Monthly Archives: June 2017

Texas Supreme Court rejects Tea Party challenge to campaign finance laws – Texas Tribune

Posted: June 30, 2017 at 4:55 pm

*Clarification appended

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the states ban on direct corporate campaign contributions, denying a challenge fromaTea Party group that called it unconstitutional.

In the unanimous opinion, Texas highest civil court also upheld state requirements that campaigns report contributions and expenditures, and ruled that private groups can sue over alleged violations.

The long-running case highlighted the tension between the warp and weft of First Amendment rights and state powers to regulate elections, Justice Eva Guzman wrote in her majority opinion.

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In 2010, the Texas Democratic Partysued Houston-based King Street Patriots, accusing the Tea Party-backed group that trained poll watchers of 1960s style intimidation during voting. Democrats called the group a sham domestic nonprofit corporation used to funnel support to Republican candidates, andalleged the group violated state campaign finance laws by illegally accepting and spending political contributions that it failed to disclose.

King Street Patriots, which called itself a group of concerned residents from the Houston area, countered that it formed to provide education and awareness [to] the general public on important civic and patriotic duties. It denied being a political committee bound by Texas election law and denied making political contributions or expenditures. Further, the group filed a countersuit challenging a slate of state campaign finance laws, calling them an unconstitutional assault on the right of political association.

On Friday, the Supreme Court resolved the broadest questions in the case, upholding the state's ban on corporate contributions, laws creating disclosure requirements and the right to sue over alleged violations as constitutional.

The King Street Patriots sought to further upend Texas election laws in the wake of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as Citizens United that removed state and federal restrictions on how much corporations and unions can spend in campaigns but left intact restrictions on direct donations to candidates.

In her opinion, Guzman noted Citizens Unitedleft intact a previous Texas Supreme Court decision that called laws barring corporate political contributions consistent with the First Amendment.

Our role is simply to 'say what the law is,' not prognosticate how the law could change, Guzman wrote.

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Chad Dunn, an attorney for the stateDemocratic Party, called the ruling "an important victory."

Secret money in politics is corrosive to our democracy, which the Texas Legislature recognized decades ago," he said.There are a lot of political organizations out there that frankly have just flaunted disclosure rules under the belief that they werent constitutional. Folks should now understand that disclosure of campaign funds is the law.

Some questions in the case remained unresolved Friday, such as the Tea Party group's narrower challenge to the state's definition of a political committee.

The justices ruled that King Street Patriots was not a "political committee" under Texas law, based upon the "limited record" before the court, a determination that could change if Democrats presented more evidence.

The record is silent as to whether those donating to King Street Patriots do so with the intent that their donations be used to defray officeholder expenses or used in connection with a measure or a campaign for elective office, Guzman wrote. Nor is there evidence that King Street Patriots has a principal purpose of accepting such contributions.

Catherine Engelbrecht, who founded King Street Patriots and a separate group called True The Vote, said Friday she needed more time to digest the ruling before commenting.

Clarification: This story has been updated to more fully explain a piece of the court's opinion dealing with the state's definition of a political committee.

Read related Tribune coverage:

Houston-area Rep. Ron Reynolds, who's been sued by the state after not filing a campaign finance report in a year, says he's started a payment plan. [link]

The Texas Ethics Commission fined Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller a total of $2,750 to resolve two complaints accusing him of improper campaign accounting. [link]

Commissioners are trying to open so-called campaign in a box disclosures, where candidates report their spending on consultants but not on the specific campaign services those consultants are providing. [link]

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Judge refuses to dismiss Lockport candidate’s First Amendment lawsuit – Buffalo News

Posted: at 4:55 pm

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a $100,000 lawsuitfiled by apolitical candidatewho claims his free speech rights were violated during the 2013 election campaign.

David J. Mongielo, who has a long history of run-ins with the town government, ran for Lockport town supervisor as a Conservative in 2013. He lost to the Republican incumbent, Marc R. Smith, who is now the town's economic development director.

During the race, Mongielo self-published a free newspaper that accused Smith of "ballot manipulation."

The paper also carried an advertisement for a fundraising event to benefit the South Lockport Fire Company, of which Mongielo was then a member.

But not for long.

