Well, if everything wworks out - I won't have to wait untill 2008 to be reactivated in the US Army - In fact - I should be leaving seven to ten days from now.
What does that mean for my fearless readers? (Both active and lurking?)
Well, for one - I wont be able to write as often - nor will I be able to divulge silly little secrets like I have been.
What does this mean for Unit Swords Project:Disclosure?
Nothing.
From recent talks with tops regarding my early "re-activation" - nothing has changed... ...everything will go as planned - only I will be in a controlled situation - meaning - the press won't be able to get to me (or any other vermits for that matter).
I'm going back to my first love - the front lines - to finish what I started.
I will be back to have perhaps one last big blog post - and to pass the torch off to whoever wants to keep my blogg spots fire lit...
The words of the lord are the sword of the lord...
Sword
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Later?
God Speed Unit Sword.
Gort
Sword, ya will be missed bredren, know ya did good, and hope ta catch up when ya get back down to earth.
33 degrees and all of the rest, not leaving out that there are 33 vetebrea in the human spine, which you seem to have plenty of backbone!
Ya Buccaneering self bee good!
One-love & Peace
J
Sword,
If you are leaving then I wish you fair sailing.
Just because you're 'bacl on the front lines' doesn't mean you can't continue to "divulge silly little secrets" here.
I hear from my nephew outside of Baghdad in Iraq...he is NOT 'safely' encamped in the green zone.
Maybe no one from the Press ( or other varmits ) can 'get to you'...BUT...YOU still can choose to communicate outside to us here.
It's no problem to keeping a blog going...only need password and link to orginal site.
I've given you my personal info before...lost it...I'm Robert Williams and live in Mooers NY USa...look it up...I do NOT answer 800 #'s unavailable numbers or blocked numbers...my answering machine does...but if someone starts SPEAKING after the message ends and SAYS something 'intriguing' I or my wife will usually pick up.
All the best.
Bob...:D
http://commonsensecentral.net/
email is at the site above.
Be safe sword,you leave us again eh? Never know what to say in these things, try and post if you can. You always leave something when you write. Peace.
Wayne
All in the same day, eh?
"Back in the Shit"
"here it comes, I told ya"
Careful what ya wish for. ;)
Space is a place, but war is always Hell.
Remember the Lion that learned how to 'pray'.
Best wishes to the Mrs.
This is 'Your' Blog Sword, it will stand, til you post again.
(hopefully Blogger is done with their stupid system changes, as before.)
Just come back as you can. You know all our emails as well.
Please no spam in these last few postings...
...Sword
Sword,
What? No spam for your last supper?
How about a nice warm MRE? With tabasco sauce!
"...take your protien pill and put your helmet on..."
:)
Gort
October 27, 2007 01:00am
IT is one of the strangest things to illuminate the night sky and may be about to make history.
Comet Holmes - a ball of frozen matter that orbits the sun every seven years - has intensified in brightness one million times since Wednesday night. It is now visible with the naked eye, even from well-lit city areas.
What the comet will do next is anyone's guess.
If the brightness continues at this rate, Comet Holmes will soon become the brightest comet in history.
Or the display might be over by observation time tonight - but no one really knows.
Queensland astronomer Peter Marples said: "It may well be that this comet has brightened more rapidly than any other.
"It has made the constellation Perseus look very different with a 'new star'.
"Imagine what the Southern Cross would look like if it had something similar happen."
The phenomenon is considered strange enough to have excited internet comment and it has even earned itself an entry on the internet public information site Wikipedia.
Comet Holmes may be visible from Queensland tonight between 11.30pm and 2.30am.
It will be under the full moon in the northern sky quite close to the horizon, below the word Perseus on the pictured sky chart.
The moon will change its position each night but the comet will be roughly in the same area for the next week.
This area of the sky is known as the constellation Perseus.
The intense brightening may be caused by the ejection of large amounts of gas and small particles, or perhaps the comet is beginning to break apart.
Binoculars and a sky chart will assist.
Holmes is a periodic comet first discovered by Edwin Holmes in 1892.
It doesn't fit the typical image of a comet as it doesn't have a tail, although the beginnings of a tail formation are suspected
Those bastards!
Well, if theres anyhting I should have learned decades ago it was not to trust your military recruiter.
When he says seven to ten days - think - 2-3 months.
So perhaps I was a little jumpy on the disappearing trigger.
At the same time - I was told - and I have told others - maybe here and there... ...that because of my own actions I was regulated to civilian action beacuse of my own deeds.
So - I finish military probation (at least that is what I call it) - after the first of the year.
Are numbers starting to add up?
I just finished watching a movie called "Pump up the Volume"... ...
I shouldn't speak anymore about it - to waste the surprise...
Sword
O.k. Capt 'Sword', great to have you stay with us for a just a little while longer. Hope they don't waste your time on mere combat, at this stage. You did mention 'the front'.
Now what's this about 'to waste the surprise'? ;)
Common Capt. you Blog says "The repository of thought that the Pentagon would rather have stay silent... ..."
'seems they are keeping you pretty silent this last while, Sword.'. hmmm?
Time to pump up the volume laddy!
remember you said: "waste everything except Time".
...and gosh it might just speed up to 2012 real soon. Sorry I'm not waiting for peoples' books to get published.
I know I know 'probation'.
Doesn't TOP want you to continue? Many of us are forever changed by this very process itself. A process that reaches far beyond these confines, yet is given momentum by it...and fuel.
Here gang: Not since 2004 have they met and there is a wealth of insight....however deniably 'purified' for public consumption.
http://www.aero.org/conferences/planetarydefense/2007papers.html
Well I guess I was wrong about leaving in 2-3 months as well.
When TOP wants you gone - your gone...
When your told to call every hour on the hour for new orders - something is up...
Sword
So where are you going? Up? or East?
Something "Holming" in?! lol
I'm not hearing you say that RCH met your expectations. Did he do or is he ain't?
Months back you said RCH was "saving stuff" for the book because he has to make a living. Did he disclose anything?
There is a remedy for DU poisoning. The gauze pads in your first aid kit have a wound drying agent in them which is mostly zeolite. Eat the gauze.
.....And ...fade to black.
I guess life has its way of superseding.
Best wishes to you Sword. Watch for us at F-Shod.
TBR News November 2, 2007
The Voice of the White House
Washington, D.C., November 1, 2007: “Bush was put into office by a cabal who was tired of the Clinton-style liberalism. The 2000 election was clearly rigged as was the Supreme Court's actions following the voting trickery in Florida. Bush, it was felt, was a perfect figurehead. He was a chronic drunk with a limited intrellect who relied heavily on father figures and demanded constant adulation from others. Cheney, who has become the new father, is a bitter fanatic, a relic from the Cold War. Cheney is greedy and thoroughly corrupt. He has been connected with the American oil industry for years and is reaping huge profits from Halliburton stock increases, increased solely due to his obtaining enormously lucrative no-bid government contracts.
He does indeed control Bush and behind him are the so-called pro-Israeli Neocons. Cheney has two main goals now. The first is to secure a strong American military presence in Iraq to get American hands on a secure source of oil and the second is to give powerful military support to Israel by acting as a deterrent against any perceived Arab aggression towards that state.
The second part of his goals is to somehow get rid of Russia's Putin and break Russian state hold on their immense (and growing) oil and gas industry.
The United States basically owned the drunken Yeltsin and convinced him to liquidate all state-owned resources, turning them over to the private sector. With the help of the CIA and the World Bank, the private sector consisted of what in essence were a mob of interconnected Russian Jewish street thugs, drug dealers, swindlers and thieves.
