title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: The first printed media directly related to the second film was a 32-page coloring and activity book by publisher HarperCollins, which became available on May 5, 2009 and was the first official source to openly give out key plot points to the film. On June 1, 2009 DK Publishing published a 96-page book entitled "Transformers: The Movie Universe", which intended to provide factual data on the characters of the film.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: On June 10, 2009, the comic book adaptation of the film, written by Simon Furman was released. Additionally, Alan Dean Foster also wrote the novelization for the film. Meanwhile, Dan Jolley wrote "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Junior Novel", a 144-page book oriented at a younger audience than the one by Foster. Lastly, a book titled "Transformers: The Art of the Movies" was released, documenting behind-the scenes aspects of the making of the film.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: Other minor tie-in publications include "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Last Prime", "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Reusable Sticker Book", "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Made You Look!", "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Rise of the Decepticons", "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Spot the 'Bots", "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Mix and Match", "Operation Autobot", "When Robots Attack" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2010 Wall Calendar".


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: On June 23, 2009, Activision published for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Games for Windows.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: "Revenge of the Fallen" premiered on June 8, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. After its UK release on June 19, 2009, it was released in regular and IMAX theatres in North America on June 24, although some theaters held limited-access advance screenings on June 22. Linkin Park held a special show after the premiere at the Fox Theater, Westwood Village on June 22, during which they performed "New Divide" live for the first time.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: The IMAX release featured additional scenes of extended robot fighting sequences, which were not seen in the regular theater version.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: The film was released in two-disc Blu-ray and DVD editions, and a single-disc DVD version on October 20, 2009 in North America. Michael Bay has revealed that the Blu-ray release of the film, produced by Charles de Lauzirika, features variable aspect ratio for the scenes shot in IMAX format. A special IMAX edition was available exclusively at Walmart.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: Home versions include over three hours of bonus content and several interactive features, including "The AllSpark Experiment", which reveals Michael Bay's plans for in the series. At Target, the DVD and Blu-ray versions includes a transformable Bumblebee case. Both two-disc editions are the first to include Paramount's Augmented Reality feature, which allows the user to handle a 3-D model of Optimus Prime on a computer by moving the package in front of a webcam. First-week sales of the DVD reached 7.5 million copies, making it the best-selling DVD of 2009. The Blu-ray version had the best first-week sales of 2009, with 1.2 million units.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews and an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, ""Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is a noisy, underplotted, and overlong special effects extravaganza that lacks a human touch." On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 35 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a "B+", compared to the "A" that the original film had scored.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: According to "The Washington Post", "Revenge of the Fallen" was Bay's worst-reviewed film at the time of release, faring even worse than "Pearl Harbor" (2001). Betsy Sharkey of the "Los Angeles Times" described the film as "in-your-face, ear-splitting and unrelenting. It's easy to walk away feeling like you've spent 2 hours in the mad, wild, hydraulic embrace of a car compactor".


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: Roger Ebert, who had given the 2007 film three stars, gave the sequel only one, calling it "...a horrible experience of unbearable length", a phrase which later became the title of his third bad-movie-reviews collection. Later in his review, Ebert discouraged movie-goers from seeing the film by saying "If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination." He later wrote on his blog about the film, "The day will come when "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" will be studied in film classes and shown at cult film festivals. It will be seen, in retrospect, as marking the end of an era. Of course there will be many more CGI-based action epics, but never again one this bloated, excessive, incomprehensible, long (149 minutes) or expensive ($200 million)." Ebert would continue to lambast the film (and, sometimes, the "Transformers" franchise in general) in other movie reviews and responses to letters and emails sent to him. "Rolling Stone" critic Peter Travers did not give the film any stars, considering that ""Revenge of the Fallen" has a shot at the title 'Worst Movie of the Decade'." He later named it as the "worst film of the decade". Other reviewers, while still critical, were less damning of the film, "The A.V. Club" gave the film a "C−", complaining about the writing and length, but mentioning the effects and action scenes were impressive. Among positive reviews, Amy Biancolli of the "Houston Chronicle" called it "a well-oiled, loudly revving summer action vehicle that does all that's required, and then some", Jordan Mintzer from "Variety" said it "takes the franchise to a vastly superior level of artificial intelligence", and Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that ""Revenge of the Fallen" may be a massive overdose of popcorn greased with motor oil. But it knows how to feed your inner 10-year-old's appetite for destruction." A review from "Empire magazine" said :"What saves it, just about, are the effects. At times the frame is so packed with whirring cogs and twirling cranks that you could replicate the effect by staring at the innards of a domestic appliance, but when these CGI moto-men from another world duke it out, the images are often so screwy it’s impossible to do anything but sit and stare."


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: There was considerable negative reaction to the characters Mudflap and Skids, who some perceived as embodying racist stereotypes. Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" said that "the characters [...] indicate that minstrelsy remains as much in fashion in Hollywood as when, well, Jar Jar Binks was set loose by George Lucas". Critic Scott Mendelson said "To say that these two are the most astonishingly racist caricatures that I've ever seen in a mainstream motion picture would be an understatement." Harry Knowles, founder of Ain't It Cool News, went further, asking his readers "not to support this film" because "you'll be taking [your children] to see a film with the lowest forms of humor, stereotypes, and racism around." Bay (the director) has attempted to defend the film as "good clean fun" and insisted that "We're just putting more personality in." Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman responded to the controversy with "It's really hard for us to sit here and try to justify it. I think that would be very foolish, and if someone wants to be offended by it, it's their right. We were very surprised when we saw it, too, and it's a choice that was made. If anything, it just shows you that we don't control every aspect of the movie." Tom Kenny stated in a late 2020 interview that he was hired as a placeholder for the role of Skids, but that Michael Bay ended up using his voice in the final version of the film; a decision that Kenny admitted he was embarrassed by.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: Another major complaint about the film was Bay's usage of the IMAX format. Instead of using IMAX for complete unbroken sequences similar to director Christopher Nolan's approach for "The Dark Knight", Bay chose to use the format primarily on a shot-by-shot basis, combining conventional 35mm footage and IMAX shots in the same sequence. That approach, combined with rapid cutting, created a jarring, highly unpleasant experience for most moviegoers.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: Actor Shia LaBeouf was unimpressed with the film, stating "We got lost. We tried to get bigger. It's what happens to sequels. It's like, how do you top the first one? You've got to go bigger. Michael Bay went so big that it became too big, and I think you lost the anchor of the movie...You lost a bit of the relationship. Unless you have those relationships, then the movie doesn't matter. Then it's just a bunch of robots fighting each other." Bay has admitted his disappointment with the film and has apologized, saying the film was "crap" and blaming the 2007–08 Writers' strike, saying "It was very hard to put (the sequel) together that quickly after the writers' strike (of 2007–08)".


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: "Revenge of the Fallen" was a box office success, earning $402.1 million in the U.S. and Canada and $434.2 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $836.3 million, being the 37th-highest-grossing film of all time domestically. "Revenge of the Fallen" grossed $16 million from midnight showings, at the time the most ever for a Wednesday midnight debut. For 13 years, it achieved the biggest previews for a Paramount film until 2022 when "" ($19.3 million) took it. The film proceeded to beat "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"'s record ($44.2 million) for the biggest Wednesday opening in history, bringing in $62 million in total receipts on its first day (until "" topped this record with $68.5 million in 2010), additionally ranking it as the second biggest opening day ever at the time, behind "The Dark Knight". The film grossed $109 million on its first weekend, the seventh-largest in history at the time, and brought in $200 million in its first five days, putting it in second place behind "The Dark Knight"s $203.7 million for the all-time biggest five-day opening. Its gross from Friday to Sunday was also the biggest June opening weekend for one year, breaking "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"'s record ($93.7 million), until "Toy Story 3" claimed that record the following year ($110.3 million).


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: "Revenge of the Fallen" remained #1 at the box office for two weeks straight by a close margin before being overtaken by "Bruno" ($30 million) and the second weekend of "Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs" ($28 million). Initial studio estimates showed a tie between it and that weekend's new release "", but the actual totals showed "Revenge of the Fallen" taking the #1 spot yet again with $42.3 million. Also, it was the first film of 2009 to reach the $300 million mark in North America. On July 27, a month after its release, the movie reached $379.2 million in the US, which brought it into the top 10 highest-grossing movies ever in that country as of August 2009. Among 2009 films, it was the second-highest-grossing in the United States and Canada, behind "Avatar", and fourth globally behind "Avatar", "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs". As of 2013, the film marks as the second-highest-grossing Hasbro film of all time, behind only its sequel "". Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 53 million tickets in the US.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: In a year-end poll administered by Moviefone, the film won in both the best and worst categories. It was voted the "worst film of 2009" by 24% of those surveyed, while also winning the vote for "best action movie" again with 24% of the vote. Fox's performance was voted the worst by an actress that year, and she was also voted the year's sexiest star. Comcast ranked the film as the 4th-worst sequel of all time. "Empire" named the film the 25th-worst movie ever made. In June 2009, David Germain from the Associated Press called the film the "worst-reviewed $400 million hit ever".


