Free Republic

At 6:33 Brandeau stops bloviating and VZ finally gets to speak. Very simple, heart piercing speech. In a nutshell, Thanks for all the help 'til now, but send us something to stop the cruise missiles coming in from Russia, and other aerial bombardments. Civilians are being targeted. Putin is genocidal.

Tiny Cardboard Aircraft Could Fly in the Skies of Mars What would be the best method for exploring planetary atmospheres, such as at Mars, Venus or even Earth? One group of researchers are developing tiny, levitating “nanocardboard” aircraft that could hover in alien skies. They would fly like dust floating in beams of sunlight – but intelligently, and with a purpose.“It’s exciting because it’s essentially a new mechanism of flight,” said Igor Bargatin from the University of Pennsylvania. “We’re talking about a structure half an inch in size that can fly around without any moving parts.”For several years, Bargatin has...

A mysterious light was spotted in China last night, leaving residents baffled. Witnesses shared pictures and videos of an identified object appearing to light up the night sky like a massive torch, seen above the regions of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia at about 6:45pm local time. A UFO expert claimed that the footage looked like the trail of a rocket motor.

Military drones used to track terrorists or insurgents in Afghanistan have also been flying across the U.S. homeland. Newly released documents show U.S. drone flights by the Air Force, Marine Corps and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the first time. The Air Force has tested drones in U.S. skies ranging from hand-launched Ravens to the larger Reaper drones responsible for targeting and killing people overseas — all recorded through the Federal Aviation Administration licenses required to fly in national airspace. That information became public through a Freedom of Information Act request from the nonprofit digital rights organization Electronic...

Blue skies would fade to hazy white if geoengineers inject light-scattering aerosols into the upper atmosphere to offset global warming. Critics have already warned that this might happen, but now the effect has been quantified. Releasing sulphate aerosols high in the atmosphere should in theory reduce global temperatures by reflecting a small percentage of the incoming sunlight away from the Earth. However, the extra particles would also scatter more of the remaining light into the atmosphere. This would reduce by 20 per cent the amount of sunlight that takes a direct route to the ground, and it would increase levels...

AMSTERDAM – Major airlines that sent test flights into European air space found no damage Sunday from the volcanic ash that has paralyzed aviation over the continent, raising pressure on governments to ease restrictions that have thrown global travel and commerce into chaos. Is it safe to fly yet? Airline officials and some pilots say the passengerless test flights show that it is. Meteorologists warn that the skies over Europe remain unstable from an Icelandic volcano that continues to spew ash capable of knocking out jet engines. European Union officials said air traffic could return to half its normal level...

People are freaking out all over Norway because of what you are seeing here. According to Norwegian news outlets, the spooky giant spiral was seen, photographed, and recorded on video from all over the country. Updated with video. Could it all be a hoax? Maybe it's a massive joke, but all kinds of Norwegian news sites are reporting on it. According to NKR—Norway's national TV channel—it could be related to a rocket fired from a Russian submarine in the White Sea. The Russians are denying any part on it at this at the moment. Nick Banbury, a witness located...

POSSIBLY the clearest skies on Earth have been found - but to exploit them, astronomers will have to set up a telescope in one of the planet's harshest climates...[Scientists] evaluated different factors that affect telescope vision, such as the amount of water vapour, wind speeds and atmospheric turbulence...The team found that the Antarctic plateau offers world-beating atmospheric conditions - as long as telescopes are raised 20 meters above its frozen surface...[The Antarctic air is] drier than the Atacama desert in Chile [where some of the best telescopes in the world are currently located].

AL ASAD, Iraq (Nov. 6, 2007) -- Being able to see and assess a situation in a combat environment is essential for success. Sometimes service members wish they had an extra pair of eyes, or eyes on the back of their heads. Thanks to one unit, the Al Qaim ground units have an extra pair of eyes. Those extra eyes are provided by the Marines and civilians that analyze information and operate the Scan Eagles flown by Marine Unarmed Aerial Squadron 2, Detachment B. “The basic mission here is to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support via the Scan Eagle...

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Residents awoke to smoke-free sky Friday as officials announced they had turned the corner in fighting a wildfire that destroyed 254 buildings and threatened thousands more in this resort community. After a second straight day of mild winds allowed firefighters to surround the blaze, U.S. Forest Service commanders said they planned to reduce their force by one-fourth and allow residents to inspect the wreckage for the first time. "Firefighters came in this morning and felt even more comfortable about the approaching containment of this fire," incident commander Rich Hawkins said. "I'm feeling pretty good about...

