Many of the larger icy moons of the Sol system's gas giants have interior oceans of liquid water, kept liquid through tidal heating caused by the interactions of the two gravity wells. The exoplanet Krysto, home of the famed ICEPLANET team 2002, was a true planet rather than a moon, but it did have a particularly large and close moon.

It took the Iceplaneteers some time to realize the potential of Krysto's subsurface ocean - the deeply hostile surface conditions combined with Blacktron factional conflicts meant that their limited resources were mostly put to other tasks - but after some time a mission was planned to melt a shaft through the thick icecap to the internal sea of Krysto.

The Aquarius Project, as it was called, centered initially around a large submarine, the Interior eXploration Vessel Aquarius, but there were other vehicles besides the IXV Aquarius. The Delphinus-1 was a rover used for exploring the subglacial seabed, though it did have a limited swimming ability. The rather large laser cannon proved necessary as there were a number of very large and rather dangerous creatures that called the interior ocean their home.

~~~

This has a little too much yellow and not enough white to really mesh well with my previous "Alt-Seatron" Aquarius Project creations, but I'm mostly pleased with the overall design. In order to mesh with but remain distinct from the Ice Planet factional colours, the intent is that the IP2002 colours are used on the surface, and for the Aquarius Project interior exploration stuff the blue is replaced by yellow and the trans neon orange by trans red.

As in most examples of basic truthiness, the reverse is also true. That is, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man who works in the Botox industry, hardly ever finds himself in need of pickling.

And, as for the bifurcating Duchamps, there is no evidence that they ever met again after 'the split'.

Rumours that they are 'the twins' in 'Finnegans Wake' are dubious, to say the least, in spite of extensive, sadly lost, scholarship cobbled together by de Selby.

You be the judge, and all that palaver:

"^ Of the disorded visage.

* Singlebarrelled names for doubleparalleled twixtytwins.

^ Like pudging a spoon fist of sugans into a sotspot of choucolout. "

Page 286, 'Finnegans Wake', James Joyce

I rest my case, or at least suspend it over a widening knowledge abyss.

AI Overview (Google A.I.)

A human bifurcation is the division of a structure or a system into two branches, occurring in both anatomical structures like the trachea and blood vessels, and in dynamical systems where a small change in a parameter causes a dramatic qualitative change in the system's behavior. In anatomy, these are structural divisions, while in mathematical and biological modeling, they are points where a system's behavior shifts from one state to another, influencing everything from cardiac rhythms to neuronal firing.

Anatomical Bifurcations

Trachea: The windpipe (trachea) bifurcates into two bronchial tubes that deliver air to each lung.

Blood Vessels: Arteries branch into progressively smaller vessels, with the aorta splitting into the common iliac arteries in a significant bifurcation.

Nerves: Nerves also divide into smaller branches to reach different parts of the body.

Nice shirt, all the same.

A fiery horizon observed at sunset this evening. Looks like there's a wildfire just beyond the horizon! Pic taken from around San Jose, CA.

Weather update:

Thunderstorms have erupted throughout the state this week, courtesy of a very slow moving low pressure system. This system's eastward movement was very slow and the counter clockwise flow around the low had kept us in a rainy, unsettled weather pattern the past couple days or so. However, things were to start to dry out. By Monday of the following week, high pressure was forecast to be back along the coast...

(Saturday around sunset, May 7, 2016; 8:00 p.m.)

The Dark Planet ©

Youtube: Dream Factory

Photograph by Yusuf Alioglu

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The Sun (Latin: Sol), a yellow dwarf, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter (including other planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and dust) orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass. The mean distance of the Sun from the Earth is approximately 149,600,000 kilometers, or 92,960,000 miles, and its light travels this distance in 8.3 minutes. Energy from the Sun, in the form of sunlight, supports almost all life on Earth via photosynthesis, and drives the Earth's climate and weather.

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DE: Lange vor der S-Bahn Zürich gab es in der Schweiz bereits eine Art "S-Bahn". Die Vorgängerbahnen des RBS, die SZB und die VBW betrieben ab Mitte der 1974 mit einer neuen Einführung in den Bahnhof Bern und den neu beschafften "Mandarindli" Triebzügen ganztägig einen Taktverkehr im Grossraum Bern, zu Spitzenzeiten im Viertelstundentakt. Das System wurde bis heute weiter ausgebaut bis hin zu teilweisem 7.5min Takt auf einzelnen Streckenabschnitten. Der Abschnitt Bern-Worblaufen gehört zu den am dichtesten befahrenen Strecken der Schweiz. Zu Spitzenzeiten fahren bis zu 20 Züge pro Richtung pro Stunden (!) über diese Doppelspur. Sowohl dem 1974 eingeweihten Bahnhof Bern wie auch den Mandarindli geht es nun aber an den Kragen. Der für 25'000 Personen ausgelegte, heute mit bis zu 60'000 Personen pro Tag frequentierte Endbahnhof Bern wird mit einem neuen, grösseren Neubau ersetzt. Die ersten Mandarndli wurden schon in den vergangenen Jahren eersetzt, für die noch in Betrieb stehenden Einheiten ist Ersatz bestellt und wird ab Mitte des Jahres abgeliefert. Grund genug im Worblental nochmals im Viertelstundentakt Mandarindli zu erleben...

EN: Years before the S-Bahn Zürich was inaugurated the predecessors of the RBS (SZB and VBW) created 1974 a so called Rapid Transit System (S-Bahn) in the capital region of Switzerland. A brand new four track terminal depot in Bern and a set of brand new trains - the so called "Mandarindli" - marked a major step in the developement of the RBS. Today up to 20 trains per direction and hour (!) run on the stretch between Bern and Worblaufen during high peak times. But: Bern depot and the Mandarindli are soon at the end of their journey. bern depot is rebuilt on a new location with more space, the Mandarindli are replaced through new trains. The first units will be delivered in second half of 2018.

Time to go to the Worblental and enjoy a Mandarindli every 15minutes....

The Sentinel-3A satellite caught this image of a dust storm blowing east across the Red Sea on 25 July 2016.

Dust storms, or sandstorms, are usually the result of a large mass of cold air moving swiftly across dry ground covered with loose sand and silt. They are remarkable natural phenomena that can cause major ecological and agricultural damage.

Dust storms can be a major contributor to reduced air quality and can cause hazards to human health. Windborne dust particles can invade our respiratory system’s natural defences and lodge in the bronchial tubes, increasing the number and severity of asthma attacks, causing or aggravating bronchitis and reducing the body’s ability to fight infections.

Other visible features include the Nile River on the upper left side of the image, and the orange sands of the Arabian Desert in the upper right.

Sentienl-3 carries a suite of instruments to monitor Earth’s oceans, land, ice and atmosphere for Europe’s Copernicus programme. This image was captured by the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument.

Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2016), processed by ESA

Attribution: a friend is writing a sci-fi novel for which I'm a contributing writer and illustrator: www.campfirewriting.com/explore/67ce7cc883ecc8f6a341bb49/...

In the dystopian world of 2475, rival factions with opposing agendas battle to overthrow the all-powerful artificial intelligence that governs the united nations of North, Central, and South America, now called NorCentSo (NCS). One of these groups, the Nihilist faction known as NEG, views the AI-led government as hopelessly corrupt. Their mission is to "wipe the slate clean" by completely destroying the system's infrastructure.

In the heart of Rockport, known as New York City two centuries before, Chelsea owns and operates Neon Drip - an eclectic cafe, coffee shop, and social hub - for Proles and Elites alike. It's neutral ground, no "offings" or "accidents" ever happen there, or Chelsea will have the participants' heads on a pike.

Meet Didi (my character!), NEG field operative, infiltrator, assassin, and good between the linens. Abducted by NCS from Portugal as a child and implanted with a remarkable device called a Neural Interface Chip. This technology interfaces directly with her brain, greatly enhancing her native abilities. One of her most unique talents is the ability to change her skin color at a microscopic level, like a digital display. Imagine "living tattoos" that shift instantly into almost any pattern, allowing her to mimic others' faces or create dazzling designs on her skin.

The Nikon F, Nikon's first pro-level system SLR, was in production from 1959 to 1973. The pictured camera is a late-model pre-Apollo version with the basic non-metered prism.

