the wright stuff - jt-sw.com · and hustlers have been driven out of city centers; addicts there...

Vol XXIV �� No 4 The Official Newsletter of the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk �� NCC-1659 Jul / Aug 2013

THE WRIGHT STUFFTHE WRIGHT STUFFTHE WRIGHT STUFFTHE WRIGHT STUFF

Volume 24 - Number 4Volume 24 - Number 4Volume 24 - Number 4Volume 24 - Number 4

is a publication of the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, the

Raleigh, N.C., chapter of STARFLEET, an

international STAR TREK fan organization.

This publication is provided to all chapter

members in good standing. Please address all

correspondence to CATBIRD Publications,

5017 Glen Forest Dr., Raleigh, N.C. 27612.

This publication is a non-profit enterprise and

is not meant to infringe upon any copyright or

trademark held by Paramount Pictures, Gulf &

Western, or any other holder of STAR TREK

copyrights or trademarks. Unless otherwise

noted, ENTIRE CONTENTS ARE

COPYRIGHT 2013 CATBIRD

Publications, THE WRIGHT STUFF.

Nothing in whole or in part may be used

without the written permission of the

publisher. THE WRIGHT STUFF assumes all

material submitted for publication is gratis.

The publisher and editors reserve the right to

edit all submissions.

Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.R. Fisher

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Troan

C O N T E N T SC O N T E N T SC O N T E N T SC O N T E N T S

A VIEW FROM THE CATBIRD SEAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

J.R. Fisher

COMPUTER OPERATIONS REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

John Troan

SECURITY REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Spring Brooks

CURIOSITY NEARING FIRST ANNIVERSARY ON MARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

NASA/JPL

SPITZER DISCOVERS YOUNG STARS WITH A “HULA HOOP” . . . . . . . . . . 7

NASA/JPL

NASA’S SLS COMPLETES PRELIMINARY DESIGN REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . 8

NASA

TENTH PARACHUTE TEST FOR NASA’S ORION ADDS 10,000 FEET OF

SUCCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

NASA

VOYAGER - "THE SEVEN" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Brad McDonald

PUZZLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

U.S.S. Kitty Hawk Puzzle Book

UPCOMING EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

TOOL BOX: Dell E6530; Lotus WordPro;

Adobe Acrobat.

IMAGES - Title Banner

Wright Flyer from NASA/Ames PAO photo

archive; U.S.S. Kitty Hawk (USN CV-63)

from navicp.navy.mil; Constitution class

cruiser from gwu.edu/~rljones/khawk.

IMAGE - Featured Front Page

New color logo for the Kitty Hawk.

August is themonth that theship goes intospacedock forour annual refitand upgrades, so

the crew is on liberty until timeto report back the first Saturdayin September. Please be extracareful while you are planetsideand report back ready foranother year of adventure.

I want to thank all hands fortheir generous donations to Ms.Poole's classes that youbrought to the last meeting inJuly. There may be anamended list in this Wright Stuffof still needed items. If not,anything from the earlier list isstill appreciated. [Editor’s note:a reprint of Sherry’s requestfrom June appears at the endof this month’s Catbird.]

I don't believe any of ourcrew attended the IC thisweekend, but I am sure to getlots of reports from some whodid. I did watch the openingsession on U-tube Fridayevening.

There are going to be somechanges in cost to renew forStarfleet. There has not beenan increase in about 18 years.The new rates will reflect howyou wish to receive the CQ,either electronically or printed.I will give you the final decisionat the September meeting.

Have a good and safeAugust.

Esse Quam Videri

The needed items are moredefinitive this year because we willbe receiving "0" supplies fromschool and/or the PTA.

The things needed are whatyou would imagine in order for astudent to be able to completevarious classes:

Middle school� wide and college ruled

notebook paper� mechanical pencils and lead #7

and #9� graph paper - small and larger

grid� construction paper� large poster paper - mostly

white but also other colors if onsale

� pencil pouches - these arealways on sale somewhere

� erasers - for the ends ofwooden pencils and the larger,pink erasers for the pouches

� 1- and 3-subject spiralnotebooks

Elementary school� wide notebook paper� lined paper to practice learning

how to write letters� fat pencils for kindergartners'

hands� colored pencils� washable markers - for drawing� crayons� any writing, math, science

"learning" workbook you see...anywhere (The booklets I'vebeen picking up are the size ofcoloring books, somewhatnarrow) and have amplyopportunities to practice theirnewly-learned skills.)

� I will need probably 4-5 smaller,

brightly-colored, happybookbags for the shoulders ofK-3rd grade students...

