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Chhath Puja 2021 Aragh: Sunrise and Sunset time| Everything you need to know – India Today

Posted: November 9, 2021 at 2:47 pm

Chhath Puja is one of the most auspicious and important Hindu festivals celebrated mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh. The four-day long festival starts from Nahay Khay, followed by Kharna, Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya. This year, the festivities of Chhath Puja began from November 8 and will end on November 11.

Devotees keep a 36-hour long nirjala fast, starting from Kharna, take a holy dip in the Ganges and go to the river banks and ghats to make offerings to the Sun. Celebrated on the Sashti Tithi of Karthik, Shukla Paksha, Chhath is an ancient Vedic festival, performed in reverence to the Sun and is dedicated to Surya Bhagwan (Lord Sun). The devotees observe a four-day-long ceremony to worship the Sun God, which is seen as a symbol of 'One God' and it sustains life on earth.

For ages, the Sun is believed to be the ultimate source of energy and even today, scientists agree with this. According to Hindu mythology, the Sun is known to help cure a variety of diseases such as leprosy and ensure longevity of life.

The devotees seek the blessings of Surya Bhagwan, request them to grant their wishes and pray for their well being, progress and prosperity. The rays of the Sun are extremely important for the existence of human life and, as per the holy text of Atharaveda, the Sun is also believed to destroy death and disease.

The symbol of the Sun represents the King and it is also believed that Lord Rama and Sita had observed a fast during their coronation ceremony after returning to Ayodhya, spending 14 years in exile.

Apart from this, in the Mahabharata, Draupadi is also known to have observed the rituals of the Chhath Puja after noble sage Dhaumya advised her to do so. Since the Sun is a symbol that represents a leader/authority, the Chhath Puja also helped the Pandavas to regain their lost kingdom.

Devotees of the Chhath Puja offer Arghya in a water body and believe that doing this without taking any solid or liquid diet can absorb the Sun's energy into their bodies. The devotees stand in a water body with half the body submerged in the water and perform the puja offering (Arghya).

The process minimises the leak of energy. As per the belief, when Arghya is offered to the Sun, it helps the physic energy to flow up the psychic channel in the spine. This in turn helps the human body become a channel that recycles, conducts and transmits energy in the entire universe. The solar religion of the Vedas says that the Sun is the atma (soul) that dwells in the hearts of all beings.

Sandhya Arghya: On the third day of the Chhath Puja, devotees offer Sandhya Arghya and observe a day-long fast and break it only on the following day after the sunrise. Chhati Maiya, the Sun God and his consorts Usha(Goddess of Dawn) and Pratyusha (Goddess of Dusk) are worshipped on the Chhath Puja Day.

This year, the sunrise and sunset timings for Sandhya Arghya are 6.40 AM and 5.30 PM, respectively.

Usha Arghya: On the fourth and final day, devotees, who observe the vrat, break their fast on Saptami Tithi. They offer prayers and water to the Sun God and seek the blessings of Surya Bhagwan for well being.

For the Usha Arghya, the sunrise time is 6.41 AM and the sunset time is 5.29 PM this year.

ALSO READ| Chhath Puja 2021: What is the significance of Kharna? Check Date, Timings, Puja Vidhi here

ALSO READ| Chhath Puja 2021: From Nahay Khay to Usha Arghya, here's everything you need to know about the four-day festival

ALSO READ| Chhath Puja 2021: Which colours are considered auspicious on this festival? Know here

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Chhath Puja 2021 Aragh: Sunrise and Sunset time| Everything you need to know - India Today

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Closure, pain and scars: Where Penn State and State College stand 10 years after the Sandusky scandal – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted: at 2:47 pm

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. Ron Filippelli, State Colleges current mayor, can still remember the message that appeared on his phone almost to the day 10 years ago.

He cant recall the exact headline, nor the specific wording. But, standing in the lobby of the downtown State Theatre during an intermission, he can still remember what was conveyed: Former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested. He was accused of 40 counts of sex crimes against young boys a number that would eventually increase to 48 counts while several university officials were being investigated for how they handled complaints against him.