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

The Nikon F, especially with the basic non-metered prism (along with the Pentax Spotmatic) is one of the most beautiful classic 35mm SLR designs. With periodic maintenance and use, there is no reason why these cameras cannot continue to work perfectly, long into the future.

Many of the Nikon F bodies on the market today have been heavily used by professionals and/or stored improperly so they are in bad shape. Models that are in cosmetically perfect shape are not cheap on auction websites, and may still require professional maintenance to work properly. Standard non-metered prisms are often separately offered for sale on auction websites at a premium price to owners whose Photomic metered prisms have stopped working (although in my experience, the prism meters can often be repaired by a competent technician).

I had the good luck to get my hands on a Nikon Photomic FTN when it just hit the market new. It was my dream camera as a serious amateur photographer and student. Mine didn't go into a war zone as many Nikon Fs did around that time, but it went on many back country trips and numerous travels in my backpack. It once fell out of my pack as I was repelling down the side of a mountain, and it survived without a scratch in the original hard case!

The Nikon F is one of the original system SLRs, with an enormous selection of lenses and various other attachments. I think that I took pretty good advantage of the system: numerous prime lenses, two different prisms, at least a couple of different focusing screens, extension tubes, filters, flashes, adapters, etc. However, Nikon also produced a motor drive, expanded film canisters, and any other conceivable specialized professional system component.

Since buying the camera new, after many decades until today, it has been in for full maintenance only a handful of times. If properly maintained, these cameras can be great shooters today for natural light film photography. But to be honest, these days, because of numerous limitations, one would generally leave it on the dry box shelf as a display piece, and instead use something only a slight bit newer!

One of the positive attributes of the Nikon F is its very nice solid body feel, similar to a Leica M3 in build quality. Of course, the standard non-metered prism has no indicators in the viewfinder except the focusing aids. On the Photomic FTN, the light meter is very effective and is similar to many later Nikon cameras, with its center-weighted measuring system. Unfortunately, this early viewfinder display only includes the shutter speed and match needle; there is no indicator for aperture setting. The Photomic FTN meter only works with Nikon mount lenses that include the meter prong, This is one reason why a relatively newer model like the Nikon F2 Photomic AS is a better option for actual use; with the F2 Photomic AS you can use all of your AF Nikkor lenses (without the prong) as well as Ai lenses. (Of course, modern G-type lenses without aperture rings are out of the question). Some people complain about the need on the FTN to reset the meter, adjust the aperture, and then twist to set the meter to the lens's maximum aperture. However, in practice, it is second nature and really fast. The aperture ring does encounter slight resistance from the meter pin when setting the aperture smaller than f/5.6. This is just a feature of the Photomic FTN and I can remember it has been like that on my sample since it was new.

It is also a bit of a hassle to remove the camera back to insert film, but again film loading is reasonably efficient; certainly easier than on a Leica M3!

This camera would, needless to say, not be a good fit for modern flash photography. Although users have taken many good flash photos with the camera, the 1/60 second maximum electronic flash synchronization speed is far too slow for fill flash, and of course you need to use manual flash or old style non-TTL auto flash (with the F system's slip-on flash bracket).

The shutter release on the Nikon F is positioned very close to the back of the body and has to be pressed quite far down to release the shutter. However, as can be seen in the accompanying photo, the Nikon AR-1 shutter release adapter (or a currently available clone) really improves the feel and accessibility of the shutter release. By comparison, the shutter release button of the F2 is in a more comfortable position near the front of the body, and has a better hair-trigger feel (although it is also improved by the same AR-1). The Nikon F still works great for available light photography on a tripod. With the Nikon F's mechanical shutter, you can take long time exposures for hours without fear of wearing out the battery. Just set the shutter to B and use a cable release, or use the T setting for really long exposures. On the other hand, the 1/1000 maximum shutter speed is really low by today's standards, although it was considered normal by photographers for many years. For people who shoot films like Tri-X, the one stop faster 1/2000 maximum shutter speed on the F2 and F3 makes a significant difference.

Copyright © 2015 Timothy A. Rogers. All rights reserved.

(DSC_5839fin1)

Suecia - Gotemburgo - Tranvía

***

ENGLISH

The Gothenburg tram network (Swedish: Göteborgs spårvägar) is part of the public transport system organised by Göteborgs spårvägar, controlled by Västtrafik in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. The system's approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) of single track — making it the largest tram network in Sweden — is used by around 200 trams as of 2006, which serve twelve day-time and five night-time lines with a combined line length of 190 km. These figures are expected to increase when the second stage of Kringen (short for Kollektivringen, the public transport ring) is finished.

The first tram line in Gothenburg was started in 1879 by the English company Gothenburg Tramway Ltd. This was a horse-drawn tramway, which stretched from Brunnsparken to Stigbergsliden. The city of Gothenburg bought the tramway in 1900, and introduced electrically powered trams only two years later, when Sigfrid Edström led the electrification of the trams. During the next 40 years, the tram system was heavily expanded, reaching outside the city borders by 1907, and Hisingen in 1940.

In the 1960s, plans for converting the tram system to an underground rapid transit system were created, and the new tram sections to the Tynnered, Angered, Bergsjön and Länsmansgården suburbs were built free from level crossings and partly in tunnels to make a future conversion to underground standards easier. However, after further investigation, it was concluded that it would be too expensive to dig the necessary tunnels under the city centre, as the foundation of the city is partially made up of clay.

When Sweden's switch to right-hand traffic in 1967 made existing unidirectional trams obsolete, Gothenburg was one of only two cities in Sweden to maintain its city-centre tramway, the other such network to survive being the Norrköping tramway.

***

ESPAÑOL

La red de tranvías de Gotemburgo (sueco : Göteborgs spårvägar) forma parte del sistema de transporte público organizado por Göteborgs spårvägar, controlado por Västtrafik en la ciudad sueca de Gotemburgo. El sistema cuenta con aproximadamente 160 kilómetros (99 millas) de vía única, lo que lo convierte en la red de tranvías más grande de Suecia, y es utilizado por aproximadamente 200 tranvías desde 2006, que sirven doce líneas diurnas y cinco nocturnas. con una longitud de línea combinada de 190 km. Se espera que estas cifras aumenten cuando finalice la segunda etapa de Kringen (abreviatura de Kollektivringen, la red de transporte público).

La primera línea de tranvía en Gotemburgo fue iniciada en 1879 por la compañía inglesa Gothenburg Tramway Ltd. Este fue un tranvía tirado por caballos, que se extendía desde Brunnsparken hasta Stigbergsliden. La ciudad de Gotemburgo compró el tranvía en 1900 e introdujo los tranvías eléctricos solo dos años después. Durante los siguientes 40 años el sistema de tranvías se expandió en gran medida, llegando a las fronteras de la ciudad en 1907 y a Hisingen en 1940. En la década de 1960, se crearon planes para convertir el sistema de tranvía en un sistema de tránsito rápido subterráneo, y las nuevas secciones de tranvía a los suburbios de Tynnered, Angered, Bergsjön y Länsmansgården se construyeron libres de pasos a nivel y en parte en túneles para hacer una conversión futura a Estándares subterráneos más fáciles. Sin embargo, después de una investigación adicional, se llegó a la conclusión de que sería demasiado caro excavar los túneles necesarios debajo del centro de la ciudad, ya que la base de la ciudad está parcialmente hecha de arcilla.

Cuando el cambio de Suecia al tráfico por la derecha en 1967 dejó obsoletos los tranvías unidireccionales existentes, Gotemburgo fue una de las dos únicas ciudades en Suecia que mantuvo su tranvía en el centro de la ciudad, y la otra red que sobrevivió fue el tranvía de Norrköping .

Rolling through the desolation on the solar system's 4th planet from the sun... Not really. UP's Potash Local approaches the entrance to Arches National Park near Moab.

NASA image acquired September 3, 2011

Dominici crater, the very bright crater to the top of this image, exhibits bright rays and contains hollows. This crater lies upon the peak ring of Homer Basin, a very degraded peak ring basin that has been filled by volcanism. This image contains several examples of craters that have excavated materials from depth that are spectrally distinct from the surface volcanic layers, providing windows into the subsurface. MESSENGER scientists are estimating the approximate depths of these spectrally distinct materials by applying knowledge of how impacts excavate material during the cratering process. The 1000, 750, and 430 nm bands of the Wide Angle Camera are displayed in red, green, and blue, respectively.

