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Fake Chinese Parts 'Found In US Planes'

By SkyNews UK


More than a million fake electronic parts from China have been found in US military aircraft, posing a risk to national security, an investigation has revealed.

A report by the US Senate uncovered 1,800 cases of bogus parts - including some in special operations helicopters and the US Air Force's largest cargo plane.

The total number of individual components involved in these cases exceeded one million, the Committee on Armed Services publication said.

"This flood of counterfeit parts, overwhelmingly from China, threatens national security, the safety of our troops and American jobs," committee chairman Senator Carl Levin said.

"It underscores China's failure to police the blatant market in counterfeit parts - a failure China should rectify," he added.

As part of a year-long investigation , the US Government Accountability Office created a fictitious company and purchased electronic parts on the internet.

Of the 16 items bought, all were counterfeit and some had bogus identification numbers.

The components came from suppliers based in China - which Senator Levin described as the "epicentre of electronic part counterfeiting".

The report accused Beijing of openly allowing counterfeiting operations, and said attempts by officials to get visas to travel to China as part of the probe had failed.

US authorities and contract companies contributed to the problem by not detecting the fakes and routinely failing to report them, the report said.

The Defense Department was also criticised for lacking "knowledge of the scope and impact of counterfeit parts on critical defence systems".

Committee member Senator John McCain said the prevalence of bogus parts made the country vulnerable and posed a risk to "our security and the lives of the men and women who protect it".

"The Department of Defense and its contractors must attack this problem more aggressively, particularly since counterfeiters are becoming better at shielding their dangerous fakes from detection," he said.

The fakes included parts in the electromagnetic interference filters used in night missions and in the operation of "hellfire" missiles on SH-60B Navy helicopters.

They were also found in memory chips in the display systems of C-17 Globemaster III and C-130J military cargo planes, and in the Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft.

The Dragon has landed! Historic day in the skies as SpaceX capsule successfully docks with ISS

By DailyMail UK


The SpaceX Dragon capsule has docked with the International Space Station, marking the first time a private company has joined with the space station.

The ISS's Expedition 31 crew successfully captured the SpaceX Dragon capsule with the station's robotic arm at 2:56 PM, coming precisely three days, six hours, 11 minutes and 23 seconds after the mission's launch.

The station was 251 miles over northwest Australia at the time.


Docked! The ISS and the Dragon capsule are now as one, following the historic docking:




Flyby! This was the view of the SpaceX capsule as it flew by the ISS yesterday, with the white clouds of Earth hovering more than 200 miles below:




Off we go: The Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket is seen during a time exposure as it lifts off from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, flying off to the ISS:




This is the first time a private company has launched a vessel to the space station, joining a small, elite group of governments.

U.S. President Barack Obama is pushing commercial ventures in orbit so NASA can concentrate on grander destinations like asteroids and Mars.

The test flight of SpaceX's capsule, launched on the company's Falcon 9 rocket, will hopefully help America re-establish access to the ISS, after NASA retired its space shuttle fleet last year.

NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told AFP: 'So far everything is going as planned', and said there was a 'sense of optimism' among the mission control team.

The private space cargo firm's historic launch to the International Space Station blasted off at 8.44BST on Tuesday, carrying with it a capsule loaded with 1,000lbs of space station provisions.

Also on-board are the ashes of Star Trek legend James 'Scotty' Doohan, fulfilling his final wish to spend eternity resting in space.


Up, up and away! Sparks fly as the rocket leaves the launch pad and heads to the horizons:




Staying on board the space station for a week and a half, the capsule will be re-loaded and sent back to Earth where it will land in the Pacific and be retrieved.

The mission is the first by a private company to the $100billion orbital outpost, a project of 15 countries.

NASA is investing in SpaceX, as well as four other companies, to fly cargo and eventually astronauts to the station following the retirement of the space shuttles last summer.

The first attempt on Saturday stalled, as the countdown reached all the way to practically zero before there was an automatic shutdown by on-board computers.

So instead of blasting off from Cape Canaveral on a delivery mission to the International Space Station, the rocket remained on its launch pad amid a cloud of engine exhaust.


The rocket is lost against the inky-black sky during the pre-dawn launch at Cape Canaveral, but the flames light up the surroundings:




Standing tall: Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft, pictured a day before its first launch, are in the final stages of preparation for their historic flightute safely (below) and to splash down in the Pacific (further below):






Only governments have completed such a feat to date, with the SpaceX voyage the first time such a voyage has been completed by a private firm.

