A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen after being rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Scanned Photo Postcard

Scan is presented for historical/archival purposes

No copyright is claimed or intended

 

From the back of the card:

 

"In the yard of subsidiary Northwestern Pacific at Willits, California, SOUTHERN PACIFIC 4302 is fresh from the system's main shop at Sacramento. Built as number 5430 in May, 1955, the 1750-horsepower Electro-Motive SD9 became the 3908 in the 1965 Espee renumbering, and in 1970 was reworked from the rail up and upgraded to an SD9E with this, its third number.

 

Pacific News photograph"

 

The post card was published by Chatham Publishing Co., Burlingame, CA. No date is given for the postcard.

 

SP SD9E 4302 (ex-SP SD9 3908, nee-SP 5430, to GWR 914)

Available @ Fable5 on 8/8!

 

Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Brewery/45/81/21

 

Particle Texture Appliers are designed to go with ELEMENTAL Magic Aura Systems! Each Particle Applier comes with 12 effects that can be added to the system's effects.

 

Examples of Elemental particle Systems are:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Magic-Aura-System-...

 

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Spiral-Particle-Au...

 

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Wisps-Particle-Aur...

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Sprinkling-Spirit-...

 

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Vacuum-Particle-Au...

Our solar system’s most massive planet, Jupiter, was about 739 million kilometres (460 million miles) from the Earth when I captured this photo at Seven Mile Beach, Australia. Saturn, the planet known for its beautiful system of encircling rings, was orbiting further out in space at a distance of 1.48 billion kilometres (920 million miles) at that time. These two “gas giant” planets are the two bright spots visible in my image, appearing to hover over the Tasman Sea. The light coming from Jupiter was intense enough for it to be reflected off the water’s surface, visible to human eyes and the camera, as you can see here. Saturn is the less-bright spot below and to the right of Jupiter, and its usually yellow-white light reddened by atmospheric refraction.

 

The background sky colour has a green hue, created by the atmospheric phenomenon known as “airglow”, and this is also reflected in the shallow foreground wash along with some of the stars. Giving the blue colour to the more distant waves is the glow of bioluminescent marine organisms. The agitation from each breaking wave stirred up the little critters, causing them to glow in the dark. The whole scene was beautiful beyond belief, once more leaving me open-mouthed, humbled and in awe of the Creator.

 

The photo is a single-frame image that I shot using my Canon EOS 6D Mk II camera, a Yongnuo 50mm f/1.4 lens @ f/1.8, with an exposure time of 10 seconds @ ISO 6400.

In reality, the sign is part of a traffic education program intended to help drivers visualize a safe following distance at highway speeds. The sign, by itself, just seems incongruous and, well, funny as you pass by.

The Faeth site just went live, and the scientific founders' groundbreaking work was just featured in Science:

"Special diets might boost the power of drugs to vanquish cancers

 

"Scientists including Vousden, who cofounded a company with Cantley to test diet-drug combinations in cancer trials, are unraveling the molecular pathways by which slashing calories or removing a dietary component can bolster the effects of drugs. In mice with cancer, “the effects are oftentimes on the same order of magnitude as those from the drugs that we give patients. That’s a powerful thing to think about"

 

In one trial, participants will shop for and prepare meals according to instructions. In the other, the company Faeth Therapeutics that Cantley co-founded will ship meals to patients to help them stay on track.

 

If those trials show the ketogenic diet helps curb tumor growth for a year or two longer than the PI3K inhibitor otherwise would, the diet “could become the standard of care,” Cantley says. “That will be what physicians will tell patients to do.”

 

A ketogenic diet may enhance other cancer treatments, too. Immunologist Laurence Zitvogel of the Gustave Roussy Institute in France recently studied mice with skin, kidney, or lung cancers receiving a drug known as a checkpoint inhibitor that helps the immune system’s T cells kill tumors. In animals on a ketogenic diet, the ketone bodies they produced boosted the T cells’ power, her team reported in January. Rabinowitz and collaborators have begun enrollment for a 40-person trial to see whether the diet can enhance the impact on pancreatic cancer of a chemotherapy cocktail.

 

OTHER RESEARCHERS ARE exploring an even more precise dietary limitation: cutting out specific amino acids, best known as the building blocks of proteins but also key to many other metabolic processes. Vousden unexpectedly veered into that line of research while studying a cancer-preventing gene called p53. The protein it encodes can trigger cells that have DNA damage to self-destruct, stopping them from turning cancerous. The gene is mutated in many tumors, allowing unrestrained growth.

 

But in 2005, a U.S. lab reported a surprising finding: The intact p53 protein helps healthy cells survive when glucose is scarce, suggesting p53-mutated cancer cells are especially vulnerable to glucose limitation. Vousden wondered whether the protein also helps cells survive a shortage of other, less explored nutrients, such as amino acids—and whether the mutated p53 in cancer would make the cells less resilient.

 

To find out, her postdoc Oliver Maddocks [and Faeth Head of Research] methodically removed various amino acids from cancer cells’ culture medium. Many types of cancer cells grew more slowly when deprived of two related amino acids, serine and glycine, and deleting p53 ramped up that effect. The scientists then tested the effects of a serine- and glycine-free diet in mice. Maddocks and Vousden reported in 2013 and 2017 that the special diet slowed cancer growth and extended the lives of mice implanted with colon cancer cells lacking p53 as well as in mice engineered to develop lymphoma or colon tumors. Cells need serine or glycine to make a compound that sops up DNA-damaging free radicals, and the deprivation made tumor cells more sensitive to that oxidative stress. Radiation and some chemotherapies kill cells by generating free radicals, so the results suggested the diet could prime tumors for those treatments.

 

Similar findings have emerged for other amino acids. Limiting the essential amino acid methionine appears to amplify the effects of radiation and chemotherapy in mice with colon cancer and sarcomas. And removing asparagine, an amino acid abundant in asparagus, from mouse diets curbed the spread of metastatic breast cancer, suggesting the diet could enhance drug treatments.

 

As with serine, depriving mice of one of those amino acids apparently disrupts metabolic cycles by which cancer cells respond to oxidative stress, synthesize DNA, and turn genes off and on.

 

The company Vousden and Cantley founded, Faeth (Welsh for nutrition), is gearing up to test amino acid–depleted diets in two clinical trials this year. Faeth, also cofounded by Maddocks, will combine chemotherapy with a shake lacking specific amino acids, delivered to participants’ homes alongside other meal components, such as salads. The researchers got support from private investors after failing to win research grants for their idea, says Maddocks, now at the University of Glasgow. “It’s quite out of the box.”

 

Maddocks expects the cancer-diet field will take years to move from “piecemeal forays” to a clear understanding of each diet’s pros and cons. Establishing that a specific diet works well enough to become part of routine clinical care also will take time. But Zitvogel says fighting cancer with diet is no longer a fringe idea. The field is at the start of “a new era where people will really take diet seriously into account,” she says. “The time is ripe.”

The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,000. A study that was completed in 2011 found that a total of 1,283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone, 465 of which are active during an average year. These are distributed among nine geyser basins, with a few geysers found in smaller thermal areas throughout the Park. The number of geysers in each geyser basin are as follows: Upper Geyser Basin (410), Midway Geyser Basin (59), Lower Geyser Basin (283), Norris Geyser Basin (193), West Thumb Geyser Basin (84), Gibbon Geyser Basin (24), Lone Star Geyser Basin (21), Shoshone Geyser Basin (107), Heart Lake Geyser Basin (69), other areas (33). Although famous large geysers like Old Faithful are part of the total, most of Yellowstone's geysers are small, erupting to only a foot or two. The hydrothermal system that supplies the geysers with hot water sits within an ancient active caldera. Many of the thermal features in Yellowstone build up sinter, geyserite, or travertine deposits around and within them.

 

The various geyser basins are located where rainwater and snowmelt can percolate into the ground, get indirectly superheated by the underlying Yellowstone hotspot, and then erupt at the surface as geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles. Thus flat-bottomed valleys between ancient lava flows and glacial moraines are where most of the large geothermal areas are located. Smaller geothermal areas can be found where fault lines reach the surface, in places along the circular fracture zone around the caldera, and at the base of slopes that collect excess groundwater. Due to the Yellowstone Plateau's high elevation the average boiling temperature at Yellowstone's geyser basins is 199 °F (93 °C). When properly confined and close to the surface it can periodically release some of the built-up pressure in eruptions of hot water and steam that can reach up to 390 feet (120 m) into the air (see Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest geyser). Water erupting from Yellowstone's geysers is superheated above that boiling point to an average of 204 °F (95.5 °C) as it leaves the vent. The water cools significantly while airborne and is no longer scalding hot by the time it strikes the ground, nearby boardwalks, or even spectators. Because of the high temperatures of the water in the features it is important that spectators remain on the boardwalks and designated trails. Several deaths have occurred in the park as a result of falls into hot springs.

 

Prehistoric Native American artifacts have been found at Mammoth Hot Springs and other geothermal areas in Yellowstone. Some accounts state that the early people used hot water from the geothermal features for bathing and cooking. In the 19th century Father Pierre-Jean De Smet reported that natives he interviewed thought that geyser eruptions were "the result of combat between the infernal spirits". The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled north of the Yellowstone area in 1806. Local natives that they came upon seldom dared to enter what we now know is the caldera because of frequent loud noises that sounded like thunder and the belief that the spirits that possessed the area did not like human intrusion into their realm. The first white man known to travel into the caldera and see the geothermal features was John Colter, who had left the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He described what he saw as "hot spring brimstone". Beaver trapper Joseph Meek recounted in 1830 that the steam rising from the various geyser basins reminded him of smoke coming from industrial smokestacks on a cold winter morning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the 1850s famed trapper Jim Bridger called it "the place where Hell bubbled up".

 

The heat that drives geothermal activity in the Yellowstone area comes from brine (salty water) that is 1.5–3 miles (7,900–15,800 ft; 2,400–4,800 m) below the surface. This is actually below the solid volcanic rock and sediment that extends to a depth of 3,000 to 6,000 feet (900 to 1,800 m) and is inside the hot but mostly solid part of the pluton that contains Yellowstone's magma chamber. At that depth the brine is superheated to temperatures that exceed 400 °F (204 °C) but is able to remain a liquid because it is under great pressure (like a huge pressure cooker).

 

Convection of the churning brine and conduction from surrounding rock transfers heat to an overlaying layer of fresh groundwater. Movement of the two liquids is facilitated by the highly fractured and porous nature of the rocks under the Yellowstone Plateau. Some silica is dissolved from the fractured rhyolite into the hot water as it travels through the fractured rock. Part of this hard mineral is later redeposited on the walls of the cracks and fissures to make a nearly pressure-tight system. Silica precipitates at the surface to form either geyserite or sinter, creating the massive geyser cones, the scalloped edges of hot springs, and the seemingly barren landscape of geyser basins.

 

There are at least five types of geothermal features found at Yellowstone:

 

Fumaroles: Fumaroles, or steam vents, are the hottest hydrothermal features in the park. They have so little water that it all flashes into steam before reaching the surface. At places like Roaring Mountain, the result is loud hissing of steam and gases.

Geysers: Geysers such as Old Faithful are a type of geothermal feature that periodically erupt scalding hot water. Increased pressure exerted by the enormous weight of the overlying rock and water prevents deeper water from boiling. As the hot water rises it is under less pressure and steam bubbles form. They, in turn, expand on their ascent until the bubbles are too big and numerous to pass freely through constrictions. At a critical point the confined bubbles actually lift the water above, causing the geyser to splash or overflow. This decreases the pressure of the system and violent boiling results. Large quantities of water flash into tremendous amounts of steam that force a jet of water out of the vent: an eruption begins. Water (and heat) is expelled faster than the geyser's recharge rate, gradually decreasing the system's pressure and eventually ending the eruption.

Hot springs: Hot springs such as Grand Prismatic Spring are the most common hydrothermal features in the park. Their plumbing has no constrictions. Superheated water cools as it reaches the surface, sinks, and is replaced by hotter water from below. This circulation, called convection, prevents water from reaching the temperature needed to set off an eruption. Many hot springs give rise to streams of heated water.

Mudpots: Mudpots such as Fountain Paint Pots are acidic hot springs with a limited water supply. Some microorganisms use hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell), which rises from deep within the earth, as an energy source. They convert the gas into sulfuric acid, which breaks down rock into clay.

Travertine terraces: Travertine terraces, found at Mammoth Hot Springs, are formed from limestone (a rock type made of calcium carbonate). Thermal waters rise through the limestone, carrying high amounts of dissolved carbonate. Carbon dioxide is released at the surface and calcium carbonate deposited as travertine, the chalky white rock of the terraces. These features constantly and quickly change due to the rapid rate of deposition.

Geyser basins

 

The Norris Geyser Basin 44°43′43″N 110°42′16″W is the hottest geyser basin in the park and is located near the northwest edge of Yellowstone Caldera near Norris Junction and on the intersection of three major faults. The Norris-Mammoth Corridor is a fault that runs from Norris north through Mammoth to the Gardiner, Montana, area. The Hebgen Lake fault runs from northwest of West Yellowstone, Montana, to Norris. This fault experienced an earthquake in 1959 that measured 7.4 on the Richter scale (sources vary on exact magnitude between 7.1 and 7.8; see 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake). Norris Geyser Basin is so hot and dynamic because these two faults intersect with the ring fracture zone that resulted from the creation of the Yellowstone Caldera of 640,000 years ago.

 

The Basin consists of three main areas: Porcelain Basin, Back Basin, and One Hundred Springs Plain. Unlike most of other geyser basins in the park, the waters from Norris are acidic rather than alkaline (for example, Echinus Geyser has a pH of ~3.5). The difference in pH allows for a different class of bacterial thermophiles to live at Norris, creating different color patterns in and around the Norris Basin waters.

 

The Ragged Hills that lie between Back Basin and One Hundred Springs Plain are thermally altered glacial kames. As glaciers receded the underlying thermal features began to express themselves once again, melting remnants of the ice and causing masses of debris to be dumped. These debris piles were then altered by steam and hot water flowing through them. Madison lies within the eroded stream channels cut through lava flows formed after the caldera eruption. The Gibbon Falls lies on the caldera boundary as does Virginia Cascades.

 

Algae on left bacteria on right at the intersection of flows from the Constant & Whirlgig Geysers at Norris Geyser Basin

The tallest active geyser in the world, Steamboat Geyser,[11] is located in Norris Basin. Unlike the slightly smaller but much more famous Old Faithful Geyser located in Upper Geyser Basin, Steamboat has an erratic and lengthy timetable between major eruptions. During major eruptions, which may be separated by intervals of more than a year (the longest recorded span between major eruptions was 50 years), Steamboat erupts over 300 feet (90 m) into the air. Steamboat does not lie dormant between eruptions, instead displaying minor eruptions of approximately 40 feet (12 m).

 

Norris Geyser Basin periodically undergoes a large-scale, basin-wide thermal disturbance lasting a few weeks. Water levels fluctuate, and temperatures, pH, colors, and eruptive patterns change throughout the basin. During a disturbance in 1985, Porkchop Geyser continually jetted steam and water; in 1989, the same geyser apparently clogged with silica and blew up, throwing rocks more than 200 feet (61 m). In 2003 a park ranger observed it bubbling heavily, the first such activity seen since 1991. Activity increased dramatically in mid-2003. Because of high ground temperatures and new features beside the trail much of Back Basin was closed until October. In 2004 the boardwalk was routed around the dangerous area and now leads behind Porkchop Geyser.

 

North of Norris, Roaring Mountain is a large, acidic hydrothermal area (solfatara) with many fumaroles. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the number, size, and power of the fumaroles were much greater than today. The fumaroles are most easily seen in the cooler, low-light conditions of morning and evening.

 

The Gibbon Geyser Basin 44°41′58″N 110°44′34″W includes several thermal areas in the vicinity of the Gibbon River between Gibbon Falls and Norris. The most accessible feature in the basin is Beryl Spring, with a small boardwalk right along the Grand Loop Road. Artists' Paintpots is a small hydrothermal area south of Norris Junction that includes colorful hot springs and two large mudpots.

 

The Monument Geyser Basin 44°41′03″N 110°45′14″W has no active geysers, but its 'monuments' are siliceous sinter deposits similar to the siliceous spires discovered on the floor of Yellowstone Lake. Scientists hypothesize that this basin's structures formed from a hot water system in a glacially dammed lake during the waning stages of the Pinedale Glaciation. The basin is on a ridge reached by a very steep one-mile (1.6 km) trail south of Artists' Paint Pots. Other areas of thermal activity in Gibbon Geyser Basin lie off-trail.

 

South of Norris along the rim of the caldera is the Upper Geyser Basin 44°27′52″N 110°49′45″W, which has the highest concentration of geothermal features in the park. This complement of features includes the most famous geyser in the park, Old Faithful Geyser, as well as four other predictable large geysers. One of these large geysers in the area is Castle Geyser which is about 1,400 feet (430 m) northwest of Old Faithful. Castle Geyser has an interval of approximately 13 hours between major eruptions, but is unpredictable after minor eruptions. The other three predictable geysers are Grand Geyser, Daisy Geyser, and Riverside Geyser. Biscuit Basin and Black Sand Basin are also within the boundaries of Upper Geyser Basin.

 

The hills surrounding Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin are reminders of Quaternary rhyolitic lava flows. These flows, occurring long after the catastrophic eruption of 640,000 years ago, flowed across the landscape like stiff mounds of bread dough due to their high silica content.

 

Evidence of glacial activity is common, and it is one of the keys that allows geysers to exist. Glacier till deposits underlie the geyser basins providing storage areas for the water used in eruptions. Many landforms, such as Porcupine Hills north of Fountain Flats, are made up of glacial gravel and are reminders that 70,000 to 14,000 years ago, this area was buried under ice.

 

Signs of the forces of erosion can be seen everywhere, from runoff channels carved across the sinter in the geyser basins to the drainage created by the Firehole River. Mountain building is evident on the drive south of Old Faithful, toward Craig Pass. Here the Rocky Mountains reach a height of 8,262 feet (2,518 m), dividing the country into two distinct watersheds.

