Liberty Media clears path to take control of Sirius XM

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Liberty Media Chairman John Malone, right, has moved to take control of Sirius XM, whose chief executive is Mel Karmazin, left. (SiriusXM, Liberty Media)

August 17, 2012, 6:15 p.m.

Liberty Media informed the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday that it had acquired more than 48% of Sirius XM Radio's shares and intends to push that amount above 50% in order to take control over the New York satellite radio company.

Liberty disclosed the plan several months after it failed to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to grant it control over Sirius based on its ownership of 40% of the company's shares.

Sirius' chief executive, Mel Karmazin, rebuffed the takeover attempt at the time, saying Liberty's argument that its 40% stake was sufficient to gain control was akin to proclaiming "Forty is the new 50."

Liberty's chairman, John Malone, might have taken that barb to heart. Since March, the New York media conglomerate has been buying up Sirius shares; its stake is now 48.1%. In its report to the SEC, Liberty said it "intends to acquire beneficial ownership of additional shares of common stock that, together with its current beneficial ownership, would represent more than 50% of the outstanding shares."

Once it surpasses the 50% threshold, Liberty said it will take control of Sirius and "spin off to its stockholders a subsidiary that will hold certain businesses, assets and liabilities."

The most likely reason for the spin-off is to avoid taxes. Liberty executives have hinted at doing a reverse Morris Trust, in which it would combine Sirius with a Liberty property and spin off the resulting entity, so it could avoid having to pay taxes for acquiring Sirius. The most likely asset to combine with Sirius seems to be Liberty's Starz premium pay-television network.

The question now is whether Karmazin will remain at Sirius' helm after the Liberty takeover. Karmazin has hinted that he might not stick around because he prefers to be his own boss. Sirius' paying subscriber base has more than quadrupled since Karmazin joined the company in 2004, when it had about 5 million subscribers. As of June 30, SiriusXM had 22.9 million.

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Liberty Media clears path to take control of Sirius XM

China protests over plans by Japanese group to visit near disputed islands

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China lodged a formal protest with Japan on Saturday over plans by a Japanese nationalist group including lawmakers to hold a ceremony commemorating Japanese dead from World War Two near disputed islands in the East China Sea this weekend, state news agency Xinhua said. The group of more than 100 people travelling in a flotilla of boats is expected to arrive near the islands ...

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Seven Cork beaches close due to high E.coli levels

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Three of the affected beaches, Redbarn in Youghal, Garretstown near Kinsale and Garryvoe near Castlemartyr, are Blue Flag designated.

The Front Strand and Claycastle in Youghal, Coolmaine near Kilbrittain and Oysterhaven have also been closed.

The closures are a precautionary measure until the quality has been restored.

The levels of bacteria found, which can cause food poisoning, are said to exceed EU permitted guidelines.

The council said the Health Service Executive and the Environmental Protection Agency have been contacted.

It said the beaches are to be re-sampled on Monday as it is felt possible weather related factors have not yet passed.

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Southeast Aerospace: Who We Are – Video

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16-08-2012 15:59 Southeast Aerospace was founded in south Florida in 1993 as a parts distributor, added a Part 145 repair station in 1995, and moved to Melbourne FL in 1997. SEA provides a unique combination of avionics & instrument parts distribution (New & Refurbished), MRO, Aircraft Modifications/Installations, Engineering Services, Kit Fabrication, and Manufacturing. As a leading parts and MRO supplier for many years, SEA has significantly grown and expanded our capabilities in the area of custom aerospace solutions including but not limited to special mission project management, avionics kit fabrication, structural manufacturing, and custom DER engineering services. We are a very diverse and multifaceted company not only in our product and service offerings but our market focus and personnel. Our market reach covers most of the world. SEA's personnel represent the skill set and experience to effectively carry out these activities.

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Space Station now offering alternative fuel in Steamboat Springs

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Photo by Matt Stensland

On Friday, Space Station gas station owner Eric Dorris was selling the part-biodiesel fuel B20 for $3.90 a gallon, which Dorris said is similar to what he would be selling regular diesel for.

