Robbie Maddison rides motorcycle off ski jump

Australian stunt rider launches going 71 mph, drops 18 1/2 stories and jumps 374 feet; warms up by racing down the bobsled run at Utah Olympic Park

November 11, 2014 by David Strege

Robbie Maddison jumps off a ski ramp going 71 mph in latest stunt. Photo is a screen grab from the video

For those wondering what Robbie Maddison would do for his next trick, the answer has arrived with two stunts of Olympic proportions.

The Australian motorcycle stunt rider, known as today’s Evel Knievel, dropped in on the Utah Olympic Park in Park City and raced down the bobsled run before making a spectacular jump off the K120 Nordic Ski long jump.

Maddison, 33, launched going 71 mph, dropped 18 1/2 stories (or 185 feet, said to be a world record), and jumped a total length of 374 feet. Maddison teamed with Skullcandy and Red Bull Media House’s On Any Sunday to produce the video Drop In (the bobsled run starts at the :50 mark; the jump at 2:05):

These stunts are the latest in a long line of feats by the daredevil whose biography describes him with one word: nutter.

“He’s jumped over a football, held world records for longest distance jumped on a motorcycle (with a trick thrown in for good measure!), he jumped onto a replica of the Arc de Triomphe, then just for fun, jumped back down,” the Robbie Maddison bio says. “He back-flipped over the opened Tower Bridge in London, leapt over 300 feet across the Corinth Canal and most recently jumped close to 400 feet over the San Diego Harbor with friend Levi Lavallee on a snowmobile next to him. Starting to get the picture?”

Robbie Maddison rounds curve 11 of the bobsled run at Utah Olympic Park. Photo fromSkullcandy Facebook page

To be sure, Maddison is every bit as daring as Knievel.

On the 40th anniversary of Knievel’s ill-fated jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on December 31, 2007, Maddison broke the world record for motorcycle jumping, travelling 322.6 feet. He has since jumped 350.98 feet.

And like Knievel, Maddison has had his share of injuries.

“In some ways, serious injuries helped me refocus on how important this whole adventure around the world is to me,” he says in his bio. “It fires me up more than ever, so it’s a blessing in disguise. Traveling the world, doing something I love, meeting the people I’ve met—it’s been a wild ride and I want to keep it going for as long as I can.”

Can’t wait to see what Robbie Maddison will do next.

THE HUNGARIAN - BORN PAINTER WHO

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In a way, artists are the most important men and women in the aerospace industry when it came to visualizing the visions of the near (or far) future from engineers, scientists and experts. The first piece of our new series showcasing the work of some of the most noted aerospace artists, is about to pay tribute to the exceptional talent of official NASA artist Attila Héjja (1955-2007).

Héjja was born in Budapest, Hungary, and moved to the United States with his family at the age of two, in 1956, the year of the Hungarian Uprising. He started studying art at the age of 16, and later founded his own art academy in his home town of Oyster Bay, New York. His professional artist career spanned more than 30 years, as a NASA artist, a stamp artist, an official U.S. Air Force artist, and an illustrator for several magazines, until his unexpected death seven years ago.

His dynamic, dramatic, and breathtakingly beautiful paintings are displayed in both private and public collections worldwide, and have been exhibited permanently in US museums, and in traveling exhibits throughout Europe and Japan. The following selection–including four iconic space shuttle paintings and several photorealistic artworks of non-existing air- or spacecraft–are timeless depictions of his very American vision of air and space.

Tomorrow's Air Force - Systems Command, 1984

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Image source: National Archives OPA

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Riding the Laser, 1983

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Image source: National Archives OPA

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The New Bird, 1982

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Image source: National Archives OPA

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Cape Winds, 1984. The original painting is on display in the Visitor's Center, Cape Kennedy, Florida.

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Image source: EAC Gallery

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Lightship, 1984. The original painting is on display in the Visitor's Center, Cape Kennedy, Florida.

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Image source: Iowa Digital Library

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A Night Journey, 1984. The original painting is on display in the Visitor's Center, Cape Kennedy, Florida.

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Image source: US Military Art

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2001 and Beyond, 1982

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Image source: National Archives OPA

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Super Plane Jumbo Jet, Popular Mechanics cover, March 1989.