 

Midway Geyser Basin 44°31′04″N 110°49′56″W is much smaller than the other basins found alongside the Firehole River. Despite its small size, it contains two large features, the 200-by-300-foot-wide (60 by 90 m) Excelsior Geyser which pours over 4,000 U.S. gallons (15,000 L; 3,300 imp gal) per minute into the Firehole River. The largest hot spring in Yellowstone, the 370-foot-wide (110 m) and 121-foot-deep (37 m) Grand Prismatic Spring is found here. Also in the basin is Turquoise Pool and Opal Pool.

 

Lower Geyser Basin

Blue spring with steam rising from it; irregular blotches of red and orange residue are on the banks, along with dead tree trunks.

Silex Spring at Fountain Paint Pot

 

Farther north is the Lower Geyser Basin 44°32′58″N 110°50′09″W, which is the largest geyser basin in area, covering approximately 11 square miles. Due to its large size, it has a much less concentrated set of geothermal features, including Fountain Paint Pots. Fountain Paint Pots are mud pots, that is, a hot spring that contains boiling mud instead of water. The mud is produced by a higher acidity in the water which enables the spring to dissolve surrounding minerals to create an opaque, usually grey, mud. Also there is Firehole Spring, Celestine Pool, Leather Pool, Red Spouter, Jelly spring, and a number of fumaroles.

 

Geysers in Lower Geyser Basin include Great Fountain Geyser, whose eruptions reach 100 to 200 feet (30–61 m) in the air, while waves of water cascade down its sinter terraces., the Fountain group of Geysers (Clepsydra Geyser which erupts nearly continuously to heights of 45 feet (14 m), Fountain Geyser, Jelly Geyser, Jet Geyser, Morning Geyser, and Spasm Geyser), the Pink Cone group of geysers (Dilemma Geyser, Labial Geyser, Narcissus Geyser, Pink Geyser, and Pink Cone Geyser), the White Dome group of geysers (Crack Geyser, Gemini Geyser, Pebble Geyser, Rejuvenated Geyser, and White Dome Geyser), as well as Sizzler Geyser.

 

Clepsydra Geyser erupting. July 2019

Fountain Paint Pots

White Dome Geyser

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Several pools of blue water in ashen rock basin.

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Blackened basin with orange streaks; steam is rising from it with fir trees in the background.

Overflow areas of Silex springs

 

The West Thumb Geyser Basin 44°25′07″N 110°34′23″W, including Potts Basin to the north, is the largest geyser basin on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. The heat source of the thermal features in this location is thought to be relatively close to the surface, only 10,000 feet (3,000 m) down. West Thumb is about the same size as another famous volcanic caldera, Crater Lake in Oregon, but much smaller than the great Yellowstone Caldera which last erupted about 640,000 years ago. West Thumb is a caldera within a caldera.

 

West Thumb was created approximately 162,000 years ago when a magma chamber bulged up under the surface of the earth and subsequently cracked it along ring fracture zones. This in turn released the enclosed magma as lava and caused the surface above the emptied magma chamber to collapse. Water later filled the collapsed area of the caldera, forming an extension of Yellowstone Lake. This created the source of heat and water that feed the West Thumb Geyser Basin today.

 

The thermal features at West Thumb are not only found on the lake shore, but extend under the surface of the lake as well. Several underwater hydrothermal features were discovered in the early 1990s and can be seen as slick spots or slight bulges in the summer. During the winter, the underwater thermal features are visible as melt holes in the icy surface of the lake. The surrounding ice can reach three feet (one yard) in thickness.

 

Perhaps the most famous hydrothermal feature at West Thumb is a geyser on the lake shore known as Fishing Cone. Walter Trumbull of the 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition described a unique event while a man was fishing adjacent to the cone: "...in swinging a trout ashore, it accidentally got off the hook and fell into the spring. For a moment it darted about with wonderful rapidity, as if seeking an outlet. Then it came to the top, dead, and literally boiled." Fishing Cone erupted frequently to the height of 40 feet (12 m) in 1919 and to lesser heights in 1939. One fisherman was badly burned in Fishing Cone in 1921. Fishing at the geyser is now prohibited.

 

Early visitors would arrive at West Thumb via stagecoach from the Old Faithful area. They had a choice of continuing on the stagecoach or boarding the steamship Zillah to continue the journey by water to Lake Hotel. The boat dock was located near the south end of the geyser basin near Lakeside Spring.

 

Backcountry Geyser Basins

The Heart Lake 44°18′00″N 110°30′56″W, Lone Star 44°24′50″N 110°49′04″W, and Shoshone Geyser Basins 44°21′16″N 110°47′57″W are located away from the road and require at least several miles of hiking to reach. These areas lack the boardwalks and other safety features of the developed areas. As falling into geothermal features can be fatal, it is usually advisable to visit these areas with an experienced guide or at the very least, travelers need to ensure they remain on well-marked trails.

 

The Heart Lake Geyser Basin contains several groups of geysers and deep blue hot springs near Heart Lake in the south-central portion of Yellowstone, southeast of most of the main geyser basins. Lying in the Snake River watershed east of Lewis Lake and south of Yellowstone Lake, Heart Lake was named sometime before 1871 for Hart Hunney, a hunter. Other explorers in the region incorrectly assumed that the lake's name was spelled 'heart' because of its shape. The Heart Lake Geyser Basin begins a couple miles from the lake and descends along Witch Creek to the lakeshore. Five groups of hydrothermal features comprise the basin, and all of them contain geysers, although some are dormant.

 

Between Shoshone Lake and Old Faithful is the Lone Star Geyser Basin, of which the primary feature is Lone Star Geyser, named for its isolation from the nearby geysers of the Upper Geyser Basin. The basin is reachable on foot or bicycle via a 3 mile road that is closed to vehicles.

 

The Shoshone Geyser Basin, reached by hiking or by boat, contains one of the highest concentrations of geysers in the world – more than 80 in an area 1,600 by 800 feet (490 by 240 m). Hot springs and mudpots dot the landscape between the geyser basin and Shoshone Lake.

 

Hot Spring Basin is located 15 miles (24 km) north-northeast of Fishing Bridge and has one of Yellowstone's largest collections of hot springs and fumaroles. The geothermal features there release large amounts of sulfur. This makes water from the springs so acidic that it has dissolved holes in the pants of people who sit on wet ground and causes mounds of sulfur three feet (1 m) high to develop around fumaroles. The very hot acidic water and steam have also created voids in the ground that are only covered by a thin crust.

 

Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flow into Mammoth each day in a solution). Because of the huge amount of geothermal vents, travertine flourishes. Although these springs lie outside the caldera boundary, their energy has been attributed to the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas.

 

The thermal features at Mud Volcano and Sulphur Caldron are primarily mud pots and fumaroles because the area is situated on a perched water system with little water available. Fumaroles or "steam vents" occur when the ground water boils away faster than it can be recharged. Also, the vapors are rich in sulfuric acid that leaches the rock, breaking it down into clay. Because no water washes away the acid or leached rock, it remains as sticky clay to form a mud pot. Hydrogen sulfide gas is present deep in the earth at Mud Volcano and is oxidized to sulfuric acid by microbial activity, which dissolves the surface soils to create pools and cones of clay and mud. Along with hydrogen sulfide, steam, carbon dioxide, and other gases explode through the layers of mud.

 

A series of shallow earthquakes associated with the volcanic activity in Yellowstone struck this area in 1978. Soil temperatures increased to nearly 200 °F (93 °C). The slope between Sizzling Basin and Mud Geyser, once covered with green grass and trees, became a barren landscape of fallen trees known as "the cooking hillside".

 

Yellowstone National Park is a national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially the Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular. While it represents many types of biomes, the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.

 

While Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years, aside from visits by mountain men during the early-to-mid-19th century, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s. Management and control of the park originally fell under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the first Secretary of the Interior to supervise the park being Columbus Delano. However, the U.S. Army was eventually commissioned to oversee the management of Yellowstone for 30 years between 1886 and 1916. In 1917, the administration of the park was transferred to the National Park Service, which had been created the previous year. Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance, and researchers have examined more than a thousand archaeological sites.

 

Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 sq mi (8,983 km2), comprising lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Well over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone. In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened. The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest and most famous megafauna location in the contiguous United States. Grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in this park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, nearly one-third of the park was burnt. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing, and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles.

 

Teton County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 23,331. Its county seat is Jackson. Its west boundary line is also the Wyoming state boundary shared with Idaho and the southern tip of Montana. Teton County is part of the Jackson, WY-ID Micropolitan Statistical Area.

 

Teton County contains the Jackson Hole ski area, all of Grand Teton National Park, and 40.4% of Yellowstone National Park's total area, including over 96.6% of its water area (largely in Yellowstone Lake).

 

Wyoming is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the south. With a population of 576,851 in 2020, Wyoming is the least populous state despite being the 10th largest by area, with the second-lowest population density after Alaska. The state capital and most populous city is Cheyenne, which had an estimated population of 63,957 in 2018.

 

Wyoming's western half consists mostly of the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains; its eastern half consists of high-elevation prairie, and is referred to as the High Plains. Wyoming's climate is semi-arid in some parts and continental in others, making it drier and windier overall than other states, with greater temperature extremes. The federal government owns just under half of Wyoming's land, generally protecting it for public uses. The state ranks sixth in the amount of land—-and fifth in the proportion of its land—-that is owned by the federal government. Its federal lands include two national parks (Grand Teton and Yellowstone), two national recreation areas, two national monuments, and several national forests, as well as historic sites, fish hatcheries, and wildlife refuges.

 

Indigenous peoples inhabited the region for thousands of years. Historic and currently federally recognized tribes include the Arapaho, Crow, Lakota, and Shoshone. Part of the land that is now Wyoming came under American sovereignty via the Louisiana Purchase, part via the Oregon Treaty, and, lastly, via the Mexican Cession. With the opening of the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail, vast numbers of pioneers travelled through parts of the state that had once been traversed mainly by fur trappers, and this spurred the establishment of forts, such as Fort Laramie, that today serve as population centers. The Transcontinental Railroad supplanted the wagon trails in 1867 with a route through southern Wyoming, bringing new settlers and the establishment of founding towns, including the state capital of Cheyenne. On March 27, 1890, Wyoming became the union's 44th state.

 

Farming and ranching, and the attendant range wars, feature prominently in the state's history. Today, Wyoming's economy is largely based on tourism and the extraction of minerals such as coal, natural gas, oil, and trona. Its agricultural commodities include barley, hay, livestock, sugar beets, wheat, and wool.

 

Wyoming was the first state to allow women the right to vote (not counting New Jersey, which had allowed it until 1807), and the right to assume elected office, as well as the first state to elect a female governor. In honor of this part of its history, its most common nickname is "The Equality State" and its official state motto is "Equal Rights". It is among the least religious states in the country, and is known for having a political culture that leans towards libertarian conservatism. The Republican presidential nominee has carried the state in every election since 1968.

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is seen after it landed at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in New Mexico. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, with its high gain antenna attached, is on a rotation stand inside the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida on Sept. 8, 2021. Lucy is scheduled to launch no earlier than Saturday, Oct. 16, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center is managing the launch. Over its 12-year primary mission, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, flying by one asteroid in the solar system’s main belt and seven Trojan asteroids. Additionally, Lucy’s path will circle back to Earth three times for gravity assists, making it the first spacecraft ever to return to the vicinity of Earth from the outer solar system. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

 

NASA image acquired: June 03, 2012

 

This scene is to the northwest of the recently named crater Magritte, in Mercury's south. The image is not map projected; the larger crater actually sits to the north of the two smaller ones. The shadowing helps define the striking "Mickey Mouse" resemblance, created by the accumulation of craters over Mercury's long geologic history.

 

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-incidence-angle base map. The high-incidence-angle base map is a major mapping activity in MESSENGER's extended mission and complements the surface morphology base map of MESSENGER's primary mission that was acquired under generally more moderate incidence angles. High incidence angles, achieved when the Sun is near the horizon, result in long shadows that accentuate the small-scale topography of geologic features. The high-incidence-angle base map is being acquired with an average resolution of 200 meters/pixel.

 

The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mission, MESSENGER acquired 88,746 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is now in a yearlong extended mission, during which plans call for the acquisition of more than 80,000 additional images to support MESSENGER's science goals.

 

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

 

NASA image use policy.

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

Follow us on Twitter

 

Like us on Facebook

 

Find us on Instagram

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard launches from Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, May 19, 2022, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 launched at 6:54 p.m. ET, and will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Escalator inside metro station Admiralteyskaya on the Frunzensko-Primorskaya Line (Line 5), Kirpichnyy Pereulok, Saint Petersburg, Russia

 

Some background information:

 

The Saint Petersburg Metro is the underground railway system of the city of Saint Petersburg. It has been open since 15th November 1955. Formerly known as the V.I. Lenin Order of Lenin Leningrad Metropoliten, the system exhibits many typical Soviet designs and features exquisite decorations and artwork making it one of the most attractive and elegant metros in the world, maybe only excelled by the Moscow Metro. Due to the city's unique geology, the Saint Petersburg Metro is also one of the deepest metro systems in the world and the deepest by the average depth of all the stations. The system's deepest station, Admiralteyskaya, is located 86 metres below ground. Serving 2.1 million passengers daily (resp. 763.1 million passengers per year), the Saint Petersburg Metro is the 19th busiest metro system in the world.

 

Opened on 28th December 2011, Admiralteyskaya metro station was designed to relieve congestion at the Nevsky Prospekt and Gostiny Dvor stations, as well as to provide a more direct link to the Hermitage and other notable museums. The station’s name originates from the Admiralty building, which is located nearby. Originally, Admiralteyskaya was going to be built on the Nevsko-Vasileostrovskaya Line, however the construction didn't go underway. Although the need for the station was apparent to the Metro planners for over three decades, the actual construction proved to be a difficult process, as the planners feared that the nearby museums and historical buildings would be adversely affected by construction. Determining the location of the exit proved to be a difficult task too. Finally, it was decided that the exit had to be built on the site of an apartment building on Kirpichnyy Pereulok (in English "Kirpichnyy Alley").

 

The station is connected to the ground with two consecutive escalators. Since it is very difficult to build escalators longer than 125 metres (410 feet), it was determined to build one long escalator with a length of 125 metres to the intermediate level. From this level a shorter escalator of 25 metres (82 feet) leads to the station. The total depth of the station is 86 metres (282 feet) which makes it the deepest metro station in Saint Petersburg.

 

In Saint Petersburg’s history, the question of building an underground transport system arose several times, the first time in 1820, when the idea was hatched to build an underground road in a tunnel. By the end of the 19th century, certain interested parties began discussing the possibility of opening the Russian Empire's first metropolitan railway system. Almost all pre-revolutionary designs featured the concept of an elevated metro system, similar to the Paris or Vienna metros. However, as was later discovered through the experience of operating open (ground-level) metro lines in the city, such schemes would likely have resulted in a poor metro service. Unfortunately, at the time, Russian engineers did not have sufficient expertise or technical resources for the construction of deep underground tunnels through the bedrock located far beneath St Petersburg. Hence, it was finally Moscow that got the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union in 1935.

 

In 1938 the question of building a metro for Saint Petersburg (by then renamed to Leningrad), resurfaced again. The initial project was designed by the Moscow institute 'Metrogiprotrans', but on 21st January 1941, "Construction Directorate № 5 of the People's Commissariat" was founded as a body to specifically oversee the design and construction of the Leningrad Metro. By April 1941, 34 shafts for the initial phase of construction had been finished. During the Second World War construction works were frozen due to severe lack of available funding, manpower and equipment. At this time, many of the metro construction workers were employed in the construction and repair of railheads and other objects vital to the besieged city.

 

In 1946 Lenmetroproyekt was created, to finish the construction of the metro first phase. A new version of the metro project, devised by specialists, identified two new solutions to the problems to be encountered during the metro construction. Firstly, stations were to be built at a level slightly raised above that of normal track so as to prevent drainage directly into them, whilst the average tunnel width was to be reduced from the 6 metres (20 feet) standard of the Moscow Metro to 5.5 metres (18 feet).

 

On 3rd September 1947, construction in the Leningrad subway began again and eight years later, on 7 October 1955, the electricity was turned on in the metro l. On 15th November 1955, the subway grand opening was held, with the first seven stations being put into public use. These stations later became part of the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line, connecting the Moscow Rail Terminal in the city centre with the Kirovsky industrial zone in the southwest. Subsequent development included lines under the Neva River in 1958, and the construction of the Vyborgsky Radius in the mid-1970s to reach the new housing developments in the north. In 1978, the line was extended past the city limits into the Leningrad Oblast.

 

By the time of the USSR's collapse, the Leningrad Metro comprised 54 stations and 94.2 kilometres (58.5 miles) of track. But development even continued in the modern, post-Soviet period. Today, the Saint Petersburg metro comprises five lines with altogether 69 stations and 118,6 kilometres (74 miles) of track. However, the present state is not meant to be the end of the story. Plans have been made to extend the Saint Petersburg Metro to nine lines with altogether 126 stations and 190 kilometres (118 miles) of track. But delays due to the difficult geology of the city's underground and to the insufficient funding have cut down these plans to 17 new stations and one new depot until 2025. At the same time, there are several short and mid-term projects on station upgrades, including escalator replacements and lighting upgrades.

 

On 3rd April 2017, a terrorist bombing caused an explosion on a train between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologicheski Institut stations, on the Line 2. 14 people died and over 50 sustained injuries, while Russian president Vladimir Putin was in the city, when the attack happened. On the same day, Russia's National anti-terrorist unit defused another explosive device at Ploshchad Vosstaniya station (which you can see on this picture).

 

Saint Petersburg (in Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг) is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow, with currently 5.3 million inhabitants, part of the Saint Petersburg agglomeration with a population of 6.2 million (2015). An important Russian port on the Baltic Sea, it has a status of a federal city. Saint Petersburg is also the fourth-largest city in Europe, only excelled by Istanbul, London and Moscow. Other famous European cities like Paris, Berlin, Rome and Madrid are smaller. Furthermore, Saint Petersburg is the world’s northernmost megapolis and called "The Venice of the North", due to its many channels that traverse the city.

 

Situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27th May 1703. On 1st September 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, on 26 January 1924 to Leningrad, and on 7 September 1991 back to Saint Petersburg. Between 1713 and 1728 and again between 1732 and 1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of Imperial Russia. In 1918, the central government bodies moved to Moscow, which is located about 625 kilometres (388 miles) to the south-east.

