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Chandrayaan-3: India shoots for the moon

The ‘Launch Rehearsal’ simulating the entire launch preparation and process has been concluded by the ISRO….reports Asian Lite News

Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, will make India the fourth country to land its spacecraft on the surface of the moon and demonstrate the country’s abilities for safe and soft landing on lunar surface.

The countdown for the launch of mission begins today ahead of take off on Friday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

“Mission Readiness Review is completed. The board has authorised the launch. The countdown begins tomorrow,” ISRO said in a tweet.

It will be launched on a GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy lift launch vehicle.

This will be Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) follow-up attempt after Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing in 2019.

The ‘Launch Rehearsal’ simulating the entire launch preparation and process has been concluded by the ISRO.

If all goes well, Chandrayaan-3 will be the first spacecraft to land on Moon’s South Pole, demonstrating India’s technical prowess and bold spacefaring ambitions.

Chandrayaan-3 mission will demonstrate safe and soft landing on lunar surface, rover roving on the moon and conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

ISRO invited citizens to witness the launch of the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3 from the viewing gallery at Sriharikota.

During Chandrayaan-2 mission, ISRO lost contact with the lander when it was just a notch away from the moon’s surface.

The journey from earth to the moon for the to-be-launched spacecraft is estimated to take around a month and the landing is expected on August 23. Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 earth days. One day on Moon is equal to 14 days on earth.

K Sivan, former director of ISRO, told ANI that success of mission Chandrayan-3 will give a morale boost to programs like Gaganyan.

“We understood what went wrong with Chandrayan-2 when we could not land on the moon surface, we recreated the failure modes and we ensured that this time we have success. The challenge is the same as Chandrayan-2, same environment for landing. This time we hope that we have done enough based on the lesson of Chandrayan-2 that gives us more confidence. In space there are always unknown unknowns…hope that all issues are addressed and that we emerge with success,” he said.

“We are getting tech landing on a celestial body. By landing successfully, we will acquire landing technology and it will be good for future generations. A number of scientific experiments are planned and scientists will have more knowledge of moon’s geology and earth’s origin,” he added.

Mylswamy Annadurai, Mission Director of Chandrayaan-1, said Chandrayaan-3 is a very important mission.

“We have shown that we can orbit, but we could not do a soft landing, By doing so this time we can show that Chandrayan-1 was not an isolated success. Internationally, the world is looking back to the moon, the real seeding for that came from Chandrayaan-1. So we need to make this mission successful,” he told ANI.

“Hard lessons were learnt from Chandrayaan 1 and 2. At every step, we are supposed to have a plan B. There were some setbacks in Chandrayaan- 2. This time we are back on track. We are clear on what we want to do and it will ensure we can softly land on the surface of the moon. Target of landing is also larger, all elements have been tested multiple times, we hope this is a success…,” he added.

Chandrayaan-3’s development phase commenced in January 2020 with plans to launch it somewhere in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays in the development process.

The major discovery of the Chandrayaan-1 mission, launched in 2008, is the detection of water (H2O) and hydroxyl (OH) on the lunar surface. Data also revealed their enhanced abundance towards the polar region.

“The primary science objective of the mission was to prepare a three dimensional atlas of both near and far side of the Moon and to conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface with high spatial resolution,” Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under ISRO had said.

Moon serves as a repository of earth’s past and a successful lunar mission by India will help in enhancing life on Earth and prepare to explore the rest of the solar system — and beyond.

Director of Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO), S Somanath, had said that if everything goes well, the spacecraft will land on the moon on August 23.

The date has been decided based on sunrise on the moon but if it gets delayed, then landing may take place next month, he said.  (ANI)

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Science USA

US cos. to advance work on next-gen space suits

The task orders, part of the latest Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, are under existing contracts and each has a value of $5 million. ..reports Asian Lite News

NASA has awarded two American companies Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace task orders to advance spacewalking capabilities in low Earth orbit, as well as moonwalking services for Artemis missions, the agency said. 

The task orders, part of the latest Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, are under existing contracts and each has a value of $5 million. 

