Tom's WEB Blog

The New England Patriots travel to Cincinnati this week for a tough test against the undefeated Bengals. New England has not lost back-to-back games in more than three full seasons and will aim to bounce back from last week's loss to Denver with a strong showing. This week's game will be broadcast by CBS at 4:15. I'd like to say this is an easy pick, but it's gonna be a knife fight for the Pats.

A bunch of the old arcade games have been posted on Midways site.

http://www.midwayarcade.com/classic.php

I loved Defender!

Vinny Testaverde was in Foxboro yesterday for a workout and visit with Patriots officials. The fact the Pats felt the need to get a firsthand look at him, and likely give him a physical, means their interest is beyond cursory. Quarterbacks Tommy Maddox and Todd Bouman have also visited recently.

You can't blame it on turnovers this time. Or the refs. In a physical game, the Patriots offense was no match for a Denver defense that took away the Patriots ground game for the first time this season. That was the difference. Laurence Maroney had only 18 yards on 12 attempts while Corey Dillon, who left the game in the first half with an arm injury, had 5 carries for 16 yards. Despite gaudy numbers for Tom Brady -- 31 of 55 for 320 yards and a touchdown -- he once again struggled for most of the game. Whether it was simply having no one open or just being off with his throws, the Patriots passing game posed no threat until the fourth quarter when Denver had already built a 17-0 lead and its defense gave up the short pass, forcing the Patriots to eat up valuable time. The two teams felt each other out during the first quarter, jockeying for field position. Each took turns getting out of holes deep in their own territory but unable to sustain a drive into the other's red zone. New England had a chance to do some damage early in the second quarter when it went for a fourth and 1 on the Broncos 36. Maroney ran to the left but Denver's Demetrin Veal came from his left side and caught Maroney from behind for a 1-yard loss. It looked like Brady might have an immediate answer. On his next series he began working his tight ends with a 7-yard pass to Daniel Graham and then 17 yards downfield to Ben Watson at midfield. On the next play, Brady play-actioned to Maroney, pumped to Troy Brown and then hit Maroney with a little dump off. The rookie back did all the work from there, stiff-arming his way for a 31-yard gain to the 19. That was as far as New England could get and worse, Stephen Gostkowski had his 37-yard field goal attempt blocked. Instead of a 3-3 tie, Denver got the ball back and 7 plays later, a 10-point lead on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Plummer to Javon Walker. The running of Tatum Bell (70 yards in the first half) set up the play, a third and 1 fly pattern that had Walker beating Ellis Hobbs by a step. The Pats had a last chance in the first half but came up empty with 43 seconds to operate from their own 33 and the two teams headed to their locker rooms with the Broncos up, 10-0. While the defense did its part during the third quarter, keeping the Broncos off the scoreboard, the Patriots offense had no answer to the fast, sure-tackling Denver D. Linebacker Ian Gold was all over the field, bottling up Maroney. Meanwhile, Brady was completely stymied. He was underthrowing, overthrowing and just not in synch with his receivers except the few times he found Brown or Graham for completions. In the fourth quarter, Denver broke it open with an 83-yard Walker catch and run. Plummer found him on third and 5 from his own 17 and lofted the ball in between Asante Samuel and James Sanders. Down 17-0, Brady finally started finding receivers with the Broncos playing a little off. He completed 8 passes in a row with three of them to Doug Gabriel for 18, 12 and 6. Maroney's catch for 14 brought the ball first and goal at the Denver 8. Brady's ninth in a row went to Gabriel in the end zone. It was the first touchdown allowed in the 2006 season by the Broncos with 9:13 left to play in the game. The Patriots did get two more cracks at trying to narrow the score. On their first, Brady went three and out without coming close to a completion. On his second bid, New England got down to the Broncos 20 but a fourth and 1 pass went incomplete and Denver knelt to the win.

Space shuttle Atlantis and its six astronauts glided to a safe landing in darkness early Thursday, ending a 12-day mission whose smooth success was briefly upstaged by the high drama caused by mysterious floating debris. From 220 miles above Earth, astronaut Jeff Williams watched from the space station, where Atlantis had departed on Sunday after its astronauts did the first construction work on the station since the Columbia disaster 3 1/2 years ago. "Spectacular lightning flashes just below the orbiter," Williams said as the space shuttle slowed from traveling at 17,000 miles an hour and entered Earth's atmosphere about an hour before landing. "The glow of the orbiter itself is getting dimmer but the contrail is still pretty bright." The landing 48 minutes before sunrise was a day later than planned because NASA ordered up more inspections of the spacecraft's delicate skin to make sure it was safe to come home. The fear was that a mysterious piece of debris spotted floating nearby on Tuesday might have hit the spacecraft. Astronauts later saw other debris.
"We've seen a new standard in NASA vigilance," said shuttle program manager Wayne Hale. After numerous cameras took pictures above and below, some of them maneuvered robotically by the shuttle astronauts, NASA proclaimed the spacecraft damage-free. The unplanned drama threatened to overshadow what had been a nearly flawless mission filled with strenuous spacewalks and rigorous robotics work that placed the international space station back on a path to completion after its long hiatus. "Assembly is off to a good start," Atlantis' commander said upon his return home. NASA officials said their best guess was that the most worrisome object was a plastic filler placed in between thermal tiles which protect the shuttle from blasting heat. Four other pieces of debris, including a possible garbage bag, floated near the shuttle over the next day. Atlantis' return avoided a near traffic jam at the space station, as a Russian Soyuz spacecraft arrived at the space station less than two days after Atlantis had departed. It was the 21st landing in darkness of 114 successful landings. The Atlantis mission was the first of 15 tightly scheduled flights needed to finish constructing the half-built space lab by 2010. The shuttle delivered a 17 1/2-ton truss addition with two massive solar arrays that opened like gleaming golden wings. The solar panels will eventually provide a quarter of the station's power when it is finished in 2010. In three highly choreographed spacewalks, astronauts hooked up cables, removed bolts and opened up a radiator over the solar arrays. NASA had described the 11-day schedule as one of the busiest and most challenging ever for a shuttle crew. "We're back in the assembly business," said Hale. "We achieved a new record in assembling a new component in a minimum number of spacewalks." NASA and its international partners of Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan must finish building the space station before the U.S. space agency ends the shuttle program in 2010 with plans to return to the moon in a new vehicle. The massive, 25-year-old shuttles are the only spaceships large enough to haul construction parts to the space lab. The next shuttle flight in the construction sequence is set for December. Before Atlantis' mission, the space station hadn't been expanded since late 2002. The Columbia disaster in 2003 grounded the three remaining shuttles for two years, and NASA devoted another year to test flights in an effort to keep insulation foam from falling off the space shuttle's external tank — the problem that doomed Columbia and its seven astronauts. The Atlantis astronauts started work right away upon arriving at the space station last week. The massive $372 million addition was handed from one giant robotic arm to another — from the shuttle to the space station. Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper served as cosmic electricians and carried out two of the mission's three challenging spacewalks. Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean of the Canadian Space Agency performed the other. Both teams lost a few bolts. The mission was bookended by delays. At first, it seemed as if Atlantis never would get off the ground. The launch was scrubbed four times in two weeks because of a launch pad lightning bolt, Tropical Storm Ernesto and problems with the electrical system and a fuel gauge. With all the postponements, NASA negotiated with the Russians to squeeze out one last chance in its launch window. The Russians were worried the trip would interfere with their Soyuz trip to the space station with a paying customer, Iranian-born space tourist Anousheh Ansari, a Dallas businesswoman. The Soyuz lifted off Monday, just hours after Atlantis had undocked from the space station. If you missed the landing this morning, video can be seen here...