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Image source: Heritage Auctions

NASA Captured the Lonely Last Journey of an Aircraft Carrier

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This is the loneliest funeral march I've ever seen. This photo from November 5th was taken during a NASA mission called Operation IceBridge, the goal of which is to survey polar ice. But it also captured the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64), a Kitty Hawk-class supercarrier being towed by comparatively tiny tugboats. The Constellation is destined for demolition after41 years of commissioned service and 11 years of retirement. The huge Navy vessel will be scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, after being towed around Cape Horn on her final voyage.

Europe set to make space history with comet landing

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Paris (AFP) - One of the biggest gambles in space history comes to a climax on Wednesday when Europe attempts to make the first-ever landing on a comet.

The 100-kilogram (220-pound) probe will seek out a minuscule landing site on the treacherous surface of an object darker than coal, half a billion kilometres (300 million miles) from home.Speeding towards the Sun at 65,000 kilometres (40,600 miles) per hour, a lab called Philae will detach from its mothership Rosetta, heading for a deep-space rendezvous laden with risk.

"It's not going to be an easy business," was the understated prediction of Philippe Gaudon of France's National Centre for Space (CNES) as the mission prepared to enter countdown mode.

The stakes facing Rosetta managers in Darmstadt, Germany are daunting as the 1.3-billion-euro ($1.61-billion) project reaches a peak.

Two decades of work have been poured into what could be a crowning moment in space exploration.

The goal: the first laboratory research into the primeval matter of the Solar System -- ancient ice and dust that, some experts believe, may have helped to sow life on Earth itself.

According to this theory, comets pounded the fledgling Earth 4.6 billion years ago, providing it with complex organic carbon molecules and precious water.

Rosetta has already sent home fascinating data on the comet, but Philae will provide the first boots-on-the-ground assessment, using 10 instruments to study the comet's physical and chemical composition.

Like Rosetta, it will wield a mass spectrometer, a high-tech tool to analyse a sample's chemical signature, aimed at drawing up a complete carbon inventory.

The showstopper find would be molecules known as left-handed amino acids, the European Space Agency (ESA) says.

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Photo released on September 19, 2014 by the European Space 

"These are the 'bricks' with which all proteins on Earth are built," it says.

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But getting Philae into position will be a white-knuckle ride.

After its launch in 2004, Rosetta spent 10 years zig-zagging around Earth and Mars, using the planets' gravitational pull as a slingshot to build up speed to reach its prey, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

But when Rosetta finally caught up with it in August, it witnessed a sight that caused despondency back on Earth.

Far from being a simple potato shape, "67P" turned out be two gnarled lobes about four km across joined by a narrow neck.

It looked like an super-dark rubber duck, ravaged by aeons in orbit, turning slowly in space.

Its surface was a nightmare of crests and gullies, studded with hundreds of rocks as high as 50 metres (165 feet) and wicked slopes with an incline greater than 30 degrees.

This was a huge, unexpected problem, said Francis Rocard, a French astrophysicist.

"It took a billion calculations to find a decent landing site" -- one offering a fair chance that Philae could survive and meet scientific goals, he said.

If final "go/no-go" assessments give the green light, Philae will separate from Rosetta about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the comet at 0835 GMT on Wednesday.

"Then it's a very gentle freefall for the next seven hours," said Sylvain Lodiot, in charge of flight operations.

After that comes the hard bit.

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No one knows what a comet's surface is like.

Is it hard and crusty, like a shell? Crumbly? Slippery? Is it brittle -- will it crack, causing Philae to sink into some fudgy or spongey substance below?

Seeking to cover all the possibilities, Philae's designers have equipped the lander with three outstretched legs designed to dampen the impact.

When the lab touches down, it will fire two harpoons to secure it to what -- hopefully -- will be a robust surface, while a thruster on top of the lander will fire to cancel out bounce. Ice screws in the lander feet will deploy for extra grip.

The chances of success? "Seventy percent," said Gaudon, admitting to days of doubt that the chances were much better than one in two.

"We need to be lucky," added Andrea Accomazzo, flight director.

And only then can Philae start its real mission of analysing the makeup of the comet.

Batteries will be enough to keep the probe going for 60 hours, but recharging from sunlight "could keep us going until March," said Rocard.