It intends Axiom Space to begin work on a spacesuit for use in low Earth orbit, and Collins Aerospace to begin work on a spacesuit for use on the lunar surface. 

“These task orders position NASA for success should additional capabilities become necessary or advantageous to NASA’s missions as the agency paves the way for deep space exploration and commercialisation of low Earth orbit,” said Lara Kearney, manager of the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Programme at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, in a statement. 

“Using this competitive approach we will enhance redundancy, expand future capabilities, and further invest in the space economy,” she added. 

Each contract provider has proposed a plan to continue developing their spacesuit to perform in an environment different from that outlined in the scope of their initial task order award. 

Axiom Space was previously awarded an initial task order to develop a spacewalking system for a demonstration in partial gravity on the lunar surface during Artemis III and will now begin early assessments for extending that suit for use outside the International Space Station (ISS). 

Collins Aerospace was also previously awarded an initial task order to develop a spacewalking system for a demonstration in microgravity outside the ISS and will now begin early assessments for extending that suit for use on the lunar surface. 

The contract enables selected providers to compete for task orders for missions that will provide a full suite of capabilities for NASA’s spacewalking needs during the period of performance through 2034. 

The first task orders awarded were for the development and services for the first demonstration outside the space station in low Earth orbit and for the Artemis III lunar landing. 

The contract was designed to evolve with the needs of the agency and space industry and gives NASA a mechanism for adding additional capabilities and vendors as the commercial space services market evolves.

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Chandrayaan-3: Lift off on July 14, touch down on Aug 23

The ISRO chief made the remark on Day-1 of the Space Economy Leaders Meet held in Bengaluru on Thursday as part of India’s G20 Presidency…reports Asian Lite News

Chairman of Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO), S Somanath, has announced that the Chandrayaan-3, India’s planned third lunar exploration mission, will be launched on July 14 at 2.35 pm.

The ISRO chief made the remark on Day-1 of the Space Economy Leaders Meet held in Bengaluru on Thursday as part of India’s G20 Presidency. The meeting saw a discussion on the possibilities of bilateral partnership in sharing space economy. On the launch of Chandrayaan-3, Somanath said, “On July 14 at 2.35 pm, Chandrayaan-3 will lift off and if everything goes well, it will land (on the moon) on August 23…the date is decided based on when is the sunrise on the moon, it will depend on the calculations, but if it gets delayed then we will have to keep the landing for the next month in September.”

He also said ISRO’s prime objective was to enable a safe and soft landing of Chandrayaan-3.

“Our main objective is safe and soft landing, all equipment will be fine if it goes safe and there is a soft landing. We are good with the landing system. Rover will come out after landing, rover has 6 wheels, and we are expecting the rover will work for 14 days on the moon…With the support of multiple cameras on the rover we will receive images. We have a solar panel on the rover. We already tested it, and we have good results with the battery,” Somanath added.

The ISRO chief also informed that partnerships between space agencies, industries, and start-ups were discussed in the meeting.

On the challenges in the space economy, he said, “Challenges in the space economy, first and foremost, is it is capital intensive. So you have to invest heavily to create the capability. And the return of investment comes very late.”

Representatives from 86 space companies took part in the meeting.

India’s G20 sherpa, Amitabh Kant said India’s space economy was experiencing rapid growth with increasing revenue and more commercial actors entering the sector. He added that studies suggest it could become a USD 1 trillion sector in the coming decades.

“This exponential growth necessitates support from governments worldwide. That’s why we are discussing space as a formal element within the G20 meeting,” Kant said.

MoS, Ministry External Affairs, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, said India has more than 400 private space companies working to harness this sector.

“We also have a student outreach programme. This programme is designed to cultivate scientific temper among young minds. Space technology can bring immense predictability to the varieties of climate changes, agricultural harvest, food security, natural disasters, and even the distribution of economic drought. These uncertainties unfold the worst impact on developing countries,” Singh said.

Day-1 of the Space Economy Leaders Meet saw participation from 27 countries and 33 industries.

