Space Shuttle Update (10)

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STS-134: Endeavour’s Final Flight
NASA – Space shuttle Endeavour roars into orbit from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A as the vehicle embarks on its 25th and final spaceflight, the STS-134 mission. Commander Mark Kelly leads the six-person astronaut crew. Liftoff on May 16 occurred on time at 8:56 a.m. EDT.

Inside the Firing Room
NASA – Inside Firing Room 4 at Kennedy Space Center, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, and other agency managers monitor the launch of space shuttle Endeavour. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Boarding Endeavour-1
NASA – STS-134 Mission Specialist Roberto Vittori with the European Space Agency receives help from the Closeout Crew in the White Room at Launch Pad 39A before boarding space shuttle Endeavour. Image credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O’Connell

Boarding Endeavour-2
NASA – STS-134 Mission Specialist Michael Fincke gets ready to climb through the crew hatch and take his seat aboard space shuttle Endeavour.
Image credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O’Connell

Boarding Endeavour-3
NASA – In the White Room at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-134 Mission Specialist Drew Feustel prepares to board space shuttle Endeavour through the crew hatch in the background. Members of the Closeout Crew, in white uniforms, are there to assist astronauts with their launch-and-entry suits and the boarding process. Image credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O’Connell

Flaws expose free markets to corrective measures

By Mike Dolan – Increasing myopia among investors and distorted financial pricing may be exacting a high economic and social toll.

In both the United States and Britain that investors were now discounting 5-year cashflows at rates more appropriate at 8 years hence, 10-year cashflows as if they were more than 16 years or more away and cashflows of more than 30 years as if they barely had any value at all.

The net result of this herding, the BoE’s executive director for financial stability Haldane argues, is that equity prices persist at levels far from fundamental valuations for longer, while higher medium-term volatility acts like a tax on committing long-term capital. more> http://twurl.nl/fzopiy

related>

• Mortgage disclosures getting another revamp, Candice Choi, Associated Press/BusinessWeek
• New regulations ‘will kill off loans market’, Stephen Foley, Independent

Splitting water to create renewable energy simpler than first thought?

PhysOrg.com – Professor Leone Spiccia from the School of Chemistry at Monash University said the ultimate goal of researchers in this area is to create a cheap, efficient way to split water, powered by sunlight, which would open up production of hydrogen as a clean fuel, and leading to long-term solutions for our renewable energy crisis.

“Birnessite, it turns out, is what does the work. Like other elements in the middle of the Periodic Table, manganese can exist in a number of what chemists call oxidation states. These correspond to the number of oxygen atoms with which a metal atom could be combined,” Professor Spiccia said. more> http://twurl.nl/aqhh75

Northwest power surplus may halt wind energy

By Tim Fought – The Bonneville Power Administration has more than enough electricity during a cold, wet spring that has created a big surge in river flows where hydroelectric dams are located. The agency responded by announcing its intentions to curtail wind power until the grid has more capacity, in a move likely to cost the industry millions of dollars.

The decision reflects an overlooked issue amid the push to add wind farms around the country: The capacity of power grids has not kept pace. more> http://twurl.nl/sch1pb

Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America

By Adie Tomer, Elizabeth Kneebone, Robert Puentes and Alan Berube – Public transit is a critical part of the economic and social fabric of metropolitan areas. Nearly 30 million trips are made every day using public transit.

With governments at all levels considering deep budget cuts, it is increasingly important to understand not just the location and frequency of transit service, but ultimately how well transit aligns with where people work and live.

An analysis of data from 371 transit providers in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas reveals that:

• Nearly 70 percent of large metropolitan residents live in neighborhoods with access to transit service of some kind.
• In neighborhoods covered by transit, morning rush hour service occurs about once every 10 minutes for the typical metropolitan commuter.
• The typical metropolitan resident can reach about 30 percent of jobs in their metropolitan area via transit in 90 minutes.
• About one-quarter of jobs in low- and middle-skill industries are accessible via transit within 90 minutes for the typical metropolitan commuter, compared to one-third of jobs in high-skill industries.
• Fifteen of the 20 metro areas that rank highest on a combined score of transit coverage and job access are in the West.

more> http://twurl.nl/1pjfwn [VIDEO 5:03]

related>

• Report: Baby boomers face limited transportation options, Keith Laing, Hill
• Interactive MAP: Transit Access to Jobs in Metropolitan America, Brookings
• Missed Opportunity: 100 Metropolitan Profiles, Brookings