Friday, October 23, 2020

About Amy Coney Barrett’s secret church stint

Amy Coney Barrett (MSNBC)

By Jillian S. Ambroz and David Cay Johnston, DC Report @ RawStory
Published on October 21, 2020

There’s an important omission from Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Senate questionnaire about her fitness to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

She failed to disclose that she served as Council Chair for St. Joseph Catholic Church in South Bend, Ind., for two one-year appointments, between 2013 and June 2015. Her responsibilities included providing counsel and advice to the pastor and assisting in all church duties, according to the church’s documents on its Council Bylaws.

The parish runs a grammar school that, according to its website, teaches that “homosexual behavior” is an offense against the Sixth and Ninth commandments. Neither commandment makes any reference to homosexuality. Both commandments address heterosexual behavior, however.

Various ~~religions~~ CHRISTIAN SECTS cite the commandments slightly differently, but widely published versions of the Sixth Commandment say “thou shalt not commit adultery.” The Ninth says “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”

Barrett did disclose that she served on the board of the Trinity School in South Bend from 2015 to 2017, which is affiliated with community faith group, People of Praise, an extremely tight-knit and conservative Catholic religious organization. During that time, the school enforced a policy to not accept children of unmarried couples. The admissions policy clearly states that it excluded students with gay parents.

In addition, the pastor of her congregation in South Bend runs an organization that aims to keep people ”who struggle with same-sex attraction” to live celibate lives instead.

While Barrett did list her role on the board of Trinity School in the exhaustive 69-page document submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church cannot be found once in the filing. It raises questions of what kind of bigotry might be practiced there that she would not mention her ties to the church.

On the very first page of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Supreme Court nominee questionnaire, nominees are asked to include an employment record dating back to their college graduation. This would include any affiliation as an officer, director, partner or employee or non-profit organization, with or without pay.

This new information should cause the Senate Judiciary to pump the brakes on her confirmation. The Senate is expected to vote on her nomination on Oct. 26.

It may have been a calculated omission because Barrett provided details on her work history otherwise, going back to a job she held as a summer administrative assistant to Phelps Dunbar LLP, in New Orleans, in 1994.

Her position as parish council chair was unpaid. Barrett and her husband, Jesse M. Barrett, were also generous donors to St. Joseph’s Church. An annual report for 2012-2013 shows a donation for that year between $10,000 and $25,000.

While it’s no secret the Trump Administration wants to fill every possible bench with a conservative judge, Barrett was hand-picked by former White House counsel Don McGahn. He put Barrett forth for consideration noting her “unbending conviction on social issues.”

Calls to Barrett’s office and various senators on the Judiciary Committee were not returned. A call to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was redirected to the Bishop’s office of the Diocese in Fort Wayne, Ind.

An Ewenki reindeer guardian in China's northmost forest

By Xu Xiaoxuan

The reindeers raised by Gu Musen walk in the snow in the Greater Hinggan Mountains. [Photo courtesy of Gu Musen]

Reindeers may not always be seen in Western countries bringing Santa Clause and gifts on Christmas Eve. However, in the Greater Hinggan Mountains of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, one can at least see reindeers scampering over the snow with tinkling bells in the dense birch forests.

The reindeer raisers are the Ewenki ethnic minority group, known as the last hunting tribe and the only reindeer herding one in China.

33-year-old Gu Musen is the youngest reindeer herder in the forest.

Gu, who now has 30 reindeers, began to raise the lovely creatures in 2014 when he came back from Beijing. "I went to the capital to make a living in 2010, but I found it hard to get used to the hustle and bustle of city life," he recalled.

Initially lacking experience, Gu once could do nothing but helplessly watch a reindeer die in front of him. Then, he consulted tribal members of the older generation and other herders about how to take care of these animals with the magnificent and beautiful antlers. Gradually, he has become a reindeer "expert" and learned a lot including prescribing medicine for sick animals.

