Latest news with #Weigel
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ceremony held to honor last Union soldier buried in Westmoreland County
A gun salute and the sound of taps filled the air at the Union Cemetery in Irwin just after noon on Monday to honor John Ernest Weigel. 'It's crazy just to have so many people even like the musket salutes, that was really awesome,' said Kimberly Herman, Weigel's great-great-great-great granddaughter. Weigel was the last Union soldier to be buried in Westmoreland County. The ceremony to honor him is part of a project with the Sons of Union Soldiers fraternity that started nationwide more than 20 years ago. 'In Westmoreland County, we've never had the ceremony done,' said William Bray of the Sons of Union Soldiers Greensburg. J.E. Weigel and his five brothers from Elizabeth Township all fought in the Civil War, and returned home safely after the fight was over. Weigel volunteered with the 189th Ohio Volunteers and was discharged from service in 1865. He then moved to Irwin and served as the borough tax collector in the early 1900s. 'Which I thought was kind of ironic, because my dad was a banker, my grandfather was a banker, my mom worked in a bank, so apparently we had a strong financial background and I steered a little clear of that,' Herman laughed. Herman, her husband, and their two children were able to lay wreaths at Weigel's gravesite as part of the ceremony. She said she didn't know anything about her ancestor who fought with the Union soldiers until the Sons of Union Veterans reached out to her. 'I had zero idea whatsoever,' she said. 'My dad used to talk, according to my mom, about John all the time but I don't recall personally any stories, so this was all brand new to me and totally awesome.' Herman is a civics teacher with PA Cyber Charter School, and said she's always had a fascination with history. 'To be able to go back and say, 'hey, I'm actually related to Civil War veteran,'' that's pretty awesome,' she said. Her family received proclamations from local and state officials in honor of her ancestor, which she said she is going to give to the Westmoreland County Historical Society. 'I really think that's something my dad would have wanted to do, I'll take them [my children] there to see it and have actually be like, preserved, I think is really cool,' she said. Herman said now that she knows about her ancestor, she's going to do some more research to try and learn more about him and his time in the Civil War. She said she was moved by how many people came out to the ceremony, and that her kids, Weigel's youngest descendants, were able to be a part of it. 'This is so cool to be able to pass down to the next generation and hopefully we'll be able to find out a bit more,' she said. 'I definitely plan to do a little more research into it.' Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Science
- Hindustan Times
Flight readiness of space mission carrying Indian astronaut to ISS begins today
The flight readiness review for the AX-4 mission, which will carry four astronauts including the Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station (ISS) early next month, begins on Wednesday. US space agency NASA's ISS programme manager, Dana Weigel, said this at a virtual mission overview press conference on Tuesday night. Weigel said the AX-4 mission crew was equipped to live and undertake research on ISS with the completion of their training last month. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the crew aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to ISS on June 8 at 6.40pm IST from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. SpaceX Dragon Mission Management director Sarah Walker said the crew has completed 100 tests and rigorous training. 'Now multiple flight readiness reviews lie ahead to mitigate any risk and ensure the flight and mission's reliability.' Walker said that reviews will continue in the coming weeks, and adjustments, if any, will be communicated. May 29 was announced as the initial launch date, which was postponed to June 8 last week. Walker said Dragon's final integration campaign is being undertaken, and preflight checks and a rerun of tests to confirm flight worthiness are being conducted. 'We expect to transport the Dragon to our hangar next week to be integrated with the rocket for launch,' she said. 'We added a week after some findings. For instance, the parachutes did not pass the impact test since there was moisture in the bag. So, we had to replace the bags. Similarly, we had to replace a wire harness.' The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA will jointly undertake five experiments during the 14-day AX-4 mission. These will be in addition to the seven microgravity research experiments on the mission planned by India. Shukla, 39, will become the first Indian to visit ISS, in what will mark the nation's return to human spaceflight after four decades. ISRO project director Sudeesh Balan said the five joint experiments relate to the human research programme. 'Shukla will participate in them. These are different from the seven biological experiments,' said Balan. He added that Shukla has practised in simulations to prepare physically and psychologically. The seven experiments that national R&D laboratories and academic institutions have proposed range from studying the impact of microgravity radiation in ISS on edible microalgae and sprouting salad seeds in space to analysing human interaction with electronic displays in microgravity and the impact of microgravity on growth and yield parameters in food crop seeds. Shukla is expected to gain critical hands-on experience in spaceflight operations, launch protocols, microgravity adaptation, and emergency preparedness—essential for India's crewed space ambitions—aboard the Ax-4 mission. Weigel and Balan said ISRO and NASA have planned joint public outreach activities in the run-up to the mission. 