The drill was for this group of crooks to get their hands on all the major Russian resources and sell off controlling interests to American oil people. This was well underway and the oil people had poured billions of dollars into new equipment for the ageing oil and gas fields. Then Putin slowly but surely got back the resources, persecuted the oligarchs, broke their hold on Russian economy and drove out of the country the ones he could not put in jail and strip of their assets.
This situation has been driving Cheney wild with rage and it is his firm resolve, and through him, the resolve of Bush, to somehow physically remove Putin and, as they did in the Ukraine, replace him with a government like that of post-war Germany, totally subservient to American wishes.
For a time, everything went the way Cheney and Bush wanted but they suffered from too much hubris and made the terrible error of believing their own lies and their plans slowly crumbled into rubble. It simply boils down to the fact that Putin has beaten them and in their death throes, they are lashing out in all directions in a frantic, and in the end, futile, attempt to resurrect the dead.
All Bush and Cheney can do now is to attempt to frighten the bored American public with more tales of terror and certain destruction unless the Administration is given back the power it once thought it had. Their latest bit of nonsense consists of telling CIA and NSA personnel that they are planning to evacuate them to “secret locations” because of “serious pending problems.” Because the CIA has become as useless as tits on a boar pig, and is well-known all over Washington to be filled with petulant leakers, these people have been told, quietly, that they will soon receive a ten hour notice and to get their affairs in order!
Naturally, this childishness is deliberately intended to be leaked. This is supposed to terrify Iran and Putin and further, to terrify the American public into blind obedience. Of course moving all 36,821 CIA employees to a “secret site” does not even bear consideration by a sane person but then at this point in time, the Bush people are hardly sane.”
Sword - What's the story on "Comet" Holmes?
Interesting year old Email about Comet Holmes
I plan to show this to several sites if anything comes of it. Thought you guys could use a conspiracy. A friend whose mom is a programmer sent it to me.
__________________________________________________________ _
Hey xxxxx,
I know how you love conspiracies. Here is an email that Mom discovered when she was cleaning the computer at the library. She claims the date sent was June of 05. If this is true, you may have one!!
-----Original Message-----
From: XXXXXXX
Sent: XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
13/06/2005
........................
........................
Deep Impact will rendezvous with the comet TT on July 4, 2005. We will have five months to pour over the numbers. Hopefully, we will know the megatons needed for our last shot with Holmes. We plan to launch December 14th using a Boeing Delta 7920 with the launch name USA 193 (NROL-21) carrying the nuclear payload. As it stands, if we can launch before December 2007, we will have 9 months before intercept, and 16 months for the answer.
...............................
The calculations for changing Holmes’ orbit should be in by late November as the impact will be approximately. a month earlier. We have XXXXXXX working on this even now. I wonder if the “impact” will be visible. The comet will be getting farther from the sun by then, so any explanation will be interesting.............
The meetings with ULA have been productive.
Please keep me up to date on the negotiations with the needed equipment..........
I sent this email to you using the library for anonymity. Please make no copies and continue the preparations.
Let’s hope for some fireworks this Independence Day.
..................................
Regards,
XXXXXXXX
The way I understand is that Holmes was the last practice using a nuke before the "As it stands, if we can launch before December 2007, we will have 9 months before intercept, and 16 months for the answer." event.
Ericswan, your friend's found email mentions "ULA"
could it be the "United Launch Alliance, L.L.C. (ULA)" ?
a joint venture between Boeing and
Lockheed Martin.
See this article:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/10/ula.shtm
(excerpt)
"DoD informed the(Federal Trade) Commission that the creation of ULA will advance national security by improving the United States’ ability to access space reliably. Because DoD considers access to space essential to the U.S. military, maximizing the reliability of launch vehicles is of paramount importance to DoD. According to DoD, ULA will improve launch vehicle reliability through a single work force that will benefit from an increased launch tempo and because ULA will integrate Boeing’s and Lockheed Martin’s complementary technologies.
"After thorough review, DoD concluded that the national security benefits of ULA would exceed the anticompetitive harm caused by the transaction. To allow the United States to obtain the national security advantages offered by ULA, the Commission’s proposed consent order does not attempt to remedy the loss of direct competition between Boeing and Lockheed Martin under these unique circumstances. Rather, the order is designed to address the ancillary competitive harms that DoD has identified without interfering with the national security benefits of ULA."
hmmmm? The plot thickens.
Gort
McCanney spends an hour of the Nov. 22 broadcast to say that comet Holmes is headed for planethood. Wouldn't that be interesting in light of the cause and effect noted above?
http://www.jmccanneyscience.com/WeeklyRadioShowArchivesSubPage.HTM
November 29, 2007
Alarming Comet Swarm Warns Of Catastrophic Christmas Quake
By: Sorcha Faal,
When Italian astronomer Andrea Boattini announced from Arizona’s Mount Lemmon Observatory, this past week, of his discovery of a new comet (C/2007W-Boattini), expected to be observable from Earth in June, 2008, it brought the number of new comets discovered this year to 146, and which, according to Sergei Smirnov, of the Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg, constitutes ‘an historically unprecedented comet swarm’ never before seen entering into our Solar System.
More significantly, perhaps, of this current comet swarm entering our Solar System is that three of these comets, 17P/Holmes, 8P/Tuttle, and Boattini will be visible to our entire World during the early months of 2008.
The most significant of these three comets, according to the ancients, is Comet Holmes, and whose ‘sudden’ and ‘unexplained’ explosion to over 1 million times its brightness had great meaning, and as we have previously detailed in our October 28th report titled ‘Head Of Satan Star’ Sends Comet Warning To Earth" and our November 11th report titled "Warning Of Cataclysm As The 13th Sign Of The Black Sun Arrives".
[It is important that I point out here that the basis of our interpreting these significant astrological events are not based upon the model of Western rationalization (where our life and World are separated into ‘parts’), but rather is based upon the ancient Russian belief system of communion, and which stresses the interrelationship of all life.]
Of even greater importance, however, is the alignment of these three comets (Holmes-Tuttle-Boattini) between December 18-31, 2007, and which, according to the ancient calculations of the Persian Magi, presages violent Earth upheavals, of which the last such alignment occurred on December 26, 2004, during which the catastrophic Great Earthquake and Tsunami occurred costing the lives of over 250,000 human beings.
[Noting should also be made here that the ancient Persian Magi, known mostly to the Western World as The Three Wise Men who followed the ‘star’ to the baby Jesus at his birthplace in Bethlehem, were in fact the major deceivers of the early followers of The Christ propounding their Zoroastrianism belief system, and spread to the Western World by their apostle named Paul. This necessitated the need of Jesus’ first disciple, Saint Andrew, brother of the deceiver, and cohort of the apostle Paul, Saint Peter, to flee Judea with Jesus’ family, including Mary Magdalene, to the Russias, and where he founded the Russian Orthodox Church to stand opposed to Rome.]
The events of December, 2004, were presaged by the arrival of Comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz), which like Comet Boattini will reside in the Southern Hemisphere, and like Comet Holmes in its ‘brightening’ will be able to be viewed by the naked eye.
