Santa Loses It
March 29th 2009 14:30
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Shuttle Discovery lands in Fla. after 13-day trip
March 29th 2009 13:57
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Saturday and successfully wrapped up a construction mission that left the international space station with all its solar wings and extra electrical power.
Discovery swooped through a cloudy sky and landed at NASA's spaceport in midafternoon, a little later than initially planned.
"Welcome home, Discovery, after a great mission," Mission Control radioed.
"It's good to be back home," said Discovery's commander, Lee Archambault.
Mission Control delayed Discovery's homecoming by about 90 minutes, or one orbit, because of windy, cloudy weather. But the wind shifted and conditions improved enough for the second and final landing opportunity of the day.
Discovery's 13-day flight — which ended just as a new Russian-launched crew was settling into the space station — was highlighted by the installation and unfurling of the space station's last pair of solar wings. The $300 million addition brought the orbiting outpost up to full power, a vital part of NASA's plan to double the space station population and boost the amount of science research in a few months.
"This is really an amazing time," said NASA's space operations chief, Bill Gerstenmaier.
Late Saturday, the astronauts were still a little awestruck at having shaped the nearly completed space station, and already missed being up there.
"This whole living in one-G thing is for the birds," said pilot Dominic "Tony" Antonelli, referring to Earth's gravity. "The zero-G, I think, is the way to go. It's a blast."
Discovery came back in good shape, after traveling more than 5 million miles and circling Earth 202 times. Even the area of the belly where a heat shield test was conducted during re-entry looked to be fairly clean, officials said.
A new type of tile with a slight bump was attached beneath Discovery's left wing to disrupt the hypersonic air flow. Infrared images were taken by a Navy plane as the shuttle crossed the Gulf of Mexico and headed toward Florida, so engineers could measure the extra heat generated on downstream tiles.
The space agency designed the new tile as a potential improvement for the shuttles — a matter of keen interest ever since Columbia was destroyed during re-entry in 2003 — and the new rocketships that will replace them.
Discovery brought back former space station resident Sandra Magnus, who logged 134 days in orbit and received warm greetings from NASA. She flew up in mid-November. Her replacement, a Japanese astronaut, was launched aboard Discovery on March 15.
Magnus was doing great and happy to be home, her crewmates said. A chocolate milkshake was at the top of her back-on-Earth list.
The shuttle also ferried five months' worth of science samples from the space station, mostly blood, urine and saliva collected by its crew members. As many vials as possible were stuffed into the shuttle freezer, with the rest put in ice packs.
Also coming back for NASA scientists: four to five liters of recycled water that had been the astronauts' own urine and sweat. The water was produced after Discovery delivered a new urine processor that fixed the recycling machine.
NASA hopes to have the water samples tested within a month. If the toxicology results are good, the three space station residents will be given the all-clear to start drinking the recycled water.
Discovery's astronauts performed three spacewalks to hook up the solar wings and perform other chores. They were unable to deploy a pair of equipment storage platforms, after one of the shelves jammed.
NASA has until late this year to set up the shelves. That's when the items that will be placed there — crucial spare parts for the space station — are launched.
The space station, meanwhile, got more guests Saturday with the arrival of a Russian Soyuz capsule, just three days after Discovery's departure.
Two of the newcomers — an American and a Russian — will swap places with commander Mike Fincke and cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov, who have been in orbit six months.
Billionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi, a former Microsoft executive, also flew up on the Soyuz.
NASA's next shuttle mission, a long-delayed repair effort at the Hubble Space Telescope, is scheduled for May. Atlantis will be moved to its launching pad Tuesday.
"About the only thing that beats a beautiful orbiter landing like this is the next launch," said deputy shuttle program manager LeRoy Cain.
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Most summer camps filling up despite recession
March 29th 2009 13:55
A single mom with three sons, Maureen Wrinn knew she faced tough financial choices after losing her job last fall. But one decision was clear all along, despite its price tag: Her oldest son, Corey, would go back to camp in New Hampshire this summer.
"The decision wasn't difficult at all, even though we're struggling," said Wrinn, of Rockport, Mass. "Camp Glen Brook has offered him a sense of place where he's developed into his own self, in a way that only a summer camp can do."
Parents like Wrinn are helping keep America's vast summer camp industry in a relatively upbeat mood as the recession takes a toll on many other sectors. Many camps were booked up weeks or even months ago, and the American Camp Association says overall enrollment for its 2,400 accredited camps is on track to match the past two summers.
Another plus, say camp directors, is that the weak job market means they have their pick among a glut of qualified applicants seeking jobs as counselors.
"Nobody is immune to tough times, but we are a 150-year-old industry, made up of people who have learned to adapt to a changing marketplace," said the camp association's CEO, Peg Smith. "These camps have been through wars, through a depression."
By no means is the industry oblivious to the recession. For example, the ACA's Web site offers tips to camp directors on coping with hard times — ranging from reassessing contracts with suppliers to cutting back on year-round staff.