This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 250-meter/pixel (820 feet/pixel) morphology base map or the 1-kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel) color base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution during MESSENGER's one-year mission, but several areas of high scientific interest are generally imaged in this mode each week.

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, MDIS is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of 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.

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On October 19, Comet Siding Spring will pass within 88,000 miles of Mars – just one third of the distance from the Earth to the Moon! Traveling at 33 miles per second and weighing as much as a small mountain, the comet hails from the outer fringes of our solar system, originating in a region of icy debris known as the Oort cloud. Comets from the Oort cloud are both ancient and rare. Since this is Comet Siding Spring’s first trip through the inner solar system, scientists are excited to learn more about its composition and the effects of its gas and dust on the Mars upper atmosphere. NASA will be watching closely before, during, and after the flyby with its entire fleet of Mars orbiters and rovers, along with the Hubble Space Telescope and dozens of instruments on Earth. The encounter is certain to teach us more about Oort cloud comets, the Martian atmosphere, and the solar system’s earliest ingredients.

Learn more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG4KsatjFeI

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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.

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This colorful view of Mercury was produced by using images from the color base map imaging campaign during MESSENGER's primary mission. These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather the colors enhance the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up Mercury's surface.

Young crater rays, extending radially from fresh impact craters, appear light blue or white. Medium- and dark-blue areas are a geologic unit of Mercury's crust known as the "low-reflectance material", thought to be rich in a dark, opaque mineral. Tan areas are plains formed by eruption of highly fluid lavas. The crater in the upper right whose rays stretch across the planet is Hokusai.

To watch a movie of this colorful view of Mercury as a spinning globe go here: www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/8497927473

Young crater rays, extending radially from fresh impact craters, appear light blue or white. Medium- and dark-blue areas are a geologic unit of Mercury's crust known as the "low-reflectance material", thought to be rich in a dark, opaque mineral. Tan areas are plains formed by eruption of highly fluid lavas. The giant Caloris basin is the large circular tan feature located just to the upper right of center of the image.

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.

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On June 6, 1981, we see nothing but C&O blue at Chessie System's Wyoming, MI locomotive service facility. Although Chessie had been formed eight years earlier, many C&O, B&O and even a few WM locomotives lasted into the CSX era still painted in their predecessor paint schemes.

On this fine summer day, five locomotives are parked near the diesel shop in several different variations of the C&O blue scheme. On the far right rests GP35 3533 built in June, 1964, then GP-7 5765 built in November, 1951. Next up are two SW-9's, the 5082 and 5088, (both built April 1952) followed by another GP-7.

Originally a Pere Marquette Railway facility, Wyoming Yard, (near Grand Rapids) once hosted the main locomotive and car shops for the PM until formal merger with the C&O on June 6, 1947- exactly 34 years to the day before the date of this photo.

As Tom Cruise was still determining filming of Top Gun: Maverick, Lockheed Martin invited him to their aerospace plant in Fort Worth that produces the phenomenal F-35 Lightning II 5th-generation stealth fighter… he signed an airframe of an F-35C (Navy variant) that is now at NAS Lamoore, the home of Top Gun. With the F-14 Tomcat retired since the original movie, Maverick’s ride would have to be updated. It would not be the F-35C. The 4th-generation F/A-18 Super Hornet was chosen for the film instead because there are no two-seat variants of the F-35. He wanted authenticity on the actors’ faces of the G-forces they experienced from the back seat of F/A-18Fs. Through the magic of movies, they used that footage to make it appear as though they were pilots of both F/A-18Fs and the single-seat F/A-18Es. That choice was a good thing, as all the critical issues concerning using the F/A-18 in the story's mission, would not have been an issue for the F-35… the movie would have been over in less than 20 minutes. No fun in that.

The pilot of this F-35C showed the crowd at the NAS Oceana Air Show just what a beast it truly is. In this profile pass over the crowd, you can see the pilot giving everyone a friendly ‘shaka sign’ hand gesture, common among fighter pilots. I wonder how many others caught that? The stunning demonstration was no more impressive than the precision and professionalism of the pilot. Moving at transonic speed is starting to create vapor on the carbon fiber-reinforced polymer skin, reflecting sunlight and showing all the sawtooth panel distinctions on the skin. Everything about that skin, as well as the shape of the aircraft, is designed to absorb and deflect search radar away from away from its receiver… stealth.

Early in its test phase, the F-35 was determined to be quite a dud as a fighter. Tested against a 4th-generation F-16, it could barely hold its own in a mock dogfight against the Viper, but what few knew was its capabilities were reined in, much like holding a racehorse back from what it was born to do… run. There was another problem that was unforeseen… pilots of the new F-35 had all previously flown 4th-generation, and they brought with them habits that did not apply to the new system’s stunning flight characteristics. They were just figuring out they had to unlearn what they had trusted for so long flying F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s, also known as Legacy fighters, because the Lightning wasn’t just capable of making mincemeat of any adversary, it was a gamechanger with immediate power, faster response to pilot input, an incredible angle of attack (AOA), and an ability to slow to less than 100 mph rapidly while still maintaining controlled flight to rapidly swing its nose to a target. The funny thing is, that as new pilots graduate flight school without the habits of the older pilots, they’re learning more about what the Lightning can do.

All variants of the F-35, A, B, and C models have advanced integrated avionics (sensor fusion) giving enhanced situational awareness not just to the pilots, but to every Lightning aircraft on a given mission… what one knows, they all know. Red Flag is somewhat like the Air Force’s version of Navy’s Top Gun, but there’s more to it than what the movie portrays. A Marine pilot new to the program in 2016 was preparing to take off in an F-35B from Luke AFB for a Red Flag exercise… it floored him how much information it provided him from the other members of his squadron who were already airborne. He had a Gods-eye view of the fray before he even left the ground. Since then, 4th-generation fighters are now taking part in that sensor fusion data… the weapons they carry can be slaved by F-35s to specific targets.

From a pilot’s own perspective at Red Flag: "You never knew I was there," he said with a smile. "You literally would never know I'm there. I flew the F-35 against 4th-generation platforms, and we killed them, and they never even saw us."

"If you were to engage an F-35 in say, a visual dogfight capability, the capabilities of the F-35 are absolutely eye-watering compared to a 4th-generation fighter. So, if it's a long-range contact, you'll never see me and you'll die, and if it's within visual-range contact you'll see me and you're gonna die and you're gonna die very quickly."

"I can tell you that it is by far the best platform I've ever flown in my entire life, and at that, you would have to take me on my word." – Maj. Gen. Scott Pleus, former CO of 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB. 24 years flying the F-16.

Makes me proud of my own involvement as an airman of the U.S. Air Force. A big shout out to all my brothers-in-arms. Many of you never knew what was coming when you signed the line and took the oath. That very decision took courage, no matter how you served. Much gratitude to you all.

If you have a special veteran in your life, mention their name here.

The sun says that it has 99% of the solar system's weight resting on its shoulders and the sun also says that it is quite visible to a telescope pointed in its direction 1000 light years away, needless to say the sun isn't at all impressed by the accomplishments -- whether real or imaginary or lunacy -- of a primate.

Just another from this fun rainy summer Saturday chasing Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad train NPWJ (Newport to White River Junction) south along the old Conn River Line. This is a signature location dating back to Boston and Maine days and the images of long drags behind mixed B&M blue and CP red locos are things of dreams these days. Alas getting a freight long enough to fill up the curve is very rare these days and will only happen under extraordinary circumstances, though a few people have gotten some killer big train shots here in the not too distant past

A pair of company red EMDs, GP38-2s CLP 204 (blt. Oct. 1973 as SCL 528) and VTR 201 (blt. Dec. 1972 new for the VTR) have two cars in tow as they round the sweeping curve beside tje Connecticut River at MP L97.4 on modern day WACR's Connecticut River Division Lyndonville Subdivision. This is the former Boston and Maine Conn River Line main which dates from 1848 when the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad built north from White River Junction.

Norwich, Vermont

Saturday June 22, 2024

Twin City Lines car 1583, a product of the system's own Snelling Shops, passes J. Lauber's ice cream parlor and soda fountain at East Troy, Wisconsin on trackage that was once part of the Milwaukee Electric.

