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This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of Comet (C/2012 S1) ISON was photographed on April 10, 2013, when the comet was slightly closer than Jupiter's orbit at a distance of 394 million miles from Earth.
Even at that great distance the comet is already active as sunlight warms the surface and causes frozen volatiles to boil off. Astronomers used such early images to try to measure the size of the nucleus, in order to predict whether the comet would stay intact when it slingshots around the sun -- at 700,000 miles above the sun's surface -- on Nov. 28, 2013.
The comet's dusty coma, or head of the comet, is approximately 3,100 miles across, or 1.2 times the width of Australia. A dust tail extends more than 57,000 miles, far beyond Hubble's field of view.
This image was taken in visible light. The blue false color was added to bring out details in the comet structure.
Credit: NASA/ ESA/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 managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
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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Probably the highest bus stopover in the country
Km. 50, Sayangan, Atok, Benguet
Near Philippine Pali (Phil. Highway System's highest point)
Holyrood, Edinburgh. The white masts adorn the Dynamic Earth building. Salisbury Crags in the background.
Taken from Regent Road with Olympus OM-System S Zuiko Auto-Zoom 100-200mm 1:5
Early on the morning of March 29, 2011, at 5:20 am Eastern Daylight Time, the MESSENGER spacecraft captured this historic image of Mercury. This image is the first ever obtained from a spacecraft in orbit about the Solar System's innermost planet. Over the subsequent six hours, MESSENGER acquired an additional 363 images before downlinking some of the data to Earth. Exactly 37 years earlier (on March 29, 1974) Mariner 10 had made the first flyby of Mercury and returned the first closeup images of the planet.
The dominant rayed crater in the upper portion of the image is Debussy. The smaller crater Matabei with its unusual dark rays is visible to the west of Debussy. The bottom portion of this image is near Mercury's south pole and includes a region of Mercury's surface not previously seen by spacecraft.
The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation have helped unravel the history and evolution of the solar system's innermost planet.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Image Number: PIA14076
Date: March 29, 2011
Friday, 26 March 2021, just after 11:00 pm. I have just checked the weather forecast, out of curiosity. Wish I hadn't! So thankful that all the scaffolding around my building will not be installed till 5 April.
"Some very rosy spring-like warmth this weekend will vanish quite thoroughly by Monday. In its place will be the effects of an incoming system which looks to bring a wide swath of snow, heaviest in the mountains and foothills of Alberta, and northern and eastern Saskatchewan. Much more impactful will be the system's strong winds, gusting 80-90 km/h for most of Monday across the two provinces. Blowing snow is a guarantee."
All five photos were taken on 4 July 2015, at the Olds College Botanic Gardens and Wetlands. I am adding the description that I wrote under a previously posted image taken on the same trip. It was an interesting and enjoyable outing, including seeing the barn and a cluster of mushrooms.
"Yesterday, 4 July 2015, was the Nature Calgary annual bus trip, and this year it was a visit to the Olds College Botanic Gardens and Wetlands. The College is approximately 95.0 km north of Calgary, roughly a 55 minute drive. This once-a-year outing always feels so good for everyone - no driving, simply relaxing on a bus. We had about three hours there, which sounded short, but in fact worked out quite well.
The mission of the College is:
"Our goal is to develop a Botanic Garden on the Olds College campus, which introduces, conserves, and maintains a diverse, well-documented and accurately labeled collection of prairie hardy plants.
Our collections will preserve our natural heritage, expand the role of Olds College as a Centre of Excellence in Horticulture, and gain formal recognition with the Canadian Botanical Conservation Network (CBCN) and the American Public Garden Association (APGA).
Olds College Botanic Garden will enhance and support education, training, demonstration, and applied research programs that span the generations and encourage the exchange of information and ideas with industry, students, other botanical gardens and the public.
The Botanical Garden will also raise awareness with the public regarding the importance of sustainable environments."
About the College:
"Not just a walk down the garden path, the gardens are designed to meet the instructional needs of courses and programs on campus, and are used as the location and subject matter for research projects. The Botanic Gardens are an aesthetically beautiful, diverse and well-maintained garden and constructed wetlands. Highlights include our collections of hardy peonies, lilies and roses, natural areas, a wide variety of aquatics, herb garden, fabulous annual displays each year and much more.
The Gardens are comprised of three phases spread over 25 acres and are populated with a wide ranging collection of prairie hardy plant material, both native and ornamental. The most established parts of the garden are the Central Portion opened in 2002.
The third and most recent phase of our Botanic Gardens is the East Portion which contains the Treatment Wetlands, opened in early September of 2013.
The three phases when considered together include naturalized landscapes, specialty gardens, walking trails, demonstration plots, an arboretum and 20 constructed treatment wetlands and display ponds. The area is complete with two public gazebos, an amphitheater and event areas. The Botanic Gardens & Treatment Wetlands has the ability to host weddings, reunions, graduations, workshops, and boasts 1.3 kilometers of trails throughout the gardens and wetlands.
Botanic gardens are quite different from other public garden spaces or show gardens. To be able to be identified as a botanic garden, several criteria must be met. For example, botanic gardens must:
Be open to the public
1. Exhibit a degree of permanence
2. Use a scientific basis as the foundation for their collections
3. Document and monitor the collection
4. Communicate information to other gardens, institutions and the public
The Botanic Gardens and Treatment Wetlands at Olds College is dedicated to meeting all criteria and continuing to expand its value to the college and extended community."