It showcased India’s industry capabilities in the space sector. On the concluding day, there will be a session on Space Industry partnership. (ANI)

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India’s Moon endeavour advances

The ISRO integrates encapsulated assembly containing Chandrayaan-3 with the launch vehicle– LVM3….reports Asian Lite News

India on Wednesday took another step towards its third moon mission by mating the encapsulated assembly holding the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft.

“Today (Wednesday) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, the encapsulated assembly containing Chandrayaan-3 is mated with LVM3,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

The LVM3 is India’s heaviest rocket that will carry the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft with a lander and a rover. It will put the spacecraft or orbiter in a designated orbit, and from there, the spacecraft will start its long journey of about 3.84 lakh km towards the moon.

The spacecraft carries a lander called Vikram. The lander, in turn, carries a rover called Pragyan.

The total weight of the spacecraft is 3,900 kg or 3.9 ton which is a tad lower than the total carrying capacity of the LVM3 rocket.

The orbiter or the propulsion module as ISRO named it weighs 2,148 kg, and the lander 1,752 kg, including the rover.

Incidentally, the Chandrayaan-2 payload weighed about 3.8 ton with the orbiter weighing 2,379 kg, the Vikram lander 1,471 kg including the Pragyan rover 27 kg.

India’s mission to the moon is tentatively slated for July 13 while the launch window is open between July 12 and July 19.

“We have the launch window between July 12 and July 19. The exact date has not been finalised,” a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official, not wanting to be named, told IANS.

The main purpose of Chandrayaan-3 is to safely land the lander on the moon soil.

Following that, the rover will roll out to do the experiments. As regards the changes made in the lander this time as compared to the one that crash landed on the moon during the Chandrayaan-2 mission, the official said the lander will have four motors instead of five.

The space agency has also carried out some changes in the software.

According to ISRO, the propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and Polari metric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit. The lander payloads are: Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the thermal conductivity and temperature; Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for measuring the seismicity around the landing site; Langmuir Probe (LP) to estimate the plasma density and its variations.

A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA is accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.

On the other hand, the rover will carry: Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site, the ISRO said.

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Science Tech Lite

Researchers help find evidence for ‘humming’ of the universe

The relentless cacophony of gravitational waves from a large number of supermassive black hole pairs creates a persistent humming of our universe…reports Asian Lite News

A team of researchers from IITH has published results from monitoring pulsars, nature’s best clocks, using six of the World’s most sensitive radio telescopes, including India’s largest telescope uGMRT which provide a hint of evidence for the vibrations of the fabric of the universe.

This team of IIT Hyderabad is a part of an international team of astronomers from India, Japan, and Europe.

According to the IIT, these results provide a hint of evidence for the relentless vibrations of the fabric of the universe, caused by ultra-low frequency gravitational waves.

Such waves are expected to originate from a large number of dancing monster black hole pairs, crores of times heavier than our Sun.

The team’s results are a crucial milestone in opening a new, astrophysically-rich window in the gravitational wave spectrum. The research team said that such dancing monster black hole pairs, expected to lurk in the centres of colliding galaxies, create ripples in the fabric of our cosmos, and astronomers call them nano-hertz gravitational waves as their wavelengths can be many lakhs of crores of kilometres.

The relentless cacophony of gravitational waves from a large number of supermassive black hole pairs creates a persistent humming of our universe.

The team, consisting of members of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) and Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA) consortia, published their results in two papers in the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal, and their results hint at the presence of such gravitational waves in their data set. These results include an analysis of pulsar data collected over 25 years with six of the world’s largest radio telescopes, the research team added.

Emphasizing the importance of this result and IITH’s contribution, Prof B. S. Murty, Director, IITH, said, “Congratulations to the InPTA collaboration and the IITH team involved in this discovery. I am delighted that the state-of-the-art NSM Param Seva computing facility at IITH has helped to create these path-breaking results. This achievement also underscores the power of collaboration in attaining scientific benchmarking results.”

