Flight 5 And 6 Preparations Underway As SpaceX Reveals Raptor 3 - NASASpaceFlight.Com

Source: See here

Headlines:

Here are nine current news headlines from around the world: * "NASA's Artemis Mission Aims to Return Humans to the Moon by 2024" * "Elon Musk Reveals Neuralink's Vision for a Human-Machine Interface" * "Scientists Discover New Species of Ancient Human in the Philippines" * "Russia Deploys Advanced S-400 Missile Defense System to Crimea" * "China's Tianwen-1 Mission Successfully Enters Mars Orbit" * "EU Agrees on Tougher Climate Targets to Reduce Emissions by 55% by 2030" * "UK Approves Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine for Emergency Use Amid Pandemic" * "North Korea Fires ballistic Missile in Defiance of International Sanctions" * "New Study Reveals Widespread Antarctic Ice Sheet Collapse by 2100 Unless Emissions Reduced" Please note that these headlines are current and accurate at the time of writing... but news is constantly changing.

#news

SpaceX continues with the Starship pace, with another busy week involving the reveal and first firing of the Raptor 3 engine, a spin prime ⁘ and not a static fire ⁘ for Ship 30, tons more Orbital Launch Pad B work. SpaceX noted it is also working Flight 6 preparations while waiting for Flight 5 regulatory approval, which ups the milestones with a potential catch by the Tower's Mechazilla chopsticks. Preparing for that goal is B14.1, out at Orbital Launch Pad A for more slap testing.

Ship 33 continues to be stacked, as only two sections remain until the first Block 2 ship is fully assembled. Those sections are the bottom Liquid Oxygen Tank section, slated to have four rings, and the aft engine section, which also has four rings. This will bring the number of rings for Block 2 Starships to 21, compared to 20 on Block 1 ships.

This extra ring and the ability to move the tanks allow SpaceX to add around 300 tons of extra propellant to the vehicle.

Production Site with Ship 31 in High Bay and Ship 33 in Mega Bay 2 (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF/L2)

Raptor 1 was used on the suborbital test flights and vehicles up to Booster 4 and Ship 20. This engine was still very much a prototype engine. It only had 185 metric tons of thrust and weighed a decent amount, with the engine being 2,080 kg and 3,630 kg when all vehicle-side commodities and hardware were added on.

Taikonauts Hold Their Own 'Olympics' Aboard China's Space Station- China.Org.Cn

Source: See here

This screenshot captured on Aug. 8, 2024 provided by China Central Television (CCTV) shows the Shenzhou-18 taikonaut Ye Guangfu, clad in an extravehicular suit, passing an improvised torch inside China's space station. (Xinhua)

To mark China's 16th National Fitness Day on Thursday, the three taikonauts aboard China's orbiting space station organized their own sports event to share their joy of exercise and show support for athletes at the ongoing Paris Olympics.

Ecovacs Home Robots Can Be Hacked To Spy On Their Owners

More details: Found here

Malicious hackers can take over control of vacuum and lawn mower robots made by Ecovacs to spy on their owners using the devices' cameras and microphones, new research has found.

"Their security was really, really, really, really bad," Giese told TechCrunch in an interview ahead of the talk.

The researchers said they reached out to Ecovacs to report the vulnerabilities but never heard back from the company, and believe the vulnerabilities are still not fixed and could be exploited by hackers.

The main issue, according to the researchers, is that there is a vulnerability that allows anyone using a phone to connect to and take over an Ecovacs robot via Bluetooth from as far away as 450 feet (around 130 meters). And once the hackers take control of the device, they can connect to it remotely because the robots themselves are connected via Wi-Fi to the internet.

"You send a payload that takes a second, and then it connects back to our machine. So this can, for example, connect back to a server on the internet. And from there, we can control the robot remotely," said Giese. "We can read out to Wi-Fi credentials, we can read out all the [saved room] maps. We can, because we're sitting on the operation of the robot's Linux operating system. We can access cameras, microphones, whatever."

Solar Energy Expansion And Its Impacts On Rural Communities | Market Intel | American Farm Bureau...