Equally important of these new astrological warnings being given to us from these Comets is the warming, also, being given of a catastrophic upheaval of our Earth by the Brazilian Seer Jucelino Nobrega da Luz [pictured top left] to the peoples of Indonesia, and as we can read as reported by the AFP News Service:
"Local officials in a quake-prone Indonesian province said Monday they were taking precautionary measures after a Brazilian psychic warned a powerful earthquake would strike next month. Husni Hassanuddin, a spokesman for Bengkulu province on Sumatra island, said the Indonesian embassy in Brasilia had passed on a letter from a "professor" and psychic predicting a quake would rock the island on December 23.
"During a recent meeting with all senior officials in Bengkulu, we determined a number of evacuation shelters for residents, especially those who live in the coastal areas," he told ElShinta radio. He said there would be several evacuation drills around the province prior to December 23."Though we call it a rumour, we take this information seriously. We don't want people to blame us if it really happens," he said.
Another Bengkulu official, Fauzan Rahim, told state-run Antara news agency that he had seen a copy of the letter from Jucelino Nobrega da Luz, which predicted an 8.5-magnitude quake on Sumatra, but did not give an exact location. Sumatra is home to nine other provinces. Antara said da Luz had sent a letter in 1998 predicting the tsunami that devastated Indonesia in 2004. He also issued a warning in 2006 forecasting September's 8.4-magnitude quake in Bengkulu, which left 23 people dead, it said."
It goes without saying that to the Western peoples these warnings will go unheeded as they have so far separated themselves from true knowledge that their lives have become but simple shells of all they are capable of being. But, though we know our words will go unheeded they must still be spoken so that no man can ever make the accusation that they haven’t been warned.
Dark Mission's call number (Dewey Decimal)at the public library:
001.95
HOA
(something to do with 19.5 degrees and hyperdimensional physics) :)
Gort
Now that is just too Cool!
Sword
Another story emerging, again from an ordinary community member helping to perhaps reveal, further evidence to another 'strata' of our larger human unity.
Not unlike the 'public television director' who recorded all the completely unscrambled video transmissions from the Shuttle missions.
Check out this guy's images he has taken of the numerous 'other' orbitals we have beyond the ISS station.
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
December 20, 2007 Albuquerque, New Mexico -
1) Subject: US military space program
Date: December 20, 2007
To: earthfiles@earthfiles.com
I read your report concerning the U. S. military space program and found that
it struck a cord from my past. In the mid 80s I was stationed at Los
Angeles Air station, California, as a medic. This, I was informed, was where Air
Force personnel and private military contractors designed the Space
Shuttle.
Without getting to the many rumors of advanced research that I heard while
stationed there, I can tell you that my fellow Air Men and I where
solicited for duty in a new devision of the Air Force. At the time we
were told that it would be called the "Space Force." It was to handle
military matters from space. It was (as far as we were told) involved
with support for manned military space missions.
I believe that this program must have been in existence for many years
before we were solicited for duty as we were not informed of any security
restrictions such as would be imposed by a confidential or secret rating.
Generally, medical non-commissioned officers are the last to know what is
secret, as the military works on a need to know basis.
Coincidentally, I have an old Popular Science magazine that details a
military space program that involved orbiting space platforms that
harbored nuclear missiles aimed at various countries. As I recall, the
platform had a crew of 6. A space shuttle was used to routinely change
crews. The really interesting part was that this was supposed to have
taken place around the 1950s! And according to Popular Science, all of
this was supported by government documents that were released through the
Freedom of Information Act. I guess my point is that if the military were
carrying out routine space shuttle flights and maintaining orbiting space
stations in the 1950s or early 1960s, what incredibly advanced space
vehicles our military must be flying in now! And apparently, NASA must be
used to convince the public that our current technology, such as with our
very old and decrepit Space Shuttle program, is the best we have, while
our military conducts space missions with technology that we can only
fantasize about while watching Star Trek
The person who wrote this message to us did so under their own name (which we have checked), and enclosed a number of photographs of them with the Prime Minister of Norway and (separately) with Benazir Bhutto. We are certain of their bona fides, but you will understand that we cannot reveal their real name or publish any photos without consent.
The content of this message, if true, could hardly be more important.
[Edited for grammar and spelling errors where needed to ensure full clarity. As a preface to the message, the writer apologized for their English, which is not their language.]
_____________________________
I am a Norwegian politician. I would like to say that difficult things will happen from the year 2008 till the year 2012.
The Norwegian government is building more and more underground bases and bunkers. When asked, they simply say that it is for the protection of the people of Norway. When I enquire when they are due to be finished, they reply “before 2011”.
Israel is also doing the same and many other countries too.
My proof that what I am saying is true is in the photographs I have sent of myself and all the Prime Ministers and ministers I tend to meet and am acquainted with. They know all of this, but they don’t want to alarm the people or create mass panic.
Planet X is coming, and Norway has begun with storage of food and seeds in the Svalbard area and in the arctic north with the help of the US and EU and all around in Norway. They will only save those that are in the elite of power and those that can build up again: doctors, scientists, and so on.
As for me, I already know that I am going to leave before 2012 to go the area of Mosjøen where we have a deep underground military facility. There we are divided into sectors, red, blue and green. The signs of the Norwegian military are already given to them and the camps have already been built a long time ago.
The people that are going to be left on the surface and die with along the others will get no help whatsoever. The plan is that 2,000,000 Norwegians are going to be safe, and the rest will die. That means 2,600,000 will perish into the night not knowing what to do.
All the sectors and arks are connected with tunnels and have railcars that can take you from one ark to the other. This is so that they can be in contact with each other. Only the large doors separate them so that the sectors are not compromised in any matter.
I am very sad. Often I cry with others that know that so many will learn too late, and then it will all be over for them. The government has been lying to the people from 1983 till now. All the major politicians know this in Norway, but few will say it to the people and the public - because they are afraid in case they too will miss the NOAH 12 railcars that will take them to the ark sites where they will be safe.
If they tell anyone, they are dead for sure. But I don’t care any more about myself. Mankind must survive and the species must survive. People must know this.
All the governments in the world are aware of this and they just say it is going to happen. For those of the people that can save themselves I can only say reach for higher ground and find caves up in the high places where you can have a food storage for at least five years with canned food and water to last for a while. Radiation pills and biosuits are also advisable if your budget allows it.
For the last time I say may God help us all... but God will not help us I know. Only each person individually can make a difference. Wake up, please...!
I could have written to you using another name but I am not afraid of anything any more. When you know certain things, you become invincible and no harm can come to you when you know that the end is soon.
I assure you 100% that things will happen. There are four years to prepare for the endgame. Get weapons, and make survival groups, and a place where you can be safe with food for a time.
Ask me anything and I will answer as much as I know about the Norwegian connection to all this. And just look around: they are building underground bases and bunkers everywhere. Open your eyes, people. Ask the governments what they are building, and they will say “Oh, it’s just storage for food”, and so on. They blind you with all the lies.
The marks of the alien presence are also there, and I often see the Norwegian elite politicians are not what they say they are. It’s like they are controlled in every thought, and what they have to say is just as they are told to do things in such manners. It is clear for me who they are, and who they are not. You can see it in their eyes and in their minds.
Remember that those who are going to be in and around the city areas in 2012 are those that are going to be hit first and die first. Later the army will purge the rest of the survivors and they have a shoot to kill order if there is any resistance to bring them into the camps where every one will get marked with a number and a tag.
I also see that Benazir Bhutto is spoken of on your site. Her death was tragic. I have met Benazir, as you can see. You will also see from the photographs that I have met with a number of other notable politicians and world leaders.
The public will not know what happens till the very end, because the government does not want to create mass panic. Everything will happen quietly and the government will just disappear.
