CaaC (John)

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m.: Hubble servicing mission 25th-anniversary discussion of the history of Hubble servicing missions and the future of satellite servicing. Friday, Dec. 7, 1:30 p.m.: Hubble servicing mission 25th-anniversary-panel discussion on Hubble deployment and servicing missions. Tuesday, Dec. 11, 10 a.m.: Coverage of Russian spacewalk. Spacewalk at the International Space Station is scheduled to begin at 11:03 a.m. EST and will last around 6 hours. Tuesday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m.: Live from Washington National Cathedral: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Presents “The Spirit of Apollo”—A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 8 Mission to the Moon. Wednesday, Dec. 12, 3 p.m.: International Space Station Expedition 59-60 news conference. Tuesday, Dec. 18, 4:25 p.m.: International Space Station Expedition 57-58 change of command ceremony. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 4:45 p.m.: Expedition 57 crew farewell at International Space Station and Soyuz spacecraft hatch closure. Hatch closure is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. EST. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 7:45 p.m.: Undocking of the Soyuz spacecraft with the International Space Station Expedition 57 crew. Undocking is scheduled at 8:42 p.m. EST. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 10:45 p.m.: Coverage of Soyuz deorbit burn and landing with the Expedition 57 crew. Deorbit burn scheduled at 11:09 p.m. EST with landing scheduled at 12:03 a.m. EST, Dec. 20.

It's this time of the year again that my wife, me and her big sis visit the local cemetery to lay flowers on family graves and give them a wee tidy up and it always seems to bloody rain or snow whenever we visit Christmas time but I guess that's just the way it is, the flowers will cost a wee bit but it's worth it. Just texed our son to arrange for him to pick us up in his car and come with us as the wife and her sis have bought 2 big wreaths, it's strange really as he is bringing his son with him (our grandson) the same as last year and the year before last our daughter came with us and the other 2 grandsons so they know now where their departed relatives are buried.

Sounds a bit like my tummy rumbling before I let off a silent fart!!

Nasa reveals stunning new photos from Mars Duration: 01:04 18 hrs ago NASA has released several stunning new images of Mars captured by the InSight lander's robotic arm as it snapped photos of its new workspace. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/video/viral/nasa-reveals-stunning-new-photos-from-mars/vi-BBQEl3X

Hear the wind on Mars for the first time, thanks to the InSight lander Mallory Locklear 4 hrs ago Since landing on Mars last week, NASA's InSight lander has been taking pictures of itself and its surroundings as it prepares to unload the scientific instruments it brought along to the planet. But the lander has also picked up something that other Mars missions never have -- audio of the planet's winds. "Capturing this audio was an unplanned treat," Bruce Banerdt, InSight's principal investigator, said in a statement. "But one of the things our mission is dedicated to is measuring motion on Mars, and naturally that includes motion caused by sound waves." The audio was picked up by both an air pressure sensor and the seismometer aboard InSight. The air pressure sensor detected the air vibrations directly while the seismometer recorded vibrations caused by the Martian wind blowing across InSight's solar panels. Scientists estimate the wind was blowing between 10 and 15MPH. "The InSight lander acts like a giant ear," said Tom Pike, who's part of the InSight science team. "The solar panels on the lander's sides respond to pressure fluctuations of the wind. It's like InSight is cupping its ears and hearing the Mars wind beating on it. When we looked at the direction of the lander vibrations coming from the solar panels, it matches the expected wind direction at our landing site." You can hear the audio in the video above. NASA recommends using headphones or a subwoofer because the pitch is quite low. But the video also raises the audio two octaves to make it easier to hear. The seismometer recording is only possible during these early stages of InSight's mission because once it's placed onto the Martian surface, a dome will protect it from wind and scientists will actively filter out vibrational noise originating from the lander. That's because the seismometer's main purpose is to detect marsquakes or earthquakes on Mars. It's incredibly cool that we can now "hear" Mars, and more audio will be on the way in the near future. When the Mars 2020 rover lands on the planet, two microphones on board will record even more Martian sounds. You can check out more detailed videos of InSight's recordings below. (link vv) https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/hear-the-wind-on-mars-for-the-first-time-thanks-to-the-insight-lander/ar-BBQETcP?ocid=chromentp

Congratulations @Blue me and the wife are great, great, uncle & aunts to many we have lost count, now THAT is feeling old!!

