Watch Landing of Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134 LIVE

Watch Landing of Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134 LIVE

Endeavour Crew Prepares for EARLY...

Wednesday Morning Landing

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

4:47am CDT
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.Endeavour Undocks From Station, Due to Land Early Wednesday

The STS-134 astronauts left the station Sunday night, after delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and performing four spacewalks during Endeavour's final mission.

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Space Shuttle Endeavour’s crew is wrapping up final preparations for its planned landing at 1:35am CDT Wednesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida

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POST UPDATE:

Welcome home to the crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134. Mission well done!

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Endeavour Lands for Final Time at 1:34am CDT

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

01:59am CDT

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Space Shuttle Endeavour landed for the final time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after 248 orbits around Earth and a journey of 6,510,221 miles on STS-134.

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Endeavour’s main gear touched down at 2:34:51 a.m. followed by the nose gear at 2:35:04 and wheels stop at 2:35:36am.

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STS-134 was the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles.

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* Endeavour Lands, Atlantis at Launch Pad *

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

08:25am CDT

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Space Shuttle Endeavour completed its final flight by delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station during the STS-134 mission.

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"I think we all should be really impressed how big and magnificent that space station is," said STS-134 Mission Specialist Mike Fincke at the crew press conference following landing. Describing their parting view of the space station where he served once as crew and once as commander, he said, "We were impressed; we were excited like five-year olds at a rollercoaster park."

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"What a great ending to this really wonderful mission," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations. In regard to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, Gerstenmaier said, "They're getting great data from their instrument on board the space station. It couldn’t have gone any better for this mission."

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"We've had a lot going on here," said Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager, "Being able to send Atlantis out to the pad and then go out and land Endeavour was really a combination I never expected to have."

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Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director, added, "It's been a great morning at the Kennedy Space Center."

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Endeavour landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after 248 orbits around Earth and a journey of 6,510,221 miles. The STS-134 mission was the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which spent a total of 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles.

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Also overnight, Space Shuttle Atlantis completed its 3.4 mile trek from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A and was secured to the launch pad at 3:29am. The move began Tuesday at 8:42pm and took approximately 7 hours.
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Latest News and Updates
at NASA.gov
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Watch Landing/Mission

LIVE on NASA TV

Click HERE to view

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SAFE LANDING!
and now...
WELCOME HOME!!!
AubreyJ.........

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All above Info/Images taken from the NASA.gov website

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Another Heart Stent

Hello, gang...

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Sorry I have not been on top of all the going-ons with the spacewalks and overall mission of STS-134 and the rest of the better news out there that I love to keep up with... but I have been in Hospital from Saturday - Tuesday afternoon and been resting and away from the computers until now.

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Reason I was gone so long was because I was having a hard time breathing, again... and having all the same problems just like the way things happened to me leading up to my last 2 Heart Attacks. This time though, I made sure not to wait around until I had another one until I got something done about it.

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Nice to have GREAT DRs who believe you when you tell them something is bad wrong even though all the test they ran showed all was well. Long story short, had Heart Cath done on me after lots of test and shots and so on... and they found I had a near 95% blockage in heart with a 50% blockage just below that. SOOO... My Dr put one long stent in to take care of both. And man I feel so much better already... And Breathing is much better now too! (Needless to say I was getting REAL close to having another Heart Attack, but didn’t!)

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Well that’s about it for now and I should be getting back into the swing of things over the next few days.

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Hope all are well these days...

AubreyJ.........

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VIDEOS: STS-134 Daily Mission Recap - Flight Days 1 & 2

* STS-134 Daily Mission Recap - Flight Day 2 *

About today’s Video from SPACE: A video recap of flight day 2 of the STS-134 mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station.

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* STS-134 Daily Mission Recap - Flight Day 1 *

About today’s Video from SPACE: A video recap of flight day 1 of the STS-134 mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station.

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* Watch all Mission Videos, from beginning to end - HERE

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I’ve said it a thousand times

And I’ll say it again...

I LOVE THIS STUFF!

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Safe flight STS-124

AubreyJ.........

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Info/Videos from the NASA.gov website

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Photo for the Day - May 17, 2011

* Photo for the Day *

Endeavour's Final Flight

Space Shuttle Endeavour roars into orbit from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A as the vehicle embarks on its 25th and final spaceflight, the STS-134 mission. Commander Mark Kelly leads the six-person astronaut crew. Liftoff on May 16th occurred on time at 7:56am CDT.
Image credit: NASA

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Repost:

As published in the Shreveport Times

* Letter to the Editor *

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I guess by now everyone knows that this will be the final Mission/Space Flight ever for Space Shuttle Endeavour.

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Sadly... this will leave us with just one more flight, ever... for the Space Shuttle Program and then... that’s it!

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Manned Space Flight will END, as we know it, after the upcoming STS-135 Mission later this year. And YES... it is all going to end with the HELP of President Obama and the likes of other non visionaries like he.

