In Memory Of The Space Shuttle (IMAGES)

It all began in 1972 when Congress approved funding for the shuttle program. In 1977 NASA began to combine a 2 rocket launch system, an orbital spacecraft and a re-entry space plane with modular add-ons.

The first of its kind was the Enterprise built by NASA in 1974 to perform space flights in the atmosphere. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of space flight.

In 1975 NASA began constructing the first space-worthy space shuttle the Colombia. First launched on the STS-1 mission and the first of the Space shuttle program, it completed 27 missions before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 near the end of its 28th. STS-107. (We will never forget the crew of STS-107).

The STS-170 Crew.

Over Texas, during re-entry on earth's atmosphere. The lost of Columbia and its crew was one of the biggest break downs NASA and all of the people has ever had.

January 1,1979 a contract award was signed to create a vehicle who could later be converted to a flight vehicle. In order to prevent damage during structural testing, qualification test were performed to a factor of safety of 1.2 times the design limit loads. The qualification test were used to validate computational models, and compliance with the required 1.4 factor of safety was shown by analysis. The  Challenger was born.

Challenger was destroyed as it broke up in mid-flight in the second minute on its tenth mission, on January 28, 1986 at 11:38:00 am ET. The breakup was ultimately due to the failure of an O-ring on its right solid-fuel rocket booster.

While going up...

It occurred within our eyes what no body would have expected that would happen...

(We will never forget you STS-51-L crew).

This next spacecraft takes its name from four British ships of exploration named Discovery, primarily one of the ships commanded by Captain James Cook during his third and final major voyage from 1776 to 1779.

In 1980 the Space Shuttle Discovery Started it structural assembly of aft-fuselage and being finally ready in August 12, 1983 after a complete check and final acceptance. Discovery was NASA's Orbiter fleet leader, having flown 39 successful missions in over 27 years of service. It made its final touchdown at KSC on March 9, 2011 at 10:57:17 CST.

Next we have our beloved Endeavour, built with new hardware designed to improve and expand orbiter capabilities. Endeavour flew it final mission, STS-134 to the ISS in  May 2011 after 18 years of service.

Endeavour was named through a national competition involving students in elementary and secondary schools.

Earth's horizon as seen from the Endeavour.

And last, and the very very last to flight into space is the Atlantis. The last active space Shuttle orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it deployed the planetary probes Magellan to Venus (on STS-30) and Galileo to Jupiter (on STS-34) besides other missions that will be remembered through out history.  Atlantis launched successfully for the final time on the 8th of July 2011 at 16:29:00 GMT.

The Atlantis space shuttle cockpit.

And of course the last crew of the Space Shuttle Program in history the STS-135.

And last, a video of the last lift-off of the Space Shuttle Program.

"Dear Space Shuttle,


Thank you for all the assistance you have provided us during all this years. We appreciate the hard work and advice you have given us,as well as the connections with new frontiers. Your expertise and help have been invaluable to all of us during this process.

Again, thank you so much.

A Place For Science."


Source:Wikipedia

"Tarot cards never lie." Is this true?

Some people think so, and I’m not justified in believing it. For example, the chance of one card of the tarot that tells you that you are going to die is 1/40 because if I'm correct, the tarot hand has 40 cards. The chance that one of those cards will say that you are going to have a pleasant and calm life, therefore, is also 1/40. As a result you have a very good reason to begin writing your testament for believing that you are going to die, or a very good reason to start packing for a better life. 

Eventually, if this knowledge has some certainty than of course, the preposition that the tarot cards works will have some certainty. But, what kind of certainty? I know that the tarot cards are all designed in such a way that any card that is thrown will make you think that you are going to die or that you will have a pleasant life,but the human brain is not designed for good reason to doubt a preposition, but for some reason, is designed to find some sort of justification. In fact when people need some sort of justification, or just because they have heard a testimony that the cards do actually predict the future, the less background of information to justify a preposition, the less conflict with the preposition and the more reason there is not to doubt it. However, if you put a question mark after Tarot; if we have good reason for believing it to be false, it will not justify the preposition to be true. Even if all our sensory evidence indicates that it is. I have a good reason to doubt a reading if it conflicts with the exactitude of the prediction that I have reasons to believe. Like Descartes said once, “When it is not in our power to determine what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable”.

I don't believe in the tarot because I do can figure out for myself what it is more probable to happen in the future of my actions than a reading of cards that has algorithms designed to propose your future. But, in fact your own future is determined by what choices you make. Yes, you can have a pleasant life after all, but even if the reading says that you are going to be rich, I can't say that the possibility of you becoming rich is implausible in fact it could happen in 3 ways. (1) you win the lottery , (2) you choose wisely or (3) you are lucky enough to that you have choose wisely.

The tarot randomly will tell you the future that you want to hear, but will never tell you how your future is going to be.

Astrology. What would you do to show them the error of their ways? (My thoughts)

Try to find a good reason to make them think that astrology is wrong, better reasons, better prepositions, astronomy.

The more  likely it is they will start thinking scientifically the better. Some people who believe in astrology believe that to know about planets is the ability to predict the people's personality, future, and to have no doubt of what kind of life this person will have depending in its zodiac sign. I would find good reasons to make them doubt about what astrology propose, than, I think they cannot have a good reason to believe in astrology. But how? and why take their believes away like a father taking the candy from his beloved kid?

In the first question of the how, I would try to explain the laws of physics and demonstrate that gravity is stronger on an apple being hold by your hand than the gravity of a planet affecting on you. I would try to demonstrate through out perception, introspection, memory, and reason that the constellations in the sky are no entirely still, that stars move like planets and that they have nothing to do with your personality; I would try to show them how mathematics works to explain the physics behind nature so they can have reasons to find the scientific method more interesting by learning more scientific background.

Just like they were the very same Babylonians who thought and reasoned the misconception of the position of planets having an effect on you. I would try to make them think that hepatoscopy is not the way to know the future just by explaining that the liver is an organ, that you only have one and is not meant to sacrifice it for the gods to get your future revealed by the their made up gods.  Teaching them real science would make the astrology believers, them who have no reason, to not doubt what's disclosed to them through perception, introspection, memory, or reason than what they are justified in believing through astrology.