#planetary closure administration

[ageha-sds]

was on break and did a bunch of AC6 renders for myself. this is truly self care

[moiderahart]

About the Warships in Armored Core 6

I'm basically repeating what I said on cohost here because I actually kind of love the designs of the PCA's ships in Armored Core 6.

Now much ink has been spilled about how they're "too weak" and "I wish they were harder :(" which is more just people saying they wish they had more setpiece levels like the STRIDER which, to be honest, same; I'd love that. But the warships are actually gigantic. They're like 300 meters long; comparable to a container ship or a carrier than a warship. But more importantly they have an exposed bridge and pretty rudimentary defenses uptop. The bulk of their defenses are all localized on the bottom. Lasers designed to scour the earth. A bay to deploy LCs and MTs, and a full wing of drones to keep you down. Some units even have railguns on their underside, some have missiles uptop to try and counter the weaknesses of the deck side of these warships, which to be fair, probably would have worked if the Karman Line level didn't give you infinite energy.

Arquebus doesn't really know how to handle these warships. Because they keep on throwing them at you as though they're traditional air-to-air war machines.

When you attack the PCA, they're either flying over the majority of your forces or their ships are outright docked.

Basically what I'm saying is these ships aren't designed for a fair fight. They fold like paper when they're faced with something that gets on the deck.

Because they're subjugation machines.

They are designed to bully a population into submission.

The PCA aren't a normal military force, they're fucking space cops.

[blankblackbox1]

Reblog to hope we get PCA equipment in AC6

Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon Official Art Works

[larval-tear]

[INCOMING COMMS]

Got a job for you, 621.

It’s from Arquebus. Take a look.

[BEGINNING PLAYBACK]

Salutations, Raven. V.VIII Pater here.

This mission will be a hardware recovery venture.

Arquebus has seen fit to deploy a tennis ball to the eastern front of the backyard. However, due to Planetary Closure Administration interference, the ball has been sent off-course, and is too far for our MT squads to retrieve themselves.

Your job is to chase after the ball, secure it, and bring it to the rendevouz point, marked here.

Good luck, Raven! And happy hunting.

[END PLAYBACK]

Chasing after a ball…

Don’t screw this up, 621. Show them how good you really are.

[END COMMS]

…

Raven, something’s not right here.

I’ve analyzed the visual data Arquebus sent you on the ball, and I’m picking up some visual distortion surrounding the image.

…

Raven, can we be certain the ball will really be there?

[mariacallous]

This week, as part of the process to develop a budget for fiscal-year 2026, the Trump White House shared the draft version of its budget request for NASA with the space agency.

This initial version of the administration's budget request calls for an approximately 20 percent overall cut to the agency's budget across the board, effectively $5 billion from an overall top line of about $25 billion. However, the majority of the cuts are concentrated within the agency's Science Mission Directorate, which oversees all planetary science, Earth science, astrophysics research, and more.

According to the "passback" documents given to NASA officials on Thursday, the space agency's science programs would receive nearly a 50 percent cut in funding. After the agency received $7.5 billion for science in fiscal-year 2025, the Trump administration has proposed a science top-line budget of just $3.9 billion for the coming fiscal year.

Detailing the Cuts

Among the proposals were a two-thirds cut to astrophysics, (down to $487 million), a greater than two-thirds cut to heliophysics (down to $455 million), a greater than 50 percent cut to Earth science (down to $1.033 billion), and a 30 percent cut to Planetary science (down to $1.929 billion).

Although the budget would continue support for ongoing missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, it would kill the much-anticipated Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, an observatory seen as on par with those two world-class instruments that is already fully assembled and on budget for a launch in two years.

"Passback supports continued operation of the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes and assumes no funding is provided for other telescopes," the document states.

Other significant cuts include ending funding for Mars Sample Return as well as the DAVINCI mission to Venus. The budget cuts also appear intended to force the closure of Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland where the agency has 10,000 civil servants and contractors.

The Passback Process

The cuts are in line with what Ars Technica exclusively reported last month, that the Trump administration was considering a massive 50-percent cut to NASA's science programs. Publicly, some officials downplayed these concerns. As recently as this week, NASA's acting administrator, Janet Petro, characterized this reporting as "rumors from really not credible sources."

However, science policy experts have been more alarmed, characterizing such cuts as an "extinction level" event for what is seen as the crown jewel of the space agency. Nearly all of NASA's most significant achievements over the past 25 years have been delivered by the science programs, including feats such as the Ingenuity helicopter flying on Mars, New Horizons swooping by Pluto, and Cassini's discovery of water plumes on Enceladus.

This passback document represents just the opening salvo of the process to establish a federal budget for fiscal-year 2026, which begins on October 1 of this year. The budget is produced by the White House Office of Management and Budget, which is overseen by Russell Vought, who has long made his anti-science budgeting priorities clear through his Center for Renewing America.

The Trump administration nominee to lead NASA, private astronaut Jared Isaacman, said during a confirmation hearing this week that he strongly supported NASA's science programs. It is unlikely that Isaacman was involved in drafting this document, as he has not yet been confirmed by the US Senate. Nominees, typically, are excluded from policy prior to confirmation.

After receiving passback documents, NASA usually has 72 hours to review the materials and then submit appeals and justification for changes. Any modifications are then incorporated into a final document that becomes the "President's Budget Request" for the next fiscal year. It is not clear when the Trump administration plans to release this budget request, a public document. It could happen within the next four to six weeks.

