Discovery Astronauts Inspect Shuttle For Damage

From The Two-Way

A large piece of foam had fallen away from an external fuel tank after Thursday's launch, which appeared to then hit the shuttle's thermal tiles.


But the incident occurred four minutes into the flight — a time, NASA analysts say, that presents far less danger than in the first moments after launch. The foam reportedly did no damage to the tiles.

Good luck, Astronauts.  Come home safely.

Meanwhile:  Short term conspiracy effect:  Ed Dames' credibility got a big shot in the arm /or amazingly lucky break, didn't it?

A "New" Planet Hiding Under Our Galactic Nose?

Tyche, Giant Hidden Planet, May Exist In Our Solar System From the Independent. Excerpts:

If you grew up thinking there were nine planets and were shocked when Pluto was demoted five years ago, get ready for another surprise. There may be nine after all, and Jupiter may not be the largest.
The hunt is on for a gas giant up to four times the mass of Jupiter thought to be lurking in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of the solar system. The orbit of Tyche (pronounced ty-kee), would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth's, and 375 times farther than Pluto's, which is why it hasn't been seen so far. But scientists now believe the proof of its existence has already been gathered by a Nasa space telescope, Wise, and is just waiting to be analysed.

Our knowledge of not only deep space, but our "galactic neighborhood" continues to grow at an astounding rate.