The natural beauty and tranquil life in the mountains have gratified Gu, who thought the peace should be shared with others. Thus, he began to show his daily life on the Chinese video-sharing platform Douyin two years ago. Reindeer feeding and calving, vigorous forests, snow-capped mountains and traditional Ewenki customs etc., are all presented in the videos.

Now, Gu has attracted more than 200,000 followers on Douyin and garnered a total of over four million likes with his 140+ posts. The rising popularity of the videos has also earned Gu more customers for the velvet antlers and other reindeer products, thus increasing income for him.

In addition, the videos have drawn more people to Gu's breeding center to see the reindeers and experience Ewenki culture. "I teach the visitors to make Ewenki handicrafts and cook traditional food," he said, "I draw the reindeers and sell drawings as well. All these have boosted my average income to 10,000 to 15,000 yuan a month."

When free, Gu comes down from the mountains to his two-story house in Aoluguya township, where the local authorities constructed 88-square-meter homes each for Ewenki ecological migrants. The Ewenki people left mountains and stepped into modern life under the government's environmental protection project and permanent hunting ban starting in 2002.

A brand-new life, however, doesn't equate with traditional abandonment. About 12 families are still raising reindeers in the mountains like Gu, and the reindeer population has grown from 100 to around 1,200.

Besides, local tourism has also thrived under the government's stimulus package of 100 million yuan. By selling reindeer products, running family hotels and making fur and leather crafts, the average net income of the former hunters has soared to about 20,000 yuan a year.

"With the older generation passing away, what may also wither is Ewenki's time-honored culture. I feel great responsibility to pass on the ethnic cultural heritage."

One of Gu Musen's drawings features his son nestling against a reindeer. [Photo courtesy of Gu Musen]

"My ten-month-old son has been surrounded by the reindeers since he was born. I hope he can inherit and carry forward our Ewenki's reindeer herding culture," Gu beamed.

As rivalry with Washington heats up, Beijing commemorates 'victory' in 'war to resist US aggression'

Analysis by James Griffiths, CNN
Updated Thu October 22, 2020

Hong Kong (CNN)Seventy years ago this week, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops began crossing into North Korea, in an intervention that would turn the tide of the conflict on the Korean Peninsula and eventually hold United Nations forces to an uneasy detente.
In China, that conflict is known as the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea," and is seen as a great victory, a view shared by Pyongyang, though North Korea failed to make any gains after its initial invasion of the South was rebuffed, and would likely have been defeated but for Beijing's assistance.

Anniversaries of the war have often been used as an opportunity for anti-US rhetoric in China, depending on relations with Washington: 2000 saw a large-scale commemoration, coming after the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, as anti-US feeling was widespread; while in 2010, then President Hu Jintao oversaw a far more muted 60th anniversary, amid better feeling toward Washington.

This year, Beijing has pulled out all the stops, as relations with the US plumb new depths amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and increasingly aggressive rhetoric from US President Donald Trump.

On Friday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will attend an event commemorating China's entry into the war, where he will "deliver an important speech," according to state news agency Xinhua. The ceremony caps a week of events, and jingoistic saber-rattling in Chinese state media and official propaganda.

Speaking earlier this week, Xi said the war was "a victory of justice, a victory of peace and a victory of the people" and should "inspire the Chinese people and the Chinese nation to overcome all difficulties and obstacles, and prevail over all enemies."

In a lengthy front-page commentary in the People's Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of China's military, the author hailed the "glorious victory" which "left the Americans with the deepest impression that what Chinese people say counts," and to respect "China's red lines."

One of those alleged red lines potentially came close to being crossed this week, as the US State Department on Wednesday approved the proposed sale of $1.8 billion in advanced weapons systems sales to Taiwan, over the vociferous objections of Beijing, which has warned Washington that such a sale could "gravely" damage US-China relations and cross-straits stability.

Taiwan has emerged as a major potential flashpoint between the US and China in recent years, as Washington has become more forceful in its approach toward Beijing and China adopted a threatening posture towards the self-ruled island, which it has vowed to seize militarily if necessary.