Every student is going to havea portfolio this year so they cansave their work and reflect on it atthe end of each semester. I'mgoing to recycle manila folders,preferably the 3rd-cut. They canbe cut apart and the back sidewith the tab be trimmed to the sizeof a sheet of notebook paper and3- hole punched. This is going tobe a very important part ofeveryone becoming organized thiscoming year, even mykindergartners! I wish someonehad shown me how be betterorganized sooner! This will ofcourse include everyone needinga black or white, insertable, 1"(elementary) / 1-1/2"-2" (middleschool) 3-ring binder. I haverounded up 30 already and willneed about 15 more.

Teacher wish-list:� Kleenex, Kleenex, Kleenex � Antibacterial hand sanitizer for

my desk and other places in theclassroom. (The kids alreadycome in and automaticallyclean their hands. The youngerstudents should not be toodifficult to train this comingyear.)

� Expo dry-erase markers of allcolors, especially black

� Printer paper - 20# mostly but22 and 24# also needed forspecial projects

Any one item is so enormouslyappreciated and needed. You areall so incredibly helpful in assistingthese children as they becomemore academically successful...AND LEARN ENGLISH!!!

THE WRIGHT STUFFTHE WRIGHT STUFFTHE WRIGHT STUFFTHE WRIGHT STUFF PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE 3333 JULJULJULJUL / / / / AAAAUUUUGGGG 2013 2013 2013 2013

A View From the Catbird SeatBy J.R. Fisher

Where have all the

burglars gone?

The rich world is seeing lessand less crime, even in the faceof high unemployment andeconomic stagnation.

In the 1990s John DiIulio, aconservative Americanacademic, argued that a newbreed of “superpredators”, “kidsthat have absolutely no respectfor human life and no sense ofthe future”, would terrorizeAmericans almost indefinitely.Mr. DiIulio later recanted and it isclear that the pessimists werewrong. Even as he wrote,America’s crime wave was

breaking. Its cities have becomevastly safer, and the rest of thedeveloped world has followed.From Japan to Estonia, propertyand people are now safer than atalmost any time since the 1970s.Confounding expectations, therecession has not interrupted thedownward trend. Even asAmerica furiously debates theshooting of Trayvon Martin, newdata show that the homicide ratefor young Americans is at a30-year low.

Some crimes have all butdied out. Last year there werejust 69 armed robberies ofbanks, building societies andpost offices in England and

Wales, compared with 500 ayear in the 1990s. In 1990 some147,000 cars were stolen in NewYork. Last year fewer than10,000 were. In the Netherlandsand Switzerland street dealersand hustlers have been drivenout of city centers; addicts thereare now elderly men, oftenalcoholics, living in state hostels.In countries such as Lithuaniaand Poland the gangsters whotrafficked people and drugs in the1990s have moved into lessviolent activities such as fraud.

Conservatives who insistedthat the decline of the traditionalnuclear family and growing ethnicdiversity would unleash an


Computer Operations ReportBy John Troan

I’ll start this month’s musingswith the first thing everyone sawwhen reading this month’s edition-- the Kitty Hawk’s full-color logo.I started with the image that Janecreated from JR’s hand-drawnoriginal. After cleaning up all thelines, I added the fill colors andexperimented to find the rightshadings. The biggest challengewas getting the glossy finish onthe communicator -- then I foundthe perfect solution through someGoogle searching. Aftercombining all the pieces together,we now have the finished model ofthe new color logo. (The debut ison the Wright Stuff cover, but I’llbe sending it to StarFleet andRegion I for updating the KittyHawk listings on those web sites.)

The other big project out ofComp Ops is the on-line archivewith all of the newsletters. All theissues have been posted to the

Kitty Hawk’s web site --www.jt-sw.com/kittyhawk -- andthe chronological listings arecomplete. I’m still working throughhow to list the articles in a subjectlistings. The challenge is how togroup all the features by subtopic.

In personal news, I’ve nowcompleted the first two (of three)Red Hat system admin classesand passed the first (of two)certification tests. I have plans totake the third class and take thesecond test in September, buthaven’t yet gotten a confirmationthat the class has enough enrolledfor it to be held.

A friend of mine was readingthe Houston Chronicle on-line andfound an article he knew wouldinterest me -- a Trek fan in theHouston area has purchased andfinanced the complete restorationof shuttlecraft Galileo. Therestoration was done at a New

Jersey-based ship wright, but thenew permanent home is in SpaceCenter Houston. The article in theChron isn’t long, but the pics aregreat!

