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July 15, 2021
The mystery of who will occupy the final seat on Blue Origin's debut human spaceflight next week is a mystery no longer: The company revealed today that the winning bidder who forked over $28 million for the privilege is actually going to fly on a later mission, and instead the final seat on the debut flight will go to Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old high school graduate bound for the University of Utrecht. He'll be the youngest person to travel to space, which means this launch will include both the youngest and the oldest people ever to make the trip.
Blue Origin is planning to fly its founder Jeff Bezos to space in just a few days, on July 20, on its debut human spaceflight. That spacecraft will also be carrying Bezos' brother, along with 82-year-old aerospace pioneer Wally Funk, on the trip to suborbital space for a few minutes of weightlessness and unparalleled views before coming back down for a controlled landing in West Texas.
The final seat was auctioned off via a multistage process that culminated in a live online bidding rally, which brought the final total paid for the ticket to that whopping $28 million, which is much more than the regular price of the average seat will be during regular commercial flight of the New Shepard spacecraft. That winner, who remains anonymous for now, has declined to go on this one due to "scheduling conflicts." The funds from the ticket auction are actually being donated to charity, however, rather than acting as revenue for Blue Origin in a commercial sense, going instead to its registered nonprofit Club for the Future, which is dedicated to furthering STEM education.
Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle is designed for suborbital commercial human spaceflight, including both tourism and research uses. The fully reusable system consists of a booster and an upper-stage that includes a crew capsule, and after a series of test flights that began in 2015, Blue Origin is now ready to fly it with people on board for the first time, as a final set of demonstrations before commercial operations start up.
Blue Origin's final passenger for its first human spaceflight will be 18-year-old Oliver Daemen
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/blue-origins-final-passenger-first-141711789.htmlThe mystery of who will occupy the final seat on Blue Origin's debut human spaceflight next week is a mystery no longer: The company revealed today that the winning bidder who forked over $28 million for the privilege is actually going to fly on a later mission, and instead the final seat on the debut flight will go to Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old high school graduate bound for the University of Utrecht. He'll be the youngest person to travel to space, which means this launch will include both the youngest and the oldest people ever to make the trip.
Blue Origin is planning to fly its founder Jeff Bezos to space in just a few days, on July 20, on its debut human spaceflight. That spacecraft will also be carrying Bezos' brother, along with 82-year-old aerospace pioneer Wally Funk, on the trip to suborbital space for a few minutes of weightlessness and unparalleled views before coming back down for a controlled landing in West Texas.
The final seat was auctioned off via a multistage process that culminated in a live online bidding rally, which brought the final total paid for the ticket to that whopping $28 million, which is much more than the regular price of the average seat will be during regular commercial flight of the New Shepard spacecraft. That winner, who remains anonymous for now, has declined to go on this one due to "scheduling conflicts." The funds from the ticket auction are actually being donated to charity, however, rather than acting as revenue for Blue Origin in a commercial sense, going instead to its registered nonprofit Club for the Future, which is dedicated to furthering STEM education.
Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle is designed for suborbital commercial human spaceflight, including both tourism and research uses. The fully reusable system consists of a booster and an upper-stage that includes a crew capsule, and after a series of test flights that began in 2015, Blue Origin is now ready to fly it with people on board for the first time, as a final set of demonstrations before commercial operations start up.
July 15, 2021
The U.S. Air Force just dropped a new image of its top-secret B-21 Raider bomber. While the second official artist rendering doesn’t show a complete view of the bomber, the image does reveal important new details about the hotly anticipated plane, including how it’s markedly different from the older B-2 Spirit.
The new Northrop Grumman illustration, seen above, depicts the B-21 taking off from Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. Northrop is the prime contractor for the Raider, and also built the Spirit, the U.S.’s first bat-winged stealth bomber.
This new image complements the first official B-21 image below, which the Air Force released in 2016:
That image depicted the plane from above, showing off the recessed air intakes and simplified trailing edge. (The B-2’s “sawtooth” trailing edge was originally going to look more like the B-21’s until a redesign added the serration-like surfaces.)
Here's a New Image of the Secret B-21 Raider Bomber. Let's Analyze It.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a36957374/b-21-raider-bomber-new-images/The U.S. Air Force just dropped a new image of its top-secret B-21 Raider bomber. While the second official artist rendering doesn’t show a complete view of the bomber, the image does reveal important new details about the hotly anticipated plane, including how it’s markedly different from the older B-2 Spirit.
The new Northrop Grumman illustration, seen above, depicts the B-21 taking off from Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. Northrop is the prime contractor for the Raider, and also built the Spirit, the U.S.’s first bat-winged stealth bomber.
