Godspeed, Cdr Scott Carpenter, USN (Ret) 1925-2013

Cdr. Scott Carpenter, USN (Ret.) 1925-2013

Cdr. Scott Carpenter, USN (Ret.), Mercury Astronaut and Commander of Aurora 7, died today. He was 88 years old. Cdr. Carpenter was the fourth American to fly in space and the second American to orbit the Earth. He was awarded the Navys Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

 "High Flight"

 Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.

Where never lark, or even eagle flew —

And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

-Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

--John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Godspeed, Cdr Scott Carpenter, USN (Ret) 1925-2013

NASA:...To Reach Out to Muslims...

Space, the Final Frontier...Apparently not.

According to the head of NASA, appointed by Barak Hussein Obama, one of the primary goals of NASA is to reach out to Muslims- particularly Indonesia. "We really like Indonesia because the State Department, the Department of Education (and) other agencies in the U.S. are reaching out to Indonesia as the largest Muslim nation in the world," said Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator.

Hmmm... Didn't Barak Hussein Obama grow up in Indonesia? I digress...

Again, according to Charles Bolden, Barak Hussein "Obama told him before he took the job that he wanted him to do three things: inspire children to learn math and science, expand international relationships and "perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ..." "

So, NASA's job is not to explore Space, but to make Muslims feel good?  So much for Mars.  So much for returning to the Moon, so much for exploring Space.  Apparently, Barak Hussein Obama is one of "those" democrats, like Walter Mondale, whose goal in life is to kill NASA and United States space exploration.

I can hear Obama now, "We choose to go to Muslim countries, We choose to go to Muslim countries in this decade, not because it is easy, but because we want them to feel good."

I guess it is a good thing that JFK had us go to the Moon before 1970...  If it had been up up to Barak Hussein Obama, we still would not have gotten there and we never would have heard the names of Armstrong, Aldrin, or Lovell.

My advice, buy "From Earth to the Moon"- as long as Barak Hussein Obama has his way, watching a TV show of manned space exploration may be as close as we get for years to come.
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NASA:...To Reach Out to Muslims...

Former Astronauts ALSO Frustrated Over Obama's Killing of Constellation

I have expressed my concerns and frustration over Obama's cancellation of the Constellation Program- the US returning to the moon. Apparently, some of those that have been there (the moon that is) are just as frustrated.

Captain Jim Lovell- (who I would say can certainly "understate" things-- i.e. "Houston, we've had a problem" - yeah they definitely had a problem) said, "Personally, I think it will have catastrophic consequences in our ability to explore space and the spin-offs we get from space technology. They haven't thought through the consequences."

I definitely agree with Capt. Lovell.

Gene Cernan- the last man to walk on the moon- said, "I'm quite disappointed that I'm still the last man on the moon. I thought we'd have gone back long before now."

Both were speaking to the BBC in London on Friday.

The good news at least is that SpaceX announced today a successful static test of their Falcon 9's engines. SpaceX is a private company that may launch as early as April 12, from a pad just south of the shuttle's pads at Kennedy Space Center.

The Falcon 9 will be used for taking cargo into space.
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Former Astronauts ALSO Frustrated Over Obama's Killing of Constellation

Job Cuts Coming- Because of Obama Budget

For all the jobs that Obama claims to be creating, there are 23,000 minimum that he will directly be getting rid of, because of his budget.

These are not low-end, minimum wage jobs.  Many of these are very high end engineering jobs.  These are jobs at NASA.

Thanks to Obama's budget- cutting the Constellation Program- and the end of the Shuttle program, thousands of jobs at NASA are gone- or going.  Additionally there are a large number of contracting jobs as well as support jobs that are going as well.

This is just the job impact.   There is no way to calculate the damage to the economy or to discovery and invention that will take place, now that Obama is ending manned space flight.

Of course, I am sure this is just part of our Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet's President's plan-- after all, those people made too much money. I am sure he just wants to make sure that their wealth is redistributed to others...

If you want to understand more about Chairman Barack Hussein Obama's plan for managing the country, may I suggest reading the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx.

Job Cuts Coming- Because of Obama Budget

Obama to Kill NASA Exploration

After spending his State of the Union talking about how important education is, it looks like President Obama will kill off a government program that is 100% about discovery, education, learning and exploration.

It appears the White House will zero out the Constellation Program at NASA.

When the Shuttle Program ends this year, NASA will be without a launch vehicle or a goal. The plan had been, build Constellation and go back to the Moon then on to Mars...

Instead, NASA will be directed to have "other governments" - namely the Russians- fly our Astronauts to the space station. NASA's mission will be to stop ManBearPig Global Warming. Apparently the President does not realize that the best way to stop ManBearPig Global Warming, is to get scientists to report factual data, instead of making up numbers to create a fictional crisis.

