Hi-Tech US Navy Destroyer Joins Fleet

The USS Zumwalt, the US Navy’s largest and most technologically advanced destroyer, was commissioned to the fleet Saturday in Baltimore.

The Zumwalt striking design, with sharp angles and weapons concealed under flat surfaces, makes it a lot difficult to spot on radar compared to conventional destroyers.

“If Batman had a ship, it would be the USS Zumwalt,” said US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr., whose command the ship would be assigned.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said the ship also has an advanced weapon systems and power plant that can move the Navy into the future.

The warship is named after Admiral Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt Jr., chief of naval operations from 1970 to 1974. He was also a Bronze Star awardee from World War II who went on to serve in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Mabus said on Saturday that the Navy and the nation are better because of Admiral Zumwalt.

Two sister ships, the Lyndon B. Johnson and Michael Mansoor, are currently under contruction at Bath Iron Works in Maine.

The Zumwalt’s advantages over the Arleigh Burke-class of destroyers:

An electrical power system that produces nearly as much electricity as the nuclear plants on aircraft carrier. According to the Navy, it can still generate enough electricity while operating all of its systems.

Bigger vertical launch missile tubes that can shoot larger and more advanced land attack and anti-ship missiles.

A larger flight deck that allows operations with new MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and F-35 fighters.

The capability to accommodate weapons of the future, such as laser and electronic rail guns.

From 32 Zumwalt units to 3

However, from the 32 originally conceived early in the program, the Navy plans to purchase only the three Zumwalt-class destroyers it has on order.

The Navy is presently focusing on a modernized version of the existing and more traditional Arleigh Burke class.

Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments naval analyst Bryan Clark told USNI News earlier this year that it’s possible the Zumwalt-class vessels will be assigned for different missions than the Burke-class destroyers.

Clark said that should a war ensue, the ships would be used differently than a regular destroyer. They wouldn’t be used for regular patrols but for intelligence gathering. They would do special ops.

Some critics question if that’s worth the $22.5 billion price tag for the three Zumwalt-class ships.

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Kentucky: Former Champion Sprinter Tyson Gay’s Daughter,15, Dead in Shooting

Lexington Police reported the death of Trinity Gay, the 15-year-old daughter of the former world champion sprinter Tyson Gay.

According to a report, Trinity was shot in the neck during a gunfight but was not involved in the shooting herself. An eye-witness account indicates the bullet came from two vehicles whose occupants exchanged gunfire. The cars were parked outside a restaurant near the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington around 4 AM (0800 GMT). She was taken to the University of Kentucky Medical Center onboard a private vehicle. The teenager later died of her injury.

During an interview with a local TV network, Lex 18, Tyson Gay who lives in Lexington said, “She didn’t make it. I’m so confused. She was just here last week for fall break. It’s so crazy. I have no idea what happened,”

Tyson participated in the Rio Olympics and was part of the US Olympic Team for the 100m relay event. He was the second-fastest 100m runner next to Usain Bolt. However, in 2013 he tested positive for a banned substance which prevented him from joining the Olympic Games for a year.

Trinity was also an athlete and played for Lafayette High School, where she was studying.

Meanwhile, the sports community sent out their condolences on Tweeter. The US Track and Field Team tweeted, that their “thoughts and prayers” goes to Tyson and his loved ones, they added, “as they mourn the tragic & senseless loss of his daughter, Trinity”.

Manny Caulk, the Fayette County School Superintendent condemned the shooting incidence. He told the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper, “Our hearts are broken this morning over the loss of Trinity to this tragic and senseless act of violence”.

The commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletics Association, Julian Tackett said, “A life of such potential cut so tragically short”.

Two suspects arrested

Police identified the two vehicles as a gray Dodge Charger and a dark colored sports car with tinted windows.

In a police statement, the incident occurred outside the Cook Out restaurant in Lexington City. Authorities initiated a murder investigation regarding the shooting incident. They already located the Dodge Charger and apprehended two people for questioning. However, authorities are still on the lookout for the other vehicle.

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Chinese Manned Mission Blasts Off to Space Station

China launched two astronauts into space on Monday on a mission to dock with an experimental space station. The 30-day mission is in preparation for the construction of a complete facility six years from now.

The Shenzhou 11 mission took off aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 7:30 a.m. (2330 GMT).

It will dock with the Tiangong 2 space station pioneer facility within two days. Its purpose: to test systems and processes in preparation for the launching of the station’s core module in 2018. Further, the astronauts will conduct experiments in medicine and different space-related technologies.

The entire station will start full operations in 2022. The operations commence immediately after the attachment of two experiment modules and will run for at least a decade.