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

NASA officials today cleared Atlantis for a return to Earth Thursday after overnight inspections turned up no sign of damage to the space shuttle's critical heat shield despite new reports by the crew of debris floating outside the craft. The shuttle's first landing opportunity at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is at 6:21 a.m. on Thursday. Mission Control had asked the six crewmembers to make a final examination of the shield this morning and found no problems that would hamper a return. To get ready for landing, the crew packed up gear and stowed the Ku-Band antenna, which is used for most shuttle television transmissions. Forecasts for Thursday call for acceptable weather at the Florida landing site. Atlantis’ first and prime landing opportunity begins with a de-orbit burn at 5:14 a.m., to start the descent to Florida. A second opportunity is available, beginning with a de-orbit burn at 6:50 a.m. leading to a landing at 7:57 a.m. in Florida.

Shuttle astronauts spotted three pieces of debris floating in space outside Atlantis early Wednesday, a day after the discovery of two other mysterious objects forced a postponement of the landing. Atlantis commander Brent Jett described the objects as two rings and a piece of foil. He told Mission Control the first object, about 100 feet from the shuttle, was "a reflective cloth or a mechanic looking-cloth. ... It's not a solid metal structure." "It doesn't look like anything I've seen outside the shuttle," Jett said. The astronauts noticed the objects during an extensive inspection of the space shuttle using a 50-foot-boom early Wednesday to see if its heat shield was damaged by a mysterious object that apparently floated off the spacecraft. Jett suggested the three objects might have come from the Russian Soyuz vehicle, which docked with the international space station early Wednesday. But Mission Control told him the Soyuz likely was too far below the shuttle, and that the closest the two space vehicles came to each other was 20 miles. The first landing opportunity available to Atlantis is at 6:22 a.m. Thursday touchdown in Florida.

The Mission Control Center in Houston informed the STS-115 crew about 10:45 a.m. that Wednesday’s landing attempts have been waved off due to an unfavorable weather forecast, coupled with the possibility of additional inspections of Space Shuttle Atlantis. An object was observed by flight controllers using a TV camera on the shuttle in close proximity to the spacecraft. It was observed following standard tests of Atlantis’ reaction control system about 2:45 a.m. today. Flight controllers continue to analyze the situation and are concerned the item may be something that came off of Atlantis. Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale said engineers and flight controllers are developing a plan for inspections that may be performed on Wednesday to ensure that Atlantis is safe for re-entry. Atlantis has equipment aboard that can be used to thoroughly inspect the heat shield and other areas. During the post-Mission Management Team briefing at 12 p.m., the STS-115 crew informed Mission Control that one of the crew members spotted a small object near the shuttle. The crew captured imagery of it and will downlink it to MCC for analysis. At about 12:46 p.m., MCC instructed the crew to power up the Atlantis’ robot arm so that its elbow camera can be used to survey the orbiter. Landing opportunities for Atlantis on Thursday begin with a potential 6:22 a.m. touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Atlantis’ mission has resumed the construction of the International Space Station. Atlantis delivered the P3/P4 integrated truss to the station on Sept. 11. The STS-115 and Expedition 13 crews used the shuttle and station robotic arms to attach the truss to the orbital outpost. Then STS-115 astronauts conducted three spacewalks in four days to prepare the truss and its solar arrays for operation. The weather forecast at Kennedy Space Center calls for better weather at the Shuttle Landing Facility on Thursday. Forecasters will continue to monitor the situation. The weather forecast for Wednesday had called for unacceptable thunderstorms and strong winds at the potential landing time.