Moreover, camp directors say the outlook for many parents has changed — there are far more inquiries about financial assistance and more interest in shorter camp sessions. Attendance at informational "camp fairs" for parents has been higher than normal, Smith said.
"What we're seeing is more parents being discriminate shoppers, asking really good, important questions," she said. "The last dollar a parent cuts is the dollar they spend on their child, and they're looking for best investment."
For Maureen Wrinn, Camp Glen Brook — in Marlborough, N.H. — fits that criteria. Corey, 14, has gone there the past three summers, and this year will be his last as a camper. Full tuition for his three-week session would be $2,800, but the family hopes financial aid will offset the cost a bit.
Whatever the final bill, it's worth it to the Wrinns, who have cut back on guitar lessons for Corey, nixed swimming lessons for the two younger boys, and try to keep their thermostat at 66 degrees to cut heating costs.
Corey, in an e-mail, described the camp as "a great place to relax and get away from all the craziness at home like my mom telling me to do things and my brothers bothering me."
But he also expressed gratitude.
"My mom is going through a hard time right now and I appreciate that she is making it possible for me to go," he wrote.
Camp Glen Brook's director, Twain Braden, said he's detected unease among numerous parents as they ponder making the financial commitment for their children to attend this summer.
"A lot of parents have come to rely on camps," he said. "If both have jobs, they need camp as a kind of daycare. It's not just a luxury any more."
Glen Brook, which hosts about 80 campers at a time, is taking steps of its own to control its budget — expanding a garden so it now provides a hefty chunk of the vegetables consumed by campers and staff.
"It didn't start out with the intention of saving money, but suddenly, when the bottom fell out of the economy, we realized how lucky we were," Braden said.
Betty Bussel, who heads the American Camp Association's New England section, said other cost-conscious steps that camps are taking include forming cooperatives to make bulk purchases and shifting some field trips closer to the camp.
"Many camps that never used to allow shorter sessions are allowing them — suddenly offering two- or three-week options," Bussel said. "Some are offering discounts if you sign up early or bring a sibling along."
Many New England camps have a built-in advantage — having served multiple generations of families who loyally perpetuate the ties.
At Camp Lanakila in Fairlee, Vt., a boys' camp founded in 1922, this summer is fully booked, with a waiting list, said director Barnes Boffey.
But Boffey, like some other directors, said he has some apprehensions about the summer of 2010 if the recession continues — particularly in regard to recruiting the 8- and 9-year-olds who'd be coming to camp for the first time.
At Shaffer's High Sierra Camp in California's Tahoe National Forest, director Scott Shaffer says he expects to serve more campers this summer, who will stay on average for a shorter time.
"For parents, even if it's tough financially, they'd rather cut back a little than eliminate it altogether," he said.
Also full up, though only three years old, is Camp Kupugani in Leaf River, Ill., a multicultural girls' camp that has been able to expand from 25 to 50 campers despite the recession.
The camp has a scholarship fund to help ensure a diverse enrollment. Director Kevin Gordon said about 40 percent of last year's campers received some aid.
One of the families expecting some scholarship help this year was able to afford the full $1,500 tuition for a two-week session last year, but has taken a hard hit due to the recession.
Joe Mathy of Lisle, Ill., said his landscaping business has suffered as customers cut back on spending. He's already paid a $400 deposit for his 12-year-old daughter, Sophia, to go back to Kupugani for two weeks starting in June, and hopes the scholarship fund will cover the rest.
"Our daughter liked the camp very much," Mathy said. "It opened up her eyes to what the world is all about."
The Mathys' decision echoes those made in many budget-conscious families as they weigh whether to send a child back to a camp they've already embraced, said Sean Nienow of the National Camp Association, which helps parents select a camp.
"If Johnny's been going the past three or four years, to sit down and say 'You can't go' — that's a very difficult message to give," Nienow said.
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Chiefs' Johnson gets probation: report
March 29th 2009 13:54
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Obama Notre Dame invite stirs Catholic debate
March 29th 2009 13:53
In American Catholicism, it doesn't get much bigger than Notre Dame. So when the university known for its golden dome, "Touchdown Jesus" mural and rigorous academics invited President Barack Obama to speak at its commencement and receive an honorary degree in May, it stoked both pride and anger on campus and nationwide
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Fargo mayor: More levee breaches will happen
March 29th 2009 13:51
FARGO, N.D. – The mayor of Fargo, N.D., mayor says a levee breach that allowed the Red River to flood an elementary school early Sunday is a "wakeup call" showing the threat that the city faces for the next week
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Iraqi troops round up Sunni fighters in Baghdad
March 29th 2009 13:50
BAGHDAD – U.S.-backed Iraqi forces swept through a central Baghdad slum Sunday, disarming Sunni fighters from a government-allied group after they launched a two-day uprising to protest the arrest of their leader
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Smokers face a hit as tobacco taxes spike
March 29th 2009 13:48
WASHINGTON – However they satisfy their nicotine cravings, tobacco users are facing a big hit as the single largest federal tobacco tax increase ever takes effect Wednesday
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Dangerous Slide
March 27th 2009 11:54
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Global News111
March 24th 2009 14:55
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