'As part of this mission, NASA is partnering with ISRO to host a joint public downlink event to showcase the strength of the international collaboration and our show of commitment to expanding access to space. NASA and ISRO will also conduct five joint science investigations in addition to two outreach activities,' said Weigel. Balan said Shukla will interact with students at two locations. 'There will be amateur radio contact with the student community. We have identified the students, and these activities are currently in progress. We have located two places in India where this will be happening.' A decorated test pilot, Shukla was shortlisted under ISRO's Human Spaceflight Programme. He is among the top contenders for the Gaganyaan mission, India's first indigenous crewed orbital flight. On February 27 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled Shukla as one of the elite astronauts undergoing intensive training for Gaganyaan. Born in Lucknow, Shukla was commissioned into the IAF in June 2006 and has 2,000 hours of flight experience as a combat leader and test pilot. He rose to the group captain rank in March 2024 and underwent rigorous year-long training at Moscow's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City. European Space Agency (ESA) and the Hungarian To Orbit Programme are the two other agencies that will be part of the Ax-4 mission. Shukla will serve as a pilot alongside Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, who will command her second commercial human spaceflight mission. The other members are Sławosz Uznański, ESA project astronaut, the second Polish astronaut since 1978, and Tibor Kapu, the second Hungarian astronaut since 1980. Axiom Space chief of mission services Allen Flynt said the AX-4 mission will undertake 60 scientific studies representing 31 countries, including the US, India, Poland, Hungary, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and European nations. 'The mission will enable a sustainable dynamic space industry.'
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Ax-4 readiness review today; Shubhanshu Shukla to do 5 additional experiments with Nasa, live events with students
BENGALURU: The Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which will be piloted by India's Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, is set to undergo its mission readiness review on May 21 and slated to launch on June 8. Confirming this, Dana Weigel, manager, ISS Programme, Nasa, said Tuesday: 'Nasa and Isro will host a joint public downlink event to showcase the strength of international collaboration and our shared commitment to expanding access to space. The two agencies will also conduct five joint science investigations in addition to two outreach activities.' She spoke during a specific interaction to discuss mission readiness. Adding to this, Sudeesh Balan, project director, Isro, said: 'The seven experiments we had announced earlier are mostly biological and are those proposed by Indian scientists. These will be conducted by Shukla. Aside from these, there will be five experiments in partnership with Nasa on human research programmes. Shukla will be participating in them. ' Allen Flynt, chief of mission services, Axiom Space, while stating that they 'do carry insurance for a variety of reasons for the mission', refrained from giving the break-up or specifically saying if astronauts are covered. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Want Lower Bills Without Changing a Thing? elecTrick - Save upto 80% on Power Bill Learn More Undo Live Event With Students Elaborating on the public downlink events, Weigel said the details were still being worked out, but said there will be a live event with astronauts and space agency leadership. The other event she said would be science outreach on two topics: digestion and radiation. Balan added: 'Some activities are going on. There's a student event where Shukla will interact directly with students from across the country. Second, the ameature radio technology on ISS, which will be leveraged. The science outreach activity Weigel mentions will be recorded and used extensively even post mission.' Weigel said the Axiom-4 crew — Commander Peggy Whitson of the US, India's Shukla as pilot, and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary — has already completed their ISS training at the Nasa Johnson Space Center last month, preparing them to conduct approximately 60 science investigations in partnership with the station national lab. New Name For Dragon Sudeesh Balan, project director, Isro, highlighted the rigorous preparation undertaken by the crew, explaining they have 'undergone a rigorous training mission specific nominal emergency procedures' and 'practiced in various simulators with periodic assessment on physical and psychological' aspects, said the mission has 'generated a lot of interest in India' '...This opens up new domains associated with the human space programme including space medicine, physiology, biomedical instruments, training and microgravity experiments. I hope that missions like Ax-4 would motivate our young minds to be passionate about space technology,' Balan said. SpaceX 's director of Dragon mission management, Sarah Walker, provided technical details about the mission, noting it will utilise a brand-new Dragon spacecraft that will soon receive its nickname from the crew. 'This will mark SpaceX's 53rd Dragon mission, 15th human spaceflight mission to the ISS, and 48th trip to the station including both crew and cargo missions. The Falcon-9 booster supporting this launch previously carried Starlink satellites to orbit just weeks ago, demonstrating the rapid progress in rocket reusability,' Walker said. She emphasised that 'human spaceflight is core to SpaceX's ultimate mission to make life multi-planetary and flying crew safely is always our top priority.'