But I say this: don't go quietly into the night. Take precautions to be safe with your family. Come together with others. Work together to find ways to solve all the many problems you will face.
Kind regards
[Name and proof of identity supplied]
Ericswan, that's a tough act to follow!
I was just going to wish SWORD and all the fellow swordies a happy new year.
As I heard one commentator say about the upcoming economy:
"Invest in gold, silver, and lead... (as in bullets)."
I'm wondering if your informant knows for sure that Planet X is coming, or if that is just what you informant was told.
There is that theory that after the Cold War, there would be the phoney "War on Terrorism", followed by a false-flag "Attack of the Space Aliens."
I am in accord with your informant's plea to "wake up, people!"
Gort
Keep checking in Gort. Sword is a bit of a puzzle but he was sincere.
Gort and Ericswan - I think Wernher von Braun warned of this:
"There is that theory that after the Cold War, there would be the phoney "War on Terrorism", followed by a false-flag "Attack of the Space Aliens."
I think this is from the "Disclosure Project" from a few years back - his personal secretary talked about it.
Here is NASA's tribute:
http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/
Largest asteroid to come near Earth in 22 years
23:37 24 January 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Maggie McKee
The largest asteroid to come near the Earth in more than 20 years will make its closest approach on Tuesday, venturing as close as 1.4 times the distance to the Moon. Already, the first radar observations of the space rock reveal it may have formed from two separate asteroids that fell together and stuck.
The asteroid, named 2007 TU24, was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, US, on 11 October 2007. Based on its apparent brightness, astronomers estimated that it was between 150 and 600 metres wide, but it has been too far away for ground-based telescopes to resolve it and determine its actual size and shape.
However, on Wednesday, it came close enough to the Earth – about 11 times the Moon's distance – for radar signals to be bounced off its surface. Five hours of observations using NASA's Goldstone radio telescope in California, US, reveal that the asteroid is about 250 metres wide.
The last time an object of about the same size was observed to approach Earth at about the same distance was in September 1985, says Don Yeomans, head of NASA's Near Earth Object programme at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, US. "This will be the closest approach by a known asteroid of this size or larger until 2027," he adds.
But similar close passes probably occur more often and simply go undetected. "There's a lot of objects zipping by that are not seen," Yeomans told New Scientist, adding that about 7000 asteroids of about the same size are expected to venture near Earth's orbit, and only 20% have been discovered so far.
The Goldstone observations have not only helped pin down the asteroid's size, but also its orbit, says JPL's Steven Ostro, who led the radar observations. "We can guarantee absolutely that there's zero chance of any hazardous close approaches to Earth until 2170."
Spinning rock
Moreover, the asteroid "has a very interesting shape – we see asymmetries and evidence for concavities", he told New Scientist. He says the preliminary images hint that 2007 TU24 may be a so-called contact binary – created when two asteroids orbiting each other lose enough energy to eventually "fall into each other". He says about 10% of known near-Earth asteroids have shapes that suggest they were formed by such mergers and another 10 to 15% have orbiting partners.
The radar observations also suggest the asteroid is rotating slowly – perhaps once every 10 to 30 hours, he estimates based on the initial observations. Studying rotation rates can provide clues about whether an asteroid is a solid rock or a loose collection of rubble, says Yeomans. That's because asteroids that rotate faster than about once every 2.2 hours would fly apart if they were rubble piles.
Since 2007 TU24's rate is slower than that, "it doesn't tell us anything about whether it's a monolithic rock or a rubble pile", says JPL's Lance Benner.
If a particular space rock appeared to be on a collision course with Earth, knowing its size, shape and rotation rate would also be crucial for planning ways to deflect it, says Ostro. "If we had to change its orbit, we'd have to figure out what kind of object we're dealing with," he says.
Early detection
Fortunately, 2007 TU24 will come no closer than 1.4 times the Moon's distance. But its discovery only a few months before its closest approach to Earth highlights the importance of finding potentially dangerous space rocks, astronomers say. Recent research suggests small asteroids, just a few tens of metres across, can cause significant destruction if they impact the Earth.
Currently, NASA is hoping to turn up 90% of potentially hazardous asteroids larger than 1 kilometre wide by the end of 2008. But it says it does not have the funding to comply with a directive by the US Congress to find 90% of all space rocks down to 140 metres across. "If we could do that, then 99% of the risk associated with all near-Earth objects of all sizes would be retired," says Yeomans, explaining that the rocks would be discovered early enough to deflect them.
Further radar observations of 2007 TU24 will be made with the giant Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico when the rock is much closer to Earth. And for a brief time, amateur observers with telescopes 8 centimetres (3 inches) or larger should be able to see the asteroid under good observing conditions on the night of 29-30 January. Its closest approach will take place on the 29th at 0833 GMT.
That is 3:33 a.m. EST. :)
Arrrrrghghhh, Mateys, comment 33.
Ericswan,
Have you heard any identification of the "spy satellite" that is supposed to crash earthward in late February or March, 2008?
Any chance it is the misplaced "Boeing Delta 7920 with the launch name USA 193 (NROL-21)..." from the email your friend's mother found?
Seems like I looked it up somewhere and it was a "failed" misson -- the controllers lost all contact with the bird. Or so they said...
Gort
Funny I should ask.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/spotters-reveal-spy-satellite-secrets/20080205095409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
"Spotters Reveal Spy Satellite Secrets
By JOHN SCHWARTZ,The New York Times
Posted: 2008-02-05 12:14:27
Filed Under: Nation News, Science News
(Feb. 5) - When the government announced last month that a top-secret spy satellite would, in the next few months, come falling out of the sky, American officials said there was little risk to people because satellites fall out of orbit fairly frequently and much of the planet is covered by oceans.
But they said precious little about the satellite itself.
[snip...]
In the case of the mysterious satellite that is about to plunge back to earth, Mr. Molczan had an early sense of which one it was, identifying it as USA-193, which gave out shortly after reaching space in December 2006. It is said to have been built by the Lockheed Martin Corporation and operated by the secretive National Reconnaissance Office.
Another hobbyist, John Locker of Britain, posted photos of the satellite on a Web site, galaxypix.com.
John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a private group in Alexandria, Va., that tracks military and space activities, said the hobbyists exemplified fundamental principles of openness and of the power of technology to change the game.
[snip...]
Gort
Falling Radar Satellite Adds to NRO Troubles
(Aviation Week)
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/aw020408p2.xml&headline=Falling%20Radar%20Satellite%20Adds%20to%20NRO%20Troubles
The debris could impact anywhere between 58.5 deg. N. and S. Lat. in late February or early March.
Some analysts believe the debris could reveal national security secrets if not recovered by members of the NRO/Pentagon teams being formed to travel to the impact area should it land on North America or other friendly territory.
Others more familiar with the actual hardware do not believe, however, that the debris will poses a security risk. Air Force Gen. Victor E. (Gene) Renuart, Jr., who heads U.S. Northern Command, told the Associated Press that there does not yet appear to be much concern about sensitive technologies on the satellite falling into enemy hands. “I’m not aware that we have a security issue,” he says. “It’s really just a big thing falling that we want to make sure we’re prepared for.” [emphasis added]
[snip...]
The identification of NROL-21 as a radar mission has only recently come about by analysts at organizations like Global Security.Org. Independent analysts like Canadian Ted Molczan have also noted the spacecraft was launched into a “frozen orbit”—an orbit with characteristics like that used by most all previous radar satellites be they military or civilian.
