New Mars Forums

===
Today on Mars: 0038/23/20 Friday Days of the week OFFSET 3 with Earth.  (count from Mars to Earth )
Sol 633 Business Month 23 Fourth month of Quarter 4 of Year 38  
Today on Earth: 2026/08/25 Tuesday Earth Date)
>16

To see how this calendar works, we show the standard 28 day month at the bottom of this daily report.
There are 20 months of 28 Sols and 4 months of 27 Sols at the end of the four six-month quarters.
New Years Eve is extended to align the Business Calendar for Mars with the Astronomical calendar.
Business and Astronomical both start at zero (to the nanosecond) on New Year's Day.
This calendar has been in operation for two full Mars years (36 and 37). We are in Year 38

This calendar is NOT the Darian Calendar!

Per http://www-mars.lmd.jussieu.fr/mars/tim … _time.html also see: in-the-sky.org for opposition/perigee/aphelion

Martian Year: 38  Martian Astronomical Interval in 12 interval format: 12 <<== The Astronomical interval
Check Longitude: the interval will increment when longitude reaches 360 degrees

===
Solar Longitude: 341.1 Sol Number: 633  Change in degrees is +.5 Julian date is: J0038633
Solar Longitude: 340.6 Sol Number: 632  Change in degrees is +.5 Julian date is: J0038632
Solar Longitude: 340.1 Sol Number: 631  Change in degrees is +.6 Julian date is: J0038631 << SkipDayOnMars
#3>

Note that Solar Longitude measurement varies as a function of location in orbit.  Ls 0 is the moment when the Sun appears to transit from one hemisphere to the other.  Update from Mars.NASA.gov (The Sun crosses the equator of Mars (Vernal Equinox)). The transition itself is a function of the tilt of an object with respect to the Solar plane. Per squarewidget.com, Hipparchus created the celestial coordinate system we use today.

Note#2: https://theskylive.com/mars-tracker  This web site shows the astronomical position of Mars as seen from Earth
Todo: At next Aphelion/Perihelion record the Mars date as J00##### (and set Search term)
Perihelion occurred in 2026 at Ls 251 on Sol 486 - Earth Date 2026/03/27 Next: (estimated) 2028/05/15
Perihelion occurred in 2024 at Ls 251 on Sol 485 - Earth Date 2024/05/08 Next: (estimated) 2026/03/06 (actual) 2026/03/26
Perihelion occurred in 2022 at Ls 251 on Sol 485 - Earth Date 2022/06/21 Next: (actual) 2024/05/08
Aphelion Earth Dates: Next: 2027/03/04 Earlier: 2025/04/16, 2023/05/30, 2021/07/12, 2019/08/25, 2017/10/07, 2015/11/20
Aphelion occurred at--- Ls 071 on Sol 152. 
Aphelion occurred near Ls 070 on Sol 153 (per http://www.planetary.org)

Note#3: The computations below are dependent upon both the computations provided by the reference web site and by accuracy of recording of the time of observations.  The calculations use tenths of hours.  The Sun Distance needs to be captured at the moment the time increments to a given tenth.

Note on data below: The figure quoted after distance is a rate of progress along the orbital path [exact meaning to be determined]
Minus prefix means Mars is approaching the Sun.  Plus prefix means Mars is moving away from the Sun.
The figure computed to the right of "Difference" is the rate of change of the distance to Sun. Increasing to Aphelion/Decreasing to Perihelion.

Aphelion of Mars is due March 04, 2027 Sol 151-152 Note velocity of Mars was 22.0 km/s nearing Aphelion (21.97 km/s)
Perhelion of Mars is due May, 2028 Sol 251 Note velocity of Mars was 26.5 km/s nearing Perihelion 2026/03/26
Mars passed through 0 Radial Distance on outbound leg Sol 633 of Year 38 2026/08/25 Solar Longitude is 341.1 (90 degrees season)
Mars will pass through 0 Radial Distance on inbound leg Sol 219 at longitude 71
Conversion between seasons and physical frameworks: L_s = theta + 251  theta = L_s - 251

===
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com:   226,109,446 km [24.3 km/s] Difference is +195634 <= +8151 km/hour at 12.0 on 08/25 (time 12:00) (24.0 hours)
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com:   225,913,812 km [24.3 km/s] Difference is +195695 <= +8154 km/hour at 12.0 on 08/24 (time 12:00) (24.0 hours)
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com:   225,718,117 km [24.4 km/s] Difference is +195594 <= +8150 km/hour at 12.0 on 08/23 (time 12:00) (24.0 hours)
>13

