Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
The first of two ARTEMIS spacecraft has successfully entered lunar orbit.
Dawn’s approach to Vesta continues.
Starting at the beginning of the approach phase on May 3, Dawn interrupted thrusting once a week to photograph Vesta against the background stars. These images help navigators determine exactly where the probe is relative to its target. This technique does not replace other means of navigation but rather supplements them. One of the principal methods of establishing the spacecraft’s trajectory relies on accurately timing how long it takes radio signals, traveling, as all readers know, at the universal limit of the speed of light, to make the round trip between Earth and Dawn. Another uses the Doppler shift of the radio waves, or the slight change in pitch caused by the craft’s motion. These sensitive measurements remain essential to navigating the faraway ship as it sails the interplanetary seas.
Despite the very slow approach, the distance is small enough now that observing Vesta weekly is no longer sufficient. To achieve the navigational accuracy required to reach the intended orbit in early August, last week the frequency of imaging was increased to twice per week. In each session, half of the pictures are taken with long exposures to ensure many stars are detectable, thus overexposing the much brighter disc of the nearby Vesta. The other half use short exposures to ensure that the rocky world shows up correctly so its precise location can be measured. The visible and infrared mapping spectrometer has been commanded to observe Vesta during three of these sessions, each time providing valuable information that will help scientists select instrument settings for when Dawn is close enough to begin its detailed scientific measurements.
Secret treasure found in temple in India could be worth $10 billion.
And here are the results: A Wisconsin school district has gone from failure to success as a result of the new law limited union power.
The Kaukauna School District, in the Fox River Valley of Wisconsin near Appleton, has about 4,200 students and about 400 employees. It has struggled in recent times and this year faced a deficit of $400,000. But after the law went into effect, at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn that $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. And it’s all because of the very provisions that union leaders predicted would be disastrous.
A man who correctly refused to hand over his video of an arrest and then was arrested himself for his refusal has been acquitted of all charges.
And I say fire the cops who did this, as they very clearly do not understand the law they are supposed to uphold, and then abuse the power that they have been given.
The law is such an inconvenient thing: Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) confirmed yesterday that the White House is considering simply ignoring debt limit should no agreement be reached in Congress.
The Minnesota state government shut down on Friday over budget and taxes.
“We have divided government, and a governor that believes that he has a mandate to raise taxes and increase spending, and we have a Legislature that believes we should cut taxes and reduce spending,” said House Majority Leader Matt Dean. “It is a sort of a microcosm, in the middle of the country, of what’s going on throughout the nation.”
The history of the space shuttle in photos. Hat tip Clark Lindsey.
Astronaut Mark Kelly says he won’t run for political office, leaving politics to his wife, Gabrielle Giffords.
It was a terrible tragedy that Giffords was so seriously injured in the Tucson shooting in January. However, I am completely baffled why people think this incident has somehow elevated the qualifications of both her and her husband for higher office. How does getting shot in the head make you a better leader/executive? It is absurd. If anything, this injury should sadly force us to question her ability to continue in office. As for her husband, mere name recognition isn’t enough. I respect him for recognizing that and bowing out.
More delays for the James Webb Space Telescope?
Battle of the browsers: Internet Explorer continues to lose market share to Chrome, Firefox, and others.
The pigs begin squealing again: According to a report written by a D.C. advocacy group, the national parks face serious problems due to a lack of sufficient funds.
It’s never enough. The National Park Service budget [pdf] has grown from $2.5 billion in 2003 to $3.1 billion in 2011. At the same time, they have increased fees on all public lands, often introducing fees where none had ever existed before.
Somehow, they managed for decades on smaller budgets. At this time of unimaginable federal debt, I have no sympathy for them, despite the fact that I am a passionate lover of the natural wonders contained in the national parks.
Seems a bit long to me: NASA foresees a two year period after the last shuttle lands to retire the program completely.
The world’s longest sea bridge opened in China yesterday. With some cool images.
The families of the Challenger astronauts come out in favor of commercial private manned spaceflight.
We’ve got to repeal this piece of crap: Starting in 2014, Obamacare will punish those who work and those who are married.
A computer chess program has been stripped of its four titles and its programmer banned because of accusations of plagiarism.
An independent panel of scientists has found that a $1.4 billion plan put forth by environmentalists to save the salmon of the northwest by destroying four hydroelectric dams and restricting water use was based on junk science.
According to the just-released 350-page assessment, funded by the Fish and Wildlife Service, experts expressed “strong reservations” that the expensive effort could significantly increase the Chinook salmon population in the Klamath River system. . . . The report also states, “There are many pieces of information we do not know about the Klamath system, and none we know with absolute certainty. The process of developing the model, trying to reproduce historical conditions … must be internally consistent.”
Hooray for imperialism! In a poll Jamaicans overwhelming long for the return of British colonial rule.
A report on the first tests of the LightSquared wireless service says that it will produce widespread interference to GPS systems, especially for aviation. LightSquared meanwhile has told the FCC the problem is the fault of the GPS industry.
Who wins? NJ legislature has passed a ban on fracking for natural gas, while NY has moved to lift its ban.
Mysterious bubble of light, caused by military suborbital rocket, captured by Hawaii telescopes.
A “dirty hack” has restored the Cluster solar wind mission from near loss.
NASA is suing Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell over camera ownership.
The Japanese solar sail Ikaros continues to function, more than 100 million miles from Earth.
This is funny: Obama’s attack of corporate tax breaks for private jets was an attack on something actually reauthorized by his stimulus package.
The law is such an inconvenient thing: The Obama administration gave an almost $80,000 grant to the largest branch of a renamed ACORN, despite a Congressional prohibition.
