Mysterious STAR set to appear on Christmas Eve above Blighty: The ISS NASA's International Space Station is expected to be shining brightly above Britain's skies tonight. Budding young scientists can probably catch a glimpse of ISS between 5pm and 7pm today - weather permitting, of course. @Space_Station decorated for the holidays as the #ISS crew studies life in space: http://t.co/AabwSB90ba …
I have seen the ISS loads of times - and once when the space shuttle was approaching for docking so there was two bright 'star's' flying together... that was great. I have also tried seeing it with binoculars, but by the time you get to where is was it is has moved (and you get lost in space), so nigh on impossible to do it.
Oriental: referring to the eastern part of the world. (cf. occidental: the western part of the world). Wealthy oriental visitors: a reference to the three magi who came from the east bearing gifts for Jesus. Christmas: the time when the birth of Jesus is celebrated. It all fits.
As little as 5W will suffice (they only have a maximum of 50W themselves) but you'll need at least a four element yagi, ideally crossed - you won't get anywhere with a stubbie on a handheld. The chances of them being on air are slim however as they tend to operate at weekends or prearranged contacts (schools etc.). Also the azimuth is relatively low so they'll be something like 1,000km away rather than the 400km of an overhead pass. But it's always worth a listen because even if you only hear them you'll be better prepared for the next time.
3 unidentifiable men of Middle Eastern appearance were arrested at Dover this morning. They possess no credentials, despite claiming to be "Kings of the Orient", are not carrying any passports and two of them have also been charge with importing illegal narcotics. One also tried to bribe a hardworking Borders Agency official with gold.They were stopped mumbling something about following a star from what sounded like ISIS and needing to find an 'Inn', at which point control of the situation was handed over to Mi6 and a heightened alert notice has been sent to all UK Holiday Inn outlets.
All 3 suspects are now awaiting Extraordinary Rendition to an approved country for 'further questioning'.
"But Venus can't be there," protested Indra. "That's much too far north."
In a single, sickening instant Franklin knew that she was right. If he had any doubt, he could see now that the star he was watching was moving swiftly across the sky, rising out of the west and so defying the laws which controlled all other heavenly bodies.
He was staring at the Space Station, the largest of all the satellites now circling Earth, as it raced along its thousand-mile-high orbit (isn't that in the van Allen Belt?). He tried to turn his eyes away, to break the hypnotic spell of that manmade, unscintillating star. It was as if he was teetering on the edge of an abyss; the terror of those endless, trackless wastes between the worlds began to invade and dominate his mind, to threaten the very foundations of his sanity.
He would have have won the struggle, no more than a little shaken, had it not been for a second accident of fate. With the explosive suddenness with which memory sometimes yields to persistent questioning, he knew what it was that had been worrying him for the last few minutes. It was the smell of the fuel that Indra had siphone from the hydrojet - the unmistakable, slightly aromatic tang of synthene. And crowding hard upon that recognition was the memory of where he had last met that all-too-familiar odor.
Synthene - first developed as a rocket propellant - now obsolete like all other chemical fuels, except for low-powered applications like the propulsion of space suits.
Space suits.
It was too much; the double assault defeated him. Both sight and smell had turned traitor in the same instant. Within seconds, the patiently built dikes which now protected his mind went down before the rising tide of terror.
I'd like to point out that the bible makes no reference to there ever being THREE Magi; the quote is (if I recall correctly - I'm an atheist, haven't owned one since school, over 25 years ago) "And then came there men from the East, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, with which to honour the new king…". Three gifts doesn't necessarily equal three givers.
I've never understood this "Oriental is offensive" thing; I get confused when I read articles on American sites and they use 'Asian' to refer to the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Koreans (yes, I'm VERY easily confused (or 'confuzzled' as my grandad used to say)) coz they ain't Asian. Asians are everybody else (Indians, Sri Lankans, Thai, Pakistani, Afghan, etc.).
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