JPL shuts down due to threat from California fires
In a tweet posted yesterday, the head of JPL announced that all operations have been shut down because of the growing threat from the wildfires that are devastating the Los Angeles region.
JPL is closed except for emergency personnel. No fire damage so far (some wind damage) but it is very close to the lab. Hundreds of JPLers have been evacuated from their homes & many have lost homes.
If these fires should reach the center and do significant damage, a number of on-going space missions will be severely impacted, since those missions, such as the two Mars rovers, are operated from this location.
And this possibility exists, in this new dark age. The Democratic Party governments of Los Angeles and California have done everything they can in the past two decades to block fire prevention, from not managing the brush in the mountains to cutting funding to their fire departments to refusing to supply sufficient water to their fire hydrant system. This last action, which also included destroying dams, eliminating reservoirs, and refusing to replace them, is the most despicable. It appears firefighters throughout Los Angeles have been helpless because the hydrants have been dry. Thus, the fires burn out of control.
If the nearby fire reaches JPL we shall face the possibility that several major on-going space missions could suddenly end.
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In a tweet posted yesterday, the head of JPL announced that all operations have been shut down because of the growing threat from the wildfires that are devastating the Los Angeles region.
JPL is closed except for emergency personnel. No fire damage so far (some wind damage) but it is very close to the lab. Hundreds of JPLers have been evacuated from their homes & many have lost homes.
If these fires should reach the center and do significant damage, a number of on-going space missions will be severely impacted, since those missions, such as the two Mars rovers, are operated from this location.
And this possibility exists, in this new dark age. The Democratic Party governments of Los Angeles and California have done everything they can in the past two decades to block fire prevention, from not managing the brush in the mountains to cutting funding to their fire departments to refusing to supply sufficient water to their fire hydrant system. This last action, which also included destroying dams, eliminating reservoirs, and refusing to replace them, is the most despicable. It appears firefighters throughout Los Angeles have been helpless because the hydrants have been dry. Thus, the fires burn out of control.
If the nearby fire reaches JPL we shall face the possibility that several major on-going space missions could suddenly end.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Derrick Evans @DerrickEvans4WV
Think the fires are bad?
Wait until the people who lost everything find out FEMA ran out of money because they literally gave it to illegals.
https://x.com/DerrickEvans4WV/status/1876880803705078190
TAKING CARE OF THEIR BUSINESS, NOT YOURS
“Compounding the problem is the leadership of Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, a DEI hire whose tenure has been marked by a focus on LGBTQ initiatives rather than firefighting readiness. Crowley, who identifies as a lesbian, has been vocal about promoting diversity within the department but has faced criticism for prioritizing identity politics over operational efficiency. As the fire rages, her leadership has come under intense scrutiny.”
https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/taking-care-of-their-business-not-yours
Even FDR men would have been shocked at this.
Mt Wilson Observatory has webcams But appear offline,showing old data. That hill is nearly consumed.
For Californians, it is even worse. Due to previous fires and the unpreparedness of the fire departments and their resources, insurance companies have raised rates drastically, refused to insure thousands of homes and businesses, or have left the state (or are in the process of abandoning California). Some or many of those who have lost houses or businesses may not have the insurance coverage to rebuild. The loss of Paradise was bad enough, a few years ago, but now Los Angeles (or rather the nearby cities) are burning down, too.
The past ten or fifteen years have shown that California has failed to prevent wildfires or has allowed them to get wildly out of control. The state points the finger not at poor policy but at Pacific Gas and Electric company, claiming that they are the cause of fires, but the truth is that policy has forbade PG&E from clearing trees and other fire sources. It isn’t only insurance rates that are rising but so are PG&E’s electricity rates.
A couple of years ago, we almost lost the observatory on Mt. Wilson, which is still used for solar observation and other nighttime astronomy. That wildfire got too close for comfort.
As California goes, so goes the nation. That was a good thing, back when the adults were running the state. Now it is a terrifying thought.