in 1957 space as a territory had not yet been defined, and US leaders argued that it should be recognised as beyond the normal confines of territorial limits.

An opposite position, however, argued for the extension of territorial limits into space above a nation into infinity.

"Freedom of space" became an extremely significant issue for those concerned with orbiting satellites, because the imposition of territorial prerogatives outside the atmosphere could legally restrict any nation from orbiting satellites without the permission of nations that might be overflown.

Since the US was in a position to capitalise on this freedom of space, it favoured an open position.

US President Dwight D Eisenhower tried to obtain a freedom of space decision on 21 July, 1955, when he proposed it at a US/USSR summit in Geneva, Switzerland.

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev rejected the proposal, however, saying that it was an obvious American attempt to "accumulate target information". Eisenhower later admitted: "We knew the Soviets wouldn't accept it, but we took a look and thought it was a good move." The Americans thereafter worked quietly to establish the precedent.

Then Sputnik, a scientific satellite, overflew the United States and other nations of the world. On 8 October, 1957, an Eisenhower advisor, Donald Quarles, offered this irony to the US president: "The Russians have... done us a good turn, unintentionally, in establishing the concept of freedom of international space."

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Sputnik 'was force for world peace'

George Takei already had a place among the stars in the minds of millions of "Star Trek" fans. Now he's taking up permanent residence as the namesake of the asteroid formerly known as 1994 GT9.

The asteroid, located between Mars and Jupiter, has been renamed 7307 Takei in honor of the actor, who is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original "Star Trek" series.

huzzah -- for Star Trek and gay rights

Group renames asteroid for George Takei - Space News - MSNBC.com

Fifty years ago today, to the delight of many and the consternation of more than a few, the Soviet Union launched something like a silver volleyball with four swept-back antennas into Earth's orbit.

huzzah
Happy Birthday to the Future

The beeping ball that launched the Space Age - International Herald Tribune

In the early spring of 2006, perhaps the most important document in Baghdad was known as the MOASS -- the Mother of All Spreadsheets-- a vast compilation of radio frequencies that insurgents used to trigger roadside bombs.
...
Eventually, 18 weapons intelligence teams, drawn largely from the Air Force, began collecting evidence both from bombs that detonated and from those that did not. At Task Force Troy in Baghdad, four cyanoacrylate fuming chambers now use a concoction of Super Glue and high humidity to tease latent fingerprints from electrical tape or IED components. One million known Iraqi fingerprints are stored at a Pentagon biometrics center in West Virginia. In the first seven months of this year, technicians examined 112,000 items and recovered an average of 600 latent prints each month.
...
To anticipate future bomb designs, scientific "red teams" last year began building IEDs that insurgents might build, while "blue teams" calculated how best to defeat them. Other red teams include 100 cadets and midshipmen from the nation's military academies, who have also been recruited as surrogate bombmakers. "Show me how many different ways you can flip a switch at a distance," the students were told. "Be conceptually sophisticated, but use the most simple, cheap and available material that you can."

'If you don't go after the network, you're never going to stop these guys. Never.' - washingtonpost.com

Russians and a lot of Russia watchers have been wondering not if, but how Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, would hold on to power. We fear we got our answer Monday.

There is a better job for Vladimir Putin - International Herald Tribune

President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that he would be the leading candidate on the ticket of Russia's dominant political party in parliamentary elections in December, and said he might become the country's prime minister next year.
...
One senior Western diplomat also proposed the idea that the latest public remarks were in part a charade, and that Putin, fearing betrayal or a loss of influence in the Kremlin's mercurial inner sanctum, may yet reverse his course and decide to serve another term.

"I think what is clear, one way or the other, is that he is setting up a parallel structure," the diplomat said by telephone. "But in the end he may ditch it all and decide to stay."

Putin says he'll lead party in next election - International Herald Tribune

ON Oct. 11, 1991, I testified about my experience as an employee of Clarence Thomas’s at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

I stand by my testimony.

The Smear This Time - New York Times

When Sputnik took off 50 years ago, the world gazed at the heavens in awe and apprehension, watching what seemed like the unveiling of a sustained Soviet effort to conquer space and score a stunning Cold War triumph.

the Space Age is 50 on Thursday

Sputnik at 50: An improvised triumph - Yahoo! News

It began with a bang and "a huge white blast," in the description of one witness who outlived that Saturday morning, March 29, 2003. At a U.S. Army checkpoint straddling Highway 9, just north of Najaf, four soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division, part of the initial invasion of Iraq, had started to search an orange-and-white taxicab at 11:30 a.m. when more than 100 pounds of C-4 plastic explosive detonated in the trunk.
...
This introduction and the four-part narrative that follows are drawn from more than 140 interviews with military and congressional officials, contractors, scientists, and defense analysts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Washington and elsewhere. Most agreed to speak candidly only on the condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the subject, or because they are not authorized to comment. Ten senior officers or retired officers, each of them intimately involved in the counter-IED fight, were asked to review the findings for accuracy and security considerations.

'The single most effective weapon against our deployed forces' - washingtonpost.com

Astronomers studying archival data from an Australian radio telescope have discovered a powerful, short-lived burst of radio waves that they say indicates an entirely new type of astronomical phenomenon.

Mysterious energy burst stuns astronomers