Wednesday, October 25, 2017

The Future of Orthodox Christianity in Syria and America - Hudson Institute


Flight Over Dwarf Planet Ceres - NASA JPL


Dawn Spacecraft Gets Second Mission Extension - probing a dwarf planet

NASA's Dawn spacecraft,designed and built by Orbital ATK,has gotten a second mission extension to further explore dwarf planet Ceres.The new orbit will enable its closest approach to the celestial body located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter,to within 120 miles/200 km of the surface.Its previous closest approach had been 240 miles/385 km.The orbit will also become Dawn's permanent home once it runs out of hydrazine fuel,which will probably be in late 2018.The Dawn mission team doesn't want the spacecraft to contaminate Ceres by landing on it or crashing into it.*
In the new orbit,Dawn will study the composition of Ceres' upper layer with its gamma ray and neutron spectrometer.Of particular interest is the amount of ice that may be present on and near the surface.Dawn's camera will also take visible light images of Ceres' surface geology,while its visible and infrared mapping spectrometer will take measurements of Ceres' mineralogy.Another highlight will be Dawn's presence during Ceres' perihelion,or closest approach to the Sun,in April 2018.Ice on and near Ceres' surface may turn to water vapor or even the weak transient atmosphere previous observations by ESA's Herschel Space Observatory have documented.Ground-based observatories will also be tapped for this study of Ceres' perihelion behaviour.The prime cause of the fleeting atmosphere,which lasts about a week per occurrence,is currently suspected to be solar wind protons bombarding Ceres in the course of the solar cycle and interacting with ice on and in its outer layer,irrespective of Ceres' distance from the Sun.*
Managed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory,Dawn's mission science is headed by UCLA.International partners on the mission include The German Aerospace Center;the Max Planck Institue for Solar System Research;the Italian Space Agency;and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute.*
Orbital ATK Inc (OA)

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Patriarch Bartholomew Visits Orthodox in Ankara,Turkey - welcomed at Russian Embassy

On 6 October 2017,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew made a pastoral visit to the new Orthodox Community of Ankara,Turkey.In his toast to the community at a banquet in the Divan Hotel,the Patriarch summed up the meaning of his trip:
Today marks our first visit and encounter with the Orthodox Community in Ankara.Our presence here is not an accident;but,rather,it illustrates the bond of spiritual love that unites your community with the Mother Church,and shows that the Ecumenical Patriarchate is proud of and encourages your efforts to organise a new Orthodox Community in the capital of our beautiful country.We are particularly grateful to God for the recent creation of your community,which exemplifies in many ways the vocation and mission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by serving all the Orthodox Christians of Ankara,regardless of their origins,their ethnic background,or their nationalities.The Ecumenical Patriarchate embraces diversity like your community and is composed of a variety of Orthodox faithful.
We would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Catholic Church,whose help has been essential.*
We wholeheartedly welcome once again the Ambassadors representing various countries of both Orthodox and non-Orthodox traditions.Your presence means a great deal to us.You honour the efforts,the progress,and the development of this community at a time of expansion of the pastoral ministry of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,the only Orthodox Church with the canonical authority to minister to the Orthodox faithful in this country.*
Patriarch Bartholomew also greeted the Turkish friends present at the banquet and expressed his encouragement to the community and the Very Reverend Archimandrite Vessarion,who serves the new parish.
In closing,the Patriarch wished to all:
health,strength and divine guidance,so that,in unity and in harmony,we may all contribute to the spiritual dialogue,so that this beautiful Orthodox Community in Ankara may continue to glorify God and be a positive component of the religious landscape of the capital,advocating for peaceful coexistence,in mutual respect of all fellow humans sharing a common destiny.*
Also on 6 October,His All-Holiness visited the Russian Embassy in Ankara.He conducted a trisagion memorial service there at the site of a future memorial to the Hero of Russia Ambassador Andrei Karlov,who was assassinated in Ankara at a photo exhibition on 19 December 2016.Embassy staff attended the trisagion and took part in the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy at St.Therese Church in Ankara,which the Catholic Church provided to the new Orthodox Community.
Embassy press attaché Irina Kasinova said it was the first ever visit by a Patriarch of Constantinople in the history of the Soviet and Russian diplomatic mission in Ankara.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Full Afterburner!! F-15J Eagle Fighter jet aircraft.Night takeoff - Japanese Air Self-Defense Force


