SpaceX is targeting Friday, March 30 for a Falcon 9 launch of the Iridium-5 NEXT mission from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This is the fifth set of 10 satellites in a series of 75 total satellites that SpaceX will launch for Iridium’s next generation global satellite constellation, Iridium® NEXT. The instantaneous launch opportunity is at 7:13 a.m. PDT or 14:13 UTC and the satellites will begin deployment about an hour after launch.
Archives
All posts for the month March, 2018
It will burn up in the atmosphere on Thursday. Mar 28th.
Watch it live 28 Mar. 2018, starting at 12:00 UTC (8pm EDT)
As Tiangong-1 makes its last few orbits of Earth before burning up in the atmosphere in a few days, you can watch the Chinese space station live online through a robotically controlled telescope at The Virtual Telescope Project.
Live coverage of the event will start Wednesday (March 28) at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), but the organizers said the timing could change closer to the event. You can visit this page on The Virtual Telescope Project’s website to see updates.
“The Tiangong-1 Chinese space station is re-entering our atmosphere soon,” representatives for The Virtual Telescope Project wrote in a statement. “The Virtual Telescope Project and Tenagra Observatories offer you the unique chance to see it during one of its very last passages across the skies. You can join us online, via the internet, from the comfort of your home.”  [China’s Space Station Crash: Everything You Need to Know]
Tiangong-1 is the first Chinese space station; it launched in 2011 and hosted two crews of Chinese astronauts, in 2012 and 2013. It remained operational until 2016, when contact with the space station was lost. The station is now falling toward Earth and is expected to burn up in the atmosphere over Easter weekend (March 30 to April 2).
from SPACE.COM
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43396008
Heard today that the Florida Senate has passed a bill that prohibits rifle sales to people under the age of 21, and also brings back the 3 day waiting period for sales. So an 18yo woman living by herself cannot purchase a weapon for herself, but can a family member “give” one to her?
– Raise the age to purchase a firearm to 21 from 18;
– Require a three-day waiting period for firearm purchases, with some exceptions;
– Ban the sale or possession of bump fire stocks, which allow a semiautomatic weapon to fire more like an automatic weapon;
ordered today:
Mitakon Zhongyi 20mm f/2 4.5x Super Macro Lens for Nikon F
Nikon F Mount/FX-Format
Aperture Range: f/2 to f/16
Magnification Range: 4.5x to 4x
Minimum Working Distance: 0.8″
Manual Focus Operation
Metal Lens Barrel
3-Blade Diaphragm
This week, Taco Mac was sold by Dallas-based private equity firm CIC Partners to a team of independent investors and experienced restaurateurs led by Atlanta resident and longtime Taco Mac guest Harold Martin, Jr.
Harold Martin, Jr. will lead the company as CEO. The company headquarters will remain in Atlanta, where Taco Mac was founded in 1979. The new ownership team is comprised of Martin and three of his partners from Fresh Hospitality, a Nashville-based restaurant incubator currently consisting of eighteen concepts. Of the group’s many concepts, only a few are open or coming soon to the Atlanta Atlanta market such as Biscuit Love (coming to Alpharetta), Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe and I Love Juice Bar. Taco Mac will not be a Fresh Hospitality concept.
The four partners – Martin, Michael Bodnar, John Michael Bodnar and Mike Tidwell – are investing their own money in Taco Mac “because they believe in the brand’s Atlanta heritage and reputation for serving great local craft beers and award-winning wings in a warm, welcoming environment.”
A graduate of Morehouse College, Martin has lived in Atlanta since 1998. Last June, Martin was appointed interim President of Morehouse College. He was previously an associate partner with McKinsey & Co., a management consulting firm. After leaving McKinsey & Co., Martin built a successful independent consulting practice and private investment firm in Atlanta. In addition to receiving a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Morehouse, Martin received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a law degree from Yale Law School.
Martin will work closely with Michael Bodnar, who brings 45 years of experience running public and private companies. Martin and his co-owners plan to spend the first few months of their ownership on a listening tour, gaining feedback from guests and employees to continue to improve the Taco Mac experience in each neighborhood. The team also plans to continue investing in the popular Brewniversity program.
“Customer engagement is something we are aiming to enhance because we want guests to truly identify with their neighborhood Taco Mac,” he says. “We will work with staff to ensure that the quality of the dining experience remains consistent across the board while retaining the unique character of each neighborhood restaurant.”
Taco Mac has gone through a number of changes in recent years including a short-lived name change to “T. Mac.” More recently, Bob Campbell, former CEO of Taco Mac parent company Tappan Street Restaurant Group, with a few other former Taco Mac associates, launched a BBQ themed sports-bar: Loyal Q. The first Loyal Q opened in East Cobb last year followed by a second location in Alpharetta last month.
In January, two former Taco Mac restaurants were “deflagged” and reopened as Morgan’s Sports Grill in Marietta and Woodstock.
The first Taco Mac, which is still open to this day, opened at 1006 North Highland Avenue in Virginia Highland in 1979. Taco Mac currently has 27 locations across Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
The bill, H.R. 1865, is euphemistically named the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” (FOSTA), despite the fact that there’s nothing stopping state authorities from punishing sex traffickers and their allies at present and despite the fact that trafficking victims can already sue abusers in civil court. FOSTA’s actual targets are adults consensually engaging in prostitution as well as web platforms that allow user-generated content.
H.R. 1865 creates the new offense of intentional promotion or facilitation of prostitution while using or operating a facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce, such as the internet. A general violation of this offense will be punishable by a sentence of upwards of 10 years.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Missouri), has had bipartisan support in the House from the get-go, despite objections from a wide range of stakeholders, from victims’ advocacy organizations to the U.S. Department of Justice, which has already declared the bill “unconstitutional.”