Steamboat Springs Space Station gas station owner Eric Dorris has began offering a cleaner burning alternative fuel to his diesel customers.

Last month, Dorris switched over his diesel tank to B20 diesel, a fuel that is a blend of 80 percent regular diesel and 20 percent biodiesel, a fuel that can be produced from soybeans, natural oils, animal fats and recycled cooking oil.

I figured, give it a shot and see what happens, said Dorris, adding that people in town with diesel vehicles had been asking him to supply B20.

Diesel has never been a great seller at Space Station, Dorris said, and sales of the B20 are similar to what he was selling with regular diesel.

On Friday, he was selling B20 for $3.90 a gallon, which Dorris said is similar to what he would be selling regular diesel for. According to the Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, B20 was a few pennies more expensive per gallon. The average price between March 30 and April 13 was $4.18 for B20 and $4.12 for regular diesel.

It costs about the same, said Dorris, who is using B20 in his own truck. It runs in my truck just fine.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, B20 can be used in many diesel vehicles without any engine modifications. Besides burning cleaner, an added benefit is that the fuel acts like a lubricant and keeps parts from wearing prematurely.

The production of biodiesel hit record levels in 2011, according to the Department of Energy, largely because of government subsidies and the Renewable Fuel Standard, a federal program that requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels.

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Space Station now offering alternative fuel in Steamboat Springs

NASA's 'Mighty Eagle' Robotic Prototype Lander Finds Its Target

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Huntsville, Ala. -- NASA's "Mighty Eagle" successfully found its target during a 32-second free flight Aug. 16 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. This small, versatile robotic lander prototype demonstrates technologies applicable for the final descent of an autonomous controlled landing on the moon, asteroids or other celestial bodies.

The three-legged "green" lander is fueled by 90 percent pure hydrogen peroxide and receives its commands from an onboard computer that activates its onboard thrusters to carry it to a controlled landing. It is 4 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter and, when fueled, weighs 700 pounds. The test is part of a new series of free flights testing the vehicle's autonomous rendezvous and capture capabilities using an on-board camera to optically navigate to a designated target area and landing site.

Today's flight carried the vehicle to an altitude of 30 feet, where it identified an optical target painted on the ground about 21 feet away, and descended for a safe landing.

"This is huge. We met our primary objective of this test series -- getting the vehicle to seek and find its target autonomously with high precision," said Mike Hannan, a controls engineer in Marshall's Engineering Directorate. "We're not directing the vehicle from the control room. Our software is driving the vehicle to think for itself now. From here, we'll test the robustness of the software to fly higher and descend faster, expecting the lander to continue to seek and find the target."

NASA's "Mighty Eagle" will help mature the technology needed to develop a new generation of small, affordable, smart, versatile robotic landers capable of achieving scientific and exploration goals throughout the solar system.

"This test-bed is a small, low-cost project that will help NASA mature technologies needed to meet future robotic science and exploration goals," said Dr. Greg Chavers, "Mighty Eagle" engineering lead at the Marshall Center. "What we learn here will help decision-makers map out what's needed to make landing missions possible."

The team completed 25 successful test flights in 2011 and 2012, meeting all test objectives. Previous tests validated the reusable robotic lander flight design, exercised flight and design team partnerships -- incorporating affordable, innovative, off-the-shelf flight components -- and demonstrated guidance, navigation and control algorithms.

Having completed its original mission, the vehicle now serves as a functional aerial test platform for the demonstration of new algorithms and flight sensors. Additional free flights, reaching an altitude of up to 100 feet, are scheduled through the end of September.

The "Mighty Eagle" prototype lander was developed by the Marshall Center and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., for NASA Headquarter's Planetary Science Division, Science Mission Directorate. Key partners in this project include the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation, which includes the Science Applications International Corporation, Dynetics Corp. and Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., all of Huntsville.

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NASA's Curiosity rover prepares to fire laser beam at Martian surface

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Before embarking on its maiden drive on the Red Planet, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover will fire its rock-vaporizing laser beam. A chemical sensor will sniff the vaporized bits to determine their composition.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is slated to fire its rock-vaporizing laser for the first time in the next few days, shortly before the 1-ton robot's maiden drive on the Red Planet.

