There is nothing quite like riding a motorcycle, the connection between rider, cycle and road is a truly amazing thing.  I love cars,and I love to drive high performance cars, but nothing can compare the feedback that a bike gives you, every little imperfection in the road surface, the effect of the wind, even sounds that you never hear in a car combine to make for an experience that is unlike any other.  If you have never ridden a motorcycle I highly recommend it, but before you do be sure to take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation rider course and to wear the proper safety gear.

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Being who I am when I recieved the first installment of my enlistment bonus I went and bought myself a nice little toy I have been wanting for a while now.  That would  be a brand new Harley Davidson Nightser, and here are some pictures of said toy.

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Interesting Paint schemes on a couple of F-16Cs from Kunsan AB in south Korea.  The second aircraft is staed as being in an artic scheme for upcoming exercises in Alaska, but the first picture has no explanation for the three tone blues and gray paint scheme.  I have seen it on aircraft in agressor squadrons but this is the first time I have seen a regular fighter squadron aircraft painted this way.  Pics clickable for uber giant versions.

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     I am always amazed when ever I read about the Voyager program, after all these years the two Voyager probes contunue to return useful dtata and help to refine our knowledge about our solar system and space in general.  A case in point is the confirmation from Voyager two that the solar system is in fact more or less egg shaped rather than perfectly rond.  While this had been assumed and accepted for a number of years now the confirmation elevates what was scientific supposition to scientific fact, and that is a big deal. Voyager proves solar system is 'squashed'.

     SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has followed its twin, Voyager 1, into the solar system's final frontier, a vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars.

     However, Voyager 2 took a different path, entering this region, called the heliosheath, on Aug. 30, 2007. Because Voyager 2 crossed the heliosheath boundary, called the solar wind termination shock, about 16 billion kilometers (10 billion miles) away from Voyager 1 and almost 1.6 billion kilometers (a billion miles) closer to the sun, it confirmed that our solar system is "squashed" or "dented"- that the bubble carved into interstellar space by the solar wind is not perfectly round. Where Voyager 2 made its crossing, the bubble is pushed in closer to the sun by the local interstellar magnetic field.

     "Voyager 2 continues its journey of discovery, crossing the termination shock multiple times as it entered the outermost layer of the giant heliospheric bubble surrounding the sun and joined Voyager 1 in the last leg of the race to interstellar space," said Voyager Project Scientist Edward Stone of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Results on the Voyager 2 shock crossing from the entire Voyager science team are being presented at the Fall 2007 meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

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From the Shuttle Section at NASA: Space Shuttle Discovery is Ready.

     The countdown to launch of space shuttle Discovery on the STS-120 mission is proceeding smoothly at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Test Director Steve Payne announced at this morning's countdown status briefing.

     "At this point in the count, we're on schedule, our systems are all good and we're in great shape," Payne said, adding that the launch team is not tracking any technical issues.

Image above: Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, the STS-120 crew members await the start of a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at Johnson Space Center. From the left are astronauts Pamela A. Melroy, STS-120 commander; Daniel M. Tani, Expedition 16 flight engineer; George D. Zamka, STS-120 pilot; Douglas H. Wheelock, Scott E. Parazynski, Stephanie D. Wilson and European Space Agency's (ESA) Paolo Nespoli, all mission specialists. Image credit: NASA

     Shuttle Launch tomorrow at 11:38am EDT, 10:38 CDT, 9:38 MDT, 8:30PDT and some god awful hour in Hawaii.  I as usual will watch live on NASA TV or over the internet, you should too.  The mission is STS-120, which will deliver the Harmony node to the ISS. Full info about the mission plan here: Mission Overview.  and about the payload here: Payload Information.

Discovery Ready on the launch pad for STS-120.

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The Earth rising over the Moon, photographed by Astronaut Bill Anders of Apollo 8, December 24, 1967.  NASA Photo.

     I have never really said this out loud, but one of my deepest wishes is to be an Astronaut.  I would give just about anything to be able to float in the void of space or to stand upon the hauntingly beautiful surface of the moon and look back at the planet that we all call home.  While the number of men and women who have ventured into space is small, and only twelve men, Americans all have had the chance to set foot on a heavenly body that is not Earth.  My envy of them beggars description, yet I also know that perhaps I too, may have a chance to do the same.  Many years of my life lay yet before me, and the nature of space travel is constantly evolving.  I do not know what it is about spaceflight, or even flight in general that entrnaces me so, perhaps it is the beauty of seeing the eath from above, or the feeling of freedom that soaring through the skies briings with it.  Whatever it is it has held me fascinated for as long I can possibly remember.

     But even if I never have the chance to look down upon our graceful and magnificent blue orb I can still look up into the heavens above and allow my self to be lost in the simple beauty of the stars, planets and other celstial wonders, and all of their vast and unexplored secrets.  What makes humanity so unique among all of God's creatures is that we, and we alone strive for knowledge simply for the sake of having that knowledge.  We are propelled to explore space for the same reason Edmund Hillary climbed Mt. Everest, because it is there.  Even when it is beyond our capability to explore first hand our celestial meighbors we find a way to go and visit them none the less.  The may be machines, but in their own way the are an extension of human life, and proof our exsistence.  For they will remain wher they are long after all of us are gone onto whatever awaits in the next life.  They shall remain, proving that we where here, and that we did all we could to find life beyond our own world and to learn all we could about everything we could.  Sometimes even robots get homesick I guess, at leat that was what I thought when I first saw this picture.

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A shout out to my British and German Readers.

First up the Senior Service

HMS ILLUSTRIOUS and her Task Group.

Now the Deutsche Marine.

The Sachsen class frigate Seeb

RN image is fullsize, DM nearly so. unfortunately niether the RN or DM are willing to give you US like hi-res photos.  Maybe they figure it will save them in terms of bandwidth costs

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    Back from the airshow, it was as always a day well spent.  If you have the chance by all means try out the Virtual Army Experience, very, very cool.  The performances were amazing to watch, ranging from the thunder of modern fighters to a guy landing a 1941 Interstate trainer on top of a winnebago.  No I mean he really did land on top of an RV, a small RV.  Static displays included the usual suspects and a few surprise highlights below. (No Blue Angels pics though, the battery in my digital went tango uniform before they came on.)

 One big surprise this year was large NASA exhibit in one of the hangars.

NASA Homepage

They brought Models and of both the ISS and the Mars Rovers.

This inflateable Orion CM-SM Mockup shows just how large the new CEV is, compared to the Appolo capsules it is like moving from a 1 bedroom efficency apartment into a two bedroom ranch style house.

By far the coolest static display was the new CV-22 Osprey.

More photos below the fold.

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     My 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator. Need I say more?  No I think not.

     The vital statistics

1. Engine: 351 Cleaveland Bored .020 over with Comp Cams Camshaft and timing set, MSD igniton, Edelbrock peroformer Carb and intake, Hooker headers
2. Transmission: C-6 with Shift Kit and Locar Kickdown
3. Rear End: 9 Inch Traction Lock with 3.73:1 gears.
4. Wheels: 14x7 Cragar SS with Knock offs wearing Firestone Firehawk Raised White Letters

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