Here’s the latest report from NASA regarding UARS, the enormous satellite that will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere sometime today or tomorrow.

NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere late Sept. 23 or early Sept. 24 Eastern Daylight Time, almost six years after the end of a productive scientific life. Although the spacecraft will break into pieces during re-entry, not all of it will burn up in the atmosphere.

The risk to public safety or property is extremely small, and safety is NASA’s top priority. Since the beginning of the Space Age in the late-1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects. Nor is there a record of significant property damage resulting from a satellite re-entry.

It is still too early to say exactly when UARS will re-enter and what geographic area may be affected, but NASA is watching the satellite closely and will keep you informed. Visit this page for updates on the satellite’s orbital track and predicted re-entry date.

Update #10

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 07:45:08 AM MST

As of 10:30 a.m. EDT on Sept. 23, 2011, the orbit of UARS was 100 miles by 105 miles (160 km by 170 km). Re-entry is expected late Friday, Sept. 23, or early Saturday, Sept. 24, Eastern Daylight Time. Solar activity is no longer the major factor in the satellite’s rate of descent. The satellite’s orientation or configuration apparently has changed, and that is now slowing its descent. There is a low probability any debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States, but the possibility cannot be discounted because of this changing rate of descent. It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any certainty, but predictions will become more refined in the next 12 to 18 hours.

According to the shake map above (click to enlarge - sorry about the crappy quality, but this is the original resolution), Washington DC is about 80 miles northeast of the epicenter of the 5.8 magnitude quake. It surprised me to hear that the quake caused officials to evacuate the Capitol and other government buildings. According to the color code, the DC area would have experienced “weak” to “light” shaking and no damage to structures.

As a former resident of a very seismically active area, I can attest that most of us who experienced that amount of shaking would simply have said “Hmmm - a little temblor.” And would go on with whatever we were doing. Some of us nerdy types would go to the USGS Earthquakes website to see the epicenter and magnitude. Maybe even look at the shake map.

Ramirez proposes a slight modification to the pledge of allegiance.

Happy 4th of July weekend everybody. Light posting to follow.

Obama was more than an Hour Late showing up to make his remarks regarding Bin Laden at the Whitehouse last evening. Trying to sober up enough to read his teleprompter, I guess . . .

Here’s Ramirez’ visualization of the event . . .

The Dems are in league with the union goons . . .

Via The Corner:

A very neat interactive map that lets you see what the spill would look like if its epicenter were your house.

I’ve set this one for Wickenburg, AZ . . .

From National Review Online - Charles Krauthammer’s take on the Postal Service:

I’m kind of old-school. I like the delivery. I like the snow and sleet and time of day and all of that.

Look, it’s very obvious that you can’t privatize this. Three studies have looked at the postal service. Because of the new technology there is no entrepreneur in his right mind who would purchase it. So it’s going to be on the government dole forever.

The question is, is it completely obsolete? Look, it has one mandate which other private services don’t have. It has to reach every tiny hamlet everywhere in the country no matter what. It’s got to be universal. So that’s a slight handicap that the private companies don’t have.

Its main handicap, of course, is the crushing labor union contracts and the new technology, especially e-mail, which makes most of what it does obsolete. So that’s why it runs a huge deficit.

But, look, anything that is in Article 1 Section 8 of our constitution, anything that Madison had waxed enthusiastic about it in Federalist 42 — the postal roads that have kept us together — as an old-school guy, I don’t want to see it die.

As a conservative who believes in the market, it ought to die, but as a conservative that believes in tradition and stuff that really holds us together, I would subsidize until it dies a natural death in the next generation. But for old guys like me, keep it going for a while. …

[As for] the hard-hearted younger generation — well, if you ever got a sweet-smelling love letter at 17, you’d feel otherwise. Of course, I never did, but somebody did.

You can’t smell your e-mail.

Cruise ships normally destined for sunny Mexico are diverting to Santa Catalina Island to avoid possible exposure to the Swine Influenza Virus at Mexican ports like Ensenada and Puerto Vallarta. Cruise ship traffic to the island is normally three to five ships a week, depending on the season.

Through May, the island now expects 25 cruise ship calls, possibly more. With one ship in the harbor, it is our personal experience that the foot traffic in town and the island’s attractions become quite busy. Now, according to the Catalina Island Company, there are likely to be several more instances of two ships in the harbor at the same time.

Image: a 2005 photo of Avalon Bay taken from Island Express Helicopter.

Our anniversary is in September and, as usual, we’re booked in to the Hotel Metropole. We hope that the rush is over by then.

Taken from Charles Krauthammer’s comments on Fox News yesterday about Obama’s California Townhall meeting:

Well, Obama’s modus operandi is when the going gets tough, he gets going. He gets out of town. The best thing he does is campaign, so that’s what he wants to do. He’s not apparently that good at governing. He is not a lot of experience. He never ran a candy store in the past and he’s having a little stumbling trouble these days running his government. But, you know, presidents who are good speakers have charisma and popular support, like Reagan, will go over the heads of Congress directly to the people when they are in trouble and need help.

Gospel according to Ronald Reagan:

A Local brush fire is now under control, but not before the smoke nearly blotted out the sun. Fine, white ashes continue to fall here, even after sunset. This is how the sun looked mid-afternoon from the back yard. Click to enlarge.

SoCal Edison blamed the fire on a bird. From the Daily Breeze:

Firefighters mopped up the remnants of a 10-acre brush fire this afternoon that briefly threatened the Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall earlier in the day.

Unlike fires raging elsewhere in Southern California, the one on the Palos Verdes Peninsula was put out quickly. It took about 100 firefighters and two helicopters about an hour to extinguish it, authorities said.

The fire was reported at 11:02 a.m. It burned in a canyon near Hawthorne Boulevard and Palos Verdes Drive South.

“It started to go to the city yard,” said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Jeff Vroomes. “That was our priority. We made an aggressive attempt to get in front of it.”

No homes were immediately threatened.

Southern California Edison officials determined the fire was caused by a bird that landed on power lines. After being killed by electricity and catching fire, the animal fell into the dry brush, Vroomes said.