Daily Archives: July 3, 2012

NASA Memory Lane (11)



December 2008.

STS-122 Heads to the Pad: A Tribute to Alan Poindexter

NASA – In this image from December 2008, the STS-122 mission crew members stride out of the Operations and Checkout Building, eager to ride to the launch pad and take their seats in space shuttle Atlantis. On the left, front to back, are Alan Poindexter, followed by Leland Melvin, Stanley Love and Leopold Eyharts. On the right, front to back, are Commander Steve Frick, followed by Rex Walheim and Hans Schlegel. Schlegel and Eyharts represent the European Space Agency.

Poindexter died on Sunday, July 1, 2012, while vacationing with his family.

A Navy Captain, he was accepted to the Astronaut Corps in 1998. During his career with NASA, Poindexter commanded the STS-131 space shuttle Discovery mission to the International Space Station in 2010, delivering more than 13,000 pounds of hardware and equipment. He also served as the pilot of the STS-122 mission, which delivered and installed the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory on the station in 2008. He also served as a spacecraft communicator, or CAPCOM, for multiple missions.

Poindexter retired from NASA in 2010 and returned to serve in the United States Navy as Dean of Students at the Naval Postgraduate School. Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The Tax Implications Of The Roberts’ Decision Are Just Starting To Sink In


By George Pieler – The Supreme Court’s Commerce Power jurisprudence, previously the critical source of most federal regulation of nationwide import, appears now to subsumed under the taxing power; and worse, that the taxing power is viewed by the supreme law of the land as having no clear limits, or even a defined class of limitations. A tax is what the Court says is a tax, and a tax may be used for any conceivable regulatory end: not buying health insurance, not buying broccoli, not installing energy-efficient windows (Mr. Roberts’ own example), failing to patronize public television (not that far-fetched an example, really). more> http://tinyurl.com/88zay2f

European crisis hits world’s factories in June


By Yati Himatsingka and Jason Lange – Europe‘s debt crisis slammed into the world’s factories last month, with U.S. manufacturing contracting for the first time in nearly three years and Asian countries hit hard by crumbling orders from abroad.

The U.S. factory sector was dragged down in June by a plunge in new orders and a sharp drop in exports, the private Institute for Supply Management said. The ISM’s index of factory activity fell to 49.7, just below the 50 mark that signals growth. more> http://tinyurl.com/cpxrrkf

Composite Ferry Pontoon Floats in Australia


By Ann R. Thryft – Australian companies Wagners Composite Fibre Technologies (CFT) and Riverside Marine have joined forces to create a floating, all-composite ferry pontoon that they say will be the first of its kind.

Because metallic structures in the harsh marine environment require ongoing maintenance due to corrosion and degradation, Riverside Marine’s aim was to develop a solution using composite materials that would require zero maintenance, Gareth Williams, research and development engineer, has reportedly said. The company determined that using Wagners CFT’s materials would both reduce maintenance and double the existing design life of a similar structure made of metallic or concrete-based materials. more> http://tinyurl.com/74nl7q6

The End Of Microsoft … As We Know It


By Todd Hixon – In the 1990s Microsoft triumphed over Apple with its stand-alone operating system (“OS”) strategy. Now Microsoft is abandoning its winning formula, and following its competitors.

Microsoft is at or near to this same Rubicon: does it bet on its key customers and core DNA, or does it try to run with the fast crowd and define the future? Either way, it will be the end of Microsoft as we know it. more> http://tinyurl.com/7l4rngs