In an op-ed Wednesday, US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said that Xi's "ambitions for control are not limited to the people of China," words that he echoed in an address to the Atlantic Future Forum, an event organized by the British military, in which he accused Beijing of "seeking dominance in all domains and sectors," according to a Reuters report of the event.

Washington has been trying to rally its allies, both in Asia and elsewhere, to take a more forceful approach to China, even as the pandemic and the forthcoming US presidential election has largely distracted attention at home. This week it was announced that Australia will join the US, Japan and India in naval exercises in the Indian Ocean next month, another step in the militarization of the so-called Quad alliance between the four nations.

That comes, however, amid renewed questions about the US' perceived dominance in the Pacific. A new report by the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank with links to the government, found that Washington's military and diplomatic influence in the region has suffered as a result of the pandemic, while China's was on the rise.

"Despite its continuing pre-eminence, US standing has waned," Lowy noted in its recent Pacific Power Index. "Washington, far from being the undisputed unipolar power, can more correctly be described as the first among equals in a bipolar Indo-Pacific."

Meanwhile, the report said, "Beijing has enhanced its military capability by investing in weaponry that could threaten US and allied bases in the region."

Xi calls for promoting spirit demonstrated in War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea

Xinhua, October 23, 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged efforts to carry forward the great spirit demonstrated in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.

Xi made the remarks while addressing a meeting marking the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's Volunteers' entering the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to fight in the war.

It is necessary to speak to invaders in the language they know: that is, a war must be fought to deter invasion, and force must be met by force, Xi said. "A victory is needed to win peace and respect."

He said the Chinese nation will never cower before threats, or be subdued by suppression.

Xi noted the need to pool the formidable national strength that unites all, regardless of how times may evolve.

He also called for fostering the valor of the nation that fears no death, and stressed the need to promote the national wisdom of keeping to the right path, making innovations, and striving to march forward.

China urges US to stop oppression, restrictions against Chinese media outlets

: Xinhua, October 23, 2020

China on Thursday urges the United States to stop the political oppression and senseless restrictions against Chinese media outlets.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a U.S. decision to designate another six Chinese media outlets in the United States as "foreign missions."

In recent years, the U.S. government has imposed unwarranted restrictions on Chinese media agencies and personnel in the United States, purposely made things difficult for their normal reporting assignments, and subjected them to growing discrimination and politically-motivated oppression, Zhao said.

In December 2018, the United States demanded relevant Chinese media outlets in the United States to register as "foreign agents." On Feb. 18, 2020, the United States designated five Chinese media agencies as "foreign missions." On June 22, the United States again added four Chinese media organizations as "foreign missions," Zhao said.

On Oct. 21, the United States announced that it would designate six more Chinese media outlets as "foreign missions."

"This is its latest step of political suppression and stigmatization against Chinese media and journalists stationed in the United States. China firmly rejects and strongly condemns the U.S. senseless moves," Zhao said.

"China will make legitimate, necessary reactions. China urges the United States to immediately change course, correct mistakes, and stop the political oppression and senseless restrictions against Chinese media outlets," he said.

The U.S. moves, specifically targeting Chinese media, are based on Cold-War mindset and ideological bias, he said. "They severely undermine Chinese media's reputation and image, severely impact Chinese media's normal functioning in the United States, and severely disrupt cultural and people-to-people exchange between the two countries."

Such moves reveal the hypocrisy of the United States' self-proclaimed "freedom of the press," Zhao said.

Considering the U.S. government's wanton interference in domestic and foreign journalists' reporting, as well as their unwarranted smears and oppression against journalists, the United States itself is the perpetrator that blatantly suppresses media and restricts press freedom, he said.

"Its self-proclaimed image of a 'beacon' exists in name only," Zhao said.

