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Space News: Visiting Mars on the way to the outer solar system
Recently Mars has had a few Earthly visitors. On March 1, NASA’s Europa Clipper flew within 550 miles (884 kilometers) of the Red Planet’s surface on its way out to Jupiter. On March 12, the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft flew within about 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) of Mars, and only 300 kilometers from its moon, Deimos.
Hera is on its way to study the binary asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos. Next year, in May 2026, NASA’s Psyche mission is scheduled to buzz the Red Planet on its way to the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche, coming within a few thousand kilometers.
Why all these visits to Mars? You might at first think that they’re using Mars as an object of opportunity for their cameras, and you would be partially right. But Mars has more to give these missions than that.
The main reason for these flybys is the extra speed that Mars’ velocity around the Sun can give them. The idea that visiting a planet can speed up a spacecraft is not all that obvious, because the same gravity that attracts the spacecraft on its way towards the planet will exert a backwards force as the spacecraft leaves the planet.
The key is in the direction that it approaches and leaves the planet. If the spacecraft leaves Mars heading in the direction that Mars is traveling around the Sun, it will gain speed in that direction, slingshotting it farther into the outer solar system.
A spacecraft can typically gain several percent of its speed by performing such a slingshot flyby. The closer it gets to the planet, the bigger the effect. However, no mission wants to be slowed by the upper atmosphere, so several hundred kilometers is the closest that a mission should go. And the proximity to the planet is also affected by the exact direction the spacecraft needs to go when it leaves Mars.
Clipper’s Mars flyby was a slight exception, slowing down the craft — by about 1.2 miles per second (2 kilometers per second) — to steer it toward Earth for a second gravity assist in December 2026. That will push the spacecraft the rest of the way to Jupiter, for its 2030 arrival.
While observing Mars is not the main reason for their visits, many of the visiting spacecraft take the opportunity to use their cameras either to perform calibrations or to study the Red Planet and its moons.
During Clipper’s flyby over sols 1431-1432, Mastcam-Z was directed to watch the skies for signs of the interplanetary visitor. Clipper’s relatively large solar panels could have reflected enough sunlight for it to be seen in the Mars night sky, much as we can see satellites overhead from Earth.
Unfortunately, the spacecraft entered the shadow of Mars just before it came into potential view above the horizon from Perseverance’s vantage point, so the sighting did not happen. But it was worth a try.
Meanwhile, back on the ground, Perseverance is performing something of a cliff-hanger. “Sally’s Cove” is a relatively steep rock outcrop in the outer portion of Jezero crater’s rim just north of “Broom Hill.”
Perseverance made an approach during March 19 to 23, and has been exploring some dark-colored rocks along this outcrop, leaving the spherules behind for the moment. Who knows what Perseverance will find next?
Roger Wiens is principal investigator, SuperCam instrument / Co-Investigator, SHERLOC instrument at Purdue University.
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- Written by: Roger Wiens
Upper Lake’s Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon sold
UPPER LAKE, Calif. — After two decades of being at the heart of renewal and redevelopment in downtown Upper Lake, the Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon restaurant have been sold.
Bernie and Lynne Butcher, who renovated the historic hotel and built the restaurant next door, said they have sold the two businesses to Amar and Rajvi Alapati. The sale closed Thursday.
“We’re proud of what we’ve been able to build here in Upper Lake over the past twenty years with the help of a first-rate, professional staff,” said Lynne Butcher. “In looking for new owners, it was important to us to find people with both the experience and the dedication to take the business to the next level.”
The Alapatis own eight other boutique hotels, most under the umbrella of Serenite Hotels. Their other properties include the Amador Hotel in Pioneer, located in the Gold Country; the Groveland Hotel and Narrow Gauge Inn, both located close to Yosemite National Park; and the Shaver Lake Village Hotel.
“Rajvi and I are delighted to add the Tallman and Blue Wing to our portfolio,” said Amar Alapati. “We were impressed from day one with the quality of the physical facilities here as well as the reputation that has been developed as the premier hotel and one of the top dining facilities in Lake County.”
