Russia’s Progress Rocket Space Centre plans to start preparations for manufacturing a super-heavy rocket no earlier than in 2020, a company spokesperson told TASS on Friday.
"Once the stage of detail design is over, the process of drafting work design documents and preparations for launch of production will follow. Preparations for production will begin no earlier than in 2020," the source said.
The project’s overall volume of financing will be known later, once other companies taking part in the project submit their technical and economic feasibility documents, he added.
Palaeopascichnus jiumenensis can be used to determine the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary.
There's a new way to determine oxygen levels during paleo time periods. It seems to check out in the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian transition based on comparison to other methods.
A bilateralan metazoan (animal) fossil and trackway was found in China dating from the Ediacaran.
The rise of siliceous sponges helped shift the Ediacaran ecosystems to the modern Cambrian.
The differences between the Weng'an and Kuanchuanpu biotas is largely due to how they were preserved.
Acritarchs from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation allow for biostratigraphic correlation with the Tanarium conoideum–Cavaspina basiconica Assemblage Zone.
There appears to have been long term denudation of the continents from the middle Ediarcaran based on Nd isotope traces in carbonates.
A new formation has been found dating from the Cryogenian with evidence of bacterial and algae life in South China.
How much hydrothermal activity was there during the Marinoan Glaciation (snowball earth episode) during the Cryogenian?
There is evidence of a large igneous province in the Tonian.
MesoProterozoic:
Horodyski moniliformis, regarded by some as a eukaryote fossil from the Calymmian, has been declared a pseudofossil.
PaleoProterozoic:
Plate tectonics have evolved over the last 2.5 billion years.
Is there evidence for the oxygen overshoot hypothesis from the Orosirian?
There was a paleocontinent named 'Atlantica' proposed. Recent research suggests it was configured rather differently than proposed.
Evidence has arisen supporting a snowball earth scenario during the Huronian glaciation.
An asteroid impact has been IDed from the Rhyacian in Australia.
Did the supercontinental cycle begin in the PaleoProterozoic?
A prototype of SpaceX’s next-generation launch system performed a brief test flight Aug. 27, a key step in the system’s development.
The “Starhopper” vehicle lifted off from a pad at SpaceX’s test site near Brownsville, Texas, at 6:02 p.m. Eastern. The vehicle took off vertically, translated a short distance, then landed vertically on a different pad a little less than a minute after takeoff.
The long-awaited test was intended to go to an altitude of 150 meters, although it was not immediately clear from the webcast of the flight exactly what altitude the vehicle achieved. The company provided no commentary for the webcast, and ended it shortly after the vehicle made what appeared to be a successful landing.
SpaceX attempted to fly Starhopper Aug. 26, but the attempt was scrubbed after the Raptor engine failed to ignite. SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk later tweeted that “dual redundant torch igniters” in the engine appeared to have malfunctioned and needed to be inspected before trying again.
The vehicle, powered by a single Raptor engine that uses methane and liquid oxygen propellants, made its first free flight July 25, rising several meters off the pad before landing about 10 to 15 seconds later. At the time, Musk said he expected a “hop” to an altitude of 200 meters in “a week or two.”
Saudi Arabia was attacked by drone again causing a 'minor' gas fire at an oil field. Another drone attack targeted the Abha airbase/airport again. Saudi Arabia said it downed a drone in that attack. The Houthis claimed to attack Riyadh with drones. Saudi Arabia claims to have shot down two Houthi drones.
A NASA mission to a potentially habitable moon of Jupiter has cleared a major review despite uncertainty about when, or how, it will launch.
NASA announced Aug. 19 that it had formally confirmed the Europa Clipper mission to proceed into its next phase of development, known as Phase C. That will cover final design of the spacecraft, followed by assembly and testing.
“We are all excited about the decision that moves the Europa Clipper mission one key step closer to unlocking the mysteries of this ocean world,” Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science, said in a statement announcing the milestone.
Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter and make dozens of close approaches to Europa, one of the planet’s largest moons. Europa has an icy surface, below which most scientists believe is a deep ocean of liquid water. Combined with the interior heat source that keeps the ocean from freezing, and the presence of organic compounds, Europa has the basic requirements to support life.