Velocity along the orbit is NOT the same thing as velocity change of the radial distance to the Sun. Both are shown in the section above.
Observation: The sky view is ** filled ** with objects and some have been recorded and given identification by humans or their robot assistants
And! ** All ** the location assignments are from the perspective of Earth.  The entire catalog needs to be adjusted when inter-stellar travel begins
The work that lies ahead for the astronomical community is daunting - there is work ahead for centuries
2022/01/19 - All current (existing) stellar catalogs are computed with reference to the Earth.  Another civilization would use it's planet as reference.
Perhaps a Milky Way frame of reference will become necessary at some point. The Earth is as good a Zero point as any, for humans.

=== Mars is in Regular movement as seen from Earth.
Mars is in Gemini
Next ahead: A cluster of multiple stars above path: TYC 1880-1245-1
Three stars across path – TYC 1880-1251-1 RA 6h 37m 40.9s Day 2 still visible on extreme right edge of view
14>

Zoom Out Capability As a general observation ... I've become increasingly interested in knowing what the larger view of the sky might be like.
The site: theskylive.com does a terrific job of matching the view from Earth towards Mars, against a background of actual astronomical plates.
I wish there were a way (or rather, I wish I ** knew ** about a way that may exist) to enlarge the view until the entire galaxy is in view (Zoom out)
Update 2022/12/08 TheSkyLive.com provides a large view of selected objects: Select [Major Bodies] Then select [Information] in the body of interest
Update 2022/12/08 Scroll down to (body) Position and Finder Charts. Field of view is 50x30 degrees.

Light travel in one second is (about) 300,000 kilometers. The distance covered in one minute is about 18,000,000 kilometers. Estimated light times:
1:18,2:36,3:54,4:72,5:90,6:108,7:126,8:144,9:162,10:180,11:198,12:216,13:234,14:252,15:270,16:288,17:306,18:324, 19:342,20:360,21:378,22:396

Light travel time today is between 17 and 18 minutes. Communications delay would be 34+ minutes round trip.

=== Time estimate will change below 270 megaKm
Earth Distance in km: 2026/08/25 281,912,358 (decreasing)
Earth Distance in km: 2026/08/24 282,679,587 (decreasing)
Earth Distance in km: 2026/08/23 283,440,464 (decreasing)
>15

Maximum Earth-Mars distance is estimated to be 401 million kilometers (both at apogee and opposite vs Sun) Minimum is about 56 million kilometers
Mars and Earth were in Opposition (Earth center)  in December of 2022.  The date coincided with a (very rare) occultation of Mars by the Moon.
Mars and Earth were in Conjunction (Sun center) in November of 2023.
Mars and Earth appear to have been as close as they will get in Year 36. 81,454,323 kilometers on J0036644 Time: 4.53 minutes - 9 minutes round trip

In his online interview with Dr. Zubrin at the 2020 Mars Conference, Elon Musk reminded the audience that communications with Mars will necessarily include an intermediary station to handle traffic when the Sun is between Mars and Earth.  Communications delays in that circumstance will increase due to the extra distance to be covered.  Mr. Musk indicated he expects such communication will be handled by laser.  Location would be optimum at poles of solar plane.

This web site offers an online model of the solar system: www.solarsystemscope.com 
This web site offers an online orrery view of the Solar System: https://www.theplanetstoday.com/

===
Sol 632 is in Month 23 of a Proposed 24 month calendar. See Post 19 of Holidays topic for a summary. <<< 595 is skip day on Mars
Month  23 extends from Sol 614 through 641. <<== There are 28 days in Month 23. See post 82 of Holidays topic for current details.
Direct path to source: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 57#p154257
Sol 633 is Friday in the Proposed Business calendar for Mars.   Sol 631 Skip Day on Mars. Next is near 668 of Year 38
##

The Next New Year's on Mars will occur when Solar Longitude reaches 360 degrees. Year 38 started November 12, 2024 on Earth
Per www.planetary.org Year 36 started 2021/02/07 on Earth. Mars Year 37 began 2022/12/27 on Earth.

Days of the Week Alignment:
Days of the week fall behind Earth due to the longer Sol, but they also change when Friday is omitted at the end of a Quarter
337 Earth days were observed to elapse in the 2020 weekday cycle. There were 7 week day transitions and 2 Quarter ends.
The next cycle began on the first Sol of the period of coincidence. The  alignment of weekdays interval is in the range: (310 - 337)
To find the first day of a period of coincidence: Set up: SearchTerm(colon) and (colon)Alignment and J0036* or J0037*
The most recent End-Of-Quarter change occurred: … The search specified above gave 11 pages of results.