Edited Juno PR image (processed by Andrea Luck, with extra processing by me - I changed the colors of Jupiter and brightened the moons) of Jupiter and two Galilean moons: Io (orange and closer) and Europa (gray and farther).
Image source: photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25014
Original caption: NASA's Juno mission captured this view of Jupiter's southern hemisphere during the spacecraft's 39th close flyby of the planet on Jan. 12, 2022. Zooming in on the right portion of the image (Figure 1) reveals two more worlds in the same frame: Jupiter's intriguing moons Io (left) and Europa (right).
Io is the solar system's most volcanic body, while Europa's icy surface hides a global ocean of liquid water beneath. Juno will have an opportunity to capture much more detailed observations of Europa – using several scientific instruments – in September 2022, when the spacecraft makes the closest fly-by of the enigmatic moon in decades. The mission will also make close approaches to Io in late 2023 and early 2024.
At the time this image was taken, the Juno spacecraft was about 38,000 miles (61,000 kilometers) from Jupiter's cloud tops, at a latitude of about 52 degrees south. Citizen scientist Andrea Luck created the image using raw data from the JunoCam instrument.
JunoCam's raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products at missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing. More information about NASA citizen science can be found at science.nasa.gov/citizenscience and www.nasa.gov/solve/opportunities/citizenscience.
More information about Juno is at www.nasa.gov/juno and missionjuno.swri.edu. For more about this finding and other science results, see www.missionjuno.swri.edu/science-findings.
Image Credit:
Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
Image processing by Andrea Luck © CC BY
Image Addition Date:
2022-03-16
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen illuminated by spotlights on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Demo-1 mission, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Demo-1 mission will be the first launch of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft and space system designed for humans as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 2:49am launch on March 2, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
“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 - COCOON 2024 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.
T-Centralen (Swedish for "The T-Central"; T being an abbreviation for "tunnelbana", the Swedish word for "underground" or "subway") is a metro station that forms the heart of the Stockholm metro system, in the sense that it is the only station where all three of the system's lines meet. That, its central location, and its connections with other modes of transport make it the most used metro station in Stockholm.
Wikipedia
Boeing and NASA teams participate in a mission dress rehearsal to prepare for the landing of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in White Sands, New Mexico, Monday, May 23, 2022. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
This is a montage of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope views of our solar system's four giant outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, each shown in enhanced color. The images were taken over nearly 10 years, from 2014 to 2024. This long baseline allows astronomers to track seasonal changes in each planet's turbulent atmosphere, with the sharpness of the NASA planetary flyby probes of the 1980s. These images were taken under a program called OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy).
From upper-left toward center, the hazy white polar cap on the three teal-colored Uranus images appears more face-on as the planet approaches northern summer.
From center-right to far-center right, three images of the blue planet Neptune show the coming and going of clouds as the Sun's radiation level changes. Several of Neptune's mysterious dark spots have come and gone sequentially over OPAL's decade of observations.
Seven views of yellow-brown Saturn stretch across the center of the mosaic in a triangle—one for each year of OPAL observations—showing the tilt of the angle of the ring plane relative to the view from Earth. Approximately every 15 years the relatively paper-thin rings (about one mile thick) can be seen edge-on. In 2018 they were near their maximum tilt toward Earth. Colorful changes in Saturn's bands of clouds can be followed as the weather changes.
At bottom center, three images of Jupiter spanning nearly a decade, form a triangle. There are notable changes in Jupiter's banded cloud structure of zones and belts. OPAL measured shrinking of the legendary Great Red Spot, while its rotation period speeds up.
[Image description: A montage of Hubble Space Telescope images of our solar system’s four giant outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, taken under the OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) program over a duration of 10 years, from 2014 to 2024.]
Credits:NASA, ESA, A. Simon (NASA-GSFC), M. H. Wong (UC Berkeley), J. DePasquale (STScI); CC BY 4.0
SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk, left, NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Doug Hurley, Bob Behnken, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins are seen inside the crew access arm with the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft visible behind them during a tour of Launch Complex 39A before the early Saturday morning launch of the Demo-1 mission, Friday, March 1, 2019 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Demo-1 mission launched at 2:49am ET on Saturday, March 2 and was the first launch of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft and space system designed for humans as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Hurley and Behnken are assigned to fly onboard Crew Dragon for the Demo-2 mission and Glover and Hopkins have been assigned to fly to the International Space Station on Crew Dragon's first operational mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The farmer who owns this property, located in the hills southwest of the rural town of Nowra, Australia, happened to come home as I was setting up my camera and tripod. Seeing him move toward the gate, right near where I was lurking in the dark, I uttered “hi there”, but it went unanswered. Upping the volume, I repeated the words. He responded with “hi, watcha up to?” His tone was pleasant, and he seemed friendly, unlike many people who’ve stumbled upon me shuffling around in the shadows. “Taking photos of the stars”, was my brief reply. “Huh. I would have thought they were too far away to take photos of”, he offered, with a cheeky tone.