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Another Photo24 photo and although I didn't use the Tube much durng the 24hr event I must admit I can't remember which station this escalator shot was taken in. It's pretty obvious though that I used the Nikon 10.5mm fisheye lens that the events sponsors MPB had lent me.

Click here for more photos from the 24hr event : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72177720300740278

From Wikipedia, "The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.

The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened on 10 January 1863, it is now part of the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2020/21 was used for 296 million passenger journeys, making it one of the world's busiest metro systems. The 11 lines collectively handle up to 5 million passenger journeys a day and serve 272 stations.

The system's first tunnels were built just below the ground, using the cut-and-cover method; later, smaller, roughly circular tunnels—which gave rise to its nickname, the Tube—were dug through at a deeper level. The system serves 272 stations and has 250 miles (400 km) of track. Despite its name, only 45% of the system is under the ground: much of the network in the outer environs of London is on the surface. In addition, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London, and there are only 33 stations south of the River Thames."

© D.Godliman

Created using a 3d model by Sebastian Sosnowski

Rendered in Auto Desk 3ds Max

From wiki :

"the largest and most massive of the Solar System's moons. The ninth-largest object in the Solar System, it is the largest without a substantial atmosphere. It has a diameter of 5,268 km (3,273 mi), making it 26% larger than the planet Mercury by volume!"

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London

London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

London is considered to be one of the world's most important global cities and has been termed the world's most powerful, most desirable, most influential, most visited, most expensive, innovative, sustainable, most investment friendly, most popular for work, and the most vegetarian friendly city in the world. London exerts a considerable impact upon the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transportation. London ranks 26 out of 300 major cities for economic performance. It is one of the largest financial centres and has either the fifth or sixth largest metropolitan area GDP. It is the most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the busiest city airport system as measured by passenger traffic. It is the leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. London's universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted three modern Summer Olympic Games.

London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2016 municipal population (corresponding to Greater London) was 8,787,892, the most populous of any city in the European Union and accounting for 13.4% of the UK population. London's urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The population within the London commuter belt is the most populous in the EU with 14,040,163 inhabitants in 2016. London was the world's most populous city from c. 1831 to 1925.

London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement in Greenwich where the Royal Observatory, Greenwich defines the Prime Meridian, 0° longitude, and Greenwich Mean Time. Other landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and The Shard. London has numerous museums, galleries, libraries and sporting events. These include the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, British Library and West End theatres. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground

The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground, or by its nickname the Tube) is a public rapid transit system serving London, England and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened in January 1863, it is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2017/18 carried 1.357 billion passengers, making it the world's 11th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle up to 5 million passengers a day.

The system's first tunnels were built just below the surface, using the cut-and-cover method; later, smaller, roughly circular tunnels—which gave rise to its nickname, the Tube—were dug through at a deeper level. The system has 270 stations and 250 miles (400 km) of track. Despite its name, only 45% of the system is underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface. In addition, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London, with fewer than 10% of the stations located south of the River Thames.

The early tube lines, originally owned by several private companies, were brought together under the "UndergrounD" brand in the early 20th century and eventually merged along with the sub-surface lines and bus services in 1933 to form London Transport under the control of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB). The current operator, London Underground Limited (LUL), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL), the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in Greater London. As of 2015, 92% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares. The Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003. Contactless card payments were introduced in 2014, the first public transport system in the world to do so.

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 TfL transport systems such as the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, Crossrail (which is officially called Elizabeth Line) and Tramlink. Other famous London Underground branding includes the roundel and Johnston typeface, created by Edward Johnston in 1916.

Fujifilm X-E5 & XF23/2.8 R WR: ƒ/2.8, 1/125s, ISO 200 & REALA ACE Film Simulation

“B1NR” by DICTO is an innovative, open-source “binary” sculpture system created by the Osaka-based sculptor, using just two standardized components—PET bottle security rings as multi-notch nodes and nylon zip ties as tensioned connectors—to build complex geometric structures from everyday waste.

Why “B1NR”?

The name “B1NR” is a stylized, leet-speak reimagining of “binary,” directly reflecting the system’s strict two-part material ontology: rings (0) and ties (1), evoking digital code through looped nodes and linear edges. This monochrome duality aligns with black-white aesthetics, wordplay on binding/connecting, and the philosophical tension of connection/separation in modular art.

Binary Connection

Like binary code’s 1s and 0s generating infinite complexity from simplicity, B1NR combines rings’ variable notches (unfolded for 3–5+ ports, unlike DeltaZips’ fixed triangles) with zip ties to form diverse polyhedra—from icosahedral frames and dodecahedral DICTOspheres to volumetric hybrids with interlocking PET bottles—all without proprietary parts. This unlocks free, public eco-sculptures via simple notch-pattern rules.

B1NR - Escher’s Solid 2025 by DICTO is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode.ja

The night before a steam trip over Sand Patch grade Jim Boyd held an impromptu night photo session in Chessie System's Cumberland Yard.

NASA image captured July 12, 2011

With his feet secured on a restraint on the space station remote manipulator system's robotic arm or Canadarm2, NASA astronaut Mike Fossum (frame center) holds the Robotics Refueling Mission payload, which was the focus of one of the primary chores accomplished on a six and a half hour spacewalk on July 12. The failed pump module is with DEXTRE on left side of the photo. NASA astronauts Fossum and Ron Garan performed the six-hour, 31-minute spacewalk, which represents the final scheduled extravehicular activity during shuttle missions.

Among Atlantis’s final contributions to the ISS is the Robotic Refueling Mission, developed at Goddard Space Flight Center. Atlantis brought this module to the International Space Station, where it will provide key support in maintaining future spacecrafts for years to come. STS-135 astronauts traveled to Goddard to complete special training for these robotics, a major component of the final shuttle mission. RRM is one of dozens of Goddard payloads to travel aboard orbiters into space throughout the 30-year flight history of the Shuttle Program.

To read more about the Robotic Refueling Mission go here.

Photo credit: NASA

NASA image SI35-E-007547 (12 July 2011)

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.

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Ex. # 219 475 BVG Berlin arrived in Almaty in 2000 in the vein of system's revival after the 90s. It worked mostly as # 1041 being renumbered to # 1011 in 2008 and almost put out of service the same year. However, it was revived by some enthusiastic young tram driver and served another year or two since then.

[AET / АЭТ] Tatra KT4D # 1041

Konayev koshesi, Almaty, KZ 🇰🇿

Northern Line | Camden Town station 28/11/2016 17h32

We had some spare time in between meetings with Eurostar at London St-Pancras to take the opportunity to see at least something of London. The plan was a quick visit to Camden Town market. We had to take the tube from King's Cross (St-Pancras) to Camden Town by the Northern Line.

London Underground

The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground, or by its nickname the Tube) is a public rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

The world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, which opened in 1863, is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2015–16 carried 1.34 billion passengers, making it the world's 11th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle approximately 4.8 million passengers a day.

Number of lines: 11

Number of stations: 270

Daily ridership: 4.8 million

System length: 402 km

Average speed: 33 km/h

[ Source and more Info: Wikipedia - London Underground ]

Northern Line

The Northern line is a London Underground line, coloured black on the Tube map. The section between Stockwell and Borough opened in 1890, and is the oldest section of deep-level tube line on the network.

For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. There were about 252,310,000 passenger journeys in 2011/12 on the Northern line, making it the second-busiest line on the Underground. (It was the busiest from 2003 to 2010.) It is unique in having two different routes through central London – the Charing Cross or West End branch, serving the central part of zone 1, and the Bank or City branch, serving the eastern part of that zone. Despite its name, it does not serve the northernmost stations on the network, though it does serve the southernmost station (Morden), as well as 16 of the system's 29 stations south of the River Thames. There are 50 stations on the line, of which 36 have platforms below ground.

Opened: 1890

Number of stations: 58

Lenght: 58 km

Rolling Stock: 1995 Tube Stock - 6 cars per train set

Color on Map: Black

[ Source and more: Wikipedia - Northern Line ]

Network Rail is trialling a revolutionary helicopter-borne camera system, promising to transform railway maintenance and prevent potentially disruptive failures before they occur. The cutting-edge Multi-Angle Camera System (MACS) is being tested at the Rail Innovation and Development Centre in Melton, near Nottingham, offering an unprecedented, detailed view of the UK’s rail infrastructure.

