Posts Made By: K. Michael Malolepszy

First it was Abba, now this....

It's been a long standing tradition to wake up crews with music piped up from Houston.

Did anyone catch today's (Friday / flight day 11) wake
up song/call? Probably not - was at 12:08 am CT. It was
something like "The Texas Aggie March", and they played
the whole 2 or 3 minutes of it...it was interminable...
and while it was playing, I could tell that at least one crew
member had the same reaction that I had as a kid to
something quite similar.

In my childhood, every Saturday morning (chore day)
my dad would wake everyone in the house by very loudly
playing this German Military March record - I guess it
has something to do with him being an ex-Luftwaffe...
but one of the STS-121 crew, about 15 seconds into this
Texas Aggie march, groans and croaks something to the
effect of "OK....", but the march doesn't stop...and
goes on...and on...and on.... and finally someone
almost yells, "ENOUGH!!!"

I could not help but laugh out loud - I could relate
all too well.

I wonder if that part will make it into Flight Day
Hilights....

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002800.html

Interesing posts by a Marine in Iraq.

"A Marine's-eye view of Fallujah"

Meercenaries, midgets and more, including this memorable quote:

"...Most Profound Man in Iraq - an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines (searching for Syrians) if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied "Yes, you."

The new Woodward book about the administration will keep the talking heads busy for a while...KMM

-----------------

September 29, 2006
Book Says Bush Ignored Urgent Warning on Iraq
By DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — The White House ignored an
urgent warning in September 2003 from a top Iraq
adviser who said that thousands of additional American
troops were desperately needed to quell the insurgency
there, according to a new book by Bob Woodward, the
Washington Post reporter and author. The book
describes a White House riven by dysfunction and
division over the war.

The warning is described in “State of Denial,”
scheduled for publication on Monday by Simon &
Schuster. The book says President Bush’s top advisers
were often at odds among themselves, and sometimes
were barely on speaking terms, but shared a tendency
to dismiss as too pessimistic assessments from
American commanders and others about the situation in
Iraq.

The rest at

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/washington/29account.html?hp&ex=1159588800&en=3862efd9e06a71e9&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Anyone see Rep. Barney Frank on Bill Maher? He seemed to have steamrolled over WSJ contributing editor Stephen Moore in a major way. Part of it is on this Youtube clip that has the less interesting "gay" portion at

Barney and Bill on larry Craig and gay Republicans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlyJmhwa1c0

but that wasn't even the best part. There's another 20 minutes or so where Franks lambasted the Wall Street Journal contributing editor over Bush economic policy. Moore was so out of it that it was embarrassing to watch. Below are comments (nt mine) from a couple of websites.

-----------

http://boards.hbo.com/thread.jspa?threadID=700004553&tstart=40&mod=1161462655075

Re: Stephen Moore

I recently had the opportunity to observe the Wall
Street Journal's idea of quality hiring practices. I
speak of the grossly misinformed Stephen Moore -
Editorial Board Wall Street Journal on the Real Time
with Bill Maher. The panel consisted of Stephen Moore,
Rep. Barney Frank and Actor Jason Alexander. The
entire length of the panel's discussion consisted of
the usual Bill Maher set-up quip followed by the
domination of the subject by Stephen Moore and Barney
Frank. Jason Alexander elected to sit quietly and
watch the proverbial tennis match between Frank and
Moore.

In every point offered by Maher, Stephen Moore would
brazenly offer his credibility up to the sacrificial
alter by first totally missing the point of
discussion. Barney Frank would then attempt to put the
discussion and Stephen Moore back on track to no
avail. Then when Stephen Moore couldn't support his
views with Republican acolyte word-ship wrapped in the
only blanket of protection he possessed (economics),
he was reduced to a goofy look and made to suffer the
embarrassed snickers of a better-educated audience.

I realize that an invitation to a show like Real Time
with Bill Maher was probably a chance for the reality
deprived Stephen Moore to flaunt his being a member of
the Editorial Board, but instead he raised two
questions:

Did the institution of higher learning where he
received his degree have any political science or
current events classes?

And

Does the Wall Street Journal really want a socially
arrested, politically biased, sycophant representing
the most influential economic publication on the
planet and determining it's editorial content?

