Aviation/Space

How to Survive a Plane Crash: 10 Tips That Could Save Your Life

"In a report analyzing airline accidents from 1983 to 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board found that the survival rate of crashes was 95.7%. But it’s important to take note of another interesting tidbit that the FAA and NTSB found in their research on plane crashes: 40% of fatalities that did occur happened in crashes that were survivable. Close to half of all airplane crash fatalities might have been prevented had passengers taken proper action. In today’s post we’re going to offer research-backed advice from Ben Sherwood’s The Survivor’s Club on what you can do to make it out of a plane crash alive." Continue reading →

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Swiss solar aircraft returns from cross-US flight

"Crowds of spectators welcomed the solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse on Monday as it returned to Switzerland onboard a jumbo jet following its successful trans-American flight. A Boeing 747 jumbo carrying the prototype aircraft of aviation pioneer Bertrand Piccard landed at Dübendorf airfield in the canton of Zurich just after 7am, the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper reported. Pilots Piccard and André Borschberg completed the historic flight from San Francisco in early July. The world’s first solar aircraft able to fly both day and night powered solely by the sun flew 5,650 kilometres across the United States." Continue reading →

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Space cadets gather in D.C. for one-way ticket to Mars

"Around 40 volunteers from thousands who applied for a one-way ticket to Mars gathered in the US capital Saturday to hear from the man behind plans to colonize the Red Planet. Bas Lansdorp, a Dutch entrepreneur, plans to establish a permanent base on Mars in a mission he hopes will take off in 2022 if he can find the necessary $6 billion. Would-be travellers on the mission — named Mars One — would never return to Earth. In April, Mars-One said that the first four volunteers should land on Mars in 2023 after a seven-month journey. New crews would be sent every two years, according to Lansdorp." Continue reading →

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Japan sends talking ‘companion’ robot to the International Space Station

"When the Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata arrives at the International Space Station in November, a companion will be waiting for him whose eyes will light up in recognition – literally. Kirobo, the world’s first talking humanoid space robot, has already taken off – in the nattiest red Wellingtons since Paddington Bear – and should arrive at the space station by 9 August to await Wakata’s arrival. It knows he is coming: it has been programmed to recognise his face, and greet him warmly in Japanese." Continue reading →

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John Carmack: Armadillo Aerospace in “hibernation mode”

"There is a good reason for that silence over the last five months: the company is, for the time being, effectively out of money. 'The situation that we’re at right now is that things are turned down to sort of a hibernation mode,' Carmack said Thursday evening at the QuakeCon gaming conference in Dallas. 'If we don’t wind up landing an investor, it’ll probably stay in hibernation until there’s another liquidity event where I’m comfortable throwing another million dollars a year into things,' he said. Funding Armadillo, he said, has 'always been a negotiation with my wife,' he said, setting aside some 'crazy money' to spend on it." Continue reading →

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China launches longest-ever manned space mission

"China Tuesday began its longest manned space mission with the launch of the Shenzhou-10 rocket, state television showed, as the country steps up an ambitious exploration programme symbolising its growing power. The crew are due to spend 15 days in orbit. Beijing sees the multi-billion-dollar space programme as a marker of its rising global stature and mounting technical expertise, as well as the ruling Communist Party’s success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation. China's programme is highly ambitious and includes plans to land a man on the moon and build a station orbiting earth by 2020." Continue reading →

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Chinese airline passengers face worst travel delays

"Air passengers in China experience the world’s most disrupted travel plans, according to a report which names two of the country’s major airports and its leading airlines among the most delayed. Beijing International Airport is the world’s most delayed airport, with just 18.3 percent of commercial passenger flights leaving on schedule, the report claims. Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport reported the second worst departure record with 23.5 percent leaving on time, according to the study by FlightStats, a US-based air travel information service. About 42 percent of flights from Beijing and 40 percent of flights from Shanghai suffered delays of 45 minutes or longer." Continue reading →

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TSA Officials Agree to Training Program for Police on Travelers’ First and Fourth Amendment Rights

"In a victory for the U.S. Constitution, officials with the Richmond International Airport (RIC) have required that all RIC law enforcement officers take part in a two-hour training course on the First and Fourth Amendment rights of passengers, guests and/or vendors. The required training, with materials for the course on travelers’ First and Fourth Amendment rights supplied by attorneys for The Rutherford Institute, was part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed on behalf of college student Aaron Tobey, who was arrested for engaging in a peaceful protest of the TSA's use of whole-body imaging scanners and enhanced pat downs at RIC." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTSA Officials Agree to Training Program for Police on Travelers’ First and Fourth Amendment Rights

Valet-parked cars at airport searched under TSA regulations

"If security feels it is necessary to search some cars in the name of safety, why not search all of them? Laurie Iacuzza walked to her waiting car at the Greater Rochester International Airport after returning from a trip and that's when she found it -- a notice saying her car was inspected after she left for her flight. She said, 'I was furious. They never mentioned it to me when I booked the valet or when I picked up the car or when I dropped it off.' Iacuzza's car was inspected by valet attendants on orders from the TSA. But why only valet parked cars?" Continue reading →

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Coroner confirms teenager in Asiana plane crash killed by fire truck

"A coroner announced on Friday that a teenager killed in the Asiana Airlines crash earlier this month in San Francisco was killed by a motor vehicle — likely a fire truck that arrived on the scene to provide assistance — and not injuries sustained in the crash, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The coroner warned as early as July 8 that the the victim, a 16-year-old Chinese high school student later identified as Ye Mengyuan, had sustained injuries more consistent with being struck by an emergency vehicle than that of a plane crash. Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White apologized to the family on Friday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCoroner confirms teenager in Asiana plane crash killed by fire truck