 

Saint Petersburg is also the cultural capital of Russia. "The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments" constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. Many foreign consulates, international corporations, banks and businesses have offices in Saint Petersburg. The multinational Gazprom company has its headquarters in the newly erected Lakhta Center.

MG Metro

 

On 8 October 1980, BL introduced the Austin mini Metro. It was intended as a big brother, rather than as a replacement, for the Mini, the earlier Mini replacement project, ADO88, having been replaced in late 1977 by a new project, LC8, for the development of a larger car which could compete more effectively with the successful superminis, such as the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Chevette. Some of the Mini's underpinnings were carried over into the Metro, namely the 998 cc and 1275 cc A-Series engines, much of the front-wheel drivetrain and four-speed manual gearbox, and suspension subframes. The Metro used the Hydragas suspension system found on the Allegro but without front to rear interconnection. The hatchback body shell was one of the most spacious of its time and this was a significant factor in its popularity. Initially, the Metro was sold as a three-door hatchback.

 

The name was chosen through a ballot of BL employees. They were offered a choice of three names, Match, Maestro or Metro. Once the result was announced, the manufacturer of trains and buses, Metro Cammell, objected to the use of the Metro name by BL. The issue was resolved by BL promising to advertise the car only as the miniMetro.

 

At the time of its launch, the Metro was hailed as British Leyland's saviour, as the company was facing a serious financial crisis and there were fears that it could go out of business. British Leyland's troubles were largely attributed to out-of-date technology and design of most of its model range. The Mini, for example, had been in production for 21 years by the time of the Metro's launch. The Austin Allegro was seven years old and the Morris Ital was also launched in 1980 but was effectively a reworked version of the nine-year-old Morris Marina, and BL's latest all-new car was the 1976 Rover SD1.

A British Leyland press photograph of the Austin Mini Metro range at the time of launch in 1980

 

One of the consequences was that there was enormous public interest in the car from well before its launch. The company chose to stage the launch presentations for dealers and major company car buyers on board a cruise ship, the MS Vistafjord. The news broke in the national newspapers a full year ahead of the public launch with The Sun, among others, carrying the story. It was finally revealed to the public on the press day of the British Motor Show with the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher in attendance.

 

The Metro quickly proved popular with buyers, and during the early part of its production life it was the best selling mini-car in the UK, before being eclipsed by the updated Ford Fiesta. Its clever interior design made it spacious considering its dimensions, and Hydragas compensation gave surprisingly good ride and handling. Its updated A+ series 1.0 and 1.3L OHV engines hardly represented the cutting edge in performance, but they were strong on economy.

 

A major TV advertising campaign was created by the London agency, Leo Burnett which came up with the headline "a British car to beat the world". The advert also featured the similar-sized Fiat 127, Renault 5, Volkswagen Polo and Datsun Cherry as "foreign invaders" and the voiceover spoke of the Metro's ability to "send the foreigners back where they belong".

MG Metro Turbo

A five door Metro eventually became available in 1985

 

The Metro range was expanded in 1982 to include the Vanden Plas and MG versions. The Vanden Plas featured higher levels of luxury and equipment, while the slightly more powerful MG Metro 1.3 sold as a sports model (0-60 mph in 10.1 seconds, top speed 105 mph). The Vanden Plas variant received the same MG engine from 1984 onwards (with the exception of the VP Automatic, which retained the 63 bhp (47 kW) 1275 cc unit). The luxury fittings marking out the Metro Vanden Plas took the form of a radio-cassette player, electric front windows, an improved instrument panel with tachometer, and a variety of optional extras such as trip computer, leather trim, remote boot release, and front fog lamps.

 

The changes between the MG engine and the standard 1.3 were relatively minor, with modified cylinder head and altered cam profile being the major contributors to a modest increase in BHP. Soon afterwards, the MG Metro Turbo variant was released with a quoted bhp of 93, 0-60 mph in 8.9 seconds, and top speed of 115 mph (185 km/h). This model had a great many modifications over the normally aspirated MG model. Aside from the turbocharger and exhaust system itself, and what was (at the time) a relatively sophisticated boost delivery and control system, the MG Turbo variant incorporated stiffer suspension (purportedly with engineering input from Lotus), including a rear anti-rollbar plus uprated crankshaft and uprated gearbox.

 

Both MG variants were given a "sporty" interior with red seat belts, red carpets and a sports-style steering wheel. The later MG variants were emblazoned with the MG logo both inside and out, which only served to fuel claims of badge engineering from some of the more steadfast MG enthusiasts. Others believed that this sentiment was unfounded, particularly in the case of the turbo variant, due to the undeniably increased performance and handling when compared to the non-MG models. Indeed, at the time of its release, the MG Metro was the first in a succession of modern cars which heralded a spirited return of the MG marque after several years' absence of new MGs.

 

A mild facelift during 1985 saw some minor styling modifications to the Metro's front end, wider suspension subframes, along with a new dashboard design and the long-awaited 5-door version. This gave it a competitive edge over three-door only rivals like the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo, while guiding the Metro in the directions of the Peugeot 205, Fiat Uno, Seat Ibiza and Opel Corsa/Vauxhall Nova, all of which were available with five doors by this time.

 

A rear spoiler reduced drag coefficient to increase the Metro's already good fuel economy, and the hydraulic clutch (often berated as the cause of the Metro's particularly harsh gearchange) was replaced by a cable-operated mechanism. The lack of a 5-speed transmission would become a major handicap as time went on; the BMC sump-mounted gearbox was never developed to accommodate an extra gear ratio, which was a severe handicap against the opposition. The Hydragas suspension also gave the car a harsh, bouncy ride despite pleas from the system's inventor, Dr. Alex Moulton, that it should be interconnected front-to-rear as opposed to side-to-side at the rear only as was found on the production version.

 

While the Metro was a huge seller in the UK, it gained a reputation for unreliability and lacklustre build quality early in its career which dented its appeal in foreign markets, where the likes of the Volkswagen Polo, Fiat Uno and Peugeot 205 were firmly established favourites.

 

Engines:

 

* 1980–1990 - 998 cc A-Series I4, 48 hp (35 kW) at 5500 rpm and 54 ft·lbf (73 Nm) at 3250 rpm

* 1980–1990 - 1275 cc A-Series I4, 60 hp (44 kW) at 5250 rpm and 72 ft·lbf (98 Nm) at 3200 rpm

* 1982–1989 - 1275 cc A-Series I4, 73 hp (54 kW) at 6000 rpm and 73 ft·lbf (99 Nm) at 4000 rpm (MG Metro)

* 1983–1989 - 1275 cc A-Series turbo I4, 94 hp (69 kW) at 6200 rpm and 85 ft·lbf (115 Nm) at 2650 rpm (MG Metro Turbo)

* 1989–1990 - 1275 cc A-Series I4, 73 hp (54 kW) at 6000 rpm and 73 ft·lbf (99 Nm) at 4000 rpm (Metro GTa)

For my video; youtu.be/FgL5LQqEZkk

The Porsche 959 is a sports car manufactured by Porsche from 1986 to 1989, first as a Group B rally car and later as a legal production car designed to satisfy FIA homologation regulations requiring that a minimum number of 200 street legal units be built.

 

During its production run, it was hailed as being the most technologically advanced road-going sports car ever built and the harbinger of the future of sports cars: it was one of the first high-performance vehicles to use an all-wheel drive system; it provided the basis for Porsche's first all-wheel drive Carrera 4 model; and it convinced Porsche executives of the system's viability so well that they chose to make all-wheel drive standard on all versions of the 911 Turbo starting with the 993 variant. During its lifetime, the vehicle had only one other street legal peer with comparable performance, the Ferrari F40. The 959's short production run and performance have kept values high. In 2004, Sports Car International named this car number one on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s.

  

United Launch Alliance (ULA) Harlingen, TX technicians completed assembly and delivered the aluminum payload fairing that will enclose the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile System's fifth Space Based Infrared Systems GEO satellite (SBIRS GEO-5) during launch. It safely arrived at the Florida spaceport to begin final pre-flight preparations for launch later this spring. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen on the launch pad after it was rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

GMCR GP9 804 and VTR GP40-2 307 thread thru the capital of the Green Mountain state with a handful of empty gons destined for the top of The Hill at Websterville for loadout at Northeast Materials granite quarry.

 

The train is eastbound at MP 7.7 on the Washington County Railroad's M&B District. These particular rails are ex CV, first laid in 1875 when the 1849 branch into the capital city of Montpelier was extended to Barre. In 1957 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased them and he quickly consolidated the parallel CV and old Montpelier & Wells River routes between this point at Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for abandonment and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally setting on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.

 

This depot was built by the Central Vermont in 1908 in a rather late example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style prevalent in 1880s and 1890s era railroad construction throughout much of New England. This depot only served passengers along the CV branch until 1938, but remains nicely preserved in it's original location currently being used as a bank.

 

Barre, Vermont

Friday April 24, 2020

Loch Tummel is a long, narrow loch, seven kilometres (4+1⁄2 miles) northwest of Pitlochry in the council area of Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is fed and drained by the River Tummel, which flows into the River Tay about 13 km (8 mi) south-east of the Clunie Dam at the loch's eastern end.

 

The loch is traversed by roads to both north and south. Along the northern side the road is numbered as the B8019, and runs from the Pass of Killiecrankie on the A9 in the east to Tummel Bridge at the head of the loch. The road on the southern side is unclassified, and meets the A9 further south, near to Pitlochry.

 

The loch gives its name to the Loch Tummel National Scenic Area (NSA), one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development. The Loch Tummel Lyon NSA covers 9,013 hectares (22,272 acres), all of which lies within Perth and Kinross. The NSA covers the hills surrounding the loch, and extends along the River Tummel to also take in the area surrounding the Pass of Killiecrankie on the River Garry.

 

Loch Tummel is popular with anglers who fish for brown trout and pike. Fishing is managed by the Loch Rannoch Conservation Association, who issue permits and control catches. Loch Tummel Sailing Club is based at Foss on the south west shore of the loch. The loch is also very popular with campers during the spring and summer. The roads on either side of the loch both offer splendid views of the surrounding countryside, especially from the well-known 'Queen's View' from the north shore, which was made famous by Queen Victoria in 1866. This viewpoint offers a magnificent vista over the loch with Schiehallion in the background. It is also claimed that the view was originally named after Queen Isabel, wife of Robert the Bruce, who is said to have hidden in the nearby woods after the Bruce's defeat at the Battle of Methven in 1306.

 

Areas of forestry around Loch Tummel owned by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) form part of the Tay Forest Park, a network of FLS forests spread across the Highland parts of Perthshire that are managed to provide walks and amenities for visitors.

 

The River Tummel is a tributary of the River Tay, and Loch Tummel is included as part of the River Tay Special Area of Conservation. The designation notes the river system's importance for salmon, otters, brook lampreys, river lampreys and sea lampreys. Brown trout and pike are also present in the loch.

 

The woods to the north of the loch are home to a number of protected species, including capercaillie, black grouse, red squirrel, pearl-bordered fritillary and juniper.

 

Loch Tummel from the Queen's View in about 1895. Note the lower water level when compared to the modern image.

Loch Tummel became part of the Tummel Hydro-Electric Power Scheme when the Clunie Dam was constructed by Wimpey Construction at its eastern end in 1950, raising the water level by 4.5 m (15 ft). Prior to this the loch, which is now approximately 11 km (7 mi) long and just under 0 km (1 mi) wide was much smaller, being 4.4 km (2+3⁄4 mi) long and 0.8 km (1⁄2 mi) wide.

 

Water from Loch Tummel is diverted to Loch Faskally, running via Clunie power station, which has a vertical head of 53 m (174 ft) and a total generating capacity of 61 MW. There is also a power station at Tummel Bridge at the western end of the loch that takes water from Dunalastair reservoir below Loch Rannoch, and discharges into Loch Tummel: this station has a vertical head of 53 m (174 ft) and a total generating capacity of 34 MW.

 

The northern side of the loch has many archeological sites, including an Iron Age ring fort, abandoned townships, and the remains of Pictish fortified villages. This area also includes the standing stones of Clachan Aoraidh, located at the head of Glen Fincastle in the Allean Forest. Fincastle House, a 17th-century Category A listed building, sits at the eastern end of the strath.

 

The raising of the loch for hydroelectricity led to the drowning of an artificial island of a type known as a crannog lying off Port an Eilean on the northern side of the loch. The island is now 3 m underwater, and was investigated by the Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology and Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust in 2004. A well-made flagstone floor and a flight of steps that led down a distance of 2 m to the loch bed were found. Analysis of one of the timbers found on the site revealed that it dated from around 1840.

 

Above the head of the loch, there are two bridges over the River Tummel at Tummel Bridge. The original humpbacked bridge was built by General Wade in about 1734 as part of his construction of some 240 miles (390 km) of roads and 30 bridges in Scotland between 1725 and 1737. A modern replacement alongside Wade's bridge carries the traffic from Aberfeldy on the B846 road. The historic drove road of the Road to the Isles leaves Wade's military road at Tummel Bridge, from where it heads west into Lochaber, and Tummel is one of the places mentioned in the Scottish folk song named after the road.

 

The Highlands is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.

 

The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.) and passim  The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012, the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.

 

The Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.

 

The Scottish Highlands is the only area in the British Isles to have the taiga biome as it features concentrated populations of Scots pine forest: see Caledonian Forest. It is the most mountainous part of the United Kingdom.

 

Between the 15th century and the mid-20th century, the area differed from most of the Lowlands in terms of language. In Scottish Gaelic, the region is known as the Gàidhealtachd, because it was traditionally the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland, although the language is now largely confined to The Hebrides. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English (in its Highland form) is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent. Historically, the "Highland line" distinguished the two Scottish cultures. While the Highland line broadly followed the geography of the Grampians in the south, it continued in the north, cutting off the north-eastern areas, that is Eastern Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, from the more Gaelic Highlands and Hebrides.

 

Historically, the major social unit of the Highlands was the clan. Scottish kings, particularly James VI, saw clans as a challenge to their authority; the Highlands was seen by many as a lawless region. The Scots of the Lowlands viewed the Highlanders as backward and more "Irish". The Highlands were seen as the overspill of Gaelic Ireland. They made this distinction by separating Germanic "Scots" English and the Gaelic by renaming it "Erse" a play on Eire. Following the Union of the Crowns, James VI had the military strength to back up any attempts to impose some control. The result was, in 1609, the Statutes of Iona which started the process of integrating clan leaders into Scottish society. The gradual changes continued into the 19th century, as clan chiefs thought of themselves less as patriarchal leaders of their people and more as commercial landlords. The first effect on the clansmen who were their tenants was the change to rents being payable in money rather than in kind. Later, rents were increased as Highland landowners sought to increase their income. This was followed, mostly in the period 1760–1850, by agricultural improvement that often (particularly in the Western Highlands) involved clearance of the population to make way for large scale sheep farms. Displaced tenants were set up in crofting communities in the process. The crofts were intended not to provide all the needs of their occupiers; they were expected to work in other industries such as kelping and fishing. Crofters came to rely substantially on seasonal migrant work, particularly in the Lowlands. This gave impetus to the learning of English, which was seen by many rural Gaelic speakers to be the essential "language of work".

 

Older historiography attributes the collapse of the clan system to the aftermath of the Jacobite risings. This is now thought less influential by historians. Following the Jacobite rising of 1745 the British government enacted a series of laws to try to suppress the clan system, including bans on the bearing of arms and the wearing of tartan, and limitations on the activities of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Most of this legislation was repealed by the end of the 18th century as the Jacobite threat subsided. There was soon a rehabilitation of Highland culture. Tartan was adopted for Highland regiments in the British Army, which poor Highlanders joined in large numbers in the era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790–1815). Tartan had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, but in the 1820s, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle, and further popularised by the works of Walter Scott. His "staging" of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish woollen industry. Individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral as a major royal retreat, and her interest in "tartenry".

 

Recurrent famine affected the Highlands for much of its history, with significant instances as late as 1817 in the Eastern Highlands and the early 1850s in the West.  Over the 18th century, the region had developed a trade of black cattle into Lowland markets, and this was balanced by imports of meal into the area. There was a critical reliance on this trade to provide sufficient food, and it is seen as an essential prerequisite for the population growth that started in the 18th century. Most of the Highlands, particularly in the North and West was short of the arable land that was essential for the mixed, run rig based, communal farming that existed before agricultural improvement was introduced into the region.[a] Between the 1760s and the 1830s there was a substantial trade in unlicensed whisky that had been distilled in the Highlands. Lowland distillers (who were not able to avoid the heavy taxation of this product) complained that Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The development of the cattle trade is taken as evidence that the pre-improvement Highlands was not an immutable system, but did exploit the economic opportunities that came its way.  The illicit whisky trade demonstrates the entrepreneurial ability of the peasant classes. 

 

Agricultural improvement reached the Highlands mostly over the period 1760 to 1850. Agricultural advisors, factors, land surveyors and others educated in the thinking of Adam Smith were keen to put into practice the new ideas taught in Scottish universities.  Highland landowners, many of whom were burdened with chronic debts, were generally receptive to the advice they offered and keen to increase the income from their land.  In the East and South the resulting change was similar to that in the Lowlands, with the creation of larger farms with single tenants, enclosure of the old run rig fields, introduction of new crops (such as turnips), land drainage and, as a consequence of all this, eviction, as part of the Highland clearances, of many tenants and cottars. Some of those cleared found employment on the new, larger farms, others moved to the accessible towns of the Lowlands.

 

In the West and North, evicted tenants were usually given tenancies in newly created crofting communities, while their former holdings were converted into large sheep farms. Sheep farmers could pay substantially higher rents than the run rig farmers and were much less prone to falling into arrears. Each croft was limited in size so that the tenants would have to find work elsewhere. The major alternatives were fishing and the kelp industry. Landlords took control of the kelp shores, deducting the wages earned by their tenants from the rent due and retaining the large profits that could be earned at the high prices paid for the processed product during the Napoleonic wars.