I would hope The WSJ would review the videotape of the
broadcast and arrive at it's own conclusion(s).
Perhaps they could develop a "New American Standard of
Hiring Practices" by really getting to know
prospective employees through in-depth interview
questions instead of the canned questions generally
used which cannot identify a excellent candidate or
differentiate between a prospective office terrorist
and a political embarrassment.

-----------

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2006/10/bill-maher-asks-barney-frank-if-larry.html

BILL MAHER ASKS BARNEY FRANK IF LARRY CRAIG IS A
CLOSET CASE


Barney Frank (D-MA), annually voted one of the 2 or 3
smartest men in Congress in the Washingtonian poll of
Capitol Hill aides, was on FIRE on Bill Maher's TV
show the other day. Bill asked his guests what's up
with all these gay Republican officials being dragged
out of their closets. He aimed his barb particularly
at Idaho right-wing extremist and arch-homophobe Larry
Craig, a Bush rubber stamp senator who was recently
outed. Barney kind of passed on that one-- although
with great aplomb-- and then went on to the heart of
the problem. "The right to privacy should not be a
right to hypocrisy and people who want to demonize
other people shouldn't then be able to go home and
close the door and do it themselves." But he was just
getting warmed up. Watch the video.

--------------

http://nlsngrc.blogspot.com/2006/10/barney-frank-nailed-it-on-real-time.html

Barney Frank nailed it on Real Time With Bill Maher

Congressman Barney Frank (R-Massachussets) was on his
A-game on Real Time With Bill Maher Friday night. He
was strong, firm, factual, on point, unapologetic, and
refused to sit by and let guest Steve Moore of the
Wall Street editorial board spew off the GOP talking
points.

Hopefully this is only a temporary problem...

-------------

NASA Loses Contact With Mars Global Surveyor

NASA Loses Contact With Mars Global Surveyor
http://www.space.com/news/061110_mgs_missing.html

By Ker Than
Staff Writer
posted: 10 November 2006
11:24 am ET

This story was updated at 5:23 pm EST.

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft has failed to check in
with Earth for the fifth straight day in a row, after losing contact
during a routine adjustment of its solar array.

If contact is not reestablished by Saturday, NASA might try to have
another Mars-orbiting spacecraft take pictures of MGS to assess its
condition.

On Nov. 2, MGS mangers sent commands for the spacecraft to adjust the
position of one of its solar power arrays to better track the sun.
Returning data indicated a problem with the motor that moves the array,
so a backup motor and control circuitry were switched on.

No signal was received on Nov. 3 and 4, but a weak signal was received
on Nov. 5, suggesting the spacecraft had switched to a safe mode and
was awaiting further instructions from Earth. The signal cut out
completely later that day and nothing has been heard since.

Engineers think the spacecraft has performed a programmed maneuver in
which it turns its solar arrays toward the sun to maintain its power
supply. When it does this, it also reorients its entire body in the
same direction, thus making communication with Earth less effective.

"The spacecraft has many redundant systems that should help us get it
back into a stable operation, but first we need to re-establish
communications," said MGS project manager Tom Thorpe of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

It's also possible, Thorpe said, that the spacecraft was hit by a
micrometeorite, and that it's antenna was jolted out of alignment.

NASA is still trying to contact the spacecraft, because its ability to
receive commands might not be impaired. But if nothing is heard from
MSG by Saturday, NASA will ask the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
team to begin preperations late next week to take pictures of MGS in
order to assess its orientation and condition. The two spacecraft pass
within about 60 miles (100 km) of each other several times a week.

"That would help a lot to determine where we are now and what commands
we should be using," Thorpe told SPACE.com.

MGS launched towards Mars just over 10 years ago, on Nov. 7, 1996, and
marked NASA's first successful return to the red planet in two decades.
The spacecraft was originally tasked with examining Mars for a full
Martian year, roughly two Earth years. Operations were slated to end in
early 2001, but like the two Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, MGS
was continued to perform so admirably that its mission was repeatedly
extended, most recently on Oct. 1 of this year.

