Female computer pioneers Grace Hopper and Margaret Hamilton awarded the Medal of Freedom

President Barack #Obama handed out the last batch of Medals of Freedom he will ever give out. Recipients included Hollywood actors such as Tom Hanks and Robert De Niro, artists such as Maya Lin, and sports stars such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Perhaps most deserving of the award were two female computer pioneers, the late Admiral Grace Hopper and Margaret Hamilton.

Democratic Sen Bill Nelson, D-Florida supports Donald Trump's NASA plans

When the Trump administration begins in January and starts changing course at NASA, the new president will have at least one Democrat backing him. Sen Bill Nelson, D-Florida stated, in a wide ranging interview on WESH TV that he supported the incoming president’s plans to ramp up NASA space exploration and establish private/public partnerships.

Is Donald Trump really interested in showing Hillary Clinton mercy?

All of the Trump supporters who chanted “lock her up!” at rallies will no doubt be disappointed by Kellyanne Conway’s announcement that the President-Elect is not interested in pursuing Hillary Clinton for her various crimes great and small. But, at Hot Air suggests Trump’s power to make that mercy stick may be limited. Congress can investigate her until the end of days without a by your leave from any president. The same applies to the FBI. Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, seems less inclined to let the Clintons slink into the sunset without a nice perp walk and a fitting for an orange jumpsuit.

Donald Trump administration to develop space weapons

One of the significant changes that the incoming Trump administration is contemplating in defense #Policy is the development of #Space-based weapons. These weapons will not just consist of missile defense systems, such as once proposed during the Reagan administration’s SDI program, but defenses for American satellites. Both Russia and China are developing weapons that would attack satellites that the United States military relies on in the event of an armed conflict. The Trump administration would also create weapons that would strike at an enemy’s space assets, according to Roll Call.

DNC chair front runner Keith Ellison has ties to Nation of Islam and Muslim Brotherhood

Much is being made of the controversial past of various people in President-Elect Donald Trump’s orbit, including Steve Bannon, the newly minted White House Counselor, who is being accused, falsely, if being an anti-Semite. However, it looks like the Democrats are preparing to name as the head of the Democratic National Committee a man, Rep Keith Ellison, who used to be a member of Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam. Ellison, a member of the farthest left of the left of the #Democratic Party, has been endorsed not only Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen Elizabeth Warren but also Sen. Chuck Schumer, according to the Weekly Standard.

Congressional Republicans may get revenge for the Mike Pence 'Hamilton' incident

When Vice President-Elect Mike Pence went to the theater to see a performance of “Hamilton” he got booed by some members of the audience and then received a lecture in diversity by one of the cast members at the end of the performance. The incident created a firestorm on social media and cable news over what many perceive to be the rudeness of the way Pence was treated. During a performance of the play in Chicago, a pro-Trump audience members started a profanity laced rant and had to be led away by security. Pence, for his part, expressed bemusement, suggesting that what he had heard was freedom. However, congressional Republicans may be prepared to get the last laugh concerning a tax write off for #Broadway performances, according to BizPac.

'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' a magical romp

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” brings the wizarding world of Harry Potter to America of the jazz age, decades before the adventures of the boy wizard. The story involves Newt Scamander, a sort of magical version of Frank Buck, the famous capturer of big game from around the same era, who studies and sometimes protects magic creatures, and an exciting visit he pays to New York. He is carrying a box that is much larger on the inside than on the outside, containing a menagerie of creatures great and small, sort of like Dr. Who’s Tardis. Because of a series of unfortunate events, some of the animals escape and chaos ensues.

Local law enforcement battle violent protests near North Dakota pipeline

The Washington Times noted that law enforcement fought off an army of 400 protestors who attempted to cross the bridge on state Highway 1806 in North Dakota near an uncompleted oil pipeline that has been the venue of violent demonstrations and illegal acts. The officers used water cannon and tear gas to turn back the demonstrators and made at least one arrest. Thus proceeded the latest action of an ongoing mess that President Barack #Obama is leaving for Donald Trump.

GOES-R revolutionary weather satellite launched into Earth orbit

Weather satellites have revolutionized the science of forecasting. In times past, events such as storms, especially hurricanes, would beset a community with very little warning, leaving them unprepared. Now storms can be forecast a few days in advance and hurricanes can be tracked from their point or origin, allowing coastal communities days to prepare. Weather satellites have saved untold thousands of lives and many billions of dollars.