I had aimed to take photos in which the Milky Way was seeming to stand vertically, stretching from the horizon to the top of the frame. I missed that by about 30 minutes, resulting in our galaxy's starry band of light and dust tipping over a little towards the southwestern side of the sky. The farm’s distance from any significant built-up areas was a boon for a dark sky hunter like myself, allowing me to capture a tremendous amount of detail in the Milky Way’s dust lanes, as well as the distinct deep green colour of the background atmospheric airglow.
You can see Jupiter–our solar system’s most massive planet–shining with a bright, white light at the extreme righthand side of this image. Higher up and across to the left is Mars, at present brighter than Jupiter in the night sky but glowing with a distinctly orange hue. The Magellanic Cloud galaxies hadn’t long risen over the trees near the south-south-eastern horizon, starting another daily circuit of the sky.
I took eleven photographs to make up a vertical panorama to take in this scene, but only ended up using eight of those so that the image wouldn’t be too tall for posting online. Each of the images was shot with a Canon EOS 6D camera, through a Samyang 14mm XP lens @ f/2.8, exposed for 25 seconds @ ISO 6400. The camera was mounted on a Nodal Ninja 3 panoramic head, atop a Manfrotto tripod.
In the early CSX era, motive power started to show up in locales that they previously did not venture. Case in point-a pair of Seaboard System B36-7s were sitting deep within Chessie System's home at Riverside Shops in Baltimore.
JL/JAL506 departure from the RWY19R at New-Chitose Airport [RJCC/CTS]
(CTS STD11:00 / ATD11:11 - HND STA12:40 / ATA12:24)
Japan Airlines Boeing 767-289 (JA010D)
ex. Japan Air System's plane.
The moon rises ahead of 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)
GMCR GP9 804 and VTR GP40-2 307 thread thru the capital of the Green Mountain state with a handful of empty gons destined for the top of The Hill at Websterville for loadout at Northeast Materials granite quarry.
The train has just crossed Main St. / Route 12 crossing at MP 1.36 on the Washington County Railroad's M&B Division. They are threading an alley that cuts between Barre Street and Stone Cutter's Way. These particular rails are ex CV, first laid in 1875 when the 1849 branch into the capital city was extended to Barre. In 1957 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased them and he quickly consolidated the parallel CV and old Montpelier & Wells River routes between this point at Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for abandonment and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally setting on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.
The large square brick building at left that now serves as a bank was once the Montpelier & Wells River Railroad station and headquarters building. Built in 1876 as the Murray Block, it was purchased and refurbished by the M&WRR in 1881 for $8,000.
In the background is the gold dome of the Vermont State Capitol building. This Greek Revival structure is the third building on the same site to be used as the State House. Designed by Thomas Silloway in 1857 and 1858, it was occupied in 1859 although the dome was not gilded until the early 20th century, when many states did so as a part of the Colonial Revival style. The dome is topped by a statue named Agriculture, a representation of Ceres, an ancient Roman goddess of agriculture.
Montpelier, Vermont
Friday April 24, 2020
The Detroit People Mover began operation in 1987 and is one of the more interesting transportation options in the heart of the Motor City. Admittedly, I have never taken a ride on the system, but I'm sure some great photos could be taken from the elevated system's trains. I took this photo on January 26, 2018 during a visit to the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center, a corner of which can be seen at the left in my photo. The Renaissance Center is seen in the distance, with the upper portion of the Detroit Princess riverboat at the bottom of the photo.
View my collections on flickr here: Collections
Press "L" for a larger image on black.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft opens its main parachutes as it lands at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in New Mexico. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
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 in the rural town of Hubbardston passing the old B&M era MP 20 and the rarely used siding track.
And as for history of this line, how about a little 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!
Hubbardston, Massachusetts
Wednesday March 16, 2022
The crew access arm is seen as it swings into position for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
After the disaster that was the Grouse I, the URE commissioned EP Industries to design a new system instead of relying on their in-house production and design crews. Using modified plans for the Grouse, EP Industries crafted the Grouse II, a far superior version. The system's limbs remain very similar to the original's, but the torso was completely reworked. In addition, the head was outfitted with better armor and sensor systems, bringing it up to date with the Greco-Roman's Gladius systems. Small changes to the Grouse II's armor and mechanics have made it more agile and sturdy than ever before.
Even though the orbital defense force is still made primarily of modified Grouse I's, the Grouse II can be outfitted with a variant version of the original jetpack, allowing for atmospheric and sub-orbital flight.
So I fixed up the grouse a bit, mostly making the chest a bit less chubby. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. As always, fits a fig.
Likes and comments are highly appreciated. Thanks for viewing!
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is seen atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad of Launch Complex 39A before the early Saturday morning launch of the Demo-1 mission, Friday, March 1, 2019 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Demo-1 mission launched at 2:49am ET on Saturday, March 2 and was the first launch of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft and space system designed for humans as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Gornergratbahn AG (GGB, BVZ Holding AG): The Gornergrat rack railway connects Zermatt (1605 m a.s.l.) with the summit of Gornergrat (3089 m a.s.l.), in a route of 9.3 km. Of metric gauge, it is one of the few railways in the world that has a three-phase electrification, at 750 V/50 Hz. It uses the Abt system's rack. The line was put into service in 1898, and is electrified from the beginning. The service is mainly provided with EMUs of two cars, of three different generations.