Ferrying the Dragon capsule into space, the mission to the ISS will be to deliver 1,000 pounds of non-essential cargo after passing a series of test maneuvers over the course of three days.

If successful in its first-of-a kind mission, the company behind the venture SpaceX would collect the remaining payments on the $396 million contract it has with NASA and then enter into a $1.6 billion agreement for 11 more flights to the ISS.

The first step in the commercialisation of space to non-governmental firms, SpaceX is hoping one day to deliver up to seven passengers to the ISS and other destinations in low-Earth orbit.


See the launch here:

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer ... tart=false

See the docking here:

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer ... tart=false

...the mission to the ISS will be to deliver 1,000 pounds of non-essential cargo...

If successful in its first-of-a kind mission, the company behind the venture SpaceX would collect the remaining payments on the $396 million contract it has with NASA and then enter into a $1.6 billion agreement for 11 more flights to the ISS.

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

I have a wonderful picture of the future......"hello Domino's? Do you still deliver? My zip code? Never mind!". [:D]

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
John? You are in the wrong Thread.....you belong in The GEEZER Thread. [:D] We APPRECIATE you there! These punks don't! [:D]

ORIGINAL: JWE

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
John? You are in the wrong Thread.....you belong in The GEEZER Thread. [:D] We APPRECIATE you there! These punks don't! [:D]

Ok. Thank you. I will move then.

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

ORIGINAL: JWE

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
John? You are in the wrong Thread.....you belong in The GEEZER Thread. [:D] We APPRECIATE you there! These punks don't! [:D]

Ok. Thank you. I will move then.

They don't deserve you! [:D]

ORIGINAL: Panzerjaeger Hortlund

...the mission to the ISS will be to deliver 1,000 pounds of non-essential cargo...

If successful in its first-of-a kind mission, the company behind the venture SpaceX would collect the remaining payments on the $396 million contract it has with NASA and then enter into a $1.6 billion agreement for 11 more flights to the ISS.

Scene at NASA, two years earlier:

- Ok, now we have the essential cargo covered. How do we get the non-essential cargo up there?

- Um...why would we want to fly non-essential cargo up there?

- Shut up.

[Phone rings]

- Oh, hey, good thing you called. Listen, we've got a bit of a problem here. We are all set with the important stuff, but some guys were toying with the idea of flying some more stuff up there. Just for fun, could you guys deliver 1000 pounds of non-essential cargo to the ISS?

- Sure, we'll do it for $396 million.

- Deal!


So I guess the greeks are infiltrating NASA.

ORIGINAL: JWE

A friend that will remain nameless, sent me a note that kinda pooched my recollection of Florida, back in the old days. Back when Lutz was a 5 house, 1 gas station town on US 41. Back when Temple Terrace was a retirement community for the Mafia. Back when you had to drive a long distance to get to Louis Pappas in Tarpon Springs. Back when the Orthodox Bishop blessed the sponge fleet (and it really meant something). Back when Manny Garcia was Mayor of Tampa. Back when we all went to dinner at Las Novedades or Spanish Park in Ybor City without a thought. Back when the love of my life was my high school darling; Nancy Delapena. Back when we were righteous.

Now, those suberbs are downtown. Tarpon Springs is an industrial tourist trap. Mayor of Tampa is a pathetic pandering puissant politician. Nobody goes to Ybor City except tourists with armed guards. 40 years ago, we had it good. Anybody who lived in Florida, back then, knows.

It’s just like lightbulbs.

Remember how ya'll old time Flodirians could go diving in Crystal Springs without a PADI card? And remember how your parents would anchor in Crystal River or Withlacoochee Bay (mostly at Anddes, just past Little Mouth Pass). And when you got back they were bubbling up a blue crab enchilada? Life was good back then. Life was really good. It's close to that in Mobile Bay. The very last slice of honest to gosh Gulf living you will ever see. Hope to heck it stays this way long enough for Mom. Only a few more years, according to the doctors. After that, I'm off to the Marquesas. Can speak french, got a French passport, have my assets in Barclays International Premier. Hoots gazoots. (And if you want to go similar, pm me, because I am a registered Federal attorney, and I know way more about this stuff than the idiots you see on TV. I won't even charge you, if you are righteous.) I'll even be nice to Chicken Boy.

ORIGINAL: Empire101

Morning Guys,

Thanks to all of you for your well wishes for our wedding. We had a great day, and hopefully we can afford a honeymoon next year after all that!!

Regards
Chris