The MACS, housed in a pod beneath Network Rail’s Twin Squirrel helicopter, combines high-resolution photography, laser surveys, and near-infrared imaging. This powerful combination allows engineers to gain a comprehensive understanding of the network, covering vast distances in a single flight.

During trials at the 13-mile test track, the helicopter captured a wealth of data, including a detailed 3D model of the railway. The system’s laser creates a “point cloud” of up to 300 points per square metre, enabling precise mapping of overhead wires, bridges, and other vital infrastructure.

Three 150-megapixel cameras capture geometrically corrected images from multiple angles, while a fourth captures near-infrared images, revealing plant and tree health. All data is accurately located using an inertial measurement unit. The system also produces digital terrain maps, stripping away trees and buildings to provide a clear view for geotechnical engineers

The data collected by the MACS will also pave the way for future innovations. It will provide a foundation for training machine learning algorithms, which could lead to the increased use of survey-grade drones for inspections as Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) technology matures.

The MACS will be made available to Network Rail regions as part of the helicopter’s equipment suite, alongside thermal imaging and standard cameras. Network Rail’s Eurocopter (Airbus Helicopters) Twin Squirrel, registration G-NLDR, is operated by PDG Helicopters of Cumbernauld.

This innovative technology marks a significant step towards a more proactive and efficient approach to railway maintenance, aiming to minimise disruption and enhance safety for passengers and freight across the UK.

*Network Rail’s Eurocopter (latterly Airbus Helicopters) twin squirrel G-NLDR is operated for the company by PDG helicopters of Cumbernauld.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 as the countdown progresses for the launch of the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission, Thursday, May 19, 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, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The Milky Way is massively bright on this cold, clear, altiplano night. At 4,500 meters its reflection in a river, a volcanic peak on the distant horizon, is captured in this stitched panorama under naturally dark skies of the northern Chilean highlands near San Pedro de Atacama. Along the Solar System's ecliptic plane, the band of Zodiacal light also stands out, extending above the Milky Way toward the upper left. In the scene from late April, brilliant Mars, Saturn, and Antares form a bright celestial triangle where ecliptic meets the center of the Milky Way. Left of the triangle, the large purple-red emission nebula Sharpless 2-27, more than twenty Moon diameters wide is centered around star Zeta Ophiuchi. via NASA ift.tt/29n4bzm

So I'm guessing many of you are getting pretty tired of my vacation photos from the west :-)

A brief intermission is brought to you by, hey! Another multi-day rain that is bringing us some good ol' flooding again!! :-D I'm guessing the system's been clogged up since the spring flooding event, so that even a minor stint of rain like the one we're having now triggers something similar :-)

5-minute exposure.

NASA release date June 21, 2011

The terminator of Mercury, shown here in color, is the line between light and dark, or day and night. On Mercury, three days are equivalent to two years, or in other words, the planet spins around its axis three times for every two orbits around the Sun. The first Mercury year of the MESSENGER mission ended on Monday, June 13, 2011.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's color base map. The color base map is composed of WAC images taken through eight different narrow-band color filters and will cover more than 90% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 1 kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel). The highest-quality color images are obtained for Mercury's surface when both the spacecraft and the Sun are overhead, so these images typically are taken with viewing conditions of low incidence and emission angles.

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, MDIS is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER's science goals.

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

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.

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This is a train I don't normally get to photograph as it runs Sun-Thu corresponding with my work week and is off the only two days I can usually get out. But this week, thanks to some early morning training I was able to get out after and try for something different. Knowing that the Providence and Worcester Railroad's WOGR/GRWO turns have had a nice matched pair of classic red and brown painted GEs of late I figured they were worth a look.

I made it to the Chair City just as they were pulling into the Pan Am Southern yard along the old Boston and Maine mainline. Having made quick work of their chores they are on their way back to Worcester with eight empty aluminum hoppers and nothing else. PW 3903 (B39-8E blt. Apr. 1988 as LMX 8594) and 4005 (B40-8W blt. Feb. 1992 as ATSF 561) are making quick work of the light train down the 26 miles of the former Boston and Maine Gardner Branch seen here passing the only depot still in its original location along this line here at MP 8.3 just south of the Pleasant Street crossing. The old passenger station here is now used as a shop and is in battered shape but still proudly has its train order semaphore intact. On the opposite side of the tracks and north of the crossing the ild freight house also still stands making for an irresistible pair of photo props!

And as for history of this line, here is an excellent detailed write up courtesy of the Holden Historical Society:

In 1869, the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad (BB&G) commenced construction of a railroad from Worcester (at Barber), through Holden, to Gardner. This 26-mile line, which cost 1.2 million dollars to build, opened in 1871. It was extended 10 miles to Winchendon in January, 1874 and later that same year the company leased the Monadnock Railroad north another 16 miles to Peterborough, New Hampshire. The BB&G thus attained a total length of 52 miles.

Beset by financial reversals, the Monadnock lease was surrendered to the Cheshire Railroad in 1880. The BB&G was leased itself to the Fitchburg Railroad in 1884. The following year it was merged into the Fitchburg and became that road's Worcester Division. In 1900 the Fitchburg was leased and soon thereafter merged into the Boston & Maine Railroad (B&M), becoming the B&M's Fitchburg Division. As a part of the B&M system's Fitchburg Division the line through Holden was referred to at different times by various names including the Worcester & Contoocook (N.H.) Branch, the Worcester & Hillsboro (N.H.) Branch, the Peterboro (N.H.) Branch, and finally after the line was severed north o f Gardner, as the Worcester Branch of the Fitchburg Division. At Worcester, the line joined the B&M Portland Division's Worcester Main Line at Barber.

The original 52-mile BB&G line through Holden remained under B&M control for 73 years. In 1974, the line was bought by the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) from the trustees of the bankrupt B&M which was considering the route for abandonment. The last B&M freight left Holden for Worcester in January 1974 and the P&W operated its first train over the line on February 2, 1974.

At various times, passenger stops existed at Chaffins, Dawson, Holden, Jefferson, and at North Woods. Holden and Jefferson were small country depots, while the others were flag stops with small shelters. Only two station structures remain: the Holden depot in its original location and the Jefferson depot which was moved in 1975 to a site next to the Wong Dynasty Chinese Restaurant on Reservoir Street.

In 1878 there were four round trip passenger trains between Worcester and Winchendon. This increased to six round trips at the turn of the century. Under B&M ownership, the old BB&G line became part of a rather unlikely through passenger route from Worcester to Concord, NH. This service ended after the floods of 1936 severed the line north of Peterboro. However, a round trip passenger local from Worcester to Peterboro would survive another 17 years, handling passengers and mail. In its last years, it acquired a certain degree of fame and became known as the Peterboro Local or the Blueberry Special. By the early 1950s the B&M was hemorrhaging financially from passenger train losses and was given permission to discontinue this train. It made its last run, with extra coaches and much fanfare, on March 7, 1953. It had remained a steam train with an ancient wooden combine and one coach almost to the very end, at which time steam power had been taken off and a diesel locomotive substituted.

B&M operated through symbol freights Worcester to Mechanicville, NY (WM-1), and Mechanicville, NY, to Worcester (WM-2), as well as a local freight that switched customers between Worcester and Gardner. The through freights between Worcester and Mechanicville, NY, operated until about 1968. WM-1 would arrive punctually in Holden at 7:30 every evening, switch the small yard, and then depart for Gardner and points west. The eastbound WM-2 passed through in the small hours of the night. The local switcher out of Worcester worked during the day. By the end of B&M control, through service on the line had been discontinued and the Worcester switcher ventured out the line only to service customers as needed.

The line has undergoing a dramatic renaissance since the P&W commenced operations in 1974 and today is a well kept modern 30 mph railroad. In fact it's so well kept that chasing a train along its length is downright challenging!

Holden, Massachusetts

Wednesday March 16, 2022

Laysan albatross on Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii.

Camera: Olympus OM-1

Lens: Olympus OM-System S Zuiko MC Auto-Zoom f/4 35-70mm. Yellow filter.