Prince Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Princess Noal Zaher of Afghanistan prepare for their royal wedding

Prince Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Princess Noal Zaher, granddaughter of King Zaher Shah of Afghanistan, are busy preparing for their impending royal wedding. 

The couple, who announced their engagement on 27 April 2013, are set to tie the knot on 30 August at the Palace of Çirağan on the European shores of the Istanbul Strait in Turkey.

Muhammad and Noal's union is unusual nowadays as the decedants of two royal householdsrarely marry one another as this was far more common in the past.


 

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The Egyptian prince was born in Cairo in 1979 and is the eldest son of Fuad II, the last king of Egypt, giving him the title of Prince of Sa'id. Muhammad's father only reigned for the first few months of his childhood until the Egyptian Revolution in 1952, although his son remains the heir to the currently abolished Muhammad Ali dynasty.

Today Prince Muhammad resides in Paris where he works in real estate and met his princess during a holiday in Istanbul.


 

From left to right: Prince Muhammad Ali, Noal Zaher's mother, Fatima Aref Begum, Muhammad's father, King Fuad II and Princess Noal Zaher

Princess Noal Zaher was born in 1980 in the Italian capital of Rome and her father is Mohammed Daoud Khan Pachtounyar, the fifth son of the last king of Afghanistan Zahir Shah and his queen, Homeira.

Noal Zaher graduated from the famous French university Institut Saint-Dominique with a degree in European Business before specialising in jewellery design at Webster University in London.

Noal Zaher and her fiancé were joined by members of their family, including a delighted King Fuad II and Noal Zaher's mother, Fatima Aref Begum, for some official portraits to commemorate their engagement.

Prince William and Duchess Kate arrive in Wales

Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, née Kate Middleton, made a joint appearance in Wales on Saturday 8 November. The royal couple, who used to live on the Welsh island of Anglesey, kicked off their "Wales away day" with a visit to the Valero Refinery in Pembroke.

The pregnant Duchess sported a light blue Matthew Williamson coat dress and tall black boots for the occasion and accessorised her look with a pair of glittering green amethyst earrings by Kiki McDonough. Although small, the Duchess' baby bump was visible as she waved to royal fans who lined the street outside the refinery.

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The Duke and Duchess are in Wales for the first time since announcing Kate's second pregnancy

It was a musical welcome for Prince George's parents as two young ladies playing the harp and the flute honoured their arrival. 

The refinery, which is celebrating 50 years since it was officially opened by the Queen Mother, said William and Kate's visit was a "huge honour". 

Duchess Kate wore a baby blue coat by Matthew Williamson

After touring the refinery the couple will be treated to a performance by the Young Actors Studio, who work in partnership with the refinery through The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Following their engagement in Pembroke, the parents-to-be will travel to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to watch a rugby match between Wales and Australia.

For the past week the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been off-duty and spending time Queen's Balmoral estate in Scotland.

Gorbachev warns world 'on brink of new Cold War'

BERLIN (AP) — Tensions between the major powers have pushed the world closer to a new Cold War, former Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev said Saturday.

The 83-year-old accused the West, particularly the United States, of giving in to "triumphalism" after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of the communist bloc a quarter century ago. The result, he said, could partly be seen in the inability of global powers to prevent or resolve conflicts in Yugoslavia, the Middle East and most recently Ukraine.

"The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that it's already begun," Gorbachev said at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, close to the city's iconic Brandenburg Gate.

Gorbachev called for trust to be restored through dialogue with Moscow, and suggested the West should lift sanctions imposed against senior Russian officials over the country's support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. Failure to achieve security in Europe would make the continent irrelevant in world affairs, he said.

Gorbachev's comments echoed those of Roland Dumas, France's foreign minister at the time the Berlin Wall fell.

"Without freedom between nations, without respect of one nation to another, and without strong and brave disarmament policy, everything could start over again tomorrow," Dumas said. "Even everything we used to know, and what we called the Cold War."

President Barack Obama appeared to share some of Gorbachev's concerns for Europe, though he blamed Moscow for the current tensions.

Paying tribute to the East Berliners who pushed past border guards to flood through the Wall on Nov. 9, 1989, Obama said in a statement Friday that "as Russia's actions against Ukraine remind us, we have more work to do to fully realize our shared vision of a Europe that is whole, free and at peace."

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