Since its mission formally began in 1999, MGS has returned a wealth of
data about the red planet. The spacecraft has tracked the evolution of
a dust storm, gathered information on the Martian landscape, found
compelling evidence of gullies apparently carved by flowing water, and
revealed the infamous "face on Mars," originally photographed in 1976
by Viking 1, to be nothing more than a natural landscape. It has also
taken tens of thousands of high-resolution images of Mars and performed
the first three-dimensional mapping of the planet's North Pole.

NASA Makes Plans for Permanent Moon Base

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1205/1

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/mmb/why_moon.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2699728

As posted by someone else on USENET...Mike

--------------

As posted on USENET by someone else...a site that has
*clickable* google earth major launch facilities...

http://www.geocities.com/launchreport/padsites.html

and using google maps you can find other interesting sites, too:

Google Maps:
http://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl&q=

Paste coordinates in "Search The Map" field. Click
"Search Maps",
Click "Satellite" and zoom in as far as you can.

If you can access Google Earth, just paste these
coordinates in Google Earth and enjoy.

---LAUNCH SITES---

Alcantara, Brazil
S2.318023, W44.365494 - (clouds)

Baikonur, Kazakstan
N45.9202, E63.3424 - Vostok pad

Hammaguira, Algeria
N30.875249, W3.079891 - launch area

Jiuquan, China
N40.9647, E100.2827 - Shenzhou complex

NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
N28.5862, W80.6514 - VAB

Kagoshima, Japan
N31.251086, E131.082214 - launch pad

Kapustin Yar, Russia
N48.567482, E45.907302 - launch sites?

Kodiak, Alaska, USA
N57.435919, W152.338144 - launch area

Kourou, Guiana
N5.2315, W52.7758 -launch pad? (clouds)

Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean
N9.005481, E167.726925 - launch pad

Musudan, North Korea
N40.855453, E129.665961 - launch pad

Peenemuende, Germany
N54.155986, E13.804591 - V2 launch areas

Plesetsk, Russia
N62.9277, E40.5755 - Soyuz pad

Sriharikota, India
N13.719950, E80.230371 - launch pad

Tanegashima, Japan
N30.4009, E130.9755 - H2 pad

Vandenberg AFB, California, USA
N34.5815, W120.6264 - SLC-6

NASA Wallops Island, Virginia, USA
N37.8637, W75.4889

White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA
N32.416897, W106.325220 - LC36 Apollo - Little Joe II
pad

Woomera, Australia
S30.943828, E136.520834 - launch pad

---SPACE CENTERS---

NASA Ames Research Center, Mtn View, California, USA
N37.415665, W122.062643 - Wind Tunnels

Edwards AFB, California, USA
N34.9589, W117.8835 - Shuttle/747 mount area

NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA
N29.5542, W95.0942 - Saturn V display

NASA Michoud Space Center
N30.023835, W89.920181 - Saturn V First Stage

Star City - Near Moscow, Russia
N55.880585, E38.110542

---Rocket Development Centers and Test Stands---

Arnold Engineering Development Center, Arnold AFB,
Tennessee, USA
N35.378910, W86.049740 - Rocket propulsion development

Edwards AFB, California, USA
N34.952734, W117.645504 - Minuteman development silos
(tethered
launches)
N34.942474, W117.686509 - Rocket engine test stand

Martin-Marietta - Littleton, Colorado, USA
N39.514122, W105.134594 - Titan I & II test stands
N39.512642, W105.130582 - Titan I & II test stands

Douglas Aircraft - Sacramento, Califonria, USA
N38.571456, W121.237738 - Saturn S-IVB test stand
N38.569815, W121.231561 - Saturn S-IVB test stand

NASA Stennis Space Center, near Bay St. Louis,
Mississippi, USA
N30.368936, W89.579742 - Rocket test stand
N30.360813, W89.599245 - Rocket test stand
N30.364038, W89.601989 - Rocket test stand

---Misc locations---

Alabama Space and Rocket Center
1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, AL
N34.711384, W86.654617

Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites
1624 Flight Line, Mojave Airport, Mojave Ca,
93501-1663
N35.056187, W118.159577

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center
1100 N. Plum Hutchinson, Kansas 67501
N38.065389, W97.921696

Kistler Industries Headquarters
4300 Amelia Earhart lane, Oklahoma City, OK 73159
N35.405599, W97.597533