Film: Adox HR-50

Developer: Beerenol (Rainier Beer)

On April 30, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed Comet ISON again. The comet is in the upper middle, showing the long tail. Various galaxies and stars appear behind it.

In this image, Hubble trained its telescope on the stars instead of following the comet. The result is that the comet appears fuzzier, but the stars and galaxies are more detailed and precise. These dimmer features don't pop out if the camera is moving, following along with ISON. To see them, you really need to dwell in one place until they emerge from the noise.

Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA

--------

More details on Comet ISON:

Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet.

Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago.

NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed.

The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether.

This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact.

The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet.

ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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.

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Sheffield was the second UK city to inaugurate a modern light rail system, just 34 years after it bid farewell to its last classic trams. Sheffield followed Manchester in embracing light rail, but compared with the Manchester Metrolink system that has proved locally popular and has been subsequently expanded, Sheffield’s Supertram has had to overcome to initial public scepticism, below-forecast usage and more limited horizons.

I made my first visit to see the Sheffield system in action six months after it opened in March 1994. This view of Düwag unit No.20 (one of 25 that began the service) was taken at Fitzalan Square, initially the city centre line terminus. The plain livery reflected the system’s ownership by South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority. Mounting financial losses led SYPTE to privatise the Supertram operation in 1997. Vehicles were daubed in corporate stripes after Stagecoach took over, continuing to the present day. Sheffield Supertram will revert to public ownership in 2024 when the Stagecoach contract expires. An early priority will be to replace the long-lived Düwag rolling stock.

September 1994

Rollei 35 camera

Fujichrome 100 film.

The powerful primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect the light from distant galaxies. The manufacturer of those mirrors, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., recently celebrated their successful efforts as mirror segments were packed up in special shipping canisters (cans) for shipping to NASA.

The Webb telescope has 21 mirrors, with 18 primary mirror segments working together as one large 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) primary mirror. The mirror segments are made of beryllium, which was selected for its stiffness, light weight and stability at cryogenic temperatures. Bare beryllium is not very reflective of near-infrared light, so each mirror is coated with about 0.12 ounce of gold.

Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems is the principal contractor on the telescope and commissioned Ball for the optics system's development, design, manufacturing, integration and testing.

The Webb telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope ever built, the Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed, and explore planets around distant stars. It is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about the James Webb Space Telescope, visit:

www.jwst.nasa.gov

Credit: Ball Aerospace

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.

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Suspended above the city of NeoExtropia, Sky Port Bury hangs in a tangle of steel, secrets, and light. Power is traded in whispers, beauty is engineered, and loyalty runs on voltage.

A new series of dark cyberpunk stories from the world of NeoExtropia.

Chapter 1 – Vivienne and the First Signal

Sky Port Bury was bracing for a storm. One of the high, thin tempests that hovered instead of falling, turning the air sharp and expectant. Neon flickered against dry steel, and the freight lifts sighed somewhere below. Vivienne Ravenwood moved through the service alleys in a long red coat and a pace that kept the city from catching up.

She’d meant to cut ten minutes off her night. Instead, she found a body.

Not human. Human-shaped.

It sat propped against a dumpster, plating gone in places, framework showing like a graphite sketch under paint. The face, even half-ruined, had been engineered toward beauty—cheek geometry tuned for light, orbital wells proportioned to imply calm. Someone had cared how it would be seen. Someone else had cared less and left it here like a confession they couldn’t finish.

Vivienne crouched. Cold oil and ozone; the city’s perfume. Close up, the chassis revealed quiet wealth in its design: anti-shear anchors at the shoulders, micro-gimbal spine segments, a combat-grade pelvis coupler disguised as grace. Industrial strength folded into elegance. She traced the line of the jaw where dermal mesh had torn back from its seam. The synthetic looked like a statue interrupted.

“Who threw you away,” she murmured, “and why did your worth change?”

A small light flickered deep inside the skull cavity—nothing dramatic, a moth inside a lamp. Not power; a capacitor’s envoi. Then she heard it: two quiet tones in succession, nearly subsonic, more gesture than sound.

Da - dum.

She didn’t believe in omens. She believed in patterns. The two notes repeated, slightly lower. The second slid. A human would call it wistful. A diagnostic would call it noise.

Vivienne stood. “All right,” she told the empty air. “You’re mine.”

She called no one on the casino channels. She didn’t like paperwork in the stormlight.

Ten minutes later, a plain cargo van eased into the alley. Two of her dockhands—one old enough to know what not to see, one young enough to want a promotion—lifted the chassis under her eye. Vivienne insisted on a blanket around the torso, an absurd courtesy that made the younger man less brave and the older one less curious.

“Workshop A?” the old one asked.

“Beneath Workshop A,” Vivienne said. “And use Route Three. No cameras.”

The van pulled away, leaving the alley to its hum. Da - dum, she thought, and almost smiled.

The private lift smelled like sterilized winter. Vivienne stepped out into a room that appeared on no Ravenwood blueprint: low-lit, three gurneys, a ceiling that remembered silence, a ring of devices named with numbers because names were incriminating. Her security chief had called this place a rumor. That was the point.

“Put it there,” she said. “Arms along the sides. Head turned slightly to the left.”

The dockhands obeyed. She dismissed them with enough pay that would keep them indebted and silent—two conditions she trusted more than loyalty. When the door shut, the room felt like a stage without an audience.

The synthetic lay where she’d wanted it, as if it had chosen the pose. Vivienne circled, cataloguing: servo array graded for torsion, knuckle housings built to take a blade, throat cavity widened for a speech modulator. There was taste in the build. There was money. And there was the violence of a hurried disassembly—cut lines not unscrewed, brackets warped where patience would have sufficed.

“Who were you to them,” she asked, and the question left condensation in the air.

The platform’s diagnostic rails extended with a quiet hydraulic curtsey. She connected three lines: power, data, and truth. Power would be patient. Data would be hungry. Truth would be whatever she could prevent from being a lie.

“Shell only,” she told the system. “No core wake. Map the lattice and stop at thirty percent.” Her voice slowed when she gave orders to machines. People mistook it for tenderness. It was tuning.

Screens bloomed. The lattice unfolded in false color, a cathedral of logic in cross-section. Weathered, yes. Sabotaged, no. And there—like writing under scraped paint—an encrypted partition nested beneath the system’s scheduling layer, mislabeled as inert fabric support. Not corporate. Not Guild. Not any vendor she’d bribed.

The identifier was wrong in a specific way: too short by two characters and too symmetrical to be a mistake.

EIDOLON.

Vivienne tasted the word like a jeweler tests metal—instinct before science. She didn’t touch the encrypted partition. Not yet. Let a thing think you hadn’t noticed it and it would tell you who it was trying to impress.

“Slow copy of the surface layers,” she told the system. “And prep the dermal frame for re-anchoring.”

If she was going to keep it—and she was, after all—she would not parade a ruin. Beauty wasn’t weakness; it was armor. People got hypnotized by beauty and confessed things they didn’t mean to.

She keyed three messages, disguised as unrelated repair orders:

To Kel Foran, who fixed neural lattices because he couldn’t fix his own sleep:

Prototype drone. Mesh burn on scheduler. Need reflow and stitch, no full boot. My lab.

To Lio, who worked the port’s edges where the cameras gave up:

Collector’s piece—frame reinforcement and servo retrofit. Has to run silent. Assume nothing. Tell no one.

To the ex-Arcova engineer who changed names monthly:

Behavioral dampers and etiquette bundles for a civilian face. You don’t know what you’re working on. If you think you do, you’re wrong.

She watched each message send, tracking acknowledgments. When the room was quiet again, she lifted a tray of dermal mesh, midnight-soft and threaded with carbon shimmer. The synth’s cheekbone caught the light at the angle the mesh would lay; the room believed in symmetry and Vivienne obliged.

Then—the two-tone hum again, fainter this time, carried in the transformer’s throat. Da - dum. The second note stepped down.

“I didn’t ask you for a song,” she said.

No answer, of course. The platform hummed and waited for her to invent meaning. Vivienne set the mesh down and let her hand find the curve of its jaw, almost gentle.