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Scientists plan to blast a Martian rock called N165 with Curiosity's laser, which is part of the rover's remote-sampling ChemCam instrument. The 3-inch-wide (7.6 centimeters) stone sits just 9 feet (2.7 meters) from Curiosity, well within ChemCam's 25-foot (7.6 m) range, scientists said.

"Our team has waited eight long years to get to this date, and we're happy that everything is looking good so far," ChemCam principal investigator Roger Wiens, of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, told reporters today (Aug. 17). "Hopefully we'll be back early next week and be able to talk about how Curiosity's first laser shots went."

Curiosity, which landed in Mars' huge Gale Crater on Aug. 5, is also gearing up to move its six wheels for the first time. The rover's handlers have said a short test drive could take place around Sol 15 mission lingo for Curiosity's 15th full day on the Red Planet which corresponds to Monday or Tuesday (Aug. 20 or 21) Earth time.

Also today, scientists announced the target destination for Curiosity's first big trek a spot 1,300 feet (400 m) or so east of the rover's landing site that the mission team has dubbed Glenelg. Researchers chose it because Glenelg harbors three different geological units for Curiosity to study. [Photos: Glenelg on Mars - Latest Curiosity Rover Views]

"This was a natural target to pick up," said Curiosity chief scientist John Grotzinger, a geologist at Caltech in Pasadena. "It looks really obvious."

ChemCam, which is short for Chemistry and Camera, fires a laser at Mars rocks and then determines their chemical makeup by analyzing the vaporized bits. It's one of 10 instruments designed to help Curiosity determine if Mars has ever been capable of supporting microbial life.

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NASA's Curiosity rover prepares to fire laser beam at Martian surface

You Have Until Midnight, August 17, to Suggest Goals for NASA

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What will NASA be doing in the upcoming years? That's a question that Congress wants answered. So the National Research Council is conducting an independent study of NASA's strategy direction, "the steps NASA needs to take over time to accomplish its vision and mission," writes the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to rocket scientists, they want the input of the public. The catch is ...

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You Have Until Midnight, August 17, to Suggest Goals for NASA

NASA Completes Pilot Program For One-On-One Virtual Mentoring Of Middle School Girls

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WASHINGTON -- NASA's Space Technology Program has selected five technologies that could revolutionize America's space capabilities.

In March, NASA issued a call for proposal focused on sudden and unexpected innovations that hold a potential for providing a "game-changing" impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the agency's space capabilities.

NASA has selected the following proposals for funding:

--"Representing and Exploiting Cumulative Experience with Objects for Autonomous Manipulation," University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This technology could improve autonomous robotic operations using artificial intelligence during deep space missions.

--"Lightweight High Performance Acoustic Suppression Technology Development," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. This technology could suppress acoustic environments during launch. By reducing vibrations by acoustic suppression during launch, the amount of prelaunch vibration stress testing for onboard instruments also could be reduced.

--"Fast Light Optical Gyroscopes for Precision Inertial Navigation," NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. This technology could enhance navigation capabilities for spacecraft by improving the performance of existing gyroscopes by a factor of 1,000.

--"EHD-Based Variable Conductance Thermal Interface Material," The Boeing Company, El Segundo, Calif. The development of this thermal material could provide better heat management for spacecraft.

--"Membrane Enabled Reverse Lung," Oceaneering Space Systems, Houston. This technology could reduce the number of life support systems needed for astronauts.

"NASA's Space Technology Program is enabling our future in space by investing in revolutionary and game-changing technologies that could open new doors for how we live, work and investigate space," said Michael Gazarik, director of the program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We are confident these selected technologies, with their highly qualified research teams, will enable great new opportunities for the next chapter in NASA's innovation story."

The selected proposals take steps toward addressing critical technological barriers for advancing exploration and science missions, while also lowering the cost of other government and commercial space activities. Projects were selected through independent review of technical merit, alignment with NASA's Space Technology Roadmap priorities and the technology objectives identified by the National Research Council in its review of these roadmaps.

