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The biggest challenge (or constraint) is the mass of the payload (spacecraft, people, fuel, supplies etc) needed to make the journey. The payload mass is usually just a small percentage of the total mass of the launch vehicle. For example, the Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 11 to the Moon weighed 3,000 tons. But it could launch only 140 tons (5% of its initial launch mass) to low Earth orbit, and 50 tons (less than 2% of its initial launch mass) to the Moon. Mass constrains the size of a Mars spacecraft and what it can do in space....

ROME — The Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary has issued a decree granting special plenary indulgences, that is, full elimination of temporal punishment in Purgatory for a forgiven sin, during the “Year of St. Joseph.” The practice, which dates back to medieval times, has been deemed unbiblical by evangelicals.On Dec. 8, Jorge Bergoglio, also known as “Pope Francis,” announced a special “Year of St. Joseph” to mark the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX’s proclamation of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, as the “patron of the Universal Church.”He made the announcement in a Patris Corde (translated “Heart of the Father”) letter...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp and ArcelorMittal SA will spend $775 million to build an electric arc furnace at their U.S. joint venture in Alabama, with a planned start date in the first half of 2023, Nippon Steel said on Tuesday. The new furnace, to be constructed at their 50-50 joint venture AM/NS Calvert, will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes and will produce hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated steel sheets. Calvert currently produces steel sheet products by processing semi-finished products, or slabs, procured from local and overseas suppliers. With the new furnace, Calvert will be...

When Jesus strode through the ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem, his feet met hewn-stone, earth-tone tiles that were geometric in design and cool, dappled and scuffed to the touch. Such is the understanding of Israeli archaeologists and masons who, drawing on relics and historical texts, have recreated the sacred flooring so it can be experienced today. “We even made the scratches and all kind of marks that created the same appearance as it used to look like at the time,” archaeologist Assaf Avraham told Reuters near the one- metre square, ankle-high replica on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem’s Old...

U.S. Army scientists are analyzing a new COVID-19 strain found in the United Kingdom and investigating if the current vaccines are sufficient to fight it. Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research last week began analyzing data to determine the extent of the new mutated variant's danger and to try and determine if the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will fight off the strain."It stands to reason that this mutation isn't a threat, but you never know," Nelson Michael, a doctor at the Center for Infectious Diseases Research at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, told CNN. "We...

A woman accused of killing seven people, including a three-year-old girl, went on trial in eastern China on Monday after 20 years on the run. Lao Rongzhi, 46, apologised to the victims’ families but denied that her involvement was “intentional”, saying she had been in an abusive relationship and had been forced to take part in the crimes, according to local media reports. A tearful Lao told Nanchang Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangxi province that she did not want to kill anyone and tried to break up with her boyfriend Fa Ziying many times, but he refused to let her...

The first televised victims of Covid were collapsing in the streets everywhere in Wuhan. For the rest of the world, the vast majority learned they had Covid via a test or having flu-like symptoms. Covid is now essentially non-existent in Wuhan, its birth place, while it grows more infectious in virtually all other parts of the world. The Covid survival rate is 99.98% but wearing a mask and closing down the economy is necessary. Mask wearing and shutdowns has essentially eliminated the flu. Wearing a mask in a restaurant from the door to where you are seated will reduce the...

Team Trump attorney Jenna Ellis is advising the president against use of the Insurrection Act as he continues to contest the results of the November election. The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a federal law that gives the president the authority, under very specific circumstances, to deploy the U.S. armed forces to quell civil disorder, rebellion, or insurrection. As explained by Ellis, in this case it would involve the president taking "the military and going to seize assets in state sovereignties," for example the Dominion Voting Systems machines. "Certainly, I would not advise that the American people want that" because...

The attorney Sidney Powell was spotted on Sunday leaving the White House, where the New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman cited a source saying she had been advocating an executive order that would allow for voting machines to be collected and examined. The CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond said that he saw Powell leaving the residence side of the White House but that she denied meeting with President Donald Trump. It is not clear whether the president is interested in such an executive order, but Haberman said the president's staff had told him it's not a legally valid option....

Several members of Congress just finished a meeting in the Oval Office with President @realDonaldTrump, preparing to fight back against mounting evidence of voter fraud. Stay tuned.— Mark Meadows (@MarkMeadows) December 21, 2020 Several members of Congress just finished a meeting in the Oval Office with President Trump, preparing to fight back against mounting evidence of voter fraud. Stay tuned.

