NASA, SpaceX Sending Humans to an Asteroid

Recently, NASA developed a plan to send a crew of astronauts to an Earth-approaching asteroid, called Prospects for Future Human Space Flight Missions to Near-Earth Asteroids. The plan has its origins in a speech delivered by President Obama at the Kennedy Space Center in 2010.

Obama’s remarks were meant to quell a firestorm he created when he canceled the Constellation Program, the last attempt to go back to the moon. As a consolation prize, he proposed sending a crew of astronauts to an Earth-approaching asteroid before launching a crewed expedition to Mars. The new proposal, not yet funded, is an updated version of the Obama plan, using the SpaceX Starship instead of an Orion launched from a Space Launch System rocket.

The Obama proposal was not a serious one. It quickly devolved into something called the Asteroid Redirect Mission, which envisioned diverting a small asteroid or maybe a boulder from an asteroid into lunar orbit, where it would be visited by an Orion with a crew. No one took the idea seriously.

Dr. Richard Binzel of MIT, one of the world’s leading experts in small, celestial bodies such as asteroids and comets, was especially scornful. Instead, he suggested a survey of Earth-approaching asteroids, some of which might prove to be a threat to Earth.

The Asteroid Redirect Mission died a quick and unlamented death when President Trump assumed office and started the Artemis program that redirected NASA to send astronauts back to the moon before sending crewed expeditions to Mars. Unlike previous attempts to return to the moon, Artemis has met with considerable technical and political success. Artemis 1, an uncrewed mission around the moon, succeeded brilliantly.

President Biden, soon after assuming office, made Artemis his own. A crew has been selected for the Artemis II circumlunar mission to take place no earlier than late 2024.  READ MORE...

Books

 

AMERICA: A Declining Nation - part II

 The US of America was once the number one nation in the world economically, militarily, educationally, healthcare, democratic freedoms, and quality of life BUT NO MORE...

• Our military is weak and smaller than the military of China which includes, naval ships, soldiers, air crafts, and support vehicles.
• Our educational system (K-12) is now ranked 15th in the world instead of number 1.  Businesses are reporting that college graduates are coming out of college without the proper knowledge.
• Our healthcare system which includes pharmaceuticals is above average but incredibly costly for the average American.
• Our social programs are still not the best in the world but are very costly to maintain which is increasing our NATIONAL DEBT.  The debt also includes Social Security and Medicare.
• Our criminal justice systems favors the wealthy and whites to the expense of other minorities.
• Our larger cities are playgrounds for and hotbeds of crime and violence.
• Our national security system cannot stop the flow of illegal drugs into the country.
• Our politicians are corrupt and care more about their re-elections than solving problems.
• Our idiotic rush to green energy is not only destroying our strong economy but also destroying the middle class.

Most of the people in this country will tell you that they favor moving into a green energy enviornment but want to do so gradually.  Haste makes Waste... as Benjamin Franklin used to say.

• A few daring journalists reported that the USA did not have the infrastructure to support electric vehicles but no one listened.
• A few daring journalists have reported that it cost more to recharge an EV than it does to fill up a vehicle with gasoline.
• A few daring journalists have reported that moving away from fossil fuels took us away from being energy independent. (costly).

Not only has the US of America lost its energy independence but it has also lost the respect from the rest of the world except our closest allies in Europe.

OPEC (largely composed of Middle Eastern Countries but now includes Venezuela and Russia HATES the USA...

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) HATES the USA...

Saudi Arabia and numerous other nations have declared that they will no longer use the US dollar when they trade internationally...

Note:  without the support of the rest of the world, how strong is the USA really?

CHINA has declared publicly that they will defeat the USA economically...

CHINA's GDP in the next couple of years will be larger that the GDP of the USA...

CHINA owns ONE THIRD of all USA debt...

Do you really think the US of America is going to come out from under?

Wealthy people hide their money from taxes.  If the US of America increases taxes, it will not be on the wealthy.

If the US of America continues to grow its social programs, it can only do so at the expense of the military.

Will Europe or NATO really come to our aid if BRICS, lead by China, attacks us?

