Two NASA managers take jobs at RPI
Fleeing the sinking ship: Two NASA managers take jobs at RPI.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Astronomers identify Earth’s first Trojan asteroid
Astronomers have spotted the first Trojan asteroid to the Earth.
The asteroid is roughly 1,000 feet (300 meters) in diameter. It has an unusual orbit that traces a complex motion near a stable point in the plane of Earth’s orbit, although the asteroid also moves above and below the plane. The object is about 50 million miles (80 million kilometers) from Earth. The asteroid’s orbit is well-defined and for at least the next 100 years, it will not come closer to Earth than 15 million miles (24 million kilometers).
Jaywalking mom gets probation but opts for new trial
The jaywalking mom whose daughter was killed by a drunk driverr, after being sentenced to one year probation, has also been given the option of a new trial.
Though I am glad for the mother, I wonder how it was possible for the judge, Katherine Tanksley, to award a new trial. First she sentenced the mother to one year of probation, then offered her the option of a new trial. If the first trial was faulty for some reason, how could she pass sentence? And if it wasn’t faulty, on what grounds could she allow another trial?
One in eight small businesses have stopped providing health insurance since Obamacare was passed
Finding out what’s in it: One in eight small businesses have stopped providing health insurance since Obamacare was passed.
One of the great “promises” of [Obamacare’s] supporters was that insured people would be able to keep their current health insurance plan. As a practical matter that has not been true for a substantial number of small employers and their employees. Since enactment, one in eight (12%) small employers have either had their health insurance plans terminated or been told that their plan would not be available in the future.
the single most expensive environmental regulation in U.S. history
we have no option but to have the Zionist regime wiped off the map.
Iran: “We have no option but to have the Zionist regime wiped off the map.”
And they will soon have nuclear weapons.
Why the Republicans revolted against their own leader’s proposed debt ceiling plan
Why the Republicans revolted against their own leader’s proposed debt ceiling plan:
The $7 billion that [was described as] “a real, enforceable cut for FY2012″ represents what the Government of the United States currently borrows every 37 hours. If the CBO’s scoring is correct – that it reduces the 2012 deficit by just $1 billion – then the ”cut” represents what the United States borrows every five hours and 20 minutes. In other words, in the time it takes to photocopy and distribute Boehner’s “plan”, the savings have all been borrowed back. [emphasis mine]
A look at the Chinese space program
A look at the Chinese space program.
ISS to be deorbited in 2020
The head of the Russian space agency said today that ISS will be deorbited in 2020, as agreed to by the governments running it.
Wanna bet? They are only now starting to do the research the station is best designed for, and learning how to live in space for years is going to take years. Come 2020, that work will hardly be done. Moreover, the impossibility of replacing ISS without a shuttle to haul up large modules and trusses will make very appealing the idea of keeping the present station in operation.
Then again, everything I just wrote is simple common sense, and who ever expected common sense from these governments?
Texas Lawmaker Calls for Probe Into Ban of Prayers at Military Funerals
A Texas lawmaker claims he went undercover and witnessed officials at a veterans cemetery try to prevent the use of the word “God” as well as a Christian prayer at a military funeral.
Culberson [the lawmaker] said the commander of the honor guard was told by cemetery officials to approach a grieving widow to reconfirm that she wanted the word God mentioned at her husband’s graveside service. “He quite correctly said as a Texan and a man of honor and integrity, ‘I’m not bothering that poor woman at this most terrible time of her life. We’re going to do the ritual,’” Culberson said. “Right in front of me, the VA directly and deliberately attempted to prevent the VFW from doing their magnificent, spiritual ritual over the grave of this fallen hero.”
What Democrats did wrong on the debt ceiling in 2010
Analysis from a liberal at the Washington Post: What Democrats did wrong on the debt ceiling in 2010.
Raising the debt ceiling is really, really unpopular. The idea that Congress should vote itself more authority to run deficits is really, really unintuitive. Even now, after many months of coverage and the most aggressive communications campaign this White House has attempted, Americans are closely split on whether we need to raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2. Whenever I try to run out the logic of Obama simply refusing to allow Republicans to take the debt ceiling hostage, I end up with us approximately where we are now, but Obama’s numbers are lower, the GOP’s numbers are higher, a number of congressional Democrats have broken ranks, and Washington elites are firmly arrayed against the White House.
ISS partners discuss how to use the space station as a test bed for missions beyond low Earth orbit.
Now why didn’t they think of this before? The ISS partners met today to discuss how to use the space station as a test bed for missions beyond low Earth orbit.
As I wrote in Leaving Earth, a space station is nothing more than a prototype interplanetary spaceship. This kind of research is really its main purpose, and I am glad that the governments running ISS are finally beginning to recognize it, even though their engineers have known it for decades. Note too that the press release above also gives a nice overview of some of the ongoing research on ISS that is directly related to learning how to survive in space for long periods.