Looking Back

A FEW YEARS AGO:  The photo above popped up as a Facebook memory today.

If memory serves, we had just gotten off a bus and were walking up toward Key Arena, to go to our first "Deck the Hall Ball," an annual concert sponsored by a local alternative station.

Annabelle was a whirling, and CJ was trying his best to be a nutcracker.

Wow, where do the years go?

HISTORY LESSON: Americans will forever remember Dec. 7 as Pearl Harbor Day. This morning, Paul Allen posted the first photos and video of the of USS Ward since its sinking off the Philippines. The 314-foot vessel is significant as it fired the first American shot in World War II on December 7, 1941, outside Pearl Harbor.

Recently, the Philippine government for allowed Allen's RV Petrel to explore the historic ship.

https://youtu.be/DmpcrFuEmr8

Launched on June 1, 1918 during World War I, come Dec. 7, 1944, the USS Ward's target on that initial WWII strike was a midget Japanese submarine. While it got the first volley off, on Pearl Harbor Day, it became the target of a kamikaze that same day. Fortunately, the crew of the Ward was rescued before the vessel was scuttled.

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen’s expedition crew of Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel has documented the USS Ward (Destroyer No. 139) in its final resting place near Ponson Island in the Philippines. For more information, visit http://www.paulaleen.com

Today there was a Facebook Live event  with the crew of RV Petrel, who explored the USS Ward on the ocean floor. (Oddly, the interview doesn't start until the 25 minute mark of the broadcast.)

 
NASA Astronaut Randy Bresnik posted this photo, taken from the International Space Station, today, saying, "As we reflect today, the beauty of Pearl Harbor is indicative of the beauty of the relations we have now with Japan and the Japanese people. — with World War II Valor In The Pacific National Monument."

Also on this day, Apollo 17's crew captured this amazing shot of our one and only Earth, back in 1972.

Such a stunning shot. 

And below, is an phenomenal "Earth Rise" composite shot the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter produced in 2015. 


EXPANDING: This morning, we checked out a graphic from Bigelow Aerospace. It showed how the  The size of expandable space stations will have a quantum leap with the increase in the size of rocket fairings.

Pretty cool! Bigelow's first expansion module is already attached to the International Space Station. 

We watched live coverage back in 2016 when the module was being expanded for the first time! The noises it made while expanding were interesting and a bit eerie!