Wired magazine has an articleabout a group using the opensource model to design anairplane. The goal is to have astandard design -- available forfree -- for a home-built light sportaircraft (LSA) that can hopefully bebuilt for under $15K. There arealready lots of plans for home-builtplanes, but they all have to bepurchased and the planes areusually much more expensive tobuild. LSA’s are light-weightplanes -- with limited space,range, and speed -- that largelytarget pilots who don’t want to gothrough the full training requiredfor any bigger planes. (There isstill FAA-mandated training for asport pilot license.)

Security ReportBy Spring Brooks

http://www.jt-sw.com/kittyhawk

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/07/open-source-airplane-design/

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Restored-Star-Trek-shuttle-unveiled-for-crowds-4695966.php?cmpid=hpfc

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Restored-Star-Trek-shuttle-unveiled-for-crowds-4695966.php?cmpid=hpfc

unstoppable crime wave havebeen proved wrong. Left-wingerswho argued that crime couldnever be curbed unlessinequality was reduced look justas silly.

There is no single cause ofthe decline; rather, several havecoincided. Western societies aregrowing older, and most crimesare committed by young men.Policing has improved greatly inrecent decades, especially in bigcities such as New York andLondon, with forces usingcomputers to analyze theincidence of crime; in some partsof Manhattan this helped toreduce the robbery rate by over95%.

The biggest factor may besimply that security measureshave improved. Car immobilizershave killed joyriding; bulletproofscreens, security guards andmarked money have all but donefor bank robbery. Alarms andDNA databases have increasedthe chance a burglar will becaught. At the same time, therewards for burglary have fallenbecause electronic gizmos areso cheap. Even small shops nowinvest in CCTV cameras andsecurity tags. Some crimes nowlook very risky—and that mattersbecause, as every survey ofcriminals shows, the maindeterrent to crime is the fear ofbeing caught.

Loosen the cuffsMany conservatives will think

this list omits the main reasoncrime has declined: the farharsher prison sentencesintroduced on both sides of theAtlantic over the past twodecades. One in every hundredAmerican adults is now in prison.This has obviously had someeffect—a young man in prison

cannot steal your car—but iftough prison sentences were thecause, crime would not be fallingin the Netherlands and Germany,which have reduced their prisonpopulations. New York’s prisonpopulation has fallen by a quartersince 1999, yet its crime rate hasdropped faster than that of manyother cities.

Harsh punishments, and inparticular long mandatorysentences for certain crimes,increasingly look counter-productive. American prisons arefull of old men, many of whomare well past their criminal years,and non-violent drug users, whowould be better off in treatment.In California, the pioneer ofmandatory sentencing, morethan a fifth of prisoners are over50. To keep each one insidecosts taxpayers $47,000 a year.And because prison stressespunishment rather thanrehabilitation, most of whatremains of the crime problem isreally a recidivism issue. InEngland and Wales, for example,the number of first-timeoffenders has fallen by 44%since 2007. The number withmore than 15 convictions hasrisen.

Politicians seem to havegrasped this. In America thenumber of new mandatorysentences enacted by Congresshas fallen. Even in theRepublican South, governorssuch as Rick Perry and BobbyJindal have adopted policiesfavoring treatment overimprisonment for drug users. Butmore could be done to supportpeople when they come out ofprison.

Predictive policing, whichemploys data to try to anticipatecrime, is particularly promising.A combination of officers talking

to the people of neighborhoodsthe police and targeting“hotspots” has has reducedcrimes. Example, the areaaround Canal Street inManhattan has had the murderrate of 29 per 100,000 residentsin 1990 drop to around 1.5 by2009. This method seems towork in countries as different asSweden to Trinidad

Some broad social changeshave helped. Young people areincreasingly sober, well-behaved,better educated and more arestill living with their parents. Incountries where wife-beating hasbecome more stigmatizedself-reported domestic violencehas fallen. The end ofcrack-cocaine epidemic in the1990s and explosion of heroinuse in the 1980’s has recededeven through hard economictimes are back.

The repopulation of innercities is probably helpful.Gentrifiers set up neighborhoodwatches, clean-up streets andlobby politicians to take crimemore seriously.

Not all crime is falling. Not allsexual offenses are reported.Bank fraud and identify theft hasgrowth potential. Pick-pockingand shoplifting has increased.Hate crimes are on the rise dueto scape-goating.

THE ECONOMIST (July 20, 2013)


[The full version of this pressrelease is available with additionalimages at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-240&cid=release_2013-240.]

NASA's Curiosity rover will markone year on Mars next week and hasalready achieved its main science goalof revealing ancient Mars could havesupported life. The mobile laboratoryalso is guiding designs for futureplanetary missions.

"Successes of our Curiosity -- thatdramatic touchdown a year ago and thescience findings since then -- advanceus toward further exploration, includingsending humans to an asteroid andMars," said NASA AdministratorCharles Bolden. "Wheel tracks now, willlead to boot prints later."