The IITH team, which took part in this discovery consists of Dr Shantanu Desai, faculty in the Department of Physics and Department of AI, Aman Srivastava, Physics PhD student, Divyansh Kharbanda (2023 BTech graduate in Engineering Physics), Swetha Arumugam (rising BTech senior in EE). Pragna Mamdipaka, is also part of InPTA and is playing an active role in ongoing InPTA efforts.

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Business Science Tech Lite

India to produce F414 engines for Tejas 

The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman addressing at the ICRIER’s 14th Annual International G20 Conference on ‘Crafting an Indian narrative on Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Economy’, in New Delhi on November 01, 2022.

Sitharaman also said that the HAL-made engines would be utilised in the indigenous Tejas aircraft, which is entirely produced in India. ..reports Asian Lite News

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that India will now be able to produce its own aircraft engines, specifically the F414 engines used in the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.

Citing the several defence production deals signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the US, she said: “GE, the largest aeronautics company, has signed an agreement with HAL for the joint production of F414 aircraft engines. This joint venture will take place in India, with 80 per cent of the technology being transferred. 

“I highlight this because HAL is often criticised by the Indian opposition, but now we can see that HAL is entering into this joint production agreement with GE.” 

Bengaluru, Mar 15 (ANI): Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) maiden successful flight test of DRDO’s indigenous Power Take off Shaft conducted on Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Tejas) and also Limited Series Production (LSP)-3 aircraft, in Bengaluru on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)

Sitharaman also said that the HAL-made engines would be utilised in the indigenous Tejas aircraft, which is entirely produced in India. 

She also mentioned that India is acquiring unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), specifically the sea guardian MQ-9B, which will greatly strengthen the armed forces.

She also said that with Master Ship Repair Agreements, India is set to become the largest center for ship repairs, as the US Navy has already reached an agreement with Karthupalli (near Chennai), Larsen and Toubro, and two other shipyards. 

Furthermore, they are also working on agreements with Mazagon Docks in Mumbai and Goa Shipyards, she added.

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India News Science

DRDO lab’s tech arsenal expands with GE alliance

The deal may be announced during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in the coming week…reports Asian Lite News

Gas Turbine Research Establishment– a DRDO lab involved in the development of indigenous engines– would be part of the proposed deal with American GE for manufacturing jet engines in India, which would help them gain expertise in the field, government officials said.

The officials said the American firm in an “unprecedented move” is sharing manufacturing technology for engines which is 80 per cent by cost. GTRE is a Defence Research and Development Organisation laboratory based in Bengaluru and has developed the Kaveri engine which was supposed to originally power the LCA Tejas aircraft variants.

Due to delays in the project, India has been forced to go for the GE-404 engines for the initial 113 LCA aircraft and GE-414s for the LCA Mark 2 and the fifth generation planes planned to be produced in India.

Government officials said, subsequently the percentage of the Transfer of Technologies (ToT) is expected to increase further.

With this Transfer of Technology, the parts will be made in the country and GTRE will be receiving all the know-how including that of processes and coatings for the crystal blades etc will be transferred.

Officials said the proposed ToT is unprecedented and GE has not transferred this level of ToT even to their NATO allies.

India has plans of going in for another bigger jet aircraft engine to power its futuristic versions of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft for which it has been in talks with the French side.

However, the present status of the talks between the two sides on the matter is not clear.

The deal may be announced during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in the coming week.

Last month, Secretary Department of Defence R-D and Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Samir V Kamat assured all possible support to make India a net defence exporter.

Secretary Department of Defence R-D and Chairman DRDO chaired the open brainstorming session ‘Chintan’ on May 27, in which more than 180 industries participated. DRDO Chairman assured the industry that DRDO will extend all possible support to them and will play the role of a mentor in building their capabilities to make India a net defence exporter, the Ministry of Defence stated.