He said they have rehired all of the existing staff, “and we’re committed to enhancing profitability while preserving the current high level of personal service.”
Rajvi Alapati noted the attention to detail the Butchers put into all aspects of the property and the five-star ratings she’s seen online for both the hotel and restaurant.
“We hope to leverage the economies of scale we can achieve with our other hotels and to find ways to bring even more people to experience the attractions of Lake County,” she said.
History and redevelopment
Rufus and Mary Tallman originally built a stage stop hotel and saloon on the site in the early 1870s. The Tallman House Hotel burned down in October 1895. It was rebuilt and called the Riffe’s Hotel when the Tallmans’ daughter, Winnyford, and her husband, Hank Riffe, took over the business in 1906.
A history of the site said the Tallmans also operated the original Blue Wing Saloon next door to the hotel. However, during Prohibition in the 1920s, the Riffes tore down the saloon.
After her husband’s death in 1937, Winnyford Riffe ran the hotel as a boarding house, and it was a retirement home in the 1940s and into the 1950s.
The hotel remained in place but was largely abandoned by 1962. For 40 years, the building was left in a declining state, looking like a backdrop from a western movie set.
In 2003, the Butchers purchased the building — then in the county’s Northshore redevelopment area — and set about a complete rebuild and expansion of the hotel that included green technology such as a geo-exchange cooling system while paying attention to the property’s history.
As part of the project, they built the new restaurant. The redeveloped property also includes the Riffe’s Meeting House, named for the hotel’s second owners.
The Butchers opened the Blue Wing in 2005 and the 17-room Tallman Hotel in 2006.
The Tallman Hotel was added as a point of historical interest in the California Register of Historical Resources in 2008.
Since then, the hotel and restaurant have won accolades for service and for their environmentally friendly operations, drawn visitors from around the region and beyond, been a hub of activity in downtown Upper Lake, and a popular spot for live music, events and meetings. The Butchers also developed the annual Blue Wing Blues Festival.
“We’re impressed with the special events hosted by the Tallman and the local music program in the Blue Wing. We’re looking forward to hosting the 18th annual Blue Wing Blues Festival over Labor Day weekend,” Amar Alapati said.
The Alapatis will be able to call on the Butchers as they get settled into the ownership of the Tallman and Blue Wing.
“We’ll be here to help them in the transition,” Bernie Butcher said. “I expect they’ll do whatever they can to preserve the essence of what we’ve built here while putting their own stamp on the business over time.”
The Butchers thanked the Lake County community for all the support they have received over the years.
They said they plan to remain active in many areas of local interest.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
California invests $11 million to expand career opportunities for farmworkers
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The California Employment Development Department said Thursday that it has awarded $10 million as part of the Farmworker Advancement Program to 12 California based organizations — including one that serves Lake County — for creating programs that help farmworkers adjust to the ever-changing demands of the farming industry.An additional $1 million has been awarded to Jobs for the Future to assist these organizations in the development and rollout of their programs.
The Thursday announcement comes just ahead of Cesar Chavez Day, which will be marked on March 31, in honor of Chavez’s work and legacy of supporting farm workers.
“We’re helping to increase equity and improve outcomes for farmworkers in a rapidly changing industry,” said Employment Development Director Nancy Farias. “This investment builds the necessary skills to prepare farmworkers for upward mobility and higher wages.”
Among the awardees is North Bay Jobs with Justice, which serves Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties.
The organization — which explains on its website that it’s a grassroots coalition of more than 30 labor and community organizations — will receive $985,200.
The Farmworker Advancement Program is a California Jobs First initiative. In partnership with its 13 economic regions, the state is investing in job creation, industrial strategy, and economic development initiatives to create a greener and more equitable economy that works for everyone.
The awarded organizations will develop programs that address farmworkers’ unique needs while adapting to ongoing changes in the agriculture industry.
