NASA to Discuss New Black-Hole Hunting Satellite Wednesday
NASA will discuss plans for its next major telescope mission, a new satellite equipped to search for black holes, in a briefing Wednesday (May 30) that will be broadcast live online.
NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) instrument is set to launch June 13 from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The telescope will be packed aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket due to launch from a plane in midair.
NASA officials and scientists involved in the project will preview the mission during a 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) briefing set to air on NASA TV.
NuSTAR will image light in the high-energy, short-wavelength X-ray range with unprecedented sensitivity and clarity. The telescope will aim to study how black holes form and evolve along with galaxies. NuSTAR will also observe other cosmic mysteries, such as high-speed particle jets, ultra-dense neutron stars, supernova remnants and our own sun.
The observatory was originally scheduled to launch in March, but NASA determined that more time was needed to review the rocket’s software.
Speaking at the press conference will be:
- Paul Hertz, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington
- Fiona Harrison, NuSTAR principal investigator at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.
- Daniel Stern, NuSTAR project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena
- Yunjin Kim, NuSTAR project manager at JPL
The press conference, which will take place at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., will be carried live on NASA TV as well as Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2. Anyone can submit a question to be answered during the briefing via Twitter, using the hashtag #asknasa.
This delegate count is based on the state convention and NOT the straw polls.
All these delegates have been allocated at the state convention or in a winner take all caucus.
The website is here
Delegates:
- Mitt Romney- 591 actual delegates
- Ron Paul- 186 actual delegates
- Rick Santorum- 146 actual delegates
- Newt Gingrich- 66 actual delegates.
- DELEGATES YET TO BE ALLOCATED- 1297
Furthermore, all of these “actual delegates” aren’t actually bound to a candidate (per the RNC rules and the interpretation of the rules by the RNC Legal Council). We can assume that these “actual delegates” will fall in line and vote for the person they’re expected to, but it’s not actually required they vote that way.
Congratulations to Romney for getting enough “expected delegates” to take the nomination, but we won’t know the final count until the Convention in August.
He’s right actually^
This delegate count is based on the state convention and NOT the straw polls.
All these delegates have been allocated at the state convention or in a winner take all caucus.
The website is here
Delegates:
- Mitt Romney- 591 actual delegates
- Ron Paul- 186 actual delegates
- Rick Santorum- 146 actual delegates
- Newt Gingrich- 66 actual delegates.
- DELEGATES YET TO BE ALLOCATED- 1297
Romney-Paul ticket a reality?
One is the presumptive Republican Party nominee for president and the other is the offspring of the likely candidate’s only GOP challenger. And, for now, that’s all that’s known about a recent closed-door meeting between Mitt Romney and Rand Paul.The only man standing between Mitt Romney’s securing of the GOP nod is Texas Congressman Ron Paul, which is in turn raising a lot of questions about a recent sit-down between the former Massachusetts governor and his opponent’s son, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Romney and the younger Paul met last week in Washington, D.C. and, though neither side is discussing the details of the secret meeting, both Republican Party pundits and sources close to the politicians are speculating as to what kind of relationship should be in the works between the two.
Sources close to Sen. Paul tell the National Review that the Kentucky lawmaker lasted around 30 minutes last Wednesday before emerging from a closed-door meeting with Mitt Romney. Although the Senator’s father is adamantly opposed to many of Romney’s campaign issues and plans for a potential presidency, the younger of the two lawmakers isn’t completely against the former Massachusetts governor’s game-plan. Could a Romney and Rand Paul ticket be in the works, or is the Republican Party frontrunner only trying to secure the endorsement of a known darling of the Tea Party movement? Still, others are pondering the possibility the Paul dynasty simply securing a route for Rand to continue on the road his father has taken after the 2012 election.
Whichever way you want to speculate, a budding relationship between Rand Paul and Romney could very well shape the Republican Party and America.
Although Rep. Ron Paul has an undisputedly devoted following, that same uncompromised devotion to his beliefs is exactly what turns other Republicans off from a Ron Paul ticket.
“Rand Paul has softer edges than his dad,” Cato Institute Executive Vice President David Boaz tells National Public Radio. “That helped him get elected to the Senate.”
