Calista241
Calista241's JournalPlanned NASA space telescope renamed after astronomer Nancy Grace Roman
Source: Physics World
NASA’s troubled space telescope, WFIRST, has been renamed the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in honour of NASA’s former chief of astronomy.
The telescope has had a difficult existence so far, having twice been given zero funding by the Trump administration only for the US Congress to reinstate its budget.
In March this year, NASA approved construction of the $4bn space telescope, and the naming of the Roman Space Telescope has now cemented NASA’s commitment to the project, which ranked highest for astrophysics at the last US National Academy of Science Decadal Survey.
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Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman (1925–2018) studied astronomy at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and in 1949 completed a PhD at the University of Chicago, where she worked at the Yerkes Observatory. She joined NASA in 1958, where she became one of the chief architects of NASA’s space telescope programme.
Read more: https://physicsworld.com/a/planned-nasa-space-telescope-renamed-after-astronomer-nancy-grace-roman/
So far, no spike in coronavirus in places reopening, U.S. health secretary says
Source: Reuters
U.S. authorities are not yet seeing spikes in coronavirus cases in places that are reopening but it was still too early to determine such trends, health secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday.
“We are seeing that in places that are opening, we’re not seeing this spike in cases,” Azar said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “We still see spikes in some areas that are, in fact, closed.”
However, Azar said identifying and reporting new cases takes time. A critical part of reopening will be surveillance of flu-like symptoms in the population and other hospital admissions data, as well as testing of asymptomatic individuals, he said.
“It’s still early days,” Azar cautioned in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He said data will take some time to come in from states that reopened early such as Georgia and Florida.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-idUSKBN22T0HN
Police officer told homeowner he could contact Ahmaud Arbery shooting suspect for help with potentia
Source: CNN
Police officer told homeowner he could contact Ahmaud Arbery shooting suspect for help with potential trespassers, text message shows
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A text message obtained by CNN shows a Glynn County police officer told the owner of a home under construction near the Georgia coast that he could contact Gregory McMichael for help with potential trespassers seen in surveillance video from his property.
Months later, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son, Travis McMichael, 34, would be arrested for the February 23 fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, who was jogging through the neighborhood and, according to attorneys for Arbery's family, seen in surveillance footage from the property that day.
Elizabeth Graddy, an attorney for the homeowner, Larry English, said the text exchange occurred on December 20, 2019. In it, English sends a video clip from his surveillance camera to the police officer. The officer responded, telling English that one of English's neighbors is Gregory McMichael, a retired police officer and retired investigator in the local district attorney's office.
McMichael "said please call him day or night when you get action on your camera," the officer wrote in his text message to English.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/16/us/ahmaud-arbery-text-message/index.html
Medal of Honor recipient Ronald Shurer dies after lengthy struggle with lung cancer
Source: Stars and Stripes
Ronald Shurer, the Green Beret medic awarded the Medal of Honor for aiding the wounded during a six-hour firefight in Afghanistan in 2008, died of lung cancer Thursday. He was 41.
His death was announced by the U.S. Secret Service, for whom Shurer had worked since retiring from the Army in 2009.
“Today, we lost an American Hero: Husband, Father, Son, Medal of Honor Recipient — Special Agent Ronald J. Shurer II,” the Secret Service said in a tweet. “From a grateful Nation and Agency — your memory and legacy will live on forever.”
Shurer was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2017 and had chronicled his treatment and hospitalization on Instagram.
Read more: https://www.stripes.com/news/us/medal-of-honor-recipient-ronald-shurer-dies-after-lengthy-struggle-with-lung-cancer-1.629830
Hunk of Chinese Rocket Falls to Earth as Uncontrolled Space Debris
Source: Gizmodo
A large, out-of-control piece of space debris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean yesterday, passing over much of the United States.
China launched the the Long March 5B rocket on May 5 from the Wenchang launch site in order to deploy a test model of its upcoming crew capsule. After a week in orbit, the nearly 18-metric-ton core stage re-entered the atmosphere and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the largest piece of uncontrolled space debris to re-enter the atmosphere since 1991, as Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Jonathan McDowell noted on Twitter.
After the launch, the rocket began a week-long orbit. The U.S. military soon started tracking the rocket’s core stage. After a trajectory that took it over heavily populated areas such as New York and Los Angeles, the rocket hit the ocean off the coast of West Africa. Uncontrolled reentries and eventual crash sites are difficult to model, since scientists don’t fully understand the complex dynamics of the upper atmosphere, Holger Krag, head of ESA’s Space Debris Office, said in a 2018 statement. Such debris can travel vast distances in short stretches of time.
The 176-foot Long March 5B rocket is designed to bring large payloads, like components of China’s upcoming space station, into orbit. This mission deployed a prototype crew capsule that would be used to bring astronauts into orbit, as well as an experimental cargo return capsule, which malfunctioned as it returned into the atmosphere, reports Spaceflight Now.