[snip...]
Pentagon managers knew within days of the launch more than a year ago that they were going to face a major space debris incident. But at the time most news outlets took no interest in the Vandenberg NRO launch—allowing the significance of the radar, and now its debris impact, to go unnoticed publicly for more than a year.
{snip...] Can you say "Ooops!" ???
Gort
Eric,
check this out also. interesting stuff here.
http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/2006/12/nrol-21-launched.html
Gort
Also this:
http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/1779/usa-193-comes-down
Gort
Turns out the head office for ULA is Denver. It turns out ULA is a space based weapons system.. (see pages 5-9)
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0510165/0510165dodletterkriegtomajoras.pdf
Wed Mar 7, 2007 10:17 AM IST
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials are likely to declare a Lockheed
Martin Corp. spy satellite a total loss after efforts to restore its
ability to communicate failed repeatedly over the past three months,
two defense officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
The experimental L-21 classified satellite, built for the National
Reconnaissance Office (NRO) at a cost of hundreds of millions of
dollars, was launched successfully on Dec. 14 but has been out of
touch since reaching its low-earth orbit.
Limited data received from the satellite indicated that its on-board
computer tried rebooting several times, but those efforts failed, said
one official, who is knowledgeable about the program and spoke on
condition of anonymity.
The satellite carried sophisticated cameras to take high-resolution
pictures and test equipment intended for use on the broader Future
Imagery Architecture (FIA) program, in which both Boeing Co. and
Lockheed are involved.
Its failure raises questions about the schedule for the already-much-
delayed FIA program, which was due to launch a first satellite in two
to three years, analysts said.
One of the defense officials acknowledged the satellite's failure was
"not helpful."
"It's part of an overarching architecture. When you're trying to move
forward on several dimensions, it can't help accomplish those goals,"
the official said.
The other official said he expected schedule adjustments, but no major
delays, as a result of the NRO satellite failure.
"It might impact the schedule for introduction of new technologies,"
he added.
Another government official said he was unaware of any changes to the
FIA program as a result of the satellite issue.
Lockheed, prime contractor for the experimental NRO satellite,
declined to comment. The NRO, which designs, builds and operates
reconnaissance satellites for the U.S. military and intelligence
communities, also had no comment.
One of the defense officials said the issue with the satellite
involved the computer that runs it, not the new sensors that it was
meant to test.
"The failure has nothing to do with anything new. It happened with a
set of components ... that historically is known to be good," said the
official.
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer with the Harvard- Smithsonian Center
For Astrophysics, said the satellite's software problems raised
questions about the adequacy of testing and oversight by the
contractors and the Air Force.
"The question is why was this software failure not caught in ground
test before launch," McDowell said, noting that oversight was
particularly challenging in classified programs.
He said the satellite's software woes were reminiscent of those
experienced by the Mars rover named Spirit, which was out of
communication for more than two weeks after it landed on Mars in
January 2004 because its flash disk kept filling up, prompting the
computer system to crash repeatedly.
Engineers finally solved the problem by sending a command to the
computer to clear the disk, enabling a successful rebooting of the
system, he said.
Hey Gort.. NASA can't figure out where the space craft is going to crash and burn?
.....................................
USA 193/NROL-21 Launched
The National Reconnaisance Office, in conjunction with United Launch Alliance, has successfully launched USA 193/NROL-21 into low earth orbit.
USA-193/NROL-21 Launch specifics:
Launch date/time: December 13, 2006 2100 UTC 16:00 EST
Launcher: Delta 2/7920-10
Launch location: Western Test Range, Vandenberg AFB, California
Launch complex/pad: SLC2W
International Designator: 2006-057A
SSC #: 29651
Latest orbital parameters: 376 by 354 km orbit (91.83 minute period), inclined 58.5 degress.
Ted Molczan posted the preliminary orbital elset below on SEESAT-L:
USA 193 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.8 v
1 29651U 06057A 06350.25405986 .00011325 00000-0 10000-3 0 03
2 29651 58.4865 114.2852 0013244 81.7541 278.5044 15.68046894 05
WRMS error = 0.026 deg
..............................
It prolly depends on what kind of solar wind is at their backs.
Target Practice: US 'to shoot down spy satellite'
BBC
Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:45 EST
The US military is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite due to crash land on Earth in the next few weeks, US news agency AP reports.
Pentagon officials are quoted as saying they want to fire a missile from a US Navy ship to destroy satellite "US 193" before it enters the atmosphere.
Correspondents say the satellite has lost power and could contain hazardous materials and secret equipment.
©Associated Press
The Pentagon is said to want to shoot the craft down from a ship
The Pentagon is due to hold a briefing on the subject later.
The broken satellite was expected to hit the top of the Earth's atmosphere by the end of February or early March.
It was launched in December 2006, but its computer failed soon afterwards, rendering it uncontrollable.
Secret sensor
The BBC's Vincent Dowd says it is believed to be carrying a highly secret imaging sensor which the US Department of Defense in Washington does not want to fall into the wrong hands.
The satellite is believed to be the size of a small bus and weighs about 2,000kg. There has been a lot of speculation that the craft contains a high quantity of hydrazine rocket fuel that would cause it to explode on re-entry.
The operation to destroy US 193 will have to try to avoid damage to other satellites.
There is also the chance that after being hit by a specially-adapted missile, large pieces could remain in orbit, posing a threat to other spacecraft, or fall to Earth, AP reports.
Officials say it is not clear where the satellite pieces would land, but debris could be scattered over an area of hundreds of square miles.
China test
When news of the spy satellite's problems was first announced last month, the White House said it was monitoring the situation.
A spokesman said "numerous" satellites had come out of orbit and fallen back to Earth harmlessly over the years.
The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a US space agency (Nasa) craft was the abandoned Skylab space station in 1979.
Police in 22 Indian states had been put on full alert but the debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia.
Last year, China carried out a test that destroyed a satellite in space, prompting international alarm and fears of a space arms race.
China was reported to have used a ground-based medium-range ballistic missile to destroy the weather satellite.
Eric,
They are going to shoot it down over the North Pacific, according to one report I read.
Seems they could focus the HAARP (in Alaska) on the satellite, heat up the fuel tank with microwaves, and make it go boom from the inside, like an egg in a microwave oven (I've done that... not a pretty picture.)
Gort
That "hydrazine rocket fuel" story is a front for what is really on the SAT - radioactive stuffs
Old news - but check this:
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/feedback/20-09-2007/97410-american_spy_satellite-0
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday a U.S. plan to shoot down an ailing spy satellite could be used as a cover to test a new space weapon.
The ministry said there was insufficient proof that Washington's decision to fire a missile at the disabled satellite was to prevent a potentially deadly leak of toxic gas as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere.
"In our opinion, the decision to destroy the U.S. satellite is not as harmless as it is being presented. Especially as the United States has been avoiding talks on restricting a space arms race for quite a long time," the ministry's information department said in a statement.
"Under cover of discussions about the danger posed by the satellite, preparation is going ahead for tests of an anti-satellite weapon. Such tests mean in essence the creation of a new strategic weapon."
U.S. officials said on Thursday that President George W. Bush had decided to have the Navy shoot the 5,000-pound (2,270 kg) satellite with a modified tactical missile after security advisers suggested its re-entry could lead to a loss of life.
Some space and security experts have said they did not believe Washington's justification for the plans and argued the Pentagon was more likely testing its ability to target other states' satellites.