Congress Will Likely Fight Back

Following this, the White House will work with Congress to actually set the budget. The US House and Senate each have separate appropriations committees that consider (or not) the White House priorities in establishing a final budget that the president must then sign into law. Fierce opposition to some of these NASA cuts is likely in Congress.

"This massive cut to NASA Science will not stand," Representative George Whitesides, a California Democrat, told Ars. "For weeks we have been raising the alarm about a rumored 50 percent cut to NASA's world-leading science efforts. Now we know it is true. I will work alongside my colleagues on the Science Committee to make clear how this would decimate American leadership in space and inflict great damage to NASA centers across the country."

One concern, however, is that should the budgeting process be delayed—as is often the case with the federal budget—the White House could force agencies to make operational plans based on the president's budget request once the new fiscal year begins on October 1. Again this will depend on negotiations with Congress, but, using a process called impoundment, some Trump officials believe it may be possible to turn the budget request into an actual budget for all intents and purposes.

[amored-core-hotties]

ARMORED CORE SIX: WHO IS THE MOST BANGABLE NPC?

Hello, independent mercenaries. You are likely familiar with the arena ranking system. This will be a similar exercise.

Every mercenary in our database will be able to receive votes. Please vote on which mercenary is the hottest, most fuckable, and/or attractive pilot. Please share this survey so we can sample as many mercenaries as possible. ALLMIND looks forward to seeing your input. For more information:

There will be a list of all the named characters, each numbered. We will pick two numbers at random, at which point, you may vote on which you would most want in your bed. Here is the current list of candidates: 1. C-Pulse Wave Mutation Ayre 2. Handler Walter 3. "Cinder" Carla 4. "Chatty" Stick 5. "Invincible" Rummy 6. Nosaac 7. "Honest" Brute 8. "Father" Thumb Dolmayan 9. Index Dunham 10. "Uncle" Middle Flatwell 11. Ring Freddie 12. Rokumonsen 13. Gun One Michigan 14. Gun Two Nile 15. Gun Three Wu Hua Hai 16. Gun Four Volta 17. Gun Five "Mistake" Iguazu 18. Gun Six Red 19. V.I Freud 20. V.II Snail 21. V.III O'Keeffe 22. V.IV Rusty 23. V.V Hawkins 24. V.VI Maeterlink 25. V.VII Swinburne 26. V.VIII Pater 27. Augmented Human C4-621 "Raven" 28. Raven (Branch) 29. Raven's Operator 30. Chartreuse 31. King 32. Augmented Human C1-249 "Sulla" 33. Planetary Closure Administration Enforcement System 34. Kate Markson 35. Coldcall

We assure you that though you have not heard of the independent mercenary Kate Markson, she is very capable and quite attractive.

Please submit any individuals we may have missed.

The tournament will begin shortly.

[epidaleacalamita]

planetary closure administration engineers explaining how putting a big very shootable weakpoint on the front of an otherwise invulnerable tank makes it a "highly versatile threat":

[deep--dive]

There were no winners at the close of the Coral War. When the storm of fire finally faded, only the ashes of civilization remained. Ruined and haunted, the corporations made a joint announcement with the Planetary Closure Administration. Rubicon was to be abandoned. Left a dead planet, forever...

from ARMORED CORE VI: FIRES OF RUBICON (2023)

[thecollectorlab]

Bipartisan US Planetary Science Caucus 'alarmed' by Trump's possible plans to slash NASA budget and block Mars Sample Return

Last week, reports started making rounds online about how the Trump administration could cut NASA's science budget for the upcoming fiscal year by almost half. Such a decision could lead to the closure of Goddard Space Flight Center, the cancellation of highly anticipated missions like Mars Sample Return (MSR), and perhaps even interference with active spacecraft like the Voyagers.Those reports,

Read More: You won't believe what happens next... Click here!

[steel-coffin]

The Planetary Closure Administration was lying. Keep pilebunking their gay asses.

I love that thing mecha does where a big robot picks another robot up by the cockpit and/or head and then pilebunkers them. this is what all storywriting tradition was building towards.

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Life on Venus? Astronomers See a Signal in Its Clouds (NYT) High in the toxic atmosphere of the planet Venus, astronomers on Earth have discovered signs of what might be life. If the discovery is confirmed by additional telescope observations and future space missions, it could turn the gaze of scientists toward one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Venus, named after the Roman goddess of beauty, roasts at temperatures of hundreds of degrees and is cloaked by clouds that contain droplets of corrosive sulfuric acid. Few have focused on the rocky planet as a habitat for something living. The astronomers, who reported the finding on Monday in a pair of papers, have not collected specimens of Venusian microbes, nor have they snapped any pictures of them. But with powerful telescopes, they have detected a chemical—phosphine—in the thick Venus atmosphere. After much analysis, the scientists assert that something now alive is the only explanation for the chemical’s source. Some researchers question this hypothesis, and they suggest instead that the gas could result from unexplained atmospheric or geologic processes on a planet that remains mysterious. But the finding will also encourage some planetary scientists to ask whether humanity has overlooked a planet that may have once been more Earthlike than any other world in our solar system.

