The Tesla Roadster that was sent into orbit with a mannequin dubbed "Starman" in the driver's seat has passed the orbit of Mars, and will soon reach the apogee of its orbit before starting back towards the sun.
Starman and his roadster will reach their furthest point from the sun ... about 155 million miles ... on November 8th. And while the vehicle will start back towards the center of the solar system at that point, it will still be 2020 it makes a "close approach" to Earth, and it will still be 32 million miles away. The car will still be closer to Mars at that point ... about 4.6 million miles. In fact, Ben Pearson, an astronomer who is tracking Starman's orbit, predicts that there will not be a truly close visit to the home planted until about 2091. There is a movement in Oakland, CA to rename the International Airport (KOAK) as "Maggie Gee Oakland International Airport". If successful, the airport would be the first in the U.S. to be named after a woman. According to a petition, Gee was a member of a pioneering group of women in WWII who aided in the war effort by enlisting in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She was also one of only two Chinese-American women to serve as a WASP. These women
pilots worked stateside ferrying planes, towing targets for gunnery training, and serving as instruments instructors for male pilots. Over 25,000 women applied to the WASP but only 1,074 were accepted and made it through the rigorous training program. Thirty-eight of these pilots died in service to their country. In 2013, the FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC), was charged with the establishment of an Airman Certification Standards Working Group (ACS WG) to assist in the development of standards, training guidance, test management, and reference materials for airman certification testing. The original task focused on the Private Pilot, Commercial Pilot, ATP, and Authorized Instructor certificates and the Instrument Rating in the airplane category. The task was expanded in February 2016... All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!
Airborne 11.07.18 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Wednesday, November 7th 2018... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Laura Hutson, Brianne Cross, and Christopher Odom, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:
- Starman 'Driving' His Tesla Roadster Beyond Mars' Orbit
- Petition Seeks To Rename Oakland, CA Airport
- FAA Opens Comments On ATP, Type Rating Standards
- Hartzell Appoints Wuhan Hangda Aero As Service, Support Center In China
- Air Force Reserve Command Activates First ISR Wing
- GlobalBeacon Now Providing Real-Time Flight Tracking
- USAF 823rd RHS Delivers Basic Needs After Hurricane Michael
Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again for the next edition of "Airborne Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!
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