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In an attempt in 2021 to have NARA search again for the Fragology files, it failed. Per the letter below, you can see they attempted to see if the identifying accession number of 255-68A-2062, had a typo or was misidentified. However, seeking out portions of that number, also failed to find responsive records.

What is potentially new, is the fact that NARA seemingly confirms the “Fragology files” were never even transferred to them; not lost at NARA. I believe the going story was that the files were transferred decades ago, but were lost within NARA after the transfer. However, this letter, appears to now say they never got them in the first place.

Regardless of their true meaning or who truly lost them; the files are just gone.

The post NASA’s “Fragology Files” – Space Object Recovery and Analysis Records first appeared on The Black Vault.

Key Highlights:

1. Mission Objectives: The primary objectives of the Manned Venus Flyby mission are to extend human presence beyond Earth’s orbit, study the environment of Venus, and gather valuable data on interplanetary space travel. The mission aims to build on existing scientific knowledge of Venus and provide a foundation for future manned missions to other planets.
2. Spacecraft Design: The spacecraft for the mission would consist of two main modules: a command module for the astronauts and a support module containing the necessary supplies and equipment. The design would also include solar panels for power generation, communication systems, and a heat shield for protection during Venus flyby.
3. Trajectory and Mission Duration: The proposed mission would follow a free-return trajectory, allowing the spacecraft to return to Earth without propulsion after flying by Venus. The total mission duration would be around 410 to 420 days, including the time spent traveling to Venus, conducting scientific observations during the flyby, and returning to Earth.
4. Scientific Benefits: The Manned Venus Flyby mission would provide valuable data on the planet’s atmosphere, surface, and magnetic fields. Additionally, the mission would offer insights into the challenges of long-duration spaceflight, such as radiation exposure, human factors, and spacecraft performance.
5. Challenges and Risks: Some potential challenges for the mission include the need for advanced life support systems, protection from radiation, and the development of reliable communication systems. The report also acknowledges the risks associated with the mission, such as potential spacecraft failures, the psychological impact of long-duration spaceflight on astronauts, and the limited opportunities for mission aborts or emergency returns.

Conclusion: The Manned Venus Flyby report provides a detailed analysis of the mission’s objectives, spacecraft design, trajectory, and scientific benefits. Although there are considerable challenges and risks associated with the mission, it represents an important step in the expansion of human presence beyond Earth’s orbit and lays the groundwork for future manned missions to other planets. The insights gained from this mission would contribute to our understanding of Venus and help address the technical challenges of interplanetary space travel.

Document Abstract:

“This study is one of several conducted at Bellcomm and in Manned Space Flight whose purpose is to give guidance to the Apollo Applications Program’s technical objectives by focusing on a longer range goal. The assumed mission in this case is a three-man flyby of Venus launched in November, 1973 on a single standard Saturn V. The selected flight configuration includes a Command and Service Module similar in some respects to Apollo, an Environmental Support Module which occupies the adapter area and a spent S-IVB stage which is utilized for habitable volume and structural support of a solar cell electrical power system. The total injected weight, 106,775 lbs., is within the capability of a single Saturn V of the early 1970’s. The study is focused on the selection of subsystem technologies appropriate to long duration flight. The conclusions are reported in terms of the technical characteristics to be achieved as part of the Apollo Applications Program’s long duration objectives.”

Document Archive

Manned Venus Flyby (Proposal), February 1, 1967 [177 Pages, 5.2MB]

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The post Manned Venus Flyby (Proposal), February 1, 1967 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The below is NASA’s Press Release 21-039. It is archived here for reference:

Monday, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet. The Ingenuity team at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed the flight succeeded after receiving data from the helicopter via NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover at 6:46 a.m. EDT (3:46 a.m. PDT).

“Ingenuity is the latest in a long and storied tradition of NASA projects achieving a space exploration goal once thought impossible,” said acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. “The X-15 was a pathfinder for the space shuttle. Mars Pathfinder and its Sojourner rover did the same for three generations of Mars rovers. We don’t know exactly where Ingenuity will lead us, but today’s results indicate the sky – at least on Mars – may not be the limit.”

The solar-powered helicopter first became airborne at 3:34 a.m. EDT (12:34 a.m. PDT) – 12:33 Local Mean Solar Time (Mars time) – a time the Ingenuity team determined would have optimal energy and flight conditions. Altimeter data indicate Ingenuity climbed to its prescribed maximum altitude of 10 feet (3 meters) and maintained a stable hover for 30 seconds. It then descended, touching back down on the surface of Mars after logging a total of 39.1 seconds of flight. Additional details on the test are expected in upcoming downlinks.

Ingenuity’s initial flight demonstration was autonomous – piloted by onboard guidance, navigation, and control systems running algorithms developed by the team at JPL. Because data must be sent to and returned from the Red Planet over hundreds of millions of miles using orbiting satellites and NASA’s Deep Space Network, Ingenuity cannot be flown with a joystick, and its flight was not observable from Earth in real time.

NASA Associate Administrator for Science Thomas Zurbuchen announced the name for the Martian airfield on which the flight took place.

