Terri's Day

Today is the third anniversary of the court-imposed cruel death of Terri Schindler Schiavo. Terri's family have asked that this date be observed as a day of remembrance.

Meanwhile, Nat Hentoff takes Barack Obama to task for his comments on the 2005 congressional action on Terri's case.

When he was a professor of constitutional law, Obama probably instructed his students to research and know all the facts of a case. The reason Congress asked the federal courts to review the Schiavo case was that the 41-year-old woman about to be dehydrated and starved to death was breathing normally on her own, was not terminal, and there was medical evidence that she was responsive, not in a persistent vegetative state.

Entrepreneurial Space Developments

This was a big week for developments in the emerging commercial space industry:

- XCOR went public with the announcement of its Lynx suborbital spaceplane. The vehicle's applications could include space tourism, scientific research and helping to address the military's need for 'operationally responsive' access to space.

- A commercial agreement was announced for flying a portion of a deceased persons ashes to the lunar surface, in an expansion of an existing service that takes human ashes into space.

The Space Access 2008 conference is taking place in Phoenix, Arizona. Henry Cate has posted his first report here. Note that his final paragraph links to several other bloggers covering this conference, which brings together the leaders in the emerging entrepreneurial space industry.

Welcome Home Endeavour

Space Shuttle Endeavour returned to Florida Wednesday evening following its sixteen day mission adding to the capabilities of the International Space Station.

Have a Blessed and Happy Easter!

At daybreak on the first day of the week
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus
took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzling over this, behold,
two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.
They said to them,
"Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
He is not here, but he has been raised.
Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners
and be crucified, and rise on the third day."
And they remembered his words.
Then they returned from the tomb
and announced all these things to the eleven
and to all the others.
The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James;
the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
but their story seemed like nonsense
and they did not believe them.
But Peter got up and ran to the tomb,
bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone;
then he went home amazed at what had happened.

Lk 24:1-12

For an explanation of why Easter comes so early this year, check out this Space.com article.

Entering into the Paschal Mystery

Hugh McNichol of PewSitter.com writes about the Easter Triduum which began this evening of Holy Thursday.

For us Catholics this evening event begins recounting the events that will lead to the Cross on Good Friday, and thankfully the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. However the focus on the Eucharistic sacrifice, the partaking of the Eucharistic Bread is the event that keenly shows our Catholic identity and union.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, RIP

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction author and sci/tech visionary passed away today in Sri Lanka at age 90. Clarke was the first to propose geosynchronous orbit as the place to locate the communications satellites that have served to bring our world closer together. He is perhaps most well known as the author of the story that Stanley Kubrick made into the profoundly inspirational movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Sir Arthur was one of the major influences on those of us who are involved in trying to open up the space frontier. Look for more commentary on the major space web sites and blogs.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Artist unknown, Link by Catholic Forum

Monday is March 17, St. Patrick's Day. Celebrations have started early over the weekend. Also, since it happens to fall during Holy week this year, a rare occurrence, the Church is not liturgically observing the feast on Monday. So, be blessed, safe, and happy whenever you are celebrating Ireland's patron saint.

Catholic Forum provides descriptions of St. Patrick here and here.

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort me and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

In the spirit of the holiday, check out LiveIreland.com for webcasts of Irish music and other media direct from Ireland.

Working in Space

The STS-123 mission to the International Space Station is progressing nicely, with the addition of the logistics module for the Japanese Kibo laboratory and the work-around that has awakened the still-being-assembled Dextre robot.

Life and Politics

It's been an unbelievable week, with Spitzer, Ferraro and the Preacher (Barack Obama's, that is), but there are real issues we face. ProLife Blogs has a post explaining why John McCain is the only obvious choice when it comes to protecting human life. While his support for embryonic stem cell research is definitely not prolife, he appears open to rethinking that position. Meanwhile, the two Democratic presidential wannabees are going to ridiculous extremes to please the pro-abortion lobby.

Lighting Up the Night

NASA

Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off early this morning on the STS-123 mission to the International Space Station to deliver part of the Japanese laboratory module Kibo and a Canadian robotic arm system called Dextre. The mission will last for sixteen days.

The Approaching Storm

I'll be participating in the annual ProSpace March Storm on Capitol Hill next week. the issues to be presented this year include bolstering the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (space station resupply), Mitigating disastrous impacts by Near Earth Objects and promoting Space Based Solar Power as a future energy source. To learn more and to register to participate, go to this link. (Training on Sunday is a mandatory part of participation.)

McCain Has It

John McCain won the four primaries held today and Mike Huckabee gracefully announced he is dropping out and endorsing McCain. McCain delivered a strong speech defining how his positions on Iraq, the economy and other issues differ sharply from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who are still in too-close-to-call races in Ohio and Texas. Here's the latest posting on the whole situation from Fox News.

William F. Buckley, RIP

He was conservative before conservative was cool. In fact, he helped to make conservative cool. Yesterday morning, it was announced that William F. Buckley, the articulate commentator who energized modern conservative political thought, had passed away at age 82. Many tributes are being collected at the on-line site of the magazine he founded, National Review. WFB went beyond politics to be an articulate spokesman for his strong Catholic Faith. May his example inspire us who share his beliefs to carry on the fight with the same class and cheerfulness.