This suggestion is rejected by U.S. officials.
It will be the first time the United States has conducted an anti-satellite operation since the 1980s. Russia also has not conducted anti-satellite activities in 20 years.
(Reporting by Tanya Mosolova)
Bush approves shoot-down of falling satellite by Navy missile cruiser
Sat, 2008-02-16 15:20
By Philip Fernando in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, 16 February, (Asiantribune.com): President Bush has authorized the US Navy to shoot down a US spy satellite that is falling out of orbit and due to collide with the Earth any time now. A Navy cruiser is expected to fire a single missile from its Aegis weapons system as early as the end of next week, according to Pentagon officials. Peace activists have already condemned this anticipated action Bush’s entry into space wars. If the first missile fails to destroy the satellite, the Navy will go at it again after evaluation of the resulting trajectory of the falling satellite. Additional ships are in position to fire two more missiles, if that is deemed necessary.
General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, who briefed the press on the plans, have stated that the action was necessary to minimize the danger that debris from the satellite, particularly from its fuel tank, could injure or kill someone when it crashes to Earth.
Some space scientists and critics of the government have denounced these claims, noting that no human being has been injured by any of the thousands of pieces of manmade debris that have fallen to Earth in the 50 years since the launching of Sputnik inaugurated the space age. Some have agreed with the pre-emptive shooting.
There is also the scenario that top-secret technology on board the failing satellite could be recovered by an adversary, and the opportunity to test out US anti-missile technologies on a live target. The satellite, designated US 193, was launched in 2006 at the behest of the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO), the division of the Pentagon that conducts satellite surveillance of the entire globe. US 193 were one of the first to use a new imaging technology which the NRO would like to keep out of the hands of any potential US rival.
Administration has denied all suggestions about losing spy technology stating all equipment on board the satellite would be burned up during reentry. However, the web site Space.com cited a number of cases where complex on-board instruments have survived previous reentries and crashes. It stated that at least in one case, sensitive technology was recovered by a Peruvian peasant on a mountainside in the Andes.
Earlier US space officials had said that US 193 believed that there was no danger to people on the ground and that, in particular, the volatile hydrazine fuel would melt and then burn up during reentry. There is a view now that the fuel tank, filled with a half ton of liquid hydrazine that had frozen solid in the course of more than a year in the near-absolute-zero temperature in orbit, could serve as a buffer for the vehicle’s reentry, allowing more of it to survive the estimated pressures of 25 times gravity. Thus, giving credence to the theory that survival and recovery of secret equipment on board may be a reason for shooting the falling satellite.
United States is in a position to take immediate defensive action against incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) aimed at US. These sea-launched missiles fired by Aegis-class cruisers north and east of Japan would be the initial line of defense against a nuclear-armed missile launched against the continental United States. There is a second line of defense: land-based interceptors fired from stations in Alaska and California. They are being tested now while the sea-based interceptors have been deployed already, mostly against the threat of a missile launch from North Korea.
The New York Times recently reported that in short, “The effort will be a real-world test of the nation’s antiballistic missile systems and its anti-satellite abilities, even though the Pentagon said it was not using the effort to test its most exotic weapons or send a message to any adversaries.” According to some reports satellite US 193 differs from the usual test targets for the sea-launched missile since it is much larger—about two and a half tons—and at a much higher altitude. The missile will be able to strike the falling satellite just as it reenters the atmosphere.
Some international observers have stated that the shoot-down was a signal to Russia and China, two the most potent long-term challengers to US military power. They said that in the case of China, the destruction of the satellite would demonstrate that the US had greater capability than that demonstrated by the Chinese last year, when they shot down an aging weather satellite.
The action is particularly troublesome to many observers because it was announced only two days after Russia and China jointly announced their support for a new treaty banning weapons in space. The treaty was presented to a Conference on Disarmament meeting in Geneva, with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi declaring, “China hopes the Conference on Disarmament will enter into substantial discussion on the draft as soon as possible in order to reach a common consensus.”
The shoot-down could also have immediate practical consequences for all countries conducting space operations. The resulting explosion of the falling satellite could produce 100,000 pieces of debris, in contrast to the estimated 1,000 to 2,000 pieces of debris produced by the destruction of the Chinese weather satellite, which was much smaller than US 193. The Chinese satellite was at a much higher altitude above the earth, over 600 miles, so the bulk of its debris is still in orbit and a danger to other space traffic. Since US 193 will be at 150 miles above the Earth when it is destroyed, most of its fragments will reenter the atmosphere immediately and burn up.
- Asian Tribune
By Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 20, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's missile defense program has long been as contentious as it is pricey. But a small part of that system, ship-mounted missiles designed to track and destroy enemy warheads, has proved more affordable and successful.
The Navy will activate that system as soon as today when the window opens for an unusual Pentagon attempt to shoot down a failing spy satellite that is hurtling toward Earth with 1,000 pounds of toxic rocket fuel aboard.
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Space shot
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In eight years of testing, warships equipped with Aegis radar systems have hit 12 targets in 14 Pacific Ocean attempts, compiling a better record than the costlier land-based system of interceptor missiles in Alaska and California.
But the task of bringing down the satellite will be much harder, Navy officials warned. The satellite is traveling faster, higher and, perhaps most important, colder than the enemy missiles the system was built to hit.
"We're looking at a cold body in space, a body that has been shut down for some time, and so it doesn't have the traditional heating that a ballistic missile has," said a Navy official, noting that heat is one of the primary ways an interceptor finds its target.
"The typical clues that both the interceptors and the combat system look for have to be changed. That's the difficulty," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the effort publicly.
Pentagon officials said today's scheduled landing of the space shuttle Atlantis in Florida marks the beginning of a nearly weeklong window to shoot down the satellite. There were signals that the attempt could come just hours after the shuttle's touchdown.
Ships and aircraft were issued a notice Tuesday by federal officials to avoid the north Pacific test area today, said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell. But Morrell emphasized that no final decision had been made about when to take the shot.
"If a shot is not taken within the 24 hours after that notice went out, there will likely be another [notice] that goes out," he said.
According to a Web posting by Ted Molczan, a well-known amateur satellite tracker in Canada, the federal notice warns ships and planes to avoid a restricted zone just west of Hawaii for 2½ hours beginning at 7:30 Pacific time tonight.
The 5,000-pound spy satellite went bad soon after its 2006 launch and has been orbiting out of control. The Bush administration's decision last week to shoot it down marks the first such attempt since Cold War-era tests in the 1980s.
The Chinese government has expressed concern, and Russian officials have charged that it is a veiled missile test. Some U.S. nonproliferation groups have questioned whether the threat of a fuel-tank rupture justifies the effort and expense involved in blasting the satellite.
Pentagon officials defended the plan and expressed confidence about chances for success. But Navy officials said the mission would not be easy.
The interceptor missile's "kill vehicle" -- the very top of the rocket that gets pushed toward the satellite -- is equipped with an infrared seeker, which looks for signs of heat and uses retrorockets to guide itself into the target's path.
Since the cold satellite lacks the heat that an enemy missile would have, the operation's planners are relying on the sun to raise the satellite's temperature enough to allow the kill vehicle to find the spacecraft, the Navy official said -- an indication that the shoot-down would be attempted in the daytime.
Navy officials plan to use a Raytheon-made Standard Missile 3. Three of the missiles, which cost $10 million apiece, have been readied for the shoot-down attempt. Navy experts have reconfigured the missile's software to help it find the cold satellite in the even colder upper atmosphere.
