From rogers at ISI.EDU Mon May 4 14:35:47 2009 From: rogers at ISI.EDU (Craig Milo Rogers) Date: Mon, 4 May 2009 11:35:47 -0700 Subject: [oasis-members] Vandenberg AFB Launch on Tuesday, 05-May-2009 Message-ID: <20090504183547.GA15557@isi.edu> According to Brian Webb's LAUNCH ALERT service, a Delta II rocket will attempt to launch an experimental missle defense tracking satellite (STSS-ATRR) from Vandenberg AFB's SLC-2W this Tuesday. The announced launch window is 13:24 to 13:52 PDT. The main concern at this time that might postpone the launch is the possibility of excessive wind. Although Los Angeles is outside a 75-mile nominal viewing radius from Vandenberg AFB, I would expect to see the launch from coastal Los Angeles, so long as it is not obscured by fog and haze. If you wish to increast your chances of seeing the launch, you should consider travelling closer to the launch. There are sites in the Santa Monica mountains which are elevated above the normal fog layer and that have a good view of the western horizon. This launch is being managed by NASA, the DELTA II is supplied by the United Launch Alliance, and the spacecraft was built by Northrup Grumman, if I've correctly read various press releases involved. "At the request of the Missile Defense Agency, an external TV and internet broadcast of this mission will not be provided," according to the United Lanuch Alliance's Web page. However, some still photos of launch preparation are available from the Air Force: http://www.ulalaunch.com/ http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/photos/index.asp?galleryID=2153 For more information about this launch, please refer to the following Web pages: http://www.spacearchive.info/vafbsked.htm http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d341/status.html http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/STSS042809.xml&channel=space http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=16834.0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STSS-ATRR There are still people organizing protests against "Star Wars"-related launches at Vandenberg AFB: http://vandenbergwitness.org/ Craig Milo Rogers From Rfoxbro at aol.com Thu May 28 13:58:50 2009 From: Rfoxbro at aol.com (Rfoxbro at aol.com) Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 13:58:50 EDT Subject: [oasis-members] I forbid you to buy more than 5 !! Message-ID: ANOTHER BOOK FROM YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR Dear Friends: My new book, ?A Pilgrim Muddles Through? is ready for you to read and enjoy. I absolutely (and modestly) guarantee that it will be the best book you have ever read! The ?Pilgrim? in the title is John Wayne?s Pilgrim ? a wanderer on the earth wondering what it?s all about. There is something in the book for everyone (see ?CONTENTS? below); indeed some of you are mentioned or your stories told. There?s love and friendship, bathos, religiosity, blasphemy, legalese, nautical hi-jinks, nonsense, writer?s cramp and all that good stuff. Buy one - buy many ? tell your friends!! . Moreover, please feel free to post your review of the book on my Amazon.com page. Unfortunately, exigent financial circumstances preclude both my sending a copy to all of you and ? because I am using an economical ?print-on-demand? printing/distributingUnfortunatAmazon.com?s ?BookSurge?) ? having you find one at your local library. Instead, you must order by going on line to the book detail page of _www.Amazon.com_ (http://www.amazon.com/) or dialing BookSurge?s ordering Department at toll-free 1-866 308 6235. Give the book title and author name, RF Brodsky. It can also be ordered via _www.BookSurge.www.BookSurge.cwww.Bwww.Alibris.www.Alibris.com; www_ (http://www.alibris.com;%20www.booksinprint.com;/) ; _www.GlobalBooksinPrwww.Glo_ (http://www.globalbooksinprint.com/) . And, my friends, if you don?t like it, I will personally buy it back! Please know that my royalty on book sales is a mere 35%, so you can readily see that I am not going to suddenly get rich. BookSurge has set the price at $21 Bob ABOUT THE BOOK AND AUTHOR (excerpted from the back cover) The stories, rants, letters, and essays in ?A PILGRIM MUDDLES THROUGH? represent a sometimes serious , as in ?Credo of a God- Fearing Atheist, sometimes ridiculous, as in ?The Hard Life Of a Poet?, and sometimes instructive, as in ?Brigs I Have Known?, but always interesting glimpse of modern day trials and tribulations. The breadth of the topics covered is enormous, and all but the serious treatments are given a light touch by an obvious iconoclast. You can discover how at last we can have peace in the Middle East; how to become an unsuccessful author; and how to get booked on the Goodyear Blimp; and, yes, ride a bus from disco to to on a Saturday. Also enjoyable and edifying are the pictures and cartoons that illustrate many of the stories. Dr. Bob Brodsky started a writing career after he retired from industry and academia. He is the author of ?On the Cutting Edge? ? Tales of a Cold War Engineer at the Dawn of the Nuclear, Guided Missile, Computer and Space ages. Here he describes happenings while he was responsible for the aerodynamic design of all our early atomic bombs; and tells about adventures in the start-up of the space age. His second book, ?Songs My Mother Never Sang To Me? illustrates his ability to recall the songs he sang and heard in his profligate youth in college, in the Navy during WW2, and as a GI Bill benefitee in grad school after the war. He did his best singing at Cornell and remembers all the words by some miracle of preservation of a by-gone, pre-television age. If you don?t like his voice on the CD that accompanies the book, know that he has other talents and once had steady ?day jobs ?. Before taking up writing after retirement ? from TRW Space and Technology in 1988 and as a professor of Astronautics and Space Technology at USC in 1996 ? he spent an active career in the aerospace industry and academia. His efforts to date have won him listing in ?Who?s Who in America?; - in the World?; - in Science and Engineering?; and - in American Education?. The Table of Contents is reproduced below and should allow you to find at least one story to your liking or interest. CONTENTS Acknowledgement Preface Chapter 1. Annals of Merchandizing Amazing tales of buying and selling legerdemain ix xi 1 * SCRAP THE NORMANDIE! ? an apocryphal story of engineering genius, new age art, and fortune acquisition 2 * ANY ICE TODAY, LADY? - My Boss, an A-Bomb scientist, makes a good deal for an icebox 6 ? FLXIBLE FLYER ? how an evil South American city hornswoggled a friend 8 * THE ROCKET SCIENTIST ? how the same friend got his revenge by becoming a millionaire, the hard way 12 * THE CLASS FAILURE ? from Wall Street to the Golden Arches 16 * THE WING OF THE CENTURY ? how Frank Rogallo triumphed and invented the hang glider 19 2. Annals of Morality Rants on atheism, abortion, women, organized religion 25 ? CREDO OF A GOD-FEARING ATHEIST ? what I do and don?t believe and why 26 ? A RETORT BY A FRIEND ? who has a different belief system 32 ? DOES THE POPE REALLY UNDERSTAND? ? what about evolution? 35 ? WHAT ABOUT PUBLIC PRAYER? ? non-separation of state and church 38 ? THE BEAUTY OF TENURE ? often maligned, it has a true place 44 ? ON ABORTION ? the clinic bombers must be suppressed! 48 ? WOMEN ? dear as they are, they are ultimately foolhardy 51 ? BINDLESTIFFED ? the puzzling effect of Sept. 11 on organized religion 55 ? THE NEW ATHEIAGNOS HOLIDAY WEEK ? the disenfranchised concoct a holiday period of their very own 57 ? PEACE AT LAST IN THE MIDDLE EAST ? putting Palestinians to work doing something spiritual