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Showing posts from November 12, 2017

Honshu and Okinawa

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I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
SpaceX is launching the secret ZUMA project today. We know it is not a spy satellite. I think the secret is right beneath our noses. Forbes Article below from Oct 2015. First Private Moon Mission Set For Blast-off In 2017 Brid-Aine Parnell , Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Tweet This The magnitude of this achievement cannot be overstated, representing an unprecedented and monumental commitment for a privately-funded organization The first private mission to the Moon plans to launch in just two years, as Israeli non-profit SpaceIL aims to win Google’s Lunar XPRIZE of $30m. SpaceIL has become the first of the competition hopefuls to actually book a place on a launch to get its uncrewed rover on its way to a private soft landing on the Moon. At a press conference in Jerusalem, the non-profit organisation said it had signed up with Spaceflight Industries, which recently bought a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to facilitate the ridesharing launche...