New England saw a 24-point lead dwindle to a mere touchdown before the end of this game! Despite jumping out to a 24-point lead, mental lapses on the part of the Patriots allowed the Jets to climb back into this one and make things interesting. In the end, the Patriots held on for a 24-17 win and a 2-0 record on the season. Brady, while still not at the top of his game, performed better than last week going 15 of 29 for 220 yards, a touchdown and one interception. The tandem running backs, Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney again delivered. Dillon ran for 80 yards on 20 carries with a score while Maroney had 65 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown of his own. Chad Jackson made his Patriot debut during the Patriots second series of the game and caught a nice 29-yard pass from Brady, the first pass thrown his way. Jackson was closely covered but managed to come up with the ball down the left sideline. That play sparked an 11-play, 82-yard drive ending on a Dillon 1-yard touchdown run behind the left side of the Patriots line. On the drive, Troy Brown started things off with a 15-yard catch. Later, Ben Watson had a 14-yard grab down the middle to move the ball to the Jets 22. From the 18-yard line two plays later, Maroney followed up a 4-yard run with a 14-yarder to the 4. On the Patriots second scoring drive that came with 13:15 left in the first half, Brady flaunted his tight ends. Dave Thomas started strong right on one play and came across the field with no one near him. Brady connected and the rookie went 29 yards to the Jets 49. On the very next play, Brady went down the middle to Daniel Graham for another 29-yard pick-up. Despite the promising start to the drive and getting as close as the Jets 2, Brady was unable to connect with Watson and then Doug Gabriel in the end zone. Stephen Gostkowski was good on a 20-yard field goal attempt for a 10-0 New England lead. Meanwhile, the Patriots defense was keeping the Jets at bay. It threw a wrinkle into the game plan by going mostly 4-3 during the first half. Also, of note, Tedy Bruschi made his 2006 debut during the second quarter, playing middle linebacker in that 4-3 alignment. Jets punter Ben Graham gave the Patriots a golden opportunity to add to the lead at the end of the half when he badly shanked his punt for net 10 yards. The punt came after a three and out stand by the defense by way of a pair of sacks, one by Tully Banta-Cain and another by Richard Seymour. Brady took over at midfield with a minute left and immediately looked long to Jackson. The pass was right on the rook's hands -- with the Jets Andre Dyson beat -- but it fell harmlessly to the ground. Brady then looked to the proven Brown who muscled his way to a 14-yard gain on a pass to the left flat. Two plays later it was Watson for 23-yards to the Jets 13 and on the next play, Jackson made up for his lost opportunity earlier in the drive with a touchdown pass over the middle; his first career score and a 17-0 halftime lead for New England. New England started the second half with a solid short yardage stand. First Junior Seau stuffed Kevan Barlow for no gain on third and 1 from the Jets 46. On fourth down, the Jets went for it and it was Ty Warren and Jarvis Green with the stop. New England took over on downs. On third and 5, Brady looked deep to Kevin Faulk down the left sideline. The Jets Victor Hobson made his move too soon and hit Faulk for a pass interference call. That put the ball on the Jets 12. A hold on Watson moved the ball back and a defensive hold two plays later gave the Patriots a first down on the 17. Maroney did the rest of the work with three carries, 14 yards to the 3 followed by a 2-yard carry and then a 1-yard scoring play. It looked all Patriots, but Pennington got off a throw just as he was being hit and Cotchery came up with it. Cotchery was blistered by Chad Scott as he caught it but somehow he managed to keep his feet and take off downfield for the touchdown, a 71-yard score. The Patriots challenged the play thinking his elbow had perhaps touched the turf on the Scott hit but the ruling on the field stood making the score 24-7 with 6:15 left in the third quarter. Things started to get sloppy for the Patriots from there. Brady looked for a home run on the next series to Gabriel who was double covered. David Barrett made the pick and the Jets had the ball right back. A big New England penalty was next to give New York new life. Vince Wilfork jumped offsides and then worse, knocked Pennington to the ground for a 15-yard roughness call. From the New England 46 on third and 9, just plain sloppy tackling allowed Laveranues Coles to take a pass and weave his way through at least four would-be tacklers for a touchdown. The third quarter ended with the score 24-14 and with the Patriots in possession of the ball on the Jets 42. Maroney set up the drive with a 39-yard return of the kickoff but the series of unfortunate events continued for New England as Kerry Rhodes came from his safety spot and nailed Brady from his blindside on third and 8. The ball was fumbled and the Jets recovered at the Patriots 49. Mike Vrabel and Seymour teamed up to sack Pennington on third and 8 from the 24 and that play kept the Jets to only 3 points as Mike Nugent was good on a 42-yard attempt. Still, the Jets had somehow come from 24 points down to within a touchdown with 9:20 left to play. New England needed a nerve-calming drive and who else to lead one but Mr. Cool, Tom Brady. He converted three third downs, starting from his own 30. Reche Caldwell was good for a 6-yard catch on third and 5. Faulk had another 6-yarder on third and 4 and Brown made 8 yards on a third and 7 catch from the Jets 35. Add in a bone-crushing 10-yard run by Dillon where he flat out leveled Rhodes at the end of the play. At the two minute warning, New England still had the ball third and 5 at the Jets 11. Dillon banged out another 4 yards to the 7 making it fourth and 1 with 1:47 left to play. Brady milked the play clock to 1 second and then called timeout with 1:15 left. A field goal would put New England up by 10 but Brady went to the line to try and draw the Jets offsides. New York wasn't buying and on trotted Gostkowski for his first clutch kick, a 29-yard attempt. The kick was blocked and recovered by the Jets. The Jets hopes remained alive with 1:05 left on the clock. The New England defense dropped into a prevent and kept everything in front of them while Pennington, with no timeouts, dunked the ball downfield. The Jets plays were to the middle of the field, however, and too much of the clock was running down. With 15 seconds left, the Jets were second and 10 on their own 45 and Pennington decided to go for it. He lofted the ball downfield into a crowd and Tedy Bruschi intercepted it for the game-ending play. Another close one for the Pats! Next weekends Sunday night game is against Denver in a rematch of last years AFC playoff game. :)