The retired academic dean showed the news bulletin to a Penn State trustee. He shook his head, stunned, and walked back to his opera seats.

I remember that day very well, Filippelli said. We were shocked by it. Of course, the opera went on and we stayed and the events started to spiral as they did. Rapidly.

Its been 10 years since Penn State and the small college town of State College watched their insulating bubbles and illusion of security instantly burst. Its been a decade since the university that was a cause for national recognition and local pride transformed into an object of scorn, shame and disappointment.

Those raw emotions have since faded, based on interviews with a half-dozen community leaders and officials. But the Penn State, State College and Centre County communities still havent forgotten those victims or the wrongs that came to light 10 years ago.

I was just frightened and sad, well-known philanthropist and Town & Gown founder Mimi Barash Coppersmith remembered. It was like a bomb you werent expecting.

Newspaper stories, rumors and whispers echoed around the community in the months leading up to Nov. 5, 2011. But thats the day the unthinkable went public, when details began coming into focus and accusations surfaced that made residents skin crawl.

At the time, the town and gown held its collective breath as it wondered what came next. Was this the end of Penn State? Would Happy Valley survive? Could Happy Valley be happy again?

I didnt see how we could weather that economically, acknowledged Bonj Szczygiel, current faculty senate chair and a faculty senator back then, adding she feared the university downsizing.

It was my home, and youre sort of rolling along smoothly and then this bomb goes off.

For months, both the news and an overwhelming sentiment of shame and anger were impossible to avoid. At least 20 news vans descended on downtown State College, with some residents fearful of taking afternoon strolls downtown because of the probability of having a microphone shoved in their faces. The scrolling ticker on CNN, ESPN and every major TV news network always mentioned Dear Old State. And the headlines were ugly, the accusations uglier.

We couldnt escape it, remembered longtime resident Lou Prato, the first director of the Penn State All-Sports Museum. No matter what we did, we couldnt escape it.

Penn State and State College became late-night punchlines, and the community wasnt laughing. Wearing a Penn State sweatshirt in rival territory was an invitation for harassment. Football recruits would ask Penn States commits at national camps why they wanted to go to Pedophile U. Even a full year later, one opposing teams soccer player was suspended for a game against the Nittany Lions after publicly making light of the scandal.

Roger Williams, president of the alumni association at the time, remembered long days in the office. He received more than 4,000 emails and phone calls about Sandusky and Penn States role, and his life revolved around responding to each of those messages.

Hed head over to the office around 5:30 a.m. or 6 and work until it grew dark. He didnt know more than the general public, and he didnt have many answers to many alumnis questions. But he listened. Their words changed, but their state of shock and anger remained.

It was a real crisis, Williams said. I have repeatedly, since that time, referred to this as probably the worst institutional crisis in the history of American higher education.

But Williams didnt share the same dread over the future as some others did. He still remembers one particular phone call with a professor from West Point, one whose daughter was a Penn State freshman at the time. I think youre going to collapse. Im pulling my daughter out. Why should I keep her there?

Williams asked for a day to respond. He researched. He found past cheating scandals that rocked West Point. That wasnt the start of more cheating or the crumbling of an institution, Williams remembered telling the professor. West Point has not folded. Its stronger than ever. The same is true of Penn State. We will endure, we will survive, and well be stronger for it.

The professors daughter stayed at Penn State.

Closure was a slippery thing during the course of the Sandusky scandal.

The county remained in shock for weeks. Penn State officials Tim Curley and Gary Schultz left their university posts Nov. 6 and were arraigned Nov. 7 for failing to report possible abuse. On Nov. 9, head coach Joe Paterno announced he was retiring at the end of the season and, by the end of the day, college footballs patron saint of loyalty and longevity was unceremoniously fired over the phone.

He died two months later. Sandusky was sentenced in the summer of 2012, Penn States football program faced unprecedented sanctions soon thereafter, while fines and sanctions and reputation remained concerns for years. Even now, news of the case hasnt stopped. Sanduskys petition for a new trial was denied in May, and former university President Graham Spanier was released from prison this past August after serving 58 days.