A Swiss pilot has turned himself into a 'rocketman' by strapping a pair of wings and two jet engines to his back. Yves Rossy, 45, a former airforce fighter pilot, gave his carbon wings their first test flight in Spain. He said: "It is absolutely fantastic. Total freedom in three dimensions, so much speed and power, it was better than being a bird. "I have to jump from a moving plane as I can't really take off from an airfield like a real plane, I couldn't run that fast", he said laughing, and added: "I don't have an undercarriage either."...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Oct. 24, 2006) -- Despite his name, Chief Warrant Officer William J. Outlaw doesn't make a habit of defying any laws. Except for gravity. Newton and his laws have pursued Outlaw across four decades, through the jungles of Vietnam and over the deserts of Iraq. "I love to fly," said Outlaw, a 60-year-old battalion tactical operations officer for the Virginia National Guard's 2nd Aviation Battalion of the 224th Regiment, attached to Marine Air Group 16, 3rd Marine Air Wing (Forward). Outlaw loves to fly so much that he has logged over 10,000 flight hours. He started in...

AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (May 1, 2006) -- The Vipers of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 assumed authority from the Gunfighters of HMLA-369, for providing close air support, escort, surveillance, and reconnaissance to coalition ground and assault support forces in western Iraq. Having been in Iraq for less than two weeks, the Vipers, part of Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, received plenty of help from their predecessors in preparing for the dangerous mission ahead. "HMLA-369 did an incredible job of setting us up for success. They flew most of our aircraft commanders on numerous missions, provided...

Airplane vapour trails may blot out our view of the stars in as little as 30 or 40 years, astronomers say, making ground-based telescopes -- which still do the bulk of our astronomy even in the Hubble age -- nearly useless. As cheap air travel expands, the sky gets criss-crossed with little ice crystals that can hang up there for a couple of days as thin clouds, dimming the view. This warning comes as Canada and other countries are currently designing a new generation of "Extremely Large Telescopes" with mirrors 30 metres or more across, and a view sharper than...

12/29/2005 - ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Another small dot drags a string of numbers with it as it hesitantly shuffles onto the screen. Now there are 30 dots with numbers. Airman 1st Class Grant Gers slips a strip of paper, no wider than a magazine and shorter than two end-to-end sugar packs, neatly but quickly enters the squawk (four of the numbers —- the call sign) and the time, adjusts his microphone and makes contact. “Welcome to my sky,” he said. The aircraft was in the 50,000 square miles of Iraqi airspace controlled by a small group of Airmen...

AL QAIM, Iraq (Nov. 24, 2005) -- Marines flying AH-1W Super Cobras, soaring through the skies of Iraq, are growing accustomed to using precision guided ordnance, maximizing the damage to their targets while minimizing collateral damage. Since arriving in western Iraq during September, the Gunfighters of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 have continuously dropped precision guided ordnance on the enemy in support of ongoing operations. The Gunfighters, from Al Qaim, Iraq, dropped their 100th precision-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missile, Nov. 17. “We are destroying target after target in support of ground combat brethren,” said Maj. John Barranco, the officer-in-charge of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union reached a tentative deal on Friday to dramatically expand aviation service and boost competition on both sides of the Atlantic. Negotiators made substantial progress in the State Department-led talks this week on the breakthrough agreement, which must be reviewed by EU transport ministers, who will meet next month. Europe is conditioning approval on a crucial side issue -- the U.S. proposal to ease some limits on foreign investment in American carriers. European negotiators first want to ensure the Transportation Department plan is finalized and that it would facilitate greater investment...

CAMP AL QAIM, Iraq (Nov. 15, 2005) -- It’s the middle of the day at Camp Gannon, Iraq, a small forward operating base on the Syrian border, when mortar rounds begin raining down on the small outpost. In the nearby city of Husaybah, an insurgent is at the window of the top story of a three-story building, calmly placing rounds into a mortar tube, lobbing them at a Marine base. Those observing him would later comment on his apparent comfort while attacking the Marines. He fires a round, calmly fetches another one, fires it and repeats the process. There are...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 13, 2005) -- Marines from three Marine Air Control Squadrons recently expanded the scope of sight in Iraq’s skies. The Al Asad Air Traffic Control detachment, primarily based out of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., is a mix of Marines from Marine Air Control Squadron 1, based at MCAS Yuma, MACS-2, based at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., and MACS-24, a reserve squadron based at Ft. Worth, Texas. In addition to their regular mission of supporting Al Asad, the detachment began providing information to the U.S. Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) in Qatar. “As an ATC...

BEIJING (AFP) - People in Beijing were warned to stay indoors as the Chinese capital was shrouded in yellow smog with pollution reaching dangerous levels. "Under these polluted conditions, we propose that the majority of citizens reduce their time outdoors and avoid breathing this seriously polluted air," the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said in a warning posted on its website. Beijing's air quality has been at the lowest level for the past two days with the air "seriously polluted," the bureau said. Experts said the capital was experiencing a heat inversion, where warmer air in the atmosphere was keeping the...