International space station astronauts pulled an alarm and donned protective gear after smelling a foul odor that turned out to be a harmful chemical leaking from an oxygen vent. The crew first reported smoke but it turned out to be an irritant, potassium hydroxide, leaking from an oxygen vent. The crew donned surgical gloves and masks but did not have to put on gas or oxygen masks. NASA declared a spacecraft emergency for only the second time in the eight-year history of the station. The first time was for a false alarm of an ammonia spill. NASA initially said that the crew in the orbiting lab 220 miles above Earth had been working on a Russian oxygen-generating system known as the Elektron. But no work on the system had been scheduled at that time. The Elektron was activated at 6:30 am EDT and shut down about a half hour later. Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov reported the leak to Mission Control in Russia at 7:23 a.m. Vinogradov described the liquid as transparent, "like distilled water." "At first, small-sized bubbles escaped, drops, four or five," Vinogradov said. U.S. astronaut Jeff Williams described the smell of burning rubber, but Mission Control in Houston said that odor likely came from the overheating of a rubber gasket. "That also jibes with the visible smoke coming from the rubber gasket," Williams said. The station's third crew member is Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency, who arrived for his six-month stay in July aboard space shuttle Discovery. Williams and Vinogradov are slated to return to Earth at the end of the month. Because the station's emergency system was activated, the ventilation system was shut down, but ground operations reactivated it a short time later. Astronauts used a charcoal air-scrubbing device to remove the offensive smell and Williams said the odor "decreased significantly." The potassium hydroxide, a corrosive that can cause serious burns and can be harmful if inhaled, was cleaned up with towels and wrapped up in two rubber bags, Suffredini said. Potassium hydroxide can be used to power batteries and is also known as potash lye. The Elektron system has given the space station headaches before. It had operated on-and-off for months before breaking down last spring. In June, the crew tried to reactivate it, with mixed results, after replacing a hydrogen vent valve outside during a spacewalk. The failure of the Elektron, which looks like a water heater, had no impact on operations at the space station. The international space station was in the middle of a revolving door of visitors. Space shuttle Atlantis' six astronauts departed on Sunday and a Russian Soyuz vehicle carrying two new station crew members and space tourist Anousheh Ansari were expected to arrive on Wednesday. Early Monday, Atlantis astronauts attached a boom to the shuttle's robotic arm and inspected for damage to the shuttle's wings and nose. This is part of the post-Columbia accident routine for shuttles, in which astronauts look for the type of heat shield cuts and tears that caused the fatal shuttle accident in 2003. The inspection was conducted by pilot Chris Ferguson and astronauts Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean while the shuttle stayed dozens of miles away from the station in the same relative orbit. If the astronauts find the type of damage that could cause a deadly accident, the shuttle can return to the station. Earlier inspections showed the heat shield was in good condition. At the same time, astronauts examined and tried to fix what may be a minor leaky valve used for dumping water overboard. Mission Control praised Atlantis for completing its main mission of adding a 17 1/2-ton addition, including a pair of 115-foot-long solar wings, to the space station.

NASA reported light smoke this morning on the international space station and the three astronauts aboard donned protective gear as a precaution. NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries tells CNN there was no smoke on the space station, but smoke detectors did alarm and the crew reported a bad smell and some vapors.

The Patriots and Jets will meet today at the Meadowlands with control of the AFC East division at stake. With both teams coming off season-opening victories, the winner will claim possession of the top spot in the division and begin the season by taking an early lead in the standings. After last weeks prediction...I'll be a bit more subdued with my pick! 24-10 Pats Win!

After a busy week of challenging construction work, the shuttle Atlantis and her crew undocked from the International Space Station today to begin their journey home. Landing is set for 5:57 a.m. Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis astronauts used three spacewalks and robotic arms on the shuttle and station to attach the orbital outpost's new 17.5 ton P3/P4 truss structure. The truss' 240-foot solar arrays will eventually double the station's power capabilities, setting the stage for future expansion.

45 Moments in Nasa History

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/NASA45th/loadmovie.html

I suggest the Windows Media version.

The deployment of the International Space Station’s new set of solar arrays reached the halfway point about 7:08 a.m. today when the left wing was fully extended. The arrays will span 240 feet when the right wing is completely unfurled about 8:30 a.m. Full deployment is occurring in stages to allow the arrays to warm up, which prevents them from sticking while being deployed. The first stage began about 6:27 a.m. The arrays were installed on to the station Tuesday and will eventually double the orbital outpost’s power capabilities. Earlier this morning, flight controllers deployed only one bay mast on the right and left wings. This step was done to confirm a new procedure designed to avoid large motion that occurred during the P6 array deployment in 2000. The deployment activities started later than planned due to a software problem with the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. The Mission Control Center team developed a workaround and proceeded with the checkout and deployment activities.

The Air Force has finally decided what to do with its barely-flown fleet of 106 training airplanes. It has taken nearly a decade since TIME brought the matter to national attention, but the Air Force this week concluded that's its fleet of T-3 trainers are junk. It made the decision to scrap the fleet altogether nine years after the Air Force grounded the planes in the wake of three fatal accidents — each of which killed a highly-trained Air Force instructor pilot and a fledging Air Force pilot. The British-built Slingsby T-3A Firefly was selected in 1992 to replace the T-41 aircraft. It was a more demanding plane, designed to weed out poor pilots. But after the three fatal crashes, the service grounded the planes in 1997. "The T-41 is your grandmother's airplane," Merrill McPeak, the general running the Air Force when the program began, told TIME several months later. "Our mission is to train warrior-pilots, not dentists to fly their families to Acapulco." But the Air Force disagreed, and ultimately ended the more demanding flight-training program that General McPeak had championed. The service also found that making the planes airworthy for subsequent sale was prohibitive (they have had no maintenance since their grounding, and many were damaged by hail, Air Force officials say). So in a statement issued Monday, the service's Air Education and Training Command's said it had decided "to salvage the aircraft in place." In other words, the Air Force has agreed to pay a metal-recycling company $12,000 to get rid of the airplanes that cost taxpayers $42 million, including $10 million in failed fixes, to procure. "The aircraft will be completely destroyed and the scrap metal value will be used to off set the disposal cost," the Air Force said. The job is due to be finished by September 25. After taking nine years to decide what to do with the planes, it's going to take only two weeks to turn them into scrap. What a waste.

