Virgin Galactic Lands NASA Suborbital Testing Contract

Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s Virgin Group company developing space tourism spacecraft to make it possible for almost anyone to visit the final frontier at an affordable price. Has this week announced it has signed a contract with NASA to carry experimental technology and research equipment to the boundary between the Earth and space.NASA announced seven two-year contracts for suborbital flights together worth $10 million, one of which Virgin Galactic has now landed. The invest is still fairly small for Virgin Galactic who recently received $55 million is deposits from 445 customers looking to be the first to fly into suborbital space. But the new link with NASA will help Virgin Galactic  develop even further.Virgin Galactic said in a statement on Wednesday:“Although generally referred to as a space tourism company, providing access to space to researchers and their experiments is viewed by Virgin Galactic as both a future mission segment and a significant business opportunity.” Other companies that won a NASA contract include : Armadillo Aerospace, XCOR, Near Space Corp., Masten Space Systems, Up Aerospace Inc. and Whittinghill Aerospace LLC

Source: CBC News 

Limbu of Nepal by Joshua project

Introduction / History
The Limbu are one of the largest tribal groups in Nepal. They are a sub-group of the Kirant people. The Limbu live mainly in eastern Nepal between the Arun River and the border of the Sikkim district in India. They speak a dialect of Kirant, which is a Tibeto Burman language. 

The origin of the Limbu is uncertain, but they are clearly of Mongolian descent. In the later part of the 1700's, Nepal was formed by uniting various ethnic groups and principalities under a high caste Hindu dynasty. This conquest resulted in ethnic and cultural splits with the Limbu. 

The Limbu are known as des limbu (ten Limbu), even though there are actually thirteen Limbu sub-groups. Legend says that five of the groups came from Banaras, India and the other eight from Lhasa, Tibet. There is no social discrimination among the Limbu sub-groups, although there are a number of different clans and sects.


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