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Articles >> National Space Policy >> North Korean Space Inspection >> Reviews >> Russian Space Program >> Space Attic >> Space Folklore >> Space History >> Space Operations >> Space Shuttle Missions >> Space Station >> Space Tourism >> Technical Notes >> Terraforming Fantastic China Launch SPECTRUM piece on Apollo-1 ******************************* HIDDEN HISTORY – Biggest Soviet missile/space ‘war game’ in history [June 18, 1982] sparked major Chinese ‘UFO flap” ******************************* ‘Moscow Times’ interviews Jim on how Soviet-era ‘UFO panics’ were triggered by top secret military space/missile testing ******************************* March 24 – Moscow interview with Jim on economic crisis impact on their space program ******************************* March 11 – Jim’s comments on Russia’s role in the ESA Exomars mission ******************************* Sky Spectacle -- Viewing manned Soyuz launch [December 15, 2015] from the ground, the air, and in space ******************************* Bigelow’s “Expansion Module” on ISS -- Where did it come from? ******************************* No, Apollo-10 DIDN’T hear ‘alien space music’ on the back side of the moon ******************************* December 17, 2015 – Jim explains purpose of mysterious missile tests in Russia ******************************* New North Korean Rocket Launch Plan Spectrum article just posted (outside the paywall) Four years ago I was at the launch site with a Western news media group, my findings are here for those interested in on-the-scene reportage Recent analysis of icbm design changes Current News ******************************* Yet ANOTHER KapYar to Sary Shagan warhead test -- Dec 24 ******************************* BRIT DOCUMENTARY USES ACTOR TO PLAY "YOUNG JAMES OBERG" IN SECRET SOVIET SPACE ARCHIVES!! Amusing new stage in my television career – “Conspiracy”, a program series created by Channel5 in London, has created a dramatic reenactment of some of my discoveries of 'missing cosmonauts' photographs way back in the 1970s, and this involved showing an actor playing me being shown into a Soviet-era archive where "I" was allowed to inspect hidden photographs. They used some young geeky-looking guy with a moustache to play me -- too bad George Clooney was out of their price range. It was fun working with them on this but I had no idea they would do the reenactment. It was pretty fanciful, but it's never been done for me before, so I got a kick out of it. Here's a shot of the real me from the episode, and of the faux-me. It's a British production company and there's no word on when it airs in the US [it's already aired in Britain]. It's called "Conspiracy" -- Episode 9, Faking the Moon Landings", and spends two thirds of the hour debunking theories the landing was faked, with some recent interviews with conspiracy-promoter Bart Sibrel and a very clear video of Buzz Aldrin punching him in the face some years ago. It then segues into claims the Russians faked some early flights, or covered up disasters, and I come on as an expert debunking the stories that some Italian radio amateurs heard dying cosmonauts in secret broadcasts. Then they spend about eight minutes describing my discovery of the 'erased cosmonaut' forgeries [with the actor's dramatization of me turned loose in a Soviet space center storeroom], and then a dramatization of Nelyubov's drunken brawl that led to his expulsion from the cosmonaut program and eventual suicide -- again, cute, and wildly fanciful. Further reading: My full story of finding the 'erased cosmonauts' My skepticism about the 1960's 'Italian brothers space eavesdropping' My debunking the 'Apollo was a hoax' nuttiness -- here and here Description of the Channel5 series here ******************************* OLDIES BUT RELEVANT AGAIN Debunking the ‘Black Knight’ phantom satellite [1979] March 2001 - Scientific American, “A Bus Between The Planets [Mars Cycler Station]”, w/ Buzz Aldrin DOWN IN FLAMES [true hazards of crashing hydrazine tanks] New Atlantis [2009] In-depth review of