Here we see a train formed by two articulated EMUs of the most modern generation (numbers 3083 and 3084, part of series Beh 4/6 3081-3084, built by Stadler in 2006), just arrived to Gornergrat.
Gare de Lyon 14/02/2020 12h06
The very first TGV of all time, the 01 named "Patrick" is arriving at Gare de Lyon during it's farewell tour ("tourné d'adieu") and arrives at Gare de Lyon. Especially traveled to Paris togehter with Andy to experience this very special event.
For the occasion, the train was decorated by mixing the 3 liveries that this TGV experienced during this career.
TGV 01 "Patrick"
An explosion of colors to say farewell to the first TGV Sud-Est high-speed train. Set TGV 01, named ‘Patrick’, retires after 41 years of service. For this occasion, both power cars got back their original orange livery. Intermediate cars got back SNCF older blue-silver paint scheme, so TGV 01 now sports all three liveries it has had during its active career.
The SNCF TGV Sud-Est or TGV-PSE was a French high speed TGV train built by Alstom and operated by SNCF, the French national railway company. It is a semi-permanently coupled electric multiple unit and was built for operation between Paris and the south-east of France.
The TGV Sud-Est fleet was built between 1978 and 1988 and operated the first TGV service from Paris to Lyon in 1981.
Originally the sets were built to run at 270 km/h (168 mph) but most were upgraded to 300 km/h (186 mph) during their mid-life refurbishment in preparation for the opening of the LGV Méditerranée. The few sets which still have a maximum speed of 270 km/h (168 mph) operate on routes which have a comparatively short distance on the lignes à grande vitesse, such as those to Switzerland via Dijon. SNCF did not consider it financially worthwhile to upgrade their speed for a marginal reduction in journey time.
In December 2019, all TGV Sud-Est sets were retired from service. In early 2020, a farewell service which included TGV01 (Nicknamed Patrick), the very first TGV train ever build. This train included all 3 liveries that were worn during it's service.
FACTS & FIGURES (SNCF TGV "Sud-Est")
In service: 1981-December 2019
Manufacturer: GEC-Alsthom
Number built: 111
Numbers preserved / scrapped: 7 / 107
Formation: 10 cars (2 power cars, 8 passenger cars)
Capacity: 350
Length: 200 meters
Speed: 300 km/h
Electric system(s): 25 kV 50 Hz AC 1500 V DC
Safety system(s): TVM 300/TVM 430
[ Source & More: Wikipedia - SNCF TGV Sud-Est ]
The Zagreus...
After winning the grand prix rally at the outer orbit, Vield's homeworld Bensin was attacked by the Deepness. He must fly back to save his little brother, unfortunately the only ship that he can take is the one that he can't control, because of its A.I. system's upgraded prejudice program.
Suppressed Infiltrator model of the Falcon, with holo optics. Weapon is compatible with optical camouflage stealth suits (meaning the rifle cloaks with the suit).
//HISTORICAL-ARCHIVE//
"Wakey wakey..."
The man slowly came to, shaking his head. It still felt cloudy, and his stomach felt like someone had punched it a good dozen times.
"Quite the party, huh?" He smirked. He couldn't quite focus enough to identify his questioner, but he was able to tell it was a feminine voice.
"Don't be smart with me. Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I must of forgot to introduce myself... how wasted was I? Must've been a real good party."
"Last I check, the tranq darts I use don't cause memory loss, don't play with me. Who are you?"
"C'mon, don't tell me you went through all the effort to get me and never even checked my name?" He laughed, though he regretted it afterwards. His gut still felt pretty sore. But he was able to make out his dim surroundings. It was a small room, the walls were lined with pipes. There was a narrow chainlink door at one end the seemed to lead to a low hallway. He was probably still on the Techron ship, maybe somewhere near engineering? Somewhere deep in the guts of the ship, one of the few places not crawling with security.
"Just tell me who you are."
He sighed.
"Cale Anderson, private operative for-"
"No, I mean your real name."
"Ah, my bad. Silly me to think I know my own name."
"Don't play games with me, your real name."
"I don't suppose I can repeat my first answer?"
"Look. If you aren't him, then you can tell me where he is. So, answer me this: what do you know about Jonathan McGregor?"
"I would shrug, but it appears you tied me down very tight. That would also probably explain why I feel sore everywhere too."
He was able to make out his questioner. Female, geared in UNGC infiltration armor. It clicked in his head now what was happening.
"Don't avoid the question."
"And if I don't know?"
"You do."
"What makes you think that?"
"We don't have any records on Samuel McGregor or his wife Sophie, they both just vanished before the UNGC intervened in this system's little war."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"Their son, however, was a prominent leader of the resistance against the EC. When the UNGC intervened, we attempted to detain the leaders of both the resistance and the EC to immediately cease the conflict. We never were able to obtain Jonathan McGregor."
"Too bad, huh? I hear he is quite handsome, I bet you would have loved that."
"Very funny. Now look, I have gotten a perfect DNA sample match between him and you. Ready to stop playing games?"
"Heh, nah. I've got you in checkmate."