This new image complements the first official B-21 image below, which the Air Force released in 2016:
That image depicted the plane from above, showing off the recessed air intakes and simplified trailing edge. (The B-2’s “sawtooth” trailing edge was originally going to look more like the B-21’s until a redesign added the serration-like surfaces.)
July 15, 2021
Poland will purchase 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 main battle tanks from the U.S., replacing older tanks dating back to the Cold War. The tanks will arm Polish Army units guarding against incursions by the Russian Army.
The purchase is a pretty remarkable turnaround of events, considering the U.S. originally designed the M1 tank to fight Soviet and Polish forces on the battlefields of Western Europe.
The M1 Abrams main battle tank—a clean-sheet design equipped with a 105-millimeter main gun, Chobham composite armor, and gas turbine engine—debuted in 1981 as the most advanced tank of its kind. The tank has outlived several efforts to replace it, gaining upgrades like a larger, more powerful 120-millimeter gun; a layer of depleted uranium armor; a digital command and control system; and a separate “hunter-killer” thermal imaging viewer for the tank commander.
The idea that a 40-year-old tank design has a place in modern armies is a relatively new one. For comparison, in 1981, the 40-year-old M4 Sherman medium tank was thoroughly obsolete. The Abrams’s basic design, however, has remained robust enough to accept new technologies as engineers develop them.
Poland Just Bought America's M1 Abrams Tank. That's Ironic.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a37026843/poland-buys-us-m1a2-abrams-main-battle-tank/Poland will purchase 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 main battle tanks from the U.S., replacing older tanks dating back to the Cold War. The tanks will arm Polish Army units guarding against incursions by the Russian Army.
The purchase is a pretty remarkable turnaround of events, considering the U.S. originally designed the M1 tank to fight Soviet and Polish forces on the battlefields of Western Europe.
The M1 Abrams main battle tank—a clean-sheet design equipped with a 105-millimeter main gun, Chobham composite armor, and gas turbine engine—debuted in 1981 as the most advanced tank of its kind. The tank has outlived several efforts to replace it, gaining upgrades like a larger, more powerful 120-millimeter gun; a layer of depleted uranium armor; a digital command and control system; and a separate “hunter-killer” thermal imaging viewer for the tank commander.
The idea that a 40-year-old tank design has a place in modern armies is a relatively new one. For comparison, in 1981, the 40-year-old M4 Sherman medium tank was thoroughly obsolete. The Abrams’s basic design, however, has remained robust enough to accept new technologies as engineers develop them.
July 15, 2021
Assembly of the Orion capsules that will carry astronauts back to the moon in NASA's Artemis program is ramping up as initial test flights draw near, prompting spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin to take over a former Space Camp facility to expand and modernize production.
The new Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource (STAR) Center, dedicated Thursday, will be used to assemble Orion components that up to now primarily have been built in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the nearby Kennedy Space Center.
The STAR facility will use state-of-the-art cloud-based computing systems allowing managers and engineers at either work site to access the same shared databases for real-time collaboration, including the use of virtual reality in assembly tasks.
"This is a way of automating information flow and dynamic use of that information across the full spectrum," Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space, said in an interview. "Let's say they need an engineer in Denver (who) could design (an electrical) harness. It would electronically then flow in and actually control the machine that starts to produce it in the STAR Center."
Lockheed Martin ramps up assembly of Orion capsules that will carry astronauts back to the moon
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lockheed-martin-orion-moonship-assembly-operations/Assembly of the Orion capsules that will carry astronauts back to the moon in NASA's Artemis program is ramping up as initial test flights draw near, prompting spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin to take over a former Space Camp facility to expand and modernize production.
The new Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource (STAR) Center, dedicated Thursday, will be used to assemble Orion components that up to now primarily have been built in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the nearby Kennedy Space Center.
The STAR facility will use state-of-the-art cloud-based computing systems allowing managers and engineers at either work site to access the same shared databases for real-time collaboration, including the use of virtual reality in assembly tasks.
"This is a way of automating information flow and dynamic use of that information across the full spectrum," Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space, said in an interview. "Let's say they need an engineer in Denver (who) could design (an electrical) harness. It would electronically then flow in and actually control the machine that starts to produce it in the STAR Center."
July 14, 2021
Bugs Bunny needs to be extra careful as his longtime nemesis Elmer Fudd is once again packing heat. Last year, the revival series Looney Tunes Cartoons premiered on HBO Max to further continue the feud between the wisecracking rabbit and the wascally wabbit hunter. Based on concerns over cartoon characters using firearms in children's programming, both Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam had their guns taken away for the first season of the Looney Tunes revival.