Herald Malaysia
16-05-2025
- General
- Herald Malaysia
Pope Leo XIV can accelerate ‘Leonine revolution' in the Church, theologian says
The pontificate of Pope Leo XIV can bring new impetus to the Church's evangelical mission in the world today, theologian and philosopher George Weigel said this week. May 16, 2025 Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd gathered on St. Peter' s Square for the Regina Coeli on Sunday, May 11, 2025. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA By Kristina Millare The pontificate of Pope Leo XIV can bring new impetus to the Church's evangelical mission in the world today, theologian and philosopher George Weigel said this week. Weigel held a public lecture on Wednesday at Rome's Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas — also known as the Angelicum — on the '10 Markers of a Church 'Permanently in Mission,'' which highlighted criteria including the need for friendship with Christ, acceptance of the authority of divine revelation, the sacraments, the call to constant conversion of life, and a 'liturgically-centred form of Catholic life.' During the lecture, the American theologian expressed his hope that 'the authentic Catholic reform' begun by Pope Leo XIII at the end of the 19th century will be 'further accelerated' by Pope Leo XIV, whose papal inaugural Mass will take place on Sunday, May 18. 'Pope Leo XIV struck that missionary note in his presentation of himself to the Church and the world last Thursday evening when he called the Church to be faithful to Jesus Christ without fear,' Weigel said, reflecting on the new pontiff's first 'urbi et orbi' blessing. According to Weigel, Pope Leo XIV is an 'absolutely pivotal figure' who has the ability, through his own pontificate, to carry out Pope Leo XIII's vision of the Church as a 'great institutional promoter and defender of basic human rights' in society. In light of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical letter Rerum Novarum — a key Vatican document outlining the foundations of Catholic social doctrine released on May 15, 1891 — Weigel propounded that 'it is only Christ' who, through the Church, can be an intentional force of good and humanize the world amid suffering. 'The Church of the 'new evangelization' recognizes that in offering everyone the profoundly countercultural possibility of friendship with the Lord Jesus, it offers the postmodern world something postmodernity desperately needs — an encounter with the divine mercy,' he said. 'The Gospel liberates postmodern humanity from its cynical nihilism, its skepticism, and its burden of guilt form of a tacit, if not inarticulate, understanding of the awfulness that humanity visited upon itself throughout the 20th century,' he added. The 'Leonine revolution' that began in the Church more than 100 years ago should spur Catholics to go deeper into how to 'engage the world in order to convert the world' as missionaries faithful to the Gospel, Weigel said on Wednesday. 'A Church permanently on mission seeks to be a culture-forming [and] counterculture for the world, its healing, and its conversion,' he said, pointing out the ineffectiveness of a 'church of maybe' that is timid, lukewarm, and lacks conviction.--CNA
Newsweek
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
David Hogg Reacts to DNC Warning Amid Democrats' Civil War
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg reacted to Thursday's remarks from DNC Chair Ken Martin's mandate that all DNC officers stay neutral in all Democratic primaries. Hogg told Semafor's David Weigel that he would not leave his campaign fundraising PAC, Leaders We Deserve, or quit his DNC role. The 25-year-old recently leaped into the intra-party civil war by spending $20 million to oust Democratic incumbents in safe seats. "If they decide to remove me, I don't take it personally. This is a strategic disagreement here," Hogg said, Weigel posted on X, formerly Twitter. He also told Semafor that as a DNC vice chair, he would not be able to slant the race because he doesn't have access to party information that could influence political campaigns. "It is a largely ceremonial role," Hogg told Weigel. On Thursday morning, Martin said on a DNC press call, as reported by multiple media outlets, "No DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election. While certainly I understand what he's [Hogg] trying to do, as I've said to him, 'If you want to challenge incumbents, you're free to do that,' just not as a DNC officer." This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is available.