 

When the Napoleonic wars finished in 1815, the Highland industries were affected by the return to a peacetime economy. The price of black cattle fell, nearly halving between 1810 and the 1830s. Kelp prices had peaked in 1810, but reduced from £9 a ton in 1823 to £3 13s 4d a ton in 1828. Wool prices were also badly affected.  This worsened the financial problems of debt-encumbered landlords. Then, in 1846, potato blight arrived in the Highlands, wiping out the essential subsistence crop for the overcrowded crofting communities. As the famine struck, the government made clear to landlords that it was their responsibility to provide famine relief for their tenants. The result of the economic downturn had been that a large proportion of Highland estates were sold in the first half of the 19th century. T M Devine points out that in the region most affected by the potato famine, by 1846, 70 per cent of the landowners were new purchasers who had not owned Highland property before 1800. More landlords were obliged to sell due to the cost of famine relief. Those who were protected from the worst of the crisis were those with extensive rental income from sheep farms.  Government loans were made available for drainage works, road building and other improvements and many crofters became temporary migrants – taking work in the Lowlands. When the potato famine ceased in 1856, this established a pattern of more extensive working away from the Highlands.

 

The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional and controversial subject, of enormous importance to the Highland economy, and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The poor crofters were politically powerless, and many of them turned to religion. They embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800. Most joined the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. The religious change energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords; it helped prepare them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League. Violence erupted, starting on the Isle of Skye, when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quietened when the government stepped in, passing the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886 to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless. This contrasted with the Irish Land War underway at the same time, where the Irish were intensely politicised through roots in Irish nationalism, while political dimensions were limited. In 1885 three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, which listened to their pleas. The results included explicit security for the Scottish smallholders in the "crofting counties"; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and the creation of a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained their votes.

 

Today, the Highlands are the largest of Scotland's whisky producing regions; the relevant area runs from Orkney to the Isle of Arran in the south and includes the northern isles and much of Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Stirlingshire, Arran, as well as sections of Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. (Other sources treat The Islands, except Islay, as a separate whisky producing region.) This massive area has over 30 distilleries, or 47 when the Islands sub-region is included in the count. According to one source, the top five are The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Balvenie. While Speyside is geographically within the Highlands, that region is specified as distinct in terms of whisky productions. Speyside single malt whiskies are produced by about 50 distilleries.

 

According to Visit Scotland, Highlands whisky is "fruity, sweet, spicy, malty". Another review states that Northern Highlands single malt is "sweet and full-bodied", the Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands whiskies tend to be "lighter in texture" while the distilleries in the Western Highlands produce single malts with a "much peatier influence".

 

The Scottish Reformation achieved partial success in the Highlands. Roman Catholicism remained strong in some areas, owing to remote locations and the efforts of Franciscan missionaries from Ireland, who regularly came to celebrate Mass. There remain significant Catholic strongholds within the Highlands and Islands such as Moidart and Morar on the mainland and South Uist and Barra in the southern Outer Hebrides. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw somewhat greater success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In the 19th century, the evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.

 

For the most part, however, the Highlands are considered predominantly Protestant, belonging to the Church of Scotland. In contrast to the Catholic southern islands, the northern Outer Hebrides islands (Lewis, Harris and North Uist) have an exceptionally high proportion of their population belonging to the Protestant Free Church of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides have been described as the last bastion of Calvinism in Britain and the Sabbath remains widely observed. Inverness and the surrounding area has a majority Protestant population, with most locals belonging to either The Kirk or the Free Church of Scotland. The church maintains a noticeable presence within the area, with church attendance notably higher than in other parts of Scotland. Religion continues to play an important role in Highland culture, with Sabbath observance still widely practised, particularly in the Hebrides.

 

In traditional Scottish geography, the Highlands refers to that part of Scotland north-west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which crosses mainland Scotland in a near-straight line from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. However the flat coastal lands that occupy parts of the counties of Nairnshire, Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire are often excluded as they do not share the distinctive geographical and cultural features of the rest of the Highlands. The north-east of Caithness, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are also often excluded from the Highlands, although the Hebrides are usually included. The Highland area, as so defined, differed from the Lowlands in language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and customs centuries after the anglicisation of the latter; this led to a growing perception of a divide, with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the 14th century. In Aberdeenshire, the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands is not well defined. There is a stone beside the A93 road near the village of Dinnet on Royal Deeside which states 'You are now in the Highlands', although there are areas of Highland character to the east of this point.

 

A much wider definition of the Highlands is that used by the Scotch whisky industry. Highland single malts are produced at distilleries north of an imaginary line between Dundee and Greenock, thus including all of Aberdeenshire and Angus.

 

Inverness is regarded as the Capital of the Highlands, although less so in the Highland parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire which look more to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling as their commercial centres.

 

The Highland Council area, created as one of the local government regions of Scotland, has been a unitary council area since 1996. The council area excludes a large area of the southern and eastern Highlands, and the Western Isles, but includes Caithness. Highlands is sometimes used, however, as a name for the council area, as in the former Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern is also used to refer to the area, as in the former Northern Constabulary. These former bodies both covered the Highland council area and the island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

 

Much of the Highlands area overlaps the Highlands and Islands area. An electoral region called Highlands and Islands is used in elections to the Scottish Parliament: this area includes Orkney and Shetland, as well as the Highland Council local government area, the Western Isles and most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary, refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.

 

There have been trackways from the Lowlands to the Highlands since prehistoric times. Many traverse the Mounth, a spur of mountainous land that extends from the higher inland range to the North Sea slightly north of Stonehaven. The most well-known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth, Elsick Mounth, Cryne Corse Mounth and Cairnamounth.

 

Although most of the Highlands is geographically on the British mainland, it is somewhat less accessible than the rest of Britain; thus most UK couriers categorise it separately, alongside Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and other offshore islands. They thus charge additional fees for delivery to the Highlands, or exclude the area entirely. While the physical remoteness from the largest population centres inevitably leads to higher transit cost, there is confusion and consternation over the scale of the fees charged and the effectiveness of their communication, and the use of the word Mainland in their justification. Since the charges are often based on postcode areas, many far less remote areas, including some which are traditionally considered part of the lowlands, are also subject to these charges. Royal Mail is the only delivery network bound by a Universal Service Obligation to charge a uniform tariff across the UK. This, however, applies only to mail items and not larger packages which are dealt with by its Parcelforce division.

 

The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the northwest are up to 3 billion years old. The overlying rocks of the Torridon Sandstone form mountains in the Torridon Hills such as Liathach and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross.

 

These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and the Cuillin of Skye. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstone found principally along the Moray Firth coast and partially down the Highland Boundary Fault. The Jurassic beds found in isolated locations on Skye and Applecross reflect the complex underlying geology. They are the original source of much North Sea oil. The Great Glen is formed along a transform fault which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.

 

The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.

Climate

 

The region is much warmer than other areas at similar latitudes (such as Kamchatka in Russia, or Labrador in Canada) because of the Gulf Stream making it cool, damp and temperate. The Köppen climate classification is "Cfb" at low altitudes, then becoming "Cfc", "Dfc" and "ET" at higher altitudes.

 

Places of interest

An Teallach

Aonach Mòr (Nevis Range ski centre)

Arrochar Alps

Balmoral Castle

Balquhidder

Battlefield of Culloden

Beinn Alligin

Beinn Eighe

Ben Cruachan hydro-electric power station

Ben Lomond

Ben Macdui (second highest mountain in Scotland and UK)

Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Scotland and UK)

Cairngorms National Park

Cairngorm Ski centre near Aviemore

Cairngorm Mountains

Caledonian Canal

Cape Wrath

Carrick Castle

Castle Stalker

Castle Tioram

Chanonry Point

Conic Hill

Culloden Moor

Dunadd

Duart Castle

Durness

Eilean Donan

Fingal's Cave (Staffa)

Fort George

Glen Coe

Glen Etive

Glen Kinglas

Glen Lyon

Glen Orchy

Glenshee Ski Centre

Glen Shiel

Glen Spean

Glenfinnan (and its railway station and viaduct)

Grampian Mountains

Hebrides

Highland Folk Museum – The first open-air museum in the UK.

Highland Wildlife Park

Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Jail

Inverness Castle

Inverewe Garden

Iona Abbey

Isle of Staffa

Kilchurn Castle

Kilmartin Glen

Liathach

Lecht Ski Centre

Loch Alsh

Loch Ard

Loch Awe

Loch Assynt

Loch Earn

Loch Etive

Loch Fyne

Loch Goil

Loch Katrine

Loch Leven

Loch Linnhe

Loch Lochy

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park

Loch Lubnaig

Loch Maree

Loch Morar

Loch Morlich

Loch Ness

Loch Nevis

Loch Rannoch

Loch Tay

Lochranza

Luss

Meall a' Bhuiridh (Glencoe Ski Centre)

Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary at Loch Creran

Rannoch Moor

Red Cuillin

Rest and Be Thankful stretch of A83

River Carron, Wester Ross

River Spey

River Tay

Ross and Cromarty

Smoo Cave

Stob Coire a' Chàirn

Stac Polly

Strathspey Railway

Sutherland

Tor Castle

Torridon Hills

Urquhart Castle

West Highland Line (scenic railway)

West Highland Way (Long-distance footpath)

Wester Ross

BepiColombo, with its two science orbiters, is set to build on the achievements of NASA’s Messenger mission, to provide the best understanding of the Solar System’s innermost planet to date.

 

This graphic highlights select Messenger discoveries, and indicates how BepiColombo will follow up.

 

CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

 

Credits: ESA

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen at sunrise on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 1:20 p.m. EDT, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released the first look at its newest state-of-the-art subway cars in production, the R211 class, which is planned for service on the subway system’s lettered routes and the Staten Island Railway.

 

The MTA Board approved the $1.4 billion contract award of 535 R211 cars to Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. in 2018 and the delivery of the first test cars is scheduled for later this year.

Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, deliver remarks during a press conference ahead of the launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch on 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

“Views of the STS-7 shuttle Challenger taken from the Shuttle pallet satellite (SPAS-01) include: Close-up view of shuttle Challenger payload bay with the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm bent in the shape of a seven.”

 

Above per the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) description/caption linked to below.

 

A great rarely seen closeup image. I was hoping to see an Astronaut’s face in one of the overhead windows but there only seems to be an external reflection of the Remote Manipulator System’s end effector/wrist area visible in the left window.

 

20/20 hindsight: The tiles, especially on the bottom of the orbiter, were of concern since day 1. This would’ve been an excellent opportunity – early on – to take a good look. It seems it would’ve been a simple matter to do a flip/pirouette of the spacecraft to allow the venerable Hasselblad camera system aboard SPAS-01 to capture some detailed images. Surely someone must’ve proposed it? Was it considered to be a risky move…due to losing line-of-sight? Isn’t that what the Ku-band radar, seen at the upper right corner of the payload bay, is for?

If brought up/considered, who knows what questionable, convoluted & egregious factors precluded such. Or was it an unconscionable 'head in the sand' mentality/culture? Since, if the tiles were severely damaged or missing, nothing could've been done anyhow?

 

Note the fondly nostalgic fiducial marks within the image…Long Live Apollo, and to lesser extent, Hasselblad. 😉

 

catalog.archives.gov/id/22489930

Credit: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website

Explore #478 Aug 23, 2012

 

Couldn't help but shoot the moon tonight.. ;) So bright and wonderful to see through my camera..Hope you enjoy tonight's moon on August 23, 2012 as seen from Mississauga, Ontario Canada! Taken as always handheld in my jimmyjams!

 

"Neptune comes closest to Earth on August 23, 2012, even though Neptune won’t reach opposition until August 24. "Neptune is said to be at opposition – opposite the sun in Earth’s sky – whenever our planet Earth in its orbit passes in between the sun and Neptune. At opposition, Neptune rises in the east at sunset, climbs highest up for the night at midnight and sets in the west at sunrise."

 

"Even at its closest, Neptune lodges way out there, in the outskirts of the solar system. At opposition, Neptune lies 29 times farther away from Earth than the Earth lies from the sun. You’ll still need binoculars to spot Neptune, the solar system’s most distant planet, even when it’s at its closest and brightest for the year."

La manevra de rebrusare a vagoanelor trenului EC Praha - Budapest Nyugati - Praha.

 

Reversing on the consist recently arrived from Prague to Budapest, to return back to Czech Republic.

 

Budapest Nyugati,

18.10.2024

Use this image without my permission is illegal. All Rights Reserved ste.t.©

 

Although ya try to iscredit

Ya still never edit

The needle, I'll thread it

Radically poetic

Standin' with the fury that they had in '66

And like E-Double, I'm mad

Still knee-deep in the system's shit

Hoover, he was a body remover

I'll give ya a dose

But it'll never come close

To the rage built up inside of me

Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy

 

Movements come and movements go

Leaders speak, movements cease

When theirheads are flown

'Cause all these punks

Got bullets in their heads

Department of police, the judge, the feds

Networks at work, keepin' people calm

 

You know they went after King

When he spoke out on Vietnam

He turned the power to the have-nots

And then came the shot

 

Wit' poetry, my mind I flex

Flip like Wilson, vocals never lackin' dat fitnesse

Whadda I have to do to wake you up

To shake you up, to break the structure up

'Cause this blood still floods in the gutter

I'm like talkin' photos

Mad boy kicks open the shutter

Set the groove

Then I stick and move like I was Cassius

Rep the stutter step

Then bomb a left upon the facists

Yea, the several federal men

Who pulled schemes on the dream

And put it to an end

 

Ya better beware

Of retribution with mind war

20/20 visions and murals with metaphors

 

The networks at work, keepin' people calm

Ya know they murdered X

And tried to blame it on Islam

He turned the power to the have-nots

And then came the shot

 

What was the price on his head

 

Rage Against The Machine

wake up

 

Central hall of metro station Pushkinskaya on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line (Line 1), Pod"Yezdnoy Pereulok, Saint Petersburg, Russia

 

Some background information:

 

The Saint Petersburg Metro is the underground railway system of the city of Saint Petersburg. It has been open since 15th November 1955. Formerly known as the V.I. Lenin Order of Lenin Leningrad Metropoliten, the system exhibits many typical Soviet designs and features exquisite decorations and artwork making it one of the most attractive and elegant metros in the world, maybe only excelled by the Moscow Metro. Due to the city's unique geology, the Saint Petersburg Metro is also one of the deepest metro systems in the world and the deepest by the average depth of all the stations. The system's deepest station, Admiralteyskaya, is located 86 metres below ground. Serving 2.1 million passengers daily (resp. 763.1 million passengers per year), the Saint Petersburg Metro is the 19th busiest metro system in the world.

 

Pushkinskaya is a subway station in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line between the stations Vladimirskaya and Tekhnologichesky Institut. The station was built as part of the first stage of Saint Petersburg Metro from Avtovo to Ploschad Vosstania, but due to technical problems when constructing the station’s exit, it wasn’t opened on 15th November 1955, just like the other stations of the first stage, but on 30th April 1956. That’s why in the first months the metro trains just passed the station without stopping.

 

Pushkinskaya is a deep pylon station with a depth of 57 metres (187 feet). Originally the station was named "Vitebskiy vokzal", because it was connected with Vitebskiy railway station, but soon the Russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, who had lived and died in Saint Petersburg, became the station’s main theme and the name was changed. An effigy of Pushkin is on display at the end of Pushkinskaya’s central hall.

 

Pushkinskaya is regarded as one of Saint Petersburg’s most beautiful metro stations. It is the only station of the first stage that wasn’t planned by architects from Saint Petersburg, but by the Moscow architect Leonid Mikhailovich Polyakov. The pylons in the central hall are white marble lined while the floor is made of red granite. The walls of the station are again marble lined. On both sides of the central hall metal floor lamps with luminous crystal bowls are installed. All lamps are decorated with gilt shields and lances, as well as other ornaments.

 

In Saint Petersburg’s history, the question of building an underground transport system arose several times, the first time in 1820, when the idea was hatched to build an underground road in a tunnel. By the end of the 19th century, certain interested parties began discussing the possibility of opening the Russian Empire's first metropolitan railway system. Almost all pre-revolutionary designs featured the concept of an elevated metro system, similar to the Paris or Vienna metros. However, as was later discovered through the experience of operating open (ground-level) metro lines in the city, such schemes would likely have resulted in a poor metro service. Unfortunately, at the time, Russian engineers did not have sufficient expertise or technical resources for the construction of deep underground tunnels through the bedrock located far beneath St Petersburg. Hence, it was finally Moscow that got the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union in 1935.

 

In 1938 the question of building a metro for Saint Petersburg (by then renamed to Leningrad), resurfaced again. The initial project was designed by the Moscow institute 'Metrogiprotrans', but on 21st January 1941, "Construction Directorate № 5 of the People's Commissariat" was founded as a body to specifically oversee the design and construction of the Leningrad Metro. By April 1941, 34 shafts for the initial phase of construction had been finished. During the Second World War construction works were frozen due to severe lack of available funding, manpower and equipment. At this time, many of the metro construction workers were employed in the construction and repair of railheads and other objects vital to the besieged city.

 

In 1946 Lenmetroproyekt was created, to finish the construction of the metro first phase. A new version of the metro project, devised by specialists, identified two new solutions to the problems to be encountered during the metro construction. Firstly, stations were to be built at a level slightly raised above that of normal track so as to prevent drainage directly into them, whilst the average tunnel width was to be reduced from the 6 metres (20 feet) standard of the Moscow Metro to 5.5 metres (18 feet).

 

On 3rd September 1947, construction in the Leningrad subway began again and eight years later, on 7 October 1955, the electricity was turned on in the metro l. On 15th November 1955, the subway grand opening was held, with the first seven stations being put into public use. These stations later became part of the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line, connecting the Moscow Rail Terminal in the city centre with the Kirovsky industrial zone in the southwest. Subsequent development included lines under the Neva River in 1958, and the construction of the Vyborgsky Radius in the mid-1970s to reach the new housing developments in the north. In 1978, the line was extended past the city limits into the Leningrad Oblast.

 

By the time of the USSR's collapse, the Leningrad Metro comprised 54 stations and 94.2 kilometres (58.5 miles) of track. But development even continued in the modern, post-Soviet period. Today, the Saint Petersburg metro comprises five lines with altogether 69 stations and 118,6 kilometres (74 miles) of track. However, the present state is not meant to be the end of the story. Plans have been made to extend the Saint Petersburg Metro to nine lines with altogether 126 stations and 190 kilometres (118 miles) of track. But delays due to the difficult geology of the city's underground and to the insufficient funding have cut down these plans to 17 new stations and one new depot until 2025. At the same time, there are several short and mid-term projects on station upgrades, including escalator replacements and lighting upgrades.