After inspiring millions of peopleworldwide with its successful landing ina crater on the Red Planet on Aug. 5,2012, PDT (Aug. 6, 2012, EDT),Curiosity has provided more than 190gigabits of data; returned more than36,700 full images and 35,000thumbnail images; fired more than75,000 laser shots to investigate thecomposition of targets; collected andanalyzed sample material from tworocks; and driven more than one mile(1.6 kilometers).

MSL FactsCuriosity team members at NASA's

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,Calif., will share remembrances aboutthe dramatic landing night and theoverall mission in an event that will airon NASA Television and the agency'swebsite from 7:45 to 9 a.m. PDT (10:45a.m. to noon EDT) on Tuesday, Aug. 6.Immediately following that program,from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (noon to 1:30p.m.), NASA TV will carry a live publicevent from NASA Headquarters inWashington. That event will feature

NASA officials and crew membersaboard the International Space Stationas they observe the rover anniversaryand discuss how its activities and otherrobotic projects are helping prepare fora human mission to Mars and anasteroid. Social media followers maysubmit questions on Twitter andGoogle+ in advance and during theevent using the hashtag #askNASA.

Curiosity, which is the size of a car,traveled 764 yards (699 meters) in thepast four weeks since leaving a group ofscience targets where it worked formore than six months. The rover ismaking its way to the base of MountSharp, where it will investigate lowerlayers of a mountain that rises threemiles from the floor of the crater.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratoryspacecraft and its unprecedented skycrane landing system placed Curiosityon Mars near the base of Mount Sharp.The mountain has exposed geologicallayers, including ones identified by Marsorbiters as originating in a wetenvironment. The rover landed aboutone mile (1.6 kilometers) from thecenter of that carefully chosen,12-mile-long (20-kilometer-long) targetarea.

Scientists decided first toinvestigate closer outcrops where themission quickly found signs of vigorousancient stream flow. These were thefirst streambed pebble deposits everexamined up close on Mars.

Evidence of a past environmentwell suited to support microbial lifecame within the first eight months of the23-month primary mission from analysisof the first sample material evercollected by drilling into a rock on Mars.

"We now know Mars offeredfavorable conditions for microbial lifebillions of years ago," said the mission'sproject scientist, John Grotzinger of theCalifornia Institute of Technology in

Pasadena. "It has been gratifying tosucceed, but that has also whetted ourappetites to learn more. We hope thoseenticing layers at Mount Sharp willpreserve a broad diversity of otherenvironmental conditions that couldhave affected habitability."

The mission measured naturalradiation levels on the trip to Mars andis monitoring radiation and weather onthe surface of Mars, which will behelpful for designing future humanmissions to the planet. The Curiositymission also found evidence Mars lostmost of its original atmosphere throughprocesses that occurred at the top ofthe atmosphere. NASA's next missionto Mars, Mars Atmosphere and VolatileEvolution (MAVEN), is being preparedfor launch in November to study thoseprocesses in the upper atmosphere.

JPL, a division of the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, Pasadena,manages the Curiosity mission and builtthe rover for NASA's Science MissionDirectorate in Washington.

To follow the conversation onlineabout Curiosity's first year on Mars, usehashtag #1YearOnMars or follow@NASA and @MarsCuriosity onTwitter.

For NASA TV streaming video,schedule and downlink information, visithttp://www.nasa.gov/ntv. The eventsairing on Tuesday also will be carried onUstream at http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl.

A movie made withHazard-Avoidance Camera imagesfrom Curiosity's first year, titled "TwelveMonths in Two Minutes," is available at http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/1yearin2mins.

For more information about themission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msland http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.


Curiosity Nearing First Anniversary on MarsFrom NASA/JPL

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-240&cid=release_2013-240



http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl

http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/1yearin2mins

http://www.nasa.gov/msl

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl

[The full version of this pressrelease is available with additionalimages at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-236&cid=release_2013-236.]

Astronomers using NASA'sSpitzer Space Telescope havespotted a young stellar systemthat "blinks" every 93 days. CalledYLW 16A, the system likelyconsists of three developing stars,two of which are surrounded by adisk of material left over from thestar-formation process.

As the two inner stars whirlaround each other, theyperiodically peek out from the diskthat girds them like a hula hoop.The hoop itself appears to bemisaligned from the central starpair, probably due to the disruptinggravitational presence of the thirdstar orbiting at the periphery of thesystem. The whole system cyclesthrough bright and faint phases,with the central stars playing a sortof cosmic peek-a-boo as the tilteddisk twirls around them. It isbelieved that this disk should goon to spawnplanets and theother celestialbodies thatmake up a solarsystem.