This week, Looney Tunes Cartoons returned for another season on HBO Max. For better or for worse, the decision was made to give Mr. Fudd his guns back, and it wasn't long before he put them to use. In the "Rotund Rabbit" segment of the season's sixth episode, Elmer Fudd goes back to his roots by chasing after Bugs Bunny with his old hunting rifle. He shoots at the speedy rabbit, but because Bugs is so fast, the bullet stops itself in midair before announcing, "That's it, I quit!" The bullet then puts on a hat and storms off with its briefcase.
"New Looney Tunes Cartoons out today! Now with guns!" tweeted the show's executive producer Pete Browngardt, including a video clip of the scene in question.
This could be seen as good news for fans of Pepe Le Pew left saddened by the cartoon skunk's removal from Space Jam: A New Legacy. Although original director Terence Nance had planned for Pepe to appear in the sequel, Malcolm D. Lee had the character completely scrubbed when he took over the project, and the skunk isn't seen in so much as a cameo. The decision was met with widespread controversy that was only exacerbated when the Droogs from A Clockwork Orange were spotted in the trailer.
Elmer Fudd Gets His Gun Back in HBO Max's Looney Tunes Revival
https://movieweb.com/looney-tunes-elmer-fudd-guns/Bugs Bunny needs to be extra careful as his longtime nemesis Elmer Fudd is once again packing heat. Last year, the revival series Looney Tunes Cartoons premiered on HBO Max to further continue the feud between the wisecracking rabbit and the wascally wabbit hunter. Based on concerns over cartoon characters using firearms in children's programming, both Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam had their guns taken away for the first season of the Looney Tunes revival.
This week, Looney Tunes Cartoons returned for another season on HBO Max. For better or for worse, the decision was made to give Mr. Fudd his guns back, and it wasn't long before he put them to use. In the "Rotund Rabbit" segment of the season's sixth episode, Elmer Fudd goes back to his roots by chasing after Bugs Bunny with his old hunting rifle. He shoots at the speedy rabbit, but because Bugs is so fast, the bullet stops itself in midair before announcing, "That's it, I quit!" The bullet then puts on a hat and storms off with its briefcase.
"New Looney Tunes Cartoons out today! Now with guns!" tweeted the show's executive producer Pete Browngardt, including a video clip of the scene in question.
This could be seen as good news for fans of Pepe Le Pew left saddened by the cartoon skunk's removal from Space Jam: A New Legacy. Although original director Terence Nance had planned for Pepe to appear in the sequel, Malcolm D. Lee had the character completely scrubbed when he took over the project, and the skunk isn't seen in so much as a cameo. The decision was met with widespread controversy that was only exacerbated when the Droogs from A Clockwork Orange were spotted in the trailer.
July 14, 2021
If you are a foodie with quite a bit of change to spare, an iconic restaurant may have just the thing for you to celebrate #NationalFrenchFryDay.
Serendipity3, the iconic Upper East Side restaurant, set a Guinness World Record for making the “Most Expensive French Fries'' — just in time to celebrate National French Fry Day Tuesday.
Serendipity3’s creative director and chef Joe Calderone and corporate executive chef Frederick Schoen-Kiewert are the masterminds behind the “Creme de la Creme Pommes Frites," which cost a whopping $200.
These exclusive fries are made from Chipperbeck potatoes blanched in Dom Perignon Champagne and J. LeBlanc French Champagne Ardenne Vinegar. The fries are then cooked three times with pure goose fat from cage-free geese raised in Southwest France.
NYC Restaurant's French Fries Set Guinness World Record for Most Expensive ($200)
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/serendipity3-sets-guinness-world-record-for-worlds-most-expensive-french-fries/3152081/If you are a foodie with quite a bit of change to spare, an iconic restaurant may have just the thing for you to celebrate #NationalFrenchFryDay.
Serendipity3, the iconic Upper East Side restaurant, set a Guinness World Record for making the “Most Expensive French Fries'' — just in time to celebrate National French Fry Day Tuesday.
Serendipity3’s creative director and chef Joe Calderone and corporate executive chef Frederick Schoen-Kiewert are the masterminds behind the “Creme de la Creme Pommes Frites," which cost a whopping $200.
These exclusive fries are made from Chipperbeck potatoes blanched in Dom Perignon Champagne and J. LeBlanc French Champagne Ardenne Vinegar. The fries are then cooked three times with pure goose fat from cage-free geese raised in Southwest France.