For current weather on Mars see:

   ***https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/weather/***
   ***Insight's weather info has been suspended and now is directing to msl*** <<-- Insight's mission is over (2022)

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/weather/

Per SpaceNut: Here is another web page by NASA containing the latest news releases

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/?page=0&per_ … ope=Latest

All forum members are invited to post significant events for this day.
Events of interest will be ON Mars, or relate to Mars. Examples are launches, landings, discoveries

Standard Month in Mars Business Calendar Copyright ® 2023 NewMars.com Mars Society
Su    Mo    Tu    We    Th    Fr    Sa
1        2      3      4      5      6      7
8        9    10     11    12    13    14
15    16    17     18    19    20    21
22    23    24     25    26    27    28

Recruiting text may be found at the bottom of this post:  http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 57#p154257
Copyright the Mars Society All Rights Reserved

Month 23 of 24: <<== Fifth month of Quarter 4 Note start of Astronomical Month 12 in Year 38

In this post I asked Gemini to add the seasons to the table.

We have two references systems in play at Mars.  The physical reference has 0 degrees set at perihelion. The seasonal reference has a completely different zero point.  The two reference systems are in play simultaneously.  Here is Gemini's attempt to put everything together for us humans to (at least try) to understand the two reference systems.

(th)

In this post, I asked for a table showing how the two reference systems relate to each other:

(th)

For Calliban re Louis ....

Thanks for your question...

My recollection is that Mars_B4_Moon arrived back on the scene for one of his periodic intense periods of activity.

I recall seeing a message from Louis that I read as suggesting the two gents could not share the same forum.

In any case, Louis stopped participating and eventually Mars_B4_Moon ran out of energy so now both are gone.

If you are curious you can look at the last posts by Louis.

The User List provides a way to see everyone's posts that survive.  I offer that qualification because the forum has suffered injury over it's 25 year lifetime, but I think Louis' record may be largely intact.

To see anyone's posts, call  up the User List, Enter the name of the member, and click Submit.

The name of the member will appear in the User List (assuming there is a name that matches what you entered)

In the case of Louis, we see a total of 7,208 posts with a Registration date of 2008-03-24

You can click on the member name to see a page with a few details, including Posts.

In the case of Louis we see 7,208

I think the default display is descending order by date.

In the case of Louis, the most recent post was in 2022.

In that one, Louis was replying to Calliban. 

Interesting ... I don't see anything along the lines I remember about a dispute with Mars_B4_Moon.

We may never know, since if something ** did ** happen to Louis, there is no mechanism in place for us to find out.

2008 to 2022 ... that is a good run.  RobertDyck is one of our longest participating members.

Recently we heard from Clark who joined in the very beginning of the forum (as recorded in the surviving archive).

(th)

This topic has been sitting around since 2017.  It was created by louis, and this post is a reminder of Louis' many contributions to this forum over a number of years.  Louis had a remarkable ability to elicit terrific writing by other members, by feigning inability to understand basic physics.

This post is about the 100th Falcon 9 launch of 2026, and the 37th successful flight of one of the Falcon 9 boosters...

The article above appeared on Yahoo but I could not find a link to this specific article.

Yahoo also reported upon a fanciful European vision of a fully re-usable rocket system that looks a lot like Space Shuttle, but I don't think anything will come of it. The team has been working on this for 20 years and don't have anything but paper to show.

(th)

For RobertDyck re Post #255...

Thanks for considering the option.

Your reply reveals the gentle nature of Canadians.

Even when Canadians have every right to be angry, there appears to be a tendency to avoid use of force to influence a sparring partner.

In this case I inquired about a demand by Canada that the US pay back funds loaned by Canada.

Your observation about most of the gold in Fort Knox is accurate.  You (Canada) would want to get that gold before the rest of the world, because a demand by Canada for that gold would awaken a general run on the US debt

The US would have difficulty sustaining a payout of the trillions owed to other Nations. 

One might assume there would be efforts on the part of some in the US to try to appease angry creditors.

The US might simply refuse to pay what it owes, which has not happened previously, but it would end the position of the US as a reliable investment.

***
Your point about Canadian debt held by the US is interesting. 

At the very least, Canada could encourage lenders to bring home the funds they invested in the US when the bonds expire.