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: "Revenge of the Fallen" was among the films shortlisted for the Best Visual Effects at the 82nd Academy Awards, but was only nominated for Best Sound Mixing (Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson), eventually losing to "The Hurt Locker". The film won five Scream Awards, for Best Actress (Megan Fox), Breakout Performance-Female (Isabel Lucas), Best Sequel, Best F/X, and Scream Song of the Year ("New Divide"); and two Teen Choice Awards, for Choice Summer Movie Star: Female (Megan Fox) and Choice Summer Movie Star: Male (Shia LaBeouf). "Revenge of the Fallen" was also nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film but lost to "Avatar", Satellite Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound, a VES Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture, a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble, and an MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment (Isabel Lucas turning into a Decepticon). Shia LaBeouf, the film and Megan Fox was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actor, Favorite Movie and Favorite Movie Actress, but all lost to Taylor Lautner, "" and Miley Cyrus, respectively.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: It was nominated for seven Razzie Awards including Worst Actress for Megan Fox (also for "Jennifer's Body"), Worst Supporting Actress for Julie White, Worst Screen Couple (for Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox) and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, winning three in the Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay categories at the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards.


title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

text: The third film, "Dark of the Moon" was released June 29, 2011. The fourth film, "Age of Extinction" was released June 27, 2014. The fifth film, "The Last Knight" was released on June 21, 2017. A spin-off, titled "Bumblebee" was released on December 21, 2018. "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" is scheduled to be released to be released on June 9th, 2023


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division, later a part of Raytheon. Consisting of a radar-guided Vulcan cannon mounted on a swiveling base, the Phalanx has been used by the United States Navy and the naval forces of 15 other countries. The US Navy deploys it on every class of surface combat ship, except the and . Other users include the British Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the US Coast Guard (aboard its - and s).


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: A land variant, the LPWS (Land Phalanx Weapon System), part of the C-RAM system, was developed. It was deployed to counter rocket, artillery and mortar attacks during the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The U.S. Navy also fields the SeaRAM system, which pairs the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile with sensors based on the Phalanx.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: Because of their distinctive barrel-shaped radome and their automated nature of operation, Phalanx CIWS units are sometimes nicknamed "R2-D2" after the droid from the "Star Wars" films.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) was developed as the last line of automated weapons defense (terminal defense or point defense) against all incoming threats, including antiship missiles (AShMs or ASMs), aircraft including high-g and maneuvering sea-skimmers, and small boats.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The first prototype system was offered to the U.S. Navy for evaluation on the destroyer leader in 1973 and it was determined that further work was required to improve performance and reliability. Subsequently, the Phalanx Operational Suitability Model successfully completed its Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) on board the destroyer in 1977. The model exceeded operational maintenance, reliability, and availability specifications. Another evaluation successfully followed, and the weapon system was approved for production in 1978. Phalanx production started with orders for 23 USN and 14 foreign military systems. The first ship fully fitted out was the aircraft carrier in 1980. The Navy began placing CIWS systems on non-combatant vessels in 1984.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The basis of the system is the 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun autocannon, used by the United States military on various tactical aircraft since 1959, linked to a K band fire control radar system for acquiring and tracking targets. This proven system was combined with a purpose-made mounting, capable of fast elevation and traverse speeds, to track incoming targets. An entirely self-contained unit, the mounting houses the gun, an automated fire-control system and all other major components, enabling it to automatically search for, detect, track, engage, and confirm kills using its computer-controlled radar system. Owing to this self-contained nature, Phalanx is ideal for support ships, which lack integrated targeting systems and generally have limited sensors. The entire unit has a mass between .


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: Due to the evolution of threats and computer technology, the Phalanx system has been developed through several configurations. The basic (original) style is the Block 0, equipped with first-generation, solid-state electronics and with marginal capability against surface targets. The Block 1 (1988) upgrade offered various improvements in radar, ammunition, computing power, rate of fire, and an increase in maximum engagement elevation to +70 degrees. These improvements were intended to increase the system's capability against emerging Russian supersonic anti-ship missiles. Block 1A introduced a new computer system to counter more maneuverable targets. The Block 1B PSuM (Phalanx Surface Mode, 1999) adds a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor to make the weapon effective against surface targets. This addition was developed to provide ship defense against small vessel threats and other "floaters" in littoral waters and to improve the weapon's performance against slower low-flying aircraft. The FLIR's capability is also of use against low-observability missiles and can be linked with the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) system to increase RAM engagement range and accuracy. The Block 1B also allows for an operator to visually identify and target threats.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: Since the end of FY 2015, the US Navy has upgraded all Phalanx systems to the Block 1B variant. In addition to the FLIR sensor, the Block 1B incorporates an automatic acquisition video tracker, optimized gun barrels (OGB), and Enhanced Lethality Cartridges (ELC) for additional capabilities against asymmetric threats such as small maneuvering surface craft, slow-flying fixed and rotary-winged aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles. The FLIR sensor improves performance against anti-ship cruise missiles, while the OGB and ELC provide tighter dispersion and increased "first-hit" range; the Mk 244 ELC is specifically designed to penetrate anti-ship missiles with a 48 percent heavier tungsten penetrator round and an aluminum nose piece. Another system upgrade is the Phalanx 1B Baseline 2 radar to improve detection performance, increase reliability, and reduce maintenance. It also has a surface mode to track, detect, and destroy threats closer to the water's surface, increasing the ability to defend against fast-attack boats and low-flying missiles. As of 2019, the Baseline 2 radar upgrade has been installed on all U.S. Navy Phalanx system-equipped vessels. The Block 1B is also used by other navies, such as Canada, Portugal, Japan, Egypt, Bahrain, and the UK.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: In April 2017, Raytheon tested a new electric gun for the Phalanx allowing the system to fire at varying rates to conserve ammunition. The new design replaces the pneumatic motor, compressor, and storage tanks, reducing system weight by while increasing reliability and reducing operating costs.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The CIWS is designed to be the last line of defense against anti-ship missiles. Due to its design criteria, its effective range is very short relative to the range of modern ASMs, from . The gun mount moves at a very high speed and with great precision. The system takes minimal inputs from the ship, making it capable of functioning despite potential damage to the ship.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The only inputs required for operation are 440V AC three-phase electric power at 60Hz and water (for electronics cooling). For full operation, including some nonessential functions, it also has inputs for ship's true compass heading and 115V AC for the WinPASS subsystem. WinPASS (Windows-based Parameter Analysis and Storage Subsystem) is a secondary computer built into the local control station that allows technicians to perform various tests on system hardware and software for maintenance and troubleshooting purposes. It also stores data from any engagements the system conducts so that it can later be analyzed.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The CIWS has two antennas that work together to engage targets. The first antenna, for searching, is located inside the radome on the weapon control group (top of the white-painted portion). The search subsystem provides bearing, range, velocity, heading, and altitude information of potential targets to the CIWS computer. This information is analyzed to determine whether the detected object should be engaged by the CIWS system. Once the computer identifies a valid target (see details below), the mount moves to face the target and then hands the target over to the tracking antenna at around 8 km. The track antenna is extremely precise, but views a much smaller area. The tracking subsystem observes the target until the computer determines that the probability of a successful hit is maximized and then, depending on the operator conditions, the system either fires automatically at around 2 km or recommends fire to the operator. While firing 75 rounds per second, the system tracks outgoing rounds and 'walks' them onto the target.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The Block 0 CIWS mounts (hydraulic driven) fired at a rate of 3,000 rounds per minute and held 989 rounds in the magazine drum. The Block 1 CIWS mounts (hydraulic) also fired at 3,000 rounds per minute with an extended magazine drum holding 1,550 rounds. The Block 1A and newer (pneumatic driven) CIWS mounts fire at a rate of 4,500 rounds per minute with a 1,550-round magazine. The velocity of the rounds fired is about . The rounds are armor-piercing tungsten penetrator rounds or depleted uranium with discardable sabots. The Phalanx CIWS 20–mm rounds are designed to destroy a missile's airframe and make it non aerodynamic, thus keeping shrapnel from the exploding projectile to a minimum, effectively keeping secondary damage to a minimum. The ammunition handling system has two conveyor belt systems. The first takes the rounds out of the magazine drum to the gun; the second takes empty shells or unfired rounds to the opposite end of the drum.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The 20–mm APDS rounds consist of a penetrator encased in a plastic sabot and a lightweight metal pusher. Shells fired by the Phalanx cost around $30 each and the gun typically fires 100 or more when engaging a target.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: The CIWS does not recognize identification friend or foe, also known as IFF. The CIWS only has the data it collects in real time from the radars to decide if the target is a threat and to engage it. A contact must meet multiple criteria for the CIWS to consider it a target. These criteria include:


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: There are many other subsystems that together ensure proper operation, such as environmental control, transmitter, mount movement control, power control and distribution, and so on. It takes six to eight months to train a technician to maintain, operate, and repair the CIWS.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: On 10 February 1983, was conducting a live-fire exercise off the East Coast of the United States using the Phalanx against a target drone. Although the drone was successfully engaged at close range, the target debris bounced off the sea surface and struck the ship. This caused significant damage and fire from the drone's residual fuel, which also killed a civilian instructor aboard this ship.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: On 13 October 1989, was conducting a live-fire exercise off the East Coast of the United States using the Phalanx against a target drone. The drone was successfully engaged, but as the drone fell to the sea, the CIWS re-engaged it as a continued threat to "El Paso". Rounds from the Phalanx struck the bridge of , killing one officer and injuring a petty officer.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: On 17 May 1987, during the Iran–Iraq War, an Iraqi modified Falcon 50 business jet, fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate .


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: Both missiles struck the port side of the ship near the bridge. The Phalanx CIWS remained in standby mode and the Mark 36 SRBOC countermeasures were not armed. 37 United States Navy personnel were killed and 21 wounded.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: On 25 February 1991, during the first Gulf War, the Phalanx-equipped frigate was a few miles from the U.S. Navy battleship and the Royal Navy destroyer . An Iraqi missile battery fired two Silkworm missiles (often referred to as the "Seersucker"), at which time "Missouri" fired its SRBOC chaff countermeasures. The Phalanx system on "Jarrett", operating in its automatic target-acquisition mode, fixed on "Missouri"s chaff, releasing a burst of rounds. From this burst, four rounds hit "Missouri", which was from "Jarrett" at the time. There were no injuries on "Missouri" and the Iraqi missiles were destroyed by Sea Dart missiles fired by "Gloucester".


