Free Republic

An initial eight-day Boeing Starliner test mission to the International Space Station will be extended indefinitely to test the spacecraft's thrusters. Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely aboard the ISS and are not stranded in space, NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said ... But there is no targeted return date "until we get the testing completed," Stich said. ... The Starliner's service module contains thrusters, helium lines and other systems that NASA officials need to study before discarding the module upon re-entry and allowing it to burn up. Those components require further study to determine...

Editor's note: NASA announced on Friday that Starliner's troubleshooting has been extended for a third time, meaning that the astronauts will stay aboard the International Space Station indefinitely until some time in July. Two NASA astronauts who rode to orbit on Boeing's Starliner are stranded in space aboard the ISS after engineers discovered numerous issues with the Boeing spacecraft. Teams on the ground are now racing to assess Starliner's status. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 13 after a week on the ISS, but their stay has been extended for a...

The first astronauts to fly Boeing's troubled Starliner are definitely not "stranded" at the International Space Station, NASA insisted Friday despite having no clear timeframe for bringing them home. In an unusually defensive press call, officials attempted to put a positive spin on where things currently stood after weeks of negative headlines due to the spaceship's delayed return. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off on June 5 following years of delays and safety scares affecting Starliner, as well as two aborted launch attempts that came as astronauts were strapped in and ready to go. They docked the following...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis cut through the red tape to rescue Floridians stranded in Israel. What we didn’t know is that he’s also planning to pick up non-Floridian Americans, as well as those Joe Biden dumped in Greece. “We knew there’d be people that wanted to get back, many hundreds, maybe even more than 1,000. And they were not getting any luck with the State Department or with the embassy. So I did an executive order last week, activating Florida emergency response to be able to bring planes in there and take people back home.” “I had mothers that were...

The race is on to try and save 46 pilot whales stranded on a West Australian beach after 51 died overnight. An image showed the mammals huddling in the shape of a heart near the shore before the mass stranding on Cheynes Beach in southern Western Australia on Tuesday, making international headlines. Authorities on Wednesday morning said volunteers would help to get the surviving whales back out to deeper water throughout the day. The public has been asked to stay away from the popular tourist spot.

Classified documents may not be the only prized items squirreled away at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Ancient ceramic oil lamps belonging to the Israeli government have been stashed at the Palm Beach property for years — despite the Jewish state’s efforts to get them back. The lamps were sent to America in late 2019 on the condition that they be returned within weeks, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. They were meant to be briefly put on display in the White House for a Hanukkah candle-lighting event, but that never happened due to “a bureaucratic difficulty raised by the Americans,” the outlet...

As of Thursday, dozens of passengers on the Arkia airline were stuck in Georgia, after the flight was delayed time after time, according to Army Radio. Arkia commented: "There was a problem with the plane....

The FBI admitted this weekend to The New York Times that they had informants and operatives inside groups attending the January 6 rallies in Washington DC. The FBI finally admitted they infiltrated the Jan. 6 rallies with informants. In fact, one of the first “protesters” inside the US Capitol was an FBI informant. We all already knew this was happening as TGP reported back in June when we reported that the FBI was recruiting former service members to work for them infiltrating conservative groups attending the January 6 protests in Washington DC. And now the FBI is investigating the US...

As you travel during the winter months, consider the important survival gear items to keep in your car. Your literal survival may even depend on it Example: Stranded on the highway, stuck in a major snow storm or ice storm, along with everyone else. The cars are running out of gas. No heat. Now what? Hypothermia sets in… Here’s a real world example that is occurring as I post this article: “Never Seen Anything Like It” – Drivers Trapped On Virginia Interstate Since Monday The fact is, we’re not always dressed appropriately for an emergency when we hop in the...

Dozens of people got more than they bargained for when a trip to the highest pub in England turned into a multiday event. More than 60 people found themselves stranded at the Tan Hill Inn, a pub and inn located in a remote portion of Northern England, after Storm Arwen unleashed brutal blizzard conditions across the region. The powerful storm unleashed destructive winds, dumped heavy snowfall and turned deadly across portions of the UK from Friday to Saturday. In the UK, the heaviest snow and some of the strongest winds from targeted the mountainous regions of Northern England in which...

