SETI Institute
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Our mission is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.
Our mission is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.
7,553,027 followers
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Biospheres, poetry, clean rooms, REU students and more are featured in this past week's Where in the Worlds:
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Has America Really Lost It’s “Lead in Space?”
I was moved to weigh in after reading Vice President Mike Pence’s comments last week down at the Kennedy Space Center — a speech that seemed to minimize NASA’s performance in recent years (decades?) and to propose a return to a kind of Manifest Destiny way of thinking in space.
The speech did not appear to bode well for space science, which has dominated NASA news with many years of exploration into the history and working of the cosmos and solar system, the still little-understood domain of exoplanets, the search for life beyond Earth.
Instead, the speech was very much about human space exploration, with an emphasis on “boots on the ground,” national security, and setting up colonies.
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I was moved to weigh in after reading Vice President Mike Pence’s comments last week down at the Kennedy Space Center — a speech that seemed to minimize NASA’s performance in recent years (decades?) and to propose a return to a kind of Manifest Destiny way of thinking in space.
The speech did not appear to bode well for space science, which has dominated NASA news with many years of exploration into the history and working of the cosmos and solar system, the still little-understood domain of exoplanets, the search for life beyond Earth.
Instead, the speech was very much about human space exploration, with an emphasis on “boots on the ground,” national security, and setting up colonies.
Read more:
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Luxembourg is the First European Nation to Offer a Legal Framework for Space Resources Utilization
The Luxembourg Parliament adopted the draft law on the exploration and use of space resources. The Grand Duchy is thus the first European country to offer a legal framework ensuring that private operators can be confident about their rights on resources they extract in space. The law will come into force on August 1, 2017. Its first article provides that space resources are capable of being owned. The country’s law also establishes the procedures for authorizing and supervising space exploration missions.
The legal and regulatory framework is a key action of an overall strategy to be implemented by the Luxembourg government within the SpaceResources.lu initiative whose goal is to support the long-term economic development of new, innovative activities in the space industry. Within this strategy including but not limited to the legal regime, Luxembourg has moreover begun to support research and development projects of some leading players in the space mining industry that have already set up their European operations in Luxembourg.
The SpaceResources.lu initiative can build on the experience Luxembourg has gained in sectors that are closely related to space resources, and in particular on its strong track record in the satellite sector. In 1985, a public-private partnership effort launched Société Européenne des Satellites, today known as the largest global satellite operator SES having its operational headquarters in Luxembourg since its creation 30 years ago.
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The Luxembourg Parliament adopted the draft law on the exploration and use of space resources. The Grand Duchy is thus the first European country to offer a legal framework ensuring that private operators can be confident about their rights on resources they extract in space. The law will come into force on August 1, 2017. Its first article provides that space resources are capable of being owned. The country’s law also establishes the procedures for authorizing and supervising space exploration missions.
The legal and regulatory framework is a key action of an overall strategy to be implemented by the Luxembourg government within the SpaceResources.lu initiative whose goal is to support the long-term economic development of new, innovative activities in the space industry. Within this strategy including but not limited to the legal regime, Luxembourg has moreover begun to support research and development projects of some leading players in the space mining industry that have already set up their European operations in Luxembourg.
The SpaceResources.lu initiative can build on the experience Luxembourg has gained in sectors that are closely related to space resources, and in particular on its strong track record in the satellite sector. In 1985, a public-private partnership effort launched Société Européenne des Satellites, today known as the largest global satellite operator SES having its operational headquarters in Luxembourg since its creation 30 years ago.
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LaserSETI is an audacious project to place specialized cameras around the globe to look for laser flashes from deep space. Join the first project ever to scan the whole sky all the time for signals from an extraterrestrial civilization! http://buff.ly/2tQ4XBL
Find out more here and support our next big project by either donating or sharing with your friends! http://buff.ly/2tPdcxM
Find out more here and support our next big project by either donating or sharing with your friends! http://buff.ly/2tPdcxM
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Ask SETI Institute Scientist Matt Tiscareno a Question about Cassini
The spectacular Cassini spacecraft has been studying the Saturn system, including the planet, its rings and its moons, and sending never-before seen images and data back to scientists on Earth since 2004. On September 15, 2017 Cassini’s mission will come to an end with a dive into Saturn’s upper atmosphere.
SETI Institute scientist Matt Tiscareno is one of the scientists who has been deeply involved with the Cassini mission. He has studied aspects of Saturn’s rings including the embedded propeller-moons and the intricate structure being revealed by Cassini’s Grand Finale. He also helped to prove that the moon Enceladus has a global ocean under its icy shell.
Matt and other SETI Institute scientists, as part of their work with the Planetary Data System, have been working with the Topcoder Community, a global group of designers, developers, programmers, data scientists and algorithmists, to develop algorithms that find anomalies in Cassini images of Saturn’s rings. As part of this work, Topcoder is hosting an event in which anyone interested in Cassini can submit a question about Cassini’s science mission, Saturn, and its rings. Questions will be accepted from July 11 until July 18 at 12 AM EDT. Matt will answer selected questions in a video that will be shared with everyone. Questions from the Topcoder community will receive priority, but everyone is welcome to submit a question.