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NASA Completes Pilot Program For One-On-One Virtual Mentoring Of Middle School Girls

NASA Picked These 5 Ideas To “Revolutionize” American Space Capabilities

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NASA announced on Friday that it has selected five technologies to fund, which could revolutionize Americas space capabilities.

Earlier this year, NASA launched its Game Changing Development program, calling for proposals focused on sudden and unexpected innovations that could potentially change the game. Now, we know which ones NASA is betting on.

The awards for the projects range from $125,000 to $1.8 million, with a total NASA investment of approximately $6 million through 2015.

Here are the projects:

This proposal comes from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. NASA says the technology could improve autonomous robotic operations using artificial intelligence during deep space missions.

This proposal comes from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. This technology could suppress acoustic environments during launch, NASA explains. By reducing vibrations by acoustic suppression during launch, the amount of prelaunch vibration stress testing for onboard instruments also could be reduced.

This one comes from the agencys Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA says this technology could enhance navigation capabilities for spacecraft, by improving the performance of existing gyroscopes by a factor of 1,000.

This one comes from Boeing, which recently reached an agreement with NASA as part of its Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative.

According to NASA, the development of this thermal material could provide better heat management for spacecraft.

This one comes from Oceaneering Space Systems in Houston. Simply put, it could reduce the number of life support systems required for Astronauts.

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NASA Picked These 5 Ideas To “Revolutionize” American Space Capabilities

NASA unveils Mars rover Curiosity's travel plans

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CAPE CANAVERAL (Reuters) - NASA on Friday unveiled plans for its Mars rover Curiosity's first road trip, part of a two-year quest to determine if the planet most like Earth could ever have hosted microbial life, scientists said. The one-ton nuclear-powered robotic science lab landed in a large crater near Mars' equator on August 6 to search for organic materials and other chemistry considered ...

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NASA: Mars Curiosity Ready to Roam, Shoot Lasers

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With the Mars Curiosity rover's science instruments working well, NASA engineers are getting ready for two big tests of their robotic rover -- blasting a rock with a laser beam and getting the rover moving.

Curiosity's first drive will be a very short one. Before the rover starts any meaningful trek across the Martian surface, scientists will first simply drive it forward and back in the landing area, to test the wheels and motor system, according to John Grotzinger, a project scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a geology professor at the California Institute of Technology.

This full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover from the rover's Navigation camera. The back of the rover can be seen at the top left, and two of the rover's right side wheels can be seen on the left. The undulating rim of Gale Crater forms the lighter color strip in the background. Bits of gravel, about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) in size, are visible on the deck of the rover. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

This full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover from the rover's Navigation camera. The back of the rover can be seen at the top left, and two of the rover's right side wheels can be seen on the left. The undulating rim of Gale Crater forms the lighter color strip in the background. Bits of gravel, about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) in size, are visible on the deck of the rover. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

"The excitement from the science team is that all the instruments continue to check out," he said during a press call Friday. "If we continue down the nominal path, it's probably going to be a couple of days. Sometime next week you'll hear about successful tests of the first wheel motions."

Once the wheels are successfully tested, scientists will continue to plot out Curiosity's first real trek, which will take it west toward an area NASA has dubbed Glenelg.

"The Glenelg area -- it simply looks distinctive and interesting," said Grotzinger. "It looks cool. Let's go there and see what's there."

It is expected to take the rover three to four weeks to reach Glenelg unless the rover encounters rocks or soil that scientists want it to stop and analyze. Once it reaches its first destination, Grotzinger said the rover will probably spend about two months analyzing that area.

Toward the end of the year, NASA engineers will begin to have Curiosity move toward Mount Sharp, a three-mile high mountain in the middle of Gale Crater, where the rover landed. Mount Sharp is a primary area of interest for the scientists who are hoping to discover if Mars has ever been able to support microbial life.

However, before the rover begins heading to Glenelg, scientists want to test its laser.

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NASA: Mars Curiosity Ready to Roam, Shoot Lasers