“Now, 117 years after the Wright brothers succeeded in making the first flight on our planet, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has succeeded in performing this amazing feat on another world,” Zurbuchen said. “While these two iconic moments in aviation history may be separated by time and 173 million miles of space, they now will forever be linked. As an homage to the two innovative bicycle makers from Dayton, this first of many airfields on other worlds will now be known as Wright Brothers Field, in recognition of the ingenuity and innovation that continue to propel exploration.”

Ingenuity’s chief pilot, Håvard Grip, announced that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) – the United Nations’ civil aviation agency – presented NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration with official ICAO designator IGY, call-sign INGENUITY.

These details will be included officially in the next edition of ICAO’s publication Designators for Aircraft Operating Agencies, Aeronautical Authorities and Services. The location of the flight has also been given the ceremonial location designation JZRO for Jezero Crater.

As one of NASA’s technology demonstration projects, the 19.3-inch-tall (49-centimeter-tall) Ingenuity Mars Helicopter contains no science instruments inside its tissue-box-size fuselage. Instead, the 4-pound (1.8-kg) rotorcraft is intended to demonstrate whether future exploration of the Red Planet could include an aerial perspective.

This first flight was full of unknowns. The Red Planet has a significantly lower gravity – one-third that of Earth’s – and an extremely thin atmosphere with only 1% the pressure at the surface compared to our planet. This means there are relatively few air molecules with which Ingenuity’s two 4-foot-wide (1.2-meter-wide) rotor blades can interact to achieve flight. The helicopter contains unique components, as well as off-the-shelf-commercial parts – many from the smartphone industry – that were tested in deep space for the first time with this mission.

“The Mars Helicopter project has gone from ‘blue sky’ feasibility study to workable engineering concept to achieving the first flight on another world in a little over six years,” said Michael Watkins, director of JPL. “That this project has achieved such a historic first is testimony to the innovation and doggedness of our team here at JPL, as well as at NASA’s Langley and Ames Research Centers, and our industry partners. It’s a shining example of the kind of technology push that thrives at JPL and fits well with NASA’s exploration goals.”

Parked about 211 feet (64.3 meters) away at Van Zyl Overlook during Ingenuity’s historic first flight, the Perseverance rover not only acted as a communications relay between the helicopter and Earth, but also chronicled the flight operations with its cameras. The pictures from the rover’s Mastcam-Z and Navcam imagers will provide additional data on the helicopter’s flight.

“We have been thinking for so long about having our Wright brothers moment on Mars, and here it is,” said MiMi Aung, project manager of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at JPL. “We will take a moment to celebrate our success and then take a cue from Orville and Wilbur regarding what to do next. History shows they got back to work – to learn as much as they could about their new aircraft – and so will we.”

Perseverance touched down with Ingenuity attached to its belly on Feb. 18. Deployed to the surface of Jezero Crater on April 3, Ingenuity is currently on the 16th sol, or Martian day, of its 30-sol (31-Earth day) flight test window. Over the next three sols, the helicopter team will receive and analyze all data and imagery from the test and formulate a plan for the second experimental test flight, scheduled for no earlier than April 22. If the helicopter survives the second flight test, the Ingenuity team will consider how best to expand the flight profile.

The post NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight first appeared on The Black Vault.

The following is NASA’s Press Release from the Mars Exploration Program, as released on March 17, 2021. It is archive here for reference.

As the Perseverance rover began to make tracks on the surface of Mars, a sensitive microphone it carries scored a first: the bangs, pings, and rattles of the robot’s six wheels as they rolled over Martian terrain.

“A lot of people, when they see the images, don’t appreciate that the wheels are metal,” said Vandi Verma, a senior engineer and rover driver at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “When you’re driving with these wheels on rocks, it’s actually very noisy.”

More than 16 minutes of sounds from Perseverance’s 90-foot (27.3-meter) drive on March 7 were captured by Perseverance’s entry, descent, and landing (EDL) microphone, which remains operational on the rover after its historic touchdown on Feb. 18. The off-the-shelf microphone was added to the rover to help take the public along for the ride during touchdown, but mission members have been eager to hear the sounds from the surface, too.

“If I heard these sounds driving my car, I’d pull over and call for a tow,” said Dave Gruel, lead engineer for Mars 2020’s EDL Camera and Microphone subsystem. “But if you take a minute to consider what you’re hearing and where it was recorded, it makes perfect sense.”

Two versions of the audio clip of the same drive were released to the public on March 17. The first version features over 16 minutes of raw, unfiltered sounds of the rover traveling in Jezero Crater. In it, the noise generated by the interaction of Perseverance’s mobility system (its wheels and suspension) with the surface can be heard, along with a high-pitched scratching noise. Perseverance’s engineering team continues to evaluate the source of the scratching noise, which may either be electromagnetic interference from one of the rover’s electronics boxes or interactions between the mobility system and the Martian surface. The EDL microphone was not intended for surface operations and had limited testing in this configuration before launch.

The post Another First: Perseverance Captures the Sounds of Driving on Mars first appeared on The Black Vault.

The following is NASA press release 21-021 released February 22, 2021.