The DRDO Chairman emphasised the need to undertake such initiatives on a regular basis as these events provide a renewed impetus to boost the Indian defence manufacturing sector to achieve complete self-reliance, it stated. (ANI)

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Science USA

Curiosity snaps postcard of Martian morning, afternoon

Curiosity is in the foothills of Mount Sharp, which stands 5 km high within Gale Crater, where the rover has been exploring since landing in 2012…reports Asian Lite News

NASA’s Curiosity rover has captured a “postcard” of lighting during morning and afternoon at the Martian surface, the space agency said.

The postcard is an artistic interpretation of the landscape, with colour added over two black-and-white panoramas captured by Curiosity’s navigation cameras.

The views were taken on April 8 at 9.20 a.m. and 3.40 p.m. local Mars time, providing dramatically different lighting.

“Capturing two times of day provides dark shadows because the lighting is coming in from the left and the right, like you might have on a stage — but instead of stage lights, we’re relying on the Sun,” said Curiosity engineer Doug Ellison of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, who planned and processed the images, in a statement.

Blue was added to parts of the postcard captured in the morning and yellow to parts taken in the afternoon.

Curiosity is in the foothills of Mount Sharp, which stands 5 km high within Gale Crater, where the rover has been exploring since landing in 2012.

In the distance beyond its tracks is Marker Band Valley, a winding area in the “sulfate-bearing region” within which the rover discovered unexpected signs of an ancient lake.

Farther below are two hills – “Bolivar” and “Deepdale” — that Curiosity drove between while exploring “Paraitepuy Pass.”

Adding to the depth of the shadows is the fact that it was winter — a period of lower airborne dust — at Curiosity’s location when the images were taken.

“Mars’ shadows get sharper and deeper when there’s low dust and softer when there’s lots of dust,” Ellison added.

Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012, was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes.

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UAE welcomes private sector involvement in Asteroid Belt mission

This comes as a result of the agency’s commitment to award at least 50 percent of the overall contracted mission to private sector companies….reports Asian Lite News

The UAE Space Agency has launched the “Space Means Business” campaign to highlight the new business opportunities open to Emirati and international companies within the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA), the first multiple-asteroid tour and landing mission to the main belt.

This comes as a result of the agency’s commitment to award at least 50 percent of the overall contracted mission to private sector companies.

The Space Means Business campaign is set to kick off with a workshop hosted at the UAE Space Agency on 22nd June to outline the potential areas for private sector participation.

Sarah Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, said, “Through our work with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, we can identify several technologically advanced companies operating in the Emirates today who can make commercially viable contributions to the EMA and benefit from the wider UAE space sector opportunity. Our core goal here is to drive new business opportunities based around sustainable innovation and the development of heritage that will open up new opportunities in the US$1 trillion global space industry.”

EMA Programme Director Mohsen Al Awadhi commented, “From software development to Mission Control, we are committed to a private sector first approach to developing the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt. This campaign to recruit businesses to the Mission forms part of a long-term commitment to diving an ambitious, vibrant and fast-growing private space sector in the Emirates. The opportunities are truly endless, from software and hardware systems design and delivery through to subsystem assembly, solar power and other electrical systems development to Mission operations and management.”

The EMA will drive significant economic opportunities, including new start-ups, international partnerships and inward investment in the UAE space sector, creating new commercial opportunities to accelerate the growth of innovation and advanced technology companies in the Emirates.

The Space Means Business campaign will build outreach to academia, potential start-ups, existing global space sector players and companies with the potential to pivot existing R&D and operations to meet the needs of the space sector.

The Space Means Business workshop is the start of an ongoing campaign to help UAE-based businesses identify the immediate commercial opportunities offered by the EMA and share a roadmap for the continuing support and development of research, innovation and valuable heritage to provide participants with the fast-growing global space market.

The UAE National Space Strategy supports the provision of start-up and investment funds, providing spacecraft assembly integration and test (AIT) facilities as a service and mission operations as a service to support and encourage start-ups and innovation. Additionally, the UAE Space Agency is offering Emirati space start-ups business formation support, zero barriers to entry office and back-office facilities and ongoing mentoring and funding as part of its Space Economic Zones initiative.