The Tiangong 1, an earlier experimental space station launched in 2011, was retired in March after extending its mission for two years and docking with three visiting spacecraft. China considers the Tiangong stations as the foundations to a mission to Mars by the end of the decade.

The astronauts manning the mission are Chen Dong, 37, and Jing Haipeng, who is flying his third mission.

Jing, 49, said at a briefing Sunday that it is an astronauts dream and pursuit to be able to perform various space missions.

China is only the third country after Russia and the US to accomplish a crewed space mission when it launched its first manned mission in 2003. It has since conducted a spacewalk and landed its Yutu rover on the moon. Administrators suggest a manned touchdown on the moon may also be in the program’s future.

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Police Arrest 2 in Los Angeles Party Shooting Incident

Los Angeles police detained two suspects on Sunday in connection with a shooting that left three people dead and twelve wounded at a restaurant.

Police took into custody Jamaican nationals Mowayne Mckay, 33, and Diego Reid, 25, early Sunday. Both were expected to be charged for investigation of murder.

A confrontation between a man and at least two other men led to gunfire early Saturday. The incident occurred at a birthday party in a Jamaican neighborhood.

Investigators surmised that the gunmen fired several other shots randomly into the crowd after the initial shot. However, some of the shots seemed to be return-fire from other party guests aimed at the shooters who bolted the scene.

Detectives believe Reid and Mckay opened fire after the first shot. They also think that two fatalities and the other casualties were due to gunfire from the two men and other possible gunmen.

and that the barrage from the two men and probably others resulted to two more men dead and others wounded.

Evidence, including video footage, led police to Reid and McKay, Police Captain Peter Whittingham told the Los Angeles Times.  Police found and apprehended them at hospitals in the area, where they went for treatment of gunshot wounds.

Police were still working to find out the identity of the victims.

The wounded suffered minor to serious injuries. One of them remained hospitalized on Sunday in extremely critical condition.

From music to gunfire

The shooting started during a birthday party. The restaurant owner who runs a Jamaican catering business out of the house disclosed this to the Los Angeles Times. Also, a guest in the party told the newspaper that there were several people in the house and yard, where a DJ was playing music. Shortly after they left the place, they heard 15 to 20 shots.

Police who arrived at the scene found shell casings and blood all over the house west of downtown Los Angeles.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement that he was certain police would sort out issues surrounding the incident as he conveyed condolences to the victims’ families.

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European Mars Mission Begins Rover Descent to Red Planet

On Sunday, a Mars lander is scheduled to leave its mothership and proceed toward the red planet’s surface to assess equipment for Europe’s projected first Mars rover.
The rover will search for signs of past and present life on the red planet.

The Schiaparelli lander is expected to detach from spacecraft Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) at 1442 GMT (10:42 am EDT) following a seven-month journey from Earth. The descent to the surface would take three days.

The Schiaparelli is only the second European effort to land a craft on Mars. The first was a failed mission in 2003 by the British landing craft Beagle 2.

Landing on Earth’s neighbor, which is about 35 million miles (56 million km) away, has brought disappointment to most Russian efforts and provided NASA some trouble as well. The United States presently has two functioning rovers on Mars, Opportunity and Curiosity.

However, an apparently harsh environment has not taken away from the attraction of Mars. US President Barack Obama has recently reiterated his vow to send people to the planet by the 2030s.

Mars Colony

Elon Musk said he would like to launch the first crew to Mars as early as 2024. His privately operated space agency, SpaceX, is currently developing a massive rocket and capsule to carry large numbers of people and cargo to Mars. The ultimate goal of the project is to colonize the planet.

The main mission of ExoMars is to learn whether life has ever existed on the red planet. The current spacecraft holds an atmospheric probe to analyze trace gases such as methane, around Mars.

Methane is a chemical that on Earth is firmly bound to life. Scientists believe that the chemical comes from micro-organisms that either vanished millions of years ago and left gas frozen underground or that some methane-producing organisms still live.

The second part of the ExoMars mission will deliver a European rover to Mars’ surface on 2020. Hence, this makes it the first rover with the capability to move across the planet’s surroundings and drill into the ground to gather and study samples.

The European Space Agency (ESA) leads the ExoMars 2016 mission. Russia’s Roscosmos provided two of the four scientific instruments on the trace gas orbiter as well as the launcher. The lead contractor is Thales Alenia Space, an allied venture between Finmeccanica and Thales.

The cost of the ExoMars mission to ESA is estimated to be around 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion). This amount includes the second part of the mission due in 2020 however. Russia’s provision comes on top of that.

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