On Saturday 5 May 2018,the first ever launch of a NASA planetary science probe from the West Coast will occur at Vandenberg Air Force Base,California.The Mars InSight spacecraft was transported to Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg on 23 April and hoisted to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket,where it was carefully positioned,attached and tested by engineers and technicians.*
Mars InSight is headed for the Elysium Planitia region of Mars' Northern Hemisphere,where it is slated to land on 26 November 2018.Launch is scheduled for 7:05 am Eastern/4:05 am Pacific with a two hour launch window.
The spacecraft was designed and built by Lockheed Martin,with mission management by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Major contributions were also made by the French Centre Nationale d'Etude Spatiales and German DLR space agencies.InSight is intended to study the deep interior of Mars by taking its temperature with a burrowing instrument and listening for seismic events known as marsquakes.The data will enable the development of a map of the Martian interior,thus illuminating how Mars and,by extrapolation,other rocky planets such as Earth may have formed.*
Wind and atmospheric pressure and temperature will also be measured by InSight's sensors.At the same time,the seismometer on InSight can provide data on the many meteorites that penetrate the thin Martian atmosphere.Overall,it promises to be a highly informative mission,building up the knowledge base for crewed missions in the 2030s.*
In addition to InSight,the Atlas V will also be carrying the first ever CubeSats to venture into deep space,a technology experiment called Mars Cube One (MarCO).MarCO is actually a mini-spacecraft with two satellites that will test new communications and navigation capabilities for deep space missions,possibly including InSight itself.*
West Coast residents from Bakersfield,California south to Rosarito,Mexico may be able to view the spacecraft rising up and heading south.*
ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT),Boeing (BA)
Monday, April 30, 2018
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Monday, April 23, 2018
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Monday, April 16, 2018
Alien life may be hiding in the clouds of Venus
Alien life may be hiding in the clouds of Venus: When it comes to searching for life elsewhere in the solar system, astronomers typically fixate on Mars or the handful of ice-encrusted moons around Jupiter and Saturn. But according to a new study,
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Monday, April 9, 2018
Microsoft Founder Foresees Another Financial Crisis Ahead
According to one of the world's wealthiest and most respected businessmen and philanthropists,,Microsoft principal founder and billionaire Bill Gates,another shattering downturn is on the way.Making his annual appearance on the Reddit programme "Ask Me Anything" on 27 February 2018,Mr.Gates opined:
It is hard to say when,but this is a certainty.
Fortunately,we got through the last one (2008) reasonably well.Warren (Buffett,billionaire co-founder of Berkshire Hathaway) has talked about this and he understands this area far better than I do.Despite this prediction of bumps ahead,I am quite optimistic about how innovation and capitalism will improve the situation for humans everywhere.*
Mr.Gates had a bit of advice for investors in the face of this warning:
If you aren't willing to own a stock for 10 years,don't even think about owning it for 10 minutes.*
Mr.Buffett had these words for investors in his 2018 annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway investors:
It is a terrible mistake for investors with long-term horizons-among them,pension funds,college endowments and savings-minded individuals-to measure their investment "risk" by their portfolio's ratio of bonds to stocks.Often,high-grade bonds in an investment portfolio increase its risk.*
There is simply no telling how far stocks can fall in a short period.Even if your borrowings are small and your positions aren't threatened by the plunging market,your mind may well become rattled by scary headlines and breathless commentary.And an unsettled mind will not make good decisions.*
Stick with big,"easy" decisions and eschew activity.*
Microsoft (MSFT),Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class B Shares (BRK.B)
It is hard to say when,but this is a certainty.
Fortunately,we got through the last one (2008) reasonably well.Warren (Buffett,billionaire co-founder of Berkshire Hathaway) has talked about this and he understands this area far better than I do.Despite this prediction of bumps ahead,I am quite optimistic about how innovation and capitalism will improve the situation for humans everywhere.*
Mr.Gates had a bit of advice for investors in the face of this warning:
If you aren't willing to own a stock for 10 years,don't even think about owning it for 10 minutes.*
Mr.Buffett had these words for investors in his 2018 annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway investors:
It is a terrible mistake for investors with long-term horizons-among them,pension funds,college endowments and savings-minded individuals-to measure their investment "risk" by their portfolio's ratio of bonds to stocks.Often,high-grade bonds in an investment portfolio increase its risk.*
There is simply no telling how far stocks can fall in a short period.Even if your borrowings are small and your positions aren't threatened by the plunging market,your mind may well become rattled by scary headlines and breathless commentary.And an unsettled mind will not make good decisions.*
Stick with big,"easy" decisions and eschew activity.*
Microsoft (MSFT),Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class B Shares (BRK.B)
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Friday, April 6, 2018
Thursday, April 5, 2018
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