Spitzer ob-served infraredlight from YLW16A, emitted bythe warmed gasand dust in thedisk that stillswathes theyoung stars.Other obser-vations camefrom the ground-based 2MASSsurvey, as wellas from the

NACO instrument at the EuropeanSouthern Observatory's VeryLarge Telescope in Chile.

YLW 16A is the fourthexample of a star system known toblink in such a manner, and thesecond in the same star-formingregion Rho Ophiuchus. Thefinding suggests that thesesystems might be more commonthan once thought. Blinking starsystems with warped disks offerscientists a way to study howplanets form in theseenvironments. The planets canorbit one or both of the stars in thebinary star system. The famousscience fictional planet Tatooine in"Star Wars" orbits two stars,hence its double sunsets. Suchworlds are referred to ascircumbinary planets. Astronomerscan record how light is absorbedby planet-forming disks during thebright and faint phases of blinkingstellar systems, which in turnreveals information about thematerials that comprise the disk.

"These blinking systems offernatural probes of the binary andcircumbinary planet formationprocess," said Peter Plavchan, ascientist at the NASA ExoplanetScience Institute and InfraredProcessing and Analysis Center atthe California Institute ofTechnology, Pasadena, Calif., andlead author of a new paperaccepted for publication inAstronomy & Astrophysics.

NASA's Jet PropulsionLaboratory, Pasadena, Calif.,manages the Spitzer SpaceTelescope mission for NASA'sScience Mission Directorate,Washington. Science operationsare conducted at the SpitzerScience Center at Caltech. Dataare archived at the InfraredScience Archive housed at theInfrared Processing and AnalysisCenter. Caltech manages JPL forNASA. For more information aboutSpitzer, visit http://spitzer.caltech.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer.


Spitzer Discovers Young Stars with a “Hula Hoop”From NASA/JPL




http://spitzer.caltech.edu

http://spitzer.caltech.edu

http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

NASA has achieved a majormilestone in its effort to build thenation's next heavy-lift launchvehicle by successfully completingthe Space Launch System (SLS)preliminary design review.

Senior experts and engineersfrom across the agency concludedWednesday the design,associated production and groundsupport plans for the SLSheavy-lift rocket are technicallyand programmatically capable offulfilling the launch vehicle'smission objectives. NASA isdeveloping the SLS and Orionspacecraft to provide an entirelynew capability for humanexploration beyond low-Earth orbit,with the flexibility to launchspacecraft for crew and cargomissions, including to an asteroidand Mars.

"The review had to beincredibly detailed, so our plansfor vehicle integration, flightsoftware, test, verification andoperations will result in a safe,affordable and sustainable vehicledesign," said Todd May, managerof the SLS Program at NASA'sMarshall Space Flight Center inHuntsville, Ala.

This review concludes theinitial design and technologydevelopment phase. The nextmilestone in the continuingverification process is KeyDecision Point-C, in which NASAwill grant the program authority tomove from formulation toimplementation.

"The agency not only reviewsthe program internally, but alsoseeks help from many externalsources," said LeRoy Cain, head

of the independent standingreview board for SLS. "There areseveral external NASAstakeholders and organizations --including Congress, the Office ofManagement and Budget, and thepublic -- who require a thorough,truly independent look at theseprograms as they transitionthrough their lifecycle."

People from across thecountry, including experts on 11different review teams,participated in the design reviewprocess, which included analysisof approximately 200 documentsand 15 terabytes of data. NASA'sindustry partners -- The BoeingCompany of Chicago, ATK ofBrigham City, Utah, and AerojetRocketdyne of Sacramento, Calif.-- also contributed to thissuccessful checkpoint, and will

continue to work tomeet all programmilestones.

In July 2012,the SLS Programcompleted acombined systemrequirements re-view and systemdefinition review,which setrequirements of theoverall launchvehicle system.That successfulcompletion con-firmed the SLS wasready to move fromconcept to design.All element-levelpreliminary designreviews for the SLScore stage,boosters, enginesand spacecraft andpayload integration


NASA’s SLS Completes Preliminary Design ReviewFrom NASA

have been completedsuccessfully.

"In two short years from thefirst announcement of the SpaceLaunch System, we are at amilestone that validates thedetailed design and integration ofthe system," said Dan Dumbacher,deputy associate administrator forthe Human Exploration andOperations Mission Directorate."You can feel the momentum ofthe workforce as we produce testhardware today. We are creating anational capability, and we will getthis country, and the world,exploring deep space."