Global views of U.S. plunge to new lows amid pandemic, poll finds (Washington Post) President Trump defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic during an interview with Fox News over the weekend, arguing that he took “tremendous steps” early in the outbreak, which “saved probably two or two and a half million lives.” But the rest of the world does not appear to share in the conclusions of his self appraisal. In a new poll of 13 nations released Tuesday, a median of 15 percent of respondents said the United States had handled the pandemic well, while 85 percent said the country had responded poorly. The data, released by Pew Research Center, suggests that the international reputation of the United States has dropped to a new low in the face of a disorganized response to the novel coronavirus that saw the country come to lead the world in virus-related deaths. Among some traditional allies like Germany, views of the United States have declined to the lowest levels since Pew began tracking them nearly two decades ago.

400,000 Immigrants Can Be Forced to Leave the U.S., Court Rules (NYT) A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that the Trump administration acted within its authority in terminating legal protections that have allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants to live and work legally in the United States, sometimes for decades, after fleeing conflict or natural disasters in their home countries. The 2-1 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit effectively strips legal immigration status from some 400,000 people, rendering them deportable if they do not voluntarily leave the country. The decision affects the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries of a program offering what is known as “temporary protected status,” which has permitted them to remain in the United States after being uprooted from their unstable homelands. The Trump administration has argued that the emergency conditions that existed when people were invited to come to the United States—earthquakes, hurricanes, civil war—had occurred long ago. The program, it said, had inadvertently conferred permanent immigration status for people from places like El Salvador, Haiti and Sudan, most of whom it said no longer needed safe haven. The long-awaited decision does not immediately end the protections. The Trump administration has agreed to maintain them until at least March 5, 2021, for people from five of the affected countries and until November 2021 for people from El Salvador.

Triple the U.S. population? (Washington Post) Much of the recent debate over immigration to the United States has been about how to reduce it. Matthew Yglesias, a Vox co-founder, offers a different idea: Increase immigration—by a lot. His new book, “One Billion Americans,” argues for radically increasing the country’s population through immigration and a higher birthrate. Yglesias points out that even if all of the new Americans lived in the continental U.S., it would still have less than half the population density of Germany. And only if the U.S. vastly increases its population can it hope to keep pace with the growing power of authoritarian China, he argues. “Rather than being paralyzed by racial panic, ecopessimism, or paranoia about the loss of parking spaces,” he writes, “America should aspire to be the greatest nation on earth.”

Choking air from Western fires just won’t ease up (AP) Relief from putrid, dangerous air spewing from massive wildfires across the West won’t come until later in the week or beyond, scientists and forecasters say, and the hazy and gunk-filled skies might stick around for even longer. People in Oregon, Washington and parts of California were struggling under acrid yellowish-green smog—the worst, most unhealthy air on the planet according to some measurements. It seeped into homes and businesses, sneaked into cars through air conditioning vents and caused the closure of iconic locations such as Powell’s Books and the Oregon Zoo in Portland, the state’s biggest city. The air was so thick that on Monday Alaska Airlines announced it was suspending service to Portland and Spokane, Washington, until Tuesday afternoon. Hazy, smoky skies fouled Washington state and experts said some parts of California might not see relief until next month. Some areas of central California blanketed by smoke are not likely to see relief until October, said Dan Borsum, the incident meteorologist for a fire in Northern California.

US tariffs on China ruled to be illegal by world trade body (AP) The World Trade Organization said Tuesday that Trump administration tariffs on Chinese goods totaling more than $200 billion are illegal under the rules of the global trade body. In its decision, the WTO ruled against the Trump administration’s argument that China has engaged in practices harmful to U.S. interests, on issues including intellectual property theft, technology transfer and innovation. The ruling, in theory, would allow China to impose retaliatory tariffs on billions worth of U.S. goods—if the process is completed. But the U.S. government can appeal the decision announced by the WTO’s dispute settlement body, and the WTO’s appeals court is currently no longer functioning—largely because of Washington’s single-handed refusal to accept new members for it. The U.S. tariffs target two batches of Chinese products. Duties of 10% were imposed on some $200 billion worth of goods in September 2018, and were jacked up to 25% eight months later. An additional 25% duties were imposed in June 2018 against Chinese goods worth about $34 billion in annual trade.

Venezuela says it has captured American ‘mercenary’ plotting to blow up power plants, oil refineries (Washington Post) Venezuela’s authoritarian government claimed Monday that it had dismantled a covert operation to blow up power plants and oil facilities to destabilize the socialist state, saying it had detained eight plotters including an American traveling with heavy arms, explosives, surveillance footage and cash. In a nationally televised address, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said active members of the Venezuelan military had aided the American, identified by authorities as Matthew John Heath. Saab said that Heath had a background working “as a mercenary” for U.S. intelligence in Iraq and that items in his possession had linked him to the CIA. Saab did not provide evidence for the claims. If true, the alleged plot would be the latest in a series of foiled operations against the government of President Nicolás Maduro. In May, two former U.S. Green Berets—Airan Berry, 42, and Luke Denman, 34—were detained on the Venezuelan coast in connection with a ragtag raid aimed at capturing or ousting the autocratic leader.

