Space Flight by Light (Solar Sail)

"

The Planetary Society is preparing to launch a tiny satellite into orbit later this month as the first phase in testing a solar sail as a means of spacecraft propulsion — an idea that has been kicking around in the science (and science-fiction) literature for at least a century.

The satellite, LightSail, no larger than a loaf of bread, is contained within the somewhat larger Prox-1 satellite developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is scheduled to liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket on May 20.

The concept states that if a large enough, kite-like "sail" can be deployed in space, the pressure exerted by particles streaming from the the Sun (known as the "solar wind") could be used to push a spacecraft along, much the same way that a sailing vessel is propelled when heading downwind.

The first LightSail won't reach a high enough orbit to try out the sail in the solar wind, but it should be able to test the mechanism for deploying the 345-square foot tissue-thin Mylar sail. A mission set for next year should put a second LightSail in a high enough orbit to fully test the concept.

A decade ago, the Planetary Society, the non-profit founded by the late Carl Sagan and now headed by Bill Nye ("The Science Guy"), made its first attempt to launch a solar sail, but the satellite was lost when the Russian launch vehicle it was on failed to reach orbit."



http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/05/09/405506717/planetary-society-set-to-launch-solar-sail-experiment

Freddie Gray: a death unchallenged

The unjustified death of Freddie Gray cannot go unchallenged. This is a call for non-violent civil disobedience across the nation. It is evident the Police are covering up what occurred in this case. A person's neck does not spontaneously separate from one's spine, the condition the Police left Freddie Gray in resulting in his death. I am outraged!

"Baltimore 25-year-old Freddie Gray died of a severe spinal cord injury after police arrested him.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/us/baltimore-freddie-gray-death/

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-mysterious-death-of-freddie-gray/391119/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/20/baltimore-police-freddie-gray-arrested-without-force-or-incident-before-fatal-injury

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/another-mans-death-another-round-of-questions-for-the-police-in-baltimore.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/baltimore-police-officers-suspended-in-freddie-gray-inquiry-are-identified.html

Asteroid Within 745,000 Miles of Earth

A massive asteroid is set to safely pass Earth Monday. According to NASA scientists, the asteroid 2004 BL86 is approximately 1,500 feet across and will come closest to Earth at 11:19 a.m. ET.

The asteroid will be approximately 745,000 miles away - about three times the distance between the earth and the moon.

Experts at NASA's Near Earth Object Program believe the asteroid will not be visible to the naked eye. The asteroid is expected to be visible through small telescopes and strong binoculars.

The asteroid was discovered in 2004, and Monday's pass is believed to be the closest the asteroid will come to Earth for the next 200 years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/massive-asteroid-2004-bl86-pass-745000-miles-earth/story?id=28478510

BE ENCOURAGED MY FRIENDS

I have heard the name Juanita Bynum, however I was no fan until I encountered her sincere powerful divinely led message.

The George Zimmermann Verdict

A Florida jury has found George Zimmermann not guilty in the murder trial of Trayvon Martin.
The jury of six also finds Zimmermann not guilty of all lesser charges including manslaughter.

While I continue to follow this matter I would like to add additional perspective. Our President Barack Obama has called for calm throughout the nation, the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General Holder has initiated a federal investigation. It is my opinion in this matter the United States system of justice has failed. This creates parameters for which the community and Martin family might respond with civil suit, non-violent civil disobedience, and revision to stand your ground law.

The Jury: Made up of five Caucasian females and one Hispanic female. Even though in the State of Florida diversity is the norm, in Seminole County approximately 80%  of the population is Caucasian. The jury in this case after reviewing their statements upon the cases' closing are very sympathetic to George Zimmermann. This makes me very uncomfortable that race indeed was an underlying factor. Which does not imply racism, however demographics in the United States and the prism through which people looked impacted this case.

The Defense: Mark O'Mara and Don West won the defense battle.

The Prosecution: failed from the start by charging then designing their case under murder two. This clearly is a manslaughter case. The prosecution was asleep until attempting to come back during final arguments when it occurred to them their case was lost. Charges can be brought if a persons actions results in wrongful or accidental death, evidence is sufficient to prove such. Why did the prosecution peg Zimmermann as a cold blooded murderer instead of  a person who made a stupid decision which resulted in the death of a minor?

