At an “SMD [Science Mission Directorate] Community Townhall” meeting on Wednesday NASA officials reaffirmed their commitment to the preliminary UAP study announced on June 9th. Of course, as Becky Ferreira’s article presents, that’s just to be a survey of what “hard data” is already available and to formulate suggestions for collection improvement. The relevant parts of the Townhall, which may be accessed at Explore Science, are at about 18:30-21:10 on the main presentations, and 57:15-1:00:10. That last part is the Q&A, which was almost totally given to UAP-related queries, which were largely sidestepped as too soon for answers. Though acronym-filled, the whole Science Mission Directorate presentation is quite fascinating, as groups such as the Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Science Divisions report on the status of their operations. But never fear, says Sarah Scoles in Scientific American, NASA’s UFO Study Isn’t Really Looking for Space Aliens. Scoles’ article stresses some important points and one source makes an intriguing suggestion about “ulterior motives” behind this new initiative—quite different from any UAP-focus. But tell that to the folks whose UAP questions to the Townhall apparently swamped inquiries about all the other NASA SMD efforts! (WM)
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