This video is not for the faint of heart. It is a perfect answers to anyone who asks "why are U.S. troops giving their lives in foreign countries?" Too many people living in the United States have short memories.

http://media.revver.com/broadcast/59686/video.mov

Atlantis astronauts Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Joe Tanner worked in space for more than 6 hours Tuesday to prepare the International Space Station's newly installed P3/P4 truss for operation. The 17-ton segment will add a set of giant solar panels and batteries, doubling the station's power capabilities. Astronauts Daniel Burbank and Steve MacLean make another spacewalk Wednesday to prepare the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, which will turn the new solar arrays to track the sun. The spacewalk was a first for rookie astronaut Piper, who joined an elite club of female spacewalkers. Only six other women have participated in 159 U.S. spacewalks, and only one has gone on any of the 118 Russian spacewalks. A major reason for the lack of female spacewalkers is the spacesuit, which isn't designed for small sizes, said Piper, who is 5-foot-10. "If you fit in a suit then the easier it is to work," she said. Before they started, astronauts MacLean and Jeff Williams, from inside the space lab, used the robotic arm to install the 45-foot addition on the left side of the space station's truss system. Two solar arrays will be unfurled from the truss on Thursday. The spacewalk started a short time later at 5:17 a.m. EDT. Tanner was first to enter the void of space tethered to the space station, followed by Piper. Tanner and Piper then started connecting wiring and cables to the $372 million truss segment that was moved Monday from space shuttle Atlantis' cargo bay to the space station's robotic arm. Wearing bulky suits and gloves, the spacewalking electricians also installed and disconnected bolts, connected tubes and activated latches -- tasks that had to be performed quickly so the electronic components do not get cold. The team worked briskly, at one point putting themselves so far ahead of the schedule that Mission Control reminded them to take a break.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfO-Z1CuJ6w

What Jon said 5 years ago is as true now as it was then.

Space shuttle Atlantis docked with the international space station Monday, arriving with the first addition to the orbiting space lab in more than 31/2 years. Atlantis commander Brent Jett eased the space shuttle into the space station's docking port where latches automatically fastened the two spacecraft together at 6:48 a.m. EDT. The nearly two-day trip from Earth ended about 220 miles above the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. With both vehicles moving at 17,500 miles per hour, the tag-up with the space station required Atlantis to make a series of jet firings that ended with Jett taking manual control of the spacecraft about 1,000 feet from the space station. At about 600 feet from the station, Jett maneuvered the spacecraft into a 360-degree pitch so that the space station's three-man crew could photograph images of the shuttle's belly and transmit them to NASA engineers, who will look for any damage from liftoff to the spacecraft's thermal skin. That inspection technique, along with another performed Sunday using a 50-foot boom with sensors at the end, were implemented following the Columbia accident, which killed seven astronauts in 2003. Foam debris from Columbia's external fuel tank struck a wing, allowing fiery gases to penetrate when the shuttle returned to Earth. After reviewing photos from Atlantis' launch on Saturday, NASA managers saw only a single piece of debris that fell during a part of the liftoff when a debris strike can endanger the shuttle. A thruster cover fell 16 seconds into the ascent at a speed of 230 miles per hour, but it didn't hit the shuttle. Seven other pieces of foam and ice debris appeared to fall off, including four that seemed to hit the shuttle, but they all occurred too late into the ascent when the debris wasn't moving fast enough to do much damage. Atlantis was hauling a 171/2-ton truss segment, containing two attached solar wings, which will be the first new addition to the space station since December 2002 when space shuttle Endeavour delivered another truss segment. The Columbia disaster in 2003 halted all construction on the space lab. NASA and its international partners hope to finish building the space station on 14 additional missions by 2010 when the space shuttle fleet is grounded. Following welcoming handshakes and hugs between the space shuttle and space station crews, astronauts planned to use the shuttle's robotic arm to remove the $372 million addition from the shuttle's cargo bay and hand it over to the international space station's robotic arm. When the shuttle arm hands the truss to the station arm -- both built by Canada -- it could be considered "the great Canadian handshake," Atlantis astronaut Steve MacLean said before the mission. MacLean will become the first Canadian to operate his home country's robotic arm.

"Let Us Not Forget"

The STS-115 crew conducted heat shield inspections Sunday as Space Shuttle Atlantis continued its chase of the International Space Station. The crew performed two sets of inspections to see if Atlantis was damaged during its climb into space on Saturday. During the first set, the crew used the orbiter boom sensor system, attached to the end of the shuttle’s robot arm, to perform thorough inspections of wing leading edges and the nose cap. After the boom was returned to the payload bay, the astronauts used the arm to take a look at the crew cabin and other areas on Atlantis’ upper surface. Atlantis is set to dock with the International Space Station at 6:46 a.m. Monday. Before docking, Commander Brent Jett will flip Atlantis over to allow station crewmembers to photograph the orbiter's heat shield. Once at the station, the Atlantis crew will begin to install the 17.5 ton P3/P4 truss on the International Space Station, activating a new set of solar arrays that will double the outpost's ability to generate power from sunlight.

