Science & Technology
SpaceX capsule heads to space station ferrying NASA crew and Russian
A SpaceX rocket soared into orbit from Florida on Wednesday carrying the next long-term International Space Station crew, with a Russian cosmonaut, two Americans and a Japanese astronaut flying together in a demonstration of U.S.-Russian teamwork in space despite Ukraine war tensions, Reuters reported.
A high-ranking official of the Russian space agency Roscosmos said shortly after the launch that the flight marked "a new phase of our cooperation" with the U.S. space agency NASA.
According to the report the SpaceX launch vehicle, consisting of a Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Endurance, lifted off into clear skies at noon EDT (1600 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. The two-stage, 23-story-tall Falcon 9 ascended from the launch tower as its nine Merlin engines roared to life in billowing clouds of vapor and a reddish-orange fireball.
The mission is notable for the inclusion of Anna Kikina, 38, the lone female cosmonaut on active duty with Roscosmos, making it the first spaceflight with a Russian launched from U.S. soil in two decades. As the spacecraft entered Earth orbit, Kikina radioed her thanks to NASA, Roscosmos and their International Space Station (ISS) partners for "giving us this great opportunity."
"We're so glad to do it together," Kikina said.
Kikina, who had trained in the United States for the flight since spring 2021, was essentially swapping places with a NASA astronaut who took her seat aboard a Russian Soyuz flight to the ISS last month under a new ride-sharing deal signed by NASA and Roscosmos in July.
About nine minutes after Wednesday's launch, the rocket's upper stage delivered the Crew Dragon into a preliminary orbit as it streaked through space at nearly 16,000 miles per hour (27,000 kph). The reusable lower-stage booster flew itself back to Earth and landed safely on a drone recovery vessel at sea.
The four crew members and their autonomously flying capsule were due to reach the ISS in about 29 hours, on Thursday evening, to begin a 150-day science mission aboard the orbital laboratory some 250 miles (420 km) above Earth, Reuters reported.
The mission, designated Crew-5, marks the fifth full-fledged ISS crew NASA has flown aboard a SpaceX vehicle since the private rocket venture founded by Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk began sending U.S. astronauts aloft in May 2020.
The team was led by Nicole Aunapu Mann, 45, who became the first Native American woman sent to orbit by NASA and the first woman to take the commander's seat of a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
Moments after reaching orbit, as mission control wished the crew "Godspeed," Mann radioed back, "Awesome. Thank you so much to the Falcon team. Whew! That was a smooth ride uphill."
Mann, a U.S. Marine Corps colonel and combat fighter pilot, is also among the first group of 18 astronauts selected for NASA's upcoming Artemis missions aimed at returning humans to the moon later this decade.
The designated pilot was Mann's fellow spaceflight rookie Josh Cassada, 49, a U.S. Navy aviator and test pilot with a doctorate in high-energy particle physics. Rounding out the crew from Japan's space agency JAXA was Koichi Wakata, 59, a robotics expert making his fifth voyage to space.
The team will be welcomed by seven existing ISS occupants - the Crew-4 team consisting of three Americans and an Italian astronaut - as well as two Russians and the NASA astronaut who flew with them to orbit on a Soyuz flight.
The new arrivals are set to conduct more than 200 experiments, many focused on medical research ranging from 3-D "bio-printing" of human tissue to a study of bacteria cultured in microgravity, Reuters reported.
ISS, the length of a football field, has been continuously occupied since 2000, operated by a U.S.-Russian-led consortium that includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries. It was born in part to improve relations between Washington and Moscow following the Soviet Union's collapse and the end of Cold War rivalries that spurred the original American-Soviet space race.
NASA-Roscosmos relations have been tested since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and the United States imposed sweeping sanctions against Moscow.
At a post-launch NASA-SpaceX briefing on Wednesday, Sergei Krikalev, head of human spaceflight for Roscosmos, said he agency chief Yuri Borisov were seeking to ease tensions after Borisov's predecessor, Dmitry Rogozin, raised questions about the future of the ISS partnership.
Krikalev cited bilateral teamwork in space dating back to the Apollo-Soyuz era in 1975, saying, "We started our cooperation many years ago, over 40 years ago, and will continue our cooperation as long as I can imagine."
The July crew-exchange deal paved the way for resuming routine joint U.S.-Russian flights to the ISS that had begun during the space shuttle era and continued after shuttles ceased flying in 2011. From then until SpaceX began offering crewed launch services nine years later, Soyuz was the only avenue to orbit for U.S. astronauts.
Science & Technology
South Korea authorities launch probe after three die in Hyundai car test
The Ulsan plant is Hyundai’s biggest manufacturing facility, with its own port and an annual production capacity of 1.4 million vehicles
South Korean authorities launched an investigation on Tuesday after three people died during a car test at a Hyundai Motor plant in the city of Ulsan, police told Reuters.