Everything that has happened after Sanduskys (first) trial has drawn a little less attention, Centre County Sheriff Bryan Sampsel said, referring to the crowds that descended on nearby Bellefonte and the county courthouse. People obviously still remember, but its fading a little bit, I guess I would say.

Ten years later, the pain has shifted from open wounds and the forefront of the communitys minds to scars and the back of peoples minds. Penn State and the community did endure. There was no mass flight from Happy Valley, no institutional crumbling. U.S. News & World still ranks Penn State as one of the nations top-25 public universities, it recently surpassed the elusive $1 billion mark in research expenditures, and it has set several fundraising records the last few years by raising more than $1 billion total.

Penn State has weathered the pandemic, financially, better than many of its Big Ten peers. Undergraduate enrollment at University Park is even up 2% this year, in spite of COVID.

Everybody has their own position on what should or should not have been done, Barash Coppersmith said. But this is a remarkable community and university, who are learning more and more how to be good friends and cooperative neighbors.

Sandusky, they said, forced the community to take stock of itself. The monstrous acts of one individual shouldnt prevent thousands of residents from their own good acts, they said. Penn State is still home to Thon, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. Students and community members can still outdraw hateful speakers at counter-events by 7-to-1 margins. State College and Penn State still receive high marks in how welcoming they are to the LGBTQ community.

Penn State and State College havent forgotten about Sandusky. But it doesnt dominate the conversation anymore. Those interviewed varied in their responses to when that change happened whether it was the chilling acts of Larry Nassar and other school-related sex-abuse scandals, the imprisoning of Sandusky, current political events or even the pandemic.

The lesson that weve learned from Sandusky is that you must always be aware, Szczygiel said. You must never become complacent. Never, never think we are somehow protected in central Pennsylvania from some real-world issues. You can either put your head in the sand and try to ignore it, or you can get involved in problem solving.

That day from 10 years ago cant be erased. Neither can the 45 counts that Sandusky was convicted of.

But, for those who find memories of the events lingering even another decade from now, those interviewed said its important to remember the lessons imparted. Listen, watch your children, and take nothing for granted.

We all need to be reminded that theres light at the end of the tunnel, Barash Coppersmith said. All of us are human with feelings to which were entitled. But its our responsibility to move on and make the improvements that will make a difference. And I believe were in that process in high gear.

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Closure, pain and scars: Where Penn State and State College stand 10 years after the Sandusky scandal - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Mission Sponsor – Surviving Mars Wiki