Brian Doherty, senior editor of Reason magazine, adds to NPR that forging a Romney/Rand Paul alliance now could bring together undecided Republicans in the years to come. Should Romney win the 2012 presidential election, says Doherty, it would allow a “convincing primary challenger to make very real to the party that there are two wings to the party fighting for supremacy — the Romney wing vs. the Paul wing.”
Speaking to the network, Carrol Doherty of the Pew Research Center adds that bridging the gap between conservative wings could be a winning strategy for Republicans — if not in 2012, then during the next election cycle.
“What’s interesting is because of the partisan structure, it’s still hard for libertarians to find a comfortable place in either party,” says Doherty. “There are plenty of libertarians,” he says. “It’s a significant bloc potentially available to a candidate who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”
Jackie Bodnar, a spokeswoman for the Tea Party group Freedom Works, adds to ABC News that Romney bridging the Republican Party gap through Rand Paul could be a godsend for a GOP so strongly divided. “I‘m definitely happy that he’s talking with limited government conservatives like Rand Paul,” Bodnar says. “It’s a victory in and of itself that the candidates are speaking the Tea Party language.”
In the meantime, however, Rep. Ron Paul remains by-and-large the libertarian that is leaning most for limited government in this presidential race. Should Romney win the nomination, a ticket with Rand Paul is more than likely out of the question given the congressman’s insistence in staying in the race. No matter which way you slice it, though, the recent meeting between the two stands to split politics in America even more — if that’s even possible
US troops imitate invasion of Iran with Arab allies
Around 12,000 troops from more than 19 nations are wrapping up a massive military training drill in the Middle East. But for some of those servicemen, these exercises might be just the beginning of something much bigger to come.
The United States, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan are just a sampling of the many countries — along with European allies — that have been involved in the nearly month-long Eager Lion 2012 exercise expected to end this week. Although much of the drills have been kept under wraps, it isn’t a secret that these states have spent the last month cooperating together through mock combat drills and comprehensive training. Some sources overseas report, however, that as many as 3,000 troops aligned with US forces have conducted a simulated landing and attack on Iran, preparing America and its allies for a war that becomes more likely by the day.
Intelligence sources speaking to Israel’s Debka news agency report that US troops and other forces aligned with America recently staged a landing on a Jordanian beach that was immediately followed by a military seizure of fortified mountain bases and command posts. The exercise was meant to emulate an attack on Iran and accompanies other drills that witnesses say show off just what America’s foes face if they continue to put the heat on the United States and its pals abroad.
Speaking of a drill assumed to be a mockup of a raid on Syria, Major General. Awni el-Edwan, Chief of staff of the Jordanian Operations and Training Armed Forces, says, “The exercise is not connected to any real world event,”reports CNN. “This has nothing to do with Syria. We respect the sovereignty of Syria. There is no tension between the Syrians and us. Our objectives are clear.”
Others, however, say that the intentions of the Eager Lion 2012 drills are obvious.
Gen. James Mattis, head of the US Central Command, visited both sections of the exercise led by American troops in Jordan, adds Debka. Should the US officially attack either Syria or Iran, Gen. Mattis will be the head of the military forces there. Additionally, intelligence sources speaking with the Israeli outlet reveal that Gen. Mattis has recently sought approval from US President Barack Obama to deploy a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East to increase America’s presence.
The United States currently has two massive aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf area, both the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Enterprise, and CNN adds in their report that the Air Force has sent six of the stealth F-22 fighter jets to the neighboring United Arab Emirates.
The US is believed to be engaged in exercises involving the Navy and Air Force in operations on the land, air and sea, with the US Special Operations troops also working in tandem with Jordanian special forces units in counterterrorism to put both teams on the same page.
Debka reports that, during Eager Lion 2012, a command post was also established by around 700 US Marines onboard the USS New York amphibious transport dock that was stationed in the Red Sea. The entire exercise there, they say, was “clearly visible” to observers in a neighboring Israeli port. Only days earlier, Debka reported that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told his country that “all options remain on the table” involving an attack on Iran, and that the Jewish state will strike first if necessary, even without the assistance of American forces.
“There is no need to tell us what to do, and we have no reason to panic. Israel is very, very strong, but we do know that the Iranians are accomplished chess players and will try to achieve nuclear capabilities,” said Barak.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Arlington National Cemetery - May, 1943.
