Capital Hill Coming to Moon Plan Rescue!

This past tuesday, NASA got a boost for it's return to the moon program. And from members on Capital Hill.

Basically, its a plea for an additional $3 billion dolalrs a year to NASA to keep the plan originally proposed by President George W. Bush.

Head of the President Obama's panel that review the space program proposal said, "With the resources available, the program I think is fatally flawed." So said Norman Augustine, the panel's head. Mr. Augustine is a retired chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp.

Congressmen from both parties, including the wife of a astronaut, came to the plan's defense - attacking the Augustine panel for their conculsions.

NASA has already spent $8 billion on the Constellation Project. By 2020, $100 billion would have been spent on that program.

"I don't see the logic in scrapping what the nation has spent years and billions of dollars to develope," House Space Subcommittee chairwoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Her husband Mark Kelly, is schedule to command a shuttle mission next year. She went on to add that there needs to be a very compelling reason to change the program.

Augustine told the Associated Press after the hearing that "the sunken costs argument doesn't carry much weight with us."

Former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin - came to the defense of his pet project. Griffin agree with the Augustine reprot in saying there was not enough money in the current budget to explore space and go anywhere new. Griffin noted that Presidents Obama, Bush, and Bill Clinton all essentially cut NASA spending, with a drop of about 20 percent since 1993. Griffin in his wirtten testimony defended the Bush moon program technical design and emphasized that it should continue with the extra money. He asked that the Augustine Commission, Congress and President Obama should ask themeselves ,"exactly why does the policy which we established in law - twice - need to be changed?"

The Augustine commission recommened dropping the Aries I rocket and go straight to the Ares V booster system. Last week, the Ares I was test fired and it past that crucial test.

UPDATE (September 17, 2009). Added additional link in Ref section below.

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Ref. www.comcast.net, Sept 15, 2009. by Seth Borenstein, "Return-to-moon plan gets boost on Captial Hill" (http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-science/20090915/US.SCI.NASA.Moon/).

The Space Advocate (http://thespaceadvocate.blogspot.com/2009/09/augustine-vs-congress-people-some-of.html).

Space Flight Now(http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0909/15augustine/)

Freaks of Nature

Not so much a paranormal posting this time, but click on the link below to see what freaks mother nature can create on her own. Especially the parasite Ispod that EATS other fishes tongues and then takes it's place in the host's body - meanwhile, the host fish is still alive and contuniues to eat and the parasite just lives in the host's mouth. Right out of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

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(http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/09/when-nature-is-freakier-than-sci-fi/).

It's Official - Moon Return is a No Go

In an article by the Washington (AP), the White House panel on NASA's return-to-the-moon plan will not happen at current funding levels. Current NASA's budget is $18 billion per year. It would require an additional $3 billion to go back to the moon by 2020.

And thats with retiring the shuttle in 2010 and shutting down the International Space Station in 2015 (which would be very stupid since we just spent the better part of 20 years building the damn thing!).

The panel suggested the following, "Space exploration would work better by including other countries and private for-profit firms." They also suggested that if NASA continues its current moon plans, in order to save money, it should kill plans to make a smaller Aries I rocket to carry astronauts and go right to the bigger Aries V."

$7.7 billion have already been spent on the Aries I so far and a test of its first stage is about to take place soon. A test launch may even happen by Halloween.

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Ref. Yahoo.com (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-space-panel-says-moon-apf-2656818175.html?x=0&.v=4).

photo of Aries I on launch pad rendering. I do not remember where I came across this picture so cannot credit it correctly.

Triangle shape UFO - Real or Fake?

Found this Triangle shape UFO video on the website Paranormal Investigations of Texas. Video take on July 23, 2008, near Paris, France.

What I found interesting is that it appears to have two canted inward verticle stablizers towards the rear of the vehicle. And of course, when it wants to disappear, the center glowing light turns into a sphere and eventually, the craft is shallowed up by that light and then it to disappears.

Check it out and make up you own mind about it.

Japan is Getting Back into Carriers Again - Just Call Them Helicopter Destroyers.

Its ironic that I came across this information recently.

Back in college, My friend Tony (aka Anthony Tully), and I would discuss history and current world events. Well Tony, who is really into World War Two Japanese Navy history, and now has one book of his own under his belt (Battle of Surigao Strait); and a co-authorship on another one (Shattered Sword-The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway with Jonathan Parshall). Well, like I said before, we would talk about future military projections of power when we were going to Texas Tech University back in the early 1980s.