Fear in Northern Ireland, as Boris Johnson threatens the E.U. over Brexit (Washington Post) Boris Johnson is moving forward on his threat to override the Brexit withdrawal agreement with the European Union — a move that every living former British prime minister warns against — and the people of Northern Ireland again find themselves fearful that decisions made in London and Brussels could upend the hard-won peace and prosperity on the island. Britain will leave the European Union at the end of 2020, with or without a new free-trade deal, Johnson promises. With just three months to go before the end of a transition period, a pact between the sides seems as far away as ever. Relations between Europe and Britain have grown shouty, underlining the high stakes of the showdown, as Britain and Europe both struggle to recover from deep pandemic recessions. Rachel Powell grew up in South Armagh, where during the Troubles a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was patrolled by British troops, often attacked by Irish Republican militants. She said she’s deeply concerned about what will happen next. “The British government has not got a clue about what it is like to live on the border, and it is again using it as a political football,” said Powell. Powell said border communities are “horrified” over the uncertainties and brinkmanship of Brexit.

Japan’s Next Prime Minister Emerges From Behind the Curtain (NYT) Yoshihide Suga charted an unlikely course to the cusp of Japan’s premiership. While most leading Japanese lawmakers come from elite political families, Mr. Suga is the son of a strawberry farmer and a schoolteacher from the country’s rural north. He is known more for expressionless recitations of government policy than flashes of charisma. And at 71, he’s even older than Shinzo Abe, who suddenly announced in late August that he was resigning as prime minister because of ill health. Yet on Monday, Mr. Suga, the longtime chief cabinet secretary to Mr. Abe, was overwhelmingly elected as leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party during a conclave at a luxury Tokyo hotel. The party has governed Japan for all but four years since World War II and controls Parliament, virtually assuring that Mr. Suga will be elected prime minister during a special session this week. He will have to hit the ground running. Mr. Suga will take office in the middle of a pandemic that has devastated Japan’s economy, effectively erasing years of growth under Mr. Abe. Japan also is facing deepening pressure from China and North Korea. While Mr. Suga has vowed to pick up where Mr. Abe left off, but he has never clearly articulated his own vision for Japan, the world’s third-largest economy.

Indonesia to beef-up patrols after China coastguard raises suspicion (Reuters) Indonesia will increase maritime security operations near some of its islands in the South China Sea after a Chinese coastguard vessel was spotted nearby, raising suspicions about its intentions, a senior security official said on Tuesday. The vessel entered Indonesia’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the northern Natuna islands on Saturday and left on Monday after radio challenges over jurisdiction, Aan Kurnia, chief of the maritime security agency, Bakamla, told Reuters. Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, said the ship was undertaking “normal patrol duties in waters under Chinese jurisdiction”. While China has made no claim to islands, the presence of its coastguard nearly 2,000 km (1,243 miles) off its mainland has concerned Indonesia, after numerous encounters between Chinese vessels in the EEZs of Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, which disrupted fishing and energy activities. A weeks-long standoff occurred 10 months ago when a Chinese coastguard vessel and accompanying fishing boats entered the northern Natuna Sea, prompting Indonesia to send fighter jets and mobilise its own fishermen.

Violence in the Ivory Coast (Foreign Policy) Protests against Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara’s decision to seek a third term as president have turned violent in the country’s largest city, Abidjan. The violence centered on a district loyal to former President Laurent Gbagbo, whose loss to Ouattara in the presidential election in 2010 plunged the country into a civil war that killed around 3,000 people. The recent surge of violence has raised concerns that next month’s election could spark a return to war. Ouattara has faced widespread criticism due to the constitution’s ban on individuals serving more than two terms as president. But he and his supporters argue that because the constitution was ratified in 2016, it does not apply to Ouattara, who started his term in office in 2010.

Millions of African children rely on TV education during pandemic (Reuters) Five-year-old Kenyan student Miguel Munene sits between his parents, holding their hands as he watches cartoon characters teaching him to pronounce “fish”. The television has replaced Munene’s teachers and classmates after the government shut schools indefinitely in March to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. They are closed until at least January. Many children don’t have the option to learn online—the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF says at least half of sub-Saharan Africa’s schoolchildren do not have internet access. So some, like Munene, watch a cartoon made by Tanzanian non-profit organisation Ubongo, which offers television and radio content for free to African broadcasters. “Other programmes are just for fun, but Ubongo is helping children,” Miguel’s mother Celestine Wanjiru told Reuters. “He can now differentiate a lot of shapes and colours, both in English and Swahili.” In March, programmes by Ubongo—the Kiswahili word for brain—were broadcast to an area covering about 12 million households in nine countries, said Iman Lipumba, Ubongo’s head of communications. That rose to 17 million in 20 countries by August.

Zimbabwe government abuses critics, allege rights groups (AP) Godfrey Kurauone, a Zimbabwean opposition official, sang a protest song at the funeral of a party member in July. For that, and other political charges, he spent 42 days in jail before the prosecution dropped one charge, and acquitted him of another charge of blocking traffic. Hopewell Chin’ono, an investigative journalist who used his Twitter account to expose alleged government corruption, was held in the notorious Chikurubi maximum security prison for nearly six weeks before being granted bail on charges of inciting violence for tweeting his support for an anti-government protest. Internationally acclaimed author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga spent a night in detention for standing by a Harare road and holding up a placard that said “We Want Better. Reform Our Institutions.” From tweeting to Whatsapp texting, singing in public or marching in the streets, those who speak out against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government are finding themselves in trouble. Some have been abducted and tortured, according to human rights groups.