Posted: at 2:41 pm

SponsorGoalsRewardInternational Mars MissionHave 30 Colonists on Mars 1 Basic Dome prefabHave a Martianborn Colonist 5 free supply podsBuild a Machine Parts Factory, a Polymer Factory and an Electronics Factory 30 Engineer ApplicantsGenerate 3,000 Research points per Sol 30 Scientist ApplicantsHave 10 Martianborn Specialists 1 Mega Dome prefabUSAAnalyze 5 map Anomalies 100 Sponsor ResearchResearch 10 technologies 5 free supply podsGenerate 2,000 Research points per Sol 1 Mega Trigon Dome prefabResearch 5 Breakthrough technologies 3 Genius ApplicantsDeep scan 30 Sectors 2 Hawking Institute prefabsBlue Sun CorporationSpend $5,000 M Funding 2 Stirling Generator prefabsExport $2,000 M worth of Rare Metals 1,000MHave 5 Smart Complexes 5 Celebrity ApplicantsHave 20 Colonists with the Tourist Trait 60 Tourist ApplicantsGenerate $10,000 M within 5 Sols 10,000 Research pointsChinaProduce 100 Food 100 ApplicantsHave 50 specialists 30 Drone prefabsHave 300 Colonists on Mars 2,000MHave 40 Colonists with all needs about 70 1 Medium Dome prefabHave 8 operational Domes 10,000 Research pointsIndiaConstruct a Dome by the end of Sol 5 4 Moisture Vaporator prefabsProduce 50 Polymers 25 Drone prefabsHave a total of 200 Buildings 1,000MHave 4 Domes with Spires 8,000 Research pointsConvert 1,000 Waste Rock to useful materials 2,000MEuropeResearch 5 Physics technologies 1 Triboelectric Scrubber prefabHave 20 Scientists 3 Genius ApplicantsHave 2 Hawking Institutes 1 Network Node prefabHave 50 Martianborn Scientists New RocketGenerate 10,000 Research points per Sol 3,000MSpaceYGenerate 100 Energy 1 Atomic Accumulator prefabRefuel a rocket the same Sol it lands 15 Drone prefabsResearch 8 Engineering technologies 20 Workaholic Engineer ApplicantsAnalyze 7 Planetary Anomalies 2,000MHave 3 Biorobotics Workshops 10,000 Research pointsChurch of the New ArkProduce 50 Food 1,000MHave 10 Founders at 90 Comfort 100 Sponsor ResearchHave 20 Martianborn Colonists by the end of Sol 50 3 Saint ApplicantsProduce 40 Electronics New RocketHave 120 Colonists with all needs above 80 3,000MRussiaDiscover 8 underground deposits 8 free supply podsProduce 50 Concrete in a single Sol 4 Apartment prefabsExtract 200 Metals from an underground deposits 2,000MHave 3 extractors working at 160 Performance +40% price for Rare MetalsDeep scan 50 Sectors 10,000 Research pointsParadox InteractiveResearch 2 Breakthrough technologies 5 free supply podsLand a Colonist on Mars by Sol 15 1 Jumper Shuttle Hub prefabAnalyze 30 map Anomalies New RocketConstruct a Mega Dome 10,000 Research pointsResearch 9 Breakthrough technologies 3,000MBrazilLand a Colonist on Mars by Sol 15 4,000 Research pointsExport 60 Rare Metals by the end of Sol 30 10 free supply podsHave 4 Domes with Spires 1 Fusion Reactor prefabHave a Dome connected to 3 other Domes 3 Celebrity ApplicantsHave a Dome with more than 200 Colonists 3,000MJapanHave 6 Sensor Towers 15 Drone prefabsBuild a Machine Parts Factory, a Polymer Factory and an Electronics Factory 1 Martian University prefabHave 40 Martianborn specialists 200 Sponsor ResearchDeep scan 100 Sectors 1 Mega Trigon Dome prefabProduce 2,000 advanced resources 2,000MTerraforming InitiativeResearch 8 Terraforming technologies 100 Sponsor Research25% Temperature terraforming progress2 Small Lake prefabs35% overall terraforming progress 10,000 Research points60% Water terraforming progress New RocketConstruct a Capital City 200 Enthusiast Applicants

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What Do We Really Know About Elon Musk’s Plans of Mars ‘Self-Sustaining Civilization’? – News18

Posted: at 2:40 pm

Elon Musk is the worlds richest man and the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Hes also one more thing: Mars colonization enthusiast. Elon Musk will not stop tweeting about Mars and how humanity should move from Earth to the Red planet. Elon Musk has mentioned his plans of taking humans to Mars for a while, and it appears his agenda isnt stopping anytime soon. Musk has always been very vocal about his Martian ambitions - Elon Musk had mentioned his plans of taking humans to Mars for a while and has even set a timeline for it. Musk who had mentioned colonizing Mars several times, also announced that he wants to make his own laws on the red planet. But what do we really know about Musks plans on a self-sustaining civilization on the planet?

In February this year, for the first time ever, Musk specifically mentioned a time-line to get humans on the red planet. Five and a half years," Musk had said. While thats not a hard deadline, Musk listed a number of caveats theres a raft of technological advances that must be made in the intervening years. The important thing is that we establish Mars as a self-sustaining civilization," he had said. The strange thing is the deadline may be a little ambitious, as even USAs leading space agency, NASA, had a much more different date, one which is seven years after Musks time. The first humans arent due to arrive on a NASA funded rocket until at least 2033.