That very announcement could send a significant message to the government of the US.

Right now, it appears to me that some people in leadership positions in the US are living in an information bubble.

(th)

For SpaceNut... Gemini sends it's regards:

And here is the updated and tested php:

<?php
// admin/rcap_run.php — Automated Daily RCAP generator for FluxBB (admin-only)
// PHP code developed by Gemini to perform Daily Recap.
// This code is based upon a mockup created by SpaceNut in August of 2026.

define('PUN_ROOT', './');
require PUN_ROOT.'include/common.php';
define('PUN_ACTIVE_PAGE', 'admin');
// ---- Admin / Moderator Gate ----------------------------------------------
if ($pun_user['g_id'] != PUN_ADMIN && $pun_user['g_id'] != PUN_MOD) {
    message('Admins and Moderators only.');
}

if (file_exists(PUN_ROOT.'admin/rcap.stop')) {
    message('RCAP disabled by admin.');
}

$recap_forum_id = 1;
$recap_topic_id = 10614;

// ---- 1. Determine End ID (Global Max Post ID) ----------------------------
$res_max = $db->query('SELECT MAX(id) AS max_id FROM '.$db->prefix.'posts') 
    or error('Unable to fetch max post ID', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());
$row_max = $db->fetch_assoc($res_max);
$end_id = (int)$row_max['max_id'];

// ---- 2. Determine Start ID (Highest Post ID recorded in Recap Topic) -----
// We look for post IDs inside [url=...pid=XXXXX] tags in the recap topic
$res_last_recap = $db->query('
    SELECT message 
    FROM '.$db->prefix.'posts 
    WHERE topic_id = '.$recap_topic_id.' 
    ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1') 
    or error('Unable to fetch last recap post', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

$start_id = 1;

// To this (standard FluxBB syntax):
if ($row = $db->fetch_assoc($res_last_recap)) {
    // Extract all numeric post IDs referenced in the URL tags of the last recap
    if (preg_match_all('/pid=(\d+)/i', $row['message'], $matches)) {
        $found_ids = array_map('intval', $matches[1]);
        $start_id = max($found_ids) + 1;
    }
}
// ---- 3. Check for New Activity -------------------------------------------
if ($start_id > $end_id) {
    $page_title = array('Admin', 'Daily RCAP');
    require PUN_ROOT.'header.php';
    ?>
    <div class="block">
        <h2><span>Daily RCAP</span></h2>
        <div class="box">
            <div class="inbox">
                <p>No new posts detected since the last recap (Last processed post ID: <?php echo $end_id; ?>).</p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <?php
    require PUN_ROOT.'footer.php';
    exit;
}

// ---- 4. Fetch New Posts (Sorted Title ASC, ID ASC) ----------------------
$query = '
    SELECT p.id AS post_id, t.subject AS topic_title
    FROM '.$db->prefix.'posts AS p
    INNER JOIN '.$db->prefix.'topics AS t ON p.topic_id = t.id
    INNER JOIN '.$db->prefix.'forums AS f ON t.forum_id = f.id
    WHERE p.id BETWEEN '.$start_id.' AND '.$end_id.'
    ORDER BY t.subject ASC, p.id ASC';

$result = $db->query($query) or error('Unable to fetch posts for RCAP', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

// ---- 5. Build BBCode Output ---------------------------------------------
$date_str = date('n-j-Y'); // Formats as M-D-YYYY
$rcap = 'postings '.$date_str."\n\n";

$count = 0;
while ($row = $db->fetch_assoc($result)) {
    $pid   = (int)$row['post_id'];
    $title = pun_htmlspecialchars($row['topic_title']);
    $url   = $pun_config['o_base_url'].'/viewtopic.php?pid='.$pid.'#p'.$pid;

    $rcap .= '[url='.$url.']'.$title."[/url]\n";
    $count++;
}

// ---- 6. Insert Post & Update Counters ------------------------------------
$now = time();

// Insert the new recap post
$db->query('INSERT INTO '.$db->prefix.'posts (poster, poster_id, poster_ip, message, hide_smilies, posted, topic_id) 
            VALUES(\''.$db->escape($pun_user['username']).'\', '.$pun_user['id'].', \''.$db->escape(get_remote_address()).'\', \''.$db->escape($rcap).'\', 1, '.$now.', '.$recap_topic_id.')') 
            or error('Unable to create RCAP post', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

$new_post_id = $db->insert_id();

