Someone tell Biden about Area 51!

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.
According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president.

The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney remained under protection in secret after the 9/11 attacks.
Eleanor Clift, Newsweek magazine’s Washington contributing editor, said Biden revealed the location while filling in for President Obama at the dinner, who, along with Grover Cleveland, is the only president to skip the gathering.

According to the report, Biden “said a young naval officer giving him a tour of the residence showed him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by an elaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallway lined with shelves filled with communications equipment.”
Clift continued: “The officer explained that when Cheney was in lock down, this was where his most trusted aides were stationed, an image that Biden conveyed in a way that suggested we shouldn’t be surprised that the policies that emerged were off the wall.”

NORAD promises changes after security review

NORAD promises changes after security review: "PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — The commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Thursday he approved some ‘prudent’ changes in NORAD’s headquarters after a security review prompted by NORAD’s decision to move some functions out of a Colorado mountain bunker."

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

Another Predator crashes in Afghanistan

Another Predator crashes in Afghanistan: "For the second time in less than two weeks, a remote-controlled Air Force MQ-1 Predator crashed in eastern Afghanistan."

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

Two Down, Three To Go

Two Down, Three To Go: "JOHNSON SPACE CENTER -- It took them seven hours, 56 minutes, but astronauts Mike Good and' Mike Massimino kept the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope on track with their first spacewalk together.



NASA TV

The second EVA of the mission ran long because of the trouble the spacewalkers encountered replacing the telescope's six gyros' (see previous post). Before closing the doors on that worksite, Massimino managed to connect some power cables as a get-ahead task for EVA No. 3 tomorrow. This video shot with his helmet camera shows just how tight the workspace was.



NASA TV

Once the gyros were installed, the EVA team and' controllers at' mission control here decided to press on to replace the first of two battery modules before returning to the airlock. That required Massimino to replenish the oxygen' in his spacesuit, but the work itself' went fairly smoothly. Weighing 460 pounds on the ground, each module contains three nickel hydrogen batteries that store electricity generated by the telescope's solar arrays' for use in orbital darkness.



NASA TV

The batteries haven't' been replaced since the telescope was launched 19 years ago, and have worked' well even though they were designed for five-year service life.

The second EVA ran so long that mission managers here decided to give the crew an extra hour before going to sleep to finish the work necessary to get ready for the third spacewalk of the mission tomorrow. They will also get' to sleep an extra' hour - until about 5:30 a.m. EDT -- on Saturday. Spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel are scheduled to spend the day removing the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, which fixed a flaw accidentally ground into the telescope's main light-gathering mirror, and then installing the' Cosmic Origins Spectrograph in its place.

They will also attempt to repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys, which has four electronics cards that need to be replaced. Spacewalks also are' scheduled on Sunday and Monday.
"

(Via On Space.)

Pakistan says 1,000 militants killed

Pakistan says 1,000 militants killed: "A military offensive to rid Pakistan's northwest of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters has killed more than 1,000 militants since it began in full force earlier this month, the country's interior ministry said Sunday.

"

(Via CNN.com.)