A missing painting by renowned Black artist Jacob Lawrence has resurfaced after 60 years

Published 22nd October 2020

Credit: Anna-Marie Kellen/Metropolitan Museum of Art
A missing painting by renowned Black artist Jacob Lawrence has resurfaced after 60 years

Written by David Williams, CNN

Along-lost painting by famed Black American modernist Jacob Lawrence is back on public display for the first time in decades.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced on Wednesday that a visitor to the museum realized that it had been in a neighbor's collection for years and encouraged them to contact the museum.

The current owners bought the painting at a charity auction in 1960, the museum said.

The work, titled "There are combustibles in every State, which a spark might set fire to. -- Washington, 26 December 1786" depicts the Shays' Rebellion, an uprising of farmers in Massachusetts following the Revolutionary War, according to a news release.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has hired its first full-time Native American curator
It was number 16 in a series of 30 panels in Lawrence's "Struggle: From the History of the American People (1954--56)" that represent historical moments from 1775 through 1817.
Its existence was known because it was described in the 1956 brochure for the first showing of "The Struggle" series in New York at the Alan Gallery. The panels were exhibited at the gallery again in 1958 and had not been seen together as a group until earlier this year when this exhibition debuted at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, the statement said.

The Met says the locations of four other paintings from the series are still not known.
The painting was represented by an empty frame prior to the discovery, according to the statement.

Visitors wearing protective masks observe COVID-19 prevention protocols as they browse the "Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credit: John Minchillo/AP

"It is rare to make a discovery of this significance in modern art, and it is thrilling that a local visitor is responsible," Met Director Max Hollein said in a statement.

"We are also very excited for our colleagues at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), the organizers of the exhibition that inspired this historic find. And most importantly, we are looking forward to having visitors enjoy this new addition -- in these final two weeks at The Met and at the upcoming venues of the show."

Painting returned 87 years after Nazis stole it from a Jewish family in Berlin

Lawrence, who lived from 1917 to 2000, was one of the first nationally recognized Black artists in the United States and his colorful, abstract work portrayed the experiences of African Americans, according to the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Sotheby's sold his 1947 painting "The Businessmen" for more than $6.1 million in a 2018 auction.

The series is on display until November 1, the Met said.

The painting will be included in the touring exhibition that will be presented in museums in Birmingham, Alabama; Seattle, Washington; and Washington, DC, through next fall.

WHAT IS AN ANARCHIST

AMERICAN LIBERTARIAN

Ammon Hennacy was born July 24, 1893 in Negley, Ohio. His formal education consisted of one year each at three institutions: Hiram College in Ohio (1913), University of Wisconsin (1914), and Ohio State University (1915). With the outbreak of World War I he refused to register for military service and consequently served two years in the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1919 he married (common law). In 1921 he and his wife hiked throughout the forty-eight contiguous states. Between 1925-1929 he purchased a farm and became the father of two children. In 1931 he engaged in social work in Milwaukee. There he organized one of the first social workers' unions. With the coming of World War II he again refused to register for the draft. Between 1942 and 1953 he worked as a migrant laborer in the Southwest. He became baptized into the Roman Catholic Church in 1952 by an anarchist priest. Between 1953 and 1961 he was an associate editor of the Catholic Worker, located in the Bowery area of New York City. His picketing activities included annual air raid drill protests in New York City between 1955 and 1961. He also expressed protest against war preparation by picketing the Atomic Energy Commission at Las Vegas (1957), Cape Kennedy (1958), Washington, DC (1958), and Mead Field in Omaha (1959). In 1961 he organized and directed the Joe Hill House of Hospitality in remembrance of the martyrdom of Joe Hill. While in Utah he was involved in picketing and fasting protests against scheduled executions of condemned prisoners at the State Prison, fasting on various occasions for periods ranging from 12 to 45 consecutive days. In 1965 he married Joan Thomas, and formally left the Catholic Church. From that time on he wished to be known as a non-church Christian. In 1968 he was forced to close his fourth Joe Hill House, and from then on he devoted himself to his writing. At the same time, he continued to picket and fast against scheduled executions and payment of taxes for war. Shortly after the publication of his book, The One-Man Revolution in America, he suffered a heart attack while picketing for Lance and Kelback, two convicted murderers scheduled to be executed. He died six days later, on January 14, 1970. --

Joan Thomas, widow of Ammon Hennacy

Ammon Hennacy - The Catholic Worker - The Catholic Worke

Ammon Hennacy was born on 24 July 1893 in Neglio, Ohio. He was active in the radical political movements of his day and campaigned vigorously for the ...