The initial 70-metric-tonversion of SLS will stand 321 feettall, provide 8.4 million pounds ofthrust at liftoff, and carry 154,000pounds of payload. The rocket isscheduled for its first mission,Exploration Mission 1, in 2017 atwhich time it will launch anuncrewed Orion spacecraft. Themission's goal is to demonstratethe integrated systemperformance of the SLS rocketand spacecraft before a crewedflight in 2021.

The SLS will be modified fromthe 70-metric-ton version into themost powerful rocket ever built, a130-metric-ton version, which willbe capable of lifting 286,000pounds. NASA plans to engageindustry peers to further refine the130-metric-ton design to supportany destination, any payload andany mission to deep space.

For more information on theSLS preliminary design review,visit http://go.nasa.gov/17m4zFe.

For more information on SLS,visit http://www.nasa.gov/sls.

A complicated, high-altitude testWednesday demonstrated NASA'snew Orion spacecraft could landsafely even if one of its parachutesfailed.

The 10th in a series ofevaluations to check out the Orionmultipurpose crew vehicle'sparachute system dropped the testcapsule from a C-17 aircraft at itshighest altitude yet, 35,000 feetabove the Arizona desert. One ofthree massive main parachutes wascut away early on purpose, leavingthe spacecraft to land with only two.The test at the U.S. Army's YumaProving Ground was thehighest-altitude test of a humanspacecraft parachute since NASA'sApollo Program.

During previous tests, a mockcapsule was dropped from a heightof 25,000 feet and the parachutesdeployed at no higher than 22,000feet. The extra 10,000 feet ofaltitude at the beginning ofWednesday's test made thedemonstration the best so far ofOrion's parachute flight and landing.

"The closer we can get to actualflight conditions, the moreconfidence we gain in the system,"said Chris Johnson, projectmanager for the Orion capsuleparachute assembly system atNASA's Johnson Space Center inHouston. "What we saw today --other than the failures weput in on purpose -- is verysimilar to what Orion willlook like coming back duringExploration Flight Test-1'sEarth entry next year."

During its return fromspace, Orion's parachutesystem will begin to deploy25,000 feet above theground.

Engineers gathered dataon the effects of losing a

parachute during the descent. Theteam already proved Orion can landwith just two of its three mainparachutes, but this was the firstopportunity to study how oneparachute pulling away in mid-flightmight affect the remaining two.

"We wanted to know what wouldhappen if a cable got hookedaround a sharp edge and snappedoff when the parachutes deployed,"said Stu McClung, Orion's landingand recovery system manager atJohnson. "We don't think that wouldever happen, but if it did, would itcause other failures? We want toknow everything that could possiblygo wrong, so that we can fix itbefore it does."

The test was part of a series ofparachute tests that will enableNASA to certify Orion to carryhumans into space. The systemalready has met the necessaryrequirements for Orion's firstmission, Exploration Flight Test-1(EFT-1), in September 2014. Duringthat flight, Orion will travel 3,600miles into orbit then return to Earthat speeds as fast as 20,000 mph,putting the parachute system to thetest again as it lands in the PacificOcean.

For more information aboutOrion, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion.


Tenth Parachute Test for NASA’s Orion Adds10,000 Feet of Success

From NASA

http://go.nasa.gov/17m4zFe

http://www.nasa.gov/sls

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

ACT THREE

FADE IN:

EXT. SPACE - VOYAGER

Voyager is motionless in space.

INT. VOYAGER - BRIDGE

The Doctor is working at a console,trying to reactivate the shields. He isupset and frustrated and hispatience are running thin.

DOCTORAll I have to do is initiate thebypass circuits and testthem. The shields shouldwork, so what am I doingwrong?

He strikes his fist against theconsole.

DOCTORComputer? State the stepsnecessary to restore theship's shields.

COMPUTERAll repairs are complete.Shields are ready.

The Doctor is still frustrated.

DOCTORSo all I have to do is turnthem on?

COMPUTERCorrect.

He gazes at the vast controls andbecomes exasperated.

DOCTORExactly how do I do that?

COMPUTERRaise shields by doing anyof the following: Ops panel,control G 15, alter powerlevels from zero to onehundred per cent. Securitypanel, control--

The Doctor is getting more confusedand flustered.

DOCTORWait, wait! Ops panel,control G 15, alter from zeroto one hundred per cent?

COMPUTERCorrect. This will establishthe ship's shields.

He hurries to Ops, reciting the stepssilently to himself. He activates thepanel, very carefully and deliberately.

DOCTORThere, that should do it.Computer, are shields up?

COMPUTERAffirmative, shields at onehundred per cent.

Satisfied and relieved, he sits hard ina nearby chair.