“You belong to me,” she said—not loudly, not for the cameras that didn’t exist down here, not for the city that kept its own ledgers. For the room. For the machine. For herself.

Da - dum.

Visit Sky Port Bury at maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kasieopeia/219/128/534

The Ravenwood Construct Book 1: Eidolon

NATO's Medium Extended Air Defense System (or MEADS for short) is built up of four primary building blocks, the first of which serves the mmost glamorous function--actually engaging the enemy. The Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) utilizes the MIM-104F PAC-3 MSE missile, carried in modular eight-pack cannisters. An evolution of the venerable PATRIOT missile, the MSE increases the system's range and lethality over the baseline PAC-2 & PAC-3 variants of the PATRIOT misile that have been in service since 1990. This interceptor's capability gives NATO's MEADS batteries game against both aircraft and ballistic missile targets.

The TEL vehicle itself is also one of the key features of MEADS' "Plug-and-Fight" design. Since most of the electronics and combat systems reside on the missile pack itself, it can be loaded on almost any vehicle which is equipped with a standardized Load Handling System (LHS). In US Army service, MEADS TELs are almost always an M1120A4 HEMTT LHS. This can vary in other NATO member nations, such as the German or Dutch contingents in ZEUS, which utilize heavy-duty RMMV HX trucks.

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Shoutout to Corvin for designing the missile pack component. A multinational system in real life as well as in Lego!

One of the Harz system's single-unit railcars enters the short street-running section in Hasserode on the outskirts of Wernigerode.

The area surrounding BA Tower resembles a trash dump as operator Ralph Fisher hands up orders to a crew member on a W/B freight getting ready to depart Chessie System's Bay View Yard.

Taken in the Lower Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.

I noticed this on the side of a large old building (factory, warehouse, or office?) and found several things about it interesting. A new looking fire hydrant was very close and coverd (to protect it from overspray?) The building was recently or currently being spray painted and a workman must have left his large putty knife behind. They didn't bother to tape it off. I had seen one of these before, but only guessed what it was all about. Well a little research clarified things for me and proved my guess was correct.

From the net: "A fire department connection is an inlet and pipe system that enables a responding fire department to supplement a fire sprinkler system’s water supply.

In the event of a fire, the emergency responders can connect a hose line from their pumper truck to the FDC and pump additional water into the fire sprinkler system to ensure sufficient water and pressure to suppress the fire in the building effectively.

The FDC is not intended to provide a specific amount of water, nor to provide the sprinkler system’s full demand. Fire sprinkler systems that are designed to be NFPA 13 compliant typically get their water from the facility’s domestic water supply.

However, supplementation from a pumper truck via the FDC will help ensure a sufficient supply and will also act as a backup."

Excerpt from Wikipedia: The Flexity Outlook is the newest version of streetcars for the Toronto Transit Commission. It is built by Bombardier Transportation in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

The new low-floor streetcars are operated on the 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina streetcar lines. They will be put in service on all 11 streetcar routes by 2019 and will replace the aging fleet of Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) and the double-module Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) streetcars, which have been in revenue service since the 1970s and 1980s respectively.

The new vehicles are low-floor and are just over 30 metres long, longer than the older CLRV and ALRV streetcars. Each vehicle has four sliding doors (opened either by the operator or when a passenger taps the button), large windows, air-conditioning systems, 64 fixed seats, interior bike racks and six flip-down seats.

It started the service on August 31, 2014 on the 510 Spadina Line.

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Hillcrest Complex is the TTC's largest facility and is responsible for most of the maintenance work on the system's surface vehicles, including heavy overhauls, repairs and repainting. It is located adjacent to the intersection of Bathurst Street and Davenport Road. The site is also home to the TTC's Transit Control Centre, but the operational headquarters of the organization remain at the McBrien Building at 1900 Yonge Street.

Hillcrest Complex was opened in 1924 by the TTC to replace smaller facilities inherited from the Toronto Railway Company and Toronto Civic Railways.

The complex consists of several buildings built at various times including:

D.W. Harvey Shops - Streetcar maintenance facility

W.E.P. Duncan Shops - Heavy bus maintenance facility

David L. Gunn Building - Transit Control Centre

H.C. Patten Building - RSEM (Revenue) building

J.G. Inglis Building - Administrative offices, employment office, etc.

Davenport Building

Support Services Building

Subway Operations Building

In this black and white infrared image, 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)

"Saturn is an oblate spheroid. It is flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator; its equatorial and polar diameters vary by almost 10% (120,536 km vs. 108,728 km). This is the result of its rapid rotation and fluid state. The other gas planets are also oblate, but to a lesser degree. Saturn is the only one of the Solar System's planets less dense than water, with an average specific density of 0.69. This is a mean value; Saturn's upper atmosphere is less dense and its core is considerably more dense than water.

Saturn's interior is similar to Jupiter's, having a rocky core at the center, a liquid metallic hydrogen layer above that, and a molecular hydrogen layer above that. Traces of various ices are also present. Saturn has a very hot interior, reaching 12,000 Kelvin at the core, and it radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun. Most of the extra energy is generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism (slow gravitational compression), but this alone may not be sufficient to explain Saturn's heat production. An additional proposed mechanism by which Saturn may generate some of its heat is the "raining out" of droplets of helium deep in Saturn's interior, the droplets of helium releasing heat by friction as they fall down through the lighter hydrogen.

Saturn's atmosphere exhibits a banded pattern similar to Jupiter's (in fact, the nomenclature is the same), but Saturn's bands are much fainter and are also much wider near the equator. Saturn's winds are among the Solar System's fastest; Voyager data indicates peak easterly winds of 500 m/s (1116 mph)Solarviews. Saturn's finer cloud patterns were not observed until the Voyager flybys. Since then, however, Earth-based telescopy has improved to the point where regular observations can be made.

Saturn's usually-bland atmosphere occasionally exhibits long-lived ovals and other features common on Jupiter; in 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope observed an enormous white cloud near Saturn's equator which was not present during the Voyager encounters and in 1994 another, smaller storm was observed. The 1990 storm was an example of a Great White Spot, a unique but short-lived Saturnian phenomenon with a roughly 30-year periodicity. Previous Great White Spots were observed in 1876, 1903, 1933, and 1960, with the 1933 storm being the most famous. The careful study of these episodes reveals interesting patterns; if it holds another storm will occur in about 2020.(Kidger 1992)

Astronomers using infrared imaging have shown that Saturn has a warm polar vortex, and is the only planet in the solar system known to do so..."

pART of "World Time Clock"

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©1999-2006 all Rights reserved, Krystian

Soo GP9 405 and SW1200 1200 lead the Southtown Transfer up the East Main at Shoreham on an August morning back in 1997. At this time, the Southtown Transfer ran between Southtown Yard and Humboldt Yard and often used high hood GP7/9s.

The leader was one of the two GP9s that Shoreham repainted in 1994 like this instead of the CP Rail System's flag scheme or even the Candy Apple Red. Never knew why Shoreham did this. The rumored "heritage" program that came with the repaints never came to fruition, but the 405 looked sharp in the twilight of its career. Any Soo experts know why the 405 was painted this way so late in the game?

I guess even the rusty, old Soo high hoods looked sharp....wish I would have shot them more in the mid to late 90s.

8/26/97, 08:20, MInneapolis, MN.

Hull Classification: DDGS-64

Class & Type: Bainbridge-Class Guided Missile Destroyer

Affiliation: United States Space Navy

History:

As more of the United States of America’s economy and prosperity became tied to the endeavors of interstellar travel and commerce, it was recognized that an increased military presence in space would be required to secure America’s interests. To achieve this, the United States Space Force and United States Navy were integrated in 2105 to form the United States Space Navy. The USSF contributed its decades of experience in space operations while the USN brought its centuries of experience and doctrine of fielding complex, multi-crew warships and establishing power projection across vast areas.

As of 2165, the primary deep space combatant of the US Space Navy is the Bainbridge-class guided missile destroyer. The Bainbridge-class is a 2nd generation space-based destroyer. A total of 35 of the class have been built to date beginning with USS Bainbridge (DDGS-52). Additional hulls are slated for construction in upcoming fiscal years. The class acts as a screening vessel during fleet operations but has the capability and endurance to perform independent operations in remote star systems.