Newsmax caves to Dominion and Smartmatic legal threats…Posted by Kane on December 21, 2020 9:41 pmNEWS JUNKIES -- CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGENewsmax caves to #Dominion and #Smartmatic. Goes further than complying with cease and desist; basically reading a press release for them. Horrifying.No lawyer will advise their client to do this. Especially, while they allege they’ve reported nothing.pic.twitter.com/Tlg3aoftkj— Ali 🟧 #StopTheSteal (@ali) December 21, 2020 “Newsmax has found no evidence that either Dominion or Smartmatic owns the other or has any business association with each other. We have no evidence that Dominion uses Smartmatic software or vice versa. No evidence...

Antonio Mugica was in Boca Raton when an American presidential election really melted down in 2000, and he watched with shocked fascination as local government officials argued over hanging chads and butterfly ballots. It was so bad, so incompetent, that Mr. Mugica, a young Venezuelan software engineer, decided to shift the focus of his digital security company, Smartmatic, which had been working for banks. It would offer its services to what would obviously be a growth industry: electronic voting machines. He began building a global company that ultimately provided voting machinery and software for elections from Brazil to Belgium and...

Work is being carried out to develop coronavirus freedom 'passports' that will allow those who have tested negative to enter pubs, schools and workplaces. Two firms have been awarded Government contracts for exploratory work on a new app that would allow people to prove they do not have Covid. The Department of Health said no decisions had been made on introducing the passport. The contracts envisage a system under which people are assigned a QR code on their smartphones linking to a digital passport that includes a photo of them. After a Covid test, this would be updated at the...

‘Here’s some of that unity you’ve been hearing about,’ a critic responded The Washington Post was accused of publishing a carton "straight from anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda" that depicted Republican lawmakers as rats. The cartoon by Ann Telnaes, labeled simply "All the Republican rats," named all state attorneys general and U.S. Congress members who "collaborated with President Trump in his attempt to subvert the Constitution and stay in office" by challenging election results. Steve Milloy @JunkScience · Dec 20 WaPo prints cartoon straight from anti-semitic Nazi propaganda. Dehumanizes @realDonaldTrump supporters as rats. (see next post)

Please join Freepers throughout the world as we pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE-PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: All Levels of Government, Family, Military, Business, Farming, Education, Churches, Health Care Systems, the News, Media and Social Media, Citizen Keyboard Warriors, Right to Life.This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14Religion Forum threads labeled "Prayer" are closed to debate of any kind.

The coronavirus relief bill released Monday includes $250 million in investment aid for the Palestinians and for encouraging Israeli-Palestinian dialogue in a provision titled the “Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act of 2020.”

So many satellites are moving and sitting over our heads, and the numbers are ever increasing. Using low cost software defined radio (SDR) and low cost DIY antennas you can make from materials at your local hardware store or garage, a world of fun can be explored. This is a beginners guide on how to get up and running. Exploring which projects to tackle first, from weather satellites, data over Inmarsat and Iridium, to listening to amateur radio and cube satellites. Learn about some hardware you can make or scout for online and use at home. A quick tour of...

HOUSTON — Harris County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to change the engineer of record on the Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge after a review found one portion that had not yet been built contained a potential design flaw. The Harris County Toll Road Authority hired an independent consultant, COWI North America, Inc., to review the design of the bridge. HCTRA deputy director John Tyler told KHOU 11 in January that COWI found the possible weakness in December 2019. The design comes from FIGG Bridge Engineers, Inc., the same company behind a Florida pedestrian bridge that collapsed in 2018,...

During a special session of the Oregon legislature called by Democrat Gov. Kate Brown, protesters descended on the building to attempt to enter. Several police agencies responded with officers in riot gear, MRAPs, and pepper spray to enforce the governor’s order to close the building due to concerns about the Wuhan CCP coronavirus pandemic. Patriot groups organized a gathering to protest the continued draconian lockdowns across the state, as well as the unconstitutional legislative session that excluded public oversight. State Rep. Werner Reschke (R-Klamath Falls) tweeted that keeping the people of Oregon out of the session violates the state constitution:...