Contradictions: The stand your ground law is a problem in this case. Trayvon Martin was followed by Zimmermann, Trayvon was aware of this which he why he was turning to be aware of his surroundings. Trayvon exercised his right to stand his ground, as he was not engaged in unlawful activity. In can be stated that neither Martin nor Zimmermann knew each other's intent. In my view Trayvon Martin being a minor was at a greater level of threat. After observing George Zimmermann give his account of what had happened I believe he lied about two crucial points: the gun and the screams for help. I believe Zimmermann pulled his gun earlier than stated which compelled Trayvon Martin to scream, entering an instinctive fight or flight mode to defend himself. Zimmermann's body language, ton of voice changes when providing statements about "holstering and upholstering" his gun.
There is a lot of discussion about who was on top, but in all reality, does it matter?

Civil Rights Law: I'm not an attorney. historically civil rights law has served as a deterrent placed on private business and public institutions who may engage in discrimination. It has had little impact on the actions and beliefs of individuals. To try this case under civil rights law is an almost impossible feat. The Supreme Court has recently weakened civil rights legislation. Looking at this matter simply as one of civil rights is a misguided approach based on emotion rather than prudence. Why not in addition seek civil suit for wrongful and/or accidental death?

The Soul Seekers ft. Marvin Winans "It's All God" Official Music Video

Support Florida's Wildlife Corridor

http://www.floridawildlifecorridor.org/about-expedition/

The Trayvon Martin Murder

"Trayvon Martin, a 17 year African American youth, star athelete from Sanford, Florida was shot and killed by a white hispanic man while innocently walking too a friends's residence. 911 taps sound Trayvon's screams for help before being murdered. The murderer a Mr. Zimmermann.

Florida's stand your ground law the defense posture Mr. Zimmermann is using which is at best questionable and is equally applicable to the Martin families justification for Trayvon Martin walking through this neighborbood, as phone records indicate he was traveling to visit a friend who resides in the community, and fact that he was approached aggressively by Mr. Zimmermann, in this situation if you were Trayvon Martin would you not stand your ground or run? In the State of Florida the law no longer calls for you to flea if possible but stand your ground. Furthermore Mr. Martin having no weapons, being younger and of smaller stature than Mr. Zimmermann certainly has no quilt in this case. The best alternative defense for Mr. Zimmermann is to plend insanity for having such a grave misperception of his role as simple neighborhood watch volunteer. It is clear Mr. Zimmermann lesser charge is manslaugther. "

Sanford Statistics: http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/sanford/crime/



Comments

Racist remark or not this idiot killed an
unarmed kid.

kelli •
9 hours
ago
How can they "stand by their investigation"
when one never took place?


J • 9 hours
ago
Really does it matter what nationality
Zimmerman is? And would it be less ridiculous if this were a white kid from a
rich family? Some idiot (regardless of race) shot and killed an unarmed kid
(regardless of race). They need to jack the jail up and throw him under
it!

Chivariak •
San Antonio,
Texas • 9 hours
ago
Put yourself in the shoes of both. One was
an innocent kid going home and the other a paranoid and perhaps mentally ill
self appointed neighborhood watch person. What is clear is that the self
appointed was the aggressor, and the kid also had the right to defend himself.
Zimmerman is guilty of first degree murder, because he confronted and killed an
innocent kid. The situation would be different if the kid was in the act of
committing a crime. BUT HE WAS NOT. If we start to rationalize stupidity or
insanity, we are taking this country down a VERY dangerous
path.

Steve •
9 hours
ago
I have no clue of the police are racists or
not, but coming from the white male I am, it is clear to me that the police are
freaking idiots if nothing else. For that they should loose their jobs and be
investigated themselves for basic competency.


JS • Killeen,
Texas • 9 hours
ago
This guy needs to have his concealed
handgun license revoked and then eventually do some jail time. He was the
aggressor and instigated the entire situation. Plus he ignored the dispatcher's
instruction on telling him NOT to follow the Martin kid.

djm • Indianapolis,
Indiana • 11 hours
ago
My heart just breaks for this family, How
can police ignore all of this?

