Barring bad weather, NASA said the space shuttle Discovery mounted atop the space agency’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will make a series of low passes – 1,500 ft. around parts of Washington DC on April 17 between 10-11 am eastern daylight time. The exact route and timing of the flight, which has the blessing of […]
Shuttle Discovery, atop NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to fly over national landmarks
Barring bad weather, NASA said the space shuttle Discovery mounted atop the space agency’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will make a series of low passes – 1,500 ft. around parts of Washington DC on April 17 between 10-11 am eastern daylight time.
The exact route and timing of the flight, which has the blessing of the Federal Aviation Administration, depends on weather and operational constraints, NASA said. The aircraft/shuttle combo is expected to fly near a variety of landmarks including the National Mall, Reagan National Airport and National Harbor.
After its done taking a tour of the area, the aircraft will land at Dulles Airport which is next door to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center where Discovery will be towed and ultimately displayed.
The other retiring shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis will make their retirement trips later this year with Endeavor taking the piggyback 747 flight from Florida to Los Angeles this fall. Atlantis will be transported from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in November, NASA said.
Applied Technology Institute offers a short technical course, Underwater Acoustics For Biologists and Conservation Managers, on April 17-19, 2012 in Washington, DC area. We thought the news below would be of interest to our readers. It appears that yet another magnificent creature of the deep, a member of the endangered southern resident killer whales, was […]
Applied Technology Institute offers a short technical course, Underwater Acoustics For Biologists and Conservation Managers, on April 17-19, 2012 in Washington, DC area. We thought the news below would be of interest to our readers.
It appears that yet another magnificent creature of the deep, a member of the endangered southern resident killer whales, was killed by NAVY exercises.
The body of the three-year-old female whale,L112, known both as Sooke and Little Victoria, washed up on a beach near Long Beach, Washington, shortly after the Canadian navy was using sonar in Juan de Fuca Strait.
According to witnesses, sonar pings, which were recorded by a series of hydrophones, were preceded by an explosion.
The necropsy conducted by the experts shows that the whale died from “significant trauma”.
This caused an outrage in environmental community, including David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Greenpeace, Living Oceans, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Sierra Club B.C., Western Canada Wilderness Committee and the World Wildlife Fund.
Under Canada’s Species At Risk Act the killer whales are listed as endangered spices.
All of the above mentioned organizations call for ending of the military exercises in the a release of all information about activities in the area that might have contributed to Sooke’s death.
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