The development of the EMA is supported by Space Academy, a UAE Space Agency-led apprenticeship programme for the UAE’s space sector that expedites the development of engineering, technical and innovation expertise across several national institutions.

The EMA comprises a thirteen-year mission – a six-year spacecraft development period followed by a seven-year flight to the main asteroid belt beyond Mars, performing a series of close flybys to make unique observations of seven main-belt asteroids, including a rendezvous with the puzzling spectrally red asteroid, (269) Justitia.

The mission builds on the learnings, capabilities, innovations and heritage of the EMA. It aims to further accelerate the development of the Emirates’ private space sector and national capabilities in advanced technology innovation.
The Mission’s spacecraft is named the MBR Explorer in recognition of the foundational role driving the creation and growth of the UAE Space Programme by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

The MBR Explorer’s five-billion-kilometre journey includes gravity-assist manoeuvres around Venus, Earth and Mars to change the spacecraft’s velocity and support its flyby campaign, with its first asteroid encounter in February 2030.

Subsequent flybys will occur through to 2034, when the Mission’s seventh asteroid encounter will involve a rendezvous and landing, with the spacecraft releasing a lander, which will beam science data up from the asteroid’s surface. An Emirati private space sector start-up will develop the lander.

The EMA will build a greater understanding of asteroid characteristics, origins, formation and evolution. It has the potential to open new windows into our understanding of the formation of our solar system, as well as to investigate the potential of water-rich asteroids as a usable resource and evaluate the presence of volatile and organic compounds in the asteroid belt – the building blocks of life on Earth.

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Las Vegas police probe multiple UFO sightings  

Scientists say advanced aliens may soon detect life on Earth

The developments come as the powerful House Oversight Committee of the US House of Representatives is planning to hold a hearing on UFOs …reports Asian Lite News

Police in Las Vegas have investigated multiple reports of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) sightings that occurred on the night of April 30, a media report said.

According to body camera footage obtained by USA Today, an officer drove to a family’s residence on that night after they called 911 to report the sighting.

One of the family members told the officer they saw “a big creature” that was “long, 10 feet tall”.

The officer told the family that he was looking into the claims because another cop saw something in the sky that matched the family’s description eight minutes earlier.

“I’m not going to BS, you guys. One of my partners said they saw something fall out of the sky, too, so that’s why I’m kind of curious,” USA Today on Thursday quoted the officer as saying in the body camera footage.

“It’s weird just the fact that our partner saw something at the exact time,” he added.

Meanwhile, another nearby resident also called 911 on the same night to report about something “100 per cent not human” on their property, Las Vegas-based local TV station 8 News Now reported.

A separate body camera footage showed a glowing object flying in the sky.

About 40 minutes later, another man called 911 to report two unknown entities in his backyard after he and his family saw a similar object fall from of the sky, according to 8 News Now.

“There’s like an 8-foot person beside it and another one is inside us and it has big eyes and it’s looking at us and it’s still there,” the man said, according to the police dispatch audio posted by the TV channel.

“In my backyard. I swear to God this is not a joke, this is actually — we’re terrified.”

The man described the creatures as large and somewhere between 8 to 10 feet tall and appearing like aliens with big mouths, big shiny eyes.

The developments come as the powerful House Oversight Committee of the US House of Representatives is planning to hold a hearing on UFOs after a former intelligence official claimed that the Washington government has allegedly found crashed alien spacecraft.

On Monday, the former intelligence official, David Grusch, had said that the government has a covert program focused on recovering debris from crashed, non-human origin spacecraft and is attempting to reverse-engineer the technology, ABC News reported.

During a hearing in April, Director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) Sean Kirkpatrick told the Senate Armed Services Committee that his agency was reviewing 650 incidents dating back decades but “found no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology, or objects that defy the known laws of physics”.

But last week, Kirkpatrick said that the total number of incidents had grown to “well over 800 cases”.

Between 2004 to 2022, the US government has received more than 510 reports of UFOs, according to a declassified version of an annual report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence published in January this year.

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