LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They’re fighting and dying together, and the time has come for our policies to reflect that reality.”
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, on the lifting of the military’s ban on women in combat Article, 1A
NASA revisits ’60s moon-rocket engine
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A vintage rocket engine built to blast the first U.S. lunar spaceship into Earth’s orbit more than 40 years ago is again rumbling across the Southern landscape.
The engine, known to NASA engineers as No. F-6049, was supposed to help propel Apollo 11 into orbit and beyond in 1969, when NASA sent Neil Armstrong and two other astronauts to the moon for the first time. The flight went off without a hitch, but the engine itself was grounded because of a glitch during a test in Mississippi and later sent to the Smithsonian Institution.
Now, engineers who weren’t even born when Armstrong took his one small step are using the bell-shaped motor in tests to determine if technology from Apollo’s Saturn V design can be improved for the next generation of U.S. missions to the moon and beyond by the 2020s.
Nick Case, 27, and other engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on Thursday completed a series of 11 test-firings of the F-6049’s gas generator, a jetlike rocket that produces 30,000 pounds of thrust and was used as a starter for the engine. They are trying to see whether a second-generation version of the Apollo engine could produce even more thrust and be operated with a throttle for deep-space exploration.
R.I. House OKs same-sex marriage bill
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Rhode Island House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow same sex couples to marry.
The House voted 51-19 after an often emotional debate that touched on civil rights, religion and the nature of marriage.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where both supporters and opponents of gay marriage say it is difficult to predict the bill’s fate.
“This has been a long journey,” said House Speaker Gordon Fox, who is gay and supported same-sex legislation when it was first introduced in 1997. “Today is a great day. Today ... we stand for equality, we stand for justice.”
Thursday’s vote posed the most significant challenge yet for same-sex marriage in Rhode Island. While the five other New England states already allow gay couples to marry, attempts have failed in the heavily Catholic state.
Murder count snags foster-child jury
MIAMI - Jurors said Thursday that they had reached verdicts on child-abuse and kidnapping charges but were deadlocked on a murder count against a woman accused of killing 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson more than a decade ago.
Jurors said in a note Thursday afternoon that they had voted 11-1 on the murder charge against 67-year-old Geralyn Graham, a charge that carries a potential life sentence. The note did not say which side had the majority or what the verdicts were on kidnapping and aggravated child-abuse charges, which carry less-severe sentences.
Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez ordered the jurors to continue deliberating into the evening and said they would return today if no verdict is reached.
The jury could opt for a less-severe manslaughter charge rather than murder. All verdicts must be unanimous.
Prosecutors said Graham, who was Rilya’s caretaker, smothered the girl with a pillow in December 2000 and disposed of her body, which has never been found.
Rilya’s disappearance went unnoticed by state officials for 15 months, triggering high-level resignations at the Department of Children and Families and leading to passage of several laws.
Rare icy rainfall paralyzes Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY - A rare freezing rain caused havoc in Salt Lake City on Thursday, creating sheets of ice on roads, sidewalks and airport runways.
The Salt Lake City International Airport was closed for about three hours, delaying hundreds of passengers.
The closure came after a Frontier Airlines plane landing from Denver slid on a patch of ice while on the runway.
Nobody was injured.
Morning commutes were crawling along in the icy conditions, which caused dozens of accidents that closed lanes. The Utah Highway Patrol called in off-duty officers to deal with all the accidents.
At the Salt Lake City International Airport, numerous flights were canceled and many others were delayed, though exact figures were unavailable.
The first of three runways was reopened about 12:45 p.m. and the other two were opened in the midafternoon and early evening, airport spokesman Barbara Gann said.
Delays were still expected through the night.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/25/2013