"Once the weapon goes into track, then I think it's a done deal," the Navy official said, using the military term for locking onto a target.
The speed of the intercept will cause additional complications. The satellite and the missile will be flying toward each other at about 22,000 mph, nearly twice the speed of a missile defense test. That gives the interceptor, which is not armed with explosives, only a small margin of error.
Even the satellite's size -- military officials have compared it to a bus -- may not be much help. The Navy official said the target is the satellite's fuel tank, which is holding the half-ton of hydrazine fuel that U.S. officials warn could turn into a toxic gas if the tank cracked open when it hit Earth.
With the satellite spinning out of control, hitting a specific part of it adds to the difficulty.
"This is a very big object. If the area of concern is the gas tank, you need to be in that location," the Navy official said. He added that software technologies allow the missile to home in on a small part of a larger target, but the specifics remain classified.
Navy officials said the cruiser Lake Erie, which has fired missiles in 10 of the Navy's 14 missile defense tests, has been designated as the ship to fire at the satellite. The destroyer Decatur will be nearby as a backup.
Although Pentagon officials initially said that three ships would be involved in the test, a second Navy official said the third ship, the destroyer Russell, might not participate.
Air Force Blocks Access to Many Blogs
By Noah Shachtman February 27, 2008 | 2:28:02
The Air Force is tightening restrictions on which blogs its troops can read, cutting off access to just about any independent site with the word "blog" in its web address. It's the latest move in a larger struggle within the military over the value -- and hazards -- of the sites. At least one senior Air Force official calls the squeeze so "utterly stupid, it makes me want to scream."
Until recently, each major command of the Air Force had some control over what sites their troops could visit, the Air Force Times reports. Then the Air Force Network Operations Center, under the service's new "Cyber Command," took over.
AFNOC has imposed bans on all sites with "blog" in their URLs, thus cutting off any sites hosted by Blogspot. Other blogs, and sites in general, are blocked based on content reviews performed at the base, command and AFNOC level ...
The idea isn't to keep airmen in the dark -- they can still access news sources that are "primary, official-use sources," said Maj. Henry Schott, A5 for Air Force Network Operations. "Basically ... if it's a place like The New York Times, an established, reputable media outlet, then it's fairly cut and dry that that's a good source, an authorized source," he said ...
AFNOC blocks sites by using Blue Coat software, which categorizes sites based on their content and allows users to block sub-categories as they choose.
"Often, we block first and then review exceptions," said Tech. Sgt. Christopher DeWitt, a Cyber Command spokesman.
As a result, airmen posting online have cited instances of seemingly innocuous sites -- such as educational databases and some work-related sites -- getting wrapped up in broad proxy filters.
"A couple of years back, I fought this issue concerning the Counterterrorism Blog," one Air Force officer tells Danger Room. "An AF [Air Force] professional education course website recommended it as a great source for daily worldwide CT [counterterrorism] news. However it had been banned, because it called itself a blog. And as we all know, all blogs are bad!"
He's joking, of course. But blogs and social networking sites have faced all sorts of restrictions on military networks, for all sorts of reasons. MySpace and YouTube are officially banned, for eating up too much bandwidth. Stringent regulations, read literally, require Army officers to review each and every item one of his soldiers puts online, in case they leak secrets. And in televised commercials, screensavers and fliers, troops are told that blogging is a major security risk -- even though official sites have proven to leak many, many more secrets. Now there's the Air Force's argument, that blogs aren't legitimate media outlets -- and therefore, shouldn't be read at work.
But this view isn't universally held in the military. Many believe blogs to be a valuable source of information -- and a way for ordinary troops to shape opinions, at home and abroad. Gen. David Petraeus, who heads the U.S. effort in Iraq, has commended military bloggers. Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, who replaced Petraeus as the head of the Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, recently wrote (in a blog post, no less) that soldiers should be encouraged to "get onto blogs and [s]end their YouTube videos to their friends and family."
Within the Air Force, there's also a strong contingent that wants to see open access to the sites -- and is mortified by the AFNOC's restrictions. "When I hear stuff this utterly stupid, it makes me want to scream.... Piles of torn out hair are accumulating around my desk as we speak," one senior Air Force official writes in an e-mail. "I'm certain that by blocking blogs for official use, our airmen will never, ever be able to read them on their own home computers, so we have indeed saved them from a contaminating influence. Sorry, didn't mean to drip sarcasm on your rug."
One of the blogs banned is In From the Cold, which examines military, intelligence and political affairs from a largely right-of-center perspective. It's written by "Nathan Hale," the pseudonym for a former journalist and Air Force intelligence officer, who spent more than two decades in the service. He tells Danger Room, "If knowledge and information are power -- and no one disputes that -- then why not trust your people and empower them to explore all sides of issues affecting the service, air power and national security?"
Obviously, DoD [Department of Defense] can decide what internet content should be filtered -- they spent billions on the IT architecture and billions more to maintain it. But if it's a matter of "ensuring worker productivity" and deterring "wasteful surfing of the internet," does it really make sense to block relatively small blogs (that just happen to focus on military and security issues), while allowing everyone to access ESPN or FoxSports? Wonder how much work time will be lost on filling out "March Madness" brackets, versus reading a military or intelligence blog?
In short, there doesn't seem to be any consistency in the current DoD policy. And that's no surprise. A few months ago, a senior Pentagon P.A. [public affairs] official told me that his service had no plans to engage the blogosphere, because their studies showed that "people don't rely on blogs for news and information." And he said it with a straight face.
The Air Force recently launched an $81 million marketing campaign to convince lawmakers and average citizens of its relevance in today's fights. By making it harder for troops to blog, an Air Force officer says, the service had undermined "some of their most credible advocates."
"The Air Force isn't getting the planes that they want because they are incapable of communicating their usefulness and applicability in this new war. Because Air Force officers talk more like corporate bureaucrats than cocky war fighters, no one is inspired or convinced of their pressing (and quite legitimate) need to modernize the force," he adds. "Air Force bloggers spoke the lingo of someone heavily invested in the fight, because they operate outside the survival-minded careerist world of public affairs, with many of them penning blog posts from theater."
Perhaps, says retired Air Force Col. Tom Ehrhard, who's now a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. But there are legitimate security reasons why blogs need to be restricted. Adversaries may be using blogs to take advantage of airmen, he notes.
I'm assuming that the exploding comment that you are referring to is comet Holmes. I have been following that particular story since Oct. 25, 2007, the day or two after this astronomical phenome took place. While tracking through the the search engines, I came upon a post by anonymous sources at Godlikeproductions of the proverbial anonymous email posted from a public library (and reprinted at my website) which suggested that Holmes was the target of the recently "destroyed" spy satellite with a weapon of unknown capacities. I had posted this information months before the "spy satellite" story became an issue that needed to be resolved. From my point of view, the spy satellite with it's so called secrets that had to be destroyed, was a coverup for the actual mission this satellite was set upon which was to test the effects of weapons in deep space ie. what happened to Holmes. I'm not sure if the weapons were atomic or EMP or something else but I am suspicious of the weaponizing of space nonetheless. A progress of these suspicions are time stamped in the comments section of this blog....http://hhmsssword.blogspot.com/
which copies or links all the stories concerning a possible military intervention with the comet.
