CNN reports: When President Donald Trump signed the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government funding bill into law in December, so began the 180-day countdown for US intelligence agencies to tell Congress what they know about UFOs. No, really. The director of National Intelligence and the secretary of defense have a little less than six months now to provide the congressional…
Tag: countdown
NASA to test its SLS megarocket in the coming weeks
The ongoing pandemic has slowed testing for NASA’s Space Launch System megarocket, but the process is resuming and has checked off a key milestone: powering up the core stage. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-megarocket-sls-tests-core-green-run-hot-fire-test…
Apple Launches ‘Apple Music TV’, a 24-Hour Music Video Livestream
Apple has launched Apple Music TV, a free 24-hour curated livestream of popular music videos that will also include “exclusive new music videos and premiers, special curated music video blocks, and live shows and events as well as chart countdowns and guests,” according to the announcement. From a report: Apple Music TV will be available to U.S. residents only on the…
A New York Clock That Told Time Now Tells the Time Remaining
For more than 20 years, Metronome, which includes a 62-foot-wide 15-digit electronic clock that faces Union Square in Manhattan, has been one of the city’s most prominent and baffling public art projects. Its digital display once told the time in its own unique way, counting the hours, minutes and seconds (and fractions thereof) to and from midnight. But for years observers…
A Harrowing Story: Dropping an Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki
Last Sunday marked the 75th anniversary of the world’s second atomic bomb attack in 1945. Slashdot reader DanDrollette (who is also the deputy editor of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) shares their article describing that eight-hour flight — with no radio communication — carrying a 9,000-pound nuclear weapon as “outside, monsoon winds, rain, and lightning lashed at them.” In a…
SpaceX begins final countdown for Saturday launch
SpaceX began fueling its Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday as it prepared to send two veteran NASA astronauts to the International Space Station in a historic first crewed mission by a commercial company. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-spacex-countdown-saturday.html…
Watch Live: SpaceX Launches NASA Astronauts to ISS
“Crew Dragon’s hatch is closed, securing @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug in the spacecraft ahead of liftoff,” SpaceX tweeted an hour ago. Livestreaming of the launch has already begun, with liftoff scheduled in about 41 minutes. GeekWire reports: If liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida occurs today at 3:22 p.m. ET (12:22 p.m. PT), it’ll be a feat that America hasn’t…
Michigan State University Network Breached In Ransomware Attack
Netwalker ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operators have reportedly breached Michigan State University’s network, threatening to leak private files to the public if they don’t pay a ransom in time. BleepingComputer reports: A countdown timer on the attacker’s website shows that the university has about six days to comply or “secret data” will become public. The site set up by the Netwalker ransomware gang…
Historic SpaceX launch postponed because of stormy weather
The launch of a SpaceX rocket ship with two NASA astronauts on a history-making flight into orbit was called off with 16 minutes to go in the countdown Wednesday because of thunderclouds and the danger of lightning. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-historic-spacex-postponed-stormy-weather.html…
‘Bummed out’: SpaceX launch scrubbed because of bad weather
The launch of a SpaceX rocket ship with two NASA astronauts on a history-making flight into orbit was called off with less than 17 minutes to go in the countdown Wednesday because of thunderclouds and the risk of lightning. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-historic-spacex-postponed-stormy-weather.html…