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By NASA
5 min read
NASA Launching Rockets Into Radio-Disrupting Clouds
NASA is launching rockets from a remote Pacific island to study mysterious, high-altitude cloud-like structures that can disrupt critical communication systems. The mission, called Sporadic-E ElectroDynamics, or SEED, opens its three-week launch window from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on Friday, June 13.
The atmospheric features SEED is studying are known as Sporadic-E layers, and they create a host of problems for radio communications. When they are present, air traffic controllers and marine radio users may pick up signals from unusually distant regions, mistaking them for nearby sources. Military operators using radar to see beyond the horizon may detect false targets — nicknamed “ghosts” — or receive garbled signals that are tricky to decipher. Sporadic-E layers are constantly forming, moving, and dissipating, so these disruptions can be difficult to anticipate.
An animated illustration depicts Sporadic-E layers forming in the lower portions of the ionosphere, causing radio signals to reflect back to Earth before reaching higher layers of the ionosphere. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab Sporadic-E layers form in the ionosphere, a layer of Earth’s atmosphere that stretches from about 40 to 600 miles (60 to 1,000 kilometers) above sea level. Home to the International Space Station and most Earth-orbiting satellites, the ionosphere is also where we see the greatest impacts of space weather. Primarily driven by the Sun, space weather causes myriad problems for our communications with satellites and between ground systems. A better understanding of the ionosphere is key to keeping critical infrastructure running smoothly.
The ionosphere is named for the charged particles, or ions, that reside there. Some of these ions come from meteors, which burn up in the atmosphere and leave traces of ionized iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium suspended in the sky. These “heavy metals” are more massive than the ionosphere’s typical residents and tend to sink to lower altitudes, below 90 miles (140 kilometers). Occasionally, they clump together to create dense clusters known as Sporadic-E layers.
The Perseids meteor shower peaks in mid-August. Meteors like these can deposit metals into Earth’s ionosphere that can help create cloud-like structures called Sporadic-E layers. NASA/Preston Dyches “These Sporadic-E layers are not visible to naked eye, and can only be seen by radars. In the radar plots, some layers appear like patchy and puffy clouds, while others spread out, similar to an overcast sky, which we call blanketing Sporadic-E layer” said Aroh Barjatya, the SEED mission’s principal investigator and a professor of engineering physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. The SEED team includes scientists from Embry-Riddle, Boston College in Massachusetts, and Clemson University in South Carolina.
“There’s a lot of interest in predicting these layers and understanding their dynamics because of how they interfere with communications,” Barjatya said.
A Mystery at the Equator
Scientists can explain Sporadic-E layers when they form at midlatitudes but not when they appear close to Earth’s equator — such as near Kwajalein Atoll, where the SEED mission will launch.
In the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Sporadic-E layers can be thought of as particle traffic jams.
Think of ions in the atmosphere as miniature cars traveling single file in lanes defined by Earth’s magnetic field lines. These lanes connect Earth end to end — emerging near the South Pole, bowing around the equator, and plunging back into the North Pole.
A conceptual animation shows Earth’s magnetic field. The blue lines radiating from Earth represent the magnetic field lines that charged particles travel along. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab At Earth’s midlatitudes, the field lines angle toward the ground, descending through atmospheric layers with varying wind speeds and directions. As the ions pass through these layers, they experience wind shear — turbulent gusts that cause their orderly line to clump together. These particle pileups form Sporadic-E layers.
But near the magnetic equator, this explanation doesn’t work. There, Earth’s magnetic field lines run parallel to the surface and do not intersect atmospheric layers with differing winds, so Sporadic-E layers shouldn’t form. Yet, they do — though less frequently.
“We’re launching from the closest place NASA can to the magnetic equator,” Barjatya said, “to study the physics that existing theory doesn’t fully explain.”
Taking to the Skies
To investigate, Barjatya developed SEED to study low-latitude Sporadic-E layers from the inside. The mission relies on sounding rockets — uncrewed suborbital spacecraft carrying scientific instruments. Their flights last only a few minutes but can be launched precisely at fleeting targets.
Beginning the night of June 13, Barjatya and his team will monitor ALTAIR (ARPA Long-Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar), a high-powered, ground-based radar system at the launch site, for signs of developing Sporadic-E layers. When conditions are right, Barjatya will give the launch command. A few minutes later, the rocket will be in flight.
The SEED science team and mission management team in front of the ARPA Long-Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar (ALTAIR). The SEED team will use ALTAIR to monitor the ionosphere for signs of Sporadic-E layers and time the launch. U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command On ascent, the rocket will release colorful vapor tracers. Ground-based cameras will track the tracers to measure wind patterns in three dimensions. Once inside the Sporadic-E layer, the rocket will deploy four subpayloads — miniature detectors that will measure particle density and magnetic field strength at multiple points. The data will be transmitted back to the ground as the rocket descends.
On another night during the launch window, the team will launch a second, nearly identical rocket to collect additional data under potentially different conditions.
Barjatya and his team will use the data to improve computer models of the ionosphere, aiming to explain how Sporadic-E layers form so close to the equator.
“Sporadic-E layers are part of a much larger, more complicated physical system that is home to space-based assets we rely on every day,” Barjatya said. “This launch gets us closer to understanding another key piece of Earth’s interface to space.”
By Miles Hatfield
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Jun 12, 2025 Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
The Meteosat Third Generation Sounder satellite (MTG-S) will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events. Here are five ways in which Europe’s latest weather satellite will change how we forecast weather.
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By USH
For over 80 years, covert research into exotic propulsion, anti-gravity systems, and spacetime manipulation has been housed within deep black programs, classified efforts shielded from both public and congressional oversight.