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: On 4 June 1996, a Phalanx operated by the JMSDF accidentally shot down a US A-6 Intruder from the aircraft carrier that was towing a radar target during gunnery exercises about west of the main Hawaiian island of Oahu. The locked onto the Intruder instead of the target or tracked up the tow cable after acquiring the towed-target. Both the pilot and bombardier/navigator ejected safely. A post-accident investigation concluded that "Yūgiri"s gunnery officer gave the order to fire before the A-6 was out of the CIWS engagement envelope.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: Seeking a solution to continual rocket and mortar attacks on bases in Iraq, the U.S. Army requested a quick-to-field antiprojectile system in May 2004, as part of its Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar initiative. The end result of this program was the "Centurion". For all intents and purposes a terrestrial version of the Navy's CIWS, the Centurion was rapidly developed, with a proof-of-concept test in November that same year. Deployment to Iraq began in 2005, where it was set up to protect forward operating bases and other high-value sites in and around the capital, Baghdad. Israel purchased a single system for testing purposes, and was reported to have considered buying the system to counter rocket attacks and defend point military installations. However, the swift and effective development and performance of Israel's indigenous Iron dome system has ruled out any purchase or deployment of Centurion.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: Each system consists of a modified Phalanx 1B CIWS, powered by an attached generator and mounted on a trailer for mobility. Including the same 20 mm M61A1 Gatling gun, the unit is likewise capable of firing 4,500 20–mm rounds per minute. In 2008, there were more than 20 CIWS systems protecting bases in the U.S. Central Command area of operations. A Raytheon spokesman told the "Navy Times" that 105 attacks were defeated by the systems, most of them involving mortars. Based on the success of Centurion, 23 additional systems were ordered in September 2008.


title: Phalanx CIWS

text: Like the naval (1B) version, Centurion uses Ku-band radar and FLIR to detect and track incoming projectiles, and is also capable of engaging surface targets, with the system able to reach a minus-25-degree elevation. The Centurion is reportedly capable of defending a area. One major difference between the land- and sea-based variants is the choice of ammunition. Whereas naval Phalanx systems fire tungsten armor-piercing rounds, the C-RAM uses the 20–mm HEIT-SD (High-Explosive Incendiary Tracer, Self-Destruct) ammunition, originally developed for the M163 Vulcan Air Defense System. These rounds explode on impact with the target, or on tracer burnout, thereby greatly reducing the risk of collateral damage from rounds that fail to hit their target.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa , or Jupiter II, is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet of all the 80 known moons of Jupiter. It is also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System. Europa was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and was named after Europa, the Phoenician mother of King Minos of Crete and lover of Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter).


title: Europa (moon)

text: Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and has a water-ice crust and probably an iron–nickel core. It has a very thin atmosphere, composed primarily of oxygen. Its white-beige surface is striated by light tan cracks and streaks, but craters are relatively few. In addition to Earth-bound telescope observations, Europa has been examined by a succession of space-probe flybys, the first occurring in the early 1970s. In September 2022, the "Juno" spacecraft flew within about 200 miles of Europa for a more recent close-up view.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa has the smoothest surface of any known solid object in the Solar System. The apparent youth and smoothness of the surface have led to the hypothesis that a water ocean exists beneath the surface, which could conceivably harbor extraterrestrial life. The predominant model suggests that heat from tidal flexing causes the ocean to remain liquid and drives ice movement similar to plate tectonics, absorbing chemicals from the surface into the ocean below. Sea salt from a subsurface ocean may be coating some geological features on Europa, suggesting that the ocean is interacting with the sea floor. This may be important in determining whether Europa could be habitable. In addition, the Hubble Space Telescope detected water vapor plumes similar to those observed on Saturn's moon Enceladus, which are thought to be caused by erupting cryogeysers. In May 2018, astronomers provided supporting evidence of water plume activity on Europa, based on an updated analysis of data obtained from the "Galileo" space probe, which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003. Such plume activity could help researchers in a search for life from the subsurface Europan ocean without having to land on the moon.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The "Galileo" mission, launched in 1989, provides the bulk of current data on Europa. No spacecraft has yet landed on Europa, although there have been several proposed exploration missions. The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) is a mission to Ganymede that is due to launch in 2023 and will include two flybys of Europa. NASA's planned Europa Clipper should be launched in 2024.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa, along with Jupiter's three other large moons, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto, was discovered by Galileo Galilei on 8 January 1610, and possibly independently by Simon Marius. The first reported observation of Io and Europa was made by Galileo on 7 January 1610 using a 20×-magnification refracting telescope at the University of Padua. However, in that observation, Galileo could not separate Io and Europa due to the low magnification of his telescope, so that the two were recorded as a single point of light. The following day, 8 January 1610 (used as the discovery date for Europa by the IAU), Io and Europa were seen for the first time as separate bodies during Galileo's observations of the Jupiter system.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa is the namesake of Europa, daughter of the king of Tyre, a Phoenician noblewoman in Greek mythology. Like all the Galilean satellites, Europa is named after a lover of Zeus, the Greek counterpart of Jupiter. Europa was courted by Zeus and became the queen of Crete. The naming scheme was suggested by Simon Marius, who attributed the proposal to Johannes Kepler:


title: Europa (moon)

text: The names fell out of favor for a considerable time and were not revived in general use until the mid-20th century. In much of the earlier astronomical literature, Europa is simply referred to by its Roman numeral designation as "" (a system also introduced by Galileo) or as the "second satellite of Jupiter". In 1892, the discovery of Amalthea, whose orbit lay closer to Jupiter than those of the Galilean moons, pushed Europa to the third position. The "Voyager" probes discovered three more inner satellites in 1979, so Europa is now counted as Jupiter's sixth satellite, though it is still referred to as .


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa orbits Jupiter in just over three and a half days, with an orbital radius of about 670,900 km. With an orbital eccentricity of only 0.009, the orbit itself is nearly circular, and the orbital inclination relative to Jupiter's equatorial plane is small, at 0.470°. Like its fellow Galilean satellites, Europa is tidally locked to Jupiter, with one hemisphere of Europa constantly facing Jupiter. Because of this, there is a sub-Jovian point on Europa's surface, from which Jupiter would appear to hang directly overhead. Europa's prime meridian is a line passing through this point. Research suggests that the tidal locking may not be full, as a non-synchronous rotation has been proposed: Europa spins faster than it orbits, or at least did so in the past. This suggests an asymmetry in internal mass distribution and that a layer of subsurface liquid separates the icy crust from the rocky interior.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The slight eccentricity of Europa's orbit, maintained by the gravitational disturbances from the other Galileans, causes Europa's sub-Jovian point to oscillate around a mean position. As Europa comes slightly nearer to Jupiter, Jupiter's gravitational attraction increases, causing Europa to elongate towards and away from it. As Europa moves slightly away from Jupiter, Jupiter's gravitational force decreases, causing Europa to relax back into a more spherical shape, and creating tides in its ocean. The orbital eccentricity of Europa is continuously pumped by its mean-motion resonance with Io. Thus, the tidal flexing kneads Europa's interior and gives it a source of heat, possibly allowing its ocean to stay liquid while driving subsurface geological processes. The ultimate source of this energy is Jupiter's rotation, which is tapped by Io through the tides it raises on Jupiter and is transferred to Europa and Ganymede by the orbital resonance.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Analysis of the unique cracks lining Europa yielded evidence that it likely spun around a tilted axis at some point in time. If correct, this would explain many of Europa's features. Europa's immense network of crisscrossing cracks serves as a record of the stresses caused by massive tides in its global ocean. Europa's tilt could influence calculations of how much of its history is recorded in its frozen shell, how much heat is generated by tides in its ocean, and even how long the ocean has been liquid. Its ice layer must stretch to accommodate these changes. When there is too much stress, it cracks. A tilt in Europa's axis could suggest that its cracks may be much more recent than previously thought. The reason for this is that the direction of the spin pole may change by as much as a few degrees per day, completing one precession period over several months. A tilt could also affect the estimates of the age of Europa's ocean. Tidal forces are thought to generate the heat that keeps Europa's ocean liquid, and a tilt in the spin axis would cause more heat to be generated by tidal forces. Such additional heat would have allowed the ocean to remain liquid for a longer time. However, it has not yet been determined when this hypothesized shift in the spin axis might have occurred.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa is slightly smaller than the Moon. At just over in diameter, it is the sixth-largest moon and fifteenth-largest object in the Solar System. Though by a wide margin the least massive of the Galilean satellites, it is nonetheless more massive than all known moons in the Solar System smaller than itself combined. Its bulk density suggests that it is similar in composition to the terrestrial planets, being primarily composed of silicate rock.


