NASA: How Capt. Kirk Changed the World

From NASA:

May 4, 2010: "Standard orbit, Mr. Sulu." Captain Kirk barks out the order with such confidence. He knows the USS Enterprise can slip in and out of planetary orbits with ease. But it's only easy in the realm of science fiction. In the real world, such maneuvers have been impossible --until now.

Enter Dawn, NASA's cutting edge mission to the asteroid belt.

Powered with a futuristic sounding new technology called "ion propulsion," this spacecraft will perform space moves rivaling those of the Enterprise.

At this very moment, Dawn is slowly climbing away from the sun, beyond Mars, on its way to its first destination, asteroid Vesta. Dawn will enter "standard orbit" around this rocky world for a year, exploring its mysteries.

Then Dawn will do something unprecedented in real-world spaceflight: exit the orbit of one distant body, and fly to and orbit another. The second destination is asteroid Ceres.

"Dawn will be the first spacecraft ever built to orbit two target bodies after leaving Earth," says Marc Rayman, Dawn chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "There's not even a concept for doing such a mission with conventional propulsion systems. The spacecraft would have to carry so much fuel, it would be too heavy to launch."

Instead, Dawn relies on ion propulsion, which doesn't require a huge spacecraft. Rayman first heard the term years ago while watching – you guessed it -- Star Trek.

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Google maps the oil spill

Very cool, as always. Read the rest of this post...

Worst case scenario for oil spill

Spill up and down the entire east coast, and the entire Gulf of Mexico, until the oil reservoir empties itself out:

Scientists said Tuesday that the "loop current" of the gulf, a powerful conveyor belt that extends some 3,000 feet deep, will almost surely take the oil down through the eastern gulf to the Florida Straits between the Keys and Cuba. The oil would then ride the Florida Current directly into the Gulf Stream, which could carry it up the East Coast to Cape Hatteras and beyond, the scientists said.

"I think it is inevitable at this stage because we're seeing it creep slowly toward the loop current," said University of Miami oceanographer Nick Shay. "If this thing keeps going for two to three months, it'll be catastrophic."

"It really is a catastrophe," Simmons said. "I don't think they're going to be able to put the leak out until the reservoir depletes. It's just too technically challenging."

He said BP's cleanup costs could mean financial ruin for the company.

"They're going to have to clean up the Gulf of Mexico," he said.

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Public optimism in economy growing, but still tepid

NYT:

Forty-one percent said the economy was getting better, up from 33 percent about a month ago, while 15 percent described the economy as deteriorating.Of that 41 percent, 75 percent approve of Mr. Obama’s handling of the economy.

Another 43 percent said the economy was staying about the same; while 7 percent of that segment believe the economy is in good shape, the other 35 percent say it’s in bad condition.

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FOX News reports Mr. Rogers is evil

Apparently, a new study says that Mr. Rogers is the cause of all "entitlement" because he told kids they're "special" when they're really not. Of course, FOX takes it one step farther, as always. Watch the second half of the video for the full flavor of how FOX handles "news."

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Bumper stickers we like

Reader Joe shot this photo of a bumper sticker on a car with Texas plates. Read the rest of this post...

GOP Senator Kyl jokes about Obama drowning

The Hill:

According to a source who attended the meetings, Kyl told the assembled crowd a political version of the classic three-people-in-a-boat joke: "So [President Barack] Obama, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] and [Majority Leader] [Harry] Reid [D-Nev.] are in a row boat, and it springs a leak and starts to sink. Who gets saved?"

Answer: "The American people."

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In PA, DSCC spending heavily on Specter as Sestak is 'within striking distance'

Hotline On Call is reporting that the DSCC is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of Arlen Specter in his primary against Joe Sestak:

The DSCC is spending a significant amount of money to ensure a former GOP Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) wins his May 18 primary, sources with knowledge of the move tell Hotline OnCall.

One source said the DSCC is using coordinated funds to help Specter keep a robust TV presence. Ads that tout Specter's candidacy now say they are paid for by the DSCC; last week, the disclaimers on the same ads indicated Specter's campaign had paid for them.

All told, Specter and the DSCC spent about $407K on the joint ad buy last week. A second source said the DSCC's contribution is about three-quarters of that amount, or around $300K.

With so many tough races this fall, this seems like real waste of resources. That's all I can say.

Today, there are two public polls showing that Sestak is within single digits of Specter. The Quinnipiac/Muhlenberg Daily Tracking poll for the Morning Call has the race at 46% - 42% today.

