Free Republic

FReepers, I have a problem. I just went out to place my trash at the curb, when I saw a very familiar patter of stars and stripes lying flat on the ground. Concerned that it was a neighbor's flag that had come off of its pole, I went over to pick it up. To my complete disgust and shock, it was the charred remains of our nation's flag! It is in front of a neighbor's house, a single mom of two teenage boys, and she is certainly not of european stock. She seems to be possibly Indian, Pakastani, or some...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 7 (UPI) -- The faithful, the curious, and of course the news media will gather on June 21 to witness the start of a new era in human spaceflight. They will not travel to Cape Canaveral, where all other human U.S. expeditions to space have set sail. They will not be visiting the Russian launch site, either, which until China's foray into space last year was the only other place on Earth from which living beings have left the planet. The birthplace of this 21st century space race is California's Mojave Desert, a remote and wind-swept...

NASAWatch Editor's note: "CNN Headline news is flashing several pictures of NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory standing on the tarmac receiving the bodies of the Columbia crew at Dover Air Force Base in February 2003 and claiming that the photos are of caskets containing war dead arriving home from Iraq in 2004."

April Fools!

Mars Express Confirms Methane in the Martian Atmosphere During recent observations from the ESA Mars Express spacecraft in orbit around Mars, methane was detected in its atmosphere. Whilst it is too early to draw any conclusions on its origin, exciting as they may be, scientists are thinking about the next steps to take in order to understand more. From the time of its arrival at Mars, the Mars Express spacecraft started producing stunning results. One of the aims of the mission is analysing in detail the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere, known to consist of 95% percent carbon dioxide...

Seriously, the posts in absentia were the first I had seen all morning, and now they're gone. Hmm?

10 March 2004: CEV Fly off in 2008? *Editor's note: Word has it that Code T AA Craig Steidle is working on a plan whereby there would be a fly-off of two competing CEV designs sometime in CY 2008. No word yet as to when the RFP [Request For Proposal] for such a program would be released but one would assume that having hardware in 2008 would require some swift procurement activity starting ... yesterday.

Does FR have anyone in this year's run of the MS 150, and is there an official sponsorship from FR?

Howdy All! I'm considering getting a second property somewhere in Texas as a personal retreat. In my head, I remember liking the Huntsville area, and Livingston. However, I know we have a big state, and there's lots of other places to consider. I'd love to know my fellow FReepers' opinions of good, wooded-type areas for weekend use. With an eye for more permenant relocation sometime in the future, of course. Thanks in advance.

I'm a big fan of Jerry Doyle, both for his conservative stance in Tinseltown, and for his role on Babylon 5. Anyone know what he's up to these days? I was of the understanding that he was starting a radio show, but I don't see it syndicated in Houston yet.

I don't have C-SPAN, but I know somebody in FReeperland does. Keep us informed. Thanks!

Here's a first glimpse of the new Moon-and-Mars Plan.

Howdy. What's the next set of standard issue weapons for the U.S. Armed Forces? I'm writing a short story that includes a battle in the near future. I'd like the story to have a certain level of realism. Thanks, Y'all!

I'm in Clear Lake, TX and looking into CCW. Anybody have suggestions on a local class or even in metro Houston?

SpaceShipOne Breaks the Sound Barrier Today, a significant milestone was achieved by Scaled Composites: The first manned supersonic flight by an aircraft developed by a small company's private, non-government effort. In 1947, fifty-six years ago, history's first supersonic flight was flown by Chuck Yeager in the Bell X-1 rocket under a U.S. Government research program. Since then, many supersonic aircraft have been developed for research, military and, in the case of the recently retired Concorde, commercial applications. All these efforts were developed by large aerospace prime companies, using extensive government resources. Our flight this morning by SpaceShipOne demonstrated that supersonic...

Op Ed by Don Peterson, Former Astronaut Tuesday, September 23, 2003 I was disappointed by NASA's latest plan for the enhancement of human space flight as described in an article on page 4A in the Houston Chronicle on Monday, September 1st, 2003 titled "NASA racing to complete light craft for space trips." The article stated, "In just five years astronauts may journey to the space station (the International Space Station or ISS) in a stripped down four-seater instead of the mammoth - and aging - space shuttle." The article states that NASA has budgeted 2.4 billion dollars for the craft...

How many missles did we launch and how many bombs were launched in the war thus far. What do we have left, and how much?

Is part of your car's license plate design partially covered by a frame or any stickers? If it is, you're breaking the law, and don't be too surprised if a state trooper soon pulls you over. Several Texans we spoke to didn't even know they were breaking the new license plate law. What's legal and what isn't and why? First, it's a new state law passed by the legislature. It became effective on September 1. DPS Trooper John Sampa explained, "If a bracket or some type of device obstructs the visibility of the license plate, meaning that it touches the...