Ending manned exploration of space will hurt every American. Since 1976, NASA's manned exploration of space has provided over 1400 inventions that affect our daily lives. These inventions include everything from medical scanners to self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA's) used by fire-fighters to save lives. Smoke detectors (originally deployed in Sky Lab) and ear thermometers are other examples of how NASA "tech" has filtered down to every day lives.

Yes, the United States is in a recession. However, our manned space exploration program does not need to be ended because of it. The history of mankind is the history of discovery. We have been leaders in discovery for over the past 100 years or more. We must not give it up now.

From Amazon.com: When We Left Earth - The NASA Missions (4-Disc Set) [Blu-ray]

Obama to Kill NASA Exploration

Thoughts on the Inauguration

At noon Eastern, a new age began in this country. I am not speaking of the "first's" that occurred today, although I will agree that it is remarkable and wonderful, that just over 45 years since Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech, an African-American family is the First Family. We should not forget, that President Obama is not the first African-American to hold high government office. The first African-American Secretary of State was appointed by President George W. Bush, and the first African-American Woman appointed Secretary of State, was also appointed by President George W. Bush.

The new age that I speak of is an age of liberalism with little to no method to object. President Obama is a liberal. The liberals control the House by a large majority. The liberals control the Senate by almost a veto and filibuster proof majority. The Cabinet, with the exception of Defense Secretary Gates, are all liberal ideologues.

I am NOT looking forward to this new age.

The President was correct in his speech, when he stated that we faced challenges ahead.

We face an economy with serious issues. Unfortunately, the "Market" reacted to the inauguration today with a drop of 332 points. The "Market " dropped 50 of those points during the President's speech. Does that tell us what "the Street" really thinks of the new President?

We continue to face a war on terror. It is ridiculous to think we should treat terrorist we capture as criminals. They are enemy combatants, captured in a combat zone, out of uniform. They should be treated as such, and not treated as an American citizen subject to all the rights and privileges' of our court system. They should be treated as what they are, and I do NOT believe this contradicts any of the ideals our country was founded on.

We face a possible climate shift. I am NOT speaking of global warming. On the contrary, I am speaking of global cooling. What we need for this is SCIENCE. REAL SCIENCE- not the voodoo and false science of Global Warming. We need real scientists doing real research so we can prepare for what is to come. I do not say or believe that we need scientist to tell us how to radically change the climate, for I do not believe that man has very much influence on planetary climate change. We are in a period of sunspot lapse that exceeds 95% of normal, and only during the Dalton Minimum has a lapse time been longer. Fortunately real science is finally starting to "leak out." Now even the liberal CNN is starting to see that, just maybe, cooling is happening and "Global Warming" may be a myth.

We face a time when the rights of the individual are constantly eroded. We live in a time when, although the Court has ruled in Heller that the Second Amendment applies to the individual, the new President has appointed an Attorney General who has, throughout his career, worked to weaken the Second Amendment.

Yes, I agree with our new President, we face many challenges. What those challenges are, and how we should address them are where the President and I disagree.

Although I wish the President and his family good health and safety, and I want to see a safe, secure, peace in the Middle-East, especially for Israel, I do not wish the President success. I do not want him to succeed. The success of this President and Congress will be disaster for this country.

As such I will write. I will write my Congressman. I will write here. I will make calls. I will donate to organizations such as the NRA who are there to ensure that Freedom is protected. I encourage all my readers to do the same.

It is 650 days until mid-term elections. 650 days until we can change the polarity of the Congress. We have 650 days of hard work ahead of us.

I encourage all my readers to join me, working over the next 650 days, so that we can bring about REAL change.

Thoughts on the Inauguration

Link Between Solar Activity and Weather Obscure?

UPDATE: I have received a communication from Mr. Fox, stating, in no uncertain terms, that his comments were taken out of context in the interview with The Bristol Press. Mr. Fox further states that I have exacerbated the situation. Therefore, in the interest of fairness and integrity, I have made some edits to my original post.

I have also sent an email to Mr. Fox asking him if he would like to clarify his quotes. I stated in my email to him that I will post his clarification and actual opinions here, should he wish to clarify. I am sure he is a busy person, and replying to me may not be on the top of his priority list, so please check back to this story for any reply from Mr. Fox.

Edited Post:

I guess that things that are obvious to your "everyday, guy next-door," are not as obvious to people that are "in the know."

Geoff Fox, a meteorologist with WTNH-TV in Connecticut, is quoted in an interview with The Bristol Press, that "he is intrigued by a possible link between solar activity and weather." Then, Fox is quoted saying, "No one knows what one has to do with the other."