While the programmatic milestone Europa Clipper achieved, known in NASA parlance as Key Decision Point C, is the point where NASA sets the schedule and budget for the mission, exactly when Europa Clipper will launch is not yet clear. In the statement announcing the mission’s confirmation, NASA noted that current plans have the spacecraft ready for launch as soon as 2023. However, the mission has a formal launch readiness date of 2025.
That uncertainty is linked to how the mission will be launched. The mission’s preferred launch option is the Space Launch System, which will allow the spacecraft to travel directly to Jupiter without the need of gravity assists, arriving within three years of launch. Language in appropriations bills for fiscal year 2019 and prior years also directed NASA to use the SLS.
The IG office of NASA is asking for flexibility for the launch of the Europa Clipper. This includes which launch vehicle will be used and when. If NASA selects any other launch vehicle, the arrival at Europa will be delayed by over 5 years, if not more. For that reason, I'd have to say I hope Congress declines the request.
Humans had caused significant landcover change on Earth up to 4000 years earlier than previously thought, University of Queensland researchers have found.
The School of Social Sciences' Dr Andrea Kay said some scientists defined the Anthropocene as starting in the 20th century, but the new research showed human-induced landcover change was globally extensive by 2000BC.
The Anthropocene - the current geological age - is viewed as the period in which human activity has been the dominant influence on Earth's climate and the environment.
"The activities of farmers, pastoralists and hunter-gatherers had significantly changed the planet four milennia ago,'' Dr Kay said.
The ArchaeoGLOBE project used an online survey to gather land-use estimates over the past 10,000 years from archaeologists with regional expertise.
"The modern rate and scale of anthropogenic global change is far greater than those of the deep past, but the long-term cumulative changes that early food producers wrought on Earth are greater than many people realise," Dr Kay said.
"Even small-scale, shifting agriculture can cause significant change when considered at large scales and over long time-periods."
The government is considering launching a satellite to intercept foreign countries’ military satellites in the event of an emergency, as part of efforts to strengthen deterrence amid a rapidly increasing military threat in outer space, as seen in the development by China and Russia of satellites that can attack others, according to several government sources.
The government plans to make a formal decision on the introduction of such an intercepting satellite by the end of the next fiscal year so it can be launched in the mid-2020s, the sources said.
Former Uber, former Otto, former Waymo employee Levandowski is being charged by the federal government for stealing trade secrets of Waymo's self driving cars.
Something strange happened near Nyonoksa, Russia. There was an explosion. There was a radiation spike. At least five Russian nuclear personnel were killed. Information is dribbling out. The Russians are slowly fessing up to what happened. However, details are very, very elusive and there is an enormous amount of speculation.
Nyonoksa, Russia is in the Archangelsk Oblast (district) near Severodinsk and Archangels. It is located off the east shore of the White Sea and in the general vicinity of a lot of Russian naval bases. The accident or incident didn't happen at the town itself though, but rather at a site nearby. If the Russians are to be believed, it was out on the White Sea itself.
On August 8th, an accident took place. The accident was supposedly due to rocket fuel catching fire and at least five people have so far have died. The reports initially just stated there was an accident with a rocket. This happens rockets having far, far more energy stored in them than even a 747 and when precautions are not sufficiently taken, people die. It even happens here in the US: ask the Challenger astronauts or Virgin Galactic employees. It would have been a tragedy rather than a mystery. This is not a strictly Russian thing.
But then...
Radiation counters spiked in in Nyonoksa, Russia and elsewhere. The radiation levels spiked to 20x the norm. And then returned to normal within days. Even possibly a day. The Norwegians reported no spike in Norway until several days later, but it was a spike of radioactive iodine. Previous radioative iodine spikes have been attributed to medical manufacturing in Russia in the past.
Therein lies the mystery.
Had this been a case where a nuclear weapon or whatnot had had a subcritical explosion, the fallout would have contaminated the area and the radiation would be persistent and VERY detectable with the cloud it would have generated in Norway with far more isotopes than merely the glowy-version of iodine. Yet it did not. Whatever caused the spike did so with a gas or something very transiently and easily dispersible.