 

On 3rd April 2017, a terrorist bombing caused an explosion on a train between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologicheski Institut stations, on the Line 2. 14 people died and over 50 sustained injuries, while Russian president Vladimir Putin was in the city, when the attack happened. On the same day, Russia's National anti-terrorist unit defused another explosive device at Ploshchad Vosstaniya station (which you can see on this picture).

 

Saint Petersburg (in Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг) is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow, with currently 5.3 million inhabitants, part of the Saint Petersburg agglomeration with a population of 6.2 million (2015). An important Russian port on the Baltic Sea, it has a status of a federal city. Saint Petersburg is also the fourth-largest city in Europe, only excelled by Istanbul, London and Moscow. Other famous European cities like Paris, Berlin, Rome and Madrid are smaller. Furthermore, Saint Petersburg is the world’s northernmost megapolis and called "The Venice of the North", due to its many channels that traverse the city.

 

Situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27th May 1703. On 1st September 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, on 26 January 1924 to Leningrad, and on 7 September 1991 back to Saint Petersburg. Between 1713 and 1728 and again between 1732 and 1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of Imperial Russia. In 1918, the central government bodies moved to Moscow, which is located about 625 kilometres (388 miles) to the south-east.

 

Saint Petersburg is also the cultural capital of Russia. "The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments" constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. Many foreign consulates, international corporations, banks and businesses have offices in Saint Petersburg. The multinational Gazprom company has its headquarters in the newly erected Lakhta Center.

 

As for me, I will be on holiday between 14th and 29th September. During this time I won’t be able to upload any own photos or comment on photos of my contacts. But I will try to catch up as soon as I will be back. Cheers and see you soon.

Hull Classification: DD-20

 

Class & type:

Valley Forge Class Destroyer

 

Complement:

22 officers, 298 enlisted

 

Armament:

4x Electromagnetic rail system

16x 50 caliber anti-ship gun, mounted on eight turrets

4x 38 caliber twin-barrel point defense cannons

20x Superluminal torpedo tubes

 

--

The third Valley Forge-class destroyer commissioned by the Union Space Navy, the USS Ticonderoga entered service in 2265.

 

The "Tico" served with distinction during the pivotal final engagement of "Operation Black Sword", where she and two Hulick-class destroyers, USS Saratoga and USS Ranger, successfully engaged and destroyed a superior enemy taskforce that was en route to attack the civilian hospital complex in the Beta Aquilae star system. By activating their stealth suites and hiding in the system's Kuiper belt, the three destroyers were able to play cat and mouse for 26 hours with the enemy taskforce and lure them into orbit around the system's Jovian gas giant. The planet's gravity well limited the movement of the enemy's larger battlecruisers and carriers, and evened the odds for the more nimble destroyers.

 

Ships of the Valley Forge-class:

Valley Forge, Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga, Yorktown, Antietam, Gettysburg, Normandy

 

--

Credit to Red Spacecat for his amazing USS Saratoga, which is the inspiration for this design.

This is a scan of a postcard that I recently bought at an antique shop in Sacramento, California.

 

From the back:

"THREE LEVEL CROSSING

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Chesapeake & Ohio's B30-7, Number 8295, Seaboard System's GP40, Number 6719 and Southern Railway's FP-7 Number 6143 pose on Richmond's famous Triple Crossing on July 19, 1983 for a night photo session as a Pre-Convention Event of the National Railway Historical Society's 1983 Convention hosted by The Old Dominion Chapter."

Photography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving pictures by recording radiation on a sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an electronic sensor. Light patterns reflected or emitted from objects activate a sensitive chemical or electronic sensor during a timed exposure, usually through a photographic lens in a device known as a camera that also stores the resulting information chemically or electronically. Photography has many uses for business, science, art, and pleasure.

The word "photograph" was coined in 1839 by Sir John Herschel and is based on the Greek φῶς (phos) "light" and γραφή (graphé) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light". Traditionally, the products of photography have been called negatives and photographs, commonly shortened to photos.

 

Function

The camera or camera obscura is the image-forming device, and photographic film or a silicon electronic image sensor is the sensing medium. The respective recording medium can be the film itself, or a digital electronic or magnetic memory.

Photographers control the camera and lens to "expose" the light recording material (such as film) to the required amount of light to form a "latent image" (on film) or "raw file" (in digital cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image. Digital cameras use an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The resulting digital image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on paper or film.

The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the movie camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame". This is accomplished through an intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a movie projector at a specific speed, called the "frame rate" (number of frames per second). While viewing, a person's eyes and brain merge the separate pictures together to create the illusion of motion.

In all but certain specialized cameras, the process of obtaining a usable exposure must involve the use, manually or automatically, of a few controls to ensure the photograph is clear, sharp and well illuminated. The controls usually include but are not limited to the following:

 

Focus: The adjustment to place the sharpest focus where it is desired on the subject.

 

Aperture : Adjustment of the lens opening, measured as f-number, which controls the amount of light passing through the lens. Aperture also has an effect on depth of field and diffraction – the higher the f-number, the smaller the opening, the less light, the greater the depth of field, and the more the diffraction blur. The focal length divided by the f-number gives the effective aperture diameter.

 

Shutter speed : Adjustment of the speed (often expressed either as fractions of seconds or as an angle, with mechanical shutters) of the shutter to control the amount of time during which the imaging medium is exposed to light for each exposure. Shutter speed may be used to control the amount of light striking the image plane; 'faster' shutter speeds (that is, those of shorter duration) decrease both the amount of light and the amount of image blurring from motion of the subject and/or camera.

 

White balance : On digital cameras, electronic compensation for the color temperature associated with a given set of lighting conditions, ensuring that white light is registered as such on the imaging chip and therefore that the colors in the frame will appear natural. On mechanical, film-based cameras, this function is served by the operator's choice of film stock or with color correction filters. In addition to using white balance to register natural coloration of the image, photographers may employ white balance to aesthetic end, for example white balancing to a blue object in order to obtain a warm color temperature.

 

Metering : Measurement of exposure so that highlights and shadows are exposed according to the photographer's wishes. Many modern cameras meter and set exposure automatically. Before automatic exposure, correct exposure was accomplished with the use of a separate light metering device or by the photographer's knowledge and experience of gauging correct settings. To translate the amount of light into a usable aperture and shutter speed, the meter needs to adjust for the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light. This is done by setting the "film speed" or ISO sensitivity into the meter.

 

ISO speed : Traditionally used to "tell the camera" the film speed of the selected film on film cameras, ISO speeds are employed on modern digital cameras as an indication of the system's gain from light to numerical output and to control the automatic exposure system. The higher the ISO number the greater the film sensitivity to light, whereas with a lower ISO number, the film is less sensitive to light. A correct combination of ISO speed, aperture, and shutter speed leads to an image that is neither too dark nor too light, hence it is 'correctly exposed,' indicated by a centered meter.

 

Autofocus point : On some cameras, the selection of a point in the imaging frame upon which the auto-focus system will attempt to focus. Many Single-lens reflex cameras (SLR) feature multiple auto-focus points in the viewfinder.

 

Many other elements of the imaging device itself may have a pronounced effect on the quality and/or aesthetic effect of a given photograph; among them are:

 

Focal length and type of lens (telephoto or "long" lens, macro, wide angle, fisheye, or zoom)

Filters placed between the subject and the light recording material, either in front of or behind the lens

Inherent sensitivity of the medium to light intensity and color/wavelengths.

The nature of the light recording material, for example its resolution as measured in pixels or grains of silver halide.

 

Exposure and rendering

Camera controls are inter-related. The total amount of light reaching the film plane (the "exposure") changes with the duration of exposure, aperture of the lens, and on the effective focal length of the lens (which in variable focal length lenses, can force a change in aperture as the lens is zoomed). Changing any of these controls can alter the exposure. Many cameras may be set to adjust most or all of these controls automatically. This automatic functionality is useful for occasional photographers in many situations.

 

The duration of an exposure is referred to as shutter speed, often even in cameras that don't have a physical shutter, and is typically measured in fractions of a second. Aperture is expressed by an f-number or f-stop (derived from focal ratio), which is proportional to the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the aperture. If the f-number is decreased by a factor of , the aperture diameter is increased by the same factor, and its area is increased by a factor of 2. The f-stops that might be found on a typical lens include 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, where going up "one stop" (using lower f-stop numbers) doubles the amount of light reaching the film, and stopping down one stop halves the amount of light.

 

Exposures can be achieved through various combinations of shutter speed and aperture. For example, f/8 at 8 ms (1/125th of a second) and f/5.6 at 4 ms (1/250th of a second) yield the same amount of light. The chosen combination has an impact on the final result. The aperture and focal length of the lens determine the depth of field, which refers to the range of distances from the lens that will be in focus. A longer lens or a wider aperture will result in "shallow" depth of field (i.e. only a small plane of the image will be in sharp focus). This is often useful for isolating subjects from backgrounds as in individual portraits or macro photography. Conversely, a shorter lens, or a smaller aperture, will result in more of the image being in focus. This is generally more desirable when photographing landscapes or groups of people. With very small apertures, such as pinholes, a wide range of distance can be brought into focus, but sharpness is severely degraded by diffraction with such small apertures. Generally, the highest degree of "sharpness" is achieved at an aperture near the middle of a lens's range (for example, f/8 for a lens with available apertures of f/2.8 to f/16). However, as lens technology improves, lenses are becoming capable of making increasingly sharp images at wider apertures.

 

Image capture is only part of the image forming process. Regardless of material, some process must be employed to render the latent image captured by the camera into a viewable image. With slide film, the developed film is just mounted for projection. Print film requires the developed film negative to be printed onto photographic paper or transparency. Digital images may be uploaded to an image server (e.g., a photo-sharing web site), viewed on a television, or transferred to a computer or digital photo frame.

 

Prior to the rendering of a viewable image, modifications can be made using several controls. Many of these controls are similar to controls during image capture, while some are exclusive to the rendering process. Most printing controls have equivalent digital concepts, but some create different effects. For example, dodging and burning controls are different between digital and film processes. Other printing modifications include:

 

Chemicals and process used during film development

Duration of print exposure – equivalent to shutter speed

Printing aperture – equivalent to aperture, but has no effect on depth of field

Contrast – changing the visual properties of objects in an image to make them distinguishable from other objects and the background

Dodging – reduces exposure of certain print areas, resulting in lighter areas

Burning in – increases exposure of certain areas, resulting in darker areas

Paper texture – glossy, matte, etc

Paper type – resin-coated (RC) or fiber-based (FB)

Paper size

Toners – used to add warm or cold tones to black and white prints

 

Uses

Photography gained the interest of many scientists and artists from its inception. Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such as Eadweard Muybridge's study of human and animal locomotion in 1887. Artists are equally interested by these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than the photo-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement. Military, police, and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognition and data storage. Photography is used by amateurs to preserve memories of favorite times, to capture special moments, to tell stories, to send messages, and as a source of entertainment.

 

History

Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries. Long before the first photographs were made, Chinese philosopher Mo Ti described a pinhole camera in the 5th century B.C.E.,[4] Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (965–1040) studied the camera obscura and pinhole camera,[4][5] Albertus Magnus (1193–1280) discovered silver nitrate,[6] and Georges Fabricius (1516–1571) discovered silver chloride.[citation needed] Daniel Barbaro described a diaphragm in 1568.[citation needed] Wilhelm Homberg described how light darkened some chemicals (photochemical effect) in 1694.[citation needed] The fiction book Giphantie, published in 1760, by French author Tiphaigne de la Roche, described what can be interpreted as photography.[citation needed]

 

Photography as a usable process goes back to the 1820s with the development of chemical photography. The first permanent photoetching was an image produced in 1822[3] by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce, but it was destroyed by a later attempt to duplicate it.[3] Niépce was successful again in 1825. He made the first permanent photograph from nature with a camera obscura in 1826. However, because his photographs took so long to expose (8 hours), he sought to find a new process. Working in conjunction with Louis Daguerre, they experimented with silver compounds based on a Johann Heinrich Schultz discovery in 1724 that a silver and chalk mixture darkens when exposed to light. Niépce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued the work, eventually culminating with the development of the daguerreotype in 1837. Daguerre took the first ever photo of a person in 1839 when, while taking a daguerreotype of a Paris street, a pedestrian stopped for a shoe shine, long enough to be captured by the long exposure (several minutes). Eventually, France agreed to pay Daguerre a pension for his formula, in exchange for his promise to announce his discovery to the world as the gift of France, which he did in 1839.

Meanwhile, Hercules Florence had already created a very similar process in 1832, naming it Photographie, and William Fox Talbot had earlier discovered another means to fix a silver process image but had kept it secret. After reading about Daguerre's invention, Talbot refined his process so that portraits were made readily available to the masses. By 1840, Talbot had invented the calotype process, which creates negative images. John Herschel made many contributions to the new methods. He invented the cyanotype process, now familiar as the "blueprint". He was the first to use the terms "photography", "negative" and "positive". He discovered sodium thiosulphate solution to be a solvent of silver halides in 1819, and informed Talbot and Daguerre of his discovery in 1839 that it could be used to "fix" pictures and make them permanent. He made the first glass negative in late 1839.

 

In March 1851, Frederick Scott Archer published his findings in "The Chemist" on the wet plate collodion process. This became the most widely used process between 1852 and the late 1880s when the dry plate was introduced. There are three subsets to the Collodion process; the Ambrotype (positive image on glass), the Ferrotype or Tintype (positive image on metal) and the negative which was printed on Albumen or Salt paper.

 

Many advances in photographic glass plates and printing were made in through the nineteenth century. In 1884, George Eastman developed the technology of film to replace photographic plates, leading to the technology used by film cameras today.

 

In 1908 Gabriel Lippmann won the Nobel Laureate in Physics for his method of reproducing colors photographically based on the phenomenon of interference, also known as the Lippmann plate.

 

Processes

Black-and-white

All photography was originally monochrome, or black-and-white. Even after color film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost and its "classic" photographic look. It is important to note that some monochromatic pictures are not always pure blacks and whites, but also contain other hues depending on the process. The cyanotype process produces an image of blue and white for example. The albumen process, first used more than 150 years ago, produces brown tones.

 

Many photographers continue to produce some monochrome images. Some full color digital images are processed using a variety of techniques to create black and whites, and some manufacturers produce digital cameras that exclusively shoot monochrome.

 

Color

Color photography was explored beginning in the mid 1800s. Early experiments in color could not fix the photograph and prevent the color from fading. The first permanent color photo was taken in 1861 by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

One of the early methods of taking color photos was to use three cameras. Each camera would have a color filter in front of the lens. This technique provides the photographer with the three basic channels required to recreate a color image in a darkroom or processing plant. Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii developed another technique, with three color plates taken in quick succession.

 

Practical application of the technique was held back by the very limited color response of early film; however, in the early 1900s, following the work of photo-chemists such as H. W. Vogel, emulsions with adequate sensitivity to green and red light at last became available.

 

The first commercially successful color process, the Autochrome, invented by the French Lumière brothers, reached the market in 1907. It was based on a 'screen-plate' filter made of dyed grains of potato starch, and was one of many additive color screen products available between the 1890s and the 1950s. A later example of the additive screen process was the German Agfacolor introduced in 1932. In 1935, American Kodak introduced the first modern ('integrated tri-pack') color film which was developed by two musicians Leopold Mannes and Leopold Godowsky ("Man" and "God") working with the Kodak Research Labs. It was Kodachrome, based on multiple layered silver gelatin emulsions that were each sensitized to one of the three additive colors—red, green, and blue. The cyan, magenta, and yellow dyes were created in those layers by adding color couplers during processing. This was followed in 1936 by Agfa's Agfacolor Neu. Unlike the Kodachrome tri-pack process, the color couplers in Agfacolor Neu were incorporated into the emulsion layers during manufacture, which greatly simplified the film processing. Most modern color films, except Kodachrome, use such incorporated-coupler techniques, though since the 1970s nearly all have used a technique developed by Kodak to accomplish this, rather than the original Agfa method. Instant color film was introduced by Polaroid in 1963.

 

Color photography may form images as a positive transparency, intended for use in a slide projector, or as color negatives intended for use in creating positive color enlargements on specially coated paper. The latter is now the most common form of film (non-digital) color photography owing to the introduction of automated photoprinting equipment.

 

Full-spectrum, ultraviolet and infrared

Ultraviolet and infrared films have been available for many decades and employed in a variety of photographic avenues since the 1960s. New technological trends in digital photography have opened a new direction in full spectrum photography, where careful filtering choices across the ultraviolet, visible and infrared lead to new artistic visions.

 

Modified digital cameras can detect some ultraviolet, all of the visible and much of the near infrared spectrum, as most digital imaging sensors are sensitive from about 350 nm to 1000 nm. An off-the-shelf digital camera contains an infrared hot mirror filter that blocks most of the infrared and a bit of the ultraviolet that would otherwise be detected by the sensor, narrowing the accepted range from about 400 nm to 700 nm.[7] Replacing a hot mirror or infrared blocking filter with an infrared pass or a wide spectrally transmitting filter allows the camera to detect the wider spectrum light at greater sensitivity. Without the hot-mirror, the red, green and blue (or cyan, yellow and magenta) colored micro-filters placed over the sensor elements pass varying amounts of ultraviolet (blue window) and infrared (primarily red, and somewhat lesser the green and blue micro-filters).

 

Uses of full spectrum photography are for fine art photography, geology, forensics & law enforcement, and even some claimed use in ghost hunting.

 

Digital photography

Traditional photography burdened photographers working at remote locations without easy access to processing facilities, and competition from television pressured photographers to deliver images to newspapers with greater speed. Photo journalists at remote locations often carried miniature photo labs and a means of transmitting images through telephone lines. In 1981, Sony unveiled the first consumer camera to use a charge-coupled device for imaging, eliminating the need for film: the Sony Mavica. While the Mavica saved images to disk, the images were displayed on television, and the camera was not fully digital. In 1990, Kodak unveiled the DCS 100, the first commercially available digital camera. Although its high cost precluded uses other than photojournalism and professional photography, commercial digital photography was born.