Ammon Hennacy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Ammon_Hennacy

Ammon Ashford Hennacy (July 24, 1893 – January 14, 1970) was an American Christian pacifist, anarchist, social activist, member of the Catholic Worker Movement, and Wobbly. He established the Joe Hill House of Hospitality in Salt Lake City, Utah and practiced tax resistance.

Date of death: January 14, 1970

Cause of death: Myocardial infarction

‎Biography · ‎Political and ethical beliefs · ‎Bibliography

Ammon Hennacy, Christian Anarchist | Libertarianism.org

www.libertarianism.org › articles › ammon-hennacy-ch...

3 days ago — Ammon Hennacy believed he had a duty as a Christian to help others directly and to oppose the state.

The “One-Man Revolution” of Ammon Hennacy • TPL

sniggle.net › TPL › index5

The “One-Man Revolution” of Ammon Hennacy. I had a fantastic vacation in Veracruz, but vacation though it was, I couldn't leave The Picket Line behind entirely ...

Ammon Hennacy papers 1918-1966

quod.lib.umich.edu › sclead › umich-scl-hennacy

Ammon Hennacy (1893-1970) was an anarchist, Christian, door-to-door salesman, pacifist, social worker, and consistent, lifelong activist. He published three ...

This super-beetle can survive being run over by a car -- and help with engineering problems

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN
Updated Wed October 21, 2020

VIDEO This beetle can get run over by a car and live to tell the tale 01:18
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/21/world/beetle-engineering-intl-scli-scn/index.html

(CNN)Scientists developing new materials are studying an unlikely source of strength: a beetle that can withstand being run over by a car.

Researchers from Purdue University and the University of California, Irvine, studied the aptly named diabolical ironclad beetle -- Phloeodes diabolicus -- to understand the secret behind its strength.

"If you take any beetle, and you want to collapse it with your finger, you can probably kill it," he told CNN.

But not the diabolical ironclad beetle. "This beetle is so tough that the energy or the force that you can do with your hand, it's not enough -- it's like a piece of rock," Pablo D. Zavattieri, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue and a study author, told CNN. "The tire of a car is not enough to collapse it."

The findings were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

Experts wanted to understand why, in the hopes of re-creating such strength in construction materials.

Using advanced microscopy, spectroscopy and in situ mechanical testing, researchers identified the architectural designs within the creature's exoskeleton.
The scientists discovered that the diabolical ironclad beetle's super-toughness lies in its armor. The insect has two armorlike "elytron" -- used in flying beetles to deploy wings -- that meet at a line, called a suture, running the length of its abdomen.

A CT scan of the diabolical ironclad beetle shows how its organs are spaced beneath a super-tough exoskeleton.

Millions of years ago, most beetles flew, Zavattieri explained. "This particular beetle, as part of the evolution process, it doesn't fly any more," he said.

Though the diabolical ironclad beetle doesn't use its elyton for flight, the elytra and connective suture instead help to distribute applied force more evenly throughout the insect's body.

Zavattieri explained that the suture acts like a jigsaw puzzle, connecting the creature's various exoskeletal blades in the abdomen, which lock to prevent themselves from pulling out.

If the suture is broken, another protective mechanism also allows for the blades to deform slowly. That prevents a sudden release of energy, which would otherwise snap the beetle's neck.

Using steel plates, the team of researchers discovered that the creature can take an applied force of 150 newtons -- some 39,000 times its body weight -- before its exoskeleton starts to fracture.

A car tire would apply force of around 100 newtons if driving over the insect on a dirt surface, scientists said.