Her head straightened, confused.
"What?"
"Oh, I figured you know who I was from the beginning. I was just stalling."
"For what?"
"Your mistake to catch up and bite you in the rear. You shouldn't have brought me here." He started to grin.
"Why is that?"
"Techron's have perfect security. And they hate it when someone breaks that."
Further down the hall the sound of doors being smashed in and rooms cleared could be heard.
Jonathan couldn't be quite sure, but the UNGC inquisitor muttered something rather vile.
//END//
(Comments and notes are always welcome)
(I particularly would appreciate comments on the story too)
(This is the final Falcon weapon)
A group shot of my S-75 Dvina and "Havoc"
There is instructions for both models at www.snakebyte.dk/lego/instructions/military/index.php
The instructions are created by Knud A. Albrechtsen
The library in the hamlet of Naselle is the most substantial and attractive building in town.
"Library service in Naselle started on April 21, 1986 in a stationary bookmobile near Lion's Park. The Naselle Library was originally opened as an experimental 'mini-library' to serve patrons formerly served by the bookmobile. A new library was built and opened in November 1991."
It has the hallmarks of the short-lived postmodern style, which looks better here than in its usual application as a garnish on strip malls.
About Timberland Regional Library
Timberland Regional Library (TRL) is a public library system that provides library services to the residents of five counties in Southwest Washington State: Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston Counties. Under Washington State law, TRL is an Intercounty Rural Library District and is funded by property taxes and revenue from timber sales in the 5-county area.
In the 1960's the Washington State Library Commission initiated a demonstration project to improve library services in Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston counties in response to requests from the counties' residents.
Through this cooperative effort, library services were consolidated to create a more efficient and economical regional operation, to increase the size of the library collections and to provide service for the first time in several rural communities.
Citizens voted in November 1968 to unite the five counties into one library district, the Timberland Regional Library (TRL). TRL services began in 21 libraries with Becky Morrison serving as the first Executive Director.
Since 1968, TRL has provided information, reading, and lifelong learning services at 28 libraries offering over 1 million items to more than half a million people. The library system is funded mainly by local property taxes with additional income from timber sales taxes.
Not only were community libraries added when opportunities and dollars permitted, TRL has introduced state-of-the-art electronic services in order to provide residents with the best available library service; to provide access to all, regardless of physical limitations or geographic location; and to increase the potential of success for everyone in the system’s five counties. All Timberland library programs are free and open to the public. Anyone needing special accommodations to participate in a library program may contact the library one week in advance.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft 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)
For Station Saturday here is the last stop on this fun Friday chase last summer.
The Canadian Pacific Railway had been operating in the state of Vermont for 115 years when they finally retrenched in 1996 and sold the Newport and Lyndonville Subs to Iron Roads Railways which created the new Northern Vermont Railway which took over on September 28th of that year. The Iron Roads system was bankrupt within a half dozen years and the NV ceased to exist with the Lyndonville Sub and the former Boston and Maine Conn River Mainline between Newport and White River Junction being purchased by the State of Vermont and contracted to Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad Subsidiary. The WACR is now at the two decade mark operating the 103 mile line while the Newport Sub north into Canada passed to succesors Montreal, Maine and Atlantic and then Central Maine and Quebec until remarkably returning to the CP fold in 2020 when they purchased the CMQ
This past year VRS and CP began pooling power, with one unit from each running thru between White River Junction, VT and Farnham, QC on an up and back every other day schedule. This harkens back to the Boston and Maine pool power days so with a bit of imagination one can pretend this is train 904 headed down from Newport now in the capable hands of a B&M crew.
CPKC GP20C-ECO 2280 and VTR GP38-2 209 lead train NPWJ at MP L85.9 on VRS Washington County Railroad Connecticut River Division, the former B&M Conn River Mainline. The station here at Ely dates from 1900 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 and is now a private residence.
Fairlee, Vermont
Friday August 11, 2023
Old barracks 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.
Film: Ferrania P30
Developer: Rodinal 1:50
A busy moment at Guilford Rail System's Rigby Yard in Portland, Maine, sees GP40s Nos. MEC 378 (ex Norfolk & Western hi-nose) and MEC 318 and ex-NW GP35 No. ST 210 all making up trains ready for the evening. The date was March 21st, 2005.
Key System's Yerba Buena yards at Emeryville, in July 1953, with a Key System 'Bridge Unit' passing in the background..
On the extreme left is the front of preserved Sacramento Northern Birney streetcar No 62 - still in original white livery with blue doors. Beyond that are the two ex-NY Richmond Shipyard Railway cars 561 and 563.
On the right are Sacramento Northern Baldwin-Westinghouse steeple-cab electric locos 440 and (behind) 442, which were at that time on hire to the Oakland Terminal Railway.. Both locos were returned to the Sacramento Northern in 1955, and scrapped soon afterwards.
Today, this area is part of a retail park, and cars 62, 561, and 563 are all at the Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction.