DOCTORFinally. If all of the ship'ssystems are this difficult, I'mgoing to have a hard timetaking control and retrievingthe crew.

He is reminded of something andstands abruptly.

DOCTOR(continuing)

That's it, a crew. I am goingto create a crew, from me.

Then he remembers something else.

DOCTOR(continuing)

But I'm not sure how to dothat.

SICK BAY

The Doctor is collecting varioustricorders and instruments.

DOCTORNow, I'm ready, I think.Computer, displayEmergency medicalhologram program.

COMPUTERProgram displayed.

NEW ANGLE - ON DISPLAY

He studies the display for a moment.

DOCTORComputer, is it possible toduplicate the emergencyholographic program?

COMPUTERAffirmative.

DOCTORWill there be a degradationof the original program?

COMPUTERNegative, however, theduplicate program willexperience a twelve per centdegradation.

The statement catches Doctor bysurprise.

DOCTORMeaning each duplicate willbe equally imperfect on anequal basis or that thedegradation will becompounded with eachduplicate.

COMPUTERDegradation will be equal.

DOCTORDisplay process to duplicatethe EMH program.

ANGLE ON MAIN VIEWER

The screen is filled with anelaborate, step by step outline.

DOCTOROh dear, this isn't going tobe as easy as I thought.

SEVENTH PLANET

In a Spartan, poorly lit room,Janeway comes to slowly. Shesurveys her surroundings, there areseveral discarded items, somefamiliar, others alien. She taps hercomm badge.


Voyager - The SevenBy Brad McDonald

JANEWAYJaneway to Voyager.

After a brief pause, she tries again.

JANEWAY(continuing)

Janeway to Voyager.Janeway to Chakotay.Janeway to anyone.

Frustrated and angry, she inspectsthe discarded items. There areStarfleet tunics, alien clothing andunfamiliar devices. She is startled bya noise and a doorway opens. Shegoes to it just as Chakotay, Seven,Paris and Kim enter. She is relievedto see they are well. They all lookweary and haggard.

JANEWAYChakotay! Tom, Harry,Seven.

She looks around as the doorcloses.

JANEWAY(continuing)

Where are the others?

Chakotay is following her voice ashis eyes adjust to the light.

CHAKOTAYCaptain! Are you well?

She approaches them.

JANEWAYReport. What's going onhere? Where's the rest of thecrew?

CHAKOTAYWe've been taken aslaborers for mining and fieldwork. The crew is dividedinto various groups and putinto these holding cells whennot working. No more thanten in any group. I'd like tosay I'm happy to see you, butwe were hoping you'd be inthe process of rescuing us.

JANEWAYI was, until I was grabbed.Who's behind this?

SEVENUnknown. We have yet tosee our captors. I checked

with the other groups, theyare equally uninformed.

PARISWhere you taken from theshuttle?

JANEWAYNo. I had returned toVoyager and found an emptyship. If they're afterVoyager, it won't be any useto them. I initiated acommand lock out.

Kim is a bit hesitant.

KIMSo even if we escape, you'llneed to be there too.

JANEWAYAfraid I won't make it,Ensign?

Kim is embarrassed and the othersare amused by his obviousdiscomfort.

JANEWAY(continuing)

Relax Harry, I won't take itpersonally. Doc is stillaboard and he has access.In fact we had just repairedthe shields and I was goingto start assembling a crewwhen I was kidnapped.

CHAKOTAYAssembling a crew?

JANEWAYI was going to duplicate Doc.

Everyone reacts at the thought.

PARISMultiple EMH's?

KIM(excited)

Sure, why not? Conceivablyyou could create an entirecrew.

JANEWAYAnd program each one withbasic skills in a variety offields.

SEVENQuestion is, will the Doctorbe able to accomplish thework?

CHAKOTAYHad you begun the process?

JANEWAYNo. I was just explaining myplan when... I found myselfhere.

She rubs the back of her head.

JANEWAY(continuing)

I take it I've been out for awhile.

CHAKOTAYDifficult to tell, we were onlyhere for a short time untilduty assignments werehanded out.

After a brief moment of silence:

PARISCan the Doctor help us?

JANEWAYI'm optimistic. Remember,he's shown himself to bevery resourceful on severaloccasions. However, weshould pursue an escapeplan, just in case. Now, whatelse have you learned sincebeing here?

EXT. SPACE - VOYAGER ANDQUAD STAR

INT. VOYAGER - SICKBAY

The Doctor is standing at thedisplay, reading the directions andmuttering to himself.

DOCTORI doubt Doctor Frankensteinhad as much trouble as I amhaving right now. Computer,have I completed theprocess for creating aduplicate EMH?

