Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (3)

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SPACE WATCH
Integration
NASA – Preparations are underway to begin integration of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Launch Abort System (foreground) with the Crew Module (background) for acoustical testing. The tests will be conducted in the Reverberant Acoustics Laboratory at the Lockheed Martin Waterton facility near Denver, Colorado. The Orion stack will be exposed to a series of acoustic tests of increasing decibels that simulate the sound pressure levels that the vehicle will encounter during launch.

“5…4…3…2…1…release.”
With that countdown, the Apollo-like test article that is a base model for the agency’s future Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, took flight swinging across the sky — nearing 50 mph (80.5 kph) — at NASA Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

Testing NASA’s Next Deep Space Vehicle
Splash test of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle mockup in the Hydro Impact Basin (HIB) Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Boilerplate Test Article (BTA) drop test on July 21, 2011 at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. Image Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

more> http://is.gd/GkrfzE

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• Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (2) ↓

Why the Debt Crisis Is Even Worse Than You Think

By Peter Coy – For all our obsessing about it, the national debt is a singularly bad way of measuring the nation’s financial condition. It includes only a small portion of the nation’s total liabilities. And it’s focused on the past. An honest assessment of the country’s projected revenue and expenses over the next generation would show a reality different from the apocalyptic visions conjured by both Democrats and Republicans during the debt-ceiling debate. It would be much worse.

That’s why the posturing about whether and how Congress should increase the debt ceiling by Aug. 2 has been a hollow exercise. more> http://is.gd/AGStNm

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• If national debt is a bad way of measuring the nation’s financial condition, what is a better way? LinkedIn discussion

The Dangerous Mirage of Washington Deficit Plans

By the Center for Geoeconomic Studies/cfr -
U.S. default triggered by a failure to raise the debt ceiling is the worst possible way to address the country’s unsustainable deficits, as it would cause borrowing rates to soar and pummel growth prospects, raising the debt ceiling without a credible deficit-cutting agreement still poses real risks of imminent, damaging market turmoil.

This is because of the regrettable but real power of the credit ratings agencies, whose downgrade pronouncements trigger automatic selling and purchase-restriction directives hardwired into public and private investment fund guidelines. more> http://is.gd/2qjXye

related>

• Lawmakers who signed ‘Cut’ pledge will decide fate of Boehner bill, Bob Cusack, Hill
• Democrats see wiggle room on Obama’s Aug. 2 debt-limit deadline, Alexander Bolton, Hill
• Outcome is referendum on Boehner, Molly K. Hooper, Hill
• Opinion: Reckless roulette, A.B. Stoddard, Hill
• President revs up PR in debt-ceiling debate, Sam Youngman, Hill
• K Street eager for debt fight to end, Rachel Leven, Hill
• Scenarios: Obama’s options if no deal on debt ceiling hike, Reuters
• Endgame in focus amid debt ceiling battle, Richard Cowan, Reuters

Voters Beware: Your Next President Is About to Lie to You

By Daniel Freedman – Why do presidential candidates inevitably end up breaking their campaign pledges once in office?

It’s partly to do with how campaigns are organized: While (successful) campaigns may appear to be unified organizations, in reality they’re made up of rival teams – such as finance, communications, polling, policy, and political – all with different leaders, constituencies, mandates, and goals. The role of the campaign manager and senior staff in many ways is to adjudicate between them.

The policy team is made up of the experts who are likely to fill key positions in the candidate’s administration. They plan how their nominee would govern – both so they’re ready for day one in office and so that a platform can be outlined to voters.

That’s the theory. more> http://is.gd/5O3W1P

Goldman’s new money machine: warehouses

By Pratima Desai, Clare Baldwin, Susan Thomas and Melanie Burton – Simply storing all that metal generates tens of millions of dollars in rental revenues for Goldman every year.

There’s just one problem: only a trickle of the aluminum is leaving the depots, creating a supply pinch for manufacturers of everything from soft drink cans to aircraft.

The resulting spike in prices has sparked a clash between companies forced to pay more for their aluminum and wait months for it to be delivered, Goldman, which is keen to keep its cash machines humming and the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world’s benchmark industrial metals market, which critics accuse of lax oversight.

Analysts question why London’s metals market allows big financial players like Goldman to own the warehouses which store huge quantities of metal even as they trade the commodity. more> http://is.gd/N3SzWV