NASA's Latest COTS Award

NASA last week awarded Orbital Sciences Corporation funding for the demonstration of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) proposal for resupplying the International Space Station.

What is particularly exciting about this development is that Orbital plans to conduct its Taurus II launches for this project from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. It will be exciting to take the three-hour drive down to watch these larger rockets liftoff, as I did for the two Minotaur launches in 2006 and last year.

Also last week, Wallops received a boost from passage of Virginia's "Zero-G/Zero-Tax" bill designed to spur new space industries in the state.

Atlantis Comes Home

Shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth this morning after delivering the Columbus laboratory module to the International Space Station. Atlantis will next fly later this year to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Wayward Satellite Targeted

The US Government has announced plans to 'shoot down' a spy satellite in a decaying orbit to mitigate safety and security risks posed by surviving debris.

Rand Simberg points out that more robust space capabilities would allow for more elegant solutions to this type of problem.

'Chesapeake Primary' on Ice

Tuesday's primaries in Maryland, Virginia and DC, which drew high voter turnout despite a nasty ice storm in the afternoon and evening, gave boosts to John McCain and Barack Obama.

Also of interest were two Maryland congressional races where incumbents, one Democrat and one Republican, were turned out by challengers more liberal and conservative respectively. This appears to indicate the strong roles the base of each party play in determining candidates and party direction.

Pope Benedict XVI on Evolution

The Catholic Times (of the diocese of Springfield, Illinois) has an interesting article explaining how Pope Benedict XVI separates the validity of the science of evolution from the philosophical debate raging between some of its advocates and critics.

Pope Benedict has weighed in several times on evolution, essentially endorsing it as the "how" of creation but cautioning that evolutionary theory cannot exclude a divine cause.

And yet, many people are under the vague impression that this pope has rejected evolution, or is getting ready to, or has serious objections to the science involved.

....

It probably doesn't help that the pope has shown a fondness for the phrase "intelligent design." He uses it to describe the idea that, whatever the biological processes involved, the natural world as a whole appears to witness to a divine creator.

That's not the same as the concept of a designer God intervening at particular points in natural development, however.

....

Lest there be any doubt about Pope Benedict's views, the academy has prefaced its booklet with a lengthy papal quotation from last July.

"I see in Germany, but also in the United States, a somewhat fierce debate raging between so-called ‘creationism' and evolutionism, presented as though they were mutually exclusive alternatives: Those who believe in the creator would not be able to conceive of evolution, and those who instead support evolution would have to exclude God," the pope said.

"This antithesis is absurd because, on the one hand, there are so many scientific proofs in favor of evolution which appears to be a reality we can see and which enriches our knowledge of life and being as such. But on the other, the doctrine of evolution does not answer every query, especially the great philosophical question: Where does everything come from? And how did everything start which ultimately led to man?" he said.

Political Assessment

The past few days have seen a frenzy of developments in the presidential race. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue an amazingly close race which will no doubt keep the suspense going and creates some interesting challenges for the Democratic Party, which prides itself on its identity politics.

John McCain has emerged as a clear leader in the Republican race with Mike Huckabee emerging as the strongest alternative. McCain's lead has caused some restlesness among some conservative media and intellectual leaders, given the Arizona senator's record of positions on various issues ranging from traditional conservative to moderate and sometimes liberal, and his sometimes cantankerous way of expressing those positions. Other conservative leaders point out, even with their disagreements with him, that McCain is a far superior alternative to either of the Democratic contenders. (Not surprisingly, some media reports are sensationalizing this controversy.)

I see a period of 'courtship' where McCain is trying to win over enough conservative supporters to support his campaign and provide a margin of victory in November. There will have to be some give and take, with McCain explaining where he has a largely conservative record, explaining honestly where he differs, and showing respect for those who differ with him (as he did at CPAC last week). Assuming McCain is the nominee, it's also up to conservatives to join in the give and take and consider where they share common ground with him.

It is appropriate for Republican voters in the remaining primary and caucus states who not totally satisfied with John McCain to vote for Huckabee or another alternative. For one thing, the race isn't over yet, and this year has certainly had its surprises. Also, it does give a voice to those concerns that John McCain will have to address assuming he is the nominee.

I see the stakes as too high to sit out the election or even vote for the Democrat as a way of protesting Senator McCain's shortcomings. Perfect can be the enemy of the good, especially taking into consideration the likely agendas of a Clinton or Obama administration. Allowing a defeat this year and expecting or hoping for a comeback in 2012 is not acceptable, given the national security situation and the likelyhood of one or more Supreme Court vacancies in the next four years.

One of the most compelling statements I've read about this situation is this article on ProLife Blogs, focusing on the primacy of protecting human life. (I'm not sure if the aricle is correct in including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity among those vowing never to vote for McCain.)

So, c'mon, Ann and Rush and Sean and Dr. Dobson. Let's feel free to criticize John McCain for his blunders (and, yes, they are many) and let's do what we can to require him to fill his cabinet with more consistent conservatives. But, goodness gracious, let's not help win the Oval Office, the State Department and the all-important Supreme Court for those who will not only deny all restrictions and regulations of abortion here at home but will promote it as "health services and population control" around the world.

Adding a New Room

The Shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station (ISS) crews have successfully attached the Columbus laboratory module to the ISS, opening the way for a new phase of research aboard the station.