Joe Biden on Thursday shuffled into a highly scripted joint presser with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a full day of working sessions at the G7 Summit in Italy. Biden signed a 10-year bilateral…

SPLC CEO Margaret Huang The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a far-left activist group that spreads lies and conspiracy theories about conservatives and anti-establishment figures, has confirmed that…

In 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in the Jezero Crater on Mars. For the next three years, this astrobiology mission collected soil and rock samples from the crater floor for eventual return to Earth. The analysis of these samples is expected to reveal much about Mars’ past and how it transitioned from being a warmer, wetter place to the frigid and desiccated place we know today. Unfortunately, budget cuts have placed the future of the proposed NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission in doubt. As a result, NASA recently announced that it was seeking proposals for more cost-effective and rapid methods of bringing the samples home. This will consist of three studies by NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL). In addition, NASA has selected seven commercial partners for firm-fixed-price contracts for up to $1.5 million to conduct their own 90-day studies. Once complete, NASA will consider which proposals to integrate into the MSR mission architecture. As Administrator Bill Nelson stated in a NASA press release “Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has undertaken, and it is critical that we carry it out more quickly, with less risk, and at a lower cost. I’m excited to see the vision that these companies, centers and partners present as we look for fresh, exciting, and innovative ideas to uncover great cosmic secrets from the Red Planet.” The MSR mission represents the culmination of decades of efforts to learn more about the early history of Mars. NASA had originally hoped that the first crewed mission (planned for 2033) would retrieve the samples and transport them back to Earth. However, delays and budget concerns have led to growing concerns that a crewed mission will not reach Mars until 2040 (at the earliest). As a result, NASA and the European Space Agency adopted a joint mission architecture consisting of multiple robotic elements that would return the samples by 2031. This included the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL), two Sample Recovery Helicopters (SRH), the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), and the Earth Entry System (EES). However, the current budget environment forced NASA to announce that the 15-year MSR mission architecture (which would cost $11 billion) was too expensive and that waiting until 2040 was impractical. As a result, NASA has adopted a revised plan that leverages current technology and will return the Mars samples by the 2030s. As NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at the time: “Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has ever undertaken. The bottom line is, an $11 billion budget is too expensive, and a 2040 return date is too far away. Safely landing and collecting the samples, launching a rocket with the samples off another planet – which has never been done before – and safely transporting the samples more than 33 million miles back to Earth is no small task. We need to look outside the box to find a way ahead that is both affordable and returns samples in a reasonable timeframe.” In addition to the NASA-led studies, seven aerospace companies have been selected to develop sample-return concepts. They include NASA’s regular commercial partners, such as Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Blue Origin, and Northrop Grumman, as well as relative newcomers Quantum Space and Whittinghill Aerospace. A total of $10 million has been awarded to these companies to develop their concepts, the full list of which can be found here. Once again, NASA is facing a budget crunch and has reached out to its commercial partners to develop cost-effective alternatives. This is in keeping with NASA’s long history of collaborating with the commercial sector to develop key mission concepts. However, the need to outsource major elements of its Moon to Mars program highlights the agency’s ongoing budget problems. As independent experts have concluded, a budget increase is necessary if NASA is to realize its ambitious goals for the future. Further Reading: NASA The post NASA is Considering Other Ways of Getting its Mars Samples Home appeared first on Universe Today.

A major milestone.

Def Leppard released a new song called "Just Like 73" which also has the Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello. As the title of the single suggests, their inspiration came from the early 70s music, but especially Glam Rock. Leppard is currently preparing for a North American tour alongside Journey. Besides Joe Elliott and Phil Collen, who were credited as the lyricists of the song alongside the composer Dave Bassett, the band has been the same since the early 90s. Also featuring Rick Allen, Rick Savage and Vivian Campbell. Hear the new Def Leppard song "Just Like 73", featuring Tom Morello: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUTI7Ck8VaQ In an official statement, the guitarist Tom Morello talked about the track, saying: “I played ‘Rock of Ages’ in my college cover band nearly 40 years ago,” he shared in a press release. The Rage Against the Machine guitarist takes the lead on the guitar solo, using his distinctive whammy bar to further enhance the vintage vibes of “Just Like ‘73,” Tom Morello said. Leppard's guitarist Phil Collen, who is one of the lyricists of the song, also talked about the track, saying: “When I saw David Bowie on TV between 1972 and 1973, everything I thought I knew about music went from black and white to vivid Technicolor. Just Like ‘73’ represents that awakening.” Next Def Leppard tour dates July 6 – Busch Stadium, St Louis, MO 10 – Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL 13 – Truist Park, Atlanta, GA 15 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL 18 – Comerica Park, Detroit, MI 20 – Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN 23 – Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA 25 – Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA 27 – PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA 30 – Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH August 2 – Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada 5 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA 7 – Citi Field, Queens, NY 9 – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, FL 12 – Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX 14 – Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX 16 – Alamodome, San Antonio, TX 19 – Target Field, Minneapolis, MN 23 – Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ 25 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA 28 – Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA 30 – Petco Park, San Diego, CA September 4 – T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA 6 – Spokane Arena, Spokane, WA 8 – Coors Field, Denver, CO 10 – USANA Amphitheatre, West Valley City, UT The post Def Leppard releases new song featuring Tom Morello appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