[sciencespies]

NASA Projects Slowed by COVID-19, but New Mars Rover Perseveres

https://sciencespies.com/news/nasa-projects-slowed-by-covid-19-but-new-mars-rover-perseveres/

NASA Projects Slowed by COVID-19, but New Mars Rover Perseveres

Several NASA missions have now been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but as of Friday March 20th, the 2020 Mars rover Perseverance remains on track for takeoff this July.

Last Thursday, NASA announced the closing of the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and the Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. The closures reflect NASA’s highest level of emergency response, which makes the buildings accessible only to maintain security and critical infrastructure. Employees are required to work from home, so projects that can only be done in the facilities—like building rockets—has to wait.

“Technology allows us to do a lot of what we need to do remotely,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement on Friday. “But, where hands-on work is required, it is difficult or impossible to comply with CDC guidelines while processing spaceflight hardware, and where we can’t safely do that we’re going to have to suspend work and focus on the mission critical activities.”

The Michoud Assembly Facility is the construction site of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, a modern, more powerful successor to the Saturn V, and Stennis Space Center is the rocket’s testing site. Just like the Saturn V ferried the Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon in the Columbia module in 1969, the SLS will be the vehicle for NASA’s Artemis program, carrying astronauts in the Orion capsule.

NASA has planned to return astronauts to the moon by 2024, but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the shutdowns have required facilities to “temporarily suspend production and testing of Space Launch System and Orion hardware,” Bridenstine said in a statement on Thursday.

There was one confirmed case of the virus at Stennis Space Center, and even though there were no cases confirmed at the Michoud facility, Bridenstine cites a rise in COVID-19 cases in the surrounding area for its shutdown. Development of the SLS had already been delayed for years and a full test launch wasn’t expected until 2021, per the New York Times’ Kenneth Chang.

NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and the Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi are under “stage 4” emergency response. The Kennedy Space Center remains under “stage 3” until further notice to keep the launch of the Perseverance Mars rover on track.

(NASA)

The James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble satellite’s successor, will also be impacted by the shutdowns, NASA’s science mission directorate associate administrator Thomas H. Zurbuchen confirmed during a virtual town hall last Friday, per the New York Times. The James Webb Space Telescope, known for its stunning unfolding mirror, is scheduled to launch in March 2021 after years of delays.

��Many people have asked us about James Webb, and of course, it will be impacted, even though it is one of our top priorities,” Zurbuchen said. “It is anticipated by early April, the Webb project could be experiencing a day-for-day schedule impact to its critical path as an increased number of activities come to a halt.”

Other missions remain on schedule. In early April, astronaut Chris Cassidy will join two cosmonauts on a launch to the International Space Station, albeit with less fanfare than usual. Normally, dozens of guests from family to co-workers watch from a crowded room, behind glass, as astronauts put on their spacesuits. Cassidy will say good-bye to his wife three weeks earlier than expected and will have no guests at his April 9 launch to the ISS from a facility in Kazakhstan.

The space agencies already followed a two-week quarantine protocol for anyone travelling to the ISS. In the past, similar measures have prevented astronauts from travelling to space. For example, astronaut Ken Mattingly could not join the Apollo 13 mission after being exposed to rubella and was removed from the crew three days before the launch April 1970.

NASA officials have also given assurances that the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance is on track for a launch in July. According to a statement by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Thursday, the six-wheeled rover has just gotten its sample handling systems installed at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Kennedy Space Center is currently one level of emergency response below a total shutdown, which means non-essential staff are teleworking, meetings are conducted virtually, and only mission-essential personel.

“We’re going to ensure that we meet that launch window in July,” NASA’s planetary science division director Lori Glaze said during the said during a Thursday virtual town hall, while prioritizing the health and safety of personnel, Per Jeff Faust at SpaceNews. Glaze continued, “As of right now, and even if we go to a next stage of alert, Mars 2020 is moving forward on schedule and everything is, so far, very well on track.”

On March 23, however, it was announced that one Kennedy Space Center employee tested positive for COVID-19, reports Emre Kelly for Florida Today. Officials say that the employee has been teleworking for more than ten days, and they do not believe the individual was contagious when they were last present at the facility.

“This employee was last at the center more than 10 days ago,” says Tracy Young, a Kennedy Space Center spokesperson. “Based on the circumstances and elapsed time since the employee was on site, we believe it was acquired after they had started teleworking and there is no additional risk at the center from this person.”

Perseverance’s most recently integrated components are a set of drill bits that the rover will use to sample Mars dust, the sample collection arm and a space to store the samples. If Perseverance’s launch were delayed, it would have to wait until 2022 for Earth’s and Mars’ orbits to line up again. But, whether now or in 2022, Perseverance’s launch will go on.

In the virtual town hall on March 20th, Zurbuchen said, “Teams are doing, frankly, heroes’ work to keep us on track for a July launch.”

#News

[strykingback]

Adding onto this especially with how I mentioned Armored Core 6 stating: No You Aint towards RWBY and its show of "The horrors of what corporations can do"

Oh and before I continue

Spoilers ahead for Both Armored Core 6 !!

In Rubicon 3 there is a very valuable resource upon that planet called Coral. Which is used a new fuel source and used for research and devleopment for new technological advancements. Right off the GODDAMN BAT that is a reference to corporations that rely on fuel sources for money like oil, coal, or natural gases. However on the other side of it are people who seek to study about say like a new element of some sort.

