Tag: chopper

Wheels down on Mars, once again

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First image from Perseverance

NASA folks land on Mars, again. I switched onto the NASA Channel to check on how they were doing…and the lander had chute deployed and about 7 kilometers above the surface of Mars.

It was just halftime in the Europa League football match I was watching; so, I quick ran to get my wet-and-snow walking shoes – to change while watching. I usually start a couple laps of our fenceline at halftime if I’m watching footie and we got a few more inches of snow, last night.

They spiked the landing. Truly fun to watch for an old time science and scifi geek like me. Nice to see reality match fiction.

Check your local TV access for progress!

Mexican military skill – lands chopper in Texas by mistake

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A Mexican military helicopter landed Saturday afternoon at Laredo International Airport by mistake, said a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Mucia Dovalina, the uniform public affairs officer for the Laredo Port of Entry, said the helicopter landed about 3 p.m., but she couldn’t share details such as the number of occupants or whether they were armed.

Dovalina said that, following protocol, CBP officers checked out the helicopter’s occupants, then allowed them to return to Mexico in the aircraft.

“The only thing that I can tell you is that they did land here,” she said. “It was by mistake. They were processed and they were returned to Mexico…”

In July, a convoy of soldiers rolled across the international bridge at Donna and were processed by customs and sent back across.

Just in case you wondered about some of the factors affecting the success rate of Mexico’s military operations against drug gangs.

Beijing’s Mighty Dragon 888 Harley Chopper

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Kenny Kan started customizing bikes more than 30 years ago, when he inherited his brother’s old two-wheeler.

“It was jungle green, the ugliest thing you’d ever seen,” he said. “I chromed everything I could chrome and added a golden phoenix to the body. People in town thought I was crazy.”

The following year Kenny customized his first motorcycle, and a lifelong passion ensued. Now 61, Kan has harnessed his artistic talents and love of wheels to create the Mighty Dragon 888 — a 1400cc, 900-pound Harley Davidson chopper in fire-engine red.

“I built it for the Olympics,” he said proudly. “China has been poor [and] invaded for hundreds of years. Finally it came up to be a great nation again. And it has the ability to hold the Olympic Games.”

As someone of Chinese origin, Kan wanted to contribute something meaningful to the event.

Good for you, dude!

Folks who live their lives as consumers may not get it. Offering your nation a piece of your pride.