Blue Origin New Shepard Launch 10.13.2021

For all of my fellow Trekkies around the world - we no longer need to lurk in the shadows because as of today, William Shatner has become the oldest person to travel into space (for a few brief minutes) at the age of 90. The first spaceship captain portrayed in the long-running series Star Trek, watching the Blue Origin rocket carry Captain Kirk into space today was nothing short of inspiring.

Waiting for the launch to start, all I could think was “this is SO cool!” I remember that the Star Trek series and the many exploration possibilities it proposed always awakened the dreamer in me - and I think watching the Blue Origin New Shepard launch today may have done the same. For a few minutes waiting for and watching the launch, I could let my stressors go and just wonder at the joy of floating above Earth.

How small everything must seem from up above. Space exploration is a collective human dream that has the power to unite us beyond borders and differences. Think about all of the young people watching the launch and how it could inspire them to explore, to create, and to dream. Imagine how space travel will become exponentially easier for the younger generations and become a norm for the human species.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard booster rocket is beautiful itself with a feather painted across and many shaped panels on the booster. It’s amazing how it lands itself, and the sound that the booster makes while landing is loud yet interesting. The capsule peacefully floated down with the assistance of several parachutes. Each movement of the New Shepard rocket components seemed like a choreographed ballet to bring the crew safely home.

As the capsule came down from space and the radio communications came back in, you could hear the crew laughing, and then you hear William Shatner’s voice say with excitement: “it’s unlike anything else!” Seeing our Earth from above must be an experience like none other...

As a Trekkie himself, Jeff Bezos greeted the newly minted astronauts as they exited the capsule. You can tell that Bezos adores Shatner from the way the two interact on screen. But what Trekkie doesn’t. Shatner spent several minutes talking about piercing through the atmosphere and into the unknown of space, overtaken by the immense joy felt by viewing the Earth from above. Traveling to space is truly a life-changing experience that is hard to describe in words.

With all this excitement over a launch to space, it reminds me of how we need to care for our Earth home. While we may venture to other planets and out into space, we must preserve our planet and work to take sustainable steps. Sustainability starts with our own personal actions every day, and whether we choose to waste the precious resources that our Earth provides for us.

One way that Blue Origin makes space travel more sustainable is by using reusable rocket components - most of the booster, crew capsule, parachutes, and other launch parts will be used again for many future launches, while in the past, used rocket components essentially became space trash or crashed down to Earth in small enough pieces that most people ignored the problem.

Thank you, Blue Origin and crew, for being a beacon of hope for our world.

New Shepard NS-14 lifts off from Launch Site One in West Texas. (January 14, 2021)

 

 #amberclee #BlueOrigin #StarTrek #WilliamShatner #JeffBezos

The UFO Trend

**UFO and alien are used interchangeably in this article.**

Aliens are a phenomenon that I’ve always kind of been interested in, but never really believed that they were anywhere near or our corner of the galaxy. However, there’s been a lot of new evidence revealed (especially video evidence) that appears to be well-researched and it makes me start to think that maybe aliens aren’t living so far away after all.

Even if you personally don’t believe in UFOs, surely you’ve noticed the increase in TV programming and news reports on unidentified crafts increasing over the last year. The U.S. government released its first-ever report on UFO activity, acknowledging that unidentified crafts are operating in our airspace -- and that even our elite capabilities cannot track or match some of these sighted crafts.

Statistics on American UFO belief

Over the past year, it seems like there's been a big change in how many people believe in UFOs flown by beings not from this world [or from this time period, or dimension...] as credible craft sightings. A 2019 Gallup poll surveyed 1,522 random adults in the U.S. by phone and found that about 33% of Americans believe that UFOs may be alien spacecraft (https://news.gallup.com/poll/350096/americans-believe-ufos.aspx).

In addition to the traditional “aliens“ you think of, it’s possible that there are also multi-dimensional beings, time travelers, and possibly other life forms that we can’t even imagine yet, already present on our planet and possibly interacting with us, and both positive and negative ways.

The Gallup survey question and findings are below:

We have a question about unidentified flying objects, also known as UFOs. Which comes closer to your view -- [some UFOs have been alien spacecraft visiting Earth from other planets or galaxies, (or) all UFO sightings can be explained by human activity on Earth or natural phenomenon]?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mainstream tv channels like History and Discovery channel research/document many sightings and anomalies in a balanced, scientific fashion. While there is always the possibility of exaggeration for tv or someone lying to the audience, the scientific process followed is logical and corroborated by unaltered video camera footage.

Many of these specials detail the many unexplored places on our own planet: the deep ocean, in Antarctica, and even underground. I often wonder if maybe there’s activity occurring in these hidden places where high technology, like cloaking and the ability to fly underwater, remove barriers for our [possible] alien neighbors.

An Earth-centric viewpoint

As typical of humans, we tend to hold a viewpoint where we’re at the center of whatever is going on - in our lives, when relating to the world, etc - and the UFO trend is more of the same. Why is it still difficult for many people to believe that alien life is visiting our planet, given all of the evidence that’s available? Somehow it’s more acceptable to believe that alien life is out there rather than in our own corner of space. Maybe aliens visiting or living here on Earth is a scary idea that is best kept at arms length.

“While Americans are inclined to think UFOs are not alien spacecraft, they are more apt to believe alien life forms exist beyond Earth. A June 2019 poll found 49% of Americans believing there are "people somewhat like ourselves" living on other planets. A much larger percentage, 75%, said that "life of some form" exists elsewhere in the universe” (also from the 2019 Gallup poll https://news.gallup.com/poll/350096/americans-believe-ufos.aspx).

Could it be possible that human life was seeded on this planet from life elsewhere a long time ago? There are many conflicting views of where human life came from (or evolved from) and the possibility of Earth being a zoo planet isn’t that far of a stretch when you view at the evidence without our Earth-centric egos.

Conclusion

Perhaps we’re being collectively prepared for a major reveal of information – and that aliens could already be very active on our planet and interacting with our U.S. government. While the 2021 government report didn’t reveal much, it does confirm that UFOs are enteing our U.S. airspace and that they’re not sure what or who they might be.

I think that having alien neighbors closer than we think and possibly being part of many species of intelligent beings could bring us closer as humans with a collective goal and shared identity... I’m curious what you think about this world-changing issue - please leave me a comment with your own opinions!