However, all was well until the Fires of Ibis. Laymans terms here. The Coral literally went Nuclear and wiped out life on Rubicon 3 and those who survived were only called Cinders. Ha, get it. Cinder and Cinders... okay back to what I was talking about. But this leads to a one century wait until the coral is finally returning and every corporations wants a piece of that coral.

This leads into the Coral Wars where corporations just dont give a flying damn about whose side your on and what you stand for. If you are in the way of getting their coral, then you deserve nothing more than getting your teeth kicked in. But here comes the kicker.... the Coral is basically FUCKING SENTIENT. yeah.. imagine using a sentient energy source as fuel...

Anyways it leads into the main character Raven an independent mercenary taking on jobs from the highest bidder while working with two major companies you'll be meeting the most being Arquebus and Balam. And Ayre a Rubiconian who initiated contact with Raven and became symbiotically attached to them. With everyone on all sides having their own Armored Cores to fight against each other and even leading to them having their own chats with 621 (Raven) or insulting them per boss dialogue.

Yet there is also the Planetary Closure Administration wants the war to come to an end... but the Corporations dont want it to end so long as Coral Exists and for any RWBY stan about hop onto this. There is the RLF the Rubicon Liberation Force where they take the fight to the PCA, Arquebus, and Balam! Talk about having more stones than the White Fang.

But when you begin to near the final chapters of the game you have to make HUGE decision. Due to Arquebus meddling and even having you eliminate Balam's Redguns, and them finding a HUGE Coral mining siphon....and with Carla activating the floating ship Xylem in order to stop the Coral from spreading as both her and Walter were survivors of the first Fires of Ibis as they both agree if Coral were to appear once again they would have to burn it..... by doing A SECOND FIRES OF IBIS.

So what do you wanna do? Choice A: Burn the Coral Choice B: Stand Up For What Is Right And Find Another Way for Humanity and Coral to co-exist (Remember Coral is SENTIENT)

If you chose Choice A. Congratulations player. You got the bad ending. Not only does your choice lead to a final boss battle between you and your partner Ayre. it leads to a terrifying ending where the Coral is burned and You LITERALLY caused a mass genocide where even the companies are not safe from this as they even lose a MASSIVE amount of their forces as well as lots of riches and stuff...

This causes them to back off and join hands with the PCA to declare that Rubicon 3 is a dead planet.... so yeah.. you basically genocided a whole planet plus anything surrounding Rubicon 3 ......all for the worries of a man who had to witness the Fires of Ibis and worried about it going nuclear again.

If you chose Choice B. My friend, You have chosen the Good Ending. because in this ending, you literally need all the help you can get against Arquebus, since they're the only company standing in your way at this point. What better than to look towards for help is the RLF. And what was the rallying cry to get them to help? Ayre said it best.

"Beyond Scorched Skies, Raven Fights On"

RWBY EAT YOUR FUCKING HEART OUT. Because Armored Core used a HUGE plot device that is JUST perfect for this ending THIS IS HOW YOU USE A RESISTANCE FORCE. Not only does it cause everyone around ALL of Rubicon to stand up and fight against the corporations the first one to respond is your buddy that comes in during Operation Wallclimber.

Sadly, the final boss for this ending is Walter. So you are basically fighting your mentor as well.. as it is VERY depressing....even the music doesnt make it easy. Remember how I talked about Arquebus.. yeah in one of the missions they capture both Raven and Walter for reeducation and while we end up escaping Walter gets reeducated and is forced to fight Raven. Thankfully, you put Walter out of his misery and fly off into the sunset mission complete as the Xylem crashes leaving Rubicon to decide their own fate for themselves. As it is possible that Arquebus is pushed out of Rubicon along with the PCA leaving Rubicon a free and independent planet.

Armored Core 6 had shown the horrors of what corporations can do..

But Hey thats Just a Theory A Game Theory!!!

RWBY: We did a much better job showing the horrors of what corportations did in Remnant.

Armored Core 6:

[dontletmeontheinternet]

SpaceX Tries Buying Out Homeowners Around Starhopper's Texas Launchpad

SpaceX "built its experimental spaceport in and around Boca Chica Village, a decades-old community of about 20 elderly residents," reports Business Insider. But now "SpaceX is trying to buy as much of Boca Chica Village as it can and move people out...following an accidental brush fire, public-safety notices warning of the possibility for explosions, and a push to have the Federal Aviation Administration approve orbital-class launches with larger rockets." "When SpaceX first identified Cameron County as a potential spaceport location, we did not anticipate that local residents would experience significant disruption from our presence," the letter said. "However, it has become clear that expansion of spaceflight activities as well as compliance with Federal Aviation Administration and other public safety regulations will make it increasingly more challenging to minimize disruption to residents of the Village... SpaceX is offering you three times the independently appraised fair market value of your property," the letter said. "The offer is good through two weeks from the date of this letter...." For those who commit to a sale, SpaceX said it would cover closing and other real-estate costs. It also comes packaged with an additional perk. "SpaceX recognizes that your close proximity to its operations has offered a unique opportunity to experience at close-hand the development of what will be the world's most advanced rocket. In appreciation of your support, we will offer all residents of the Village who accept the purchase offer the opportunity to continue their connection with the development of Starship by extending an invitation to attend future private VIP launch viewing events that are unavailable to the public." Homeowner Cheryl Stevens complained to CBS News that the company has encroached on their neighborhood. "They're behaving as if this is Cape Canaveral. And it's not. It's not a military base. It's just a regular neighborhood, and a public beach, and a state highway. And suddenly, because they're here, stop the presses. Everything has to change for SpaceX." SpaceX issued the following statement to CBS News: "We are entering a new and exciting era in space exploration and Texas is playing an increasingly important role in our efforts to help make humanity multi-planetary. "As we develop Starship -- the world's most advanced launch system ever -- we are listening and responding to our neighbors' concerns and are striving to minimize disruptions as much as possible. We are working closely with Cameron County to facilitate public safety and provide regular road and beach closure updates to the public through a telephone hotline and on Cameron County's website."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

