Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope on February 11, 1997

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope: Space Transportation System (STS-82): On February 11, after After a spectacular night launch, the Shuttle completed its rendezvous with Hubble Space Telescope on February 13.

Over the next four days, five spacewalks were undertaken to renovate Hubble.

On February 13 astronauts Mark Lee and Steven Smith carried out the mission's first of five spacewalks.

EVA-1: February 13, duration 6 hours, 42 minutes. One of Hubble's solar arrays was unexpectedly disturbed by a gust of air from Discovery's airlock when it was depressurized, but was not damaged.

Astronauts Lee and Smith removed two scientific instruments from Hubble, the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) and Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS), and replaced them with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), respectively. STIS expected to shed further light on supermassive black holes.

EVA-2: February 14, duration 7 hours, 26 minutes. Astronauts Harbaugh and Tanner replaced a degraded Fine Guidance Sensor and a failed Engineering and Science Tape Recorder with new spares. Also installed a new unit called the Optical Control Electronics Enhancement Kit, which will further increase the capability of the Fine Guidance Sensor. During this EVA astronauts noted cracking and wear on thermal insulation on side of telescope facing the sun and in the direction of travel.

EVA-3: February 15, duration 7 hours, 11 minutes. Astronauts Lee and Smith removed and replaced a Data Interface Unit on Hubble, as well as an old reel-to-reel- style Engineering and Science Tape Recorder with a new digital Solid State Recorder (SSR) that will allow simultaneous recording and playback of data. Also changed out one of four Reaction Wheel Assembly units that use spin momentum to move the telescope toward a target and maintain it in a stable position. After this EVA, mission managers decided to add EVA 5 to repair the thermal insulation on HST.

EVA-4: February 16, duration 6 hours, 34 minutes. Astronauts Harbaugh and Tanner replaced a Solar Array Drive Electronics package which controls the positioning of Hubble's solar arrays. Also replaced were covers over Hubble's magnetometers and thermal blankets of multi-layer material over two areas of degraded insulation around the light shield portion of the telescope just below the top of the observatory. Meanwhile, inside Discovery, Horowitz and Lee worked on the middeck to fabricate new insulation blankets for HST.

EVA-5: February 17, duration 5 hours, 17 minutes. Astronauts Lee and Smith attached several thermal insulation blankets to three equipment compartments at the top of the Support Systems Module section of the telescope which contain key data processing, electronics and scientific instrument telemetry packages.

No sixth spacewalk was needed; a suspect Reaction Wheel Assembly has tested out and did not need to be replaced.

STS-82 EVA totaled 33 hours, 11 minutes about two hours shy of total EVA time recorded on the first servicing mission.

The Hubble Space Telescope was released back into orbit at 06:41 GMT on February 19. Discovery landed on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 08:32 GMT on February 21.

NASA / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / National Space Society.org / European Space Agency / Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.edu / Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope on February 11, 1997 (YouTube)

Understanding Military Terminology

Navy Special Operations Forces

(DOD) Those Active and Reserve Component Navy forces designated by the Secretary of Defense that are specifically organized, trained, and equipped to conduct and support special operations.

Also called NAVSOF.

Joint Publications (JP 3-05) Special Operations - Joint Chiefs of Staff

Navy Support Element

The maritime pre-positioning force element that is tasked to conduct the off-load and ship-to-shore movement of maritime pre-positioned equipment and/or supplies.

Also called NSE.

Joint Publications (JP 3-02.1) Amphibious Operations - Joint Chiefs of Staff

Navy-unique Fleet Essential Aircraft

Combatant commander-controlled airlift assets deemed essential for providing air transportation in support of naval operations’ transportation requirements.

Also called NUFEA.

Joint Publications (JP 3-17) Air Mobility Operations - Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Old Salt’s Corner

“Tales of Legendary Ghost Ships”

Legend of the Ghost Ship of Northumberland Strait

New Brunswick is a mere ghost on a new Canada Post stamp featuring the Northumberland ghost ship.

