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The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed contracts for its first reusable space transportation system. Known as Space Rider, it is a robotic laboratory about the size of a couple of eight-seater minivans. ESA has signed two contracts. The first is for delivery of the spacecraft by co-prime contractors: Thales Alenia Space Italy and Avio. The second covers delivery of the ground segment (the infrastructure needed to launch and operate the Space Rider) by Italian co-prime contractors: Telespazio and Altec. Designed for launch on an ESA Vega-C rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, the Space Rider will stay in orbit for...

Explanation: It was time for their close-up. Two days ago Jupiter and Saturn passed a tenth of a degree from each other in what is known a Great Conjunction. Although the two planets pass each other on the sky every 20 years, this was the closest pass in nearly four centuries. Taken early in day of the Great Conjunction, the featured multiple-exposure combination captures not only both giant planets in a single frame, but also Jupiter's four largest moons (left to right) Callisto, Ganymede, Io, and Europa -- and Saturn's largest moon Titan. If you look very closely, the clear...

The largest space rock, known as asteroid 501647 (2014 SD224), is slated to come within 1.9 million miles of Earth and is thought to have a diameter as great as 689 feet. At its size and distance, it is considered a "potentially hazardous" Near-Earth Object (NEO), but it poses no threat to the planet when it zips past later this week. "Potentially hazardous" NEOs are defined as space objects that come within 0.05 astronomical units and measure more than 460 feet in diameter, NASA explained. According to a 2018 report by Planetary.org, there are more than 18,000 NEOs. This asteroid...

A poll from All in Together, in partnership with Lake Research and Emerson College Polling, has found that women voters in Georgia are split on who to vote for in the January runoff elections. The overall survey of 605 registered Georgia voters, which included responses from 332 women, found Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) leading her Democrat challenger Raphael Warnock 51 percent to 48 percent and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) leading Democrat Jon Ossoff with the same percentage, a three point lead for both Republican candidates. Women who took part in the poll are evenly split in both races as 50...

For Christmas in 1997, my mother gave me the VHS set of the Original Trilogy of Star Wars Initially, I stuck my nose up at it as Star Wars was for dorks. After being coerced into watching “A New Hope” I quickly jumped into “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” I must have watched those movies over a dozen times during the coming weeks and months. As the prequels came out I remember going to the movies right after school to watch “The Phantom Menace” (yes I know it was garbage, but at the time, we were...

Traditional 18th century English Christmas hymn "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" sung by the Bach Choir, 2007, with lyrics.

During Wednesday’s 5pm show of Steve Bannon’s ‘War Room,’ guest Boris Epshteyn, a Trump 2020 adviser, broke news in real time that there’s potential enforcement of a subpoena for voting fraud evidence in Maricopa County, AZ. Legislators in Arizona are reportedly seeking enforcement of the subpoena issued earlier this week demanding Dominion voting machine information, after the country refused to comply with the order.

An 11-year-old boy on Friday was able to hack into a replica of the Florida state election website and change voting results found there in under 10 minutes during the world’s largest yearly hacking convention, DEFCON 26, organizers of the event said. The boy, who was identified by DEFCON officials as Emmett Brewer, accessed a replica of the Florida secretary of state’s website. He was one of about 50 children between the ages of 8 and 16 who were taking part in the so-called “DEFCON Voting Machine Hacking Village,” a portion of which allowed kids the chance to manipulate party...

Leslie West, co-founder and guitarist of pioneering hard rock band Mountain, has died at age 75. The Los Angeles Times confirmed his death through a publicist. Rolling Stone and Variety are also reporting that West has passed. The news was initially shared by West's long-time associates at Dean Guitars, though no other details were given. The Times report mentioned heart issues, while Rolling Stone said West went into cardiac arrest on Monday at his home near Daytona, Fla., and "never regained consciousness" after being taken to the hospital. Dean Guitars CEO Evan Rubinson also offered personal condolences, describing West as...

Michael O’Hanlon — an appointee to the Central Intelligence Agency External Advisory Board under the Obama-Biden administration — visited a Chinese Communist Party-run think tank identified by the U.S. government as conducting “undercover intelligence gathering” operations and seeking to coerce foreign actors into backing the Chinese Communist Party’s “preferred policies.” Also at the Director of the Brooking Institute’s Foreign Policy Research Team and adjunct professor at Georgetown and Columbia Universities, O’Hanlon visited the China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC) on August 23rd, 2012 – the same year his Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) External Advisory Board stint ended. Under President...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., argues Senate Republicans who voted for the bill are ‘no better than the Democrats,’ calls on Americans to ‘elect better people.’

Attorney Lin Wood joined the The John Fredericks Radio Network. During the interview, Wood discussed his lawsuit seeking to block the January 5 US Senate runoff election in Georgia from taking place. He warned that the fraud taking place in the Georgia runoff races is much larger than the fraud that occurred in the presidential election. Wood said America’s politicians have been “asleep at the switch” and allowed the “communists” to take over without firing a shot.

Wikipedia makes the Luddite's as dangerous radicals, when they were not.

(Reuters) – In 2021, Amazon.com Inc is poised to face a renewed challenge from groups it has long countered: unions. Energized by protests at Amazon’s U.S. warehouses and a more labor-friendly administration assuming office, unions are campaigning at the world’s largest online retailer to see if its warehouse or grocery workers would like to join their ranks. A major test is expected early next year when workers at one warehouse decide whether to unionize. The company has not faced a union election in the United States since 2014, and a “yes” vote would be the first ever for a U.S....

Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell now finds himself in the hot seat as Democrats begin rallying behind President Donald Trump's efforts to more than double the direct payment checks Congress secured in the just-passed coronavirus relief bill, leaving the fate of the aid package in limbo. During remarks Tuesday night, Trump signaled he would not sign the bill, which was passed with overwhelming support late Monday, unless Congress included $2,000 direct checks to Americans, a proposal that flies in the face of the demands made by many Senate Republicans, some of whom had a tough time swallowing the $600 checks...

Senator Ted Cruz sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to send both the Iran nuclear agreement and Paris climate accords to the Senate for ratification. Since the Senate won’t agree to advise and consent to either deal, requesting a vote would force Biden into a confrontation and could precipitate a constitutional crisis.

WASHINGTON - The video message that plunged Washington into chaos was filmed in secret. President Donald Trump stood in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, holiday garland and gleaming ornaments draped on the fireplace behind him, and spoke into the camera not to deliver warm Christmas wishes, but to threaten to detonate Congress’ $900 billion COVID-19 relief and year-end package. The video was released without warning Tuesday night, its recording orchestrated by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and kept from all but a handful of aides. Few Republicans or even White House staffers knew Wednesday what Trump planned...

President Trump on Wednesday vetoed the $740 billion defense bill. The National Defense Authorization Act passed both houses of Congress with veto proof supermajorities. This comes as no surprise because President Trump last week said he would veto the bill because it would not allow for removal of our military from other countries.

In an extraordinary interview with Maria Bartiromo of the Fox Business Network (FBN), a frustrated Donald Trump claimed that there was no way Joe Biden had secured 80 million votes to defeat him except for “massive fraud.” The president explained that he and his people had expected that he would win the election if he could secure 68 million votes (he won in 2016 with 63 million), and while he actually got at least 74 million — the highest of any president running for reelection — Biden’s 80 million appeared to secure Biden the victory. To this day, most of...