Original slide - photographer unknown
These three galaxies, collectively known as NGC 7764A, were imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. The two galaxies in the upper right of the image appear to be interacting with one another — indeed, the long trails of stars and gas extending from them both give the impression that they have both just been struck at great speed, thrown into disarray by the bowling-ball-shaped galaxy to the lower left of the image. In reality, however, interactions between galaxies happen over very long time periods, and galaxies rarely collide head-on with one another. It is also unclear whether the galaxy to the lower left is actually interacting with the other two, although they are so relatively close in space that it seems possible that they are. By happy coincidence, the collective interaction between these galaxies have caused the two on the upper right to form a shape, which from our Solar System's perspective, ressembles the starship known as the USS Enterprise from Star Trek!
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey, DOE, FNAL, DECam, CTIO, NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, ESO
Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt
For more information, visit: esahubble.org/images/potw2204a/
Picture [also] taken for the Photo Salon class of Caledon Oxbridge (yeah, yeah, I know how it sounds/seems like here 😏) of Second Life:
www.facebook.com/groups/206350456439067/permalink/1023327...
---
🎵: [The best version of this song:-] 🏁 "Across The Universe"
---
I see no-thing
and then some-
thing or two——
Right
Wrong
Up
Down
stream-loading
steam-rollin'
whatkindofTRAUMAbeyouholden?
Holden Caulfield saw it all too well and
he did get along super-swell——
until idiots like you who couldn't see,
yet decide what to sing on MTV(to a tee, to a 'T=MCsquareheadedILLogicbeesknees—
Well, my daunted,daunt-y,darn-tikki-friend-in
side my membranes of memory lane——
I do not want to KNow you anymore(ow! Yes!)
I do not want to careforYOU anymore(Yes;)
Because I ain't yo sitter
and definitely no maker-of-
shift-y belieb system(s) of hu(man)-ity
It is all your own UNdoing (by the way #newsflash)
how Karma plays its own role unto-onto you[r BeING a jerk
[un]towards VAST HUMANity that
cannot be calculated in two(set categorical 'boxes')
or
can/could it be your self-project
ed hate-love-turned-into-chilvarous disguise-in-mice ——
three times it runs(from your social charms[and savvy ]);
three times it is ... still ... justasblind / as my own.
_____________________________________
#rhymemaynotreasonmaynotrhyme :o)
_____________________________________
It will all make sense in the end.
ॐ
ओ३म्
We were talking about the space between us all /
And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion /
Never glimpse the truth, then it's far too late, when they pass away /
We were talking about the love we all could share /
When we find it, to try our best to hold it there with our love /
With our love, we could save the world, if they only knew /
Try to realise it's all within yourself /
No one else can make you change /
And to see you're really only very small /
And life flows on within you and without you /
We were talking about the love that's gone so cold /
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul /
They don't know, they can't see, are you one of them? /
When you've seen be-yond yourself then you may find /
Peace of mind is waiting there /
And the time will come when you see we're all one /
And life flows on within you and without you
__
Within You Without You (Remastered 2009) 🎵
#PisceanWisdom #forREALism ;)
__
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off on May 19, 2022, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for NASA Boeing’s uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff for OFT-2 occurred at 6:54 p.m. EDT. Starliner is expected to arrive at the space station for docking about 24 hours later with more than 500 pounds of NASA cargo. The flight test is designed to test the system’s end-to-end capabilities for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program providing valuable data towards NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular crewed flights to and from the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Kevin Davis and Chris Coleman
Central hall of metro station Narvskaya on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line (Line 1), Ploshchad Stachek, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Some background information:
The Saint Petersburg Metro is the underground railway system of the city of Saint Petersburg. It has been open since 15th November 1955. Formerly known as the V.I. Lenin Order of Lenin Leningrad Metropoliten, the system exhibits many typical Soviet designs and features exquisite decorations and artwork making it one of the most attractive and elegant metros in the world, maybe only excelled by the Moscow Metro. Due to the city's unique geology, the Saint Petersburg Metro is also one of the deepest metro systems in the world and the deepest by the average depth of all the stations. The system's deepest station, Admiralteyskaya, is located 86 metres below ground. Serving 2.1 million passengers daily (resp. 763.1 million passengers per year), the Saint Petersburg Metro is the 19th busiest metro system in the world.
Narvskaya is a subway station on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line between the stations Baltiyskaya and Kirovsky Zavod. The station opened on 15th November, 1955, as part of the first stage of Saint Petersburg Metro from Avtovo to Ploschad Vosstania. When the construction of the station first began, it was named Ploshchad Stachek (in English: "Square of the Strikes"), but several years before its opening, the name was changed to "Stalinskaya". Shortly before it opened in March 1953, Stalin died and the political structure changed. The station was renamed Narvskaya after the Narva Triumphal Gate, located opposite to the entrance to the station. This gate’s name indicates that it was once the gate of the road to Narva. In spite of the name change, Narvskaya metro station still contains a large number of decorative elements relating to Joseph Stalin.
The irregular-shaped pavilion of the station is built in the neoclassical style with a dome at one end. The station is lined in white marble with many bronze inserts. The walls of the vestibule are painted red and escalator balustrades are decorated with red plastic. There is a decorative strip of red stone on the upper portion of the walls in the underground hall, and the center of the station platform is constructed of red granite.