title: Europa (moon)

text: It is estimated that Europa has an outer layer of water around thick--a part frozen as its crust and a part as a liquid ocean underneath the ice. Recent magnetic-field data from the "Galileo" orbiter showed that Europa has an induced magnetic field through interaction with Jupiter's, which suggests the presence of a subsurface conductive layer. This layer is likely to be a salty liquid-water ocean. Portions of the crust are estimated to have undergone a rotation of nearly 80°, nearly flipping over (see true polar wander), which would be unlikely if the ice were solidly attached to the mantle. Europa probably contains a metallic iron core.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa is the smoothest known object in the Solar System, lacking large-scale features such as mountains and craters. However, according to one study, Europa's equator may be covered in icy spikes called penitentes, which may be up to 15 meters high, due to direct overhead sunlight on the equator, causing the ice to sublime, forming vertical cracks. Although the imaging available from the "Galileo" orbiter does not have the resolution needed to confirm this, radar and thermal data are consistent with this interpretation. The prominent markings crisscrossing Europa appear to be mainly albedo features that emphasize low topography. There are few craters on Europa, because its surface is tectonically too active and therefore young. Europa's icy crust has an albedo (light reflectivity) of 0.64, one of the highest of all moons. This indicates a young and active surface: based on estimates of the frequency of cometary bombardment that Europa experiences, the surface is about 20 to 180 million years old. There is currently no full scientific consensus among the sometimes contradictory explanations for the surface features of Europa.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The ionizing radiation level at the surface of Europa is equivalent to a dose of about 5.4 Sv (540 rem) per day, an amount that would cause severe illness or death in human beings exposed for a single Earth-day (24 hours). The duration of a Europan day is approximately 3.5 times that of a day on Earth.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa's most striking surface features are a series of dark streaks crisscrossing the entire globe, called lineae (). Close examination shows that the edges of Europa's crust on either side of the cracks have moved relative to each other. The larger bands are more than across, often with dark, diffuse outer edges, regular striations, and a central band of lighter material.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The most likely hypothesis is that the lineae on Europa were produced by a series of eruptions of warm ice as the Europan crust spread open to expose warmer layers beneath. The effect would have been similar to that seen in Earth's oceanic ridges. These various fractures are thought to have been caused in large part by the tidal flexing exerted by Jupiter. Because Europa is tidally locked to Jupiter, and therefore always maintains approximately the same orientation towards Jupiter, the stress patterns should form a distinctive and predictable pattern. However, only the youngest of Europa's fractures conform to the predicted pattern; other fractures appear to occur at increasingly different orientations the older they are. This could be explained if Europa's surface rotates slightly faster than its interior, an effect that is possible due to the subsurface ocean mechanically decoupling Europa's surface from its rocky mantle and the effects of Jupiter's gravity tugging on Europa's outer ice crust. Comparisons of "Voyager" and "Galileo" spacecraft photos serve to put an upper limit on this hypothetical slippage. A full revolution of the outer rigid shell relative to the interior of Europa takes at least 12,000 years. Studies of "Voyager" and "Galileo" images have revealed evidence of subduction on Europa's surface, suggesting that, just as the cracks are analogous to ocean ridges, so plates of icy crust analogous to tectonic plates on Earth are recycled into the molten interior. This evidence of both crustal spreading at bands and convergence at other sites suggests that Europa may have active plate tectonics, similar to Earth. However, the physics driving these plate tectonics are not likely to resemble those driving terrestrial plate tectonics, as the forces resisting potential Earth-like plate motions in Europa's crust are significantly stronger than the forces that could drive them.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Other features present on Europa are circular and elliptical "lenticulae" (Latin for "freckles"). Many are domes, some are pits and some are smooth, dark spots. Others have a jumbled or rough texture. The dome tops look like pieces of the older plains around them, suggesting that the domes formed when the plains were pushed up from below.


title: Europa (moon)

text: One hypothesis states that these lenticulae were formed by diapirs of warm ice rising up through the colder ice of the outer crust, much like magma chambers in Earth's crust. The smooth, dark spots could be formed by meltwater released when the warm ice breaks through the surface. The rough, jumbled lenticulae (called regions of "chaos"; for example, Conamara Chaos) would then be formed from many small fragments of crust, embedded in hummocky, dark material, appearing like icebergs in a frozen sea.


title: Europa (moon)

text: An alternative hypothesis suggests that lenticulae are actually small areas of chaos and that the claimed pits, spots and domes are artefacts resulting from over-interpretation of early, low-resolution Galileo images. The implication is that the ice is too thin to support the convective diapir model of feature formation.


title: Europa (moon)

text: In November 2011, a team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere presented evidence in the journal "Nature" suggesting that many "chaos terrain" features on Europa sit atop vast lakes of liquid water. These lakes would be entirely encased in Europa's icy outer shell and distinct from a liquid ocean thought to exist farther down beneath the ice shell. Full confirmation of the lakes' existence will require a space mission designed to probe the ice shell either physically or indirectly, for example, using radar.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Work published by researchers from Williams College suggests that chaos terrain may represent sites where impacting comets penetrated through the ice crust and into an underlying ocean.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Scientists' consensus is that a layer of liquid water exists beneath Europa's surface, and that heat from tidal flexing allows the subsurface ocean to remain liquid. Europa's surface temperature averages about at the equator and only at the poles, keeping Europa's icy crust as hard as granite. The first hints of a subsurface ocean came from theoretical considerations of tidal heating (a consequence of Europa's slightly eccentric orbit and orbital resonance with the other Galilean moons). "Galileo" imaging team members argue for the existence of a subsurface ocean from analysis of "Voyager" and "Galileo" images. The most dramatic example is "chaos terrain", a common feature on Europa's surface that some interpret as a region where the subsurface ocean has melted through the icy crust. This interpretation is controversial. Most geologists who have studied Europa favor what is commonly called the "thick ice" model, in which the ocean has rarely, if ever, directly interacted with the present surface. The best evidence for the thick-ice model is a study of Europa's large craters. The largest impact structures are surrounded by concentric rings and appear to be filled with relatively flat, fresh ice; based on this and on the calculated amount of heat generated by Europan tides, it is estimated that the outer crust of solid ice is approximately 10–30 km (6–19 mi) thick, including a ductile "warm ice" layer, which could mean that the liquid ocean underneath may be about deep. This leads to a volume of Europa's oceans of 3 × 10 m, between two or three times the volume of Earth's oceans.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The thin-ice model suggests that Europa's ice shell may be only a few kilometers thick. However, most planetary scientists conclude that this model considers only those topmost layers of Europa's crust that behave elastically when affected by Jupiter's tides. One example is flexure analysis, in which Europa's crust is modeled as a plane or sphere weighted and flexed by a heavy load. Models such as this suggest the outer elastic portion of the ice crust could be as thin as . If the ice shell of Europa is really only a few kilometers thick, this "thin ice" model would mean that regular contact of the liquid interior with the surface could occur through open ridges, causing the formation of areas of chaotic terrain. Large impacts going fully through the ice crust would also be a way that the subsurface ocean could be exposed.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The "Galileo" orbiter found that Europa has a weak magnetic moment, which is induced by the varying part of the Jovian magnetic field. The field strength at the magnetic equator (about 120 nT) created by this magnetic moment is about one-sixth the strength of Ganymede's field and six times the value of Callisto's. The existence of the induced moment requires a layer of a highly electrically conductive material in Europa's interior. The most plausible candidate for this role is a large subsurface ocean of liquid saltwater.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Since the "Voyager" spacecraft flew past Europa in 1979, scientists have worked to understand the composition of the reddish-brown material that coats fractures and other geologically youthful features on Europa's surface. Spectrographic evidence suggests that the darker, reddish streaks and features on Europa's surface may be rich in salts such as magnesium sulfate, deposited by evaporating water that emerged from within. Sulfuric acid hydrate is another possible explanation for the contaminant observed spectroscopically. In either case, because these materials are colorless or white when pure, some other material must also be present to account for the reddish color, and sulfur compounds are suspected.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Another hypothesis for the colored regions is that they are composed of abiotic organic compounds collectively called tholins. The morphology of Europa's impact craters and ridges is suggestive of fluidized material welling up from the fractures where pyrolysis and radiolysis take place. In order to generate colored tholins on Europa there must be a source of materials (carbon, nitrogen, and water) and a source of energy to make the reactions occur. Impurities in the water ice crust of Europa are presumed both to emerge from the interior as cryovolcanic events that resurface the body, and to accumulate from space as interplanetary dust. Tholins bring important astrobiological implications, as they may play a role in prebiotic chemistry and abiogenesis.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The presence of sodium chloride in the internal ocean has been suggested by a 450 nm absorption feature, characteristic of irradiated NaCl crystals, that has been spotted in HST observations of the chaos regions, presumed to be areas of recent subsurface upwelling.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Europa receives from tidal heating, which occurs through the tidal friction and tidal flexing processes caused by tidal acceleration: orbital and rotational energy are dissipated as heat in the core of the moon, the internal ocean, and the ice crust.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Ocean tides are converted to heat by frictional losses in the oceans and their interaction with the solid bottom and with the top ice crust. In late 2008, it was suggested Jupiter may keep Europa's oceans warm by generating large planetary tidal waves on Europa because of its small but non-zero obliquity. This generates so-called Rossby waves that travel quite slowly, at just a few kilometers per day, but can generate significant kinetic energy. For the current axial tilt estimate of 0.1 degree, the resonance from Rossby waves would contain 7.3 J of kinetic energy, which is two thousand times larger than that of the flow excited by the dominant tidal forces. Dissipation of this energy could be the principal heat source of Europa's ocean.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Tidal flexing kneads Europa's interior and ice shell, which becomes a source of heat. Depending on the amount of tilt, the heat generated by the ocean flow could be 100 to thousands of times greater than the heat generated by the flexing of Europa's rocky core in response to gravitational pull from Jupiter and the other moons circling that planet. Europa's seafloor could be heated by the moon's constant flexing, driving hydrothermal activity similar to undersea volcanoes in Earth's oceans.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Experiments and ice modeling published in 2016, indicate that tidal flexing dissipation can generate one order of magnitude more heat in Europa's ice than scientists had previously assumed. Their results indicate that most of the heat generated by the ice actually comes from the ice's crystalline structure (lattice) as a result of deformation, and not friction between the ice grains. The greater the deformation of the ice sheet, the more heat is generated.