Jim’s book Starcrossed Orbits [2002] ******************************* SEPTEMBER 2015 – ‘NPR’ FALSELY BLAMES SOYUZ RENDEZVOUS DELAY ON HUMAN SPACE POLLUTION [read comments] ******************************* SECRET SPACE ESCAPES hits the Science Channel [Jim a consultant and commentator] Jim’s 2002 book chapter on the Mir fire and NASA’s inept handling of it Soyuz landing troubles 2005-6 ******************************* December 2015 marks 50th Anniversary of First Orbital Rendezvous ******************************* RUSSIA’S DEFENSE-PENETRATING “KYSST” MISSILE FLIES AGAIN [NOV 17, 2015] ******************************* MISSILE FREAK-OUT IN CALIFORNIA [NOV 7, 2015] ******************************* AEROSPACE AMERICA [OCTOBER 2015] cover story New Challenges Ahead of Russian Space Industry ******************************* JIM’S RAVE REVIEW FOR ‘THE MARTIAN’ ******************************* The Great Trident Sub-Launched Missile California Freak-Out of Nov 7, 2015 [and what it can teach us about UFO witnesses] ******************************* Jim serves as LEAD RENDEZVOUS AND GUIDANCE PROCEDURES OFFICER in the 'Trench' in Mission Control, 'Polaris Team', STS-32 LDEF satellite retrieve mission, 1991. ******************************* August 22, 2015: NEW MYSTERY MISSILE TEST The latest launching in Russia's Kapustin Yar to Sary Shagan defense-penetrating nuclear warhead test series is the 11th in ten years, and something seems to be different this time. ******************************* Jim with American year-long astronaut Kelly Jim with Russian year-long cosmonaut Kornienko ******************************* Jim interviews the newest Soyuz crew [July 2015]  in Houston prior to launch Oberg and Kimiya Koi Oberg and Oleg Kononenko Oberg and Kjell Lindgren ******************************* 2005: Jim at Baykonur for another Soyuz dawn roll-out to the pad ******************************* July 2015 – The Pluto Perspective ******************************* The Russian Space Partnership April 2015 NASA Needs A Backup Plan for Russian Unavailability for ISS September 9, 2014 MSNBC Crimea Catch-22: Russia Space Training May Put NASA in a Bind July 2015 Russians Fulfill Jim’s Warning Russia Could Make U.S. Astronauts Train in Crimea April 2015 -- US Tense as Russian Satellite Full of Toxic Fuel Falls Air Force Watching Falling Russian Satellite Background: Genuine Hazard of USA-193 [2008] Down in Flames : Media ‘Space Experts’ Flub the Shoot-Down Story “New Atlantis” Spring 2009 Sense, nonsense, and pretense about the destruction of USA 193 Space Review, March 3, 2008 More on USA-193 Feb 17, 2015 – New ‘Angara’ Booster an Impressive Russian Space Success April 1, 2015 – NASA Needs Backup Plan if Russia Drops Out of ISS Program NASA Go-It-Alone Options Report: ISS Astronaut Observes SECOND Russian Rocket Launch ******************************* Crisis in US-Russian space partnership? Click here for links to Jim's current coverage and past predictions regarding US Russian relations. Oberg [Jan. 22 2015]: “An independent Russian Space Agency was one bulwark, however shaky, against [corruption], and now that it’s gone. I fear a lot more beaks will be wet from diverting funds from space budgets.” “Epitaph for the Russian Space Agency”, A poem of despair, by Sergey Zhukov (February 2015) Concern over secret Russian space robot rendezvous tests Russian Space Object 2014-28E Sparks Worries About 'Satellite Killer' MSNBC - November 2014 September 9, 2014 MSNBC Crimea Catch-22: Russia Space Training May Put NASA in a Bind May 2014 Russian cartoon -- Frantic American astronauts: "Houston, what's this about going ON FOOT? What the hell kind of sanctions?" May 2014 Russian newspaper cartoons -- one photoshops Apollo picture to show Russian flag on Moon instead; other alters same photo to show cosmonaut urinating on US flag. (click image for full size) ******************************* Aerospace America, July-August 2012 Jim's prophetic article on Russia's struggles to improve its spaceflight reliability ******************************* General Prospects for Russia's Space Program NBCNews [Sep 