The Moscow initially denied there was no radiation spike. They originally stated there was an explosion with a liquid fuel rocket engine. Now they are saying the stating the 7 killed were working on iso tope power sources' for new weapon systems. Yet, they still deny the radiation release: the city of Nyonoksa stated there was a radiation spike though and there was a run on iodine in town (iodine can protect the thyroid from radiation damage). The Russians later announced and then cancelled an evacuation of Nyonoksa.
This has increased the speculation as to what happened. The Warzone (and others) have suggested there was an explosion related to the Burevestnik nuclear powered cruise missile the Russians have been working on: NATO calls the weapon 'Skyfall' which I find to be way more awesome, btw. This uses an exposed nuclear reactor to heat air into providing thrust. This was explored by the US in Project Pluto back in the 1960s/1970s. A premature or accidental test run would fit the profile for the radiation spike, but would not be a match for the description of an explosion: the engine exhaust can be radioactive even if no radioactive material from the engine is lost. The workers being present when the engine started and unexpectedly would also fit why they died and what they were doing.
However...
If the workers were killed in an accidental test, it would be a massive case of negligence. Worse than that, actually. Heads ought to be rolling so much that Putin could field a bowling team using the severed heads as bowling balls.
Burevestnik has been an air launched weapon. Russia has been testing it over in Siberia. Archangelsk's area is more naval. The location seems rather strange for the Burevestnik then unless they were working on it to integrate with naval assets. Possible, but strangely premature. The weapon is still in very early testing and the flight regime is still being expanded. Adding the capability to, say, the Tu-144 Backfires, would be really dumb at this point. Likewise attempting to do the same with a sub or surface ship is also stupid: with money tight in the Russian defense budget, getting the missile working ought to come first and the Russians are far from stupid in that regard. This should have greatly decreased the possibility of the Burevestnik being the source of the radiation.
But!
The engineers killed were related to the nuclear industry in Russia. the Russians have copped to the explosion being related to their nuclear weapons development. The US gov has stated they think the explosion was related to the Burevestnik. In a weird and blatant twist, the Russians have been disabling radiation sensors in the area. And doctors reported Cesium-137 in patients.
Other possibilities - unlikely ones - were a nuclear sub had to do an emergency reactor venting after an explosion. Yet another possibility was the explosion and the radiation leak were from difference incidents. Some have thrown out some crazy ideas based on the fact the Russians called the test as using a isotopic power source: a deliciously obfuscating phrase that covers nuclear reactors, RTGs and several other oddities.
The weirdness about the very transient nature of the radioactive cloud and Russia's obfuscations leave a lot of unknowns. So, while, far less of a mystery than two weeks ago, the real nature of what happened continues to remain murky.
What caused the radiation spike? Why did it clear so quickly? What is going on on the shores of the White Sea? We suspect, but don't know.
Apparently, there has been selection against the archaic components of the genome when interbreeding hast taken place between modern humans and other hominin species.
Could cooking have shaped our evolution for the last 2 million years?
More articles about the two previously undetected hominin relatives people seem to have interbred with.
Rock art requires a relatively high density demographic.
Modern Humanity (H. sapiens):
Tetrapod Zoology goes into five "mysterious" cave paintings.
Two Patagonian volcanic caves have evidence of people for the last 19,000 years.
Late Pleistocene fossils of modern humans have been found across the Wallace Line.
Mesolithic fire pits from the Netherlands get studied.
Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia with drones again. The Houthis also attacked a military parade in Aden. Apparently 30 were killed. Another attack again. And again. And again. And Again. And again (and the Saudis shot a drone down).
Boeing Australia is stepping up its unmanned work.
Kratos is expecting orders totaling up to 40 for its Valkyries UCAV by year's end.
MartinUAV's V-Bat gets profiled. the drone is under consideration for the US Army's FTUAS program mentioned above.
Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (robo subs):
Huntington Ingalls is expecting high demand from the US Navy for UUVs and is preparing for that future.
Saab has finished the first production Sea Wasp ROV.
Exoskeletons:
Soft robotics might be the route forward for exoskeletons for the US Army.
META:
The US Army is seeking software bots and unmanned tech to make infantry squads more effective.
