The space race kicked into high gear 50 years ago with the launch of Sputnik.

When Sputnik took off 50 years ago, the world gazed at the heavens in awe and apprehension, watching what seemed like the unveiling of a sustained Soviet effort to conquer space and score a stunning Cold War triumph.

But 50 years later, it emerges that the momentous launch was far from being part of a well-planned strategy to demonstrate communist superiority over the West. Instead, the first artificial satellite in space was a spur-of-the-moment gamble driven by the dream of one scientist, whose team scrounged a rocket, slapped together a satellite and persuaded a dubious Kremlin to open the space age.

And that winking light that crowds around the globe gathered to watch in the night sky? Not Sputnik at all, as it turns out, but just the second stage of its booster rocket, according to Boris Chertok, one of the founders of the Soviet space program.

It is interesting to realize just how seat-of-the-pants that first launch really was -- fifty years ago this Thursday.

Posted by: Greg at 10:14 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 187 words, total size 1 kb.

More heroes of WWII have been found at the site of their final resting place, entombed forever in the remains of their submarine, USS Grunion.

When famed novelist and sailor Joseph Conrad wrote in 1900, "I have known the sea too long to believe in its respect for decency," perhaps he had some foresight into the mysterious disappearance of a U.S. Navy submarine 42 years later.

The foreboding comment by Conrad, author of sea novels such as "Lord Jim," "Typhoon" and "The Rescue," dramatically applies to the fate of the crew of the submarine USS Grunion and the anguish of the families of the missing whose ship vanished in 1942 while steaming off the coast of Alaska.

The 311-foot, diesel powered Grunion and its 70-member crew had not been heard from for 65 years since they went missing while on patrol off the island of Kiska in the Aleutian Islands.

In early July of 1942, the Grunion had sunk two Japanese sub chasers and damaged a third near Kiska, one of two islands in the Aleutians that had been captured by the Japanese during the early months of World War II.

But the Grunion, named for a small fish and commissioned just three months earlier, had not been located since its last message of July 30, 1942, when it reported by radio the receipt of a Navy message ordering it back to the U.S. Navy base at Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

One month ago, the remains of the USS Grunion were found in 1,000 feet of water off Kiska Island following a lengthy and intensive search led by the son of the Grunion's skipper and with the cooperation of the Alaskan Civil Air Patrol and World War II Japanese navy veterans who had served in the Aleutians in 1942.

Utilizing Japanese navy records discovered in Tokyo last summer, John Abele, the son of Grunion skipper Lt. Cmdr. Mannert Abele, discovered the mangled remains of the sub utilizing an underwater, remotely operated vehicle equipped with video cameras.

May God Almighty grant them eternal rest, and comfort to their families.

The Crew of USS Grunion (SS-216)
Abele, M. L. LCDR
Alexander, F. E. SM3
Allen, D. E. SM3
Arvan, H. J. Matt2
Banes, P. E. CMOMM
Bedard, L. J. I. CMOMM
Blinston, W. H. RM3
Bonadies, N. R. F2
Boo, R. F. RM3
Bouvia, C. L. MM1
Caldwell, G. E. CEM
Carroll, R. H. S2
Clift, J. S. TM2
Collins, M. F. F2
Cooksey, L. D. MOMM1
Cullinane, D. MM1
Cuthbertson, W. H., Jr. ENS
Deaton, L. D. S2
DeStoop, A. E. CTM
Devaney, W. P., Jr. S2
Dighton, S. R., Jr. LTJG
Doell, L. H., Jr. RM2
Franck, L. H. S1
Graham, M. D. CTM
Hall, K. E. S2
Hellensmith, E. G. EM3
Henderson, H. B. MOMM2
Hutchinson, C. R. TM3
Kennedy, S. J., Jr. MOMM2
Knowles, E. E., Jr. S2
Kockler, L. R. TM1
Kornahrens, W. G. LT
Ledford, M. J. CY
Lehman, W. W. EM1
Loe, S. A. MOMM2
Lunsford, S., Jr. EM2
Lyon, J. W. F1
Martin, C. R. CMOMM
Martin, T. E. EM1
Mathison, R. EM1
McCutcheon, R. G. TM3
McMahon, J. M. LT
Miller, E. C. F2
Myers, D. O. F1
Nave, F. T. MOMM2
Newcomb, A. G. RM1
Nobles, J. W. MOMM1
Pancoast, J. E. MOMM2
Parziale, C. A. TM3
Paul, C., Jr. MATT2
Pickel, B. J. S1
Post, A. C. S2
Randall, W. H. RM2
Ryan, L., Jr. S2
Sanders, H. A. MOMM1
Schumann, E. T. CQM
Sullivan, P. P. PHM1
Surofchek, S. SC1
Swartwood, D. N. S2
Templeton, S. A. GM1
Thomas, M. W. LT
Traviss, B. A. S2
Ullmann, A. S1
VanWoggelum, M. F. F3
Walter, M. H. F3
Webster, R. E. EM2
Welch, D. F. FC2
Wells, J. H. TM2
Wilson, J. E., Jr. SC3
Youngman, R. J. F2

Bless those who serve beneath the deep,
Through lonely hours their vigil keep.
May peace their mission ever be,
Protect each one we ask of Thee.
Bless those at home who wait and pray,
For their return by night and day.
— Reverend Gale R. Williamson

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT , Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Rosemary's Thoughts, Allie is Wired, Big Dog's Weblog, The World According to Carl, Shadowscope, The Pink Flamingo, Stop the ACLU, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, The Yankee Sailor, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Posted by: Greg at 01:52 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 740 words, total size 5 kb.

1 Hat/tip: JammieWearingFool.

PS. My haloscan won't accept the trackback, so I thought I'd at least try some way.

Posted by: Rosemary's Thoughts at Sat Sep 29 15:41:45 2007 (2k5qj)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

But some will still deny that the Jews occupied Israel in the past, will still deny the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, and will still advocate for their expulsion from the Holy Land. Historical evidence like this doesn't matter to them -- or to international organizations and "prestigious" universities that give such folks a platform to speak.

An ancient quarry where King Herod's workers chiseled huge high-quality limestones for the construction of the Second Temple, including the Western Wall, has been uncovered in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Sunday.

The quarry, which is located four kilometers northwest of the Old City of Jerusalem in the city's outlying Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, was used 2,000 years ago by dozens of King Herod's workers at the site during the construction of the Second Temple walls, archeologist Yuval Baruch said.

"This unique and sensational find is the first Second Temple quarry ever found," he said.

The site, which spans at least five dunams, was uncovered by chance during a "salvage excavation" carried out by the state-run archeological body over the last two months following municipal plans to build an elementary school in the area, he said.

Dozens of quarries have previously been uncovered in Jerusalem - including ones larger than the present find - but this is the first one that archeologists have found which they believe was used in the construction of the Temple Mount itself, Baruch said.

Archeologists had previously assumed that the quarry which was used to construct the Temple Mount was located within the Old City itself, but the enormous size of the stones found at the site - up to 8 meters long - as well as coins and fragments of pottery vessels dating back to the first century CE indicated that this was the site used 2,000 years ago in the construction of the walls of the Temple Mount, including the Western Wall.

"We have never found any other monument in Israel with stones this size except for the Temple Mount walls," Baruch said.

One more bit of proof of the undeniable presence of the Jews in Israel. One more bit of evidence for the Jewish nature and history of Temple Mount. One more fact to throw back at the anti-Semites.

And may we see the Temple rebuilt in our lifetimes.

Posted by: Greg at 10:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 393 words, total size 2 kb.