It probably wasn't the type of game many predicted but the Patriots were able to shake off some first half cobwebs to scratch and claw their way to a 19-17 win over the Buffalo Bills.After giving up 17 first half points (7 of them via a fumble return), the Patriots defense pitched a shutout in the second half while the New England running game showed off its new tandem of Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney. Dillon finished with 73 yards on 16 carries while Maroney contributed another 86 yards on his 17 attempts. As a team, the Patriots finished with 183 rushing yards. Tom Brady had a uneven start to the season with only 11 of 23 passing for 163 yards, 2 touchdown passes and an interception. On defense, Junior Seau led all tacklers for New England with 8. As the game progressed, the defense increased its pressure on Bills quarterback J.P. Losman, finishing with three sacks. The game certainly didn't start in the traditional Patriots way. The Bills Takeo Spikes returned to the playing field after missing last season with injury and made his first play an announcement that he's back to his old form. New England opened the game first and 10 at its 21 with Brady dropping back to pass. Spikes shot through the line on a blitz and nailed Brady from behind. The ball popped loose and London Fletcher scooped it up into the end zone for the game's first score. Unfortunately for Spikes and the Bills, he left the game with an apparent hamstring pull during the next series. Brady bounced right back. After Dillon took a screen for 16 yards, Brady gave the ball to Maroney and the rookie immediately showed why the Patriots took him in the first round this April with a 27-yard romp. Three plays later he was at it again on third and 5 with a 22-yard run down to the Bills 3. A 5-yard 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty on New England moved the ball back to the 8 followed by Dillon getting stuffed for a 1-yard loss. Brady next found Troy Brown over the middle for a 9-yard touchdown and a tie game. Buffalo grabbed the lead back with a 53-yard Rian Lindell field goal on their next series. On the drive the Bills offense looked shaky, with a couple early fumbles but when they needed a conversion, it seemed Losman was able to find one of his receivers for just enough to get his team to the Patriots 34. The Patriots protection was clearly having trouble with the speed of the Bills defense as evident on the next series for New England. Brady fumbled for the second time while being sacked by Chris Kelsay. Dan Koppen recovered for New England but the point was well taken: With Brady being hassled and the line having trouble protecting him unless a tight end was kept in to block, his options were limited. The Bills took over and began an impressive drive that ended with an Anthony Thomas 18-yard run for 6 points. The first half ended with the New England offense in a fog. Brady had been sacked twice with another two passes batted down at the line; his team down 17-7. It looked like the defense was caught in the same cloud as the second half started and Buffalo marched down the field with ease. Losman was finding open receivers and McGahee was running strong. Before New England knew it, Buffalo was fourth and 1 from the 7. Sensing the kill, Bills head coach Dick Jauron went for it. That's when the defense snapped out of its daze and stopped McGahee short of the sticks. Taking its cue from the defense, the Patriots offense suddenly woke up. It embarked on a 93 yard drive that culminated in a fantastic diving catch in the end zone by Faulk on a pass from Brady from 17 yards out. The drive extender was a huge 34-yard pass down the middle to Watson on third and 9 from New England's 20. Once in Bills territory, Dillon and Maroney pounded the ball effectively, loosening up the Bills defense. When New England got the ball back after stopping Buffalo three and out, the running strategy continued to work. Maroney had back-to-back 7-yard runs followed by an 8-yarder after Brady hit Watson for 11 yards on third down. Later in the drive, New England was faced with its own fourth down decision. On fourth and 1 from the 43, Brady got 2 yards to convert and then hit Reche Caldwell for 24 yards on a skinny post. The drive stalled at the 14 where Stephen Gostkowski was good on a 32-yard field goal to knot the score at 17. Ever since the Bills failed fourth down attempt, the momentum towards the Patriots was building. It peaked on the Bills next series when a swarming Patriots defense sacked Losman in the end zone on third and 11 for a safety. Ty Warren got the credit for the play that put New England up 19-17. The wind stopped blowing at New England's back for a brief period when Brady got picked off by Donte Whitner on the next play from scrimmage but the Patriots defense kept its end of the bargain by sacking (Richard Seymour) Losman on third and 2 for a 6-yard loss. On the Whitner interception, only a bad call by the referee saying Whitner stepped out of bounds stopped the play from really hurting the home team. Once the Patriots got the ball back and Dan Graham hauled in a 23-yard pass, the win was in sight. At the two minute warning, the Patriots elected to go for a fourth and 2 on the Buffalo 26 and Dillon picked up 6 yards around left end. All it took from there was Brady to take care of the ball as he knelt to the Patriots opening season win.

Pariots Win 19-17 in a knife fight against the Bills. Pat's played like hell in the first half, but looked like the Pats I love in the second half! Great Defense in the second half and 2 great drives by Brady and the offence saved the day. Complete game summary to come!

Space shuttle Atlantis roared off its seaside Florida launch pad on Saturday after two weeks of delays, setting the stage for Nasa to resume assembly of the International Space Station.
Atlantis soared through pockets of puffy white clouds as it headed up over the Atlantic Ocean. Its hydrogen-fueled engines catapulted the spaceship to a speed of 28 160kph and it later settled into an orbital perch about 350km above the planet. Saturday was the final possible day for the launch before Nasa would have faced a lengthy postponement while Russia flies a replacement crew to the space station. The six astronauts aboard the shuttle face a jam-packed, 11-day schedule. In addition to inspections, they have a complicated installation to perform on the space station. The shuttle carries a $372-million truss segment that contains the space station's second set of solar arrays and a rotary joint so the panels can track the sun. The chore requires careful coordination between the shuttle and the station's robotic cranes, oversight from Nasa's Mission Control in Houston, as well as the full attention of the shuttle and station crews. Three spacewalks are planned during the flight. Nasa has one extra day available if problems develop during the solar array deployment or if engineers need the crew to make additional inspections of the ship's heat shield. Atlantis must leave the station by September 18 to clear the way for the arrival two days later of a Russian Soyuz rocket carrying two new station crew members and Iranian-born American entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari, the first woman to fly as a tourist to the outpost. Atlantis is scheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Centre before dawn on September 20. If you missed the launch live, here is a link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9VEzsULfl0

The New England Patriots will open their 47th season by hosting the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium tomorrow, Sunday Sept. 10. All of the work the Patriots have done since last year's playoffs will be put to its first true test when the season gets underway against a divisional opponent for just the second time in seven years. This week's game will be broadcast by CBS. Pat's looked good during the preseason and shouldn't have much trouble with the bills. Over the two teams' last 11 matchups, the Pats have dominated, winning 10. My prediction 31-10, Pats steam roll them. :)

NASA makes its fifth attempt to get Atlantis off the launch pad at 11:15 a.m. today. If the mission is scrubbed again, the space agency must abandon for a few weeks its efforts to send the shuttle off on a construction mission at the international space station. NASA stopped Friday's launch try only 45 minutes before its scheduled launch. This time it was a faulty fuel tank sensor — the same glitch that thwarted two previous missions. The launch delay cost NASA $616,000. The shuttle's external fuel tanks were filled as scheduled in about 3 hours Saturday morning, exhibiting no problems with any sensor. Weather continued to look favorable, with only a 20 percent chance of storms interfering.

Daniel Craig might make a good Bond after all! Check out the trailer...

http://www.filmwad.com/out.phtml?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmovies.aol.com%2Fcasino-royale-james-bond%2Fexclusive-video-features

NASA scrubbed the much-delayed liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis on Friday amid concerns about a faulty sensor on the external fuel tank. Another attempt at a launch will be made Saturday after the fuel tank is emptied and refilled, NASA spokesman George Diller said. The "preferred" launch time is around 11:15 a.m. Saturday, Diller said. A long discussion between NASA engineers, managers and safety officers Friday morning ended with a conclusion that the three functioning sensors were not enough to ensure the main-engine cutoff system would work safely during launch. A similar sensor has plagued previous missions, and a malfunctioning fuel cell held up the launch of Atlantis earlier this week. Shuttle managers on Thursday evening defended their decision to proceed with the launch. Extensive review of engineering data convinced a NASA troubleshooting team that the problem involving the fuel cell's coolant pump is isolated and would not lead to a failure during launch or the shuttle's 11-day mission. Managers said they were confident that the risk of a fuel cell's failure is low.