Is Musks plan of getting humans to Mars by 2026 too ambitious?

Humans could make the journey if technology allows, and - if they physically survive it. Some of the known risks of space travel arent simple or minor: Along with space sickness, there is radiation high-energy subatomic particles that will pass through an astronauts skin, damaging cells inside and out. Space travellers bones and muscles also can weaken as those body parts no longer have to constantly work against gravity. Blood and other fluids from the lower parts of the body can accumulate in upper body parts, including around the brain. Another side effect: Astronauts may suffer hearing loss.

The question on why Mars specifically, and not another planet has been the centre of many compelling arguments by scientists over the years. A 2017 report in Astronomy explored how, The atmosphere of Mars is mostly carbon dioxide, the surface of the planet is too cold to sustain human life, and the planets gravity is a mere 38% of Earths. Plus, the atmosphere on Mars is equivalent to about 1% of the Earths atmosphere at sea level." Thats not all. Mars temperatures may not be suited for humans either. The average temperatures of Mars oscillate sbetween 35 C to -143 C. The average temperature on the planet surface too is -63 C. How do you warm the planet up? Musk has suggested - terraforming or in his own terms, nuking Mars.

Terraforming or terraformation, which literally means Earth-shaping is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable by Earth-like life. How does Musk plan on terraforming it though? In 2015, Musk had suggested nuking the poles.

Elon Musk explained that we could terraform Mars by exploding nuclear bombs over its polar caps. He had said that the radiation wouldnt be an issue since the explosion would be in space over the poles, but the heat release would vaporize the frozen carbon dioxide to greenhouse warm the planet and melt the water ice. In the follow-up comments to explain his stance, he added other things he had in mind. Musk said his idea was to create two tiny pulsing suns" over the regions. Theyre really above the planet, theyre not on the planet," Musk said at an event for Solar City in New York Citys Times Square this morning. Every few moments, he wants to send a large fusion bomb over the poles, to create small blinking suns. A lot of people dont appreciate that our Sun is a large fusion explosion," he had said, reported The Verge in 2015.

Musks Nuke Mars agenda also had t-shirts. Musk had designed T-shirts to promote his idea to drop nuclear weapons on Mars. Musk revealed the theory of nuking Mars recently which, according to him, will transform the exterior of the planet liveable for human beings. The billionaire CEO was also spotted wearing the T-shirt in his appearance on Saturday Night Live in May this year.

The short answer - no. The more complicated answer hes going, but maybe not first. In an interview with Kara Swisher at the Code Conference 2021 Elon Musk described his space plans, which included a self-sustaining city on Mars, and a base on the Moon for those who want to go there." While Musk, doesnt have immediate plans, and at the interview mentioned, My goal is not to send myself up. My goal is to open up space to humanity and become a multiplanet species," he did add, that Ill go up at some point."

In the February interview where he mentioned a dateline, he was also asked if he would allow his children to go to Mars on a future rocket trip. He had responded if were talking about the third or fourth set of landings on Mars Id be ok with that, adding that so far none of them are jumping to go to Mars.

A November 2020 report in The Independent had found that SpaceX will not be recognising any international law on Mars and will instead follow a set of self-governing principles that will be laid down during the Martian settlement. Elon Musk appears to have very subtly slipped in a clause into the terms of agreement of Starlink satellite broadband services that SpaceX will make its own set of rules on Mars. The Starlink terms of the agreement reads: For services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship, or other colonisation spacecraft, the parties recognise Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities. Accordingly, disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement. The Independent report also added that this future colony created by SpaceX would likely use constellations of Starlink satellites orbiting the planet to provide internet connection. Elon Musks SpaceX has already launched more than 800 satellites with the aim of offering broadband internet globally. The Declaration of the Rights and Responsibilities of Humanity in the Universe, however, mentions that space would be considered free, by all, for all, and to all.

SpaceXs website Mission to Mars explains it with a quote by Musk. You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great - and thats what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. Its about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I cant think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars."