American •
Irvine,
California • 9 hours
ago
This stinks to high heaven. It looks to me
like this guy, Zimmerman, had an inflated view of his importance as
"neighborhood watchman," and was looking for an excuse to use his gun to show
what a man he was.

David • Minneapolis,
Minnesota • 9 hours
ago
This police department needs to be
investigated and it's Chief of Police fired.

ExTexan •
9 hours
ago
The mug shot was the result of an assault
on a police officer! How in hell does he get a carry license after
that?

Frenchy • Truth or
Consequences, New Mexico •
1 hour 40
minutes ago
So, let me get this straight, if the young
man had been armed and then Zimmerman drew his pistol but the boy was faster and
shot in self defense would THAT have been Ok? In that case could Treyvon have
said "Some guy was following me, then threatened me, drew a gun, so I HAD to
shot him in self-defense"

Ian • 9 hours
ago
Unbelievable story. I hope this Zimmerman
is crapping himself right about
now.

John • 9 hours
ago
When this story first broke, I stated that
we needed to learn the facts before jumping to conclusions. Well the time to
jump to a conclusion is now. This man needs to be in jail. This poor kid was
just picking up some snacks for his younger brother.

Maggie J •
9 hours
ago
It says a lot about Zimmerman that the only
photo they have available is a mug shot. So why isn't it being widely reported
yet that this jerk was his own "neighborhood watch," that he had a history of
violence, or that he had called 911 45 times since January?

David •
9 hours
ago
He stalked and murdered an unarmed
child.

wf • Green Bay,
Wisconsin • 9 hours
ago
You hear the 911 calls. On one, Zimmerman
using a racial slur. On another, you hear Trayvon screaming help, then a
gunshot. A cell phone call to his girlfriend saying he's being chased. I'm
sorry, but anyone who is standing up for Zimmerman and thinks there was no
racist intent involved is lying to themselves.

Big Al • Medford,
Oregon • 9 hours
ago
While serving as a police officer for 15
years I came across several individuals over the years who were "wanna be" cops,
but for one reason or another couldn't cut it. More often than not they were
unsuited for law enforcement because of some sort of mental instability. Many of
these individuals turned to private security or in this case neighborhood watch.
Now arm these unstable persons with a firearm and just wait for an incident such
as this one to happen. Some of them even make it past the screening process and
end up on the force. I worked with one of these individuals once who regularly
talked about shooting someone. Eventually he did in a situation similar to this
one. He was never prosecuted and went on to retire several years later. He was
one of the main reasons I quit the force after 15 years.

roy • Bristol,
Tennessee • 9 hours
ago
Pathetic excuse for a Police force. I hope
the Feds get involved and charge the whole department with Accessory to
murder.

Raymond Scott • Sacramento, California • 9 hours ago
This is depressing. A 17 year old boy is
dead because of a dude has racial issues. I am glad that I don't have a son that
was killed. I think that I would have totally lost my mind and start seeking
revenge. There is nothing more painful than losing your child. I feel very sorry
for the boy's family. I hope that they will recover from this and move on
without pain. Forgiveness is not an easy thing either. I wish them all the best.
I hope that Zimmerman gets justice - tried, convicted,and sentenced to life in
prison.

Solar Storm Bombards Earth

"It begins on the sun's surface: a broad, hellish plain of boiling 5,700 degree gas. Powerful magnetic fields arc upwards from the surface, rising high into the solar atmosphere to form giant, twisting arcades of energy. Matter streams up these arches to be gripped in a magnetic vise a million miles above the surface. Then something happens. Something shifts. Magnetic lines of force in the arcade snap like steel cables on the bridge to heaven. Billions of tons of solar gas are suddenly blown outward, exploding across interplanetary space. Three days later the shimmering ball of energy smashes head-on into the unsuspecting Earth.

While the paragraph above might sound like the beginning of a bad science fiction movie it's really nothing more than a slightly hyperbolic description of the last three days. The only error in my description of the solar storm that struck us today is that we were not caught unawares. We have been watching the whole time. In that fact lays a deeper truth speaking to much more than solar activity.


Yesterday I received an email from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. They had issued a watch for a "geomagnetic storm" associated with a bright flare on the sun Sunday evening. The expectation was that storm would arrive today "with possible impacts to navigation, the power grid and satellites." NOAA says it's the most powerful such event to hit Earth since 2005.