from Slashdot https://ift.tt/2IhDb7P

[onsumocom]

Slashdot: SpaceX Tries Buying Out Homeowners Around Starhopper's Texas Launchpad

SpaceX Tries Buying Out Homeowners Around Starhopper's Texas Launchpad Published on September 21, 2019 at 11:34AM SpaceX "built its experimental spaceport in and around Boca Chica Village, a decades-old community of about 20 elderly residents," reports Business Insider. But now "SpaceX is trying to buy as much of Boca Chica Village as it can and move people out...following an accidental brush fire, public-safety notices warning of the possibility for explosions, and a push to have the Federal Aviation Administration approve orbital-class launches with larger rockets." "When SpaceX first identified Cameron County as a potential spaceport location, we did not anticipate that local residents would experience significant disruption from our presence," the letter said. "However, it has become clear that expansion of spaceflight activities as well as compliance with Federal Aviation Administration and other public safety regulations will make it increasingly more challenging to minimize disruption to residents of the Village... SpaceX is offering you three times the independently appraised fair market value of your property," the letter said. "The offer is good through two weeks from the date of this letter...." For those who commit to a sale, SpaceX said it would cover closing and other real-estate costs. It also comes packaged with an additional perk. "SpaceX recognizes that your close proximity to its operations has offered a unique opportunity to experience at close-hand the development of what will be the world's most advanced rocket. In appreciation of your support, we will offer all residents of the Village who accept the purchase offer the opportunity to continue their connection with the development of Starship by extending an invitation to attend future private VIP launch viewing events that are unavailable to the public." Homeowner Cheryl Stevens complained to CBS News that the company has encroached on their neighborhood. "They're behaving as if this is Cape Canaveral. And it's not. It's not a military base. It's just a regular neighborhood, and a public beach, and a state highway. And suddenly, because they're here, stop the presses. Everything has to change for SpaceX." SpaceX issued the following statement to CBS News: "We are entering a new and exciting era in space exploration and Texas is playing an increasingly important role in our efforts to help make humanity multi-planetary. "As we develop Starship -- the world's most advanced launch system ever -- we are listening and responding to our neighbors' concerns and are striving to minimize disruptions as much as possible. We are working closely with Cameron County to facilitate public safety and provide regular road and beach closure updates to the public through a telephone hotline and on Cameron County's website."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

[compare-wp10]

Facing pandemic, NASA shutters rocket factory, halts SLS and Orion testing – Spaceflight Now