Attention

 

Hypersonic Missiles on Russian Submarines

Alexei Rakhmanov, President of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, delivers a speech during a farewell ceremony as Russia's floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov leaves the service base of Rosatomflot company for a journey along the Northern Sea Route to Chukotka from Murmansk, Russia August 23, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Acquire Licensing Rights 

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Russia is in the process of equipping its new nuclear submarines with hypersonic Zircon missiles, the head of Russia's largest shipbuilder told the RIA state news agency in an interview published on Monday.

"Multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the Yasen-M project will ... be equipped with the Zircon missile system on a regular basis," , Alexei Rakhmanov, chief executive officer of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), told RIA. "Work in this direction is already underway."

Yasen-class submarines, also known as Project 885M, are nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines, built to replace Soviet-era nuclear attack submarines as part of a programme to modernise the army and fleet.

The sea-based Zircon hypersonic missiles have a range of 900 km (560 miles), and can travel at several times the speed of sound, making it difficult to defend against them.

President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year that Russia would start mass supplies of Zircon missiles as part of the country's efforts to boost its nuclear forces.

The Russian multi-purposes frigate Admiral Gorshkov, which has tested its strike capabilities in the western Atlantic Ocean earlier this year, has been already equipped with Zircon missiles.

Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

String Theory

 

One Party Rule

The US of A is a Democratic Republic which is based upon a two party (or more) system of government and rule of the people through elected officials.  All of this is spelled out in our constitution and then our Bill of Rights gives powers to the people that other countries do not have such as the right to bear arms and freedom of speech.

All of this is taught to students at some point in time during their K-12 free education.

I say free education because educating the people IS NOT a function of government.

Our Democratic Republic not only pays for this education, but it pays for unemployment, medicare, social security, transportation, etc.  Having the government pay for programs it is not required to provide, is a form of SOCIALISM...

Foundations of a Democracy
The American concept of democracy — what we believe democracy means — rests on five essential tenets: (1) The fundamental worth and dignity of every person; (2) The equality of all persons; (3) Faith in majority rule and, in equal measure, an insistence upon minority rights; (4) The necessity of political compromise.

CURRENTLY,

the Democratic Party is trying to silence the Republican Party to the extent that members of that party never become President again and that party never again has a majority in the House or the Senate (Congress).

If the Democratic Party can achieve this goal, then they would also be put into situation where they would control all the judges in the country as well as the Supreme Court.

The Democratic Party would never have any opposition of any kind except that from within its own party.

Consequently, the US of A would NO LONGER be a Democratic Republic and the Constitution and Bill of Rights would no longer be applicable.



Which system has only one political party?
Some one-party states are considered dictatorships and called a police state or a military dictatorship, if a secret police force or the military is used to keep a dictator in power through force. The one-party system is also a common trait of communist Marxist-Leninist and fascist political philosophies.

What is a One Party State?
Is a country where a single political party controls the government, either by law or in practice. Examples of one-party states include North Korea, China, Eritrea, and Cuba.

For much of the 20th century, many of the one-party states were communist-run, including the Soviet Union and its eastern European satellite countries. In communist countries, the party is the ideological engine; Marxist doctrine calls for the dictatorship of the proletariat to be in charge as society transitions from capitalism to pure socialism.

So real power in communist societies rests with party leaders, typically the first secretary, rather than with the head of state. Ruling communist parties exert a stranglehold over their citizens through propaganda, censorship, reeducation camps, and other forms of indoctrination.

Officials who do not follow the party line face expulsion from the party and worse. In the 1930s and through World War II (1939–45), there were also one-party states run by fascists, such as Nazi Germany, Italy, and Spain, although the party didn’t play the same dominant ideological role in those countries that the party does in communist-run countries. SOURCE: Britannica

What Annoys Me

Every once in a while, I will see an article in the news, not sure which news service it is, but its source is online...  and, the article addresses a popular singer or a popular movie star or a popular athlete and how they have been diagnosed with cancer...  and, how sad that is for them...  I guess it is sad because they are a CELEBRITY...

Obviously, the journalist writing this article, has no idea how many people each year in the US of A that are diagnosed with cancer...  and, that diagnosis is equally sad for them and their family as well even though they are not a celebrity.