These programs will provide hands-on training in industry-specific skills, including climate-smart technologies and techniques that leave our land, waters, and climate in better shape for the future. Participants will also receive essential training in English, math, and digital literacy.
By equipping workers with these skills, the programs aim to enhance job stability through career advancement, which can empower farmworkers and strengthen California’s agricultural workforce.
An additional $1 million has been awarded to Jobs for the Future to strengthen collaboration among the 12 awardees, share best practices, and support program development and implementation.
This added layer of support will help ensure programs are effective, sustainable, and aligned with industry needs — ultimately improving outcomes for farmworkers and their communities.
“This work supports grantees to provide critical skills training to farmworkers through innovative programming,” said Stewart Knox, secretary of the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency. “Agriculture is essential to California’s economy and is evolving in response to climate change and technological advancements. We are investing to build pathways for the current workforce to fill the jobs of tomorrow whether in agriculture or other industries.”
These grants are 100 percent federally funded by two separate grant awards totaling $9,999,054.89 and $1 million, respectively, from the U.S. Department of Labor.
In addition to North Bay Jobs with Justice, 2024-25 Farmworker Advancement Program grant recipients include the following:
• Caravanserai Project; Riverside County; $984,532.03.
• Center for Employment Training; Imperial, Monterey, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Riverside and Ventura counties; $985,200.
• Central Valley Opportunity Center Inc.; Madera, Merced and Stanislaus counties; $985,200.
• Equitable Food Initiative; Fresno, Santa Barbara, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties; $490,112.37.
• Five Keys Schools and Programs; Riverside County; $448,248.27.
• Fresno Building Healthy Communities; Fresno and Madera counties; $985,200.
• Kern/Inyo/Mono Consortium Workforce Development Area — Kern County Employer's Training Resource; Kern County; $985,200.
• Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project; Ventura County; $482,881.99.
• Sonoma County Fundación de la Voz de los Viñedos; Sonoma County; $712,756.73.
• University of California Riverside; Imperial, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties; $980,407.
• West Hills Community College District; Fresno and Kings counties; $974,116.50.
In addition, Jobs for the Future, which offers services statewide, received $1 million through the Farmworker Advancement Program Technical Assistance and Developmental Evaluation 2024-25 Program.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Federal judge upholds California’s age-based firearms restrictions
On Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California held that California’s age-based restrictions on sales and transfers of firearms are constitutional.The case, Chavez v. Bonta, was a Second Amendment challenge to California's law prohibiting licensed firearms dealers from selling, supplying, delivering, or giving possession or control of handguns or semiautomatic centerfire rifles to 18- to 20-year-olds who are not active members of law enforcement or the military.
The plaintiffs also challenged the law’s requirement that 18- to 20-year-olds must first pass a training course and obtain a hunting license before being able to purchase other long guns from licensed dealers.
“We applaud the court’s decision and celebrate this important victory in the fight against gun violence,” said California Attorney Rob General Bonta. “This commonsense regulation will continue to protect our young and vulnerable communities from preventable gun violence. I am proud of the countless hours my team has put in to defend this law and we know the fight is not over. We will continue to lead efforts to defend commonsense gun-safety laws and protect our communities from senseless violence.”
In 2018, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1100 in response to the mass shooting by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Among other provisions, SB 1100 restricts the sale, rental, delivery or transfer of long guns by firearms dealers to any person under the age of 21 unless the individual has a valid, unexpired hunting license issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, is an active-duty police officer or member of the Armed Forces or is an honorably discharged member of the Armed Forces.
In 2019, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 61, which limited the sale of semiautomatic centerfire rifles by firearms dealers to individuals under 21 with exceptions for certain active duty or reserve law enforcement officers and Armed Forces members.
A copy of the court order is published below.
2025.03.26 Dkt 159 Order Granting Ds MSJ Denying Ps MSJ by LakeCoNews on Scribd
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