USS Halsey (DDGS-64) is the 12th Bainbridge-class destroyer built and the 5th US warship to be named in honor of Fleet Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey Jr., who served in the United States Navy during both the First and Second World Wars.

Interlos Incident:

Halsey responded to a distress call sent by the European Union flagged bulk cargo transport Everstar on February 27th, 2158 in the Interlos Star System. Everstar reported being under attack by Narklar pirates. Upon arriving in Interlos from the Canis-Interlos jump point, Halsey identified a Narklar cruiser pursuing the Everstar near the system’s fourth planet. The Everstar had already suffered three hull breaches and was venting atmosphere. Halsey initiated multilingual warnings over both audio and visual communication channels for the Narklar ship to break off its attack and withdraw, but the cruiser refused all attempts at communication.

Moving to intercept at maximum military power, the destroyer rapidly closed distance with the Narklar ship and engaged the vessel with precision MAC fire and Mk 60 Spearhead Anti-Ship missiles. The Narklar ship suffered damage to its power distribution nodes but remained combat capable and returned fire against Halsey with their own missile systems. Halsey was able to defeat 90% of the missiles launched against her using a combination of her RIM-750 Interceptor Missiles and Phalanx-II CIWS. The remaining 10% of missiles detonated against the destroyer’s deflector shields, resulting in moderate damage and 33 crew members injured. Having closed the remaining distance, Halsey let loose with rapid fire strikes from all four of her turreted railguns, inflecting heavy hull damage to the aggressor and causing them to retreat.

With the area secured, Halsey rendered assistance to Everstar and escorted the damaged vessel to the USSN deep space outpost Coronado in the Gemini Star System. This engagement became known as the Interlos Incident and created a diplomatic crisis with the Narklar homeworld that would not be resolved for many years. For their efforts in defending the Everstar and saving 45 lives on the transport, Halsey received the Presidential Unit Citation while the commanding officer received the Navy Cross.

Complement:

25 Officers, 285 enlisted

Armament:

2x Ratheon Block 3a Spinal Mount Heavy Magnetic Accelerator Cannons

4x General Dynamics Mk 4 Spinal Mount Gauss Cannons

4x Ratheon Block 5b Turreted Electromagnetic Railguns

32x Lockheed Martin Mk 88 Mod 9 Vertical Launch System, Quad-Pack Cells

Capable of carrying 128x Missiles in customized loadout.

Mk 60 Spearhead Anti-Ship Missile

RIM-750 Interceptor Missile

BGM-509 Tomahawk-III Orbital Strike Missile

4x BAE Space Systems 300mm Rapid Firing Dual Purpose Guns

9x General Dynamics Phalanx-II Close-in Weapon Systems (CIWS)

2x Ratheon Block 2c Short Range Anti-Fighter Missile Launchers

Defenses:

8x Redundant Cycling Deflector Shield Generators

Nano-Composite Hull Armor

Propulsion:

2x General Electric Magnetic Bottle Fusion Plants

Support Craft:

Landing and Hanger Space capacity for 2 embarked support craft.

F/A-203 Banshee Multi-role Space Fighter

MQ-75 Reaper III Unmanned Space Vehicle

Behind the Scenes:

Built for SHIPtember 2021.

108 studs long

~5000 parts

Inspired from Red Spacecat’s USS Saratoga and Concept Art from Jaime Jasso.

As of mid-November, ISON is officially upon us. Using Hubble, we've taken our closest look yet at the innermost region of the comet, where geysers of sublimating ice are fueling a spectacular tail.

Made from observations on November 2nd, the image combines pictures of ISON taken through blue and red filters. As we expect, the round coma around ISON's nucleus is blue and the tail has a redder hue. Ice and gas in the coma reflect blue light from the Sun, while dust grains in the tail reflect more red light than blue light. This is the most color separation we've seen so far in ISON -- that's because the comet, nearer than ever to the Sun, is brighter and more structured than ever before.

We've certainly come a long way since Hubble started observing Comet ISON, way back in April. Of course, our eight-month retrospective pales in comparison with ISON's own journey, which started some 10,000 years ago in the Oort cloud. ISON will come closest to the Sun on November 28, a point in its orbit known as perihelion.

What's remarkable here is that the entire ISON, this awesome, shimmery space tadpole, is being produced from a dusty ball of ice estimated to be a few kilometers in diameter. Compared to ISON's full extent, Hubble's latest image is tiny. It only shows the very base of the tail. Yet even in this closest closeup we've ever had, a single pixel spans 24 km across the comet.

Now that Comet ISON is close, amateur astromers rule the day. But Hubble observations, including this latest image, are still providing key insights into the science and spectacle of a comet we hope will continue to impress.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

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More details on Comet ISON:

Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet.

Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago.

NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed.

The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether.

This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact.

The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet.

ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is

Guests watch the second and final qualification motor (QM-2) test for the Space Launch System’s booster, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems test facilities in Promontory, Utah. During the Space Launch System flight the boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the thrust needed to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth, the first step on NASA’s Journey to Mars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

1221 Is A Palindromic Number

The flowers at the Depot restaurant in Seaview, Washington, are spectacular, as these photos show.

If I want to enjoy flowers like these, I'll either have to go to the Depot or look at these photos. The deer love to eat flowers, and who wouldn't? They're a delight for the eyes and the palate.

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The History of the DEPOT Restaurant, located in the historic Seaview train depot

Seaview’s popularity as a vacation site began in the 1870’s when families would arrive by horseback, wagon, stagecoach and steamer to camp in the Willows, north of Cape Disappointment. The transition of Seaview from campground to resort is credited to Jonathon L. Stout who is believed to have come to the Peninsula as a barrel maker from Ohio in 1859. He married Ann Elizabeth Gearhart, daughter of Oregon’s Phillip Gearhart in 1860.

He was postmaster of Ilwaco, operated a liquor store and stagecoach line. They homesteaded 153.5 acres near the Willows in 1880 to create a summer retreat that was registered as “Sea View” at the Oysterville courthouse in 1881.

Lewis Alfred Loomis, one of the peninsula’s founding father’s secured a mail contract between Astoria, Oregon and Olympia, the capital of Washington. The slowness of the stage line used, convinced Loomis that he should build a railroad to handle his business.

Construction of his railroad, the Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Company, began in March, 1888 at the Ilwaco wharf, which was the central place of its business.

Steamers could only reach the wharf after the tide was in mid-flood. So train departures were successively later over a month’s time. It is likely that the Ilwaco line was the only organized railroad to operate by a tide table, thus its nickname, the “Clamshell Railroad”.

The system’s first depot was built in Ilwaco not far from the wharf. Frank Strauhal, a summer camper, purchased Stout’s store and bathhouse in Seaview. He offered the railroad a lot, if a depot was erected on it. The line accepted and thus a wooden platform shed was built as a train stop on the current Seaview Depot site. The railroad reached Long Beach by July 1888. Track laying continued at a leisurely pace, terminating at Nahcotta, thirteen and a half miles north of Ilwaco.

In addition to the mail contract, passenger business and freight helped the railroad prosper. Over a thousand sacks of oysters were transported each week from Nahcotta to Ilwaco. From Ilwaco they were carried by the General Canby to Astoria for shipment to market in San Francisco. The freight charge from Nahcotta to Astoria was seventy-five cents a sack. Thursday was oyster day. Citizens with business in Astoria generally avoided that day.

In 1900, Loomis retired selling to a subsidiary of Union Pacific, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. Equipment was immediately improved and train crews were required to wear uniforms.

At a 1905 Directors’ meeting the construction of a regular depot to replace the platform shed at Seaview was authorized. You are sitting in that building today.

The railroad continued in operation until September 10, 1930, when car ferries and highways brought most of us here. The only remaining are the Long Beach and Seaview train depot buildings.

The Depot Restaurant today:

The Depot Restaurant features fine dining with international wines, on-tap microbrews, a display kitchen, heated outdoor deck, and special events ranging from wine dinners to Jazz events. This Seaview train depot has more than stood the test of time!

Enjoy contemporary and historic photos of our Seaview train depot on our page all about historic Seaview, Washington.