Discovery shuttle poised for historic final launch
February 25, 2011 by Trend PK
Filed under Technology
CAPE CANAVERAL: Discovery, NASA’s oldest and most journeyed space shuttle, is poised to launch Thursday on its final mission, wrapping up a near three-decade legacy of orbital travel.
When the storied spacecraft lifts off at 2150 GMT, it will mark the beginning of the end of the US space shuttle program, with Discovery the first of the remaining three shuttles headed for retirement this year.
The closure of the US shuttle program will leave a gaping hole in the American space mission, and leaves astronauts to rely on the Russian Soyuz space capsule for transport to the orbiting International Space Station.
But concerns for the future were brushed aside as excitement mounted at Kennedy Space Center for Discovery”s mission, with technical checks moving along smoothly and no hint of the fuel tank woes that delayed the launch in November.
“Everything is on track and going beautifully with the countdown,” said mission management team director Mike Moses. “We’re really looking forward to a very action-packed, successful mission.”
Cracks on Discovery”s external fuel tank emerged just before launch more than three months ago, causing engineers to puzzle for many weeks over the cause and how to fix it.
In January, engineers agreed that installing small metal strips, called radius blocks, on the 6.7 meter- (22-foot-) long U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, would reinforce their strength.
Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach said the teams preparing Discovery this time had found “no problems at all” as they count down toward lift-off.
“We’re not tracking any issues and it looks like Discovery will fly this time,” said Leinbach.
The rotating service structure around Discovery was rolled away on Wednesday evening, revealing the shuttle on the launch-pad for the first time.
The six-member crew of astronauts headed to bed at 0400 GMT and were to awaken at 1200 GMT for the launch Thursday, NASA said.
The loading of the external fuel tank was to begin at 1225 GMT. The astronauts were expected to board the shuttle at around 1835 GMT.
The mission will be led by commander Steven Lindsey, pilot Eric Boe and astronauts Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Steve Bowen and Nicole Stott.
Astronaut Tim Kopra was scratched from the crew list after a bicycle accident in January. He was replaced by Bowen.
The crew plans to deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, with extra storage space and an area for experiments, as well as some spare parts and the Express Logistic Carrier, an external platform for large equipment.
The shuttle is also to bring the first humanoid robot to the ISS. The Robonaut 2, or R2, is a joint project of General Motors and NASA and will stay behind when Discovery leaves as a permanent resident of the ISS.
The weather forecast – clear skies, sunshine and a mild breeze – was considered exceptionally good with only a 20-percent chance of conditions that could delay the launch, NASA weather officer Kathy Winters said.
Discovery first flew in 1984. Final flights for the other two remaining in the fleet, Atlantis and Endeavour, are scheduled for later this year.
Endeavour is set for its final takeoff on April 19 and a last mission for Atlantis is scheduled for June 28, though funding for Atlantis remains in question.
There were initially five space shuttles in the fleet — Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff in 1986 and Columbia disintegrated on its way back to Earth in 2003.
The sixth shuttle, Enterprise, did test flights in the atmosphere but was never flown into space. It is already on display at a museum outside Washington.
Discovery cancels Michael Jackson autopsy TV show
January 4, 2011 by Trend PK
Filed under Entertainment
LOS ANGELES: The Discovery television network on Friday said it canceled plans to air a reenactment of the autopsy on Michael Jackson”s body, citing an upcoming court hearing and concern by the late pop star”s estate.
The show, “Michael Jackson”s Autopsy: What Really Killed Michael Jackson,” had been set to air in several countries of western Europe and in the United Kingdom on Jan. 13.
“Given the commencement of legal proceedings beginning next week, and at the request of Michael Jackson”s estate, the scheduled broadcast of the medical documentary related to Michael Jackson”s official autopsy has been postponed indefinitely,” Discovery Networks International said in a statement.
A Discovery (DISCA.O) spokesman declined comment beyond the statement. Co-executors of the estate responded in their own statement saying they were “pleased” with the decision.
The “Thriller” singer died suddenly of a prescription drug overdose on June 25, 2009, age 50, only weeks before beginning a series of comeback concerts. An autopsy by Los Angeles officials showed Jackson died chiefly of an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol that he used as a sleep aid.