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My heart truly breaks from the thought that we have let our Space Program go down the tubes and without any kind of outcry from the American people. NONE!

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In a nutshell... sad days are ahead my friends if our future goals for Manned Space Flight do not change at the top and rapidly SOON!

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For now, I would like everyone reading this to look around them, right now... and see all the things we have and know today all because our Space Program was pushing the limits, at all ends of Manned Space Flight.

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This pushing the limits of Manned Space Flight... is ending, for good, this year.

GOOD JOB OBAMA!

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With that said...  Safe Flight to the Crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134...

And God Speed to NASA in getting them all up there and back... safe and sound.

by AubreyJ.........
Aubrey J. Fawcett

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(Here it is on the Shreveport Times website)

Letter: Sad times for end of manned space flight as we know it

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Watch Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134 LIVE

Watch Launch/Mission Live

Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134

Post Date: Sunday, May 15, 2011

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Image above: Flags wave briskly at NASA Kennedy's Launch Pad 39A as Endeavour is revealed after the rotating service structure was rolled away for liftoff of the STS-134 mission. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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Launch Date: MONDAY - May 15th
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour

- LAST MISSION -
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 7:56am CDT

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STS-134 Mission Description: Space Shuttle Endeavour will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space Station. This is the LAST FLIGHT EVER of Space Shuttle Endeavour...

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Rotating Service Structure Opens For Launch

Sunday, May 15, 2011

11:35am CDT

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The rotating service structure (RSS) on NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A is fully open and moved away from space shuttle Endeavour. The RSS began moving at 10:44 a.m. CDT, about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The retraction was complete at 11:24 p.m.

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Final preparations continue for Endeavour's 7:56am CDT Monday liftoff. Cockpit switches will be configured this afternoon, while Commander Mark Kelly and his crew will begin their launch sleep schedule at 3 p.m.

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The shuttle's electricity-producing fuel cells will be activated at 4:46 p.m. and managers will meet at 10 p.m. to give a "Go-No Go" to load the External Fuel Tank with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

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Coverage of the fuel loading begins at 10:30 p.m. on NASA TV and at www.nasa.gov/ntv. The tanking process is scheduled to begin at 10:36 p.m.

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POST UPDATE:

8:00am CDT

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We have Liftoff folks and what a picture perfect launch it was!

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Liftoff of Space Shuttle Endeavour!

Space Shuttle Endeavour and its crew of six astronauts are headed for space, ready to begin their 16-day mission to the International Space Station. The climb to orbit takes about 8 1/2 minutes.

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Following a relatively smooth countdown, the weather cooperated leading to an on-time liftoff from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:56am CDT.

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NASA TV will air a post-launch news conference at no earlier than 9am so click it out at link below.

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Watch
Latest News and Updates
at NASA.gov

And at

NASA’s Launch Blog

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Watch Launch/Mission

LIVE on NASA TV

Click HERE to view

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STS-134 Image Gallery

> View Gallery <

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STS-130: Interactive Mission Timeline

Click HERE to view

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Safe Flight to the Crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-134...

And God Speed to NASA in getting them all up there and back... safe and sound.

AubreyJ.........

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All Info/Images taken from the NASA.gov website

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Newt Gingrich for President 2012

Newt Gingrich for President

2012

Yes... It’s finally official...

Newt Officially Announces Run for President

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

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Image credit: newt.org

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* FOX News Jake Gibson brings us the following report and it starts off like this... It took awhile, but Newt Gingrich is officially a candidate for the presidency in 2012. The former House speaker made the announcement via Twitter and Facebook Wednesday... "I'm Newt Gingrich, and I'm announcing my candidacy for president of the United States because I believe we can return America to hope and opportunity, to full employment and to real security," Gingrich said in a web video... In the two minute video, Gingrich spoke to the camera on a simple gray background and talked about his time as House speaker and his vision for an America with less focus on Washington...

Read the rest HERE.

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Newt Gingrich is Running for President

In above campaign video... Newt officially announces his run for the White House. He starts it off like this... "I'm Newt Gingrich, and I'm announcing my candidacy for President of the United States because I believe we can return America to hope and opportunity, to full employment, to real security, to an American energy program, to a balanced budget.”...

This video posted on YouTube by ngingrich

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Read more about Newt at Newt.org

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Starting from this moment on...  I give Newt my full support and shall do all I can do in helping him to become the next President of the United States.

So help me god...

AubreyJ.........

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Photo for the Day - May 10, 2011

* Photo for the Day *

- Atlantis Tribute -

This is a printable version [view link below] of Space Shuttle Atlantis' orbiter tribute, or OV-104, which hangs in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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In the lower-left corner, it features Atlantis soaring above Earth and threaded through the design are the mission patches for each of Atlantis' flights.

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Atlantis' accomplishments include seven missions to the Russian space station Mir and several assembly, construction and resupply missions to the International Space Station. Atlantis also flew the last Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission on STS-125.