Pep Guardiola: Man City boss says Blues chiefs have told him club will not be banned By Simon Stone BBC Sport 20 minutes ago|Man City Pep Guardiola has spoken to chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak (left) and chief executive Ferran Soriano (right) about the issue Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he has been assured by senior figures at the club that they will not be banned from European competition for Financial Fair Play irregularities. A series of allegations were made in Der Spiegel last month after what City said were "leaks" and an "organised attempt" to smear the club were passed on by the Football Leaks organisation. Reports this week suggested the claims could lead to City being banned should Uefa decide to take action, and a senior figure in European football told the BBC the entire credibility of FFP is at risk if Europe's governing body and the Premier League do not fully investigate the allegations. However, after speaking to City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano, Guardiola does not think the club have anything to fear. "We will not be banned, no," he said. "That's what I think because of what my chairman and my CEO have explained to me and I trust in them. "If it happens, because Uefa decides that, we will accept it and move forward." Man City 'deceived Uefa' over FFP rules How damaging are the Man City allegations? Across four days of allegations in Der Spiegel, City were accused of using owner Sheikh Mansour's own money to inflate sponsorship deals, using a third party, Fordham Sports Management, to offload image rights in order to reduce their wage bill, and, in the case of former manager Roberto Mancini, paying him more for his role as a consultant to Abu Dhabi club Al Jazira than he was getting from City as manager, excluding bonuses and incentives. The European football source, who did not wish to be identified, said the fact the allegations came via the Football Leaks organisation and, according to City, were "purportedly hacked or stolen" should not prevent a thorough investigation to discover whether historical allegations are true and, as importantly, if breaches are being committed. "Uefa and the Premier League have got to ask all the questions," said the source. "They cannot make it easy otherwise credibility in the whole system will be lost." City was fined £49m for FFP breaches by Uefa in 2014 but was refunded £33.4m three years later after meeting the requirements of those initial sanctions. In an exclusive interview with the BBC earlier this month, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said FFP rules needed to be more "robust" and admitted they were "weak" in certain areas. The source said they accepted getting hold of all the relevant documentation would not be straightforward but that it should not be a deterrent to doing everything possible to establish the full facts. Uefa has said it would reopen FFP investigations on a case-by-case basis if there was evidence of "abuse". https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46490230

Wilder v Fury II: WBC sanctions 'direct' rematch 6 minutes ago|Boxing The WBC has sanctioned a "direct rematch" between heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. Britain's Fury and American Wilder shared a controversial and thrilling draw in Los Angeles on Saturday. Fury's promoter Frank Warren said both parties want a rematch and his fighter is pushing for it to be in the UK. The WBC said in a statement there was a "unanimous agreement" to sanction a rematch in a meeting of the board of governors. "Wilder and Fury gave boxing one of the best fights in the heavyweight division in a long time, which has created tremendous popular demand for the fans to see a rematch," it said. "The WBC is happy to confirm a direct rematch has been approved and will create in a ruling which will also consider the mandatory status of the division." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/46489617

Chang'e-4: China mission launches to the far side of Moon By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website 53 minutes ago The Chang'e-4 mission will see a static lander and rover touch down in Von Kármán crater, located on the side of the Moon which never faces Earth. The payload blasted off atop a Long March 3B rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The mission will pave the way for the country to deliver samples of Moon rock and soil to Earth. The landing will not occur until early January, when the probe will descend on thrusters and touch down on the rugged terrain of the lunar far side. Von Kármán crater is of interest to scientists because it is located within the oldest and largest impact feature on the Moon - the South Pole-Aitken Basin. This was probably formed by a giant asteroid impact billions of years ago. The landers will characterise the region's geology and the composition of rock and soil. China launch will prep for Moon landing Why China is fixated on the Moon China's scientific revolution Because of a phenomenon called "tidal locking", we see only one "face" of the Moon from Earth. This is because the Moon takes just as long to rotate on its own axis as it takes to complete one orbit of Earth. Though often referred to as the "dark side", this face of the Moon is also illuminated by the Sun and has the same phases as the near side; "dark" in this context simply means "unseen" The far side looks rather different from the more familiar near side. It has a thicker, older crust that is packed with more craters. There are also few of the "mare" - dark basaltic "seas" created by lava flows - that are evident on the near side. The powerful impact that created the South Pole Aitken Basin may have punched through the crust down to the Moon's mantle layer. Chang'e-4's instruments could examine whether this was the case, shedding light on the early history of our only natural satellite. Seed experiment The mission will also characterise the "radio environment" on the far side, a test designed to lay the groundwork for the creation of future radio astronomy telescopes on the far side, which is shielded from the radio noise of Earth. The static lander will carry a 3kg (6.6lb) container with potato and arabidopsis plant seeds to perform a biological experiment. The "lunar mini biosphere" experiment was designed by 28 Chinese universities. "We want to study the respiration of the seeds and the photosynthesis on the Moon," Liu Hanlong, chief director of the experiment and vice president of Chongqing University, told the state-run Xinhua news agency earlier this year. Xie Gengxin, the chief designer of the experiment, told Xinhua: "We have to keep the temperature in the 'mini biosphere' within a range from 1 degree to 30 degrees, and properly control the humidity and nutrition. We will use a tube to direct the natural light on the surface of Moon into the tin to make the plants grow." Because the landers on the far side have no line of sight with our planet, they must send data back via a relay satellite named Queqiao, launched by China in May this year. The probe's design is based on that of its predecessor, Chang'e-3, which deployed landing craft to the Moon's Mare Imbrium region in 2013. However, it has some important modifications. China's lunar ambitions The lander is carrying two cameras; a German-built radiation experiment called LND; and a spectrometer that will perform the low-frequency radio astronomy observations. The rover will carry a panoramic camera; a radar to probe beneath the lunar surface; an imaging spectrometer to identify minerals; and an experiment to examine the interaction of the solar wind (a stream of energised particles from the Sun) with the lunar surface. The mission is part of a larger Chinese programme of lunar exploration. The first and second Chang'e missions were designed to gather data from orbit, while the third and fourth were built for surface operations. Chang'e-5 and 6 are sample return missions, delivering lunar rock and soil to laboratories on Earth. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46471668