Although Canada Post states “the tale has been told by residents for at least 200 years of a vision of a burning ship on the waters between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island”, the stamp itself bears only the abbreviations for Nova Scotia and P.E.I.

As legend has it, people see what appears to be a burning ship on the Northumberland Strait. Canada Post states: “On several occasions, onlookers have tried to rescue the ship but as soon as rescuers come close, the ship disappears into the mist.”

Reports from the mainland in Nova Scotia have come from Pictou Island, Cape John, Brule Point, Malagash and Gulf Shore, says the PSICAN posting.

“An intriguing aspect of these eyewitness reports (from both sides of the Strait) is their similarity, tending to prove that a curious light does appear, especially as the harbinger of a storm”, states the PSICAN report.

CBC News / Wikipedia

“I’m Just Sayin”

“The healthy man does not torture others.

Generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.”

“It all depends on how we look at things,

and not how they are in themselves.”

“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers,

but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings.

The curriculum is so much necessary raw material,

but warmth is the vital element

for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.”

~ Carl Jung

“Thought for the Day”

“Get closer than ever to your customers.

So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”

“Details matter,

it’s worth waiting to get it right.”

“The people that really create the things that change this industry

are both the thinker and doer in one person.”

~ Steve Jobs

“What I Learned”

“Ambition is putting a ladder against the sky.”

“Never say, 'oops'.

Always say, 'Ah, interesting'.”

“A mistake should be your teacher,

not your attacker.

A mistake is a lesson,

not a loss.

It is a temporary,

necessary detour,

not a dead end.”

~ Anonymous

Second Hand News: Articles from Week 07 - February 10, 2020 - February 16, 2020

After Iowa State's Democrat Caucuses Debacle: New Hampshire voters: Let somebody else be first in the nation • 'This guy has some guts': Democrat establishment eyes Bloomberg as Biden falters • While Trump plays stadiums, Pence tries to woo the heartland one diner at a time

2020 Democrat Presidential Debate: Biden requests standing ovation for Vindman, says he deserves Rush Limbaugh's Medal of Freedom • Buttigieg attacks Bernie Sanders over Medicare for All: 'We don't command people' • ''It depends': Buttigieg and Biden demur on Soleimani killing • 'Didn't fight hard enough:' Warren admits to weak New Hampshire debate • The MSNBC anchor who knew too little

MOST READ: Confidential banking records related to Hunter Biden in Senate hands: Report • ‘End that son of a bitch:’ Philippine president says he will scrap military pact with U.S. • Mitt Romney's 'profile in courage' • ‘Unacceptable’: Every FBI official in FISA report is being reviewed for possible discipline, Wray says • Texas Congresswoman suggests Russia responsible for Iowa caucus voting issues Washington Examiner

Iowa winner Pete Buttigieg comes under fire from Democrat rivals in New Hampshire debate as Klobuchar slams his inexperience and Biden calls out lack of support from black and Latino voters • Friday Night Massacre: Donald Trump ousts Gordon Sondland as EU ambassador just hours after firing Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman and his twin brother as the president exacts revenge for testifying against him at impeachment inquiry

Awkward moment Wolf Blitzer reminded Mazie Hirono that President Trump WAS acquitted - but the Hawaii senator insists impeachment trial was rigged • Joe Biden has Democrat debate audience give a standing ovation to Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman hours after he was fired and escorted out of the White House by Donald Trump • Former U.S. Navy Secretary pushed out by Trump after clashing with him over decision to reinstate disgraced Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher endorses Mike Bloomberg for president

'I view everybody as a threat,' Donald Trump says of Democrats as he mocks them for 'all the money' spent in Iowa debacle - ending with 'fried' votes • Treasury Department hands over Hunter Biden's financial information • Donald Trump claims Nancy Pelosi 'broke the law' when she ripped up his State of the Union speech behind his back adding 'there's a lot of evil' on the Democrat side of the aisle