Quinnipiac's latest statewide poll shows Sestak with "striking distance":

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak is within striking distance of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, trailing the long-time incumbent 47 - 39 percent among likely primary voters, compared to his 53 - 32 percent gap April 7, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

The primary is two weeks from today, May 18th.

I don't really trust Arlen Specter. Never have. It doesn't help that just last week he was wondering if he should have stayed a Republican. There's a choice here between a solid progressive, Joe Sestak, and Specter. I'm pulling for Joe. Read the rest of this post...

Auto sales jumped 20% in April

Another good sign for the recovery. Though, as GM notes, the recovery is slower than previous ones, which confirms concerns that we're not growing as quickly out of this recession as we should. WSJ:

Boosted by a rebounding economy, U.S. auto sales jumped 20% in April as several car makers, including hard-hit Chrysler Group LLC, posted sizable gains.

Auto makers sold 982,131 vehicles last month, according to Autodata Corp., up from the depressed level of 819,540 in April a year ago, when the U.S. was sliding deeper into recession and General Motors Co. and Chrysler were heading toward bankruptcy filings.

Chrysler, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. all reported increases of about 25%. GM's growth was limited to 7.2% because it its phasing out four brands under its restructuring, but the four brands it is keeping—Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC—saw sales rise 20%.

GM Vice President of Sales Steve Carlisle said the industry's recovery pace probably would not be as robust as other rebounds in the last half-century but would be steady. "Overall," he said in a conference call, "the U.S. economic recovery would appear to be on track."

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GOP Rep. already trying to politicize capture of Times Square bombing suspect

Rep. Peter King is a typical GOP buffoon. The alleged Times Square bomber was arrested last night. Within hours, King was politicizing the issue -- and undermining the constitution while he was at it:

Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, wants to know whether the Pakistani-born American arrested in connection with a car bomb in New York City’s Times Square was read his Miranda rights.

“I hope that [Attorney General Eric] Holder did discuss this with the intelligence community. If they believe they got enough from him, how much more should they get? Did they Mirandize him? I know he’s an American citizen but still,” King said.

But still?

Yesterday, there were widespread media reports that the Joint Terrorist Task Force (JTTF) had taken over the investigation. This morning, the NY Times noted that the JTTF had identified the suspect.

Peter King serves on the Homeland Security Committee in the House. In fact, he's the ranking Republican on that committee. So King should know what the JTTF is:

Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) are small cells of highly trained, locally based, passionately committed investigators, analysts, linguists, SWAT experts, and other specialists from dozens of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It is a multi-agency effort led by the Justice Department and FBI designed to combine the resources of federal, state, and local law enforcement.

So, the entity leading the investigation is comprised of "law enforcement and intelligence agencies," but Rep. Peter King wants to know if the intelligence community was involved?

Republicans never miss an opportunity to play politics with national security -- even when it makes them look like fools.

UPDATE: So, this is the right-wing talking point of the day. Former Maverick John McCain is piling on, too. Read the rest of this post...

Primary day in North Carolina and Ohio

Today, Democratic voters in North Carolina and Ohio will choose their candidates for Senate.

In North Carolina, the winner of the primary will face incumbent GOPer Richard Burr in November. The race includes Secretary of State Kay Marshall, Cal Cunningham and Ken Lewis. Marshall leads in the most recent polling. North Carolinian Pam Spaulding hosted livechats with all three candidates. She endorsed Marshall.

In Ohio, the candidates are Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher and against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. They're vying to challenge GOPer Rob Portmann for the seat being vacated by incumbent Republican George Voinovich. Polls show Fisher with a wide lead.

Chris Bowers and DavidNYC at Swing State Project have great run downs of these races and a couple others to watch today. Read the rest of this post...

Arrest made in Times Square bombing case

An arrest overnight at JFK airport.

The attempted car bombing now appears to be an act of international terrorism:

Federal agents and police detectives arrested a Connecticut man, a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan, shortly before midnight Monday for driving a car bomb into Times Square on Saturday evening in what turned out to be an unsuccessful attack, Justice Department officials announced.

The man, Faisal Shahzad, 30, was taken into custody at Kennedy Airport on board an Emirates flight to Dubai, according to the airline and an early-morning statement Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. delivered at the Justice Department in Washington.

Two other passengers were removed from the plane, Emirates said, but it was unclear whether they were connected with the bombing attempt.

Mr. Shahzad was believed to have recently bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was found loaded with gasoline, propane, fireworks and fertilizer in the heart of Times Square, a person briefed on the investigation said.

No doubt we'll be hearing a lot more about this case over the next couple days. Read the rest of this post...