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In the tribute, the planet Venus represents the Magellan probe being deployed during STS-30, and Jupiter represents the Galileo probe being deployed during STS-34. The inset photos illustrate various aspects of shuttle processing as well as significant achievements, such as the glass cockpit and the first shuttle docking with Mir during STS-71.

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The inset photo in the upper-left corner shows a rainbow over Atlantis on Launch Pad 39A and shuttle Endeavour on Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy.

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Endeavour was the assigned vehicle had Atlantis' STS-125 mission needed rescue, and this was the last time both launch pads were occupied at the same time.

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The stars in the background represent the many people who have worked with Atlantis and their contributions to the vehicle's success.

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Five orbiter tributes are on display in the firing room, representing Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Endeavour and Discovery.

Graphic design credit: NASA/Amy Lombardo - NASA publication number: SP-2010-08-161-KSC

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AubreyJ.........

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Killing of Osama Bin Laden - May 09, 2011

Killing of

* Osama Bin Laden *

The President's Story

Monday, May 09, 2011

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To mark the death of Usama Bin Ladin—the man who ordered the 9/11 attacks—the CIA placed flags at its Headquarters next to three artifacts from the attack sites, including this safe door pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

Image credit: CIA

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Bin Laden’s Death May Impact Afghanistan, Gates Says

Written by Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service

Originally posted 5/06/11

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SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. - The killing of Osama bin Laden “could be a game changer” that affects the situation in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.

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Still, it will take time before the situation clarifies, Gates told about 450 airmen at the 335th and 336th fighter squadrons.

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“Bin Laden and [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar had a very close personal relationship, and there are others in the Taliban who have felt betrayed by al-Qaida -- [they feel] it was because of al-Qaida’s attack on the United States that the Taliban got thrown out of Afghanistan,” the secretary said. “We’ll have to see what that relationship looks like.”

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Officials may know in six months or so how bin Laden’s death has affected al-Qaida operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere, Gates said.

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The secretary described U.S. relations in the region as complex. Using Pakistan as an example, the secretary said he would have been astounded if someone had told him two years ago that Pakistan would have 140,000 troops on its western border with Afghanistan and was going to drive the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida from South Waziristan and the Swat Valley.

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“I would have said that’s not going to happen, but it has,” he said.

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Pakistan has pulled troops from its border with India and has taken thousands of casualties in the fight against the terrorists. Pakistan also allows a huge percentage of the logistics sent to troops in Afghanistan to flow across their country, Gates said.

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The United States and Pakistan are firm partners in the fight against terrorism, Gates said. However, he added, the Pakistanis may be concerned that United States’ current interest in the region may diminish with time.

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“At the same time there is no question that they hedge their bets,” he said of Pakistan’s leadership. “Their view is that we have abandoned them four times in the last 45 years, and they are still not sure we are going to stay in the region. They saw us leave after the Soviets were thrown out of Afghanistan in 1989 and they are not confident that we won’t leave again when we have accomplished our mission in Afghanistan.”

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Pakistan and the United States have to keep working on their relationship, Gates said. At the tactical level -- across the border with Afghanistan -- the relationship is good and getting better, he said. U.S. and Pakistani forces take turns being the “hammer and anvil” with the Taliban stuck in the middle.

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“I would say it is a relationship we just have to keep working at,” he said.

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* Click out more with this DoD Special Report at link below...

THE DEMISE OF OSAMA BIN LADEN

Lots of reports, videos, photos and more at above link...

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* NPR SPECIAL SERIES:

Osama Bin Laden Killed

. Lots of reports, videos, photos at this link too!

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* Background Briefing with Senior Intelligence Official at the Pentagon on Intelligence Aspects of the U.S. Operation Involving Osama Bin Laden

Originally posted Saturday, May 07, 2011

Click out the FULL transcript HERE.

NOTE: Above link also has the 5 Bin Laden videos for you to view or download or both!

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[At the conclusion of the briefing, DVDs with the five video segments were handed out to the press corps along with the following ON THE RECORD statement from Leon E. Panetta, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency: “This mission goes to the heart of what the CIA is all about: protecting America and building a better world for our children. It demonstrates the perseverance, skill, and sheer courage of the men and women who stand watch for our nation, day in and day out. And it is a model of seamless collaboration, both within the Intelligence Community and with the US military. The material found in the compound only further confirms how important it was to go after Bin Laden. Since 9/11, this is what the American people have expected of us. In this critical operation, we delivered.”]

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From the CIA website I found this:

The Final Chapter in the Hunt for Bin Ladin

Lots of good stuff at above link so be sure to click it out...

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- 60 Minutes: The President’s Story -

Killing Bin Laden:

The President's Story, Part 1

Originally Aired May 8th

In his first and only interview since the killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama talks to Steve Kroft about the intelligence and preparations leading up to the operation in Pakistan.

Read more/watch the rest at link below...

President Obama on the mission to kill bin Laden .
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More to come...

AubreyJ.........

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