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence hints UK's Huawei decision could be a deal breaker for post-Brexit trade agreement after 'apoplectic' Donald Trump blasts Boris Johnson • Jeff Bezos cashes out almost $3.5 BILLION in four days after selling more than 1.7 million of his Amazon shares • A public transit pup! Meet the Seattle dog who takes the bus by HERSELF every day to visit her favorite dog park Daily Mail UK

This Democrat Debate Was Utterly Hopeless • If These Three 2020 Democrats Were President, Terrorist Qasem Soleimani Would Still Be Alive • Biden Concedes New Hampshire In First Line Of Democrat Debate

Trump’s Acquittal, Romney’s Stand, And Biden’s Fate • Devin Nunes Says Trump’s Most Important Accomplishment Is Outing Hostile Media • Behind The White House Move To Stop Ugly Federal Buildings (And The Architects Who Stand In The Way)

MOST READ: NOW Democrat Congresswoman Blames Iowa Caucus Disaster On Russia • What Does Mitt Romney Even Stand For? An Investigation • Coverage Of Mitt Romney’s Impeachment Vote Is A Case Study In Media Bias • What Today’s Insanely Left Democrat Party Is Doing With Virginia Will Scare You • Pete Buttigieg Cites Religion To Defend Late-Term Abortion Of Disabled Children The Federalist

U.S. civil war? EU breaking, China weak, Russia insecure.   

A Red victory in 2020 could buy us time.   

#TheScalaReport: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) “changed the world” - Does Brexit Britain need a DARPA?   

Azercosmos, first Central Asian space firm.   

Democracy on the Caspian Sea & What is to be done?    2 of 2    John Batchelor (02/10/2020)

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: What is the History of Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day occurs every February 14. Across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine.

But who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from? Find out about the history of Valentine’s Day, from the ancient Roman ritual of Lupercalia that welcomed spring to the card-giving customs of Victorian England.

The Legend of St. Valentine

The history of Valentine’s Day - and the story of its patron saint - is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

The Many Myths Behind the Inspiration for Valentine's Day (Who Was the Real St. Valentine?)

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Still others insist that it was Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who was the true namesake of the holiday. He, too, was beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and - most importantly - romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February

While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial - which probably occurred around A.D. 270 - others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

Six Surprising Facts About St. Valentine's Day

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide.

Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Valentine’s Day: A Day of Romance

Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity but was outlawed - as it was deemed “un-Christian” - at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.

The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules”, writing, “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.”

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

Typical Valentine’s Day Greetings

In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine”, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap”. Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year (more cards are sent at Christmas). Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

History Channel / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / Quora / Smithsonian / National Geographic What are Quarks? (YouTube)

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang

Kiddy cruise: Enlisting at 17. Active duty obligation expires the day before the enlistee's 21st birthday.

Killer Tomato: A large reddish-orange inflated ball used in gunnery practice at sea.

King Neptune: Neptunus Rex, Ruler of the Raging Main, Ancient Order of the Deep. Signs the card of slimy pollywogs after crossing the line, making them Trusted Shellbacks.

Kiss the Camels: To fall between ship and pier onto the camel, a floating log chained to the pilings as a fender. Such a mishap is frequently fatal.

Klingon Death Watch (Submarine Service): The 6 hour watch following 12 hours of continuous drills.

Wiktionary.org

Just for you MARINE

Keeper Cloth loop on the green service blouse to hold the cloth belt neatly in place.

Kelly Helmet or K-pot: 1917-model basin helmet worn during World War I until 1942.

Kevlar: Helmet made from kevlar.

Wikipedia.org

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

HSC-8 Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) Squadron EIGHT - nicknamed the “Eightballers”

United States Navy Naval Air Station - Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC), Naval Air Station North Island, Naval Base Coronado - San Diego, California / Coronado, California / Squadron Lineage: HS-8 (2nd): November 1, 1969 - April 1, 2007 / HSC-8: April 1, 2007 - present.

