By: Andrew Koch, Tim Wilmes, Hollis Conners

NASA

NASA’s spacecraft, “New Horizons,” has been traveling towards the edges of our solar system since 2006. It is planned to pass Pluto by July 2015. NASA predicts that “New Horizons” will cross Neptune’s orbit in late August.

World Cup

The FIFA World Cup will take place from June 12- July 13 in Brazil. This is the second time Brazil has hosted the tournament and there will be a total of 31 countries competing. For the first time, the competition will be using goal line technology, which will help accurately determine if the ball has crossed the line or not. The United States team was drawn into the “group of death” in the tournament, meaning it will face Germany, Portugal and Ghana in the group stage of the World Cup in 2014. Ghana knocked the U.S. out of the last two World Cup tournaments.

NASA

NASA’s Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle will undergo a test launch in September. The test launch is named Exploration- Flight Test 1. Orion will travel 3600 miles above Earth, and will orbit the Earth twice. It is hoped to be used for future manned missions to Mars.

Olympic

The XXII Olympic Winter Games will take place Feb. 7- 23 in Sochi, Russia. Professional skier Lindsey Vonn had to drop out of the games due to a knee injury, robbing team USA of one of its significant players. Three teams in the NHL, the St. Louis Blues, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings, have tied for greatest number of participants in the winter games with 10 players each. There has been controversy surrounding the choices for the United States Hockey team with big names such as Bobby Ryan, Jack Johnson, Keith Yandle and Brandon Dubinsky not being chosen for the team.
*Information provided by Ryan Burke

Politics

This year’s round of elections, called “midterm elections” because they occur halfway through the presidential term, will take place on Nov. 4. Citizens will vote on all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate. The midterm elections could potentially change the make-up of the United States Congress, affecting the Obama administration’s ability to pass legislation. Voters in 38 states will also have the opportunity to vote on their respective state governors.