NASA announced Thursday that work on the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and Orion crew capsule at facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi is being halted due to the spreading coronavirus pandemic, a stoppage that could force further delays on the already behind-schedule and over-budget programs. Meanwhile, NASA officials said Thursday they are making plans to try and keep the agency’s next Mars rover and the multibillion-dollar James Webb Space Telescope on schedule for launches in later this year and in 2021. NASA has elevated the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana to Stage 4 of the agency’s Response Framework, forcing the closure of both sites to nearly all employees, effective Friday. At Stennis, NASA and Boeing teams were readying the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System for a series of critical tests in the coming months, culminating in a test-firing of the rocket’s four main engines that had been scheduled for early August. With the shutdown of Stennis, that testing will be delayed. SLS core stages are manufactured at the Michoud plant in New Orleans, and pressure vessels of Orion crew capsules are welded there. The SLS and Orion vehicles are the centerpieces of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts at the moon’s south pole before the end of 2024, a goal that was already widely considered ambitious. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said a Stennis employee has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. “The change at Stennis was made due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the community around the center, the number of self-isolation cases within our workforce there, and one confirmed case among our Stennis team,” Bridenstine said in a statement. “While there are no confirmed cases at Michoud, the facility is moving to Stage 4 due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the local area, in accordance with local and federal guidelines.” The only other NASA center elevated to Stage 4 to date is the Ames Research Center in California. All other agency facilities are at Stage 3, where only “mission-essential” personnel are allowed to work on site. With the elevation of Stennis and Michoud to Stage 4, only employees “required to maintain the safety and security of the center” will come to work. All other staff at Stennis and Michoud will work remotely. “Additionally, all travel is suspended,” Bridenstine said late Thursday. “These measures are being taken to help slow the transmission of COVID-19 and protect our communities.” Bridenstine confirmed the decision to effectively shut down operations Stennis and Michoud will affect the SLS and Orion programs. “NASA will temporarily suspend production and testing of Space Launch System and Orion hardware,” Bridenstine said. “The NASA and contractors teams will complete an orderly shutdown that puts all hardware in a safe condition until work can resume. Once this is complete, personnel allowed onsite will be limited to those needed to protect life and critical infrastructure. “We realize there will be impacts to NASA missions, but as our teams work to analyze the full picture and reduce risks we understand that our top priority is the health and safety of the NASA workforce,” he said. The SLS core stage currently on the test stand at Stennis is slated to lift off next year on the Artemis 1 mission, an unpiloted test flight carrying an Orion spacecraft to lunar orbit and back to Earth. Boeing, the core stage’s prime contractor, finished assembly of the 212-foot-long (65-meter) rocket structure late last year. At the end of 2019, NASA had obligated $14.8 billion on the SLS program, with the rocket’s inaugural launch still more than a year way, the agency’s inspector general reported earlier this month. The first SLS core stage rolled out of the Michoud factory in January and rode a NASA barge to the Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi for a series of control system checkouts, a cryogenic fueling test, and a full-duration firing of all four engines, which are leftovers from the space shuttle program. The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission recently completed a battery of thermal vacuum and electromagnetic tests inside a giant chamber at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio. The Orion spacecraft, comprised of a U.S.-made crew module and a European-built service module, was scheduled to ride a NASA transport plane from Ohio to the Kennedy Space Center on March 24 to begin final preparations for liftoff next year. As of Wednesday, the spacecraft’s arrival back in Florida was still scheduled for March 24, but an update on the transport plans was not immediately available Thursday night. Meanwhile, production of core stages for future SLS rockets is underway at Michoud. That work will be suspended now that Michoud has been elevated to Stage 4 status. The Space Launch System and Orion are two of NASA’s largest programs. NASA and its international partners are expected to continue operations aboard the International Space Station, which has been home to astronauts continuously since 2000. The station’s next three-man crew is scheduled for launch April 9 on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA said Wednesday that the first piloted test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, developed with NASA funding, is scheduled for launch in mid-to-late May from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are training for the mission, which will dock with the space station. The liftoff of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of a Falcon 9 rocket will be the first launch of astronauts into orbit from a U.S. spaceport since the retirement of the space shuttle in July 2011. NASA said it would follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the agency’s chief health and medical officer for updates that may impact the Crew Dragon mission. “I will continue to say, so none of us forget – there is no team better prepared for doing hard things,” Bridenstine said. “Take care of yourself, your family, and your NASA team.” NASA plans to continue work on Mars rover, James Webb Space Telescope The coronavirus pandemic could have far-reaching impacts across a range of NASA missions, but agency officials said Thursday they will attempt to insulate two of NASA’s most critical robotic science missions from delays caused by COVID-19-related closures. Lori Glaze, head of NASA’s planetary science division, said the Perseverance rover remains on schedule for liftoff during a limited 20-day window opening July 17. If the mission — also known as Mars 2020 — misses this summer’s launch window, the next chance to send the rover to Mars won’t be until 2022, a delay that could add to the $2.5 billion mission’s price tag. “We’ve put together a framework … with which to look at each of the missions and what points we want to continue working on them,” Glaze said in a virtual town hall meeting Thursday with members of the planetary science community. “And Mars 2020 is one of only two missions within (NASA’s science directorate) that is the very highest priority … We’re going to ensure that we meet that launch window in July. “In so doing, we’re also making sure that our personnel are healthy and safe,” Glaze said. “We’re taking every precaution to make sure that those individuals that are working on Mars 2020 are going to work in conditions and have an environment where they’re able to stay safe. But we’re continuing the activities, the integration and test activities, that are going on at Kennedy Space Center.” The Perseverance rover arrived at the Kennedy Space Center last month from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Inside a pristine, climate-controlled clean room at the Florida spaceport, the rover will be installed on its landing platform and attached to a cruise stage that will carry it from Earth to Mars. Then the spacecraft will be enclosed within the nose cone of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket and trucked to the Atlas 5’s seaside launch complex for lifting atop the vehicle. Once in place, teams will add the rover’s plutonium power generator. Glaze said members of the Mars 2020 team from KSC, JPL, NASA Headquarters and the Department of Energy — responsible for the nuclear power source — have given their “full support” for the plan. “As of right now, and even if we go to a next stage of alert, Mars 2020 is moving forward on schedule and everything is so far very well on track,” Glaze said. “At this point, we don’t see any impact from the current situation.” The Perseverance rover mission is one of two high-priority projects within NASA’s science division that are pre-approved to continue work even if the agency elevates all centers to Stage 4 in the coronavirus response plan. The other mission is the James Webb Space Telescope, according to Grey Hautaluoma, a NASA spokesperson. The Webb telescope is currently scheduled for launch in March 2021, but officials are expected to reassess that schedule in May after recent delays in testing at the observatory’s Northrop Grumman factory in California. Glaze said Thursday that NASA is prioritizing work on missions with near-term launch dates. Some delays will be inescapable. Jim Reuter, head of NASA’s space technology mission directorate, said Thursday that the agency was planning to fly experiments in June on a suborbital launch by Blue Origin’a New Glenn rocket. Given with situation with the coronavirus pandemic, which has strongly impacted areas around Blue Origin’s headquarters in Kent, Washington, a June launch of that mission is looking “pretty unlikely,” Reuter said. Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.