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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
I’ve heard from different sources that the permits to build or renovate near LA are backlogged 2 to 5 years “before” the fire. These fires are following the same playbook as they used in Hawaii… No water, no power, windy conditions, no responsibility. The residents can expect strict rules as they did in Hawaii for no access to the property’s, as they bulldoze and create New infrastructure for a County of 15 minute city’s of the future. (but only allowing 19th century technology in transportation and power… to save the planet don’t you know) The fires have emitted so much carbon into the air, they must offset this by consuming zero carbon for the next 50 years. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain, all that ash and toxins will wash into the ocean and kill of all the fish!
Seriously, this is so sad… It’s unbelievable in this day and age is something like this could happen… Again… And again.