Newt Gingrich for NASA administrator?

One of the parlor games being played around official Washington has been asking the question who will be President #Donald Trump’s NASA administrator. The question has some pertinence, considering the increased importance that the #Space agency is likely to play in the incoming president’s plan to “make America great again.” Will the new space agency chief be a visionary such as Jim Bridenstine, a former astronaut such as Eileen Collins, or a more institutional figure such as Scott Pace or even former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin?

Add to the mix, at least according to the National Review, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Vice President-Elect Mike Pence had a bad experience at the theater

The best that can be said about Vice President-Elect #Mike Pence’s night to see “Hamilton,” the smash hit musical about the founding father, is that it was not nearly as unpleasant as Abraham Lincoln’s last outing at the theater. He was greeted by mixed boos and cheers when he arrived to take his seat. Some of the musical numbers were interrupted by audience members carrying on about the vice president-elect. At the end of the performance, one of the cast members came out and offered a plea to Pence to respect the diversity of America and to protect all Americas, even those who might be illegally in the country.

Neil degrasse Tyson offers to sexually assault Donald Trump in the name of science

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the celebrity astrophysicist and media personality, proved that even the smartest people can get into trouble on Twitter when he imagined a meeting between him and #Donald Trump. He recently tweeted, "When I meet President Trump, I may first grab his crotch — to get his attention — then discuss #Science with him.” The attempt at humor was an apparent reference to things that Trump said that were recorded during the infamous Hollywood Access tape that almost cost him the election. Tyson likely cost himself any chance he had of getting a private audience with the president-elect.

NASA looking for ways to make deep space exploration cheaper

Eric Berger over at Ars Technica is reporting that NASA has issued a request for information about how to make its heavy lift #Space Launch System cheaper to build and operate. The RFI also allows respondents to suggest alternative launch vehicles. Those vehicles might include the SpaceX Falcon Heavy and the planned Blue Origin New Shepard and New Armstrong rockets.

Donald Trump makes his first cabinet nominations

Less than two weeks after he was elected president, #Donald Trump has started to make appointments to his cabinet. The Washington Post reports that Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama has been selected as Attorney General. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas has been tapped as CIA Director. Previously, Trump had asked General Mike Flynn to be National Security Advisor, but he had not yet accepted as of this writing.

Strange Cluster of UFO Sightings Over Virginia

Why a really visionary NASA goal would be space colonization not just exploration

While the expressed #Space policy goal of the incoming Trump administration has been to explore the solar system with astronauts by the end of the century is bold enough, people as varied as Stephen Hawking and Glenn Reynolds are thinking even more daring. They, as well as two rivals in the commercial space business, are urging that Earth starts colonizing space to preserve human civilization.

Robert Bigelow's big idea for Donald Trump: double NASA's budget

With President Election #Donald Trump putting together a government in the heights of the Trump Tower, he is getting plenty of advice about which policies should change, especially NASA’s #Space program which the transition team is in for a considerable change. Robert Bigelow, like Trump, a hotel developer and unlike the future president a space entrepreneur, has a modest proposal. President Trump should double NASA’s funding from less than half of one percent of the federal budget to a full one percent, according to Space News. Thus, Bigelow suggests, the space agency will have plenty of financial resources to carry out Trump’s visionary plan to explore the entire solar system by the end of the 21st Century, starting with a return to the moon.

Mitt Romney to go to the Trump Tower to bend the knee and kiss the ring

The latest news of one of the streams of people who are streaming up to the Trump Tower to bend the knee and kiss the ring of the president election is that Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee for president, will arrive during the November 19-20 weekend for a possible cabinet position. The guessing is that he will either be considered for secretary of state or secretary of the treasury. A number of things are wrong with either office and with Romney himself for that matter being in a Trump government.

Astrobotic to provide incentive package for NASA funded payloads to the moon

When NASA released a request for information (RFI) for payloads that could fly to the moon on commercial spacecraft, Moon Express was the first company to offer an extra incentive, costing $1.5 million for three payloads to be flown on its vehicles. Now Moon Express’ main competitor, Astrobotic, has upped the ante with an incentive package of its own.

Huge deposits of shale oil and gas found in the Permian Basin in Texas

The biggest shale oil field in the United States was just confirmed in the Permian Basin, called the Wolfcamp Formation. The field is said to contain 75 billion barrels of oil and vast amounts of natural gas. It is three times the amount of the Bakken field in North Dakota and second only to Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar field.