New video from NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover chronicles major milestones during the final minutes of its entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on the Red Planet on Feb. 18 as the spacecraft plummeted, parachuted, and rocketed toward the surface of Mars. A microphone on the rover also has provided the first audio recording of sounds from Mars.

From the moment of parachute inflation, the camera system covers the entirety of the descent process, showing some of the rover’s intense ride to Mars’ Jezero Crater. The footage from high-definition cameras aboard the spacecraft starts 7 miles (11 kilometers) above the surface, showing the supersonic deployment of the most massive parachute ever sent to another world, and ends with the rover’s touchdown in the crater.

A microphone attached to the rover did not collect usable data during the descent, but the commercial off-the-shelf device survived the highly dynamic descent to the surface and obtained sounds from Jezero Crater on Feb. 20. About 10 seconds into the 60-second recording, a Martian breeze is audible for a few seconds, as are mechanical sounds of the rover operating on the surface.

“For those who wonder how you land on Mars – or why it is so difficult – or how cool it would be to do so – you need look no further,” said acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. “Perseverance is just getting started, and already has provided some of the most iconic visuals in space exploration history. It reinforces the remarkable level of engineering and precision that is required to build and fly a vehicle to the Red Planet.”

Also released Monday was the mission’s first panorama of the rover’s landing location, taken by the two Navigation Cameras located on its mast. The six-wheeled robotic astrobiologist, the fifth rover the agency has landed on Mars, currently is undergoing an extensive checkout of all its systems and instruments.

“This video of Perseverance’s descent is the closest you can get to landing on Mars without putting on a pressure suit,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science. “It should become mandatory viewing for young women and men who not only want to explore other worlds and build the spacecraft that will take them there, but also want to be part of the diverse teams achieving all the audacious goals in our future.”

The world’s most intimate view of a Mars landing begins about 230 seconds after the spacecraft entered the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere at 12,500 mph (20,100 kph). The video opens in black, with the camera lens still covered within the parachute compartment. Within less than a second, the spacecraft’s parachute deploys and transforms from a compressed 18-by-26 inch (46-by-66 centimeter) cylinder of nylon, Technora, and Kevlar into a fully inflated 70.5-foot-wide (21.5-meter-wide) canopy – the largest ever sent to Mars. The tens of thousands of pounds of force that the parachute generates in such a short period stresses both the parachute and the vehicle.

“Now we finally have a front-row view to what we call ‘the seven minutes of terror’ while landing on Mars,” said Michael Watkins, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission for the agency. “From the explosive opening of the parachute to the landing rockets’ plume sending dust and debris flying at touchdown, it’s absolutely awe-inspiring.”

The video also captures the heat shield dropping away after protecting Perseverance from scorching temperatures during its entry into the Martian atmosphere. The downward view from the rover sways gently like a pendulum as the descent stage, with Perseverance attached, hangs from the back shell and parachute. The Martian landscape quickly pitches as the descent stage – the rover’s free-flying “jetpack,” which decelerates using rocket engines and then lowers the rover on cables to the surface – breaks free, its eight thrusters engaging to put distance between it and the now-discarded back shell and the parachute.

Then, 80 seconds and 7,000 feet (2,130 meters) later, the cameras capture the descent stage performing the sky crane maneuver over the landing site – the plume of its rocket engines kicking up dust and small rocks that have likely been in place for billions of years.

“We put the EDL camera system onto the spacecraft not only for the opportunity to gain a better understanding of our spacecraft’s performance during entry, descent, and landing, but also because we wanted to take the public along for the ride of a lifetime – landing on the surface of Mars,” said Dave Gruel, lead engineer for Mars 2020 Perseverance’s EDL camera and microphone subsystem at JPL. “We know the public is fascinated with Mars exploration, so we added the EDL Cam microphone to the vehicle because we hoped it could enhance the experience, especially for visually-impaired space fans, and engage and inspire people around the world.”

The footage ends with Perseverance’s aluminum wheels making contact with the surface at 1.61 mph (2.6 kilometers per second), and then pyrotechnically fired blades sever the cables connecting it to the still-hovering descent stage. The descent stage then climbs and accelerates away in the preplanned flyaway maneuver.

“If this were an old Western movie, I’d say the descent stage was our hero riding slowly into the setting Sun, but the heroes are actually back here on Earth,” said Matt Wallace, Mars 2020 Perseverance deputy project manager at JPL. “I’ve been waiting 25 years for the opportunity to see a spacecraft land on Mars. It was worth the wait. Being able to share this with the world is a great moment for our team.”

Five commercial off-the-shelf cameras located on three different spacecraft components collected the imagery. Two cameras on the back shell, which encapsulated the rover on its journey, took pictures of the parachute inflating. A camera on the descent stage provided a downward view – including the top of the rover – while two on the rover chassis offered both upward and downward perspectives.

The rover team continues its initial inspection of Perseverance’s systems and its immediate surroundings. Monday, the team will check out five of the rover’s seven instruments and take the first weather observations with the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer instrument. In the coming days, a 360-degree panorama of Jezero by the Mastcam-Z should be transmitted down, providing the highest resolution look at the road ahead.

More About the Mission

A key objective of Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

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