Category: Points of Information

Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.

Two old unused Soviet Almaz space stations sold to private company

4:28 pm

Two old unused Soviet Almaz space stations have been sold to a private company and have arrived in their new home on the Isle of Man. Key quote:

The stations will be initially stored in Jurby, but there plans for research, testing and possible launch into orbit.

For those who do not know, the Almaz station was built in the 1970s by the Soviet Union to do manned military reconnaissance. Two manned Almaz stations were eventually flown, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5. The station hull itself became the fundamental module for all subsequent Soviet/Russian stations, including Mir and ISS.

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TSA bans bikini woman for ‘unusual contour’ around buttocks

1:54 pm

A woman in a wheelchair — whom the TSA had previously interrogated for an hour then denied her entry when she arrived at the airport in a bikini — was later refused entrance when she arrived fully clothed because of an “unusual contour” around her buttocks. Key quote:

Banovac offered to strip for the agents to prove that she’s not hiding anything. However, since TSA agents aren’t allowed to fully undress a passenger, they had no choice but to deny her access to her flight.

Does one get the feeling that the TSA agents are out to get this woman because she makes them look like fools?

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University of Virginia resists releasing climate documents

1:13 pm

Another whitewash? The University of Virginia is resisting releasing a variety of climate documents being requested under the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Key quote:

In response to a previous FOIA request, U.Va. denied these records existed. However, during Cuccinelli’s pre-investigation under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (“FATA”), a 2007 law passed unanimously by Virginia’s legislature, which clearly covers the work of taxpayer-funded academics, U.Va. stunningly dropped this stance.

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Root cause of tank cracks possibly found

10:10 am

NASA engineers think they might have found the root cause of the cracks that have been appearing on the shuttle external tank. The cracks appear on structural units called stringers. Key quote:

“Some material used for the stringers was found to be ‘mottled,’ with a different surface appearance than the standard material. Testing revealed this mottled material had lower fracture toughness than the nominal material and exhibited unstable crack growth. All of the cracks found during tanking as well as cracks fixed during manufacturing were located on stringers made with this mottled material.”

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Engineers considering repairs to shuttle tank

10:22 am

NASA engineers are considering giving Discovery’s external tank the equivalent of a girdle in order to keep it from developing more cracks during launch. Key quote:

If that decision is made, it is unlikely NASA could complete the work, repair the tank’s foam insulation and get Discovery back out to the launch pad in time to support a launch attempt during the next available window, which opens Feb. 3 and closes Feb. 10. Work to beef up all 108 stringers at the top of the intertank almost certainly would delay Discovery’s launch on a space station resupply mission to the next available window, which opens Feb. 27 and closes in early March.

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