A New Voyage Is Under Way

     

Tucson Weather Today

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NASA completed a series of high-tech can-crushing tests last week as an enormous fuel tank crumbled under the pressure of almost a million pounds of force, all in the name of building lighter, more affordable rockets.

The aluminum-lithium tank was made from unused space shuttle tank hardware and decked out in 70,000 black and white polka dots that helped high-speed cameras focus on any buckles, rips or strains.

                      

More At NASA

NASA certainly has some breathtaking photos and images.

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I, too, did a bit of photography work yesterday, and even though it is not at all up to NASA standards, I put a little extra effort into it, stitching together three separate shots, and I am relatively satisfied.

I'm learning.

Northern Panoramic View Of The Santa Catalina Mountains

(Click Image To Enlage)

Tucson, Arizona December 17, 2013

I have several times encountered the written word debuted and wondered how it was pronounced. In my mind as I read, I at first thought of it as de-BUTT-ed but knew, of course that this was incorrect. I then settled on it as day-byood -- but, still being a bit unsure, I looked it up.

It was not easy to find, but DAY-byood seems right.

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Did You Know . . .?

Goldfish can see both infrared and ultraviolet light.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, December 18, 1620, the British ship Mayflower docked at Plymouth, Massachusetts, and its passengers prepared to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony. Mayflower was a Pilgrim ship that made the voyage from England to the New World. The ship carried 102 passengers in two core groups -- religious Separatists coming from Holland and a largely non-religious settler group from London.

Over the next several decades, more and more settlers made the trek across the Atlantic to Plymouth, which gradually grew into a prosperous shipbuilding and fishing center. In 1691, Plymouth was incorporated into the Massachusetts Bay Association, ending its history as an independent colony.

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WORD FOR TODAY

pilgrim
noun
1. A religious devotee who journeys to a shrine or sacred place.
2. One who embarks on a quest for something conceived of as sacred.
3. A traveler.
4. One of the English Separatists who founded the colony of Plymouth in New England in 1620.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt

(born December 18, 1963)

Brad Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He first gained recognition as a cowboy hitchhiker in the road movie Thelma & Louise (1991). His first leading roles in big-budget productions came with A River Runs Through It (1992), Interview with the Vampire (1994), and Legends of the Fall (1994). In 1995, he gave critically acclaimed performances in the crime thriller Seven and the science fiction film 12 Monkeys.

Four years later, Pitt starred in the cult hit Fight Club. He then starred in the major international hit Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). His greatest commercial successes have been Troy (2004), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), and World War Z (2013), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Moneyball (2011).

Kate Noelle "Katie" Holmes

(born December 18, 1978)

Katie Holmes is an American actress who first achieved fame for her role as Joey Potter on The WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003. Since Dawson's Creek, Holmes' career has consisted of movie roles such as in Batman Begins, art house films such as The Ice Storm, horror films such as Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and thrillers including Abandon. She has also played on Broadway in a production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons and had numerous guest roles on television programs such as How I Met Your Mother.

Here's Another Image

On November 18, 2006, Holmes and Tom Cruise were married in a Scientology ceremony at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, Italy.

On July 9, 2012, it was announced the couple signed a divorce settlement worked out by their lawyers.

Keith Richards

(born 18 December 1943)

Keith Richards is an English musician, singer, songwriter and founding member of the English rock band The Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine credited Richards for "rock's greatest single body of riffs" on guitar and ranked him 10 on its list of 100 best guitarists. Fourteen songs Richards wrote with the Rolling Stones' lead vocalist Mick Jagger are listed among Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Richards made a cameo appearance as Captain Teague, the father of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, released in May 2007, and won the Best Celebrity Cameo award at the 2007 Spike Horror Awards for the role. Richards reprised his role in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, released in May 2011.

Rachel Anne Griffiths

(born 18 December 1968)

Rachel Griffiths is an Australian film and television actress. She came to prominence with the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding and her Academy Award nominated performance in Hilary and Jackie (1998). She is best known for her portrayals of Brenda Chenowith in the HBO series Six Feet Under and Sarah Walker Laurent on the ABC primetime drama Brothers & Sisters. 

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The purpose of going to Mars is for humans to first begin to occupy, permanently, another planet in the solar system.
--Buzz Aldrin

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