The classic Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony recalled in an interview with Ultimate Guitar that when David Lee Roth released his first album "Eat 'Em and Smile", he felt like he was trying to put a band together to "kick" Van Halen's ass. Because he had put together some of the greatest players in the business: Gregg Bissonette (Drums), Steve Vai (Guitar) and Billy Sheehan (Bass). Anthony also said that although he doesn't recall if he heard the entire album at some point in his life, he said that it was a great one and that he like it. Michael Anthony says he liked the first David Lee Roth solo album "Yeah. I mean, I haven't heard it in a long time. And I actually don't even know if I've heard the whole album ever in its entirety. That's a great album. I mean, I'm friends with Billy (Sheehan). And Steve (Vai). Obviously, they're both great frickin' players. It was great." "At first, my thoughts were, 'Is Dave just trying to put together a band to try to kick our ass? To try to put together the best players that he could get?' Because obviously, between Greg (Bissonette) and Steve and Billy, shit right there, you got some great musicianship." He continued: "But I thought it was good. The playing was great on that album. Those guys are all great. And on top of that, it was just Dave being Dave," Michael Anthony said. Since the early 00s, Michael Anthony has been playing with the ex-Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar on his solo career and other projects, like the supergroup Chickenfoot. David Lee Roth is not touring but he keeps releasing songs. He was the vocalist of Van Halen from 1974 to 1985, returning in 1996 and from 2007 to 2020 when the band officially came to an end with Eddie Van Halen's passing at the age of 65. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmCU_QtSzWI&pp=ygUZZ29pbiBjcmF6eSBkYXZpZCBsZWUgcm90aA%3D%3DThe post Michael Anthony says he liked the first David Lee Roth solo album appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

Back in 1975, Black Sabbath already was one of the most influential bands in the world and were touring all around the world, but especially in the United States, which was the big market, where you could sell more records. That year, they had a new band opening for them on selected dates and that group was Kiss. In an interview with Rock Cellar, Sabbath's bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler recalled being shocked when he saw Kiss for the first time. It wasn't for the way the looked or for the music, but for their stage production. Butler said that it was really hard to follow their act and that Sabbath made sure that Kiss was never their opening act again. Geezer Butler recalls being shocked seeing Kiss for the first time "Kiss opened a few shows for us in the mid ’70s. Kiss was the first band that ever used stage production. Up until Kiss came, bands like Black Sabbath used to just go on and plug in and play. Kisswas the first one to use pyro. You’ve never seen that. I mean, the shock of that. And they were supporting us, so they weren’t even headlining. I went out and watched them. There were all these flames coming out the stage and everything. It was like, “Oh, my God, what’s going on here?” "It was a completely new direction for people. People had to start thinking about stage production after Kiss. It was tough to follow them. We went on just as an ordinary band, no effects or anything, and everybody else still had their mouths wide open from seeing Kiss. We were like, 'What the hell just happened?'" He continued: "It was impossible to follow Kiss after the production. When I watched them play, I didn’t even listen to the music. I was just astounded by the stage production. We made sure that we never had Kiss supporting us again," Geezer Butler said. By 1975, Kiss had only three albums out: "Kiss" (1974), "Hotter Than Hell" (1974) and "Dressed To Kill" (1975). In the following years they would become one of the most influential and successful American bands of all time. And of course, they would no longer be the opening act of other bands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVxrXiFeeCI&pp=ygUOa2lzcyBlYXJseSA3MHM%3DThe post Geezer Butler recalls being shocked seeing Kiss for the first time appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.