12.20.2005 05:57
Beagle landing
Several news sites are carrying accounts wherein
Colin Pillinger, mission scientist for the UK's Beagle 2 Mars
lander, says they've possibly located the crash site.
Pillinger is quoted in the Times article as saying that when the probe first hit the downslope of a small crater about 18.5m (60ft) in diameter, before crashing into its opposite wall, bouncing several times around the rim and eventually coming to rest at the bottom, 'It's a bit like hitting the side of the pocket in snooker.'
The BBC and some other sites are carrying this image of the crater and possible crash site:
- Scientists 'find' Beagle on Mars from the Daily Telegraph,
- Lost Beagle 2 'discovered on Mars', from This is London,
- Beagle 2 probe 'spotted' on Mars from the BBC,
- British scientist says Beagle 2 wreckage might have been spotted, Deutsche Presse-Agentur via Monsters & Critics,
- Wreckage of Beagle found scattered in Mars crater from The Times,
- British Mars probe found just a metre off its target from The Independent
[Beagle] has fallen precisely within the
landing ellipse, in a crater that has a diameter of 18.5 metres.
Had it landed just one metre to the north, we would expect to be
communicating with it today.
One of the three segmented gas bags may have been damaged during
impacts, causing it to deflate prematurely.Pillinger is quoted in the Times article as saying that when the probe first hit the downslope of a small crater about 18.5m (60ft) in diameter, before crashing into its opposite wall, bouncing several times around the rim and eventually coming to rest at the bottom, 'It's a bit like hitting the side of the pocket in snooker.'
The BBC and some other sites are carrying this image of the crater and possible crash site:
12.14.2005 06:48
BlogIt feature at physorg.com
I subscribe to the phys.org latest news RSS feed. In
looking at the web page to the entry In new setback, Japanese
asteroid probe to stay in space until 2010 about the Hayabusa
mission to asteroid Itokawa, I noticed a link titled [Blog It].
Clicking on it opens a window with the html code for part of the
story, which then can be copied and pasted. More helpful in some
instances than viewing the source for the entire page.
12.09.2005 06:51
NORAD go for tracking Santa
This will be the fiftieth year the North
American Aerospace and Defense Command (NORAD) will track Santa by
radar, satellites and camers, as he leaves the North Pole and
enters Canadian and American airspace.
Thanks to the Daily Wreless's Tracking Santa post.
The moment our radar tells us that Santa
has lifted off, we begin to use the same satellites that we use in
providing warning of possible missile launches aimed at North
America. ... The satellites have infrared sensors ... [and]
Rudolph's nose gives off an infrared signature similar to a missile
launch.
The third system we use is the Santa Cam. ... Santa Cams are ... high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many places around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year - Christmas Eve. We turn the cameras on about one hour before Santa enters a country then switch them off after we capture images of him and the Reindeer. We immediately download the images on to our web site for people around the world see. Santa Cams produce both video and still images.
The last system we use is the NORAD jet fighter. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots, flying the CF-18, take off out of Newfoundland to intercept and welcome Santa to North America. Then at numerous locations in Canada other CF-18 fighter pilots escort Santa, while in the United States American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or F-16 get the thrill of flying with Santa and the famous Reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. About a dozen NORAD fighters in Canada and the United States are equipped with Santa Cams.
Source: How
we do it.
The third system we use is the Santa Cam. ... Santa Cams are ... high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many places around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year - Christmas Eve. We turn the cameras on about one hour before Santa enters a country then switch them off after we capture images of him and the Reindeer. We immediately download the images on to our web site for people around the world see. Santa Cams produce both video and still images.
The last system we use is the NORAD jet fighter. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots, flying the CF-18, take off out of Newfoundland to intercept and welcome Santa to North America. Then at numerous locations in Canada other CF-18 fighter pilots escort Santa, while in the United States American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or F-16 get the thrill of flying with Santa and the famous Reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. About a dozen NORAD fighters in Canada and the United States are equipped with Santa Cams.
The tradition began after a Colorado
Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for
children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an
inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the
phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's
operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry
Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955.
Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check
radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his
way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and
children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus,
the tradition was born.
Source: History
(why we track him).Thanks to the Daily Wreless's Tracking Santa post.
12.02.2005 07:32
Deb-a-day returns, but dormant since Nov 22
Eric Railine noted at "Deb-A-Day" is back
at a new location! that David Moreno Garza resurrected the idea
of noting a Debian package a day via the debaday - One daily Debian package
blog. The former site's last entry was in November, 2004. The new
site's latest entry is xmovie, on November 22, 2005. I don't see
permalinks to the individual entries.
12.02.2005 06:51
Honest car repairs in Raleigh: J & J Automotive on Capital Blvd
My '94 Chevy Corsica (110K+ miles) needed front
end work recently, and a co-worker recommended Robert Alvarez's J
& J Automotive (no web site). He did a good job replacing the
upper and lower tie rods and one of the strut enclosures (don't
know the exact name for that). The price was right.
J & J Automotive
3813 Capital Blvd (next to the Super 8 Motel and behind Jiffy Lube)
Raleigh
919-862-2007
3813 Capital Blvd (next to the Super 8 Motel and behind Jiffy Lube)
Raleigh
919-862-2007