Upcoming Live Events (all times Eastern) Thursday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m.: Hubble servicing mission 25th-anniversary discussion of the history of Hubble servicing missions and the future of satellite servicing. Friday, Dec. 7, 1:30 p.m.: Hubble servicing mission 25th-anniversary-panel discussion on Hubble deployment and servicing missions. Tuesday, Dec. 11, 10 a.m.: Coverage of Russian spacewalk. Spacewalk at the International Space Station is scheduled to begin at 11:03 a.m. EST and will last around 6 hours. Tuesday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m.: Live from Washington National Cathedral: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Presents “The Spirit of Apollo”—A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 8 Mission to the Moon. Wednesday, Dec. 12, 3 p.m.: International Space Station Expedition 59-60 news conference. Tuesday, Dec. 18, 4:25 p.m.: International Space Station Expedition 57-58 change of command ceremony. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 4:45 p.m.: Expedition 57 crew farewell at International Space Station and Soyuz spacecraft hatch closure. Hatch closure is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. EST. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 7:45 p.m.: Undocking of the Soyuz spacecraft with the International Space Station Expedition 57 crew. Undocking is scheduled at 8:42 p.m. EST. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 10:45 p.m.: Coverage of Soyuz deorbit burn and landing with the Expedition 57 crew. Deorbit burn scheduled at 11:09 p.m. EST with landing scheduled at 12:03 a.m. EST, Dec. 20.

We lost a friend 1 week ago through Cancer, known her for years and it does hit you for six especially as she was around the same age as me and the wife, life goes on for us thank God.

Sad to hear that @Stan it's just not been your couple of weeks buddy, condolences from me and the wife as we know what it's like losing loved ones especially at this time of the year.

Astronomy Picture of the Day 2018 December 7 December's Comet Wirtanen Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (TWAN, Earth and Stars) Explanation: Coming close in mid-December, Comet 46P Wirtanen hangs in this starry sky over the bell tower of a Romanesque church. In the constructed vertical panorama, a series of digital exposures capture its greenish coma on December 3 from Sant Llorenc de la Muga, Girona, Catalonia, Spain, planet Earth. With an orbital period that is now about 5.4 years, the periodic comet's perihelion, its closest approach, to the Sun will be on December 12. On December 16 it will be closest to Earth, passing at a distance of about 11.6 million kilometers or 39 light-seconds. That's close for a comet, a mere 30 times the Earth-Moon distance. A good binocular target for comet watchers, Wirtanen could be visible to the unaided eye from a dark sky site. To spot it after dusk on December 16, look close on the sky to the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

A women of my heart, sigh, now, seeing you have the tools maybe you can merge all the space content posts in Science & Discovery into here, cough, cough