According to the lawsuit, the fire company's then-president, Peter Smith - no relation to Marc Smith - suspended Mongielo on Election Day 2013 after Marc Smith threatened to cut the fire company's aid from the town. Mongielo immediately resigned from the fire company and has never been reinstated.

The town did not reduce its funding for the fire company.

His lawsuit contends his resignation was forced and resulted from retaliation for Mongielo's exercise of freedom of speech.

"He was suspended. That's the retaliation," said James M. Ostrowski, who's Mongielo's attorney. "Whether they carry out a threat doesn't matter."

Mongielo filed suit in U.S. District Courtlast November, three years after the allegedincident,against Marc Smith, Peter Smith and the South Lockport Fire Co., seeking $100,000 plus punitive damages.

U.S.District Judge Michael A. Telescarejected the defendants' effort to have the case dismissed in a May 16 ruling.

The case may turn on a text message Peter Smith sent to Mongielo on Election Day 2013.

According to the lawsuit,the textsaid, "I hate to do this but I feel I need to suspend u until Friday when we have a special ex meeting. I ts over the articles/ad in the community news. Judt got off phone with marc smith and his council is all over this. If we dont act Im afraid the situstion will only worsen. So for now please stay away per your suspension. We will discuss it further on Friday."

Peter Smith's lawyer, Eric M. Gernant, acknowledged in his written answer to Mongielo's complaint that Peter Smith sent a text to Mongielo, but denied that Smith told Mongielo that the supervisor had threatened the fire company's town funding.

Daniel T. Cavarello, attorney for Marc Smith, denied in a court filing thatthe then-supervisorthreatened South Lockport's funding.He argued that Smithcouldn't have taken unilateral action against the fire company, and at any rate, the fire company had a binding contract with the town to receive its annual stipend.

"The legal relationship between the Fire Company, Marc Smith, and the Town Board may ultimately foreclose (Mongielo's) claim against Marc Smith," the judge noted.

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Here Brazilian Journalists Learn Privacy for Themselves and Their Sources – Brazzil.com

Posted: at 4:54 pm

Metadata? Encryption? Backdoor? Tor Browser? VPN? PGP? When it comes to digital security for journalists, the amount of technical terms and acronyms can be scary. But tools to ensure online privacy can be crucial to protecting sources, which is why the site Privacidade para Jornalistas (Privacy for Journalists) has been launched in Brazil.

On the site, a threat analysis helps you understand the best ways to combat surveillance, hacking, and the collection and retention of data from various adversaries, from governments to casual gossipers, to corporations and criminals. The initiative is based on Australias Privacy for Journalists, a project from the non-profit organization CryptoAustralia.

Since Brazilian journalist Raphael Hernandes launched his platform on March 6, 2017, he has been sought by colleagues in the newsroom who need tips on how to protect themselves in their investigations. Hernandes is data journalist at Folha de S. Paulo, where he offered a small workshop on the subject. According to him, the issue of privacy has aroused interest among colleagues.

You can see that whoever accesses [the site] is interested. They spend a lot of time on pages and sees multiple pages per visit (average of 6), which shows interest in content. There are a lot of things we do not look at everyday, at how exposed we are, Hernandes told the Knight Center.

The site that served as inspiration for Hernandes came from the personal initiative of information security specialist Gabor Szathmari, president of CryptoAustralia. He worked with the Walkley Foundation at CryptoParty Sydney, an event to teach digital safety rules to journalists.

I thought if I had to develop the training materials for the workshop, why I should not publish them for the benefit of the whole journalist community in Australia and beyond? I have looked around, and although I found heaps of valuable materials online, I did not find any privacy and security tutorials that were addressing the specifics in Australia, Szathmari told the Knight Center.

Raphael Hernandes explained to the Knight Center that it is important to understand what protection to use in each case.

The secrecy of our sources is one of the most important things we have. If its a person we talk to every day, theres no need to hide him or her, but maybe the source is sending something sensitive and its important to encrypt. We should not live in paranoia, but think about our sources and what they need. Its treating a cold with cold medicine, not with a cannonball, he said.