Zoo Atlanta announced the birth of a giant panda cub Wednesday. On its official Web site, the zoo said the cub was born to Lun Lun at 4:51p.m. The zoo announced little else but that the mother and cub appeared to be doing fine. A news conference is scheduled for Wednesday evening. Keepers will give the cub, which is about the size of a human hand, its first veterinary check-up when it is possible to do so without disrupting maternal care, the zoo said. In March, the zoo announced it had used artificial insemination on 8-year old Lun Lun after natural breeding with her male companion, Yang Yang, 9, appeared unlikely. According to Zoo Atlanta, this is only the fifth giant panda cub birth in the United States since 1990. Only an estimated 1,600 giant pandas live in the wild now. The zoo says another 185 live in captivity. Zoo Atlanta said it was hopeful a new cub would increase the genetic variability in the captive population, and would allow for more research on giant panda maternal behavior. It took Zoo Atlanta 12 years to complete the process to bring the pandas from China. They arrived in November of 1999.

NASA has delayed launching the Shuttle Atlantis before Friday because of problems with one of the craft's fuel cells. It was initially put off until Thursday, but engineers said they need more time to work out how serious the problem is. When the mission managers switched the fuel cells on, one malfunction caused a voltage spike in the other two. For a launch all three must be working, NASA says, but reports vary as to what this means for Atlantis. "The launch rules say you need to have three good, operating fuel cells," NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham told the BBC. "We're going to see if it's something that's a real problem or whether it's something we can rectify." However, in the New York Times, shuttle program director N Wayne Hale Jr said that under the rules the Shuttle could launch without the problem being fixed, but that engineers wanted to understand it properly. Although it is working well enough to launch, if it fails in flight, the mission would have to be ended early, the paper reports. If the cell has to be replaced, NASA will miss the current launch window. The procedure normally takes about a week. Adding to an already complicated situation is the fact that NASA doesn't know exactly how the fuel cell works! "The vendor sold us the thing in 1976 and didn't exactly tell us how it works, amazing as that might be," Hale said. Hale reported that more tests and analysis would be necessary because there has been no previous failure of this nature in the history of the program. The next launch attempt will be no earlier 11:41 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 8. Friday is the last possible launch date before scheduling conflicts with the planned Russian visit to the International Space Station, will force NASA to wait until late October before trying again.

William Shatner has turned down a free trip into space because it's "not my idea of a good time", as the actor explained to UK tabloid The Sun. Richard Branson offered the 75-year-old a ticket for Virgin Galactic’s first passenger flight in 2008. Shatner, however, declared: "I'm interested in man's march into the unknown but to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time. Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over me. I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back." Kirk will not, then, be joining Ripley on the "VSS Enterprise" when it finally blasts off from Virgin Galactic’s New Mexico spaceport. Sigourney Weaver booked her flight back in 2004, prompting a spokesperson to comment: "We’d be delighted to take Sigourney back to visit the Aliens."

NASA called off Wednesday's planned launch of space shuttle Atlantis because of an irregularity in the system that provides electrical power when the spacecraft is in orbit. If the problem can be fixed quickly, the shuttle could lift off Thursday or Friday on its critical mission but then would be grounded until the end of the month. Fueling the shuttle never got under way before one of three cells providing electricity to the shuttle malfunctioned. The space agency planned to further examine the problem and try again at 12:03 p.m. Thursday. If Atlantis doesn't get in the air this week, the next chance probably won't come until late October. Keep your fingers crossed.

After more than a week of storm delays, NASA may be getting its best shot weather-wise for launching space shuttle Atlantis. There is only a 20 percent chance that weather would prohibit the shuttle from blasting off at 12:28 p.m. Wednesday as planned. Unlike last week's planned launch attempts, the window Wednesday opens before Florida's afternoon summer thunderstorms normally blow through, and a tropical depression brewing in the Atlantic wasn't expected to interfere. If Atlantis doesn't lift off on Wednesday, NASA will try again Thursday and also Friday if necessary. NASA has tried launching three times in a row only once before, in 2000. Atlantis originally was scheduled to launch Aug. 27 on a mission to resume construction of the international space station, but that launch was delayed after a lightning strike at the launch pad. The lightning didn't hit the spacecraft, but by the time the shuttle was cleared for launch, Tropical Storm Ernesto was approaching Florida. NASA managers on Aug. 29 ordered the shuttle returned to its protective assembly building, then reversed course midway through the 10-hour journey when Ernesto's forecast was downgraded. By sending the shuttle back to its launch pad immediately, NASA gained enough time to prepare for a launch this week. Launching the shuttle past Friday would run up against the timetable for a Russian launch to the space station. The Russian space agency plans a Sept. 18 launch of a Soyuz capsule with the first international space station-bound female space tourist, Anousheh Ansari, a Dallas-area entrepreneur. If the shuttle doesn't lift off this week, NASA still is looking at the possibility of waiving a rule that Atlantis be launched in daylight in order to open up launch opportunities in late September or early October. Otherwise, the next daylight attempt could not be made until late October, said Wayne Hale, space shuttle program manager. NASA wants one more daylight launch so the space agency can have clear photos of Atlantis' external fuel tank during lift off. Atlantis' six astronauts have the complicated job of restarting space station construction, which was stopped after the Columbia disaster in 2003. Crew members, who have been training for four years, will deliver a 35,000-pound, $372 million addition to the half-built station. Their 11-day mission includes three spacewalks.