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What Do We Really Know About Elon Musk's Plans of Mars 'Self-Sustaining Civilization'? - News18

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Viasat sucks Inmarsat into its orbit with $7.3 billion offer Urgent Comms – Urgent Communications

Posted: at 2:40 pm

Two years ago, the UKs Inmarsat disappeared from public scrutiny, rather like one of its satellites off the launch pad, when it was taken private in a $6.1 billion deal, including debt. Now its private equity owners have agreed a $7.3 billion sale to Viasat, a publicly traded US equivalent whose shares immediately sank a tenth on news of the deal.

Only $850 million of the transaction fee is in cash, it should be noted. For the rest, Viasat is stumping up $3.1 billion in shares and assuming $3.4 billion in net debt. This bumps up Viasats net debt to about five times its annual earnings, although Viasat reckons it can dial the ratio back to a slightly more respectable four within two years of closing the deal.

After a couple of decades spent lost in the communications cosmos, satellites appear to be exciting investors once again thanks in no small part to Elon Musk and the Starlink project he hopes will somehow pay for the colonization of Mars. Viasat and Inmarsat are about as old time as satellite gets, though. The former was founded when Ronald Reagan sat in the White House and the latter before he was even elected president. Both have outlived his Star Wars program.

The big attraction for Viasat seems to be Inmarsats L-band service, which the UK operator has been upgrading to support faster connections with lower-cost devices. These are not the devices you would find in the hands of the average British consumer, but terminals used in shipping, aviation and parts of the government sector. Maritime is probably Inmarsats most important market.

The skys the limit

Viasat believes these L-band assets would handily complement its own Ka-band technology and footprint. Besides supporting some connectivity services for government bodies, and providing broadband in rural communities, it is a big name in in-flight connectivity ensuring not even commercial aircraft are a safe refuge from the Internet. The combination of the two companies and their assets will make it easier to serve their various markets with new and more advanced applications, reckons Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg.

To read the complete article, visit Light Reading.

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Viasat sucks Inmarsat into its orbit with $7.3 billion offer Urgent Comms - Urgent Communications

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Elon Musk Says SpaceX’s Starship Fleet Can Deliver 1000 Times More Payload Than All Rockets On Earth Combined – Benzinga

Posted: at 2:40 pm

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said on Monday SpaceXs Starship is designed to deliver 1,000 times more payload than all rockets on earth combined.

What Happened: Musk was responding to a Twitter post that shared a Bryce Space Tech report listing the global orbital launches by different operators in the third quarter.

The report ranks SpaceX second in the total payload mass of orbital rocket launches in the third quarter, just below China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The report says CASC deployed about 45,010 kilograms payload in the third quarter, while SpaceX deployed 32,634 kgs with the Falcon 9 rocket fleet.

"Actually, 41 tons for SpaceX in Q3 & aiming for 80 tons in Q4. That said, Chinas launch mass to orbit is extremely impressive," Musk tweeted.

He later said the Starship fleet is capable of delivering 1,000 times more payload than all rockets combined and that almost no one understands this.

Why It Matters: Musk had in July said SpaceX is developing a fully-reusable Starship that can deliver a payload of around 150 tonnes to low Earth Orbit and about 250 tonnes when expendable.

The fully reusable Starship launch system would eventually replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. SpaceX aims to build a fleet of 1,000 reusable Starships over the next two decades.

Musk dreams of colonizing Mars and founded SpaceX with the mission to make humanity multiplanetary. He has in the past said he remains highly confident that SpaceX would land humans on Mars by 2026.

See Also: Elon Musk Says Will Do His 'Best' To Give Long-Term Tesla Shareholders Preference In Starlink IPO

Photo: Courtesy of SpaceX via Flickr

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Elon Musk Says SpaceX's Starship Fleet Can Deliver 1000 Times More Payload Than All Rockets On Earth Combined - Benzinga

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SpaceX Shuttle Has Broken Toilet, Crew Have To Pee Selves – UPROXX

Posted: at 2:40 pm

Elon Musks SpaceX was supposed to revolutionize space travel, reduce the price of interstellar transportation, even lead to the colonization of Mars. Perhaps one day all that will be true. But right now, a SpaceX flight due soon for re-entry on Earth has a little problem: The toilet is broken, and it wont be fixed until after its return. So everyone put their heads together, just like in Apollo 13, and this is the best solution they came up with: Those on board will just have to pee themselves.