Read more: https://gizmodo.com/hunk-of-chinese-rocket-falls-to-earth-as-uncontrolled-s-1843418082
Chuck Todd apologizes for airing edited William Barr clip
Source: The Hill
NBC "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd apologized on Tuesday for airing a clip Sunday of Attorney General William Barr's interview with CBS reporter Katherine Herridge, which Todd acknowledged was misleading because of an edit that took Barr's remarks out of context.
Todd and "Meet the Press" had come under heavy criticism for airing the clip, which made it appear that Barr had decided to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn for political reasons.
After the clip from the May 7 CBC interview aired, Todd said that Barr "didn't make the case that he was upholding the rule of law. He was almost admitting that, yeah, this is a political job."
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He said the Barr's full answer would have put in context the portion of the interview that "Meet the Press" did air.
"Had I seen that part, I would not have framed the conversation the way I did," he said. "And I am obviously very sorry for that mistake and we strive to do better going forward.”
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/497458-chuck-todd-apologizes-for-airing-edited-william-barr-clip
Justices Ginsburg and Thomas Bash 9th Circuit for 'Abuse of Discretion' in Immigration Consultant Ca
Source: Law & Crime
Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas each penned opinions on Thursday in United States v. Sineneng-Smith bashing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for an “abuse of discretion.”
The Supreme Court unanimously held that the Ninth Circuit “panel’s drastic departure from the principle of party presentation” in the case of immigration consultant Evelyn Sineneng-Smith “constituted an abuse of discretion.” Ginsburg penned the opinion for the court; Thomas filed a concurring opinion that took things a step further.
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The Court called the Ninth Circuit‘s hijacking of the case a “radical transformation” that went “well beyond the pale.”
Sineneng-Smith is a U.S. citizen who worked as an immigration consultant in San Jose, California for almost 20 years; in her practice, she helped non-citizens navigate the American immigration system. Sineneng-Smith was charged in 2010 in connection with helping three undocumented workers and their employers complete applications for employment-based lawful permanent residence. Among the charges were three felony counts under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), for Sineneng-Smith’s use of “dangerous words,” and for “words and … deeds” aimed at “encourag[ing] or induc[ing] an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States.” The § 1324 charges were the focus of the ensuing appeal, not the tax fraud charges Sineneng-Smith pleaded guilty to committing nor the mail fraud counts. Even though there was already sufficient evidence to support the fraud conviction, the government chose to bring criminal charges based on immigration advocacy generally.
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/supreme-court/justices-ginsburg-and-thomas-bash-9th-circuit-for-abuse-of-discretion-in-immigration-consultant-case/
Georgia district attorney vows grand jury review after man shot and killed while jogging
Source: The Hill
A Georgia prosecutor on Tuesday said he would present the case of a man who was shot by a father and son earlier this year to a grand jury for review.
The case involves the death of Ahmaud Arbery, 25, an unarmed black man who was shot and killed on Feb. 23 in Brunswick, Ga., after Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael followed him in their truck. The McMichaels have claimed they believed Arbery to be a burglar, while an attorney for Arbery’s family said he was in the neighborhood jogging.
"I am of the opinion that the case should be presented to the grand jury of Glynn County for consideration of criminal charges against those involved in the death of Mr. Arbery," District Attorney (DA) Thomas Durden said Tuesday, according to NBC News.
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Durden is the district attorney of Hinesville, about 70 miles from where the incident occurred. He is the third prosecutor to take up the case after two others recused themselves over potential conflicts of interest, including the DA of Brunswick, the jurisdiction where the incident occurred and where Gregory McMichael is a longtime investigator for the DA's office. Under lockdown orders in Georgia, courts are barred from empaneling either standard trial juries or grand juries through at least June 12.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/news/496248-georgia-district-attorney-vows-grand-jury-review-of-shooting-of
American Bar Association Reverses Course on Justin Walker, Says He's 'Well Qualified' for DC Circuit
Source: Law & Crime
In a high-profile reversal of course, the American Bar Association (ABA) on Tuesday furnished federal circuit court nominee Justin Walker, 38, with a “Well Qualified” rating, less than a year after the organization said he was “Not Qualified” to serve on the district court where he currently presides.
In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Chairman of the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary William C. Hubbard said that a majority of the Standing Committee was of the opinion that Judge Walker was “Well Qualified” to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, though smaller factions of the committee also found him “Qualified” and “Not Qualified.”
The D.C. Circuit Court is widely considered the second most powerful court in the nation, behind the U.S. Supreme Court due to its jurisdiction in the nation’s capital, which means it overhears issues pertaining to Congress and federal administrative agencies. Just a few hours ago, the Philadelphia Bar Association said Walker was not qualified for the “lofty” role and cited the ABA’s prior opinion of Walker.
Less than one year ago, a majority of the ABA rated Walker as “Not Qualified,” claiming he did not “have the requisite trial or litigation experience or its equivalent” to serve as a district court judge.
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/american-bar-association-reverses-course-on-justin-walker-says-hes-well-qualified-for-d-c-circuit/
Dude is 38 years old.
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