The two Hyundai researchers and one Hyundai contractor were found unconscious in a car at around 3:00 p.m. while they were testing it in a "chamber," according to Hyundai's labour union.
South Korean media reports said the three had suffocated.
A police officer in Ulsan said the police and the labour ministry were investigating the incident, including its cause.
A fire department official told Reuters that it first received a report at 3:17 pm that the accident happened at Hyundai's No.4 factory.
"Hyundai Motor Company is deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at our plant in Ulsan, South Korea," Hyundai said in a statement, saying it would "cooperate fully with all relevant authorities to determine the cause of this incident."
The Ulsan plant is Hyundai's biggest manufacturing facility, with its own port and an annual production capacity of 1.4 million vehicles, including exports of 1.1 million units.
In November last year, Hyundai Motor broke ground on a 2 trillion won ($1.44 billion) plant in Ulsan dedicated to making electric vehicles in South Korea, as the automaker accelerated a shift away from petrol-powered cars.
[embed]https://youtu.be/KrLKCrpLALU[/embed]
Science & Technology
Russia fines Google more than the world’s total GDP over YouTube bans
Russia has fined Google $2.5 decillion after the US tech giant took action against pro-Kremlin TV channels on YouTube following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia imposed a daily fine four years ago - a fine that has since swelled to an unprecedented level - ($20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 - a 33-digit figure).
To put this into perspective, global GDP reaches an estimated $110 thousand billion (12-digit figure), according to the IMF.
Speaking to Russia’s TASS news agency, one expert, Roman Yankovsky from the HSE Institute of Education, said Google “clearly will not pay this penalty, and the Russian Federation will not be able to recover this money from the company."
Euronews reported that a short calculation shows that he is right.
Google's holding company, Alphabet, has a market capitalisation of slightly more than $2 trillion. Even with earnings of $80.54 billion from the last quarter, the tech giant doesn’t seem to be able to afford to pay the fine.
Google first barred pro-Moscow channel Tsargrad TV, which is owned by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, four years ago.
At the time, Google was fined a daily penalty of 100,000 roubles and warned that amount would double every 24 hours if it went unpaid.
The original fine has been compounded by further penalties after Google eventually blocked a total of 17 Russian TV channels as a result of international sanctions, The Telegraph reported.
The tech giant now owes a staggering $2.5 decillion.
Science & Technology
Apple launches new iPad mini with AI features
Apple said it would roll out the first set of AI features in the U.S. version of the English language this month through a software update with iPadOS 18.1.
Apple on Tuesday launched its new generation of the iPad mini packed with AI features including writing tools and an improved Siri assistant, as the iPhone maker races to boost its devices with artificial-intelligence capabilities, Reuters reported.
The new iPad mini is powered by Apple's A17 Pro chip, which is used in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models. With a six-core central processing unit, the A17 Pro would boost CPU performance by 30% compared to the current generation iPad minis and is central to running Apple Intelligence, Apple's AI software.
Apple said it would roll out the first set of AI features in the U.S. version of the English language this month through a software update with iPadOS 18.1.
The features will be available for iPads with A17 Pro or M1 chips and later generations, Apple said, adding it will roll out additional features including image-generation tools, Genmoji and ChatGPT-powered capabilities over the next several months, read the report.
Apple in September unveiled its long-awaited, AI-boosted iPhone 16 lineup, but with the AI features still in test mode, the company failed to excite some investors while early sales data raised some questions around demand.
Still, research firm Canalys on Monday said the iPhone 16 would help Apple's sales in the fourth quarter and drive momentum into the first half of 2025, after Apple reached a record high third-quarter shipments.
The iPad mini, starting at $499, is available for pre-orders starting on Tuesday and will begin arriving to customers and Apple store locations next week, Apple said.
-
Latest News5 days ago
Ottawa taking detention of Canadian in Afghanistan ‘very seriously’
-
Sport4 days ago
FIFA unveils Innovative Club World Cup Trophy ahead of new tournament in 2025
-
Regional5 days ago
India’s successful test of hypersonic missile puts it among elite group
-
Latest News5 days ago
Trump team compiling list of military officers responsible for US withdrawal from Afghanistan
-
Latest News4 days ago
Canada sent 19 failed asylum seekers back to Afghanistan last year
-
Sport4 days ago
Abu Dhabi’s thrilling T10 tournament just days away
-
World4 days ago
Biden allows Ukraine to use US arms to strike inside Russia
-
Sport3 days ago
Afghanistan beat UAE by 169 runs in U19 tri-series