Is There A Russian Satellite Saboteur In Space?
Circling high above us in space, a mysterious object is being tracked by the US military. The strange object, which has been entitled Object 2014-28E, was secretly launched in May by the Russian military, but nobody knows its purpose and so far Moscow's ministry of defence is remaining tight-lipped.
2014-28E first came to the attention of the world when it was sighted recently by amateur astronomers. It was initially thought to be space debris originally sent into space by Russia to add communication satellites to existing military space hardware, but its behavior has since been so unorthodox that there are now concerns that it could form part of a more sinister plan, concerns fuelled by the fact that Russia did not declare its launch.
Life-Forms Found Living On International Space Station
It has been said that "life will always find a way," and a recent discovery by Russian space officials appears to confirm that life can certainly exist in the most hostile of environments.
Traces of plankton and other microorganisms have been found living happily aboard the International Space Station (ISS), not safely within its cosy interior but clinging to its exterior surfaces assaulted by freezing temperatures and cosmic radiation. It seems that the tiny organisms are even able to survive in an atmosphere without oxygen, previously thought to be one of the factors necessary to support any form of life.
US millionaire Dennis Tito, who became the first private space tourist when he paid Russia $20 million for a trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001, wants to send a married couple on a round trip to Mars when planetary alignment is favorable for this 2018.
The trip will take advantage of the alignment of heavenly bodies in January 2018 to fly around Mars and return to Earth in the relatively short time of 501 days. This opportunity will not arise again until 2031.
Mysterious Noise Heard on Space Station
The two man U.S. and Russian crew of the International Space Station heard a metallic crunching noise the day before Thanksgiving, but Russian space officials and NASA say the ISS was not hit by an object from space. "All systems are intact," says NASA's Rob Navias. "All of the data from the U.S. and Russian sides shows nothing out of the ordinary."
Mark Carreau writes in the Houston Chronicle that astronaut Mike Foale thought it sounded as if something had struck the part of the ISS the houses the crew's sleeping quarters, kitchen and bathroom. "It sounded like a metal tin can kind of being expanded and compressed," Foale says. "It was a noise that lasted about a second. It sounded like an impact or something."