Just a brief comment on Kecksburg. I was a newspaper boy in Dec. 1965 and believe I saw this object and reported the sighting to the local police in person and minutes after the event. I was keenly interested as a young teenager in knowing what it was and where it landed. I found out at the time that it did in fact land in the Pittsburg area and don't recall any disclosure at the time as to what it was. The only point I can add to this subject is that I viewed it directly overhead in a mature mixed forest. Not on a horizon but directly overhead as did many others who called into the police station while I was standing there with a couple of friends. My location of Elliot Lake, Ontario is not on the flight path that you (Joseph) have put together which suggests that the Kecksburg object had changed direction and did not run in a straight line.
A couple of days after the lunar eclipse last month, I observed a lone cloud blowing in the wind from the south east and heading north-west. This lone cloud was illuminated by the near full moon and was observed at 1:03 AM and drew my attention as it had a square black hole directly in the middle of it. I could see the moon perfectly well through the cloud until it hit the square hole when it was completely obscured. I have published a few accounts of this observation a few hours after the event at my blogs or links from my website.
If I were to conjecture as to whether this object was a UFO or manmade or nothing at all, my intuition tells me given what I saw, is that there was an object and that it possibly uses water as fuel and that the "exhaust" from the engine is water vapour. This ties into many scientific works by the Nazis during the second world war including Schauberger, Tesla and A.V.Rowe. My last comment concerns time travel. I think centripedal and centrifugal devices in space travel as described by Lazar, can and do travel through time. This is supported by the equations by Maxwell, Bearden, and Whitaker.
Planet X???????
http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/691/NSD42_secret_video___unknown_planet/
Final Delta launch of 2007 lofts new GPS satellite
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: December 20, 2007
A productive year for the Delta rocket program that launched spacecraft to observe Earth, dig up frozen water on Mars and explore uncharted worlds in the asteroid belt was capped with a successful ascent of a modernized GPS navigation satellite on Thursday afternoon from Cape Canaveral.
Credit: Chris Miller/Spaceflight Now
SEE MORE LAUNCH IMAGES HERE
The year's finale began at 3:04 p.m. EST as the Delta 2 booster darted away from pad 17A carrying the newest craft for the Global Positioning System.
The three-stage launcher propelled the 4,500-pound satellite into a highly elliptical orbit reaching about 11,000 miles at the high point, 100 miles at the lowest and inclined 40 degrees to the equator. The Lockheed Martin-made satellite was released from the spent rocket 68 minutes after liftoff.
"The Delta 2 and GPS team did great work throughout this launch campaign," said Col. James Planeaux, Air Force mission director for the launch and commander of the Delta Group. "I'm thrilled to see those long hours and dedication to the mission rewarded with a pinpoint orbit insertion for GPS 2R-18."
A solid-propellant kick motor on the satellite itself will fire in a few days to circularize its orbit at 11,000 miles and increase the inclination to 55 degrees where the GPS constellation flies. The craft should be ready to enter service within a couple of weeks.
"The successful deployment of this high-performance satellite represents another important milestone in the modernization of the GPS constellation and reflects our commitment to achieving mission success for our customer," said Don DeGryse, Lockheed Martin's vice president of Navigation Systems. "Our team is now focused on performing a rapid and efficient on-orbit checkout to quickly place the satellite's advanced navigational capabilities into operational service."
Controllers will maneuver the $75 million craft into the Plane C, Slot 1 position of the constellation to take the place of GPS 2A-24. That satellite then moves into another role replacing the ailing GPS 2A-20 satellite, which was launched in May 1993 and has long outlived its seven-year design life.
The orbiting network emits continuous navigation signals that allow users to find their position in latitude, longitude and altitude and determine time.
Credit: Chris Miller/Spaceflight Now
SEE MORE LAUNCH IMAGES HERE
The GPS 2R-18 spacecraft is the fifth in a series of eight with enhanced features designed to rejuvenate the GPS constellation.
"Today's launch moves us another step closer to modernizing the vital GPS constellation, which provides combat effects our warfighters depend on," said Brig. Gen. Susan Helms, commander of the Cape's 45th Space Wing.
The modernized satellites transmit additional signals and feature improvements aimed at greater accuracy, tougher resistance to interference and better performance for users around the world.
The new civilian signal removes navigation errors caused by the Earth's ionosphere. The military advancements will provide an enhanced jam-resistant signal and enable more-precise targeting of GPS-guided weapons in hostile environments.
"We have the most robust and capable Global Positioning System in the history of space, and we are focused on delivering world-class space-based positioning, navigation and timing capabilities for our military and civil communities. Thanks to the men and women of the 45th and 50th Space Wings, our industry partners and the Delta 2 and (GPS) 2R launch teams, the success of today's launch was possible due to their dedication and hard work," said Col. David Madden, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center's Global Positioning Systems Wing.
Nine Delta rockets soared to space in 2007, all delivering their NASA, U.S. military and commercial cargos without fault.
"This launch wraps up a high-tempo year of delivering space capability to our nation, including three Delta launches from Cape Canaveral in the last 64 days. It's a great year-end exclamation point for the Launch and Range Systems Wing, the United Launch Alliance, and all of our mission teammates," said Planeaux.
The highlights from 2007:
The Phoenix lander was dispatched for Mars to examine the frozen water in the northern plains that could be a habitable zone for life.
NASA's Dawn space probe powered by exotic ion engines was launched to orbit the worlds of Vesta and Ceres in the heart of the asteroid belt.
Five tiny NASA satellites for the THEMIS mission were put in orbit to uncover the physics behind Earth's auroras.
Two launches of modernized replacement satellites were carried out to reinvigorate the Global Positioning System.
A pair of Italian-made COSMO-SkyMed satellites that use radar to image the Earth for commercial and military uses were lofted in separate launches.
The Delta 2 rocket marked its 75th consecutive successful launch with deployment of the sharp-eyed WorldView 1 Earth-imaging spacecraft.
And the mammoth Delta 4-Heavy rocket entered operational service with the launch of the Air Force's final Defense Support Program missile warning satellite
EricSwan - A COHORT(MarsRevealer) sent me this - Forging the Sword: Unit Manning in the US Army
I think it shows connection to the 1st SWORD dude and what he was blogging about.
Armed Robots Malfunction in Iraq
April 12th, 2008
It’s tough to know what to believe on this one. The statement below is ambiguous. The Army spokesperson said, “It can take 10 or 20 years to try it again.” But then the piece says, “Fahey expects another armed ground bot to be deployed within the year.”
Take your pick.
I had been wondering what happened with the SWORDS program. There was no news for a long time after they were deployed to Iraq.
Via: Popular Mechanics:
Last year, three armed ground bots were deployed to Iraq. But the remote-operated SWORDS units were almost immediately pulled off the battlefield, before firing a single shot at the enemy. Here at the conference, the Army’s Program Executive Officer for Ground Forces, Kevin Fahey, was asked what happened to SWORDS. After all, no specific reason for the 11th-hour withdrawal ever came from the military or its contractors at Foster-Miller. Fahey’s answer was vague, but he confirmed that the robots never opened fire when they weren’t supposed to. His understanding is that “the gun started moving when it was not intended to move.” In other words, the SWORDS swung around in the wrong direction, and the plug got pulled fast. No humans were hurt, but as Fahey pointed out, “once you’ve done something that’s really bad, it can take 10 or 20 years to try it again.”
So SWORDS was yanked because it made people nervous. Meanwhile, the V-22 Osprey program has killed 30 people during test flights, but the tiltrotor aircraft is currently in active service. Fahey expects another armed ground bot to be deployed within the year, but the point has been made: For robots, there is no margin for error.
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