// Update topic stats
$db->query('UPDATE '.$db->prefix.'topics SET num_replies=num_replies+1, last_post='.$now.', last_post_id='.$new_post_id.', last_poster=\''.$db->escape($pun_user['username']).'\' WHERE id='.$recap_topic_id) 
            or error('Unable to update topic', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

// Update forum stats
$db->query('UPDATE '.$db->prefix.'forums SET num_posts=num_posts+1, last_post='.$now.', last_post_id='.$new_post_id.', last_poster=\''.$db->escape($pun_user['username']).'\' WHERE id='.$recap_forum_id) 
            or error('Unable to update forum', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

// ---- 7. Confirmation View ------------------------------------------------
$page_title = array('Admin', 'Daily RCAP');
require PUN_ROOT.'header.php';
?>

<div class="block">
    <h2><span>Daily RCAP Complete</span></h2>
    <div class="box">
        <div class="inbox">
            <p>Successfully processed <strong><?php echo $count; ?></strong> new posts (ID range: <?php echo $start_id; ?> to <?php echo $end_id; ?>).</p>
            <p><a href="<?php echo $pun_config['o_base_url']; ?>/viewtopic.php?pid=<?php echo $new_post_id; ?>#p<?php echo $new_post_id; ?>">Click here to view the new Daily Recap post</a></p>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

<?php
require PUN_ROOT.'footer.php';

(th)

For SpaceNut ... we appear to not yet be up and running...
I added a new post to Housekeeping, and got this:

( ! ) Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function pun_escape() in /var/www/html/FluxBB/admin_recap.php on line 82
( ! ) Error: Call to undefined function pun_escape() in /var/www/html/FluxBB/admin_recap.php on line 82
Call Stack
#    Time    Memory    Function    Location
1    0.0001    362392    {main}( )    .../admin_recap.php:0

Replacement code is: $title = pun_htmlspecialchars($row['topic_title']);

For SpaceNut re #4309

Thanks for the reminder we will need to add the new service to the  Admin menu! I'd like to see the program running first.  Then we can plan the edit that Mr. Burk will need to do to update admin_index.php.  We need to have our update fully tested before we make the request.

I can certainly perform the edit on the local machine, to make sure it works as intended.

My immediate plan is to copy the new PHP file into the admin folder and see if it works. I am still worried about initializing the topic so the procedure finds the last recorded ID.

Do you have time to study the PHP file I uploaded to see what will happen if we do not initialize the topic with a post containing the needed values?  My guess is the program may not run, but it might take zero as the input and create a starting post of all posts in the entire database. That would certainly be interesting, but it might be overwhelming. There would be one output line for every post from the beginning of of the forum. That would be 236,703 lines. That is probably not a good idea.

Update: Gemini confirmed that the php file will fail if it does not find a suitable previous line in the last post in the Recap topic.
Alternatively, the php file will report every post in the database.

FYI ... I revised the name to admin_recap.php to match the existing admin php files. There is no Admin folder.
I had to set permissions to 755.

(th)

Mars Society is sponsoring a writing contest ... Submissions are due in September...

(th)

For SpaceNut .... Gemini took in CoPilot's work and made a couple of adjustments.

The main idea I asked for was to automate the identification of posts to report.  Now the script will check to see which ID was last reported, and then report all New ID's since then.  Here is the modified script. Please look it over to see if it matches your expectations.

<?php
// admin/rcap_run.php — Automated Daily RCAP generator for FluxBB (admin-only)

define('PUN_ROOT', '../');
require PUN_ROOT.'include/common.php';
require PUN_ROOT.'include/functions.php';

// ---- Admin / Moderator Gate ----------------------------------------------
if ($pun_user['g_id'] != PUN_ADMIN && $pun_user['g_id'] != PUN_MOD) {
    message('Admins and Moderators only.');
}

if (file_exists(PUN_ROOT.'admin/rcap.stop')) {
    message('RCAP disabled by admin.');
}

$recap_forum_id = 1;
$recap_topic_id = 11215;

// ---- 1. Determine End ID (Global Max Post ID) ----------------------------
$res_max = $db->query('SELECT MAX(id) AS max_id FROM '.$db->prefix.'posts') 
    or error('Unable to fetch max post ID', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());
$row_max = $db->fetch_assoc($res_max);
$end_id = (int)$row_max['max_id'];

// ---- 2. Determine Start ID (Highest Post ID recorded in Recap Topic) -----
// We look for post IDs inside [url=...pid=XXXXX] tags in the recap topic
$res_last_recap = $db->query('
    SELECT message 
    FROM '.$db->prefix.'posts 
    WHERE topic_id = '.$recap_topic_id.' 
    ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1') 
    or error('Unable to fetch last recap post', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