title: Europa (moon)

text: In addition to tidal heating, the interior of Europa could also be heated by the decay of radioactive material (radiogenic heating) within the rocky mantle. But the models and values observed are one hundred times higher than those that could be produced by radiogenic heating alone, thus implying that tidal heating has a leading role in Europa.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The Hubble Space Telescope acquired an image of Europa in 2012 that was interpreted to be a plume of water vapour erupting from near its south pole. The image suggests the plume may be high, or more than 20 times the height of Mt. Everest., though recent observations and modeling suggest that typical Europan plumes may be much smaller. It has been suggested that if plumes exist, they are episodic and likely to appear when Europa is at its farthest point from Jupiter, in agreement with tidal force modeling predictions. Additional imaging evidence from the Hubble Space Telescope was presented in September 2016.


title: Europa (moon)

text: In May 2018, astronomers provided supporting evidence of water plume activity on Europa, based on an updated critical analysis of data obtained from the "Galileo" space probe, which orbited Jupiter between 1995 and 2003. "Galileo" flew by Europa in 1997 within of the moon's surface and the researchers suggest it may have flown through a water plume. Such plume activity could help researchers in a search for life from the subsurface Europan ocean without having to land on the moon.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The tidal forces are about 1,000 times stronger than the Moon's effect on Earth. The only other moon in the Solar System exhibiting water vapor plumes is Enceladus. The estimated eruption rate at Europa is about 7000 kg/s compared to about 200 kg/s for the plumes of Enceladus. If confirmed, it would open the possibility of a flyby through the plume and obtain a sample to analyze "in situ" without having to use a lander and drill through kilometres of ice.


title: Europa (moon)

text: In November 2020, a study was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal "Geophysical Research Letters" suggesting that the plumes may originate from water within the crust of Europa as opposed to its subsurface ocean. The study's model, using images from the Galileo space probe, proposed that a combination of freezing and pressurization may result in at least some of the cryovolcanic activity. The pressure generated by migrating briny water pockets would thus, eventually, burst through the crust thereby creating these plumes. The theory that cryovolcanism on Europa could be triggered by freezing and pressurization of liquid pockets in the icy crust was first proposed by researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa in 2003, who were the first to model this process. A press release from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory referencing the November 2020 study suggested that plumes sourced from migrating liquid pockets could potentially be less hospitable to life. This is due to a lack of substantial energy for organisms to thrive off of, unlike proposed hydrothermal vents on the subsurface ocean floor.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The atmosphere of Europa can be categorized as thin and tenuous (often called an exosphere), primarily composed of oxygen and trace amounts of water vapor. However, this quantity of oxygen is produced in a non-biological manner. Given that Europa’s surface is icy, and subsequently very cold; as solar ultraviolet radiation and charged particles (ions and electrons) from the Jovian magnetospheric environment collide with Europa's surface, water vapor is created and instantaneously separated into oxygen and hydrogen constituents. As it continues to move, the hydrogen is light enough to pass through the surface gravity of the atmosphere leaving behind only oxygen. The surface-bounded atmosphere forms through radiolysis, the dissociation of molecules through radiation. This accumulated oxygen atmosphere can get to a height of 125 miles above the surface of Europa. Molecular oxygen is the densest component of the atmosphere because it has a long lifetime; after returning to the surface, it does not stick (freeze) like a water or hydrogen peroxide molecule but rather desorbs from the surface and starts another ballistic arc. Molecular hydrogen never reaches the surface, as it is light enough to escape Europa's surface gravity. Europa is one of the only moons in our solar system with a quantifiable atmosphere, next to Titan, Io, Triton, Ganymede and Callisto. Europa is also one of the three formations, among planets and moons, to contain oxygen within its atmosphere. Europa is also one of several moons in our solar system with very large quantities of ice (volatiles), otherwise known as "icy moons."Europa is also considered to be geologically active due to the constant release of hydrogen-oxygen mixture into space. As a result of the moon’s particle venting, the atmosphere requires continuous replenishment. Europa also contains a small magnetosphere (approximately 25% of Ganymede’s). However, this magnetosphere varies in size as Europa orbits through Jupiter's magnetic field. This confirms that a conductive element, such as a large ocean, likely lies below its icy surface. As multiple studies have been conducted over Europa’s atmosphere, several findings conclude that not all oxygen molecules are released into the atmosphere. This unknown percentage of oxygen may be absorbed into the surface and sink into the subsurface. Because the surface may interact with the subsurface ocean (considering the geological discussion above), this molecular oxygen may make its way to the ocean, where it could aid in biological processes. One estimate suggests that, given the turnover rate inferred from the apparent ~0.5 Gyr maximum age of Europa's surface ice, subduction of radiolytically generated oxidizing species might well lead to oceanic free oxygen concentrations that are comparable to those in terrestrial deep oceans.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Through the slow release of oxygen and hydrogen, a neutral torus around Europa’s orbital plane is formed. This "neutral cloud" has been detected by both the "Cassini" and "Galileo" spacecraft, and has a greater content (number of atoms and molecules) than the neutral cloud surrounding Jupiter's inner moon Io. This torus was officially confirmed using Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) imaging. Europa’s torus ionizes through the process of neutral particles exchanging electrons with its charged particles. Since Europa’s magnetic field rotates faster than its orbit velocity, these ions are left in the path of its magnetic field trajectory, forming a plasma. It has been theorized that these ions are responsible for the plasma within Jupiter's magnetosphere.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The atmosphere of Europa was first discovered in 1995 by Hall Al. and the Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph of the Hubble telescope. This observation was then confirmed in 1997 by the Galileo probe, built by Hughes Aircraft Company and operated by NASA. The Galileo probe flew only three miles above the estimated maximum atmospheric line (128 miles from Europa's surface). Still, it then changed course to collide with Jupiter's atmosphere to prevent unwanted impact on Europa's surface. It has been speculated that there will be several more future missions to Europa in hopes of further studying the atmosphere, chemical composition, and possibility of extraterrestrial life below the icy surface.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Despite the presence of a gas torus, Europa has no weather producing clouds. As a whole, Europa has no wind, precipitation, or presence of sky color as its gravity is too low to hold an atmosphere substantial enough for these phenomena. Europa's gravity is approximately 13% of Earth's. The temperature on Europa varies from −160 °C at the equatorial line, to −220 °C at either of its poles. Europa's subsurface ocean is thought to be subsequently warm however. It is theorized that because of radioactive and tidal heating (as mentioned in the sections above), there are points in the depths of Europa's ocean that may only be slightly cooler than that of Earth's oceans. Studies have also concluded that Europa's ocean would have been rather acidic at first, with large concentrations of sulfate, calcium, and carbon dioxide. But over the course of 4.5 billion years, it became full of chloride, thus resembling our 1.94% chloride oceans on Earth.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Exploration of Europa began with the Jupiter flybys of "Pioneer 10" and "11" in 1973 and 1974 respectively. The first closeup photos were of low resolution compared to later missions. The two Voyager probes traveled through the Jovian system in 1979, providing more-detailed images of Europa's icy surface. The images caused many scientists to speculate about the possibility of a liquid ocean underneath.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Starting in 1995, the "Galileo" space probe orbited Jupiter for eight years, until 2003, and provided the most detailed examination of the Galilean moons to date. It included the "Galileo Europa Mission" and "Galileo Millennium Mission", with numerous close flybys of Europa. In 2007, "New Horizons" imaged Europa, as it flew by the Jovian system while on its way to Pluto. In 2022, the "Juno" orbiter flew by Europa at a distance of 352 km (219 mi).


title: Europa (moon)

text: Conjectures regarding extraterrestrial life have ensured a high profile for Europa and have led to steady lobbying for future missions. The aims of these missions have ranged from examining Europa's chemical composition to searching for extraterrestrial life in its hypothesized subsurface oceans. Robotic missions to Europa need to endure the high-radiation environment around Jupiter. Because it is deeply embedded within Jupiter's magnetosphere, Europa receives about 5.40 Sv of radiation per day.


title: Europa (moon)

text: In 2011, a Europa mission was recommended by the U.S. Planetary Science Decadal Survey. In response, NASA commissioned Europa lander concept studies in 2011, along with concepts for a Europa flyby ("Europa Clipper"), and a Europa orbiter. The orbiter element option concentrates on the "ocean" science, while the multiple-flyby element ("Clipper") concentrates on the chemistry and energy science. On 13 January 2014, the House Appropriations Committee announced a new bipartisan bill that includes $80 million funding to continue the Europa mission concept studies.


title: Europa (moon)

text: In the early 2000s, "Jupiter Europa Orbiter" led by NASA and the "Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter" led by the ESA were proposed together as an Outer Planet Flagship Mission to Jupiter's icy moons called Europa Jupiter System Mission, with a planned launch in 2020. In 2009 it was given priority over "Titan Saturn System Mission". At that time, there was competition from other proposals. Japan proposed "Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter".


title: Europa (moon)

text: "Jovian Europa Orbiter" was an ESA Cosmic Vision concept study from 2007. Another concept was "Ice Clipper", which would have used an impactor similar to the "Deep Impact" mission—it would make a controlled crash into the surface of Europa, generating a plume of debris that would then be collected by a small spacecraft flying through the plume.


title: Europa (moon)

text: "Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter" (JIMO) was a partially developed fission-powered spacecraft with ion thrusters that was cancelled in 2006. It was part of Project Prometheus. The "Europa Lander Mission" proposed a small nuclear-powered Europa lander for JIMO. It would travel with the orbiter, which would also function as a communication relay to Earth.