More info:
The spectacular Cassini spacecraft has been studying the Saturn system, including the planet, its rings and its moons, and sending never-before seen images and data back to scientists on Earth since 2004. On September 15, 2017 Cassini’s mission will come to an end with a dive into Saturn’s upper atmosphere.
SETI Institute scientist Matt Tiscareno is one of the scientists who has been deeply involved with the Cassini mission. He has studied aspects of Saturn’s rings including the embedded propeller-moons and the intricate structure being revealed by Cassini’s Grand Finale. He also helped to prove that the moon Enceladus has a global ocean under its icy shell.
Matt and other SETI Institute scientists, as part of their work with the Planetary Data System, have been working with the Topcoder Community, a global group of designers, developers, programmers, data scientists and algorithmists, to develop algorithms that find anomalies in Cassini images of Saturn’s rings. As part of this work, Topcoder is hosting an event in which anyone interested in Cassini can submit a question about Cassini’s science mission, Saturn, and its rings. Questions will be accepted from July 11 until July 18 at 12 AM EDT. Matt will answer selected questions in a video that will be shared with everyone. Questions from the Topcoder community will receive priority, but everyone is welcome to submit a question.
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Love space? Star Trek? Check out this endorsement from LeVar Burton on our new #LaserSETI endeavor! Support us here: http://buff.ly/2ulGWUp
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Laser SETI: New Approach Unveiled
The SETI Institute in Mountain View, California has released details of “Laser SETI: First Ever All-Sky All-the-Time Search" – an essential capability when looking for intermittent signals.
According to Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute:
“The Universe we call home is vast! It’s also nearly 14 billion years old so it’s very difficult to imagine that we are alone. Yet extraterrestrial life still eludes our efforts to find it. Now you have a chance to be a part of the technology that can change that forever.”
Read more: http://buff.ly/2ujjVRY
Don't forget to share our fund-raiser! http://buff.ly/2uj76qT
The SETI Institute in Mountain View, California has released details of “Laser SETI: First Ever All-Sky All-the-Time Search" – an essential capability when looking for intermittent signals.
According to Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute:
“The Universe we call home is vast! It’s also nearly 14 billion years old so it’s very difficult to imagine that we are alone. Yet extraterrestrial life still eludes our efforts to find it. Now you have a chance to be a part of the technology that can change that forever.”
Read more: http://buff.ly/2ujjVRY
Don't forget to share our fund-raiser! http://buff.ly/2uj76qT
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Can't make it to tonight's #SETITalks? We'll have a FB Live tomorrow at 2PM PDT with @jilltarter and @ScolesSarah! http://buff.ly/2ujkRpM
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Laser SETI: First Ever All-Sky All-the-Time Search
Until now, SETI experiments (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), whether listening for a radio transmitter or searching for a high-powered laser, have assumed that ET is on-the-air all the time, so that wherever the instrument is pointed, the signal will be there.
Laser SETI is the first experiment to circumvent this assumption.
Laser SETI could find a very short ping from anywhere on the night sky. Indeed, it could detect a laser flash as short as a millisecond or less; and one that might not repeat for days, weeks, or even longer. Or ever.
Searching all-the-sky all-the-time is an essential capability when looking for intermittent signals. Radio experiments will someday be able to do that, but Laser SETI can do so right now--with your help.
Read more: http://buff.ly/2teZ4KC
Until now, SETI experiments (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), whether listening for a radio transmitter or searching for a high-powered laser, have assumed that ET is on-the-air all the time, so that wherever the instrument is pointed, the signal will be there.
Laser SETI is the first experiment to circumvent this assumption.
Laser SETI could find a very short ping from anywhere on the night sky. Indeed, it could detect a laser flash as short as a millisecond or less; and one that might not repeat for days, weeks, or even longer. Or ever.
Searching all-the-sky all-the-time is an essential capability when looking for intermittent signals. Radio experiments will someday be able to do that, but Laser SETI can do so right now--with your help.
Read more: http://buff.ly/2teZ4KC
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A Piece of Mars: Reversing slip faces | Lori Fenton's Blog
This 523×750 m (0.32×0.47 mi) scene shows a large dune. It’s quite colorful for some reason, although it’s partially false-color. What caught my eye is that the slip face on this dune has reversed direction, which is somewhat rare on Mars (but common on Earth). The main sand-moving wind blows from the right, forming a long avalanching slope (you can see long bright lines of grain fall slips at the lower center). But at some point a wind blew from the left, forming a small slip face in the opposite direction. Although many other wind directions have also help to build this dune, those two are the main winds apparent here.
Image credit: HiRISE ESP_050887_2225, NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona
Larger image: http://buff.ly/2t34nBN
This 523×750 m (0.32×0.47 mi) scene shows a large dune. It’s quite colorful for some reason, although it’s partially false-color. What caught my eye is that the slip face on this dune has reversed direction, which is somewhat rare on Mars (but common on Earth). The main sand-moving wind blows from the right, forming a long avalanching slope (you can see long bright lines of grain fall slips at the lower center). But at some point a wind blew from the left, forming a small slip face in the opposite direction. Although many other wind directions have also help to build this dune, those two are the main winds apparent here.
Image credit: HiRISE ESP_050887_2225, NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona
Larger image: http://buff.ly/2t34nBN
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