28, 2012] Russians face their space crisis Agency chief worries that country's aerospace industry is becoming uncompetitive NY Times [Feb 3, 2013]: Russia must Choose: Low Tech or High? ' Aerospace America' [Aug 2012]: Russian Space Program Staggers, Recovers Sep 11, 2012 -- ADVISORY -- Moscow Announces 'Get Well' Plan for Space Program Crisis ******************************* 01/19/2010 - IEEE Spectrum: Russia's Ailing ICBM Program ******************************* Is the Russian Space Industry Capable of Building the New RUS-R booster? "Aerospace America", October 2011 Op-Ed By James Oberg: Why Is NASA Caving to the Russians On I.S.S.? July 25th, 2011 July 21-- At End of Shuttle, Russians Brag of'Era of Reliability ******************************* November 18 – Jim’s assessment of possible secret Russian ‘killer-satellite’ test For NBC News and in the Moscow Times [English] ******************************* EXCLUSIVE: ISS Crew Accidentally Spots ANOTHER Russian Space Launch [June 15, 2014] ******************************* Jim’s comments on the Philae comet landing drama ******************************* Latest news on cosmonaut handguns on Soyuz flights ******************************* Jim on MSNBC: What went wrong on SpaceShipTwo? ******************************* Jim’s appeal to the Astronaut Memorial Foundation on behalf of Alsbury ******************************* Jim wins 2014 Journalism Award from planetary scientists. The American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences has selected Jim as the 2014 winner of the Division of Planetary Science's "Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award" to recognize and stimulate distinguished popular writing on planetary sciences. This is awarded annually in recognition for a single story or article published or produced within the previous year. Jim's winning entry was "Torrid Mercury's Icy Poles," in Astronomy magazine's December 2013 issue. The Nominating Committee felt this story expertly explored the history of the search for Mercury's water ice. Read the article here Read Astronomy Magazine's article about Jim Jim's 2013 Astronomy Magazine Cover story about the Chelyabinsk fireball ******************************* Book Foreward Jim's visionary Foreword to new book "Space Probes" anticipates an era of planetary discovery involving exobiology on a dozen other worlds. ******************************* Jim's opinion piece on remembering -- and commemorating -- Mike Alsbury as an astronaut . "If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial." Wilbur Wright, 1901 ******************************* Video of Jim's talk at the Mars Society Conference on strategies for internationalization of major space projects. Slides for Jim's Mars Presentation ******************************* ANTARES ROCKET EXPLOSION October 29, 2014 – Jim interview with Houston KPRC [NBC affiliate] October 30, 2014: Jim on NBC ‘TODAY’ show on Antares explosion Oct 29, 30 – Oct 28 & 29 I did back-to-back appearances on MSNBC "Last Word", from the "Total Video" studio in Houston. My old friends there helped me set up the visual backdrop, here's a photo in the studio showing one particular relevant item over my right shoulder. Oct 31, 2014 – Jim comments on Antares explosion in ‘Moscow News’ ******************************* China’s Chang’e-5 round-the-moon mission [Oct 23-31, 2014]: Jim nails the undisclosed lunar fly-by altitude [12,000 km] by trigonometric analysis of ‘tourist photo’ ******************************* September 2, 2014 -- Mystery Rocky Mountain Fireball NOT an 'exploding Russian spysat' ******************************* Mars Comet Near-Miss Oct 17, 2014, IEEE Spectrum magazine Comet “Siding Spring” at Mars” – People should have BEEN there by now ******************************* October 17, 2014 Jim’s speculation on mission of X-37B [comments] My own theory, based on long philosophical discussions with Air Force space strategists [connected with my writing the US Space Command's "Space Power Theory" in 1999] is that the vehicle is testing and exercising "local situation awareness" sensors des