 

Digital imaging uses an electronic image sensor to record the image as a set of electronic data rather than as chemical changes on film. The primary difference between digital and chemical photography is that chemical photography resists manipulation because it involves film and photographic paper, while digital imaging is a highly manipulative medium. This difference allows for a degree of image post-processing that is comparatively difficult in film-based photography and permits different communicative potentials and applications.

 

Digital point-and-shoot cameras have become widespread consumer products, outselling film cameras, and including new features such as video and audio recording. Kodak announced in January 2004 that it would no longer sell reloadable 35 mm cameras in western Europe, Canada and the United States after the end of that year. Kodak was at that time a minor player in the reloadable film cameras market. In January 2006, Nikon followed suit and announced that they will stop the production of all but two models of their film cameras: the low-end Nikon FM10, and the high-end Nikon F6. On May 25, 2006, Canon announced they will stop developing new film SLR cameras.[8] Though most new camera designs are now digital, a new 6x6cm/6x7cm medium format film camera was introduced in 2008 in a cooperation between Fuji and Voigtländer.[9][10]

 

According to a survey made by Kodak in 2007, 75 percent of professional photographers say they will continue to use film, even though some embrace digital.[11]

 

According to the U.S. survey results, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of professional photographers prefer the results of film to those of digital for certain applications including:

 

film’s superiority in capturing more information on medium and large format films (48 percent);

creating a traditional photographic look (48 percent);

capturing shadow and highlighting details (45 percent);

the wide exposure latitude of film (42 percent); and

archival storage (38 percent)

Digital imaging has raised many ethical concerns because of the ease of manipulating digital photographs in post processing. Many photojournalists have declared they will not crop their pictures, or are forbidden from combining elements of multiple photos to make "illustrations," passing them as real photographs. Today's technology has made picture editing relatively simple for even the novice photographer. However, recent changes of in-camera processing allows digital fingerprinting of RAW photos to verify against tampering of digital photos for forensics use.

 

Camera phones, combined with sites like Flickr, have led to a new kind of social photography.

 

Modes of production

Amateur

An amateur photographer is one who practices photography as a hobby and not for profit. The quality of some amateur work is comparable or superior to that of many professionals and may be highly specialised or eclectic in its choice of subjects. Amateur photography is often pre-eminent in photographic subjects which have little prospect of commercial use or reward.

 

Commercial

Commercial photography is probably best defined as any photography for which the photographer is paid for images rather than works of art. In this light money could be paid for the subject of the photograph or the photograph itself. Wholesale, retail, and professional uses of photography would fall under this definition. The commercial photographic world could include:

 

Advertising photography: photographs made to illustrate and usually sell a service or product. These images, such as packshots, are generally done with an advertising agency, design firm or with an in-house corporate design team.

Fashion and glamour photography: This type of photography usually incorporates models. Fashion photography emphasizes the clothes or product, glamour emphasizes the model. Glamour photography is popular in advertising and in men's magazines. Models in glamour photography may be nude, but this is not always the case.

Crime Scene Photography: This type of photography consists of photographing scenes of crime such as robberies and murders. A black and white camera or an infrared camera may be used to capture specific details.

Still life photography usually depicts inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made.

Food photography can be used for editorial, packaging or advertising use. Food photography is similar to still life photography, but requires some special skills.

Editorial photography: photographs made to illustrate a story or idea within the context of a magazine. These are usually assigned by the magazine.

Photojournalism: this can be considered a subset of editorial photography. Photographs made in this context are accepted as a documentation of a news story.

Portrait and wedding photography: photographs made and sold directly to the end user of the images.

Landscape photography: photographs of different locations.

Wildlife photography that demonstrates life of the animals.

Photo sharing: publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online.

Paparazzi

The market for photographic services demonstrates the aphorism "A picture is worth a thousand words", which has an interesting basis in the history of photography. Magazines and newspapers, companies putting up Web sites, advertising agencies and other groups pay for photography.

 

Many people take photographs for self-fulfillment or for commercial purposes. Organizations with a budget and a need for photography have several options: they can employ a photographer directly, organize a public competition, or obtain rights to stock photographs. Photo stock can be procured through traditional stock giants, such as Getty Images or Corbis; smaller microstock agencies, such as Fotolia; or web marketplaces, such as Cutcaster.

 

Art

 

During the twentieth century, both fine art photography and documentary photography became accepted by the English-speaking art world and the gallery system. In the United States, a handful of photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, John Szarkowski, F. Holland Day, and Edward Weston, spent their lives advocating for photography as a fine art. At first, fine art photographers tried to imitate painting styles. This movement is called Pictorialism, often using soft focus for a dreamy, 'romantic' look. In reaction to that, Weston, Ansel Adams, and others formed the Group f/64 to advocate 'straight photography', the photograph as a (sharply focused) thing in itself and not an imitation of something else.

 

The aesthetics of photography is a matter that continues to be discussed regularly, especially in artistic circles. Many artists argued that photography was the mechanical reproduction of an image. If photography is authentically art, then photography in the context of art would need redefinition, such as determining what component of a photograph makes it beautiful to the viewer. The controversy began with the earliest images "written with light"; Nicéphore Niépce, Louis Daguerre, and others among the very earliest photographers were met with acclaim, but some questioned if their work met the definitions and purposes of art.

 

Clive Bell in his classic essay Art states that only "significant form" can distinguish art from what is not art.

 

There must be some one quality without which a work of art cannot exist; possessing which, in the least degree, no work is altogether worthless. What is this quality? What quality is shared by all objects that provoke our aesthetic emotions? What quality is common to Sta. Sophia and the windows at Chartres, Mexican sculpture, a Persian bowl, Chinese carpets, Giotto's frescoes at Padua, and the masterpieces of Poussin, Piero della Francesca, and Cezanne? Only one answer seems possible - significant form. In each, lines and colors combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions.

—[12]

On February 14, 2006 Sotheby’s London sold the 2001 photograph "99 Cent II Diptychon" for an unprecedented $3,346,456 to an anonymous bidder making it the most expensive of all time.

 

Conceptual photography

Photography that turns a concept or idea into a photograph. Even though what is depicted in the photographs are real objects, the subject is strictly abstract.

 

Science and forensics

The camera has a long and distinguished history as a means of recording phenomena from the first use by Daguerre and Fox-Talbot, such as astronomical events (eclipses for example), small creatures and plants when the camera was attached to the eyepiece of microscopes (in photomicroscopy) and for macro photography of larger specimens. The camera also proved useful in recording crime scenes and the scenes of accidents, such as the Wootton bridge collapse in 1861 and the Staplehurst rail crash of 1865. One of the first systematic applications occurred at the scene of the Tay Rail Bridge disaster of 1879. The court, just a few days after the accident, ordered James Valentine of Dundee to record the scene using both long distance shots and close-ups of the debris. The set of over 50 accident photographs was used in the subsequent court of inquiry so that witnesses could identify pieces of the wreckage, and the technique is now commonplace both at accident scenes and subsequent cases in courts of law. The set of over 50 Tay bridge photographs are of very high quality, being made on a large plate camera with a small aperture and using fine grain emulsion film on a glass plate. When the surviving positive prints are scanned at high resolution, they can be enlarged to show details of the failed components such as broken cast iron lugs and the tie bars which failed to hold the towers in place. The set of original photographs is held at Dundee City Library. The photographs show that, in the words of the Public Inquiry the bridge was "badly designed, badly built and badly maintained". The methods used in analysing old photographs are collectively known as forensic photography.

 

Between 1846 and 1852 Charles Brooke invented a technology for the automatic registration of instruments by photography. These instruments included barometers, thermometers, psychrometers, and magnetometers, which recorded their readings by means of an automated photographic process.

Photography has become ubiquitous in recording events and data in science and engineering, and at crime scenes or accident scenes. The method has been much extended by using other wavelengths, such as infrared photography and ultraviolet photography, as well as spectroscopy. Those methods were first used in the Victorian era and developed much further since that time.

 

Other image forming techniques

Besides the camera, other methods of forming images with light are available. For instance, a photocopy or xerography machine forms permanent images but uses the transfer of static electrical charges rather than photographic film, hence the term electrophotography. Photograms are images produced by the shadows of objects cast on the photographic paper, without the use of a camera. Objects can also be placed directly on the glass of an image scanner to produce digital pictures.

 

Social and cultural implications

There are many ongoing questions about different aspects of photography. In her writing "On Photography" (1977), Susan Sontag discusses concerns about the objectivity of photography. This is a highly debated subject within the photographic community.[13] It has been concluded that photography is a subjective discipline "to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting one’s self into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge, and therefore like power."[14] Photographers decide what to take a photo of, what elements to exclude and what angle to frame the photo. Along with the context that a photograph is received in, photography is definitely a subjective form.

 

Modern photography has raised a number of concerns on its impact on society. In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), the camera is presented as a promoter of voyeuristic inhibitions. 'Although the camera is an observation station, the act of photographing is more than passive observing'.[14] Michal Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) portrays the camera as both sexual and sadistically violent technology that literally kills in this picture and at the same time captures images of the pain and anguish evident on the faces of the female victims.[citation needed]

 

"The camera doesn't rape or even possess, though it may presume, intrude, trespass, distort, exploit, and, at the farthest reach of metaphor, assassinate - all activities that, unlike the sexual push and shove, can be conducted from a distance, and with some detachment."[14]

 

Photography is one of the new media forms that changes perception and changes the structure of society.[15] Further unease has been caused around cameras in regards to desensitization. Fears that disturbing or explicit images are widely accessible to children and society at large have been raised. Particularly, photos of war and pornography are causing a stir. Sontag is concerned that "to photograph is to turn people into objects that can be symbolically possessed." Desensitization discussion goes hand in hand with debates about censored images. Sontag writes of her concern that the ability to censor pictures means the photographer has the ability to construct reality.[14]

 

One of the practices through which photography constitutes society is tourism. Tourism and photography combine to create a "tourist gaze"[16] in which local inhabitants are positioned and defined by the camera lens. However, it has also been argued that there exists a "reverse gaze"[17] through which indigenous photographees can position the tourist photographer as a shallow consumer of images.

 

Forms

Aviation photography

Architectural photography

Candid photography

Cloudscape photography

Digiscoping

Documentary photography

Erotic photography

Fashion photography

Fine art photography

Fire photography

Food photography

Forensic photography

Glamour photography

Head shot

Landscape art

Landscape photography

Miksang (contemplative photography)

Nature photography

Wedding photography

Special occasion photography

Social photography

Nude photography

Old-time photography

Photojournalism

Portrait photography

Sports photography

Still life photography

Stock photography

Street photography

Travel photography

Underwater photography

Vernacular photography

VR photography

War photography

Wedding photography

Wildlife photography

Photographers and photographs

List of most expensive photographs

List of photographers

Movie stills photographer

 

Equipment (cameras, etc.)

Camera

Camera Phone

Color chart

Digital camera

Digital single-lens reflex camera

Dry box

Film base

Film format

Film holder

Film scanner

Film stock

Filter

Flash

Gray card

Lenses for SLR and DSLR cameras

List of photographic equipment makers

Monopod

Movie projector

Perspective control lens

Photographic film

Photographic lens

Reflector

Rangefinder camera

SD Card(for digital photography)

Single-lens reflex camera

Slide projector

Soft box

Still camera

Toy camera

Tripod

Twin-lens reflex camera

Video camera

View camera

Zone plate

History

Albumen print

Calotype

Daguerreotype

Timeline of photography technology

 

Techniques

Aerial Photography

Afocal photography

Astrophotography

Bokeh

Contre-jour

Cross processing

Cyanotype

Film developing

Full spectrum photography

Harris Shutter

High dynamic range imaging

High speed photography

Image fusion

Infrared photography

Kinetic photography

Kite aerial photography

Lead room

Light painting

Lith-Print

Macro photography

Micrography, or Photomicrography

Monochrome Photography

Motion blur

Night photography

Panning

Panoramic photography

Photogram

Photograph conservation

Photographic mosaic

Photographic print toning

Push printing

Push processing

Rephotography

Rollout photography

Sabatier Effect

Schlieren photography

Stereoscopy

Sun printing

Tilted plane focus

Time-lapse

Ultraviolet photography

Wide dynamic range

Zoom burst

 

General concepts

Camera obscura

Composition in visual arts

Diana camera

Early photographers of York

Gelatin-silver process

Gum printing

Hand-coloring

Holography

Kirlian photography

Lomography

Mourning portraits

Negative

North American Nature Photography Association

Photograph

Print permanence

Vignetting

Technical principles

Angle of view

Aperture

Color temperature

Depth of field

Depth of focus

Digital versus film photography

Double exposure

Exposure

F-number

Film format

Film speed

Perspective distortion

Photographic printing

Photographic processes

Pinhole camera

Reciprocity (photography)

Red-eye effect

Rule of thirds

Science of photography

Shutter speed

Zone System

 

After This what you think about Photography

My workspace back in late 2009:

www.flickr.com/photos/42736403@N08/3934503754/in/pool-818...

 

After moving from the 17" and 22" to dual 22" in May 2010 and then adding the 17" back in for triple displays in October, I've finally made the jump to three 22" LCDs. The left and right panel are Acer P221Ws and the middle is an Acer AL2216W. Color is surprisingly consistent between them, the middle has just a slightly bluish tint which I can remove through callibration.

 

I've of course upgraded the Hackintosh that runs them as well. I've still got the Intel E6300 overclocked to 3.05GHz, but not much else is the same. In order to get dual graphics cards working with EFI injection I needed a new motherboard with dual PCIe slots, so I went with the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-USB3P with 4GB of DDR3. As far as graphics cards go, I have a 9600GT driving the middle and right panels and a 7600GT driving the left panel. The system's running 10.6.4, which I'm scared to update to 10.6.6 at risk of breaking my dual-card setup.

 

Other differences from the 2009 setup:

>New desk. I built this from scratch last May after getting my second 22" and realizing that I had no room left on my 4'x2' desk.

>No more laptop on my desk. Now that my desktop is a far superior machine, I keep the MacBook Pro on the dresser by my bed for late-night surfing and whatnot.

>Only one computer at my desk. I got tired of dealing with multiple machines, so I put all my resources into making the Hackintosh the best system possible, and now it does all I ask it to.

>Projector's gone. The configuration of my room doesn't really make sense for projecting. It lives in my basement now.

 

Oh, and the lighting. The lights behind the monitors are $6 Lowe's uplight cans with 25 watt clear globe bulbs and the light under the desk is ropelight I attached with hooks. All 3 are hooked together to an X10 module for easy on/off and dimming.

 

Daytime pictures will come tomorrow. I just got the 22" LCD this evening.

 

By the way, I'm 16 and a Junior in high school.

 

Aug. 2011 Update: The Hackintosh has been upgraded to an Intel Q6600 OCd to 2.61GHz, and I'm 17 now and soon to be a Senior.

 

Sept. 2011 Update: Hacky now has 8GB of DDR3 1333 and is OCd to 2.79GHz. Now booting of a 2x80GB RAID0 array with ~250MB/sec max read speeds. Replaced the remaining 7xxx series video card with a second 9600GT, dual cards still work perfectly, and I can now try and update to Lion since I no longer have 7xxx series cards. (On another drive of course. Never muck up a working OS X install on a Hack!)

 

In the next few weeks I will be gutting a defective G5 (different from the one in the photo, my mother uses that one now) and modding it to accomodate all my Hackintosh components. I will be posting a new photo once the HackinG5 is done. I am _very_ excited for the parts to come so I can build it.

 

Update: "PowerHac G5" is built. Pic of the internals:

www.flickr.com/photos/42736403@N08/6157296219/in/set-7215...

 

Moving some things on the desk around this weekend and I'll have an updated workspace pic to post sometime next week.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Thursday, July 29, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 2:53 p.m. EDT Friday, July 30, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Alcatraz

 

Early Years as a Military Prison

 

In 1775, Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala (1745-97) mapped and named rugged Alcatraz Island, christening it La Isla de los Alcatraces, or Island of the Pelicans, due to its large population of sea birds. Seventy-five years later, in 1850, President Millard Fillmore (1800-74) signed an order reserving the island for military use. During the 1850s, a fortress was constructed on Alcatraz and some 100 cannons were installed around the island to protect San Francisco Bay. Also during this time, Alcatraz became home to the West Coast’s first operational lighthouse.

By the late 1850s, the U.S. Army had begun holding military prisoners at Alcatraz. Isolated from the mainland by the cold, strong waters of San Francisco Bay, the island was deemed an ideal location for a prison. It was assumed no Alcatraz inmate could attempt to escape by swimming and survive.

 

During its years as a military prison, the inmates at Alcatraz included Confederate sympathizers and citizens accused of treason during the American Civil War (1861-65). Alcatraz also housed a number of “rebellious” American Indians, including 19 Hopis from the Arizona Territory who were sent to the prison in 1895 following land disagreements with the federal government. The inmate population at Alcatraz continued to rise during the Spanish-American War (1898).

 

During the early 20th century, inmate labor fueled the construction of a new cellhouse (the 600-cell structure still stands today) on Alcatraz, along with a hospital, mess hall and other prison buildings. According to the National Park Service, when this new complex was finished in 1912 it was the world’s largest reinforced concrete building.

Doing Time as a Federal Prison: 1934-63

 

In 1933, the Army relinquished Alcatraz to the U.S. Justice Department, which wanted a federal prison that could house a criminal population too difficult or dangerous to be handled by other U.S. penitentiaries. Following construction to make the existing complex at Alcatraz more secure, the maximum-security facility officially opened on July 1, 1934. The first warden, James A. Johnston (1874-1954), hired approximately one guard for every three prisoners. Each prisoner had his own cell.

 

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) viewed Alcatraz as “the prison system’s prison,” a place where the most disruptive inmates could be sent to live under sparse conditions with few privileges in order to learn how to follow rules (at which point, they could be transferred to other federal prisons to complete their sentences). According to the BOP, Alcatraz typically held some 260 to 275 prisoners, which represented less than 1 percent of the entire federal inmate population.