Where Did That Saying Come From?

“A penny saved is a penny earned:”

Meaning: The notion expressed in the proverbial saying 'A penny saved is a penny earned' is that it is as useful to save money that you already have as it is to earn more.

History: The original form of this proverb used 'got' or 'gained' instead of 'earned'.

That is recorded as early as the 17th century, in George Herbert's Outlandish Proverbs, circa 1633:

“A penny spar'd is twice got.”

Phrases.org UK

Science & Technology

Genetic ‘road map’ reveals the lost birthplace of a 150-year-old butterfly • Suspect surfaces in the mysterious case of the underwater research station that vanished • Geologists uncover history of lost continent buried beneath Europe • Genome of nearly 5000-year-old woman links modern Indians to ancient civilization • This bird really can fly over Mount Everest, wind tunnel experiments reveal • Top stories: ‘Extreme male brain’ does not cause autism, a lost Maya city, and disappearing sharks Science AAAS

Bizarre News (we couldn’t make up stuff this good - real news story)

Two Mathematicians Just Solved a Decades-Old Math Riddle - and Possibly the Meaning of Life

In Douglas Adams' sci-fi series “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, a pair of programmers task the galaxy's largest supercomputer with answering the ultimate question of the meaning of life, the universe and everything. After 7.5 million years of processing, the computer reaches an answer: 42. Only then do the programmers realize that nobody knew the question the program was meant to answer.

In this satisfying example of life reflecting art, a pair of mathematicians have used a global network of 500,000 computers to solve a centuries-old math puzzle that just happens to involve that most crucial number: 42.

The question, which goes back to at least 1955 and may have been pondered by Greek thinkers as early as the third century AD, asks,

“How can you express every number between 1 and 100 as the sum of three cubes?” Or, put algebraically, how do you solve x^3 + y^3 + z^3 = k, where k equals any whole number from 1 to 100?

This deceptively simple stumper is known as a Diophantine equation, named for the ancient mathematician Diophantus of Alexandria, who proposed a similar set of problems about 1,800 years ago. Modern mathematicians who revisited the puzzle in the 1950s quickly found solutions when k equals many of the smaller numbers, but a few particularly stubborn integers soon emerged. The two trickiest numbers, which still had outstanding solutions by the beginning of 2019, were 33 and - you guessed it - 42.

In April, mathematician Andrew Booker, of the University of Bristol in England, knocked 33 off the list. Using a computer algorithm to look for solutions to the Diophantine equation with x, y and z values that included every number between positive and negative 99 quadrillion, Booker found the solution to 33 after several weeks of computing time. (As you can see, the answer is super, super long.)

Still, this exhaustive search turned up no solutions for 42, suggesting that, if there was an answer, some of the integers must be greater than 99 quadrillion. Calculating values that large would take an insane amount of computing power; so, for his next attempt, Booker enlisted the help of Massachusetts Institute of Technology mathematician Andrew Sutherland, who helped Booker book some time with a worldwide computer network called Charity Engine.

According to a statement from the University of Bristol, this network is a "worldwide computer" that borrows idle computing power from more than 500,000 home PCs around the globe. Using this crowdsourced supercomputer and 1 million hours of processing time, Booker and Sutherland finally found an answer to the Diophantine equation where k equals 42.

And so, without further ado, the question AND answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is:

(-80538738812075974)^3 + (80435758145817515)^3 + (12602123297335631)^3 = 42

How does it feel? Glorious? Overwhelming? Like your brain is going to vomit a little? Just be thankful that, unlike in Adams' search for the truth, the entire Earth wasn't destroyed in the process.

• The World's Most Beautiful Equations

• The Nine Most Massive Numbers in Existence

• Ten Surprising Facts About Pi

Live Science (08/30/2019)