The US Navy tested several unmanned systems on the USNS Spearhead.
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Cargo Dream Chaser has extended its agreement with United Launch Alliance (ULA) from two to six launches during its Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) missions to the International Space Station (ISS). All six missions will launch on ULA’s new rocket, Vulcan Centaur. The move was expected but requirement confirmation given Dream Chaser’s ability to launch on several launch vehicle options.
Dream Chaser will be flying at least six missions to the ISS in the 2020s, following NASA’s contract award to SNC – along with SpaceX and Orbital ATK for the CRS2 missions.
Along pristine Cambodian beaches, past parades of elephants in its largest national park, sits an area half the size of Singapore that is raising alarm bells among military strategists in the U.S. and beyond.
Dara Sakor, a $3.8 billion China-backed investment zone encompassing 20% of Cambodia’s coastline, is unlike any other in the developing Southeast Asian nation. Controlled by a Chinese company with a 99-year lease, it features phased plans for an international airport, a deep-water seaport and industrial park along with a luxury resort complete with power stations, water treatment plants and medical facilities.
The size and scope of the plans for Dara Sakor have fanned U.S. concerns the resort could be part of a larger Chinese plan to base military assets in Cambodia, according to an official familiar with the situation. A naval presence there would further expand China’s strategic footprint into Southeast Asia, consolidating its hold over disputed territory in the South China Sea and waterways that carry trillions of dollars of trade.
MDBA unveiled its weapons concepts for the European FCAS project.
The fighter component of the FCAS project is now known as the Next Generation Fighter and will be designed to work with carriers in the same way as the Rafale from the get go.
The Tempest will probably have hypersonic weapons.
Thales and Aeralis have signed an MOU to develop a combat training system for the Tempest.
US experts opine on the NGAD.
The USAF expects to do a lot of modeling and simulation in support of the NGAD effort. This has always worked so well in the past (*cough*Zumwalt*cough*FCS*cough*). KF-X:
Jakarta is still trying to get concessions on the cost of their participation in the KF-X program.
Jakarta is also exploring trying to send commodities instead of money for their payment of the KF-X program.
Supposedly, the PAK-DA will be tested (if its ever built) in Zhukovsky. Article mostly talks about the other, older bombers Russia has.
Chengdu's Mystery Plane:
A flying pin from the Chengdu Aircraft company doesn't match with any known aircraft. Real? Trolling? What?
J-31/FC-31:
AVIC officials are upbeat on the J-31/FC-31 progress and eventual adoption by the PLA.
J-20:
The first J-20 has been assigned to a combat unit in Wuhu.
B-21:
Northrop has started building the first EMD B-21. There are additional test aircraft being built, which implies there were earlier demonstrators were flown. The first flight will be in late 2021.
B-2:
It is the 30th anniversary of the first flight of the B-2 bomber.
F-117:
NASA tested scale models of the F-117 in 1995 to see what would happen if the aircraft carried external weapons.
F-22:
Like the F-35, the F-22 will not reach the required 80% combat readiness.
Some great shots of the F-22 with aggressors were shot over Alaska.
There are some gorgeous videos of the F-22 and F-35.
The F-22 sent to Oshkosh had its RAM skin crumbling.
Israel is going to have to pick between the F-15X and F-35I in their budget since they do not have the resources for both.
Are Israeli F-35Is making strikes in Iraq against Iranian assets?
The Netherlands has plans to order another 8 to 9 F-35s.
Turkey has taken delivery of the S-400 missiles. Will Trump keep Turkey in the F-35 program? The Pentagon is planning on raiding the spare parts budget - which is already 15 years behind schedule! - to pay for removing Turkey from the program. Turkey is officially out of the F-35 fighter program by March 2020: Turkey cannot have the S-400 and the F-35. The Pentagon has started unwinding Turkey's involvement in the F-35 program. Of course, Trump found a way to blame Obama: fscking man up, Trumpster. Lockheed's CEO is stating the Turkish question is being addressed and is confident other customers will buy the F-35s built for Turkey. A refund and details of how Turkey will be removed are up in the air.
South Korea has had two more F-35As arrive in country: its 3rd and 4th out of 40.