title: Europa (moon)

text: "Europa Orbiter" – Its objective would be to characterize the extent of the ocean and its relation to the deeper interior. Instrument payload could include a radio subsystem, laser altimeter, magnetometer, Langmuir probe, and a mapping camera. The "Europa Orbiter" received a go-ahead in 1999 but was canceled in 2002. This orbiter featured a special ice-penetrating radar that would allow it to scan below the surface.


title: Europa (moon)

text: More ambitious ideas have been put forward including an impactor in combination with a thermal drill to search for biosignatures that might be frozen in the shallow subsurface.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Another proposal put forward in 2001 calls for a large nuclear-powered "melt probe" (cryobot) that would melt through the ice until it reached an ocean below. Once it reached the water, it would deploy an autonomous underwater vehicle (hydrobot) that would gather information and send it back to Earth. Both the cryobot and the hydrobot would have to undergo some form of extreme sterilization to prevent detection of Earth organisms instead of native life and to prevent contamination of the subsurface ocean. This suggested approach has not yet reached a formal conceptual planning stage.


title: Europa (moon)

text: So far, there is no evidence that life exists on Europa, but Europa has emerged as one of the most likely locations in the Solar System for potential habitability. Life could exist in its under-ice ocean, perhaps in an environment similar to Earth's deep-ocean hydrothermal vents. Even if Europa lacks volcanic hydrothermal activity, a 2016 NASA study found that Earth-like levels of hydrogen and oxygen could be produced through processes related to serpentinization and ice-derived oxidants, which do not directly involve volcanism. In 2015, scientists announced that salt from a subsurface ocean may likely be coating some geological features on Europa, suggesting that the ocean is interacting with the seafloor. This may be important in determining if Europa could be habitable. The likely presence of liquid water in contact with Europa's rocky mantle has spurred calls to send a probe there.


title: Europa (moon)

text: The energy provided by tidal forces drives active geological processes within Europa's interior, just as they do to a far more obvious degree on its sister moon Io. Although Europa, like the Earth, may possess an internal energy source from radioactive decay, the energy generated by tidal flexing would be several orders of magnitude greater than any radiological source. Life on Europa could exist clustered around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, or below the ocean floor, where endoliths are known to inhabit on Earth. Alternatively, it could exist clinging to the lower surface of Europa's ice layer, much like algae and bacteria in Earth's polar regions, or float freely in Europa's ocean. If Europa's ocean is too cold, biological processes similar to those known on Earth could not take place. If it is too salty, only extreme halophiles could survive in that environment. In 2010, a model proposed by Richard Greenberg of the University of Arizona proposed that irradiation of ice on Europa's surface could saturate its crust with oxygen and peroxide, which could then be transported by tectonic processes into the interior ocean. Such a process could render Europa's ocean as oxygenated as our own within just 12 million years, allowing the existence of complex, multicellular lifeforms.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Evidence suggests the existence of lakes of liquid water entirely encased in Europa's icy outer shell and distinct from a liquid ocean thought to exist farther down beneath the ice shell, as well as pockets of water that form M shaped ice ridges when the water freezes on the surface - like in Greenland. If confirmed, the lakes and pockets of water could be yet another potential habitat for life. Evidence suggests that hydrogen peroxide is abundant across much of the surface of Europa. Because hydrogen peroxide decays into oxygen and water when combined with liquid water, the authors argue that it could be an important energy supply for simple life forms.


title: Europa (moon)

text: Clay-like minerals (specifically, phyllosilicates), often associated with organic matter on Earth, have been detected on the icy crust of Europa. The presence of the minerals may have been the result of a collision with an asteroid or comet. Some scientists have speculated that life on Earth could have been blasted into space by asteroid collisions and arrived on the moons of Jupiter in a process called lithopanspermia.


title: Superbad

text: Superbad is a 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film directed by Greg Mottola and produced by Judd Apatow. The film stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as Seth and Evan, two teenagers about to graduate from high school. Before graduating, the boys want to party and lose their virginity, but their plan proves harder than expected. Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the script began development when they were 13 years old, and was loosely based on their experience in Grade 12 at Point Grey Secondary School in Vancouver during the 1990s. The main characters have the same given names as the two writers. Rogen was also initially intended to play Seth, but due to age and physical size this was changed, and Hill went on to portray Seth, while Rogen portrayed the irresponsible Officer Michaels, opposite "Saturday Night Live" star Bill Hader as Officer Slater.


title: Superbad

text: "Superbad" premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on August 13, 2007. Upon release, the film received positive reviews, with critics praising the dialogue and the chemistry between the two leads as well as the performances of the supporting cast. The film also proved financially successful, grossing over $170 million on a $17.5–20 million budget. Since the film's release, it has garnered acclaim as one of the best comedies of the 2000s and as one of the best high school movies of all time. It has been hailed as one of the defining movies of the Millennial generation.


title: Superbad

text: Seth and Evan are high school seniors who have been best friends since childhood. They are about to go off to different colleges. When Seth is paired with Jules during home economics class, she invites him to a party at her house that night. Their friend Fogell reveals his plans to obtain a fake ID, so Seth promises to buy alcohol for the party with money she gives him. Evan runs into his love interest Becca and he offers to get her a specific bottle of vodka for the party.


title: Superbad

text: Despite Fogell's fake ID having only one name, "McLovin", he successfully buys the liquor, but is knocked out at the last second by a robber. When police officers Slater and Michaels arrive, Seth and Evan believe that Fogell is being arrested. In reality, the officers have agreed to give him a ride to the party.


title: Superbad

text: Outside, Seth is hit by a car. In exchange for Seth and Evan not telling the police, the driver, Francis, promises to take them to another party where they can get alcohol. Meanwhile, Slater and Michaels take Fogell on a ride-along and then bond with him. Despite being on duty, they start drinking, use their sirens improperly, and shoot at a stop sign.


title: Superbad

text: At the party, Seth fills laundry detergent bottles from the basement with alcohol he finds in the fridge and dances with drunk Jacinda. She stains his leg with menstrual blood, while some men high on cocaine make Evan sing "These Eyes" for them. About to leave, Seth is confronted by the host for dancing with his fiancée. A brawl ensues, Jacinda calls the police, while Seth and Evan escape.


title: Superbad

text: Evan and Seth are arguing about Evan going to a different college from Seth, before the latter is again hit by a car – the police cruiser driven by Slater and Michaels. They plan to pin the blame of the crash on Seth himself and arrest them, but when Fogell comes out of the car, Evan makes a run for it, while Seth and Fogell escape with the alcohol. Eventually all three make their way to Jules' party.


title: Superbad

text: Arriving at the party, Fogell inadvertently reveals that he and Evan will be rooming together at college, further adding to Seth's discontent towards Evan. Seth's stories of the night make him popular. Becca wants to have sex with Evan, but he respects her too much to go through with it while she is drunk.


title: Superbad

text: Meanwhile, Fogell impresses Nicola, a student in school he was attracted to, and goes upstairs to have sex with her. Seth drunkenly attempts to kiss Jules, but she turns him down because she neither drinks nor wants Seth while he is drunk. He believes he has ruined any chance of anything with her and passes out, accidentally headbutting her and giving her a black eye.


title: Superbad

text: Slater and Michaels bust the party. Seth wakes up and escapes, carrying an intoxicated Evan. Slater interrupts Fogell and Nicola as they are having sex, causing her to run off. Officer Slater is angry at Fogell for ditching them, but Michaels points out they have just interrupted him, and they apologize, reconcile, and reveal they knew all along that Fogell was not 25 as the ID said; They played along, wanting to show cops can have fun too.


title: Superbad

text: To make it up to him, they pretend to arrest Fogell outside to make him look "badass." They resume their bonding, eventually destroying their car with a Molotov cocktail while Fogell shoots it with Slater's gun.


title: Superbad

text: Seth and Evan return to Evan's, where Seth reveals to Evan that due to seeing housing forms at his house three weeks earlier, he learned that Evan and Fogell were rooming together the whole time. Evan admits he does not want to room with Fogell at college next year but is afraid to live with strangers. They apologize to each other before reconciling. The next day, they go to the mall where they run into Jules and Becca. Becca and Seth both apologize for their drunken behavior the previous night, and the boys pair off with the girls. Seth takes Jules to buy concealer for her black eye, while Evan and Becca leave to buy comforters, one to replace the one she ruined by vomiting on it.


title: Superbad

text: "Superbad" was written by Goldberg and Rogen during their teen years. It is loosely based on their own experience as seniors in Vancouver in the late 1990s, hence the character names Seth and Evan. Other characters and references were influenced by Goldberg and Rogen's adolescence, such as Steven Glanzberg, their peer at Point Grey Secondary School, characterized in the film as a loner. According to an interview at an event panel in 2009, Fogell was also a real friend of Rogen and Goldberg. Rogen was initially slated to play Hill's character Seth, but due to his physical size and age, he played one of the police officers. When asked where he wants to be dropped off, Fogell tells the officers to take him to 13th and Granville, a nod to Rogen and Goldberg's favorite all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in Vancouver. "Superbad" took seven years to complete from early scripting in 2000 and filming from 2006 to 2007.


title: Superbad

text: The film was primarily shot in Los Angeles in 2006. Exterior shots of the high school were filmed at El Segundo High School. The mall scenes were shot at the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City, California.


title: Superbad

text: Other filming locations include the convenience store at the beginning of the film, also in Culver City, the liquor store where "McLovin" gets IDed in Glendale, California, and the bar where the cops take McLovin for a drink is neighboring Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The scene where McLovin and the cops do donuts in the cop car was filmed in a parking lot on the California State University, Northridge campus.


title: Superbad

text: Mintz-Plasse was 17 at the time of filming "Superbad", and as a result, his mother was required to be present on set during the filming of his sex scene.