At the 10 a.m. countdown status briefing on Monday, all systems were reported "go" for the scheduled launch of Atlantis on Wednesday at 12:29 p.m. Jeff Spaulding, NASA test director, said that the loading of both the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen has been completed and they are "tracking no issues at this time and we're right on track with all of our timelines." Spaulding indicated that the retraction of the rotating service structure is currently planned for 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Spaulding said, "I'm pleased to announce that the wait is nearly over and we'll be ready on Wednesday for Atlantis' launch." Robbie Ashley, STS-115 payload manager, explained that the STS-115 payload had "no work planned or required during the delay" and that the only payload work remaining would be an experiment stow on Tuesday. Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer, reported favorable weather for the midday launch time on Wednesday, with only 20 percent chance of weather interfering with liftoff. Later today, NASA TV will also carry the Launch Readiness News Conference live from Kennedy. Updating the launch status and answering questions from the media will be LeRoy Cain, launch integration manager, Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director, and U.S. Air Force First Lt. Kaleb Nordgren of the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Coverage will begin at approximately 4 p.m. The countdown officially began at 8 a.m. Sunday, at the T-43 hour mark, which includes over 30 hours of built-in hold time prior to a targeted 12:29 p.m. launch on Wednesday. The launch time is the middle point in the launch window that extends for 10 minutes. The STS-115 crew consists of Commander Brent W. Jett Jr., Pilot Christopher J. Ferguson and Mission Specialists Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank and Steven G. MacLean, who represents the Canadian Space Agency. With this mission, NASA is ready to get back to building the International Space Station, marking the first time in almost four years that a space station component has been added to the orbiting outpost. That also means the shuttle program is coming up on some of the most challenging space missions ever. During their three spacewalks, crew members of Atlantis will install the P3/P4 integrated truss and a second set of solar arrays on the space station, doubling the station’s current ability to generate power from sunlight and adding 17.5 tons to its mass.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had an emergency appendectomy after becoming ill Sunday and will miss Thursday night's season opener against Miami. Coach Bill Cowher is not certain how long Roethlisberger will be out following the quarterback's third operation in 10 months and second in 21/2 months. Roethlisberger began having pain and was vomiting Sunday morning, and was taken to UPMC Presbyterian for surgery after being examined by the team's medical staff. "The surgery went well," Cowher said. "He is obviously going to be out this week and we will go week to week from there." Charlie Batch, the former Lions starter who was 2-0 as a fill-in last season when Roethlisberger hurt his knee, will start against the Dolphins in the NFL's season-opening showcase game. "This is why Charlie is here. Charlie will be fine," Cowher said. "It's a situation that can happen to any football team. You can go out there and have a starter go down, whether it's an ankle or something else of that nature. That's the nature of the business." The appendix attack is yet another medical setback for Roethlisberger, who nearly died in a June 12 motorcycle accident only to make a remarkably fast recovery. He missed no practice time during training camp and played better in the preseason than he did last year, when he went on to lead the Steelers to their first Super Bowl victory in 26 years. Roethlisberger missed four games last season because of two knee injuries, one that required surgery, and injured his right thumb late in the season. He later said he broke it, though the Steelers never have confirmed that, but he missed no playing time because of that injury. It was not immediately known if the motorcycle accident might have caused any internal damage that subsequently resulted in the appendix attack. All of Roethlisberger's known injuries from the crash -- a broken nose, orbital bones and upper and lower jaw, damaged teeth and a concussion -- were to his head. According to various medical journals, one cause of appendicitis can be a perforation in the appendix. Unless there is severe bleeding, an otherwise healthy patient such as Roethlisberger often is released within 24 hours of surgery and has a relatively short recovery time. Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward also had an appendectomy in 2002 and missed the final two exhibition games, but returned to make eight catches in the season opener against New England. The Steelers were to begin the season with only two quarterbacks, Roethlisberger and Batch, plus rookie Omar Jacobs on their practice squad. But Cowher said they would bring in another quarterback this week. One possibility might be former starter Tommy Maddox, who knows the Steelers' system better than any other quarterback they could bring in on short notice. But Maddox played poorly while losing two starts when Roethlisberger was out last season. Unhappy at being cut after the season ended, Maddox was the only Steelers player who did not attend a White House ceremony honoring the Super Bowl champions this summer. "We will assess the backup (situation) as the week goes on. This is the situation we are being dealt and we are not asking for any pity nor are we going to make any excuses," Cowher said. "We are going to get ready for Miami accordingly." Roethlisberger is the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, doing so at age 23 as the Steelers beat Seattle 21-10 on Feb. 5. He is off to one of the best starts of any NFL quarterback in history, leading the Steelers to a 27-4 record in his 31 starts and to two AFC championship games and one Super Bowl in two seasons. The Steelers made the playoffs last season even with Roethlisberger sitting out one-quarter of their schedule, and Cowher said they will overcome this latest setback.

Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44. Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous bard on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said. "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time. Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said. Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter." First broadcast in Australia in 1992, the program was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting Irwin to international celebrity. He rode his image into a feature film, 2002's "The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course" and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction. "The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, 'Crocs Rule!'" Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honor President Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was "shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death." "It's a huge loss to Australia," Howard told reporters. "He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people." Irwin, who made a trademark of hovering dangerously close to untethered crocodiles and leaping on their backs, spoke in rapid-fire bursts with a thick Australian accent and was almost never seen without his uniform of khaki shorts and shirt and heavy boots. His ebullience was infectious and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally. Irwin's public image was dented, however, in 2004 when he caused an uproar by holding his infant son in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin claimed at the time there was no danger to the child, and authorities declined to charge Irwin with violating safety regulations. Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken against him. Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin. Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart. "It was extraordinarily bad luck. It's not easy to get spined by a stingray and to be killed by one is very rare," Collin said. News of Irwin's death spread quickly, and tributes flowed from all quarters of society.
At Australia Zoo at Beerwah, south Queensland, floral tributes were dropped at the entrance, where a huge fake crocodile gapes. Drivers honked their horns as they passed. "Steve, from all God's creatures, thank you. Rest in peace," was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers. "We're all very shocked. I don't know what the zoo will do without him. He's done so much for us, the environment and it's a big loss," said Paula Kelly, a local resident and volunteer at the zoo, after dropping off a wreath at the gate. Stainton said Irwin's American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December. The couple met when she went on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin's Australia Zoo; they were married six months later. Sometimes referred to as the "Crocodile Huntress," she costarred on her husband's television show and in his 2002 movie.