Connect with us

Nation

‘#AlexandriaOcasioSmollett’ trends on Twitter, while NY Rep rejects claims she wasn’t at Capitol

Published

on

AOC hearing with FBI e1612395839691

UPDATE: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at claims she lied about her experience during the pro-Trump Capitol riots.

“This is the latest manipulative take on the right. They are manipulating the fact that most people don’t know the layout the Capitol complex. We were all on the Capitol complex – the attack wasn’t just on the dome. The bombs Trump supporters planted surrounded our offices too,” she wrote.

Following reports that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s (D-N.Y.) was not in the U.S. Capitol Building and in her Cannon Office Building office on January 6, the hashtag “AlexandriaOcasioSmollett” has been trending on Twitter, with conservatives referencing disgraced actor Jussie Smollett’s staged hate crime in 2019.

For more on this story regarding Ocasio-Cortez, read what we wrote here.

Here are some popular tweets using the hashtag:

https://twitter.com/JakeDuarte43/status/1357082174608928768

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

You may like

Continue Reading

Nation

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Returns After 7-Year Journey with Asteroid Samples

Published

on

Screen Shot 2020 12 17 at 3.35.15 PM

After a remarkable seven-year voyage spanning nearly 4 billion miles in space, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is set to make its triumphant return to Earth on Sunday. OSIRIS-REx, an acronym for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer, was launched in 2016 on a groundbreaking mission to collect material from an asteroid in space.

The capsule, holding a precious cargo of nearly 9 ounces of rocks, dust, and dirt gathered from the asteroid Bennu, will detach from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft before making an anticipated landing inside the Defense Department’s Utah Test and Training Range. According to reports from Fox News, teams from NASA and Lockheed Martin, the vehicle’s builder, will eagerly await its arrival.

Describing the precision required for this endeavor, OSIRIS-REx Deputy Project Manager Michael Moreau likened it to a challenging game of accuracy, stating, “It’s like putting a dart board at one end of a basketball court and throwing the dart from the other end and getting a bull’s-eye.”

This years-long mission holds significant scientific importance. It will aid researchers in investigating the formation of planets, shed light on the origins of life, and enhance NASA’s understanding of asteroids that could pose potential threats to Earth.

Furthermore, the collected sample is expected to offer “generations of scientists a window into the time when the Sun and planets were forming about 4.5 billion years ago,” according to NASA.

Moreover, the mission could contribute crucial information to Earth’s defense against a potential collision with Bennu, an asteroid roughly the size of the Empire State Building. NASA estimates a 1-in-2,700 chance of Bennu impacting Earth in the latter half of the 2100s.

The journey leading up to this momentous return has been a long and meticulous one. OSIRIS-REx arrived at Bennu in 2018 and spent two years closely orbiting the asteroid, gathering vital data.

In 2020, the spacecraft made history with a successful landing on Bennu’s surface, collecting a “touch and go” sample in under a minute. Despite an initial setback due to a jammed door that led to the loss of some space dust, the sample collected still surpasses the mission’s requirement of two ounces.

Once the capsule safely touches down in the Utah desert, a dedicated NASA team will transport the precious material to a meticulously clean environment. Subsequently, the Bennu samples will find their way to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Approximately 70% of the asteroid material will be preserved for future research endeavors, allowing scientists worldwide to delve into its mysteries. Additionally, a portion of the sample will be shared with the Japanese Space Exploration Agency as part of an exchange for samples collected by Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft.

Looking ahead, OSIRIS-REx is set to continue its mission by studying another asteroid named Apophis, named after a demon serpent in ancient Egyptian mythology, symbolizing evil and chaos. This ambitious mission marks another chapter in humanity’s ongoing exploration of our solar system and beyond.

You may like

Continue Reading

Trending