San Francisco bookshop owner to close over ADA lawsuit
Maybe Shakespeare was right about lawyers: A San Francisco bookshop owner is being forced to close her store because of an ADA lawsuit.
Year: 2010
Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve
An evening pause: The Christmas eve telecast by the Apollo 8 astronauts from lunar orbit, December 24, 1968, probably the most listened to space telecast in history. The story behind how and why these men said what they did is the central theme of my first book, Genesis, the Story of Apollo 8.
How Kenny Loggins Ruined Christmas
Sharpton says it is arrogance to let people say whatever they want
Democratic tolerance: Al Sharpton, in his effort to get the FCC to outlaw conservative speech on the airwaves, says it is arrogant to “allow people to say what they want.”
Christmas in Bethlehem: the cross banished from souvenirs
Islamic tolerance: The cross is banned in Bethlehem for Christmas.
Flying on empty to a comet
Flying on empty to a comet.
China Matches U.S. Space Launches for First Time
The new colonial movement: For the first time China has matched the U.S. in space launches. Note that though the above article implies it, the U.S. has quite often not been the yearly leader in launches, as Russia has often topped the list. Nonetheless, with China now becoming more competitive the future of space travel can only get bettter.
The Space Show
For those who would are curious to hear me talk about the past year and what’s to come as well as celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the Christmas Eve reading of Genesis by the astronauts of Apollo 8, I will be appearing on David Livingston’s long running radio show/podcast, The Space Show, today at 9:30 am Pacific time (12:30 pm Eastern time). The interview is scheduled to last 90 minutes, but David and I usually end up going far longer.
Dr. Livingston has produced more than 1000 shows, interviewing almost every single important figure in the aerospace industry. As he noted recently:
The Space Show/One Giant Leap Foundation is a non-profit 501C3 and your contributions are deductible from your U.S. tax liability. But more important, your help is needed in getting the space message out there to as many as possible, including the movers and shakers in society and the space industry. Not only do we provide a platform for many of you and your own material, we play an increasingly larger and more important role in getting space development to go viral. However, we can’t do it without your help so if you are able to make a contribution to The Space Show/OGLF this year, not only will it be appreciated, it will be most beneficial in helping to achieve Space Show goals and objectives.
To this I heartily say, amen! If you want to find out what’s going on in the aerospace community, The Space Show is undeniably one of the best places to go. The show deserves our support, and for that reason I want to give it a enthusiastic plug. You can make contributions by Pay Pal on The Space Show website here or on the One Giant Leap Foundation website. Checks made payable to One Giant Leap Foundation, Inc. can be mailed to P.O. 95, Tiburon, CA 94920.
Scientists Rail Against Senator Who Belittled Research
Oink! Scientists rail against senator who belittled research.
Opportunity takes a rest stop at a crater
In its 14 mile multi-year trek to Endeavour Crater — now about half completed — the Mars rover Opportunity has stopped to take a short rest stop at a small crater.
The crater, dubbed “Santa Maria Crater” by the scientists who operater Opportunity, is about the size of a football field. What makes it especially interesting are the sharp rocks piled up on its rim, as they are probably debris ejected from the crater at impact. Since this material probably came from deep below the Martian surface, it is also likely to hold information about the Martian geological past, thereby making it a prime research site.
rape-survivor arrested for refusing an enhanced pat-down at airport
More TSA abuse: A rape-survivor is arrested for refusing an enhanced pat-down at Texas airport.
Katie Melua – Have yourself a merry little Christmas
An evening pause:
Funding Puts NASA At Square One Again
The space war over NASA: The continuing resolution puts NASA where it was back in February, with everything uncertain.
Maryland uses prisoners, some with fraud and theft convictions, to process Social Security numbers and other personal information
Our government at work: For the past seven years, Maryland has used prisoners, some with fraud and theft convictions, to process Social Security numbers and other personal information of low income residences.
An asteroid discovered more than 100 years ago is actually an extinct comet coming back to life
An asteroid discovered more than 100 years ago is actually an extinct comet. And it is coming back to life!
EPA takes over Texas pollution permits
Power grab! The EPA has taken from Texas regulators the permitting process for air quality on major industrial facilities.
Sacramento-area pilot punished for YouTube video
More on that Sacramento-area pilot who is being threatened by the TSA for posting a video showing airport security flaws.
Urban caving in Berlin’s underground bunkers
Urban caving in Berlin’s underground bunkers.
SDO has experienced a disk controller failure
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) experienced a disk controller failure on December 21, preventing it from sending near-real-time images. Unfortunately, the SDO website provides little additional information, so I can’t tell you the extent or seriousness of the problem.
Update: The problem appears to be with ground equipment. See this screen capture:
The sun found to vary in unexpected ways
Recent monitoring of the Sun’s brightness as it went from maximum to minimum in its solar cycle has found that, surprisingly, the changes in brightness across different wavelengths do not necessarily vary in lockstep. Key quote:
SIM suggests that ultraviolet irradiance fell far more than expected between 2004 and 2007 — by ten times as much as the total irradiance did — while irradiance in certain visible and infrared wavelengths surprisingly increased, even as solar activity wound down overall. The steep decrease in the ultraviolet, coupled with the increase in the visible and infrared, does even out to about the same total irradiance change as measured by the TIM during that period, according to the SIM measurements.
The stratosphere absorbs most of the shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet light, but some of the longest ultraviolet rays (UV-A), as well as much of the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum, directly heat Earth’s lower atmosphere and can have a significant impact on the climate. [emphasis mine]