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Interstate 90, Exit 131, 75 miles east of Rapid City,
South Dakota
N43.833518, W101.900638 - park headquarters (Tour
start)
N43.877892, W101.961933 - Launch Control Facility
Delta-01
N43.931363, W102.159746 - Launch Facility Delta-09
(missile silo)

Mythbusters workshop
c/o M5 Industries 1268 Missouri Street San Francisco,
CA 94107-3310
N37.750394, W122.395505

NASA Headquarters
300 E St SW, Washington, DC
N38.882962, W77.016370

National Air and Space Museum
6th St SW & Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20560
N38.888300, W77.019901

NASM Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, VA
20150
N38.911414, W77.444140

Orbital Sciences Headquarters
21839 Atlantic Blvd, Dulles, VA 20166
N39.012570, W77.429945

Pima Air and Space Museum
6000 E. Valencia Rd, Tucson, AZ 85706
N32.140091, W110.864767

Space X Headquarters
1310 East Grand Avenu, El Segundo, CA 90245
N33.919187, W118.402288

Titan Missile Museum
1580 W. Duval Mine Road, Sahuarita, AZ 85614
N31.903420, W110.999183
USAF Museum
Spaatz Circle, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
N39.780984, W84.110155

USAF Strategic Air and Space Museum
28210 West Park Highway, Ashland, NE 68003
N41.018204, W96.320494

USS Hornet Museum - CV12 - Apollo 11 recovery carrier
Alameda, California
N37.772681, W122.302910

--Famous Aircraft Crash sites--

X-15 Crash site near Johannesburg, CA
N35.419213,W117.602329

XB-70 Crash site north of Barstow, CA
N35.063286, W117.024474

F-104 Crash site (Joe Walker) north of Barstow, CA
N35.080573,W117.057964

YB-49 Crash site (Glenn Edwards)
N35.042555, W117.992708

Concorde crash site near Paris, France
N48.985735,E2.472095

--Buran related waypoints--

Buran Orbiter, Gorky Park, Moscow
55.728691 N, 37.596806 E

Buran Orbiter, Baikonur Space Center
45.919547 N, 63.310049 E

Building MNK-112 (N1 Assembly Bldg)
Baikonur Space Center
45.927834 N, 63.298370 E

Energia, Buran, N1 Launch Pads
45.963834 N, 63.308257 E

Buran Analog in storage in the
Sitra storage yard
of Pico Petrolium, Bahrain
(Wings & Tail separate from
main body of orbiter)

26.198346 N, 50.602956 E

Lunar Geminids

January 3, 2007: Another meteor shower, another bunch of lunar impacts...

"On Dec. 14, 2006, we observed at least five Geminid meteors hitting the Moon," reports Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, AL. Each impact caused an explosion ranging in power from 50 to 125 lbs of TNT and a flash of light as bright as a 7th-to-9th magnitude star.


More at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/03jan_lunargeminids.htm?list864576

Lunar Geminids

January 3, 2007: Another meteor shower, another bunch of lunar impacts...

"On Dec. 14, 2006, we observed at least five Geminid meteors hitting the Moon," reports Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, AL. Each impact caused an explosion ranging in power from 50 to 125 lbs of TNT and a flash of light as bright as a 7th-to-9th magnitude star.


More at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/03jan_lunargeminids.htm?list864576

January's Surprise Comet

January 4, 2007

by Roger W. Sinnott

A major comet, known as Comet McNaught or C/2006 P1,
is right now making its way through the inner solar
system. It’s already as bright as the brightest stars,
but it is also sticking close to the glare of the Sun.
For this reason the general public won’t be gathering
on street corners to gaze at it, as they did Comet
Hyakutake (in 1996) or Comet Hale-Bopp (1997). But
amateur astronomers in north-temperate latitudes, with
their observing know-how, have an excellent chance of
spotting Comet McNaught in the next week or so, very
low in the bright glow of evening twilight.

More at

http://skytonight.com/observing/home/5089276.html

Chart at

http://media.skytonight.com/images/WebVic_McNaught_525.jpg

Map at

http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html

Ephemeris at

http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/2006P1.html

http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2006P1/2006P1.html

Images at

http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2006P1/pictures.html