Obviously, this journalist who wrote this article is not aware of all the children that are diagnosed each year with cancer, many of which will die within the next few years.  That is also sad.

Why does this bother me?

I have no desire to become a celebrity...  let me make that clear and I have no desire for recognition or sympathy...  but, I have been fighting cancer for over 15 years and no one except my immediate family knows or cares.

There are literally thousands of people like me...  but for some reason, these journalists only care about the celebrities with cancer not the average Americans.

And, this is what annoys me about this country of ours.  We only pay attention to celebrities and the wealthy even though the all the rest of the Americans are the ones who made them a celebrity or wealthy.

When is AMERICA going to start caring about the AVERAGE AMERICAN???

Blue Collar Anthem

 

Dinner

 

Two Legged Robots with AI Brains

When Fourier Intelligence unveiled its lanky, jet-black humanoid robot GR-1 at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai in July, it instantly stole the show.

While the global technology community has been fixated on artificial intelligence (AI) software since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November, the Chinese-made GR-1 - said to be capable of walking on two legs at a speed of 5km an hour while carrying a 50kg load - reminded people of the potential of bipedal robots, which are being pursued by global companies from Tesla to Xiaomi.

For Fourier, a Shanghai-based start-up, GR-1 was an unlikely triumph.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

"It is an unprecedented attempt by us - we barely had any reference when it came to the technology," Alex Gu, founder and chief executive of Fourier, said in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post in the Chinese financial capital.

Fourier's focus has not always been on humanoid robots. Named after the 19th-century French mathematician and physicist Joseph Fourier, the company was originally set up in 2015 in Shanghai's tech hub Zhangjiang with the aim of developing rehabilitation robotics.

The firm's current products include a smart exercise bike, a wireless robotic glove and a series of computer-guided contraptions that help users restore movement in their arms and legs.

But just like many of his peers, 42-year-old Gu, a mechanical engineering graduate from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, had long dreamed about creating his own humanoid robot.  READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

AMERICA: A Declining Nation

 At the end of WWII, the USA had the only industrial economy that had not been destroyed.  Consequently, the USA had to rebuild the rest of the world.  As a result of rebuilding the rest of the world, we became the STRONGEST country in the world.  The citizens that made it possible for the USA to accomplish this, immigrated from Europe decades ago to live in a country that believed in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In 1950, the USA had:

1. the strongest economy
2. the strongest military
3. the most robust agricultural system
4. the best education (K-12 and higher)
5. the best medical system
6. the best technology
7. the best research and development
8. the best rule of law
9. the most freedom for its citizens
10. the best political system

In the 1960s, Japan was the first nation to economically challenge the USA in the automotive and electronics industries.  I can remember seeing a documentary entitled:  IF JAPAN CAN, WHY CAN'T WE?

I am not sure when it started, but I would speculate that it was in the 1960s when it started but whenever it started, the USA CHANGED...

• We became politically corrupt
• Our business leaders became corrupt
• Our educational systems started to decline
• Our judicial system favored the wealthy
• Our law enforcement system became BIASE
• Built in obsolescent dictated our manufacturing policy
• Politicians cared more about re-election that making the USA better
• Government became bigger and bigger
• Government began offering more social programs
• The USA wanted the rest of the world to incorporate our brand of democracy

GREED - POWER - WEALTH began to dictate direction in all aspects of life in the USA...

TODAY...  the liberals want to completely silence the conservatives by censoring their opinion through the mainstream media...

TODAY...  ABC, NBC, CNN, and CBS fail to report any story that goes against the liberal points of view.

TODAY...  Facebook, Twitter, and other social media giants remove comments off their platforms because they say the comments are DISINFORMATION.

Who gave them the right to CENSOR our freedom of speech rights?

TODAY... the liberal party has decided to move our economy towards green energy regardless of that movement destroying our economy.

TODAY...  the liberals want to spend less and less money on the military so that we are no longer a global military power.

TODAY...  the liberals are pushing BLM, CRT, WOKE, and the Cancel Culture despite the fact that 50% of Americans are AGAINST their direction - that doesn't matter because they are in power.

