Because We COUNT!

[Skinny Bastard]

Image above: The STS-121 crewmembers gather for an in-flight crew photo in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. From the left (bottom) are astronauts Stephanie Wilson, mission specialist; Steve Lindsey, commander; and Lisa Nowak, mission specialist. From the left (top) are astronauts Piers Sellers, Mike Fossum, both mission specialists; and Mark Kelly, pilot. Credit: NASA

The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery tested new equipment and procedures that increase the safety of space shuttles during the STS-121 mission to the International Space Station. It also performed maintenance on the space station and delivered supplies, equipment and a new Expedition 13 crew member to the station.

This mission carried on analysis of safety improvements that debuted on the Return to Flight mission, STS-114, and built upon those tests.

[AYHJA]

On 1/22 1517, the Turks conquered Cairo...

[hotheat]

[center][/center]

[NotFunny]

OK that fits better, Antonov An-124, the largest airplane in production until the Antonov An-225 was built

[hotheat]

[center]Sonnet 125

Were't aught to me I bore the canopy,
With my extern the outward honouring,
Or laid great bases for eternity,
Which proves more short than waste or ruining?
Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour
Lose all and more by paying too much rent
For compound sweet; forgoing simple savour,
Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent?
No; let me be obsequious in thy heart,
And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
Which is not mix'd with seconds, knows no art,
But mutual render, only me for thee.
Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soul
When most impeach'd, stands least in thy control.

–William Shakespeare[/center]

[Skinny Bastard]

The periodicity and recurrence of solar (and lunar) eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). When two eclipses are separated by a period of one Saros, they share a very similar geometry. The two eclipses occur at the same node with the Moon at nearly the same distance from Earth and at the same time of year. Thus, the Saros is useful for organizing eclipses into families or series. Each series typically lasts 12 to 13 centuries and contains 70 or more eclipses. Every saros series begins with a number of partial eclipses near one of Earth's polar regions. The series will then produce several dozen central eclipses before ending with a group of partial eclipses near the opposite pole.

The current cylce that we are in is referred to as Saros Series 126. Solar eclipses of Saros 126 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 1179 Mar 10. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2459 May 03. The total duration of Saros series 126 is 1280.14 years. In summary:

First Eclipse = 1179 Mar 10 07:39:51 TD
Last Eclipse = 2459 May 03 02:35:54 TD

Duration of Saros 126 = 1280.14 Years

[shining2001uk]

My head hurts just reading this:

127 is a Mersenne prime, 27 - 1, and as such, in binary it is a repunit prime, a permutable prime and a palindromic prime. This also means it is the largest integer that can be represented by a signed byte.

As a Mersenne prime, 127 is related to the perfect number 8128. 127 is also an exponent for the Mersenne prime 2127 - 1, making 127 a double Mersenne prime. (2127 - 1 was discovered by Edouard Lucas in 1876, and held the record for the largest known prime for 75 years. It's still the largest prime ever discovered by hand calculations.)

127 is also a cuban prime of the form p = (x3 − y3) / (x − y), x = y + 1. The next prime is 131, with which it comprises a cousin prime. Because the next odd number, 129, is a semiprime, 127 is a Chen prime. 127 is greater than the arithmetic mean of its two neighboring primes, thus it's a strong prime.

It is the sum of the sums of divisors of the first twelve integers.

127 is a centered hexagonal number.

It is the 7th Motzkin number.

It is a nice Friedman number in base 10, since 127 = -1 + 27, as well as binary since 1111111 = (1 + 1)111 - 1 * 1.

[deepdiver32073]

The Commodore 128 (C128, CBM 128, C=128) home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines (CBM). Introduced in January of 1985 at the CES in Las Vegas, it appeared three years after its predecessor, the bestselling Commodore 64.

[Skinny Bastard]

If you ever want to petition for an alien to come to the United States temporarily to perform services or labor, or to receive training, or if you need to request an extension of stay or change of status for an alien already here for the afore mentioned purposes, you will need to fill out an I-129 Form.

[deepdiver32073]

USS JACOB JONES (DD-130)

CLASS - WICKES (TATTNALL)

Built to Bath plans, built by New York SB., these Wickes versions were
slightly heavier but had a much poorer cruising radius.
Displacement 1,211 Tons, Dimensions, 314' 5" (oa) x 31' 8" x 9' 10" (Max)
Armament 4 x 4"/50, 2 x 3"/23AA, 12 x 21" tt..
Machinery, 24,900 SHP; Direct Drive Turbines with Geared Cruising Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 35 Knots, Crew 101.

Operational and Building Data:
Laid down by New York Shipbuilding on February 21 1918.
Launched November 20 1918 and commissioned October 20 1919.
Decommissioned at San Diego on June 24 1922.
Recommissioned on May 1 1930.

Fate Jacob Jones was torpedoed twice by U-578 off Cape May N.J. February 28 1942.
Only 12 men were picked up the next morning and 1 of those died enroute to Cape May NJ.