Back then, we still had to deal with the (in hindsight now) the tail end of the cold war. But our discussions would end up with Japan having to take on more responsibility for its defense against a more aggressive Red China of the future. The Japanese constitution forbids it to have Aircraft Carriers, a means of projecting power. That is one of the reasons why it is referred to as a Helicopter Destroyer.

So Japan would have to have Aircraft Carriers again is what we thought. Well, sure enough - that trend is taking place now. The Japanese Ministry of Defense released on Sept 7, 2009 its 4.85-trillion yen budget plan for the net fiscal year. The most notable items in that budget was an upgrade to the nation's missile defense system. The second item was the purchase of another helicopter carrier- correction, Helicopter Destroyer.

Based on the current Hyuga-calls helicopter destroyer class, the new helicopter carrier is expected to be 25% longer that the Hyugas and capable of carrying 9 helicopters that can conduct limited naval resupply as well as antisubmarine operations.

This is in light of the Chinese Navy's recent submarine construction. But, China is bulding its own flattops too now.

Currently, the 18,000-ton, 610 foot long, Hyuga (DDH 181) is jointed by sister ship Ise. A third ship of this class is still planned. The next carrier will be longer with a flight deck of 763 feet long. It will weigh in at about 25,000 tons. Currently these ships will operate the SH-60s of which 10 to 11 can be carried by the Hyuga class. Crew size is in the 350 personnel range.

Checking out Wikipedia, DDH-181(Hyuga) and sister DDH-182 (Ise), will be able to operate Harriers and F-35 Lightning IIs when they become operational. The ships will then be equipped with a 12 degree ski-jump.

As for weapons for self-protection; (16) Mk41 VLS (Vertical Launch System) cells for anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles. (2)20mm Phalanx cannons. (2)triple 12.75-inch torpedo mounts.

Hyuga and Ise are of special interest to me. As a younger man, I was into building 1/700ths scale ship models from Tamiya and similar model companies. On of the first models I ever bought in this scale was of the Japanese WW2 hybrid battleship/carrier Ise. Both the Ise and the Hyuga were sunk in the same week(July 25) in World War 2.

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Ref.

(http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20090904.aspx)

(http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090901p2a00m0na012000c.html)

Janes articles (http://www.janes.com/news/defence/naval/jni/jni090424_1_n.shtml)

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyūga_class_helicopter_destroyer)

Miyuki Hatoyama - Politics of Alien Abduction

There is a lot of electrons burning over the internet about the wife of Japan's new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Miyuki Hatoyama is better known now than he is because of the news reports that she had been abducted by aliens when she was younger.

Or that she knew Tom Cruise in another life when he was Japanese.

Both Hatoyama's are now 62 years old each (According to Right Pundits). Other blogs are saying she is 66 years old. The blog Right Pundit says that she is a lifestyle guru, cookbook author, retired dancer and actress, a clothes designer, and several other things. And now Miyuki Hatoyama the First Lady of Japan.

The abduction took place one night 20 years ago. "Her soul was taken onboard a triangle-shaped craft and they headed off to the planet Venus."

Being a good husband, he probably just rolls his eyes at this stuff. Quote, "I feel relieved when I get home. She is like an energy refueling base." But Ms. Hatoyama says, "My current husband has a different way of thinking. He would surely say 'Oh, that's great'."

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will assum his office on September 16, 2009.

My observations have been that those blogs who deal with the subject matter of UFOs, et, al, have treated her pretty fairly. A few regular news reports make the usual wink and a nudge type of report about her. I actually thought that Right Pundit might do more of a hatchet job on her than they actually did.

I am going to cross post this on my other blog, The Shanks Dimension (http://www.theshanksdimension.com/2009/09/miyuki-hatoyama-politics-of-alien-abduction/).

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Ref. Right Pundits.com (http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=4697)

World UFo News blog (http://worldufonews.blogspot.com/2009/09/japanese-prime-ministers-wife-claimed.html).

One-Way Ticket to Mars Idea

This is a must read article by anyone who is interested in Mars and someday going there. I'm no scientist, but I sure can help out with building a colony there.

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Ref. "A One-Way Ticket to Mars" by Lawrence M. Krauss. Aug. 31, 2009. Op-Ed New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/opinion/01krauss.html?_r=2)