COMPUTERStep twelve was bypassed.You must return to stepeleven and restart process of


pattern duplication beforeinitializing the --

Doctor becomes annoyed.

DOCTORWait! I skipped step twelve?

COMPUTERAffirmative.

DOCTORGreat. This makes theseventh try.

He steps back exasperated.

DOCTOR(continuing)

Why don't you just do it forme?

COMPUTERAcknowledged. Duplicateprocess complete.

He is stunned by the computer'scompliance and the realization of hisown 'stupidity'.

DOCTOR 2'S VOICE(o.c.)

State the nature of yourmedical emergency.

He turns quickly to see the duplicateand is pleased.

DOCTORWell, that wasn't so bad afterall.

Doctor 2 stares at the original.

DOCTOR 2Is this a technicalmalfunction?

Doctor explains with pride and a bitof self importance.

DOCTORActually, I've created you toassist me with running theship.

DOCTOR 2I'm a doctor, not an officer ofthe line.

Doctor realizes his error and is takendown a peg.

DOCTORI'm afraid that's my fault. Ishould have pre-

programmed you withadditional skills.

DOCTOR 2How marvelous, I'minadequate before I can evenbegin my duties.

Doctor's ego is slightly bruised buthe recovers.

DOCTORNo problem. Since I will bein command, you can be myreplacement in sickbay.

DOCTOR 2Great, a hologram with aGod complex.

Doctor gives him a harsh stare thenturns away from him.

DOCTORComputer, the next duplicatewill require additional skills.

He picks up one of the data paddsand taps a few controls.

DOCTOR(continuing)

Please use the informationfrom this padd to programbasic engineering skills intoduplicate number two.

COMPUTERUnderstood. Duplicate willbe ready in sixty seconds.

Doctor is very pleased with himselfonce again.

DOCTORExcellent. This won't bedifficult at all.

He begins to gather all of his paddsand tricorders.

DOCTOR 2Isn't this just lovely. Howmany of us do you plan oncreating?

DOCTORSix duplicates, seven alltogether.

Doctor 2 looks around sickbay.

DOCTOR 2Won't it get a bit crowded inhere?

Doctor is busy and only halflistening.

DOCTORNot at all. Most of us will beon the bridge, only you willremain here.

DOCTOR 2Oh really? And how will wedo that? Once our 'brothers'exit sickbay, they will ceaseto exist.

Doctor turns quickly. Realizationhas hit him and he stares at Doctor2's arm.

DOCTORYou don't have the mobileemitter!

DOCTOR 2The emitter? Of course not!It's not a hologram andtherefore not part of thehologram program.

Now Doctor is really concerned.

DOCTORThere are only a few emittersbuilt into the ship. That willseverely limit the duplicates'movement. If the shipshould require repairs, or ifwe need to transportanywhere --

DOCTOR 2I'd say we were in trouble.

Doctor is totally devastated.

Off his reaction...

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT THREE



Puzzle - ST:DS9 CrosswordFrom U.S.S. Kitty Hawk Puzzle Book

1. _______ asteroid belt2. Dr. Julian _______4. Linear ______5. Bajoran religious artifact6. #6 Across’ ship at Wolf 3597. Bajor religious leader’s name (in series premier)9. Cardassian title12. First name of son of #6 Across13. Keiko O’Brien’s mother lives here14. Utopia _______ shipyards16. Chief of Operations21. Keiko’s husband23. Major _____ Nerys24. Sisko’s pet name for Jadzia - “Old ____”26. Lt. Jadzia ____28. Nephew of #17 Across

1. Name of the space station near Bajor2. Federation enemy at Wolf 3593. Type of disturbance heralding the wormhole6. Commander of #1 Across8. A person’s life force10. Walls, floor, and ceiling11. Wormhole is claimed by15. Constable of #1 Across17. Ferengi saloon owner18. Title of Bajor religious leader19. Quadros _______ probe20. Quadrant at the other end of wormhole22. #26 Down is this species25. Optical Data Network27. #17 Across is this species29. Name of a runabout

DOWNACROSS


Upcoming Events

Sep 7 4 p.m. Ship Meeting, Triangle Factory Outlet

(Bring school supplies for Sherry - see JR's article for details)

Oct 5 4 p.m. Ship Meeting, Triangle Factory Outlet

12 Articles Due for Wright Stuff

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK YOUR STARFLEET STATUS

THE WRIGHT STUFF

U.S.S. KITTY HAWK

5017 Glen Forest Dr.

RALEIGH NC 27612

the wright stuff - jt-sw.com · and hustlers have been driven out of city centers; addicts there...

Documents