The team hopes that in better understanding how the beetle withstands such force, they can develop tougher materials.

One of the critical problems in engineering is connecting materials of different compositions, for example, connecting aluminum and steel, in fields like aerospace, Zavattieri told CNN.

For example, when building aircraft turbines, metals are often joined to composite materials with mechanical fasteners, which can add weight, introduce stress and ultimately lead to features and corrosion in the structure.

"We have the materials. One of the engineering issues is how to connect them," Zavattieri said.

"We can use these sutures -- they are showing you the way the beetle does it -- to improve the toughness of these," he said.

"This is a good example of how nature uses this connection," he said. "Every single time we look at nature, we learn something new."

New images show NASA spacecraft's historic landing and sample collection on asteroid

By Ashley Strickland, CNN
Updated Wed October 21, 2020

VIDEO
See NASA spacecraft successfully land on an asteroid

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/21/world/nasa-asteroid-bennu-new-images-scn-trnd/index.html

CNN New images taken by the OSIRIS-REx mission show the historic first touchdown of a NASA spacecraft on the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft collected a sample that will be returned to Earth in 2023.

In the images, which were stitched together to show the spacecraft touching down, the spacecraft's robotic arm appeared to crush some of the porous rocks on the surface. A nitrogen gas bottle fired on the surface appeared to stir up a substantial amount of material in a "rubble shower." The spacecraft then spent five seconds collecting that material before backing away.

Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
On October 21, NASA released images captured by cameras on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft showing its successful and historic touchdown on the asteroid Bennu.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
This image shows the moment the spacecraft briefly used its robotic arm to touch the surface of Bennu, crushing porous rocks in the process.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
The spacecraft fired a pressurized nitrogen bottle, using the gas to lift the disturbed material and pebbles so it could collect them as a sample.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
NASA's OSIRIS-REx touched down on asteroid Bennu on October 20. This illustration shows the spacecraft approaching the asteroid.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
This mosaic image of Bennu is composed of 12 images collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a range of 15 miles (24 kilometers).
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
This drawing shows an artist's concept of what it will look like when the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touches asteroid Bennu with its robot arm to grab a sample of the asteroid.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
This image shows asteroid Bennu ejecting rock particles from its surface on Jan. 19, 2019. It was created by combining two images taken by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
This view of sample site Nightingale on asteroid Bennu is a mosaic of images collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
OSIRIS-REx pulled within 12 miles of the diamond-shaped space rock when it arrived at the asteroid on December 3, 2018.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
An artist's concept of what the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft looks like as it orbits asteroid Bennu.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
Pictured are the four candidate sample collection sites on asteroid Bennu selected by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. Site Nightingale (top left) is located in Bennu's northern hemisphere. Sites Kingfisher (top right) and Osprey (bottom left) are located in Bennu's equatorial region. Site Sandpiper (bottom right) is located in Bennu's southern hemisphere. Nightingale was ultimately chosen, and the others serve as backup sites.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Denver. It is 20.25 feet in length (6.2 meters) with its solar arrays deployed. Its width is 8 feet (2.43 meters) x 8 feet (2.43 meters). Its height is 10.33 feet (3.15 meters). It's powered by two solar panels that generate between 1,226 watts and 3,000 watts of energy. It has five instruments to explore asteroid Bennu and also has a robot arm to touch the asteroid long enough to collect a sample.
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx will take a sample of asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth
These radar images of asteroid Bennu were obtained by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, California, on September 23, 1999. This is when they first discovered the asteroid.
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FOR BETTER QUALITY PHOTOS

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/21/world/nasa-asteroid-bennu-new-images-scn-trnd/index.html

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is in "good health" after the event which occurred on Tuesday, according to the mission's team. Data and images were sent back by the spacecraft overnight and shared by the agency on Wednesday.

Data from the spacecraft shows it touched down within 3 feet of the targeted location -- all while the spacecraft autonomously worked through commands sent ahead of time, using its advanced navigation system to help it land without assistance from Earth due to a 18.5-minute communication delay.