Arsenal to talk to players over nitrous oxide inhalation allegations 5 hours ago|Arsenal Arsenal players will be "spoken to" by club chiefs after images emerged allegedly showing four members of the first team inhaling nitrous oxide. CCTV footage obtained by the Sun shows Alexandre Lacazette, Matteo Guendouzi, Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all inhaling from balloons allegedly containing the substance. The players were at a private party at a London club in August. Nitrous oxide is also known as laughing gas or 'hippy crack'. An Arsenal spokesperson told the BBC players would be "spoken to and reminded of their responsibilities". Nitrous oxide slows down the brain and the body's responses, giving users a feeling of euphoria and can cause hallucinations, but can also lead to headaches, dizziness and paranoia. However, large doses can starve the body and brain of oxygen, according to government drug advice service Frank. While it is not illegal to possess the drug, it is illegal to give away or sell. BBC News: How dangerous is nitrous oxide? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46480188

You are the Mod with the tools young lady, go for it, a new topic like "Space, the Final Frontier"

Mexico 1971: When women's football hit the big time By Bill Wilson Business reporter, BBC News 8 hours ago It was short lived.... but for three memorable weeks in the summer of 1971 women's football flared brightly like a comet, before crashing back down to earth again. Just 14 months after Brazil had crushed Italy in the 1970 men's final in Mexico City, football fever was once again sweeping the host nation, but this time for an unofficial women's World Cup. And it wasn't just fans who were caught up in the excitement - big brands, TV broadcasters and merchandisers of all types also wanted a piece of the action, as women's football briefly became a commercial product to rival the men's game. Now, with the 2019 Women's World Cup draw on Saturday, the tournament is big business - and one backed by 11 major brands, but such a commercial approach was new ground back in 1971. (More vv) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46149887

Arsene Wenger: Former Arsenal boss honored by League Managers Association 1 hour ago|Arsenal Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger joked he now "gets a trophy every week" after being honored by the League Managers Association (LMA). Wenger left the Gunners in May after winning three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups in a 22-year spell. He was awarded the LMA Service to Football Award at Wembley on Thursday. "The LMA is proud to recognise Arsene's remarkable career in football management," said LMA chief executive Richard Bevan. "The role of the football manager has changed beyond recognition since Arsene's first match at Highbury in 1996, but his profound influence on the game over the past 22 years means he truly deserves the admiration of his fellow practitioners in football." Wenger, 68, was presented with his award at the LMA's President's Dinner by England boss Gareth Southgate. "Since I don't compete anymore, I get a trophy every week," Wenger joked. "How stupid was I not to understand that earlier?" Outgoing Football Association technical director Dan Ashworth was also presented with a special award to recognise his achievements during his time at the organisation. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46479522

This makes me sad and fucking mad at the same time, a young lad who might have his dream shattered by madmen. The Taliban threats However, his family say they fear the fame has made him a Taliban target. "Local strongmen were calling and saying, 'You have become rich, pay the money you have received from Messi or we will take your son'," his mother, Shafiqa, told AFP. Afghanistan's 'Little Messi' flees home after Taliban threats, says family 1 hour ago A young Afghan boy who was made famous online for his devotion to footballer Lionel Messi has been forced to flee his home for the second time. Murtaza Ahmadi, now aged seven, went viral in 2016 after being photographed wearing a homemade Messi shirt, fashioned out of a plastic bag. He later met his hero in Qatar. His family say they have now abandoned their home in Afghanistan, after receiving threats from the Taliban. They were living in the south-eastern Ghazni province - which militants have been targeting - and have escaped to the capital, Kabul. They previously sought short-term refuge in Pakistan in 2016 but returned when they ran out of money, according to AFP news agency. The makeshift shirt Murtaza was five years old when he wore a plastic-bag shirt in the white-and-blue colours of the Argentine national team, which Messi captains. It had the player's number 10 drawn on the front with a marker pen. After a photo was shared widely on social networks, people called for him to be found so Messi could respond. When the boy's name was released, the player sent him a package - including a signed shirt - via the children's charity Unicef, which he works for as an ambassador. Murtaza was later invited to meet Messi when the Barcelona star played a friendly in Doha in late 2016. The young fan walked on to the pitch with his idol. The Taliban threats However, his family say they fear the fame has made him a Taliban target. "Local strongmen were calling and saying, 'You have become rich, pay the money you have received from Messi or we will take your son'," his mother, Shafiqa, told AFP. She said were not able to take any of their belongings - including the precious shirt - when then left their home in the middle of the night after hearing gunshots. A home under siege Murtaza's family are part of the Shia-denominated Hazara ethnic group, which has been targeted by the Sunni Taliban. The Ghazni area remains under state control, but it is considered to be of strategic importance in the conflict between the government and the Taliban. The hard-line Islamic group launched a major assault on the area in August and renewed their efforts in November, forcing thousands of locals to flee. Hundreds of people - civilians, soldiers, and insurgents - were killed in the outbreak of violence. Murtaza's 17-year-old brother, Humayoon, told Efe news agency that they had not been able to send him to school for the past two years and they do not let him play in the street. "I miss Messi," Murtaza said when AFP found him in Kabul. He said he hopes to meet him again one day. "When I meet him, I will say, 'Salaam' and 'How are you?' Then he will reply saying thank you and be safe, and I will go with him to the pitch where he will play and I will watch him." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-46471902