Discovery”s show, which was not scheduled to air in the United States, was an unofficial, fictional account of what the autopsy must have been like and its results.
But Jackson fans worldwide protested in an online petition launched earlier this month, and the co-executors of his estate sent a letter this week to Discovery Networks calling the program “insensitive” and “in shockingly bad taste.”
A print advertisement for the program shows a body covered by a sheet, with one hand poking out wearing the singer”s well-known sequined glove.
Following Discovery”s decision, McClain and Branca released a statement saying, “we are hopeful that this show will never run in any market in the future.”
“While Discovery cited legal proceedings and our request as the reasons for its decision, none of this would have happened had it not been for the incredible passion displayed by countless Michael Jackson fans worldwide who knew they stood as one and that their voices could not be ignored,” the statement said.
Jackson”s physician at the time of his death, Dr. Conrad Murray, has admitted giving the singer propofol, which is often used in surgery, and Murray has been charged by authorities with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson”s death.
Murray has pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary hearing to determine if enough evidence exists to make him stand trial begins in Los Angeles on Jan. 4.
NASA finds faulty seal after delayed shuttle launch
November 11, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
CAPE CANAVERAL: A potentially dangerous hydrogen leak that forced NASA to cancel last week’s launch of space shuttle Discovery may have been due to a misaligned seal, a NASA spokesman said on Thursday.
“They’re analyzing the flight seal, which they found wasn’t properly aligned,” NASA spokesman Allard Beutel wrote in an e-mail to Reuters.
NASA called off its planned Nov. 5 launch of Discovery on a mission to deliver a storage room, spare parts and a prototype humanoid robot to the International Space Station when gaseous hydrogen began leaking from a vent line as the spaceship was being fueled for flight.
After the scrub, NASA discovered a large crack in the insulating foam on the shuttle’s fuel tank, which likely would have canceled the launch if the leak had not been discovered.
The crack, initially believed to be about 7 inches long, turned out to
NASA greenlights launch of shuttle Discovery
November 4, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
CAPE CANAVERAL : NASA gave the go-ahead for the launch of the Discovery space shuttle mission to the orbiting International Space Station, after a close study of the latest electrical glitch.
The decision Wednesday to go ahead with the launch attempt came despite concerns about poor weather around the time of launch window, with only 20 percent chance of favorable conditions, so mission managers set another meeting to evaluate the weather early Thursday.
The flight to the orbiting ISS is the fourth and final shuttle flight of the year, and the last scheduled for Discovery, the oldest in the three-shuttle fleet that is being retired in 2011.
“Managers will proceed with Discovery’s launch attempt tomorrow and will meet again at 5:30 am (0930 GMT) to evaluate the weather” at launch time, which is set for 1929 GMT on Thursday (3:29 pm).
If the weather
Lungs possess sense of taste
The sense of taste has always been associated with tongue but now a new research has unleashed a new fact that the lungs also possess the sense of taste.
According to the the research conducted by the medical department of University of Merry land, the lungs sense the bitter taste exactly like the tonue senses it. The scientists are of the view that this discovery would go far in helping cur many respiratory diseases. Especially this discovery would help in curing the disease of asthma. As bitter-taste medicines are better in clearing the respiratory veins as compared to other medicines.
Court annuls warrants against Turkish coup suspects
August 7, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
ISTANBUL: An Istanbul court Friday annulled an arrest warrant issued against 102 Turkish officers, including 25 serving generals and admirals, over an alleged 2003 coup plot, a news agency reported.
The court accepted the request for the annulment of the warrant filed by the officers” lawyers, agency reported without providing details of the judge”s decision.
The warrant was issued against the officers on July 23 after the discovery of an alleged coup plan codenamed Operation Sledgehammer.
The plot was reportedly hatched shortly after the Justice and Development Party (AKP), an offshoot of a banned Islamist movement, took power in Turkey in 2002.
The arrival of the AKP to power raised concerns among a significant portion of society and the military, which sees itself as the guardian of the secular nature of the Turkish state and which has unseated four governments since 1960.