In Saint Petersburg’s history, the question of building an underground transport system arose several times, the first time in 1820, when the idea was hatched to build an underground road in a tunnel. By the end of the 19th century, certain interested parties began discussing the possibility of opening the Russian Empire's first metropolitan railway system. Almost all pre-revolutionary designs featured the concept of an elevated metro system, similar to the Paris or Vienna metros. However, as was later discovered through the experience of operating open (ground-level) metro lines in the city, such schemes would likely have resulted in a poor metro service. Unfortunately, at the time, Russian engineers did not have sufficient expertise or technical resources for the construction of deep underground tunnels through the bedrock located far beneath St Petersburg. Hence, it was finally Moscow that got the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union in 1935.
In 1938 the question of building a metro for Saint Petersburg (by then renamed to Leningrad), resurfaced again. The initial project was designed by the Moscow institute 'Metrogiprotrans', but on 21st January 1941, "Construction Directorate № 5 of the People's Commissariat" was founded as a body to specifically oversee the design and construction of the Leningrad Metro. By April 1941, 34 shafts for the initial phase of construction had been finished. During the Second World War construction works were frozen due to severe lack of available funding, manpower and equipment. At this time, many of the metro construction workers were employed in the construction and repair of railheads and other objects vital to the besieged city.
In 1946 Lenmetroproyekt was created, to finish the construction of the metro first phase. A new version of the metro project, devised by specialists, identified two new solutions to the problems to be encountered during the metro construction. Firstly, stations were to be built at a level slightly raised above that of normal track so as to prevent drainage directly into them, whilst the average tunnel width was to be reduced from the 6 metres (20 feet) standard of the Moscow Metro to 5.5 metres (18 feet).
On 3rd September 1947, construction in the Leningrad subway began again and eight years later, on 7 October 1955, the electricity was turned on in the metro l. On 15th November 1955, the subway grand opening was held, with the first seven stations being put into public use. These stations later became part of the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line, connecting the Moscow Rail Terminal in the city centre with the Kirovsky industrial zone in the southwest. Subsequent development included lines under the Neva River in 1958, and the construction of the Vyborgsky Radius in the mid-1970s to reach the new housing developments in the north. In 1978, the line was extended past the city limits into the Leningrad Oblast.
By the time of the USSR's collapse, the Leningrad Metro comprised 54 stations and 94.2 kilometres (58.5 miles) of track. But development even continued in the modern, post-Soviet period. Today, the Saint Petersburg metro comprises five lines with altogether 69 stations and 118,6 kilometres (74 miles) of track. However, the present state is not meant to be the end of the story. Plans have been made to extend the Saint Petersburg Metro to nine lines with altogether 126 stations and 190 kilometres (118 miles) of track. But delays due to the difficult geology of the city's underground and to the insufficient funding have cut down these plans to 17 new stations and one new depot until 2025. At the same time, there are several short and mid-term projects on station upgrades, including escalator replacements and lighting upgrades.
On 3rd April 2017, a terrorist bombing caused an explosion on a train between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologicheski Institut stations, on the Line 2. 14 people died and over 50 sustained injuries, while Russian president Vladimir Putin was in the city, when the attack happened. On the same day, Russia's National anti-terrorist unit defused another explosive device at Ploshchad Vosstaniya station (which you can see on this picture).
Saint Petersburg (in Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг) is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow, with currently 5.3 million inhabitants, part of the Saint Petersburg agglomeration with a population of 6.2 million (2015). An important Russian port on the Baltic Sea, it has a status of a federal city. Saint Petersburg is also the fourth-largest city in Europe, only excelled by Istanbul, London and Moscow. Other famous European cities like Paris, Berlin, Rome and Madrid are smaller. Furthermore, Saint Petersburg is the world’s northernmost megapolis and called "The Venice of the North", due to its many channels that traverse the city.
Situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27th May 1703. On 1st September 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, on 26 January 1924 to Leningrad, and on 7 September 1991 back to Saint Petersburg. Between 1713 and 1728 and again between 1732 and 1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of Imperial Russia. In 1918, the central government bodies moved to Moscow, which is located about 625 kilometres (388 miles) to the south-east.
Saint Petersburg is also the cultural capital of Russia. "The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments" constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. Many foreign consulates, international corporations, banks and businesses have offices in Saint Petersburg. The multinational Gazprom company has its headquarters in the newly erected Lakhta Center.
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. Seen here in 2011 about to be dismantled and scraped soon.
Tramway depot, Almaty, KZ
NASA’s Lewis Research Center, now known as John H. Glenn Research Center, conducted extensive research programs in the 1960s and 1970s to develop systems that provide electrical power in space. One system, the Brayton cycle engine, converted solar thermal energy into electrical power. This system operated on a closed-loop Brayton thermodynamic cycle. The Brayton system relied on this large mirror to collect radiation from the sun. The mirror concentrated the Sun's rays on a heat storage receiver which warmed the Brayton system’s working fluid, a helium-xenon gas mixture. The heated fluid powered the system’s generator which produced power.
In the mid-1960s Lewis researchers constructed this 30-foot diameter prototype of a parabolic solar mirror for the Brayton cycle system. The mirror had to be rigid, impervious to micrometeorite strikes, and lightweight. This mirror was comprised of twelve 1-inch thick magnesium plate sections that were coated with aluminum. The mirror could be compactly broken into its sections for launch.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: C-1966-04288
Date: November 17, 1966
A look into the afterburner of the F-35A from the previous post. I'll let the text from that post speak to this one as well.