According to Hernandes, the discussion is especially relevant in Brazil. In the countrys Civil Framework for the Internet, providers are supposed to collect and retain navigation data for one year. A court order is required to access these metadata, but a bill in the Chamber of Deputies wants to remove this requirement.

For Hernandes, this scenario leaves a situation where journalists and individuals should leave as few traces as possible which he assures is not a difficult task.

In fact, there are things that are more advanced, such as setting up GlobaLeaks (a secure file and message exchange tool). But were here to help. And apart from that, most are tools we can use at home anytime. It may seem difficult at first, but more so because it has words that we do not use every day, such as back door (software that allows remote access to the computer), he said.

According to Szathmari, the most basic security measures include replacing messaging programs like Messenger and Skype for encrypted platforms, like Signal and Wire. In more sensitive cases, other measures are necessary.

Finally, leave your smartphone home if you are meeting with the source, as it is a spying machine. I suggest avoiding a computer altogether and dusting off that good old reporters notebook for very sensitive notes, he said.

Concerns about digital security are not unique to Brazil or Australia. Several journalism organizations around the world, such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have sections dedicated to the topic. Other organizations dedicated to digital security, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, offer specific tips and guides for journalists and their sources.

Here are some basic protection tools, according to Raphael Hernandes:

Encryption of HD and flash drives Encryption places a password on hard drives and USB devices, which protect sources and personal files in case the equipment is lost or stolen.

Two-Step Authentication Used for online banking access, it can be configured in your email and social networks. Login is done with something you know (your password) and something you have (a code sent to your smartphone, for example). This avoids problems even if you have compromised passwords.

Signal Application available for encrypted message smartphones. If the cell phone is intercepted, no one can understand what was written there.

Sync.com Free cloud storage system. It uses the zero-knowledge protocol, meaning it stores information but does not know what is being stored. As a rule, the websites we use commonly scan the files and pass reports to the authorities. Sync is encrypted and more secure, very simple to use.

PGP Pretty Good Privacy acronym. Its a way to encrypt emails. Like a kind of chest, but with two keys: one to lock and the other to unlock. You give the key that locks the chest so people can send you files and messages. But only you have the keys to unlock the content.

This article appeared originally in Journalism in the Americas https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/

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A Wall Street bank is betting Nvidia will win the cryptocurrency battle (NVDA, AMD) – Business Insider

Posted: at 4:54 pm

Genesis Mining

Nvidia and AMD are in a war.

The two companies both produce graphics cards and compete over PC gamers, self-driving car manufacturers and data center managers to prove that their technology is superior. Nvidiatends to be ahead in many of those markets and has seen its stock rise more this year because of it.

A new market is emerging though. The two graphics processing unit (GPU) companies are currently fighting over the cryptocurrency GPU market, and both are rumored to be releasing cryptocurrency optimized chips in the near future, according to RBC Capital Markets.

Cryptocurrencies are red-hot right now. Bitcoin is probably the most notable and has been around for years. But, recent explosive growth in rival currency Ethereum, has been making headlines. Recently, $100 million worth of GPUs were added to the Ethereum network in just 11 days.

The cryptocurrencies are made up of a decentralized network of users, and every time a transaction occurs in one of these currencies, it has to be verified by the whole network. People who help confirm these transactions are called "miners" and often use GPUs to speed up the calculations required to verify payments.

Previously, miners have used GPUs designed for gaming in their computers. This works, but isn't optimized for the task. Nvidia and AMD could release new cards that are optimized to draw as little power as possible and increase the speed of cryptocurrency specific tasks.

RBC reckons that when this happens, Nvidia's chip will outpace its rival AMD.

"Given Nvidia's performance lead across numerous categories (gaming and data center) we think the Company is best positioned to become the market leader in GPU based cryptocurrency mining if a new product is released," RBC wrote in a recent note to clients.

Details about the new cards are sparse, and their existence is only rumored for now. Considering only current GPUs, AMD has beaten out Nvidia because it has been faster at mining-specific tasks. RBC is betting this will change soon. When Nvidia has time to optimize their technology for mining, RBC thinks the company will be able to outpace AMD.