 

The federal prison on Alcatraz Island in the chilly waters of California’s San Francisco Bay housed some of America’s most difficult and dangerous felons during its years of operation from 1934 to 1963. Among those who served time at the maximum-security facility were the notorious gangster Al “Scarface” Capone (1899-1947) and murderer Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud (1890-1963). No inmate ever successfully escaped The Rock, as the prison was nicknamed, although more than a dozen known attempts were made over the years. After the prison was shut down due to high operating costs, the island was occupied for almost two years, starting in 1969, by a group of Native-American activists. Today, historic Alcatraz Island, which was also the site of a U.S. military prison from the late 1850s to 1933, is a popular tourist destination.

 

Source: www.history.com/topics/alcatraz

This is the Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defense system S-75 Dvina also known as the SA-2 Guideline.

 

Size: 1/32

Color: Dark Gray and Light Bluish Gray

 

Brand new Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan begins sea trials off Scotland.

 

Duncan, the Royal Navy’s sixth and final powerful new Type 45 Destroyer, has put to sea for the first time (August 31) for trials where a blend of Royal Navy, Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems personnel will put her through her paces.

 

Following her departure from BAE System’s Scotstoun shipyard in Glasgow, Duncan quickly set about testing her speed and manoeuvrability, which will see the 7500-tonne destroyer taken to over 30 knots and turning very tight figure-of-eights.

 

Duncan will also spend four weeks at sea trialling her power and propulsion systems as well as her highly capable weapons systems. A second period of sea trials, set to take place later in the year, will test Duncan’s combat systems and sensors in order to ensure she joins the other Type 45s already commissioned and based in Portsmouth, in pristine condition next year.

 

Captain Henry Duffy, Captain Surface Ships, said:, This is a significant milestone in Duncan's programme. We wish her every success as we look forward to welcoming her to join the rest of her sister ships into the Portsmouth Flotilla next year.”

 

This image is available for high resolution download at www.defenceimages.mod.uk subject to the terms and conditions of the Open Government License at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/. Search for image number 45154286.jpg

 

-------------------------------------------------------

Photographer: LA(Phot) Stu Hill

Image 45154286.jpg from www.defenceimages.mod.uk

 

For latest news visit www.mod.uk

Follow us:

www.facebook.com/defenceimages

www.twitter.com/defenceimages

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Thursday, July 29, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 2:53 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 30, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Mural painting of an October Revolution scene inside metro station Baltiyskaya on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line (Line 1), Ploshchad' Baltiyskogo Vokzala, Saint Petersburg, Russia

 

Some background information:

 

The Saint Petersburg Metro is the underground railway system of the city of Saint Petersburg. It has been open since 15th November 1955. Formerly known as the V.I. Lenin Order of Lenin Leningrad Metropoliten, the system exhibits many typical Soviet designs and features exquisite decorations and artwork making it one of the most attractive and elegant metros in the world, maybe only excelled by the Moscow Metro. Due to the city's unique geology, the Saint Petersburg Metro is also one of the deepest metro systems in the world and the deepest by the average depth of all the stations. The system's deepest station, Admiralteyskaya, is located 86 metres below ground. Serving 2.1 million passengers daily (resp. 763.1 million passengers per year), the Saint Petersburg Metro is the 19th busiest metro system in the world.

 

Baltiyskaya is a station on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line of the Saint Petersburg Metro, located between Narvskaya and Tekhnologichesky Institut, close to the Baltic station. Baltiyskaya is an underground bore-tunnel tri-span station with one exit and middle tunnel of full length. It is situated 57 metres (187 feet) under surface level. The exit feeds into Baltiysky Rail Terminal building. A second exit, which will lead from the opposite side of the underground platform, is also planned. For the decoration of the station Ural marble was used, representing the silver colour of the sea. Baltiyskaya station was opened on 15th November 1955 as the first part of Saint Petersburg's metro system. The project name for the station had been Baltiyskiy Vokzal.

 

In Saint Petersburg’s history, the question of building an underground transport system arose several times, the first time in 1820, when the idea was hatched to build an underground road in a tunnel. By the end of the 19th century, certain interested parties began discussing the possibility of opening the Russian Empire's first metropolitan railway system. Almost all pre-revolutionary designs featured the concept of an elevated metro system, similar to the Paris or Vienna metros. However, as was later discovered through the experience of operating open (ground-level) metro lines in the city, such schemes would likely have resulted in a poor metro service. Unfortunately, at the time, Russian engineers did not have sufficient expertise or technical resources for the construction of deep underground tunnels through the bedrock located far beneath St Petersburg. Hence, it was finally Moscow that got the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union in 1935.

 

In 1938 the question of building a metro for Saint Petersburg (by then renamed to Leningrad), resurfaced again. The initial project was designed by the Moscow institute 'Metrogiprotrans', but on 21st January 1941, "Construction Directorate № 5 of the People's Commissariat" was founded as a body to specifically oversee the design and construction of the Leningrad Metro. By April 1941, 34 shafts for the initial phase of construction had been finished. During the Second World War construction works were frozen due to severe lack of available funding, manpower and equipment. At this time, many of the metro construction workers were employed in the construction and repair of railheads and other objects vital to the besieged city.

 

In 1946 Lenmetroproyekt was created, to finish the construction of the metro first phase. A new version of the metro project, devised by specialists, identified two new solutions to the problems to be encountered during the metro construction. Firstly, stations were to be built at a level slightly raised above that of normal track so as to prevent drainage directly into them, whilst the average tunnel width was to be reduced from the 6 metres (20 feet) standard of the Moscow Metro to 5.5 metres (18 feet).

 

On 3rd September 1947, construction in the Leningrad subway began again and eight years later, on 7 October 1955, the electricity was turned on in the metro l. On 15th November 1955, the subway grand opening was held, with the first seven stations being put into public use. These stations later became part of the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line, connecting the Moscow Rail Terminal in the city centre with the Kirovsky industrial zone in the southwest. Subsequent development included lines under the Neva River in 1958, and the construction of the Vyborgsky Radius in the mid-1970s to reach the new housing developments in the north. In 1978, the line was extended past the city limits into the Leningrad Oblast.

 

By the time of the USSR's collapse, the Leningrad Metro comprised 54 stations and 94.2 kilometres (58.5 miles) of track. But development even continued in the modern, post-Soviet period. Today, the Saint Petersburg metro comprises five lines with altogether 69 stations and 118,6 kilometres (74 miles) of track. However, the present state is not meant to be the end of the story. Plans have been made to extend the Saint Petersburg Metro to nine lines with altogether 126 stations and 190 kilometres (118 miles) of track. But delays due to the difficult geology of the city's underground and to the insufficient funding have cut down these plans to 17 new stations and one new depot until 2025. At the same time, there are several short and mid-term projects on station upgrades, including escalator replacements and lighting upgrades.

 

On 3rd April 2017, a terrorist bombing caused an explosion on a train between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologicheski Institut stations, on the Line 2. 14 people died and over 50 sustained injuries, while Russian president Vladimir Putin was in the city, when the attack happened. On the same day, Russia's National anti-terrorist unit defused another explosive device at Ploshchad Vosstaniya station (which you can see on this picture).

 

Saint Petersburg (in Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг) is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow, with currently 5.3 million inhabitants, part of the Saint Petersburg agglomeration with a population of 6.2 million (2015). An important Russian port on the Baltic Sea, it has a status of a federal city. Saint Petersburg is also the fourth-largest city in Europe, only excelled by Istanbul, London and Moscow. Other famous European cities like Paris, Berlin, Rome and Madrid are smaller. Furthermore, Saint Petersburg is the world’s northernmost megapolis and called "The Venice of the North", due to its many channels that traverse the city.

 

Situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27th May 1703. On 1st September 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, on 26 January 1924 to Leningrad, and on 7 September 1991 back to Saint Petersburg. Between 1713 and 1728 and again between 1732 and 1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of Imperial Russia. In 1918, the central government bodies moved to Moscow, which is located about 625 kilometres (388 miles) to the south-east.

 

Saint Petersburg is also the cultural capital of Russia. Today, the city is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list as an area with 36 historical architectural complexes and around 4000 outstanding individual monuments of architecture, history and culture. It has 221 museums, 2,000 libraries, more than 80 theaters, 100 concert organizations, 45 galleries and exhibition halls, 62 cinemas and around 80 other cultural establishments. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. Every year the city hosts around 100 festivals and various competitions of art and culture, including more than 50 international ones. In 2017, the city was visited by 7.2 million tourists and it is expected that in the years ahead the number of tourists will still be on the rise.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

© Saúl Tuñón Loureda

 

twitter.com/Woody_Twitt

www.facebook.com/stloureda

 

El metro de Londres (en inglés: London Underground) es una red de transporte público ferroviaria eléctrica (un metro o sistema subterráneo) que funciona tanto por encima como por debajo de tierra en toda el área del Gran Londres. Es el sistema de transporte de este tipo más antiguo del mundo. Entró en funcionamiento el 10 de enero de 1863 y sus secciones más antiguas completaron 150 años de haber entrado en operación en 2013.1

 

Los londinenses suelen referirse a él como the Underground o de una manera más familiar como the Tube, debido a la forma de sus túneles.

 

Hoy en día existen 274 estaciones abiertas y más de 408 kilómetros de líneas activas, con más de tres millones de pasajeros que usan el metro cada día (948 millones de transportes realizados en el periodo 2003–2004). Es la segunda red de metro del mundo (después de Shanghái) por kilómetros y la primera de la Unión Europea.

 

Desde 2003, el metro forma parte de la organización Transport for London (TfL), que también administra los autobuses de Londres, incluyendo los famosos autobuses rojos de dos pisos. Anteriormente London Regional Transport era la compañía propietaria del Metro de Londres.

 

La tabla de abajo describe cada una de las líneas del metro de Londres, usando el color que se emplea para su representación en los mapas. También se da información sobre la fecha de apertura de la primera sección de cada línea y el tipo de túnel por el que circulan los vagones (subsuperficial hace referencia a una profundidad media de 5 metros; profundo amplía esta definición hasta los 20 metros, aunque esta distancia varía considerablemente). Mientras que las líneas de túnel son en su mayor parte auto-contenidas, las líneas de subsuperficie son parte de una red interconectada; cada una comparte vías con al menos dos otras líneas. El ordenamiento de subsuperficie es similar al del Metro de Nueva York, el cual también posee líneas "separadas" fuera de las vías compartidas.

 

El Metro de Londres posee 11 líneas. Hasta 2007 poseía una duodécima línea, la East London Line, pero ésta fue cerrada por trabajos de conversión para que sea transferida al London Overground cuando reabra en 2010.

 

El Subterráneo de Londres posee 268 estaciones; seis estaciones adicionales que están en la East London Line que son servidas por buses de reemplazo del Subterráneo, debido a los trabajos para que formen parte del London Overground. Catorce estaciones de Metro están fuera del Gran Londres, de las cuales cinco (Amersham, Chalfont & Latimer, Chesham, Chorleywood, y Epping) están bajo la autopista M25, que rodea a Londres. De los 32 municipios de Londres, seis (Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Lewisham y Sutton) no pertenecen a la red de Metro, mientras que Hackney sólo tiene las estaciones de Old Street y Manor House en sus límites.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_de_Londres#Estaciones_y_l.C3....

 

The London Underground (also known as the Tube or simply the Underground) is a public rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and parts of the home counties of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. The network is considered the oldest rapid transit system, incorporating the world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, which opened in 1863 and is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; and the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2013/14 carried 1.265 billion passengers, making the Underground the world's 11th busiest metro system.

 

The system serves 270 stations and has 402 kilometres (250 mi) of track. Within London, the Underground mostly serves parts other than the South: less than 10% of Tube stations lie to the south bank of the River Thames. Despite its name, only 45% of the system is actually 'underground' in tunnels.

 

The system's first tunnels were built just below the surface using the cut and cover method, and are large enough to take trains of normal size. Later, smaller circular tunnels – which give rise to its nickname the Tube – were dug through the London Clay at a deeper level. The early lines were marketed as the UndergrounD in the early 20th century on maps and signs at central London stations. The private companies that owned and ran the railways were merged in 1933 to form the London Passenger Transport Board. The current operator, London Underground Limited (LUL), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL), the statutory corporation responsible for most elements of the transport network in Greater London. The term 'Tube' is nowadays often used both in official publicity and in general usage to embrace the whole Underground system, though it is sometimes only applied to the lines that run in deep-level tunnels, excluding the Circle, Metropolitan, District, and Hammersmith & City lines.

 

As of 2012, 91% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares. The Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003.

 

The LPTB was a prominent patron of art and design, commissioning many new station buildings, posters and public artworks in a modernist style. The schematic Tube map, designed by Harry Beck in 1931, was voted a national design icon in 2006 and now includes other lines - the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground and TfL Rail - as well as the non-rail Emirates Air Line. London Underground branding is built around the symbols of the roundel and the Johnston typeface, created by Edward Johnston in 1916. London Underground celebrated 150 years of operations in 2013, with various events marking the milestone.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Thursday, July 29, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 2:53 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 30, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

www.rootsandculture.co.uk/channelOne.html

 

www.facebook.com/channelonesoundsystem

 

www.wordplaymagazine.com/category/reggae/

 

Channel One Sound System was born in the year 1979 by brothers Mikey Dread and Jah T. Before that time we played in parties and blues dances in 1973 with our father’s sound system Admiral Bailey who was also playing blues dances and weddings from the early sixties.

 

In 1975 we linked up with an elder sound in East London called King Edwards who was coming to the end of their sound system days. We merged the two sounds together and overnight became a force in East London armed with 4 foot & 6 foot double boxes (2 x 18” speakers) and various single 18” boxes what was amplified by a 3kw value amplifier.

 

In 1977 we bought our first truck, a Commer Carrier. We now had the transportation to get around without the need for hiring a vehicle. For the next two years we played locally and around London with other sound systems.

 

In 1979 we decided to rename the sound Channel One Sound System simply because we were playing nough tunes from out of the Channel One stable, Maxfield Avenue, Jamaica. In 1982 I (Mikey Dread) had a vision that I wanted to take the sound to a more international audience. The best places at that time were the colleges, polytechnics and universities.

 

In 1983 we started to go nationwide. Channel One started to be a travelling sound to places like Swansea, Cardiff in Wales, Bolton College in Lancashire, Plymouth University, Devon to the giant BIC venue in Bournemouth, Essex University to East Anglia University in Norfolk, Keele University in Staffordshire to Middlesborough University in Teesside in the North East of England. At the same time we were put on the bill with bands like Aswad, Misty in Roots and Ska bans like the Selectors and Bad Manners.

 

In 1983 we were given the opportunity to play Europe’s biggest street festival, the Notting Hill Carnival, London. Then we were playing to just 10 people for most of the day, 23 years later we are playing to 10,000 people a day.

 

In 1990 we took our first tour abroad with a 4 date tour of Italy and have been touring ever since. We have visited Sweden, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany & Finland along the way.

 

In 1994 we were the first sound System to travel to the Republic of Ireland for 2 gigs, we drove from London to Holyhead caught the ferry to Dublin port then drove to the other side of Ireland to a city called Galway. At that time it was strange for the Irish people seeing base bins being wheeled down Galway High Street into the Castle Club. The session itself was A1 because we took the crowd from all the pubs and clubs down the High street when they heard the heavy baseline. The day after we drove to Dublin and played to 800 people with a further 300 people being locked out side a venue called The Furnace. For the next few years we continued playing the college circuit up until 1998.

 

In 1999 we were invited to play at the University of Dub in Brixton, London which is a 3 sound system unity event.

 

In the year 2000 we went down to the South of France twice and played two memorable dances supporting Burning Spear on one and what was to be Dennis Brown’s last European show.

 

In 2004 we played at England’s biggest festival Glastonbury and ripped the place apart. The man controlling the PA system knew his pa had worked at the end of the 2 hour show. As usual the rain tore into Glastonbury for about 20 mins but the crowd stayed to make it the best two hours of the festival.

 

In 2005 we were back beating up Glastonbury when a man walked over to us and said he would like Channel One to come down under on the Big Day out Tour in Australia, which starts in Auckland, New Zealand for 1 date and another 5 across Australia, and true to his word we were on our way down under in January 2006. The first time ever for reggae music on one of the World’s biggest travelling rock tours. Channel One Sound System’s objective is to break down barriers through playing roots rock reggae music.

 

Channel One Sound System roars on like a lion.

 

JAH RASTAFARI

Boeing and NASA teams work around Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after it landed at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in New Mexico. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The fruit fly—Drosophila melanogaster—is helping researchers understand how spaceflight affects the immune system’s response to infection.

 

Read full article:

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/fruit_fly_lab01/#.VI71TUizK3J/

 

Image credit: NASA / Dominic Hart

 

More about space station research:

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

 

Flickr Album: Space Station Research Affects Lives:

www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/sets/72157634178107799/

 

________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

This is the a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defense system S-75 Dvina also known as the SA-2 Guideline.

 

Size: 1/32

Color: Dark Gray and Light Bluish Gray

 

Available NOW @ The Mad Circus 6

 

Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Brewery/34/44/22

  

Particle Texture Appliers are designed to go with ELEMENTAL Magic Aura Systems! Each Particle Applier comes with 12 effects that can be added to the system's effects.

 

Examples of Elemental particle Systems are:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Magic-Aura-System-...

 

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Spiral-Particle-Au...

 

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Wisps-Particle-Aur...

  

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Sprinkling-Spirit-...

  

marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Elemental-Vacuum-Particle-Au...

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Sweden required a strong air defense, utilizing the newly developed jet propulsion technology. The original concept had been designed around a mostly straight wing, but after Swedish engineers had obtained German research data on swept-wing designs, the prototype was altered to incorporate a 25° sweep. In order to make the wing as thin as possible, Saab elected to locate the retractable undercarriage in the aircraft's fuselage rather than into the wings.

 

Extensive wind tunnel testing had also influenced aspects of the aircraft's aerodynamics, such as stability and trim across the aircraft's speed range. In order to test the design of the swept wing further and avoid any surprises, it was decided to modify a Saab Safir. It received the designation Saab 201 and a full-scale swept wing for a series of flight tests. The first 'final' sketches of the aircraft, incorporating the new information, were drawn in January 1946.