Space weather, as it is called, originates with solar magnetic activity. The sun is a giant spinning ball of charged particles. In addition to its spin, the heat released from the core through nuclear fusion eventually sets the upper layers of the sun into a kind of boiling motion called convection. All that motion — spin and convection — means lots of charged particles streaming this way and that. Since current (the flow of charges) produces magnetic fields, the outer domains of the sun are ruled by magnetism. Magnetic fields are the source of all those cool images of giant flares erupting in planet-spanning arcades of super-hot plasma. It's also the source of so-called Coronal Mass Ejections or CMEs, which are, essentially, the space storms that space weather is all about.

CMEs are eruptions of matter and magnetism from the sun into space. A typical CME will blow 10 billion kilograms (about 22 billion pounds) of solar plasma into space along with enough energy to represent a flotilla of 220 aircraft carriers moving at 500 km/s. The fact the CME's are quite common says a lot about the power locked up in an ordinary star like the sun.

While 1 to 3 CMEs may occur every day, we only notice the ones that slam into the Earth on their journey across the solar system. When a CME crosses the Earth it runs into our planet's own magnetic field. Charged particles from the CME get trapped by the Earth's magnetic field and stream down toward the planet's surface near the poles.

When those CME particles, running down magnetic field lines, strike atmospheric gas atoms, the collisions cause the atoms to light up like Christmas tree bulbs. That is the origin of the simmering walls of color we called aurora. There was a time when pretty lights were all there was to space weather. Those days are over.

Before we became a high-tech culture, the collision of the CME with the Earth was no cause for alarm. Now space weather poses serious risks for everyone. For astronauts, the torrent of high-energy particles pose health risks via heavy doses of ionizing radiation. Orbiting satellites used for communications, weather prediction and a 100 other purposes can feel the blow too, as CME particles destroy solar panels and sensitive electronics.

Sprawling grids of power-lines on Earth can also feel the effect of all that CME current dumped suddenly into the atmosphere. Electric grids can overload and, without warning, millions of people might be plunged into darkness (as occurred in 1989, when a severe space storm caused a system-wide power failure in Quebec).

To deal with the problem, NASA and other space agencies have begun to continually monitor the Sun. As soon as a CME is observed, powerful supercomputers are engaged to predict its path through space. If the storm of matter and magnetism appears headed toward Earth then precautions can be taken like bringing astronauts in from space walks or putting satellites into "safe-modes" where their electronics will be less likely to suffer damage.

While there is enough remarkable science related to space weather to fill 20 blog posts, I want to end this description with the briefest of thoughts which never fails to astonish me. For thousands of generations the human habitation of this planet knew nothing of space weather. We knew Earth-bound winds and even learned to use those winds to become a sea faring race. When gossamer veils of light appeared in the northern skies we watched, wondered and prayed and then went about our business.

Now we have crossed a threshold. Now we have become a high-tech, space-faring race encircling the planet's surface with power-lines and its skies with orbiting satellites. There are other winds and other storms we must now be attentive to as we go about our business. In this way, as in so many others, our long childhood as a species has ended for better or for worse."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/01/24/145700040/storms-in-the-void-space-weather-and-childhoods-end

Economy: 'It Can't Get Any Worse'

Coming after Gen X and Gen Y, the next generation of young people have been called "Gen Wrong Place, Wrong Time." With unemployment and college costs both sky-high and the housing market in collapse, young people today are facing extraordinary economic uncertainty.

Perhaps nowhere is that more clear than in a small town like East Millinocket, Maine.

Try to ask young folks here how they feel about their economic future, and you pretty much have your answer before you even start.

"There are not a lot of 22-year-olds in the area," says school superintendent Quenten Clark. "They're gone."

Clark has seen it, both personally and professionally. The once-booming mill town used to offer residents what was basically a guaranteed ticket into the middle class. Young families flocked here, and the high school was bursting with 100 to 200 students per grade.

But today, as the paper industry has declined and young people have left town for college and jobs, classes have shrunk to 20 or 30 students. Clark's own kids left town to start their careers in Beijing and Africa, a completely foreign idea when Clark was a kid.

More On East Millinocket, Maine

Hard Times: A Journey Across America
Reduced Wages At Reopened Maine Mill Divide Town"It used to be that opportunity was a quarter-mile away — at the bottom of the hill," he says, pointing toward the mill from his office at the high school.