Previous domination in markets Nvidia has set its sights on is really the only information RBC is working with. Until the new cards come out or are officially announced, improvements are only hypothetical. RBC thinks Nvidia's work in data centers and high-end consumer gaming is enough to bet on the company winning the cryptocurrency market as well. Nvidia is certainly making waves in the self-driving car market, with a recent slate of high-profile partnerships.

Onlytime will tell. Nvidia is up 43.4% this year, compared to AMD's 10.24% increase and the general S&P 500's 7.17% increase.

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Nvidia Could Have the Best Cryptocurrency Chip Out There…Soon – TheStreet.com

Posted: at 4:54 pm

Graphics chip makers Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) are both working on graphics processing units (GPU) specifically for processing cryptocurrency transactions, and RBC Capital bet on Nvidia to make the superior chip in their note Friday.

Every time a transaction occurs in one of the cryptocurrency markets a GPU speeds up the calculations needed to verify payments. Nvidia and AMD currently make GPUs for everything from video games to self-driving vehicles but don'thave a chip specifically for cryptocurrency, yet, RBC said.

AMD's shares fell 0.5% to $12.54 early Friday afternoon. Nvidia's were down 0.7% to $145.64.

What's Hot On TheStreet

Get ready Tesla fanboys: Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said Friday there would be "news on Sunday" about the company's much anticipated Model 3. While that's all fine and good, what Musk won't tell people is how his electric car company may be speeding toward a monopoly.

Tesla's master plan may hold the key for saving the future of the auto industry, a Moody's Analystics researcher told TheStreet.

With the advance of self-driving vehicles, Tony Hughes, managing director at Moody's Analytics, argued it is not the cars themselves that could lead to the decline in the automotive industry but ride-sharing services like Uber or Lyft. The plan CEO Elon Musk has laid out to create a fleet of self-driving Tesla vehicles for ride-sharing purposes could be the way to save automakers from a demise.

A VIP gives his market outlook: Nobel Prize winning-economist Robert Shiller told TheStreet's Anders Keitz that U.S. equities markets are "quite high" currently but may go even higher in coming months, and that's why he's not exiting the market completely. Indeed there's another thing that could have an unpredictable effect on the market Shiller explains: The narrative around Donald Trump.

"Short-run forecasting of the market is very hard," said Shiller. "I think it's a time for caution, but it could go up substantially."

Apple iPhone 8 pictures leak: Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 8 looks kind of cool. That is if yet another photo leak is to be believed. Noted Apple information leaker Benjamin Geskin tweeted photos of an alleged iPhone 8 finished prototype on Thursday evening (head here to see). Suffice it to say, Apple is gearing up for the mother of all product launches. And consumers look ready to respond.

About 92% of iPhone owners say they are "somewhat likely or "extremely likely" to upgrade their smartphone in the next 12 months, according to a note from Morgan Stanley. The loyalty rate is up sharply from 86% one year ago.

Nike managed to excite Wall Street: After a major restructuring announcement, Nike (NKE) was able to boost Wall Street's views on the company's prospects. On an earnings call Thursday evening, Mark Parker, Nike CEO and board chairman, said its pricey new Air VaporMax sneakers drove sales in the quarter and that there will be new styles coming to the brand sometime this summer. There are also "a few more surprises along the way," Parker said.

As TheStreet's Lindsay Rittenhouse reports, Nike also confirmed that it teamed up with Amazon (AMZN) to sell certain products on the e-commerce conglomerate's site. The company is also selling directly to consumers via Instagram.

Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now .

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Here’s Why Nvidia Will Pound Advanced Micro Devices in the Budding Cryptocurrency Race – TheStreet.com

Posted: at 4:54 pm

Over the past week, TheStreet has been covering names like Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) , as the stocks were tracking the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

That's when Jim Cramer, manager of the Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust portfolio, pointed out why there is a correlation in the first place. He explained that because AMD and Nvidia make the necessary chips to mine cryptocurrencies, that demand for their products has been red-hot.

However, he also said investors who want to own these stock should consider other reasons. Growth in artificial intelligence, gaming, self-driving cars and data centers, among others, are reason enough to believe in the long-term outlooks. In addition, Cramer said the parabolic run in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum will eventually fizzle.

Indeed, both currencies have pulled back from their highs, and we can't help but notice that Nvidia and AMD have as well. Perhaps the correlation is getting a little too close for comfort.