This graphic shows the spot where the spacecraft touched down on the asteroid.
Although all of the data sent back by the spacecraft so far indicates that everything happened as planned during the "Touch-and-Go" event, called TAG, it will take the mission teams about a week to determine how much of a sample was collected by the spacecraft.
The required amount for the sample is about 60 grams -- about a full-size candy bar -- but the capsule can hold up to 2 kilograms of material from the asteroid's surface

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Since launching in 2016, the mission has been filled with surprises and firsts, challenging its team to think on their feet as the asteroid revealed information that ultimately changed how NASA would attempt its first collection of a sample from an asteroid.

NASA mission successfully touched down on asteroid Bennu
Located more than 200 million miles from Earth, Bennu is a boulder-studded asteroid shaped like a spinning top and as tall as the Empire State Building. It's a "rubble pile" asteroid, which is a grouping of rocks held together by gravity rather than a single object.
The OSIRIS-REx mission stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer.

Rather than the sandy beach-like surface the mission team was expecting at first, it turns out that Bennu is covered in building-size boulders. It's also actively ejecting little rocks, pebbles and particles into space -- as first witnessed by the spacecraft's cameras soon after arriving at the asteroid in December 2018.

The spacecraft orbited the asteroid for nearly two years, observing it in detail. This resulted in the closest orbit for a spacecraft around an object, setting a Guinness World Record. It's also the smallest body to be orbited by a NASA spacecraft. And Bennu has now been mapped in greater detail than our own moon or any other celestial body in our solar system.

Due to the rocky nature of the asteroid, which could have spelled doom for the spacecraft attempting to collect a sample from it, the team had to pick its collection site carefully and shrink the landing site to one-tenth of its original size.

Imagine a van that can seat 15 passengers flying through space and approaching a rock that has the height of the Empire State Building and is rapidly rotating.

The landing site, called Nightingale, is 52 feet in diameter, about the size of a few parking spaces. This is where the spacecraft briefly touched the asteroid with its 11-foot robotic arm for just seconds on Wednesday. The touchdown and sample collection occurred about 4.5 hours after the spacecraft departed orbit around the asteroid and slowly descended.

Data has shown that the arm touched the surface of the asteroid and fired a burst of nitrogen gas, stirring up dust and pebbles that could be stowed by the arm's collection head.
After the collection, the spacecraft backed away from the asteroid to safety.

"This amazing first for NASA demonstrates how an incredible team from across the country came together and persevered through incredible challenges to expand the boundaries of knowledge," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement after the event on Tuesday. "Our industry, academic, and international partners have made it possible to hold a piece of the most ancient solar system in our hands."

What's next

The mission team over the next week will use a camera on the spacecraft to take pictures of the collection head on the robotic arm to try and determine how much of a sample was collected.

The spacecraft will also perform a bit of a pirouette on Saturday, spinning about an axis that is perpendicular to its robotic arm, to determine the mass of the sample. The team will analyze this data and make a decision by October 30 if they have collected a sufficient sample.

"We will use the combination of data from TAG and the post-TAG images and mass measurement to assess our confidence that we have collected at least 60 grams of sample," said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement. "If our confidence is high, we'll make the decision to stow the sample on October 30."

Stowing the sample means that the mission team on Earth will send a command to the spacecraft to place the sample collection head in the sample return capsule, which is located inside the spacecraft's body.

Once everything is sealed, the spacecraft will prepare to depart Bennu in March 2021. This is when the asteroid will be aligned with Earth for a shorter trip home.

If the spacecraft did not collect enough of a sample, OSIRIS-REx will attempt another TAG at the backup Osprey landing site on the asteroid. This TAG event would occur on January 12, 2021

Once the spacecraft has a sufficient sample, it will travel back to Earth, parachuting into Utah's west desert on September 24, 2023.