SecDef Addresses Army Association on North Korea as US Sends Bombers,Attack Sub to South Korea

A number of developments concerning the Korea crisis have unfolded over the past several days.On 7 October 2017,the Us Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Tucson (SSN 770) arrived at US Fleet Activities Chinhae,Republic of Korea for a visit to bolster ties between the two allies.The Tucson can support a multitude of missions,the Navy said,including anti-submarine warfare;anti-surface ship warfare;strike;surveillance and reconnaissance.The boat has 12 vertical launch tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles and four torpedo tubes.The Tucson was the twentieth of the improved Los Angeles-class attack submarines to be built.The Navy declined to disclose how long the Tucson would be in Chinhae;nor does it ever reveal whether its vessels are carrying nuclear weapons.*
On 9 October 2017,US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis addressed the Association of the US Army on the status of the crisis on the Korean Peninsula:
It's right now a diplomatically-led,economic sanction-buttressed effort to turn North Korea off this path.And what does the future hold,neither you nor I can say;but there's one thing the US Army can do,and that is we've got to be ready to ensure we have military options that our president can employ if needed.
The international community has spoken (by imposing more sanctions on North Korea);but that means the US Army must stand ready.So if you're ready,that's your duty at this point in time.And I know the Army will always do its duty.*
On the evening of 10 October,the US launched two B-1B Lancer bombers,using Andersen Air Force Base,Guam,as a power projection platform,the US Air Force said.It was a sequenced bilateral mission in the vicinity of the Sea of Japan and East Sea with Republic of Korea  Air Force F-15J Slam Eagle fighter jets and Japanese Air Self-Defense Force Mitsubishi F-15 J Eagles.It enabled the operational units to improve their combined capabilities and tactical skills,while also building bilateral confidence and strong working relationships,according to Major Patrick Applegate of the 613th Air Operations Center at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham,Hawaii.Such joint night training hones the tactical prowess of each nation's aviators and is a clear demonstration of our ability to conduct seamless operations with all of our allies anytime,anywhere.It was the first time the US has staged joint night drills with both nations on the same night.*
The drills reportedly involved air to ground missile practice over the East Sea by the B-1Bs and the ROKAF F-15Ks,then a firing exercise with the JASDF F-15Js on the other side of the Korean Peninsula,over the Yellow Sea between South Korea and China.*





Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk Visits Ecumenical Patriarchate

According to a communique of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,on 19 September 2017,His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk,Chariman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Church Relations,visited His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.Also attending the meeting in Istanbul were,from the Ecumenical Patriarchate,His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and His Eminence Metropolitan Bartholomew of Smyrna;as well as,from the Moscow Patriarchate,Protopriest Igor Yakimchuk and Priest Anatoly Churyakov,members of the DECR.*
Metropolitan Hilarion brought an invitation for Patriarch Bartholomew from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia,to be honoured during the commemoration in the first week of December of great historical events in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church,namely:the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution;the beginning of the persecution of the Church;the convening of the 1917 Synod;and the restoration of the Moscow Patriarchate after 200 years of abolition.*
His All-Holiness thanked Metropolitan Hilarion and explained that his response was being studied,and had been discussed at the last meeting of the Holy and Sacred Synod.The two churchmen went on to hold detailed discussions about the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church that took place on the island of Crete in 2016,as well as other bilateral and inter-Orthodox issues,the Ecumenical Patriarchate said.