RBC analyst Mitch Steves revved up the conversation once more. Following numerous reports that say AMD and Nvidia will "launch mining chips specifically designed for cryptocurrencies," he reasoned that it's a fight Nvidia will win.

Steves says because Nvidia leads in several other markets, it will beat AMD when it comes to the cryptocurrency chip market as well. "Nvidia will win inthe long term," he reasoned. As a result, on Friday he maintained his outperform rating on NVDA stock. For the record, Steves is a bit of a stud when it comes to the analyst game.

Given the immense demand increase we've witnessed in the cryptocurrency market, one could argue that there's room for two winners. It now becomes a question of how much demand will there actually be, in terms of revenue for Nvidia and AMD, and how big will cryptocurrencies actually become.

Those will be the driving factors in Nvidia and AMD's stock and whether their correlation -- and volatility -- tightens or loosens over time.

AMD's shares fell 0.6% to $12.53 early Friday afternoon. Nvidia's were down 0.8% to $145.56.

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This Is the Cryptocurrency Mark Cuban Is Backing – Fortune

Posted: at 4:53 pm

Entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who previously helped Bitcoin's value drop after calling it a "bubble," is now interested in another digital currency. And no, it is not Ethereum, but the UnikoinGold .

According the Coindesk , Cuban is participating in another fundraising round of one of his portfolio companies , a sports-betting blockchain platform dubbed Unikrn, via an initial coin offering.

An ICO is a crowdfunding method that has grown in popularity as of late among blockchain startups, with more than 30 ICOs already this year. Companies sell their own digital currencies and use the proceeds to fund their businesses .

Unikrn has already raised some $10 million from investors, including Ashton Kutcher. The company allows anyone to place bets with its digital token, the Unikoin, according to Coindesk.

Investors will be allowed to register for the pre-sale starting mid-July. About 1 billion UnikoinGold tokens will be up for grabs.

The company has yet to establish a price for the UnikoinGold, though investors will be able to exchange digital currency for Ether, the token under Ethereum.

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NASA diligently tracks microbes inside the International Space Station – Space Daily

Posted: at 4:52 pm

For NASA and its astronauts, keeping tabs on microorganisms living inside the International Space Station is essential.

Traditionally, astronauts have helped NASA scientists track microbes for health and safety reasons. But more recently, astronauts and scientists are analyzing space-based microbes for a variety of scientific reasons.

Since 2013, researchers have been monitoring how space-travel impacts the makeup of microbial communities, or the microbiome, inside astronauts' digestive systems. A growing body of research has highlighted the important role the gastrointestinal microbiome plays in human health.

Researchers are also generally curious about the effects of microgravity on different bacterial strains.

But health and safety remains the number one priority for NASA.

"We should be investigating new and different ways of monitoring spacecraft for microorganisms," Mark Ott, a microbiologist at Johnson Space Center, said in a news release this week. "But we must be careful when we interpret the results. NASA has and continues to closely monitor the International Space Station to ensure it provides a safe and healthy environment for our astronauts."

The space station is thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis, and everything arriving at the space station has been disinfected. Astronauts enter quarantine for several days prior to their departure from Earth.

Still, microorganisms grow inside ISS. Most microbes are harmless, however, and astronauts regularly sample and sequence microbes to make sure nothing dangerous is growing. Astronauts also regularly test their drinking water.

Only rarely do astronauts identify a potentially harmful bacteria strain. And often, what appears to be dangerous at first, is found to be a harmless relative upon closer examination.

"It may be something typically found in a bathroom, for example, but that you wouldn't want in an office space," Ott said.

While astronauts continue to ensure their environs are safe and clean, researchers will continue to study how microbial communities colonize and adapt to foreign environs.

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Moon Station Could Use Tech from Scrapped Asteroid Mission, NASA Says – Space.com

Posted: at 4:52 pm

An artist's rendering of a deep space gateway that would orbit the moon and provide a launching point for human missions to Mars.

NASA is salvaging technology developed under a canceled asteroid rendezvous and relocation mission for a new initiative to build a lunar orbiting base. The base would eventually serve as a hangar for assembling spacecraft heading to Mars.