Indeed, high school kids used to literally run the day they graduated to the paper mill, where they were guaranteed a good job — at a good wage for life. The mill once employed about 4,000; today, just 200 or so work there.

"It's a little scary, because it's going to be tough," says Jared Lyons, a senior at Schenck High School. As an honor roll student and captain of the soccer team, Lyons is the kind of kid who should be feeling downright cocky about his future. But having watched his father — and so many others — lose their mill jobs and seeing the economy crumble, he worries about how he'll afford college and achieve his dream to become a doctor.

"It really can't get worse than it is now," he says.

Looking For Work

Matt Morris, a junior who also wants to make a career in the medical field, agrees.

"The whole economy sucks, for lack of a better term," he says. "We're going to have to work very hard — and a lot of it isn't in our hands, either."


View Hard Times road trip in a larger map That can be the hardest part for kids who've always been told that if they just study hard and get good grades, they could do whatever they want.

Instead, students like these — who've done everything they're supposed to — have a hard time finding even an after-school job for minimum wage. There are very few options in East Millinocket, where there is little more left than the pharmacy, two bars and a gas station.

Crystal Rodrigues, 17, has been looking for a job, to no avail, while she studies for the GED. She didn't want to talk about it herself, but her dad, Duane, says Crystal's job search has been almost unbearable.

"She seems really depressed about it," he says. "She's really down. She feels like there's no hope, and she just stays in her room all day. And then sometimes she'll have more hope again, and she'll go, 'I'm going to go out today, and I'm going to go look again.' "

But with unemployment around 17 percent around here, the competition for jobs is fierce. Even if you are lucky enough to have a car so you can make the trek to one of the larger surrounding towns, it's not much easier.

"I tried at McDonald's and at the grocery store and stuff," says Tayla Federico, 17. But she has yet to hear back. "They already have people working there — like old people."

"A lot of these kids are competing now in the workplace with people who have 25 years' experience who are not too good to be working for $7.50 an hour behind the fryolator," says Nancy McKechnie, youth manager for the Eastern Maine Development Corp. "And so that adds a whole other layer to kids' challenges."

The EMDC is a nonprofit that offers job training, career counseling, and classes to both young and older folks here. It's not unusual to find parents and their children enrolled in the same courses or both working in the computer room looking for jobs.

Elizabeth Haven, 18, is enrolled in medical classes through Eastern Maine Community College and is hoping to become a nurse.

"The odds are stacked against us younger kids," Haven says. "But they'll always need nurses and doctors, and you'll be set for life if you go in the medical field. So, I should be fine."

Administrators describe Haven as one of the most driven kids they've met. She undoubtedly will be fine, they say. It's the less motivated kids they worry about.

Gone are the good old days, when everyone — valedictorian or not — could count on a mill job. But Schenck High School Principal John Farrington says that idea has been deeply ingrained in the culture here, and some have yet to adapt.

"The window of opportunity is a lot smaller now than it was for my generation," Farrington says. "I wonder all the time what is going to become of young men and women if they don't get their act together in a hurry. And how do we light the fire under them? It's a tough job."

'You're Tougher'

Motivating and navigating the college application and career planning process can be especially challenging for kids whose parents never went through it themselves.

Toni Federico signed up her daughter, Tayla, for help studying for her GED and preparing for a job in the medical field. "You need someone to guide you," Federico says.

Jared Lyons has that part figured out — he has known he wants to be a doctor since he was a little kid. He also knows his path will be much longer than his father's short walk down to the mill. But it's worth it, Jared says, if that's what it takes to make sure that he doesn't find himself 20 years from now out of work, like his father and so many others.

"I wouldn't trade [places]," he says. "I'd rather be in this situation and be more prepared. You're tougher if you get through it."

"That's your dream," says his mom, Kim. "You want him to go farther than we did. Shoot for the moon, but hope you land among the stars. Even if you don't get to exactly where you wanted to go, at least you've gone somewhere."

The sad part, she says, is that "somewhere" will most likely not be East Millinocket.

For Jared, achieving that American dream of prosperity will almost surely mean leaving the place where his entire family has lived — and prospered — for generations.