$start_id = 1;

if ($db->num_rows($res_last_recap) > 0) {
    $last_recap = $db->fetch_assoc($res_last_recap);
    // Extract all numeric post IDs referenced in the URL tags of the last recap
    if (preg_match_all('/pid=(\d+)/i', $last_recap['message'], $matches)) {
        $found_ids = array_map('intval', $matches[1]);
        $start_id = max($found_ids) + 1;
    }
}

// ---- 3. Check for New Activity -------------------------------------------
if ($start_id > $end_id) {
    $page_title = array('Admin', 'Daily RCAP');
    require PUN_ROOT.'header.php';
    ?>
    <div class="block">
        <h2><span>Daily RCAP</span></h2>
        <div class="box">
            <div class="inbox">
                <p>No new posts detected since the last recap (Last processed post ID: <?php echo $end_id; ?>).</p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <?php
    require PUN_ROOT.'footer.php';
    exit;
}

// ---- 4. Fetch New Posts (Sorted Title ASC, ID ASC) ----------------------
$query = '
    SELECT p.id AS post_id, t.subject AS topic_title
    FROM '.$db->prefix.'posts AS p
    INNER JOIN '.$db->prefix.'topics AS t ON p.topic_id = t.id
    INNER JOIN '.$db->prefix.'forums AS f ON t.forum_id = f.id
    WHERE p.id BETWEEN '.$start_id.' AND '.$end_id.'
    ORDER BY t.subject ASC, p.id ASC';

$result = $db->query($query) or error('Unable to fetch posts for RCAP', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

// ---- 5. Build BBCode Output ---------------------------------------------
$date_str = date('n-j-Y'); // Formats as M-D-YYYY
$rcap = 'postings '.$date_str."\n\n";

$count = 0;
while ($row = $db->fetch_assoc($result)) {
    $pid   = (int)$row['post_id'];
    $title = pun_escape($row['topic_title']);
    $url   = $pun_config['o_base_url'].'/viewtopic.php?pid='.$pid.'#p'.$pid;

    $rcap .= '[url='.$url.']'.$title."[/url]\n";
    $count++;
}

// ---- 6. Insert Post & Update Counters ------------------------------------
$now = time();

// Insert the new recap post
$db->query('INSERT INTO '.$db->prefix.'posts (poster, poster_id, poster_ip, message, hide_smilies, posted, topic_id) 
            VALUES(\''.$db->escape($pun_user['username']).'\', '.$pun_user['id'].', \''.$db->escape(get_remote_address()).'\', \''.$db->escape($rcap).'\', 1, '.$now.', '.$recap_topic_id.')') 
            or error('Unable to create RCAP post', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

$new_post_id = $db->insert_id();

// Update topic stats
$db->query('UPDATE '.$db->prefix.'topics SET num_replies=num_replies+1, last_post='.$now.', last_post_id='.$new_post_id.', last_poster=\''.$db->escape($pun_user['username']).'\' WHERE id='.$recap_topic_id) 
            or error('Unable to update topic', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

// Update forum stats
$db->query('UPDATE '.$db->prefix.'forums SET num_posts=num_posts+1, last_post='.$now.', last_post_id='.$new_post_id.', last_poster=\''.$db->escape($pun_user['username']).'\' WHERE id='.$recap_forum_id) 
            or error('Unable to update forum', __FILE__, __LINE__, $db->error());

// ---- 7. Confirmation View ------------------------------------------------
$page_title = array('Admin', 'Daily RCAP');
require PUN_ROOT.'header.php';
?>

<div class="block">
    <h2><span>Daily RCAP Complete</span></h2>
    <div class="box">
        <div class="inbox">
            <p>Successfully processed <strong><?php echo $count; ?></strong> new posts (ID range: <?php echo $start_id; ?> to <?php echo $end_id; ?>).</p>
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For SpaceNut ... Gemini caught my error in placement ... you intended this to go into the Admin folder, so only Admins can run it.

(th)

This post is about the first (that I know of) pylon race for electric aircraft.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo … 4137&ei=29

If the link above works, it includes a video showing a pylon race between four all electric vehicles.  I am reminded of the pylon races that were part of the history of development of propeller winged aircraft in the 20th Century. This event suggests (to me at least) that electric aircraft are maturing.  Competition in our capitalist society should drive continued innovation in all aspects of this technology.

(th)