title: Superbad

text: "Superbad" opened at number one at the United States box office, grossing US$33,052,411 in its opening weekend from 2,948 theaters for an average of US$11,212 per theater. The film stayed at the second week, grossing US$18,044,369.


title: Superbad

text: The film grossed US$121.5 million in the United States and Canada and US$48.4 million in other countries, for a total of US$169.9 million worldwide. Compared to the budget of $17.5–20 million, the film earned a huge financial profit, making it the highest domestic grossing high school comedy at the time (it was surpassed by "21 Jump Street", a film also starring Hill, in 2012).


title: Superbad

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 87% based on reviews from 207 critics, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The website's consensus reads, "Deftly balancing vulgarity and sincerity while placing its protagonists in excessive situations, "Superbad" is an authentic take on friendship and the overarching awkwardness of the high school experience." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 76/100 based on 36 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.


title: Superbad

text: Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" called it 2007's most successful comedy. Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" had the headline of his review read "McLovin It," and gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, and said "The movie reminded me a little of "National Lampoon's Animal House", except that it's more mature, as all movies are." Carina Chocano of the "Los Angeles Times" said "Physically, Hill and Cera recall the classic comic duos—Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Aykroyd and Belushi. But they are contemporary kids, sophisticated and sensitive to nuance"; she added, "I hope it's not damning the movie with the wrong kind of praise to say that for a film so deliriously smutty, "Superbad" is supercute." Sean Burns of "Philadelphia Weekly" said "2007: the year Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen saved movie comedy", a reference to "Knocked Up" which was released in June. Devin Gordon of "Newsweek" said "As a "Revenge of the Nerds" redux, "Superbad" isn't perfect. But it's super close."


title: Superbad

text: In a more critical vein, Stephen Farber of "The Hollywood Reporter", compared the film to other films with a single-day structure, such as "American Graffiti" and "Dazed and Confused", but said that Superbad "doesn't have the smarts or the depths of those ensemble comedies." "The Hollywood Reporter" review was referenced in the film's DVD audio commentary, particularly the review's suggestion that the two main characters have a homoerotic experience similar to the film "Y Tu Mamá También". Adam Graham of "The Detroit News" said, "the cops belong in a bad "Police Academy" sequel, not this movie", and also that the film "falls short of teen-classic status." Roger Moore of the "Orlando Sentinel" called the film "super-derivative", "super-raunchy", and ""Freaks and Geeks: Uncensored"." Moore went on to say the film shamelessly plagiarizes from films such as "Can't Hardly Wait" and "American Graffiti". He also said, "Like "Knocked Up", this is a comedy they don't know how to end. The energy flags as it overstays its welcome." Wesley Morris of "The Boston Globe" said the film "has a degree more sophistication than "Revenge of the Nerds" and "American Pie", and less than the underrated "House Party"." Morris also said, "the few smart observations could have come from an episode of one of Apatow's TV shows" and "I wanted to find this as funny as audiences did."


title: Superbad

text: "Superbad" was released via DVD, UMD and Blu-ray on December 4, 2007, in two versions: theatrical (113 minutes) and unrated (118 minutes). Special features include deleted scenes, an audio commentary with cast and crew, line-o-ramas (a feature most associated with Apatow films), a making-of, and a number of short featurettes.


title: Skunk Works

text: Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, beginning with the P-38 Lightning in 1939 and the P-80 Shooting Star in 1943. Skunk Works engineers subsequently developed the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Nighthawk, F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Lightning II, the latter being used in the air forces of several countries.


title: Skunk Works

text: The Skunk Works name was taken from the "Skonk Oil" factory in the comic strip "Li'l Abner". The designation "skunk works" or "skunkworks" is widely used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, with the task of working on advanced or secret projects.


title: Skunk Works

text: Ben Rich and "Kelly" Johnson set the origin as June 1943 in Burbank, California; they relate essentially the same chronology in their autobiographies. Theirs is the official Lockheed Skunk Works story:


title: Skunk Works

text: Warren M. Bodie, journalist, historian, and Skunk Works engineer from 1977 to 1984, wrote that engineering independence, elitism and secrecy of the Skunk Works variety were demonstrated earlier when Lockheed was asked by Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey (later air force brigadier general) to build for the United States Army Air Corps a high speed, high altitude fighter to compete with German aircraft. In July 1938, while the rest of Lockheed was busy tooling up to build Hudson reconnaissance bombers to fill a British contract, a small group of engineers was assigned to fabricate the first prototype of what would become the P-38 Lightning. Kelly Johnson set them apart from the rest of the factory in a walled-off section of one building, off limits to all but those involved directly. Secretly, a number of advanced features were being incorporated into the new fighter including a significant structural revolution in which the aluminum skin of the aircraft was joggled, fitted and flush-riveted, a design innovation not called for in the army's specification but one that would yield less aerodynamic drag and give greater strength with lower mass. As a result, the XP-38 was the first 400 mph fighter in the world. The Lightning team was temporarily moved to the 3G Distillery, a smelly former bourbon works where the first YP-38 (constructor's number 2202) was built. In November 1941, Kelsey gave the unofficial nod to Johnson and the P-38 team to engineer a drop tank system to extend range for the fighter, and they completed the initial research and development without a contract. When the Army Air Forces officially asked for a range extension solution it was ready. The range modifications were performed in Lockheed's Building 304, starting with 100 P-38F models on April 15, 1942. Some of the group of independent-minded engineers were later involved with the XP-80 project, the prototype of the P-80 Shooting Star.


title: Skunk Works

text: In 1955, the Skunk Works received a contract from the CIA to build a spyplane known as the U-2 with the intention of flying over the Soviet Union and photographing sites of strategic interest. The U-2 was tested at Groom Lake in the Nevada desert, and the Flight Test Engineer in charge was Joseph F. Ware, Jr. The first overflight took place on July 4 1956. The U-2 ceased overflights when Francis Gary Powers was shot down during a mission on May 1, 1960, while over Russia.


title: Skunk Works

text: The Skunk Works had predicted that the U-2 would have a limited operational life over the Soviet Union. The CIA agreed. In late 1959, Skunk Works received a contract to build five A-12 aircraft at a cost of $96 million. Building a Mach 3.0+ aircraft out of titanium posed enormous difficulties, and the first flight did not occur until 1962. (Titanium supply was largely dominated by the Soviet Union, so the CIA set up a dummy corporation to acquire source material.) Several years later, the U.S. Air Force became interested in the design, and it ordered the SR-71 Blackbird, a two-seater version of the A-12. This aircraft first flew in 1966 and remained in service until 1998.


title: Skunk Works

text: The D-21 drone, similar in design to the Blackbird, was built to overfly the Lop Nur nuclear test facility in China. This drone was launched from the back of a specially modified A-12, known as M-21, of which there were two built. After a fatal mid-air collision on the fourth launch, the drones were re-built as D-21Bs, and launched with a rocket booster from B-52s. Four operational missions were conducted over China, but the camera packages were never successfully recovered.


title: Skunk Works

text: In 1976, the Skunk Works began production on a pair of stealth technology demonstrators for the U.S. Air Force named Have Blue in Building 82 at Burbank. These scaled-down demonstrators, built in only 18 months, were a revolutionary step forward in aviation technology because of their extremely small radar cross-section. After a series of successful test flights beginning in 1977, the Air force awarded Skunk Works the contract to build the F-117 stealth fighter on November 1, 1978.


title: Skunk Works

text: During the entirety of the Cold War, the Skunk Works was located in Burbank, California, on the eastern side of Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport (). After 1989, Lockheed reorganized its operations and relocated the Skunk Works to Site 10 at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, where it remains in operation today. Most of the old Skunk Works buildings in Burbank were demolished in the late 1990s to make room for parking lots. One main building still remains at 2777 Ontario Street in Burbank (near San Fernando Road), now used as an office building for digital film post-production and sound mixing. During the late 1990s when designing Pixar's building, Edwin Catmull and Steve Jobs visited a Skunkworks Building which influenced Steve's design.


title: Skunk Works

text: In 2009, the Skunk Works was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.


title: Skunk Works

text: Next generation optionally-manned U-2 aircraft. During September 2015 the proposed aircraft was deemed to have developed into more of a tactical reconnaissance aircraft, instead of strategic reconnaissance.


title: Skunk Works

text: The term "Skunk Works" came from Al Capp's satirical, hillbilly comic strip "Li’l Abner", which was immensely popular from 1935 through the 1950s. The “Skonk Works" was a dilapidated factory located on the remote outskirts of Dogpatch, in the backwoods of Kentucky. According to the strip, scores of locals were done in yearly by the toxic fumes of the concentrated "skonk oil", which was brewed and barreled daily by "Big Barnsmell" (known as the lonely "inside man" at the Skonk Works), by grinding dead skunks and worn shoes into a smoldering still, for some mysterious, unspecified purpose.


title: Skunk Works

text: In mid-1939 when Lockheed was expanding rapidly, the YP-38 project was moved a few blocks away to the newly purchased 3G Distillery, also known as Three G or GGG Distillery. Lockheed took over the building but the sour smell of bourbon mash lingered, partly because the group of buildings continued to store barrels of aging whiskey. The first YP-38 was built there before the team moved back to Lockheed's main factory a year later. In 1964, Johnson told "Look" magazine that the bourbon distillery was the first of five Lockheed skunk works locations.