Now, on April 14, 2025, Michael Katzios, the new White House science chief, made a bold claim: “Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space...” Shortly after, he doubled down, promising innovations that would let us “bend time and space” and “drive us further into the endless frontier.” These weren’t offhand remarks, they were published on the official White House site, signaling intent.
What does "Manipulating Spacetime" really mean? Spacetime is the four-dimensional framework of our universe. Per Einstein’s theory, mass and energy warp this fabric, creating gravity and affecting time. To manipulate it would mean bending reality itself, shortening distances, warping time, or enabling faster-than-light travel.
Just days before Katzios’ remarks, President Trump said: “We have a weapon that no one has a clue what it is... more powerful than anything even close.” Was he referencing to a spacetime weapon?
Trump isn’t the first high-level figure to hint at such capabilities. Back in 2019, Lt. Gen. Steve Kwast publicly discussed technology capable of transporting a person anywhere on Earth in under an hour, suggesting real-world applications of physics far beyond current norms. He also touched on wireless, space-based energy transmission.
Rumors have long circulated about transatmospheric vehicles, craft capable of seamless operation both within Earth’s atmosphere and in space. Though unconfirmed, these platforms may represent a technological bridge between known aerospace systems and genuine spacetime engineering. (Consider Gary McKinnon’s 2002 discovery during his hack of U.S. military systems: references to a secret space fleet and "non-terrestrial officers.")
But it is not only about manipulating time and space.
What might they also have: Anti-Gravity Propulsion: Altering inertia with plasma or exotic materials, referenced in Navy patents. Warp Drives: Bending space around a craft to move without motion. Zero-Point Energy: Tapping the quantum vacuum for limitless energy, a paradigm-shifting source of power.
But why some groups want to keep it secret? There are compelling reasons for secrecy, none of them rooted in public interest:
Control of Power – Whoever controls this tech controls the future. Economic Impact – It would collapse the fossil fuel, aviation, and defense sectors. Weaponization Risk – These tools could be catastrophic in the wrong hands. Psychological Shock – It would rewrite everything we know about science and our place in the cosmos.
Despite growing testimony and a trove of leaked documents, officials continue to dismiss these claims. The Deep State line remains unchanged: “No empirical evidence exists for reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.” But the evidence says otherwise.
Supporting evidence: 1. Exotic materials reportedly recovered in 1950s, held by Lockheed. 2. The 1953 Robertson Panel even set the tone for decades of deliberate obfuscation, publicly debunking UFOs while secretly studying their implications. The CIA used Project Blue Book to publicly debunk UFOs. 3. As early as 1966, the U.S. Air Force reportedly managed over 30 classified anti-gravity projects. 4. A 1971 Australian Defense report referenced America’s "Advanced Saucer Aircraft" and a Cold War “UFO crash program” into anti-gravity propulsion. 5. The US government, through its CIA's Office of Global Access (OGA), is reported to have a secret program to retrieve and reverse-engineer crashed UFOs. This program, which began in 2003, is said to have recovered at least nine non-human aircraft, some of which were intact. The OGA works with special operations forces like SEAL teams to conduct these retrievals, keeping the operations highly secret. 6. CIA allegedly blocked a 2024 transfer of exotic materials from Lockheed to Bigelow Aerospace.
Ben Rich, former head of Lockheed Skunk Works, reportedly stated: “We now have the technology to take ET home.”
Don Phillips, also from Lockheed, confirmed reverse-engineering efforts related to recovered UFO craft, allegedly including materials from the infamous 1947 Roswell incident.
Dr. Salvatore Pais, a Navy scientist, filed patents (2016–2019) for highly unconventional devices, including a Space-Time Modification Weapon. These patents describe the use of electromagnetic fields, plasma, and rotational force fields. Theoretically, this device could create a spacetime modification weapon more powerful than hydrogen bombs. The Navy invested USD 508,000 testing the concept between 2016-2019.
But what could be the reason they are starting to reveal it now? The sudden shift toward public statements about advanced capabilities seems deliberate.
Consider the possible motives: 1. Strategic Signaling: A subtle warning to adversaries: “We possess technology beyond your reach.” 2.Controlled Disclosure: Shaping the narrative gradually to maintain public trust and institutional control. 3. Leaks Are Coming: Private-sector breakthroughs or whistleblowers may soon expose the truth. 4. Justifying Black Budgets: Revealing exotic tech lends credibility to decades of hidden spending under national security.
But perhaps the most compelling reason: a major event, whether real, staged, or cosmic in nature or eventually an alien contact scenario is on the horizon. This may be phase one of psychological preparation.
Finally; the evidence suggests that these exotic advanced technologies already exist, whether reverse-engineered or the result of disruptive physics breakthroughs. But what’s happening now isn’t full disclosure. It’s a carefully managed narrative operation, an information war cloaked in the language of advanced science.
References and must watch: Alex Jones and Top Deep State / COG Researcher Daniel Liszt: https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1913354709106098659 Richard Dolan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd7CIe5wnwQ View the full article
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Why do we grow plants in space?
Plants are such versatile organisms that they can fulfill many roles in our exploration of space. Plants provide us with food, with oxygen, they can recycle water and waste, and they can even provide us with psychological benefits. So all these functions will help NASA in fulfilling our goal of trying to create a sustainable environment for human presence in space.
But there are also other benefits. We can investigate how plants adapt to the novel environment of space, something that’s completely outside their evolutionary history. We can develop new processes and technologies to cultivate plants in difficult and even extreme environments. All these lessons learned will help us in ultimately improving the lives of humans here on Earth by being able to better cultivate plants.
So why do we grow plants in space? To be able to create a sustainable environment for us to thrive in space, as well as improve lives and agricultural techniques here on Earth.
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