 

The originally envisioned powerplant for the new fighter type was the de Havilland Goblin turbojet engine. However, in December 1945, information on the newer and more powerful de Havilland Ghost engine became available. The new engine was deemed to be ideal for Saab's in-development aircraft, as not only did the Ghost engine had provisions for the use of a central circular air intake, the overall diameter of the engine was favorable for the planned fuselage dimensions, too. Thus, following negotiations between de Havilland and Saab, the Ghost engine was selected to power the type and built in license as the RM 2.

 

By February 1946 the main outline of the proposed aircraft had been clearly defined. In autumn 1946, following the resolution of all major questions of principal and the completion of the project specification, the Swedish Air Force formally ordered the completion of the design and that three prototype aircraft be produced, giving the proposed type the designation J 29. After a thorough test program, production of the type commenced in 1948 and, in May 1951, the first deliveries of operational production aircraft were received by F 13 Norrköping. The J 29 proved to be very successful and several variants and updates of the Tunnan were produced, including a dedicated reconnaissance variant, a two seat trainer and an all-weather fighter with an onboard radar

 

However, Sweden foresaw that there would soon be a need for a jet fighter that could intercept bombers at high altitude and also successfully engage fighters. During September 1949, the Swedish Air Force, via the Swedish Defence Material Administration, released a requirement for a cutting-edge interceptor aircraft that was envisioned to be capable of attacking hostile bomber aircraft in the transonic speed range. As released, this requirement specified a top speed of Mach speed 1.4 to 1.5. (1956, the specified speed was revised and raised to Mach 1.7-1.8, and eventually led to the Saab 35 Draken). With the barely supersonic Saab 32 Lansen just under development, and intended for different roles than being a nimble day fighter, the company searched for a way to either achieve supersonic flight through modifications of an existing type or at least gather sufficient data and develop and try the new technologies necessary to meet the 1949 requirements.

 

Since Sweden did not have a truly supersonic aircraft in its inventory (not even an experimental type), Saab decided to convert the Saab 29 into a supersonic testbed, with the outlook to develop an interim day fighter that could replace the various Tunnan fighter versions and support the new Lansen fleet until a fully capable Mach 1.5+ interceptor was ready for service. Even though the type was regarded as a pure experimental aircraft, the designation remained close to the J29 nomenclature in order to secure military funding for the project and to confuse eventual spies. Consequently, the P29 was initially presented as a new J29 version (hence the “G” suffix).

 

The P29G was based on a heavily modified production J29B airframe, which was built in two versions and only in two specimens. Work on the first airframe started in 1952, just when the first Saab 32 prototype made its maiden flight. The initial challenge consisted of integrating two relatively compact axial flow jet engines with afterburners into the fuselage, since the J29’s original RM2, even in its late afterburner variant, was not able to safely deliver the necessary thrust for the intended supersonic flight program. After long negotiations, Saab was able to procure a small number of Westinghouse J34-WE-42 turbojets from the USA, which delivered as a pair 40% more thrust than the original RM2B. The engines were only delivered under the restriction that they would exclusively be used in connection with the supersonic research program.

 

Through a thorough re-construction, the Saab team was able to mount the new engines into the lower rear fuselage, and, internally, the air intake duct had to be modified and forked behind the landing gear wells. Due to the significantly widened rear fuselage, the P29G became quickly nicknamed “Kurviga Tunnan” (= “Curvy Barrel”). Even though the widened rear fuselage increased the aircraft’s frontal cross section, the modified shape had the (unintended) effect of area ruling, a welcome side benefit which became apparent during the flight test and which largely promoted the P29G’s gain of top speed.

 

Another special and unique feature of the P29G was a special wing attachment system. It consisted of two strengthened, open box spars in the fuselage with additional attachment points along the wing roots, which allowed different wings to be switched with relatively little effort. However, due to this modification, the wing tanks (with a total capacity of 900l inside of the J29s standard wings) were lost and only 2.150l in the Saab 29’s standard fuselage tanks could be carried – but this was, for a research aircraft, not regarded as a major weakness, and compensated for the wing attachment system’s additional weight. The original wing-mounted pitots were replaced by a single, massive sensor boom attached to the aircraft’s nose above the air intake, slightly set-off to starboard in order to give the pilot an unobstructed view.

 

The first P29G's maiden flight, marked “Gul Urban” (Yellow U), took place in July 1955. The aircraft behaved normally, even though the center of gravity had markedly shifted backwards and the overall gain of weight made the aircraft slightly unstable along the longitudinal axis. During the initial, careful attempts to break the sound barrier, it soon became apparent that both the original wings as well as the original air intake shape limited the P29G's potential. In its original form, the P29G could only barely pass Mach 1 in level flight.

 

As a consequence, the second P29G, which had been under conversion from another J29B airframe since mid-1954, received more thorough modifications. The air intake was lengthened and widened, and in order to make it more effective at supersonic speed it received a sharp lip. Wind tunnel tests with the first machine led to a modified tail, too: the fin was now taller and further swept back, the stabilizer was moved to a higher position, resulting in a cruciform layout. The original single-piece stabilizer was furthermore replaced by a two-piece, all-moving construction with a 45° sweep and a thinner profile. This not only improved the aerodynamics at high speed, it also suppressed the longitudinal instability problem, even though this was never really cured.

 

Due to the even higher all-up weight of the new aircraft, the landing gear was reinforced and the 2nd P29G received an experimental suspension system on its main legs with higher spring travel, which was designed for operations on semi-prepared airfields. This system had actually been designed for the updated J29 fighters (esp. the A32B attack variant), but it was not introduced into series production or the Saab 29E/F conversion program. Despite these massive changes, the P29G designation was retained, and the second machine, carrying the tactical code “Röd Urban” (Red U), was quickly nicknamed “Karpen” (“Carp”), due to its characteristic new intake shape, the long fin and its stocky shape.

 

The second P29G was ready for flight tests in August 1956, just in time to support the Saab 35’s ongoing development – the aircraft, which was eventually built to meet (and exceed) the Swedish Air Force’s 1949 supersonic interceptor requirement. The modifications proved to be successful and the P29G was, fitted with a 60° sweep wing and in clean configuration, able to achieve a maximum speed of 1.367 km/h (849 mph) in level flight, a formidable achievement (vs. the 1,060 km/h (660 mph) of the late J29F and the 1200 km/h (745 mph) of the J32B interceptor) for the post WWII design.

Several wing shapes and profiles were tested, including sweep angles from 25° to 63° as well as different shapes and profiles. Even though the machines carried provisions for the J29’s standard armament, the 20 mm cannons were normally not mounted and replaced with sensors and recording equipment. However, both machines were temporarily fitted with one or two guns in order to analyze the effects of firing the weapons at supersonic speed. Underwing ordnance was also almost never carried. In some tests, though, light bombs or unguided missiles were carried and deployed, or podded cine cameras were carried.

 

While the second P29G was used for high speed trials, the first machine remained in its original guise and took over low speed handling tests. Thanks to the unique wing switch mechanism, the supersonic research program could be held within a very tight schedule and lasted until late 1959. Thereafter, the P29Gs’ potential was of little use anymore, and the engine use agreement with the USA put an end to further use of the two aircraft, so that both P29Gs were retired from service in 1960. The 1st machine, outfitted with standard J29F wings and stripped off of its engines, remained in use as an instructional air at Malmslätt air base 1969, while the second machine was mothballed. However, both airframes were eventually scrapped in 1970.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 11.66 m (38 ft 2 in) fuselage only,

13,97 m (45 ft 9 in) with pitot boom

Wingspan: varied*; 11.0 m (36 ft 1 in) with standard 25° sweep wings,

10.00 m (32 ft 9 ¾ in) with experimental 45° wings

Height: 4.54m (14 ft 10 ½ in)

Wing area: varied*; 24.15 m² (260.0 ft²) with standard 25° sweep wings

22.5 m² (242.2 ft²) with experimental 45° wings

Empty weight: 5,220 kg (11,500 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,510 kg (18,744 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× Westinghouse J34-WE-42 turbojets, each rated at 3,400 lbf (15 kN) dry thrust

and 4,200 lbf (19 kN) with full afterburner

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1.367 km/h (849 mph) were achieved*

Range: 790 km (490 mi)

Service ceiling: up to 17,250 m (56,500 ft)*

Rate of climb: up to 45 m/s (8,850 ft/min)*

 

*Varying figures due to different tested wing configurations

 

Armament:

None installed; provisions for 4x 20mm Hispano Mark V autocannon in the lower front fuselage.

Depending on the mounted wing type, various external loads could be carried, including a wide range of light bombs, 75 mm (3 in) air-to-air rockets, 145 mm (5.8 in) anti-armor rockets, 150 mm (6 in) HE (high-explosive) rockets or 180 mm (7.2 in) HE anti-ship rockets. Due to the lack of complex wiring or fuel plumbing, no guided weapons or drop tanks could be mounted, though.

  

The kit and its assembly:

Sweden is a prolific whiffing territory, and the Saab 29 offers some interesting options. This highly modified Tunnan, which is actually rather a kitbashing than a mere model kit modification, is/was a submission to the “More or less engines” group build at whatifmodelers.com in summer 2019.

I actually had the idea of a two-engine J29 in the back of my mind for a long time, spawned by a resin conversion set for the Hasegawa B-47 Stratojet kit that came with new intakes and exhaust sections for the four engine pods. The single engine pod parts had been spent a long time ago, but the twin engine parts were still waiting for a good use. Could the exhaust fit under/into a Tunnan…?

I even had a Matchbox J29 stashed away for this experiment long ago, as well as some donor parts like the wings, and the GB eventually offered the right motivation to put those things together that no one would expect to work.

 

So I pulled out all the stuff and started – a rather straightforward affair. Work started with the fuselage, which was, together with the (very nice) cockpit assembled OOB at first, the nose filled with as much lead as possible and with the lower rear section cut away, so the B-47 resin jet nozzles would end up at the same position as the original RM2B exhaust. Due to the pen nib fairing between them, though, the profile of the modified tail became (visually) more massive, and I had to fill some gaps under the tail boom (with styrene sheet and putty). The twin engines also turned out to be wider than expected – I had hoped for straight flanks, but the fuselage shape ended up with considerable bulges behind the landing gear wells. These were created with parts from drop tank halves and blended into the rest of the lower hill with PSR work. In the same wake the area under the fin was sculpted and re-created, too.

 

At that point it became clear that I had to do more on the fuselage, esp. the front end, in order to keep the aircraft visually balance. A convenient solution became an F-100 air intake, which I grafted onto the nose instead of the original circular and round-lipped orifice – with its sharp lip the Super Sabre piece was even a plausible change! The fuselage shapes and diameters differed considerably, though, more PSR became necessary.

 

Next came the wings: I had already set apart a pair of trapezoid wings with a 45° sweep angle – these were left over from a PM Model Ta 183 conversion some time ago. With their odd shape and size they were a perfect match for my project, even more so due to the fact that I could keep the original J29 wing attachment points, I just had to shorten and modify the trailing edge area on the fuselage. The result was very conclusive.

 

With the new nose and the wings in place, the overall proportions became clearer: still tail-heavy, but not unpleasant. At this time I was also certain that I had to modify the tail surfaces. The fin was too small and did not have enough sweep for the overall look, and the stabilizer, with its thick profile, rounded edges and the single, continuous rudder did not look supersonic at all. What followed was a long search in the donor banks for suitable replacements, and I eventually came up with a MiG-15 fin (Hobby Boss) which was later clipped at the top for a less recognizable profile. The stabilizers were more challenging, though. My solution eventually became a pair of modified stabilizers from a Matchbox Buccaneer(!), attached to the MiG-15 fin.

 

The design problems did not stop here, though: the landing gear caused some more headaches. I wanted to keep the OOB parts, but especially the main legs would leave the aircraft with a very goofy look through a short wheelbase and a rear axis position too much forward. In an attempt to save the situation I attached swing arms to the OOB struts, moving the axis maybe 5mm backwards and widening the track by 2mm at the same time. Not much in total, but it helped (a little, even though the aircraft is still very tail-heavy)

 

As a final addition – since the original, wing-mounted pitots of the J29 were gone now and would not go well with the wing-switching idea – I gave the P29G a large, nose-mounted pitot and sensor boom, placed on top of the nose. This part come, like the air intake, from an F-100.

  

Painting and markings:

I tend to be conservative when it comes to liveries for what-if models, and the P29G is no exception. At first, I thought that this build could become an operational supersonic daylight interceptor (the J29G), so that I could give the model full military markings and maybe a camouflage paint scheme. However, this idea would not work: the potential real life window for such an aircraft, based on the Saab 29, would be very narrow. And aircraft development in the late Fifties made quantum leaps within a very short period of time: While the J29A entered service, work on the Mach 2 Saab 35 was already underway – nobody would have accepted (or needed) a Mach 1 fighter, based on late Forties technology, at that time anymore, and there was the all-weather Saab J32B around, too. The update program with new wings and a more powerful afterburner engine was all that could be done to exploit the Tunnan’s potential, resulting in the (real world’s) J29E and F variants.

 

I eventually decided that the J29G would only be a prototype/research aircraft, consequently called P29G, and through this decision I became more or less settled upon a NMF finish with some colorful markings. Consequently, the model was painted with various shades of metal colors, primarily Polished Aluminum Metallizer from Humbrol, but also with Humbrol 191 and Matt Aluminum Metallizer as well as ModelMaster Steel Metallizer. Around the exhaust section, I also used Revell 91 (Iron) and ModelMaster Exhaust Metallizer. Some single panels and details were painted with Revell 99 (Aluminum), and I also used generic decal material in silver to simulate some smaller access panels. Grey decal sheet was used to simulate covers for the cannon nozzles.

 

The cockpit interior was painted, according to Saab 29 standard, in a dark greenish-grey (Revell 67), and bluish grey was used inside of the landing gear wells (Revell 57). The pitot boom received black and white stripes.

 

For markings I let myself get inspired from the real world Saab 29 and 32 prototypes, which were all marked with a colored “U” tactical code on the fin and also on the front fuselage, simply meaning “Utverding” (= “Test”). I found four red decals, and I also gave the aircraft a yellow cheatline, lent from an Airfix F-86D decal sheet. The Swedish roundels come from a generic aftermarket sheet, most stencils were taken from the Revell OOB sheet and a Printscale J29 sheet.

 

Before the model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic varnish from Italeri, some grinded graphite was rubbed onto the rear fuselage, adding a metallic shine and simulating exhaust stains.

 

A thorough conversion – this has rather evolved into a kitbashing than just a kit conversion: not much from the original Matchbox J29 has been left over. But I like the outcome, even though things developed gradually from the simple idea of changing the number of engines on the Tunnan. One thing led to another. The resulting aircraft looks quite plausible, even though I am not totally happy with the landing gear, which appears to be rather far forward, despite surgical measures to mend the situation. The Ta 183 wings are a very good match, though, and I cannot help but recognize a certain French look, maybe due to the cruciform tail and the oval air intake? The P29G could also, with Argentinian marking, have become a revised version of the FMA Pulqui II?

Testing of tilikum crossing bridge in Portland. Part of the test is to check the lighting system’s full spectrum of colors and its subtle motion changes based on the natural conditions of the Willamette river. I blended 5 photos to get all the colors in one picture.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Thursday, July 29, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 2:53 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 30, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

This was the last few hours of our epic August trip across the midwest. We woke up in the Queen City on a hot humid hazy morning and explored the city a bit. Here is a grab shot out the passenger side window as we drove over the Hopple Street Viaduct. This view looks south across the vast bowl of CSXT's Queesnsgate Yard. The hump tower can and diesel shop can be seen in the distance this side of the Western Hills Viaduct.

 

Queensgate Yard was built in the late 1970s, opening in 1980, to replace the yards of the Chessie System's constituents in the Cincinnati area, including not only the five former C&O and B&O yards covered over by the new yard (A Yard, Brighton Yard, Mill Creek Yard, and the Stock Yard, all B&O, plus C&O's Liberty Yard), but also the C&O yard at Silver Grove (which had a 26-track eastbound classification hump and a 14-track westbound flat-switched yard). After the formation of CSX, the former L&N De Coursey Yard (which had two humps) was closed in favor of Queensgate in 1984, as was the former B&O Oakley yard in 1987. Coincidentally, perhaps, Conrail closed the former PRR Undercliff Yard in 1980 and the former NYC Sharonville hump yard in 1987. The NS (former Southern) Gest Street Yard is the only pre-1980 yard in the Mill Creek Valley that still survives.

 

Queensgate Yard has eight reception tracks, 50 classification tracks and six departure tracks. The yard sorts about 2000 cars per day (with a theoretical capacity of 3200 cars per day) and due to its modernity, efficiency, strategic location and sheer volume it was one of the few CSXT hump yards to survive the Hunter Harrison PSR purge. Here is a neat little link to a Chessie Sytem corporate piece with some photos from when the yard was built: www.railsandtrails.com/Chessie/Queensgate/index.htm

 

CSXT 8471 seen switching the bowl is an SD40-2 that was rebuilt by M-K in the 1990s from an original Southern Pacific SD45 blt. May 1968 as SP 8961.

 

I have a very personal connection to this area as I spent weeks camped out under this very viaduct in the dark sitting in a big white hi-rail suburban. Why you ask? Well as a new Norfolk Southern management trainee I was assigned to record every single train of both railroads that passed by as part of a time study NS was conducting documenting how long their trains had to wait to cross over out of Gest Street Yard on to their Main 3 to head north. This was immediate post Conrail split and traffic patterns had changed and NS and CSXT were experiencing unprecedented delays. This time study would provide key data to the folks in Atlanta and Norfolk that would be used in the negotiations with CSXT that led to the joint track directional running arrangement between Cincinnati and Hamilton, OH that did so much to improve fluidity in the post Conrail era. And while I wasn't mentioned by name this project that I played a roll in was so important to the company that it received a major entry in page 10 of NS' 2000 Annual Report. If you want to see for yourself check this link and scroll to page 10: www.nscorp.com/content/dam/nscorp/get-to-know-ns/investor... And I still have my old spreadsheets and pie charts I made sitting in my corner of the old Kentucky Division Superintendent's office where I was posted for my first railroad job 21 years ago....how time flies....good memories and nice to be back here after all these years if only for a moment.

 

Cincinnati, Ohio

Saturday August 22, 2020