Flying on empty to a comet
Flying on empty to a comet.
Flying on empty to a comet.
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Flying on empty to a comet.
The new colonial movement: For the first time China has matched the U.S. in space launches. Note that though the above article implies it, the U.S. has quite often not been the yearly leader in launches, as Russia has often topped the list. Nonetheless, with China now becoming more competitive the future of space travel can only get bettter.
Oink! Scientists rail against senator who belittled research.
More TSA abuse: A rape-survivor is arrested for refusing an enhanced pat-down at Texas airport.
The space war over NASA: The continuing resolution puts NASA where it was back in February, with everything uncertain.
Our government at work: For the past seven years, Maryland has used prisoners, some with fraud and theft convictions, to process Social Security numbers and other personal information of low income residences.
An asteroid discovered more than 100 years ago is actually an extinct comet. And it is coming back to life!
Power grab! The EPA has taken from Texas regulators the permitting process for air quality on major industrial facilities.
More on that Sacramento-area pilot who is being threatened by the TSA for posting a video showing airport security flaws.
Urban caving in Berlin’s underground bunkers.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) experienced a disk controller failure on December 21, preventing it from sending near-real-time images. Unfortunately, the SDO website provides little additional information, so I can’t tell you the extent or seriousness of the problem.
Update: The problem appears to be with ground equipment. See this screen capture:
Recent monitoring of the Sun’s brightness as it went from maximum to minimum in its solar cycle has found that, surprisingly, the changes in brightness across different wavelengths do not necessarily vary in lockstep. Key quote:
SIM suggests that ultraviolet irradiance fell far more than expected between 2004 and 2007 — by ten times as much as the total irradiance did — while irradiance in certain visible and infrared wavelengths surprisingly increased, even as solar activity wound down overall. The steep decrease in the ultraviolet, coupled with the increase in the visible and infrared, does even out to about the same total irradiance change as measured by the TIM during that period, according to the SIM measurements.
The stratosphere absorbs most of the shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet light, but some of the longest ultraviolet rays (UV-A), as well as much of the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum, directly heat Earth’s lower atmosphere and can have a significant impact on the climate. [emphasis mine]
Alabama town’s failed pension is a warning.
A pilot videotapes what he thinks are serious airport security flaws and immediately gets threatened by the TSA for doing it. Key quote:
Three days after the pilot posted his airport security tour on YouTube, four federal air marshals and two sheriff’s deputies arrived at the pilot’s house, which he also recorded. They were there to confiscate his federally-issued handgun. A letter later arrived saying, “An FFDO [Federal Flight Deck Officer] must not engage in… conduct that impairs the efficiency of TSA… or causes the loss of public confidence in TSA…”
The pilot’s attorney believes the feds sent six people to the pilot’s house to send a message. “And the message was you’ve angered us by telling the truth and by showing America that there are major security problems despite the fact that we’ve spent billions of dollars allegedly to improve airline safety,” says Don Werno, the airline pilot’s attorney.
When will the left learn? A big tax hike in Oregon results instead in substantially less revenue for the state.
The uncertainty of science: Did the Martian methane signal come from Earth?
So you think NASA’s gonna get some money, eh? According the Treasury Department, the government’s debt rose by $2 trillion last year alone.
The glide tests of SpaceShipTwo have exceeded expectations, and are ahead of schedule.
Scientists have completed the IceCube neutrino observatory in Antarctica, a cubic kilometer in size and situated a mile deep in the ice.
Another scheme to stop a dangerous asteroid: Use a flotilla of solar sails to divert Apophis.
How close to the Sun could we get?
The space war will continue until March: Unable to pass a real budget, Congress has instead passed a continuing resolution that, among everything else, freezes NASA’s budget at 2010 numbers through the spring.
More evidence that the American government manned spaceflight program is dying: NASA is considering a merger of its Exploration and Operations directorates. Without a shuttle, there really is no need for Operations.
According to a statistical analysis, scientists predict the discovery of Earth’s twin in 2011.
Note that I reported this story three months ago, on September 13!
So what happens when California goes bankrupt?
Alan Stern, project scientist of NASA’s mission to Pluto, New Horizons, gives his perspective ten years after the start of the project.
Repeal the damn bill! How Obamacare is hastening the bankruptcy of state governments. Key quote:
If state Medicaid spending increases by 41 percent as projected by [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], then by next year Medicaid could end up consuming nearly 30 percent of the average state budget. Medicaid would greatly exceed all other state priorities, including education, which tops state budgets at about 22 percent. In fact, state spending on education would experience certain cuts next year. [emphasis mine]
The first flight to test the taste of beer in microgravity has been delayed until February due to poor weather.
Resisting the power grab: Automakers sue the EPA over its new ethanol regulations allowing the sale of gasoline with 15% ethanol.