The lunar-orbiting outpost, called the Deep Space Gateway, has replaced the Obama administration's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM)as an interim step in NASAs long-term goal to sendastronauts to Mars. ARM would have sent a robotic spacecraft to an asteroid to grab a large boulder and relocate it into a high lunar orbit for eventual visits by U.S. astronauts.

The controversial ARM program officially died with President Donald Trump's proposed budget request for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. But NASA is salvaging ARM's key technologies, including high-powered solar-electric propulsion, to use for the gateway and other projects, agency officials and other experts said at a hearing for the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology yesterday (June 29). [NASA's Mars Plan May Include Yearlong Mission to the Moon]

"Electric propulsion can offer the ability to move large masses through space with minimum fuel usage," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations. "It has significant advantages over other forms of propulsion, most notably efficiency."

In addition, fuel used in an electric power system is storable, doesn't boil away and can be easily resupplied, Gerstenmaier said.

Dozens of commercial and military satellites, as well as NASA's Dawn science probe to the asteroid belt, use electric propulsion today, but the power generated for their maneuvering thrusters is low, according to the panel of experts who spoke at the hearing. The majority of spacecraft utilize chemical propulsion systems, which add a significant amount of mass for fuel tanks. Electric propulsion systems are far lighter to launch.

NASA is aiming to develop 12.5-kilowatt electric thrusters for the multipurpose Deep Space Gateway, a combination research station, lunar operations base and assembly outpost for Mars-bound spacecraft. That's about 40 percent more powerful that currently available systems, Gerstenmaier said.

"With advanced electric propulsion, we will have the ability to move habitat systems to various orbits around the moon," he said. "We can support crewed science operations from the module in various lunar orbits. The module is not stuck in one place."

Electric propulsion systems in the 50- to 100-kilowatt level may be needed to get crews to Mars faster than is possible with conventional chemical propulsion. This would shorten the amount of time astronauts are exposed to dangerous radiation and the amount of food and other supplies they would need for the trip, according to the panel members.

Electric propulsion has already proven its worth on commercial satellites, culminating in the 2015 launch of the world's first all-electric spacecraft, said Mitchell Walker, chairman of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Electric Propulsion Technical Committee, who also presented testimony during the hearing.

"The enormous propellant-mass savings achieved with electric propulsion allows two all-electric satellites to launch on one smaller, less expensive launch vehicle," Walker said.

This year, India and China launched their first electrically propelled satellites, and Japan is scheduled to fly its first all-electric spacecraft in 2021, Walker said, adding that Europe and Russia are investing in the technology as well.

Industry projects show 50 to 75 percent of all future geostationary spacecraft are expected to use electric propulsion, he said.

Irene Klotz can be reached on Twitter at @free_space. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Space Nerd Alert: Very Bright Pass of International Space Station Over Perth Tonight – So Perth (blog)

Posted: at 4:52 pm

A very bright International Space Station will pass over Perth and South-West Western Australia tonight just after 6pm.

If you look up and the sky is clear as forecast, Perths 2 million inhabitants will be able to view the ISS for around 6-minutes, as it passes from north-west to south-est.

If you look up around 6.04pm youll see it appear to the north-west of the city, as it travels over the Indian Ocean.

By 6.07pm the ISS will be directly over Perth city, with a -3.2 magnitude brightness, meaning the Space Station will be quite clearly visible.

The ISS has been circling our planet for nearly 20-years, but rarely does it pass right over the city at such a convenient time for us.

We were alerted to the Passover by Space enthusiast Ingnazio Magnani, who is often confused by media as an actual ISS astronaut.

When, where and what are we looking at?

Look up at 6.04pm (maybe go outside a few minutes earlier to adjust your eyes)

Look about 10 degrees above the horizon to the north-west, itll appear to be moving at speed toward Perth, flying over about 50km to the north-east of the Perth CBD at 6.07pm, at 75 degrees above the horizon.

The Passover should be visible right up to 6.10pm as the ISS moves to the SE.

Live Video: ISS over the Earth HD Video Viewing Experiment

Perth from Space

What Perth looks like from the ISS while it passes over Perth. Photo from NASA taken by Astronauts in the ISS. Western Australia as seen from Space

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