Taxi transported to NJ before final NYC stop

The model area taxi Business has came in New Nj, the first half of its journey to the journey outdoor patio of a decommissioned planes service provider in New You are able to Town.

The taxi left Kennedy Airport Weekend morning on a burst and was transported past thousands of viewers to Nj Town. The taxi had been at JFK since it went from California on top of a 747 jet earlier this spring.

A speaker for the Smart Sea, Air & Space Art gallery says the shuttle's wingtip continual light cosmetic harm during the journey when a strong gust of wind caused it to eat a wood adding. No other harm was revealed.

On Thursday, the Business is to be taken to the Smart on Manhattan's Western Side where a motorised hoist will lift it onto the journey outdoor patio.

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For the historic mission of SpaceX rocket ready to slide

A week ago representatives from SpaceX were in Brownsville fielding questions from residents wanting to know more about the company and exactly what it does.

On Tuesday, SpaceX and its founder, billionaire Elon Musk, showed the world what they can do by launching the first commercial rocket to the International Space Station.

A Falcon 9 rocket, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carried into orbit a Dragon spacecraft packed with 1,000 pounds of supplies for the space station.

SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies, is considering a tract in Cameron County for an additional launch site for future flights.

Tuesday’s successful launch marks a first for private industry.

“Falcon flew perfectly!!” Musk, said via Twitter. “Feels like a giant weight just came off my back,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.

Musk later told reporters: “For us, it’s like winning the Super Bowl.”

Cameron County Precinct 4 Commissioner Dan Sanchez attended the launch at Cape Canaveral.

“When they did the countdown and it ignited, it was pretty amazing. I had never seen a launch. I had never gotten to attend any type of launch of a space shuttle or any other type of rocket. It was a lot more amazing in person then what you see on TV,” Sanchez said.

“I didn’t expect it to be as bright. The whole sky just lit up when the rocket took off,” he said, noting that he was at a NASA observation deck, some 5 to 7 miles from the launch site.

Sanchez is vacationing at Disney World and was able to get an invitation to the launch, which had been scheduled for Saturday but was aborted a half-second before liftoff because of a bad engine valve.

Cameron County is one of three sites SpaceX is considering for the construction of another launch pad. The site under consideration is at the eastern end of State Highway 4, about 3 miles north of the Mexican border. It is about 5 miles south of Port Isabel and South Padre Island.

Cameron County Precinct 1 Commissioner Sofia C. Benavides said she was elated when she heard Tuesday morning that liftoff had occurred.

“I was really happy to hear that,” she said.

Like many people in the Rio Grande Valley, Benavides was disappointed Saturday when the launch was aborted.

“I think while some of the people may have been a little let down the other today, I think everybody is happy to see that everything went well this morning,” Benavides said Tuesday.

About 500 people turned out for a recent public hearing on SpaceX’s proposal to build a launch site in Cameron County. The hearing was May 15 at the International Technology, Education and Commerce Center in Brownsville.

Dozens of people took the microphone and all supported the venture. A few voiced concerns about the wildlife in the area and the maintenance of the highway leading to and from the proposed launch site.

The other sites SpaceX is considering for a launch site are in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Gilbert Salinas, executive vice president at BEDC, said he watched the rocket launch online early Tuesday morning.

“I felt a huge relief, but also a huge, huge level of excitement. … I am hoping that the next chapter in space history will be launching a rocket from the first-ever commercial launch site, which in this case would be Brownsville, Texas,” Salinas said.

Musk refers to his project as the “commercial Cape Canaveral.” His company is working with city and county officials here should SpaceX decide to build such a launch site in the Brownsville area.

In addition to the active launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, SpaceX is currently developing a launch site at Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. The company also operates a rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas.

SpaceX is based in Hawthorne, Calif.

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Seeing a way to be safe! Is Ready for Eclipse?

A partial solar eclipse is expected to darken the sun between 5:16 and 7:40 p.m. Sunday, but astronomers are advising you look ver-r-r-r-y carefully.

How carefully?

Start by turning your back to the sun. Really.

"It is very important that everyone tempted by the sight of 84 percent of the sun's area being covered by the Moon take heed of the warnings you will hear for much of the coming week," Andrew Fraknoi, chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, and a frequent radio commentator on all things astronomical.

People can watch by making do-it-yourself pinhole projectors. They view the eclipse by turning their back to the sun and letting the sun shine through the pinhole onto a piece of paper. From there, the progression of the moon's path can be seen.

Viewing the Sun without proper protection is dangerous and can cause serious eye damage. Fraknoi started on Monday by distributing a link for safe eclipse viewing through all his networks.

The experts are also using this as a teachable, festive moment. While it's not a total eclipse, Sunday's event is still pretty special. The last time an "annular eclipse" took place was 18 years ago.

In Los Altos Hills, the Peninsula Astronomical Society will open the Foothill Observatory from 5 p.m. to sunset, and members of the public can safely see the eclipse through the observatory's Hydrogen-alpha and white light telescopes, its newsletter says. (Be prepared to pay $3 in quarters to the parking machine).

In the East Bay, the Chabot Space & Science Center will have an Eclipse Viewing Party for $5, beginning at 5 p.m. the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley will have a viewing for free on its deck, and charge $5 for activities inside. "This will be the best partial eclipse seen from Berkeley until 2045," it says says enticingly on its website. "Don’t miss it. And bring the whole family!"

The San Francisco Amateur Astronomers are hosting two events. One, a viewing party on the Marina Green, promoting safe viewing, and the other, alluringly called the "Ring of Fire Road Trip to Mt. Shasta," which is in the path of the eclipse, and from which the "full annular" effect can be seen.

if you're unprepared, or like to leave things to chance Sunday afternoon, you can even look at the shadows cast by leaves on trees. If there are bug holes in the leaves, they pretty much do the same thing as a pinhole projector, writes Gary Baker in the newsletter of the Peninsula Astronomical Society newsletter.

And while you're under that tree, you might notice what a NASA Science's Science News article says is special about an annular eclipse, described as having "a particular charm of its own." It renders sunbeams into "little rings of light," easily seen in the shadows of a leafy tree.

The NASA article on the partial eclipse quotes NASA's leading eclipse expert, Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space Flight Center, as saying he gives it a '9' on a scale of 1 to 10, In terms of visual spectacles.

For those wondering what places, besides Mt. Shasta, get "the full annular" the Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society posted a link from Bruce Kruse of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The interactive Google map, made by Xavier M. Jubier, is worth taking a look to see the path of the eclipse.

This is the first of a "triple-play," Chabot points out. After the annular eclipse on Sunday comes a partial lunar eclipse on June 4 between 2 and 4 a.m., followed by an even rarer once-every-120 years, "Transit of Venus," which is Venus traveling between us and the sun. And yes, your astronomer buddies will be out watching.

DIY: How Can One Watch the Eclipse Safely?

The following is from "Astro-Prof" Andrew Fraknoi: The best way to see the eclipse is to project an image of the sun (and not to look at the sun directly.) One easy way is to make a pinhole projector: Take two pieces of cardboard or thick paper. Put a pinhole in one (taking care to make a clean hole). Then stand with your back to the Sun, and let the Sun’s light fall through the hole and onto the other sheet. You’ll get a small but distinct image of the Sun. (A way to get a sharper pinhole is to cut a square out of the middle of one cardboard, tape a sheet of aluminum foil over the hole and put the pinhole in the foil instead of paper.)

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