Beautiful and stunning, I wish I was one of them, astronauts, up there.

I keep coming back to the live video, put it on HD and full screen, sit back on this sofa and watch the Earth from Space and keep thinking I am down there somewhere right now and knowing the astronauts are up there floating around in their Space Station and looking down at Mother Earth, breathtaking.

@nudge, @Mel81x NASA Live: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive Upcoming Live Events (all times Eastern) Thursday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m.: Hubble servicing mission 25th-anniversary discussion of the history of Hubble servicing missions and the future of satellite servicing. Friday, Dec. 7, 1:30 p.m.: Hubble servicing mission 25th-anniversary-panel discussion on Hubble deployment and servicing missions. Tuesday, Dec. 11, 10 a.m.: Coverage of Russian spacewalk. Spacewalk at the International Space Station is scheduled to begin at 11:03 a.m. EST and will last around 6 hours. Tuesday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m.: Live from Washington National Cathedral: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Presents “The Spirit of Apollo”—A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 8 Mission to the Moon. Wednesday, Dec. 12, 3 p.m.: International Space Station Expedition 59-60 news conference. Tuesday, Dec. 18, 4:25 p.m.: International Space Station Expedition 57-58 change of command ceremony. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 4:45 p.m.: Expedition 57 crew farewell at International Space Station and Soyuz spacecraft hatch closure. Hatch closure is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. EST. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 7:45 p.m.: Undocking of the Soyuz spacecraft with the International Space Station Expedition 57 crew. Undocking is scheduled at 8:42 p.m. EST. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 10:45 p.m.: Coverage of Soyuz deorbit burn and landing with the Expedition 57 crew. Deorbit burn scheduled at 11:09 p.m. EST with landing scheduled at 12:03 a.m. EST, Dec. 20.

Astronomers Think They've Figured Out the Raging Swirls of Gas Around Supermassive Black Holes By Rafi Letzter, Staff Writer | December 6, 2018, 07:15 am ET There are churning, hellish, hot-and-cold gas storms swirling around our universe's supermassive black holes. But the scientists who discovered them would prefer you call them "fountains." That's a change from "donuts," the term researchers previously used to describe the roiling masses. But a paper published Oct. 30 in The Astrophysical Journal reveals that the donut model of the mass around black holes may have been too simplistic. About two decades ago, researchers noticed that the monster black holes at the centers of galaxies tended to be obscured by clouds of matter — matter that wasn't falling into the black holes but rather circulating nearby. But astronomers couldn't get a clear look at those clouds. They were able to simulate the currents around black holes, though, as in this example published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters in 2002, and they concluded that those clouds were donut-shaped — gas falling toward the black hole, getting heated up by proximity and bouncing away, only to fall back toward it again But there are better telescopes now, producing better images of those clouds. And it turns out that the situation is a lot more complicated than previously thought. It turns out that, more than anything else, the clouds of matter around black holes more closely resemble fountains like this one, with rings of arching water surrounding inner columns of matter shooting straight into the air. When astronomers turned the superprecise eye of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observatory on the the supermassive black hole in the Circinus galaxy, 14 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the southern Circinus constellation, they were able to observe its surrounding cloud in unprecedented detail. A constant stream of relatively cold gas does fall toward the black hole, the observations showed, and some of it gets superheated and is then thrown away from the black holes out into space. Some of that gas, still in the thrall of the black hole's gravity, curves back around and re-enters the falling stream. Some of the gas shoots out in a more or less straight line into space. The whole mess is a lot less orderly than a fountain, but the analogy makes sense. Also, the disk of circling matter looks as thick as it does because it gets stripped from molecules into bare atoms as it approaches the black hole, according to the research. Those more lightweight atoms rebound farther into space, creating a fatter disk. https://www.livescience.com/64248-black-hole-fountain.html