It appears that Mr. Fox has been misquoted or at least edited (in my opinion) to appear that he does not see a connection between solar activity and weather, which he was not saying. So, it would seem The Bristol Press has an agenda to push a certain point of view, and it would seem that their view is that ManBearPig Global Warming Climate Change is totally man made or at least that it has no connection to Solar Activity.

To those that question any linkage of solar activity to weather or climate I ask, "What if the Sun went out tomorrow? Would that affect the weather?" or "What if the Sun started burning hotter by millions of degrees? Would that affect weather?" Most kids in kindergarten would probably say yes to both questions! There must be at least some linkage of solar activity to weather and climate, or there would be no changes if these events happened.

Perphaps "they" do know there is a linkage, but are just afraid to admit it.

If "they" were to admit that solar activity has "something" to do with weather, then "they" might have to admit that ManBearPig Global Warming the Climate Change that AlGore and his zealots "warn" us about, may not be "man made" after all. "They" might not be able to collect millions in Carbon Credits. "They" might loose political influence.

To be understood-- I care about the environment. I am a conservationist and I am a Hunter. I believe that the two things go hand in hand. I believe in preserving nature and the planet for myself, my family and future generations. I also believe in alternative fuels and power-- not to "stop ManBearPig Global Warming" -- but to reduce costs and create energy independence for our nation.

Fortunately, not everyone is confused about if the Sun has anything to do with weather...

All my readers should check out the work of Anthony Watts. He is on my daily read list and is a meteorologist that I trust.

And if you have the time or are so inclined, read about the SurfaceStations.Org project, volunteer and/or donate if you can. It is definitely a worth while project and cause.

Link Between Solar Activity and Weather Obscure?

No Sunspots- Sun Still Quiet

Again this week Sunspot activity has been next to (if not at) zero. This quiet has persisted for the entire month and according to reports, it may continue for some time to come.

The NOAA 'low view' is projecting Sunspot activity to be at zero for the rest of the year!

I am really beginning to wonder about what is happening. NASA heralded the arrival of Cycle 24 in January. Yet all of the sunspots that have occurred since the January announcement have been from Cycle 23. Nothing has been seen of Cycle 24 since the sunspot in January.

The NOAA report and projections are indicating the possibility of a minimum last through December 2008 with activity not starting until January of 2009. Others at NOAA (in the same report) are saying that the minimum has passed and that we should start seeing activity in April.

With global temperature and solar activity linked, I am wondering what does this minimum mean for temperature for the balance of the year? NOAA reported that this winter was the 54th coldest since they began keeping records in 1895. Is this a sign of things to come?

Are we in fact now heading for another Maunder or Dalton Minimum?

(This Post has a "near real time" picture of the Sun and Sunspot Activity from the SOHO Satellite)

No Sunspots- Sun Still Quiet

February Cool- Solar Minimum Continues

February was another cool month with only a very slight increase in temperature over January.

Anthony Watts breaks down the data and shows that there was a change of .062°C upwards.

The Sun is still very quiet, with no visible sunspots as of today.

I personally hope this solar cycle starts soon… Costco has already put all its winter gear away!

February Cool- Solar Minimum Continues

End to Global Warming? Return of An Ice Age?

Last week, articles began to surface discussing how the US National Climatic Data Center was reporting that January's temperature was 0.3F BELOW the average temperature from 1901-2000. Additionally, the Arctic sea ice, that the Global Warming Fanatics said was gone for good, is not only recovered, but it is actually thicker than it was last year.

Even the New York Times has taken note of the "extraordinary" weather, although they do put their own spin on it.

This from Fox News:

Now there is word that all four major global temperature tracking outlets have released data showing that temperatures have dropped significantly over the last year. California meteorologist Anthony Watts says the amount of cooling ranges from 65-hundredths of a degree Centigrade to 75-hundreds of a degree.

That is said to be a value large enough to erase nearly all the global warming recorded over the past 100 years. It is reportedly the single fastest temperature change ever recorded — up or down.

There is even discussion of a lawsuit against Al Gore and those who sell "Carbon Offsets."

The interesting thing to note in this cooling is that it corresponds to a Solar Sunspot Minimum. We are currently in between Solar Cycle 23 and Cycle 24. In fact, Solar Cycle 24 is very late in starting. There are some prediction that the next few solar cycles could be very weak, possibly indicating a return of a Dalton or Maunder Minimum.

Is this the end of Global Warming? Are we heading into another Little Ice Age? Or was the whole global warming thing just a load of crap?

For more reading on all things weather, I HIGHLY recommend Anthony Watt's page, "Watt's Up With That."

End to Global Warming? Return of An Ice Age?