What we can learn from a sample

There are more than a million known asteroids in our solar system, but Bennu was singled out for the OSIRIS-REx mission because it fit certain criteria regarding size, location and composition, according to Heather Enos, the mission's deputy principal investigator at the University of Arizona.
Bennu's sample won't be the first asteroid sample returned to Earth. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency , known as JAXA, collected a sample from the asteroid Ryugu during their Hayabusa2 mission. It should be returned to Earth in December.

2 different asteroids visited by spacecraft may have once been part of 1 larger asteroid
The two mission teams have collaborated closely throughout their missions and will be exchanging a portion of the samples collected from each asteroid. The NASA team hopes that its mission will collect a sample with "significantly more mass" because its sampling method is a little different from Hayabusa2's approach, according to NASA.

Enos hopes for a "completely full capsule" that represents Bennu's carbon-rich composition and hydrated minerals, both discovered based on observations and data sent back by OSIRIS-REx over the last two years. She also hopes that the sample includes a variety of sizes of material, including tiny grains and small pieces that have chipped off of the large yet weak and porous boulders on Bennu.

What scientists learned after firing a small cannonball into a near-Earth asteroid

"Diversity is the key to get the most out of this sample," Enos said.
Scientists are already anticipating what they could learn from the returned sample. They don't expect to find life on the asteroid, which has been subjected to intense radiation, but the building blocks of life may be present in organic molecules and hydrated minerals on the asteroid.

Recently, scientists discovered that the fine material at the Nightingale site was only recently exposed to the space environment. This means that the material gathered by OSIRIS-REx will be some of the most pristine material on the asteroid.

A NASA mission's delicate dance to collect samples from a rugged asteroid

"One of the prime goals of the mission is to understand the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, and the role asteroids may have played in delivering life-forming compounds on Earth," said Jamie Elsila, a research scientist at Goddard, during Monday's press conference.

Asteroids may have also delivered these compounds to other planets in the solar system.

A Japanese spacecraft is coming back to Earth with samples from a nearby asteroid

Cutting-edge instruments in labs on Earth will be used to analyze portions of the sample. This is vastly preferable to studying meteorite fragments that land on Earth and are contaminated by our environment, she said.

However, the mission will archive 75% of the collected material. Much like samples from the Apollo 17 mission to the moon that were recently opened, scientists hope that future generations could learn more than we are currently able.

"This will allow people not yet born using techniques not yet invented to answer questions not yet asked," Elsila said. "But we're really looking forward to searching for these organic molecules, these building blocks, and determining their formation, evolution and distribution throughout the solar system. Then, we can figure out how life got started from those ingredients."

NOT A #CRYPTID

The 'Caspian Sea Monster' rises from the grave
Miquel Ros, CNN • Updated 22nd October 2020

Sea beast: The only Soviet-era Lun-class ekranoplan ever completed has been left to rust for 30 years, but now this remarkable flying machine is on the move.
Musa Salgereyev/TASS/Getty Images

(CNN) — Beached on the western shores of the Caspian Sea, it looks like a colossal aquatic beast -- a bizarre creation more at home in the deep than above the waves. It certainly doesn't look like something that could ever fly.

But fly it did -- albeit a long time ago.

After lying dormant for more than three decades, the Caspian Sea Monster has been on the move again. One of the most eye-catching flying machines ever built, it's completing what could be its final journey.

In July of this year after 14 hours at sea, a flotilla of three tugs and two escort vessels maneuvered slowly along the shores of the Caspian Sea to deliver their bulky special cargo to its destination, a stretch of coast near Russia's southernmost point.

It's here, next to the ancient city of Derbent, in Russia's republic of Dagestan, that the 380-ton "Lun-class Ekranoplan" has found its new, and most likely definitive, home.

The last of its breed to sail the waters of the Caspian, "Lun" was abandoned after the 1990s collapse of the Soviet Union, condemned to rust away at Kaspiysk naval base, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) up the coast from Derbent.

But before it could fade into oblivion, it's been rescued thanks to plans to make it a tourist attraction right at a time when this unusual travel concept could be poised to make a comeback.