Why does Team Biden insist on telling lies that even it can’t keep up for more than a day? Does it really think its shameless spinning can contain the public fury or that Americans will just forget those left behind in the dishonorable exit from Afghanistan? It’s been insisting that fewer than 100 Americans are stranded in the land the Taliban now controls. But a reported 143 US citizens and green-card holders alone are stuck at Mazar-i-Sharif’s airport, booked on waiting planes the Taliban won’t let leave. More than a week after President Joe Biden declared his evacuation an “extraordinary...

KABUL, Afghanistan — Dozens of foreigners, including Americans, boarded a commercial flight at Kabul airport on Thursday in the first large-scale evacuation since U.S and NATO forces left Afghanistan late last month. Their departure marked a significant breakthrough in the bumpy coordination between the U.S. and Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers. The Taliban have said they would let foreigners and Afghans with valid travel documents leave, but a days-long standoff over charter planes at another airport had cast some doubt on Taliban assurances. Thursday’s Qatar Airways flight is heading to Doha. Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities will allow some 200 Westerners, including Americans,...

A secret CIA compound outside Kabul reportedly served as a base of operations for evacuations that avoided Taliban checkpoints. Eagle Base — which until 2004 was home to the notorious prison known as the Salt Pit — was used from Aug. 15-Aug. 28 to assist with evacuation efforts after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, according to a report from The New York Times published Wednesday. “Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters flew evacuees from the compound to Kabul airport to avoid Taliban checkpoints. Flight data shows that three Mi-17s made at least 35 flights there since the Taliban took control on Aug....

Following the withdrawal of the final U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a non-profit group is working to rescue dozens of military dogs abandoned at the Kabul airport. Veteran Sheepdogs of America has been tasked with the responsibility of retrieving 51 military dogs. Indeed, a photo began circulating over the weekend of several dog carriers in front of a helicopter, however those crates represent just a small portion of the total number of furry friends left behind.

<p>In times of crisis, we look to our heroes. And, though the Afghanistan development seems insurmountable at this point, we’re relieved by a new group of heroes who stepped up to the plate.</p><p>We’ve been hearing of growing violence in the region, with Americans stranded behind enemy lines amid the Taliban’s growing presence, yesterday’s ISIS attack that killed at least 13 U.S. service members and wounded 15 others, and re-surging persecution of vulnerable groups. But one group of all-volunteer special forces veterans of the Afghan war wasn’t going to take the Taliban’s abuse lying down.</p>

Bloodied and beaten by the Taliban - this was the fate of one man claiming to be an Australian citizen as he tried to reach Kabul airport today as the Islamists defied Joe Biden's demand to let evacuation flights continue unimpeded with just hours left to get civilians out of the country. The man, whose identity is unknown, was attacked after the Taliban vowed to stop people reaching the airport despite Biden demanding that they 'allow access to the airport for those who are transporting out and no disruptions to our operations' in return for US troops withdrawing from the...

KABUL—Americans stuck in Afghanistan with no way to get to the airport or sneak past the Taliban are relieved after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that they're not actually stranded. "It's irresponsible to say these Americans are stranded," said Jen Psaki as she forcefully swatted down a reporter who dared to use the word. "The word 'stranded' is divisive and a little bit dramatic, to be honest. You're only saying they're 'stranded' because you are a pouncing Republican, and because Americans are trapped behind enemy lines with the Taliban and they have little hope of making it to...

The U.S. has no plans to evacuate Americans in Afghanistan who are located outside Kabul, according to a report Tuesday. Officials from various departments — including State and Defense — informed Senate staffers at a Tuesday morning briefing that they do not know of a way to get those Americans through Taliban checkpoints located outside Kabul, the location of the main airport, The Washington Post reported, citing two Senate aides. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton’s office set up a hotline for Americans — including those who are essentially "trapped behind Taliban lines," The Military Times reported. "The situation is dire,"...

We are now hearing reports there are thousands of American citizens still throughout Afghanistan that have not made it to the airport https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1427426732584407041

during what looked like a standard search and rescue mission, they were met by a strange twist of fate. The crew of the submarine very soon found encountered a situation where they were the ones in need of saving. Having incorrectly estimated the amount of fuel needed for the mission, when they arrived at the spot where Conestoga was presumed to be, the submarine had run out of usable fuel. Since its electric motors lacked enough battery power to transport them back to base, they were stranded some 100 nautical miles from Hawaii, caught in a desperate situation. To make...