title: Skunk Works

text: During the development of the P-80 Shooting Star, Johnson's engineering team was located adjacent to a malodorous plastics factory. According to Ben Rich’s memoir, an engineer jokingly showed up to work one day wearing a Civil Defense gas mask. To comment on the smell and the secrecy the project entailed, another engineer, Irv Culver, referred to the facility as "Skonk Works". As the development was very secret, the employees were told to be careful even with how they answered phone calls. One day, when the Department of the Navy was trying to reach the Lockheed management for the P-80 project, the call was accidentally transferred to Culver’s desk. Culver answered the phone in his trademark fashion of the time, by picking up the phone and stating "Skonk Works, inside man Culver". "What?" replied the voice at the other end. "Skonk Works", Culver repeated. The name stuck. Culver later said at an interview conducted in 1993 that "when Kelly Johnson heard about the incident, he promptly fired me. It didn’t really matter, since he was firing me about twice a day anyways."


title: Skunk Works

text: At the request of the comic strip copyright holders, Lockheed changed the name of the advanced development company to "Skunk Works" in the 1960s. The name "Skunk Works" and the skunk design are now registered trademarks of the Lockheed Martin Corporation. The company also holds several registrations of it with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They have filed several challenges against registrants of domain names containing variations on the term under anti-cybersquatting policies, and have lost a case under the .uk domain name dispute resolution service against a company selling cannabis seeds and paraphernalia, which used the word "skunkworks" in its domain name (referring to "Skunk", a variety of the cannabis plant). Lockheed Martin claimed the company registered the domain in order to disrupt its business and that consumer confusion might result. The respondent company argued that Lockheed "used its size, resources and financial position to employ 'bullyboy' tactics against... a very small company."


title: Skunk Works

text: In Australia, the trademark for use of the name "Skunkworks" is held by Perth-based television accessory manufacturer The Novita Group Pty Ltd. Lockheed Martin formally registered opposition to the application in 2006, however the Australian government's intellectual property authority, IP Australia, rejected the opposition, awarding Novita the trademark in 2008.


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: In the angelology of different religions, a hierarchy of angels is a ranking system of angels. Higher ranks have more power or authority over lower ranks, and with different ranks having differences in appearance, such as varying numbers of wings or faces.


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: The Jewish angelic hierarchy is established in the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, Rabbinic literature, and traditional Jewish liturgy. They are categorized in different hierarchies proposed by various theologians. For example, Maimonides, in his "Mishneh Torah" or "Yad ha-Chazakah: Yesodei ha-Torah", counts ten ranks of angels.


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: The most influential Christian angelic hierarchy was that put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book "De Coelesti Hierarchia" ("On the Celestial Hierarchy"). Dionysius described nine levels of spiritual beings which he grouped into three orders:


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: During the Middle Ages, various schemes were proposed, some drawing on and expanding on Pseudo-Dionysius, others suggesting completely different classifications.


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: Pseudo-Dionysius ("On the Celestial Hierarchy") and Thomas Aquinas ("Summa Theologiae") drew on passages from the New Testament, specifically Ephesians and Colossians 1:16, to develop a schema of three Hierarchies, Spheres or Triads of angels, with each Hierarchy containing three Orders or Choirs.


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: There is no standard hierarchical organization in Islam that parallels the Christian division into different "choirs" or spheres, and the topic is not directly addressed in the Quran. However, it is clear that there is a set order or hierarchy that exists between angels, defined by the assigned jobs and various tasks to which angels are commanded by God. Some scholars suggest that Islamic angels can be grouped into fourteen categories, with some of the higher orders being considered archangels. Qazwini describes an angelic hierarchy in his "Aja'ib al-makhluqat" with Ruh on the head of all angels, surrounded by the four archangelic cherubim. Below them are the seven angels of the seven heavens.


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: There is an informal Zoroastrian angelic hierarchy, with the specific angelic beings called having key positions in the day-name dedications on the Zoroastrian calendar segregated into the (the second to seventh of the 30 days of the month), and (the last six of the 30 days of the month).


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: Angels are occasionally presented in role-playing games as having ordered hierarchies, within which higher level angels have more power and the ability to cast more spells or exercise other magical abilities. For example, Angels in "Dungeons & Dragons", a subgroup of the beings called Celestials, come in three different types, the progressively more powerful Astral Deva, Planetar, and Solar. Another game which has summonable angels is "Shin Megami Tensei", often classified under Divine, or Heralds.


title: Hierarchy of angels

text: In the game series "Bayonetta" angels are enemies and all 3 spheres are present, each divided in the same 3 orders as the traditional hierarchy.


title: IPhone XS

text: The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max (stylized and marketed as iPhone and iPhone Max; Roman numeral "X" pronounced "ten") are smartphones designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the twelfth-generation flagships of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone X. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the devices alongside a lower-end model, the iPhone XR, on September 12, 2018, at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. Pre-orders began on September 14, 2018, and the devices went on sale on September 21.


title: IPhone XS

text: Improvements besides increased computing speeds include dual-SIM support, filming with stereo audio, and strengthened water resistance.


title: IPhone XS

text: The XS Max was the first plus-sized iPhone to have the newer reduced bezel form factor, as the iPhone X did not have a larger variant.


title: IPhone XS

text: Apple no longer sells the iPhone XS and XS Max as well as the iPhone 7 and its Plus variant as of September 10, 2019, after the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro announcement.


title: IPhone XS

text: The iPhone XS has a design visually near-identical to the iPhone X but includes upgraded hardware, featuring the A12 Bionic chip built with a 7 nm process. It features a 5.85 inch (149 mm) OLED display (marketed as 5.8 inch) with a resolution of 2436 × 1125 pixels (2.7 megapixels) at 458 ppi and contains dual 12-megapixel rear cameras and one 7-megapixel front-facing camera. The iPhone XS Max features the same hardware and cameras, but has a larger 6.46 inch (164 mm) OLED display (marketed as 6.5 inch) with a resolution of 2688 × 1242 pixels (3.3 megapixels) at 458 ppi and a larger battery (3,174mAh). It was also noted by the media that the XS received a smaller battery than that of the X (dropping to 2,658 mAh from 2,716 mAh). The XS' battery is a new single-cell L-shaped battery, while the iPhone XS Max battery remains two cells like the iPhone X. Additionally, Apple states that the iPhone XS lasts up to 30 minutes longer than iPhone X, while the iPhone XS Max lasts up to 1.5 hours longer than iPhone X.


title: IPhone XS

text: Apple claims that the devices have faster Face ID technology than the iPhone X. It was also announced in June 2019 at WWDC that Face ID on iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and iPhone X would be made up to 30% faster with iOS 13, which was released on September 19, 2019.


title: IPhone XS

text: The XS and XS Max are rated IP68 for dust and water resistance under IEC standard 60529, with Apple specifying a maximum depth of 2 meters and up to 30 minutes of submersion in water. This is an improvement over the IP67 water resistance of the iPhone 8 and X. Apple has performed tests in various liquids including chlorinated water, salt water, tea, wine, beer and juices.


title: IPhone XS

text: The XS and XS Max support dual SIMs through a nano-SIM and an eSIM. In mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, however, the XS Max comes with a dual nano-SIM tray (and no eSIM). The XS does not have a dual nano-SIM tray, so the eSIM functionality is enabled for use in Hong Kong and Macau, but not in mainland China.


title: IPhone XS

text: iPhone cameras, starting with the iPhone 6S, had a 12MP (1/2.94") sensor size with a 1.22 μm pixel size.


title: IPhone XS

text: Starting with the iPhone 2018 lineup (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR), these cameras were updated to a 12MP (1/2.55") sensor size with a 1.4 μm pixel size, the same sensor and pixel size as the primary cameras of the Samsung Galaxy S10, Samsung Galaxy S9 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S7, Pixel 2, Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Moto X4.


title: IPhone XS

text: The iPhone XS received generally positive reviews from critics after release. iPhone XS and XS Max users initially had issues with LTE, Wi-Fi reception and Bluetooth connections. Some experts claimed that a faulty antenna was to blame, and in response to many consumer complaints about iPhone XS/XS Max connectivity problems, Apple contacted users for help with their investigation. To resolve some problems with the XS/XS Max, Apple pushed the iOS 12.0.1 update on October 8, 2018, which, along with addressing the Chargegate issue, fixed a connectivity issue where Bluetooth could become temporarily unavailable on the XS/XS Max.


title: IPhone XS

text: Users reported problems charging the iPhone XS and XS Max with a Lightning cable, where the device would fail to charge if it had been off for a while, and would only begin to charge if the screen was turned on. This would occur due to a software bug with Apple's "Disable USB accessories when locked" setting, a feature intended to prevent unknown devices from accessing a user's content within an iPhone. The press dubbed the issue "Chargegate". This issue, along with Bluetooth connectivity problems, was resolved with the release of iOS 12.0.1 on October 8, 2018.


title: IPhone XS

text: Customers have also reported seeing unrealistic smoothness on their skin when taking a selfie by an automatic filter. Observers have noted that this face-smoothing effect is likely (and unintentionally) caused by the new Smart HDR camera feature on the XS and XS Max. This technology combines multiple photos of varying exposures to increase dynamic range on the iPhones' photos, but can also lead to less pronounced facial imperfections and decreased highlights in selfies. Some speculated this was the result of a hidden "beauty mode" (an actual feature in some smartphones) and dubbed the issue "Beautygate". There was a general dispute in the community as to whether the camera actual "intended" to "perfect" faces or if they just appeared that way as result of a better quality camera.


title: IPhone XS

text: Apple said that these results were due to the Smart HDR algorithm incorrectly selecting the blurrier long exposure as its base frame instead of the sharpest short exposure. The issue was resolved with the release of iOS 12.1 on October 30, 2018.


title: IPhone XS

text: The iPhone XS' camera was criticized for not featuring a night mode. iOS 13 did not include night mode which was kept exclusive to the new iPhone 11. However, third-party apps brought similar Night Mode to older iPhones.