This is a case of stealth making itself known in a big way… its roar during this high-speed pass rivaled the thunder of its namesake. We brought friends along with us to this year’s Wings Over Wayne (WOW 2019) Air Show at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, North Carolina… one noted that with this much noise, it wasn’t too stealthy. I responded to her that when its target hears that noise, it’s too late to do anything about it.
This is the F-35A Demo Team out of Luke AFB, Arizona, showing some of the capabilities of the Lightning. It is the Air Force’s latest 5th-generation stealth fighter. While it’s quite proficient at tearing up the sky, it was designed with an enhanced ability to survive in the advanced threat environment of the world today, and much what it can do will never be demonstrated at any air show… but it’s amazing.
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 all have advanced integrated avionics 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.
From a pilot’s own perspective: "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 other fourth-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 fourth-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 United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The crew access arm is seen as it swings into position for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch on 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
A Slice Of Life.
The Circular light rail (Chinese: 環狀輕軌; Wade–Giles: Huan2 chuang4 Ch'ing1 kuei3) is a 22.1-kilometer (13.7 mi) circular light rail line currently under construction in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.[3] The south part of this line makes use of the defunct tracks of the Taiwan Railways Administration's Kaohsiung Harbor Line.
Forecast to cost 16.5 billion New Taiwan dollars, it will be the world's first light rail vehicle system on a fully catenary-free route.[4][5]
Phase I construction consists of a section of line from Station C1 to Station C14, where Stations C3 and C14 are the transfer stations to Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit system's Red Line and Orange Line, respectively. Construction of Phase I began on June 4, 2013.[6] Stations C1 to C14 were tested from August 2015 (rides on the trams are open to the public for free during testing[7]). The civil construction part of stations C1 to C14 had been completed, and Phase I achieved full operations on September 2017.[8][9][10] The CAF Urbos trams used in this line parked at or passed by these stations for demonstrations and tests in several events from November 2014 onwards.
Phase II construction will not start until the Kaohsiung urban railway is relocated underground in 2017. It is scheduled to be completed in 2019.[4]
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released the first look at its newest state-of-the-art subway cars in production, the R211 class, which is planned for service on the subway system’s lettered routes and the Staten Island Railway.
The MTA Board approved the $1.4 billion contract award of 535 R211 cars to Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. in 2018 and the delivery of the first test cars is scheduled for later this year.
This was the seventh day of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) Autumn Explorer VI that would see the special train traveling north from St. Johnsbury to Orleans then back south to Bellow Falls via VRS' Washington County Railroad, the former Canadian Pacific and Boston and Maine Conn River mainline.
After running the power around adjacent the railroad's transload facility here, the crew is getting ready to shove back north to Orleans and stage for a 2 PM departure once the passengers return from their excursion and lunch. The train is seen pulled up to the May Farm Road crossing at about MP L10.8 on the Lyndonville Subdivision of the WACR's Connecticut River Division.
It is led by VTR 206 a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38. Trailing is VTR 313 a GP40FH-2 that was rebuilt from original NYC GP40 3078 (blt. 8-67) for New Jersey Transit commuter service. She later ended up working for Iowa Pacific on their assorted passenger operations until that company went belly up and then was purchased in the bankruptcy auction by VRS in 2020.
The train it consists of seven private cars in order as follows:
Blue Ridge Club blt. 1950 by Pullman-Standard
Pacific Home: blt. 1949 by Budd
www.rideaprivatecar.com/directory-private_rail/listing/pa...
Northern Dreams: blt. 1955 by Pullman-Standard
Northern Sky: blt. 1955 by ACF
Dover Harbor: blt. 1923 by Pullman
Colonial Crafts: blt. 1949 by Pullman-Standard
NYC 3: blt. 1928 by Pullman
As for the railroad, the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad first arrived here in 1863 they built north from Barton on to Newport and then finally to the Canadian border in 1867. It operated independently until 1887 when it was leased by the Boston and Lowell only six months before the B&L itself was leased to the Boston and Maine which affected practical control from then on.
In 1926 the B&M leased the line from Newport to Wells River to the Canadian Pacific which ultimately bought it outright in 1946. If interested here's a cool article from a century ago about that lease which was newsworthy enough to make the New York Times!
www.nytimes.com/1926/06/01/archives/cpr-gets-new-line-acq...
The Canadian Pacific Railway had been operating in the state of Vermont for 115 years when they finally retrenched in 1996 and sold their Newport and Lyndonville Subs to Iron Roads Railways which created the new Northern Vermont Railway which took over on September 28th of that year. The Iron Roads system was bankrupt within a half dozen years and the NV ceased to exist with the Lyndonville Sub and the former Boston and Maine Conn River Mainline between Newport and White River Junction being purchased by the State of Vermont and contracted to Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad Subsidiary. The WACR has surpassed the two decade mark operating the 103 mile line while the Newport Sub north into Canada passed to succesors Montreal, Maine and Atlantic and then Central Maine and Quebec until remarkably returning to the CP fold in 2020 when they purchased the CMQ.
Barton, Vermont
Friday October 10, 2025