As per CNN, SpaceXs Crew Dragon ship which is currently docked at ISIS, the International Space Station, having deposited them there back in April is fine save a leak in the toilet. That will force the four NASA astronauts who will soon be onboard to use their undergarments instead.

Thats not as bad as it may sound. First, the undergarments are essentially diapers anyway, and have long been used as backups on flights. Second, its unknown how long the four will be in flight, though the last such trip took only six hours, though the one before that took 19 hours. Perhaps they can hold it.

This isnt the first toilet leak on the Crew Dragon capsule. On the Inspiration4 mission in September, crew found a tube, that was used to funnel urine into a storage tank, had become unglued, leading to a hidden mess beneath the capsule floor. In fact, all three SpaceX spacecraft have had similar issues, which is probably in no way symbolic of a larger issue.

Musk is one of at least three billionaires whove caught space fever, leading to rivalries, even razzing. But only Musk is the one whos enticed the likes of Tom Cruise and Channing Tatum to potentially join him in the heavens. If they go, however, theyd do well to not chug Big Gulps prior to takeoff.

(Via CNN)

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The tearful reunions as Brits finally entered the US were magnificent to see… – The Sun

Posted: at 2:40 pm

What a boost

SO much for the scaremongers who demanded crippling Covid curbs for Christmas.

So much for the hysterical mob who screamed: Plan B now!

The jabs miracle has reduced our R rate to the lowest in Western Europe.

It is below one, so the disease is in retreat.

Cases are falling rapidly, even with kids back at school and life near normal.

Double-jabbed Brits finally entered the US yesterday as the 20-month ban ended.

The tearful reunions at New York airport were magnificent to see.

The vaccines have set us free.

Which makes a mockery of those anti-vax types holding out like flat-Earthers.

And it clinches the argument for urgent mandatory shots for all care sector staff.

Given how vulnerable care homes were last year, what excuse is there for refusing to maximise protection of the old and frail?

THE one way Boris Johnson could worsen his situation over the Owen Paterson fiasco was to dodge yesterdays Commons showdown.

Instead of facing the music, defending himself and his Government, maybe eating humble pie before his angry back-benchers, he went to Northumberland.

An underling was ordered to take his place as Keir Starmer and others scored again and again into an open goal.

Boris may be calculating that almost no one watched this battering on daytime TV.

He may have thought he had nothing to gain from facing it himself.

But voters WILL notice he ducked it.

Starmer remains woefully poor.

His own much-trumpeted integrity is pure hype. Labours record on sleaze is grim.

But Boris cannot be surprised that his ratings, and the Tory partys, are suffering.

LIKE his fascist and racist father, Max Mosley was a revolting individual.

And we sympathise with Jewish students repulsed by Oxford and other universities taking millions in donations from the familys fortune.

Given Oxfords normal zeal to disown ancient benefactors over centuries-old offences against modern morality, the hypocrisy is self-evident.

There is arguably more reason to cancel the Mosleys.

Why not ditch ALL woke purges and continue putting the cash to far better use than the bigot Mosley ever would have?

ITS hard to quantify how much a lack of ketchup would hold back mankinds colonisation of Mars.

It wouldnt help, though.

So it is stratospherically good news that Heinz have figured out how to grow the right tomatoes in dusty Martian soil.

If we can also grow spuds for chips, all the major food groups are covered off.

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The tearful reunions as Brits finally entered the US were magnificent to see... - The Sun

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Save AmericaReject Libertarianism – The American Mind

Posted: at 2:33 pm

The future of America depends on abandoning the illusion of neutrality.