July 14, 2021
Appeals court rules 21-year minimum age for handgun purchases is unconstitutional
Source: The Hill
An appeals court ruled on Tuesday that a 21-year minimum age restriction for handgun purchases is unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit determined that regulations preventing firearm dealers from selling handguns to individuals younger than 21 years old violated the Second Amendment.
Judge Julius Richardson, who was appointed by former President Trump, wrote the majority opinion, contending that the protections provided by the Second Amendment should apply “whatever the age.”
“Looking through this historical lens to the text and structure of the Constitution reveals that 18- to 20-year-olds have Second Amendment rights. Virtually every other constitutional right applies whatever the age. And the Second Amendment is no different,” Richardson wrote in the ruling.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/562834-appeals-court-rules-21-year-minimum-age-for-handgun-purchases-is
July 14, 2021
While last year’s toilet paper panic during the grip of the pandemic was disturbing, at least it was brief. Meanwhile, a nationwide ammunition shortage continues to impact shooting facilities, hunting trips and even law enforcement agencies – with no end in sight.
Shooting industry insiders say a combination of fear stemming from social unrest, COVID-related manufacturing restrictions and political shifts had contributed to the ammunition shelves in sporting goods stores being mostly bare.
Dedicated shooters appear to be perpetuating the problem as they snap up and hoard nearly any handgun, rifle and shotgun ammo that becomes available.
Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop in Spokane started feeling the impacts about 16 months ago, said Jeremy Ball, co-owner.
Shell shock: Ammo shortage bites industry
https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/growing-idaho/shell-ammo-shortage-bites-industry-guns-firearms/277-88a06712-3c39-4f90-ac33-8b8aaf46b591While last year’s toilet paper panic during the grip of the pandemic was disturbing, at least it was brief. Meanwhile, a nationwide ammunition shortage continues to impact shooting facilities, hunting trips and even law enforcement agencies – with no end in sight.
Shooting industry insiders say a combination of fear stemming from social unrest, COVID-related manufacturing restrictions and political shifts had contributed to the ammunition shelves in sporting goods stores being mostly bare.
Dedicated shooters appear to be perpetuating the problem as they snap up and hoard nearly any handgun, rifle and shotgun ammo that becomes available.
Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop in Spokane started feeling the impacts about 16 months ago, said Jeremy Ball, co-owner.
July 12, 2021
Less than two days after a rare sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda broke the record for most expensive video game sold at auction, a pristine unopened copy of Super Mario 64 toppled that record Sunday with a $1,560,000 high bid.
The sealed copy of the 1996 video game was notable for receiving a 9.8 A++ Wata grading, the highest possible rating. “Well — we’re a bit speechless on this one,” Heritage Auctions wrote of the item. “What can we even say that would do this copy the justice it deserves? The cultural significance of this title and its importance to the history of video games is paramount, and the condition of this copy is just so breathtaking that we’re really at a loss here. If you have had your heart set on obtaining the highest graded copy of the single best-selling video game on the Nintendo 64 — the first 3D adventure of Nintendo’s mascot, Mario — we only have one piece of advice: this is not an opportunity to waste.”
On Friday, a sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda — one of the earliest-known produced variants of the beloved Nintendo game — first shattered the record for most expensive video game when it sold at auction for $870,000.
The previous record was set just three months earlier when an unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. sold at auction for $660,000 in April. All three records were established during sales by Heritage Auctions.
Pristine 'Super Mario 64' Breaks Video Game Auction Record With $1.56 Million
https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEK5SRo2bNXPS2ArLewhIjpIqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow9MSGCzCKpYQDMKGt7wY?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3AenLess than two days after a rare sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda broke the record for most expensive video game sold at auction, a pristine unopened copy of Super Mario 64 toppled that record Sunday with a $1,560,000 high bid.
The sealed copy of the 1996 video game was notable for receiving a 9.8 A++ Wata grading, the highest possible rating. “Well — we’re a bit speechless on this one,” Heritage Auctions wrote of the item. “What can we even say that would do this copy the justice it deserves? The cultural significance of this title and its importance to the history of video games is paramount, and the condition of this copy is just so breathtaking that we’re really at a loss here. If you have had your heart set on obtaining the highest graded copy of the single best-selling video game on the Nintendo 64 — the first 3D adventure of Nintendo’s mascot, Mario — we only have one piece of advice: this is not an opportunity to waste.”
On Friday, a sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda — one of the earliest-known produced variants of the beloved Nintendo game — first shattered the record for most expensive video game when it sold at auction for $870,000.
The previous record was set just three months earlier when an unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. sold at auction for $660,000 in April. All three records were established during sales by Heritage Auctions.
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