The plotters allegedly planned to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with neighbouring Greece to spark political unrest and shape public opinion in favour of a military coup, before seizing power.
The alleged mastermind of the plot, former First Army commander and four-star general Cetin Dogan, was arrested last month and hospitalised the following day for heart problems.
He has denied the charges, arguing that papers from a contingency plan based on a scenario of domestic unrest had been doctored to look like a coup plot.
stephen hawking aliens
April 26, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
The British scientist and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said in a TV series for Discovery Channel that aliens “almost certainly exist,” but humans have been advised to avoid to keep in touch with them.
Stephen Hawking said it was “perfectly rational” to assume intelligent life elsewhere, but has warned that the ‘aliens‘ would likely foray into the Earth to provide resources and then go. In this vein, he added that if extraterrestrials visit Earth the result would be similar to when Christopher Columbus arrived in America, a meeting in which Native Americans were not the most benefit.
High Stakes Poker Season 6 Full Episode 11
High Stakes Poker is a cash game poker television program broadcast on cable television network GSN in the United States. High Stakes Poker Season 6 starts on February 14 this year, they added Poker Stars as the title sponsor, which probably would mean that the videos will be made available. The first season of High Stakes Poker, the loss at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, was first broadcast in January 2006 and consisted of 13 episodes.
The 2.4.2007 announced that GSN High Stakes Poker returns for fourth season, left the loss to South Point. The last episode of High Stakes Poker is unusually rich in strange plays from the game’s biggest names. Phil Ivey went without saying goodbye. The players are professional poker players with amateurs like Jerry Buss and Fred Chamanara. The theme song for the show is titled “I’m all in”, written and performed by John Pratt, Los Angeles.
Expect slightly different format with Gabe Kaplan announce standalone and Kara Scott makes the player interviews while the game is going on. Unfortunately it will not A.J. Benz this year. The series was created by executive producer Henry “she. In the first season.
The confirmed Daniel Negreanu in a post on his website’s forums that all players were paid $ 1,250 per hour to take part, and that 13 episodes were edited down from 24 hours actually play. While struggling for much of the show Veldhuis tried to get back on top. The new episodes of high-stakes poker is shown. Veldhuis Insta-units. The pot of $ 184 200 over two moved Negreanu.
Into The Universe with Stephen Hawking Launched at Discovery channel
Stephen Hawking s Universe | Stephen Hawking Discovery Channel | Stephen Hawking | Stephen Hawkins | Stephen Hawking Death
Washington Post Launching of the Universe by Stephen Hawking’s. Mind Wired News Do you want to hear about wormholes and gas-giant-living aliens and time travel and what kind of mind-blowing stuff from a true genius, without making a lot of channel surfing and not for direct live forecasts, Discovery Channel.
Discovery Channel finally launches its new program Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking in the evening. The four-part mini-series starts at 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific Time.
This shows how information on how did our universe begin? Could alien life consists in distant planets? Is our galaxy has a life expectancy? Cutting-edge effects, digitally enhanced NASA footage and live action combine to bring Hawking extraordinary vision of the universe to the screen for the first time. Finally, provocative, surprising and exquisitely beautiful in the Universe by Stephen Hawking’s Mind is a fascinating look through the inner eye to one of the finest minds on the planet.
Amitabh Bachchan liver damaged 25% due to cirrhosis
Amitabh Bachchan is Shehanshah of Bollywood is in the late sixties and constant under medical surveillance because of his many health complications; his liver is already injured by around 25 percent because of infected blood from a donor that he had acknowledged after the accident on the set of Manmohan Desai’s flick “coolie” in 1982.
“Friends, relatives, well wishers and workers and employees of our pharmaceutical factory, all lined up (to give blood) … Some of the blood from an unidentified donor were impure with the Australian antigen Hepatitis,” said 67-year-old superstar wrote on his blog.
But the infection went ignored until 2000, when an MRI showed that a part of Big B’s liver was fractured by it.
Cirrhosis is considered hazardous because it cripples the liver power to control disease and administer nutrients, hormones and drugs. Amitabh said he exposed the injury eight years ago.
“It is a saga that never seems to end, because it’s additional in store for me, I can not recognize,” he wrote on his blog.