Tom Klingenstein is right in his latest speech. I might quibble over small details, but what matters is that Klingenstein is indubitably correct about many big things: above all, that the Right cant reverse the tide of wokeism until it begins to minimize the influence of libertarianism. As he says, Libertarian-influenced Republicans tell the wokesters: You can live your way, just allow us to live our way. To which the woke respond: You must live our way or we will punish you.

If there is one lesson we must draw from the experience of the past few decades, and especially of the past few years, it is precisely this one. There has never been, and there will never be, a neutral American public square. It is a fantasy that we could ever or should ever make cacophonous debate and disagreement our only true ideals, leaving each to penetrate the mystery of human life on his own, or to figure out whether there are two genders or 107. One claim or other will coercively predominate.

Yet neutrality is precisely the visionan illusion, reallyunder which much of the establishment Right has labored and continues to labor. Klingenstein, with his characteristic lucidity and forthrightness, sees through it.

Thisshouldntbe that hard. All it requires is taking an unflinching glance at U.S. society as it exists today, rather than as the libertariansor better yet, right-liberals or conservative liberalsmight wish it to be. The claim that there are more than two sexes, or that 1619 is Americas true founding, is enshrined as public dogma. Americans who reject it risk being unpersoned by Big Tech, fired from their jobs, treated as domestic terrorists by the national-security apparatus, and so on.

It matters little that much of this coercion is meted out by private firms rather than governmental actors. This meaningless formal distinction is one of the right-liberals most enraging sleights of hand; whatever their subjective motivations in insisting upon it, objectively, it puts them on the side of the soft totalitarians.

The right-liberals flash as badges of honor their various commitments: to neutrality, to pluralism as a very-high good, to a society defined above all by disagreement. But really, they are marks of a great and craven abdication. For at least two generations, they have garnered prestige and profitable sinecures of various sorts on the promise of doing no more than perpetuating the endless discussion of liberalism. The right-liberals have asked voters for political authority, while determined not to exercise it on the side of truth. The wokes, meanwhile, are definitively ending the discussion, and they seek office to wield raw power.

My generation of right-wingers has a clear task, and it is to follow Klingensteins call to sideline right-liberalism and libertarianismmore than that, to bury their sclerotic institutions, abandon their illusions, and expose the ugly material realities churning behind their tired watchwords and slogans.

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Poul Anderson – Wikipedia

Posted: at 2:33 pm

American science fiction writer

Poul Anderson

Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 July 31, 2001)[4] was an American science fiction author from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote fantasy novels, historical novels, and short stories. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.[5]

Poul Anderson was born on November 25, 1926 in Bristol, Pennsylvania to Scandinavian parents.[6] Shortly after his birth, his father, Anton Anderson moved the family to Texas, where they lived for over ten years. Following Anton Anderson's death, his widow took the children to Denmark. The family returned to the United States after the outbreak of World War II, settling eventually on a Minnesota farm.

While he was an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota, Anderson's first stories were published by John W. Campbell in Astounding Science Fiction: "Tomorrow's Children" by Anderson and F. N. Waldrop in March 1947 and a sequel, "Chain of Logic" by Anderson alone, in July.[a] He earned his B.A. in physics with honors but became a freelance writer after he graduated in 1948. He placed his third story in the December Astounding.[7]

Anderson married Karen Kruse in 1953 and moved with her to the San Francisco Bay area. Their daughter Astrid (now married to science fiction author Greg Bear) was born in 1954. They made their home in Orinda, California. Over the years Poul gave many readings at The Other Change of Hobbit bookstore in Berkeley; his widow later donated his typewriter and desk to the store.[citation needed]

In 1965, Algis Budrys said that Anderson "has for some time been science fiction's best storyteller".[8] He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) in 1966 and of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), also in the mid-1960s. The latter was a loosely-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors led by Lin Carter, originally eight in number, with entry by credentials as a fantasy writer alone. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972.

Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[9][10] The Science Fiction Writers of America made Anderson its 16th SFWA Grand Master in 1998[11] and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 2000, its fifth class of two deceased and two living writers.[12] He died of prostate cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. A few of his novels were first published posthumously.

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