TODAY...  our education system (K-12) is ranked number 15th in the world...  down from NUMBER ONE.

TODAY...  our judicial system is so corrupt that it only favors the wealthy or the bias.  District Attorneys want to make sure that our prisons have just as many whites incarcerated as blacks, regardless of the crimes committed.

Live Life

Life on Mars Likely

The mystery of life’s origins on Earth has long puzzled scientists, but a recent discovery on Mars might be shedding new light on this profound question, while also inching closer to finding life on Mars.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has uncovered a patchwork of well-preserved ancient mud cracks, forming a distinctive hexagonal pattern, signaling the presence of wet-dry cycles on early Mars. These cycles could be key to the assembly of complex chemical building blocks necessary for microbial life.

A study published in Nature elaborates on the importance of this discovery. The lead author, William Rapin of France’s Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, expressed his excitement, stating, “These particular mud cracks form when wet-dry conditions occur repeatedly – perhaps seasonally.”

Mud cracks named “Pontours”
Curiosity’s ongoing exploration of Mount Sharp, which stands 5 kilometers high in Gale Crater, has brought about this groundbreaking revelation. 

In 2021, after drilling a sample from a rock target nicknamed “Pontours,” located in a transitional zone between a clay-rich layer and a layer enriched with salty minerals called sulfates, the rover spotted these telling mud cracks.  READ MORE...

Wildfires in Maui Update

 

GREED

All free-market enterprise system economies or CAPITALISM is predicated upon GREED...  without greed, economies WILL NOT GROW but if by chance they do grow, they will grow slowly and methodically.

If greed is present in SOCIALISM then it is up to the government to fulfill that greed, not necessarily the businesses as would be the case in a capitalistic society.  Greed could then become a problem.

The USA, while a democratic republic with a capitalistic society, does incorporate a bunch of socialistic programs such as:  unemployment insurance, social security, medicare, public transportation, police and fire protection, water and sewer, etc.

However, greed is still necessary to push the economy forward.  Therefore, pushing students to go to college after high school, is the foundation of this greed.  With a college degree they can demand a higher salary and spend more money.

Companies can only survive if they can sell their products...  so, all advertising and marketing is designed to convince people to buy what they don't need or necessarily want.

Get life insurance instead of investing the money yourself...  Life insurance only works, if you die sooner than expected...  and the sooner the better, otherwise you give the insurance company more money than they get back.

Buy a new car...

Buy a new house...

Buy car protection just in case...

Buy home protection just in case...

Buy warranties just in case...

Buy new clothes...

Buy more new clothes...

Go on an expensive vacation...

BUY...  BUY...  BUY...

When you are buying a warranty, it is because you perceive that the product you are buying was manufactured incorrectly and may not work properly....  what then is wrong with our manufacturing process?

Buy from a manufacturer that has QUALITY and does not need a WARRANTY.

Selling you what you don't need is based upon the fact that you are either lazy or stupid or BOTH...

Wake up America...  economies are designed not to help you but to take your money...

Only buy what you need...

Only buy on sale...

Don't buy new cars...

GET SMART AMERICA...

Maui Fires

 

Ancient Roman Boat Found in Serbia

The wooden remains and the layers of sand above them were damp, indicating the wreck was protected by moisture from the air. (Image credit: Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade)



Coal miners in Serbia have discovered the remains of a large wooden boat likely used by the Romans to supply a nearby city and military headquarters on the empire's frontier.


Archaeologists are waiting for radiocarbon dates of wood from the remains, but they think it may be from the third or fourth centuries A.D. They suggest the ancient vessel carried supplies along small rivers between the Danube River and the Roman city of Viminacium about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) away, which was established early in the first century A.D.

The ancient wreck was unearthed in late July at the Drmno surface coal mine near Kostolac, about 30 miles (50 km) east of Belgrade.
The wooden remains were buried in a layer of silt about 25 feet (8 meters) below the surface. The mine's coal seam is reached by cutting away the topsoil with a mechanical digger, and the wreck was found on the wall of the cutting.  READ MORE...

Advice