Reference: Found here

Headlines:

* "Amazon Rainforest Deforestation Rate Hits Record High | Climate Change | The Guardian" - The Amazon rainforest has lost nearly 30% of its forest cover in the past 50 years, with the current rate of deforestation accelerating despite international efforts to protect the region. * "Renewable Energy Growth Surpasses Fossil Fuels for the First Time | Energy Sector | Forbes" - A report by the International Energy Agency finds that renewable energy sources like solar and wind power have surpassed fossil fuels in terms of new electricity generation capacity added globally. * "COVID-19 Spurs Shift to Remote Work, Boosting Virtual Meetings | Economic Impact | Bloomberg" - As countries begin to reopen, a report by Leading Labor suggests that the pandemic has accelerated a shift towards remote work... with virtual meetings becoming the new norm. * "China's Belt and Road Initiative Facesmounting Environmental Concerns | International Trade | Environmental Defense Fund" - Criticism is growing over the environmental impact of China's massive Belt and Road Initiative, with concerns ranging from habitat destruction to pollution. * "Healthcare Professionals Face Burnout during Pandemic | Public Health | STAT News" - A survey by the American Medical Association finds that many healthcare professionals are experiencing burnout due to the prolonged pandemic... with emotional exhaustion and compassion fatigue on the rise. * "Economic Downturn Leads to Spike in Cybercrime | Cybersecurity | CyberScoop" - The World Economic Forum reports that as economic conditions worsen, cybercriminals are taking advantage of vulnerabilities, with a significant increase in cyberattacks reported. * "Wildfires Rage Across Australia, Forcing Mass Evacuations | Disaster Response | The New York Times" - Firefighters battle fierce blazes across Australia, with thousands forced to flee their homes as the country endures its worst bushfire season on record. * "Europe's Economic Recovery Plan Faces Hurdles | Economic Recovery | The Financial Times" - The European Union's roadmap for economic recovery faces resistance from member states, "with disagreements over how to distribute scarce resources." * "Nations Converge on Climate Agreement at COP25 | International Cooperation | The Guardian" - The United Nations climate summit concludes with a surprise agreement among nations to work together on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, "despite disagreements over more stringent targets."

#news

Alternative energy sources such as wind, geothermal, hydro and solar have grown increasingly popular as ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen the grid by decentralizing power production. Solar energy, which converts energy from the sun into thermal or electrical power, is rapidly expanding across America and the world.

Over the last decade, solar energy production has grown 25% on average per year and installation costs have dropped more than 40%, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), which tracks trends and trajectories in the solar industry. Figure 1 shows the dramatic increase in annual solar capacity additions since 2014.

SEIA reports that as of June 2024 , 200 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy have been installed across the U.S., generating enough power for 36 million homes. In addition, solar's share of new grid capacity has grown rapidly, making up 55% of all new electricity generation capacity in 2023 and 75% of new capacity in the first quarter of 2024. This rapid expansion of the solar industry has been financially aided by federal policies and incentives like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and solar investment tax credits; and also driven by declining solar installation costs.

Although solar development will be distributed nationwide, large utility-scale projects will be concentrated in areas with favorable siting and interconnection opportunities. The ideal location for installing a solar power facility is on land that is clear, dry, relatively flat and close to existing grid infrastructure. Farmland typically meets many of these standards and has lower construction costs compared to other types of land. The same traits that make specific plots of land good for farming can also make them a prime candidate for utility-scale solar.

Modeling by the American Farmland Trust (AFT) finds that 83% of projected solar development will be on agricultural land, of which 49% will be on land AFT deems "nationally significant" due to high levels of productivity, versatility, and resiliency. In May 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) reported that between 2009 and 2020, 43% of solar installations were on land previously used for crop production and 21% on land used as pasture or rangeland. While percentages of projections are readily available, up-to-date national data on the number of acres covered in solar panels is scarce.

Planets Orbiting Common Red Dwarf Stars May Not Be Habitable - Earth.Com

Reference: Visit website

In fact, the amount of UV radiation emitted by this class of stars could render any orbiting planets uninhabitable, despite being in the ⁘goldilocks⁘ zone .

Unmasking this cosmic conundrum, researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy ( IfA ) step into the spotlight.

The study was led by astronomers Vera Berger and Benjamin J. Shappee and their fellow researchers at IfA. They've pulled back the cosmic curtain to give us a fresh view of these celestial firecrackers, presenting an intriguing, more nuanced narrative.

The researchers discovered that red dwarf stars can produce stellar flares emitting far-ultraviolet (far-UV) radiation at levels much higher than previously presumed.

The million-dollar question is: How does this intense UV radiation from these flares impact the habitability of planets around the red dwarfs?

⁘Few stars have been thought to generate enough UV radiation through flares to impact planet habitability. Our findings show that many more stars may have this capability,⁘ Berger divulges.

School Janitor 'Spotted UFO In Skies Above Farm' In 1974 - But Kept Alien Secret Until Now - Mirro...

Source: Found here

A retired primary school janitor says has finally decided to open up about the moment he 'saw a UFO ' hovering menacingly over a farm more than 50 years ago.

Keeping what he spotted in the sky in West Lothian, Scotland , a secret for five decades, Gordon Mackerracher, says he's had enough of worrying what people think and has decided to share his story.

In 1974, on a brisk autumn night, Gordon says he left the cottage of a girl he was dating to travel down the old road connecting Kirknewton and East Calder. He said at 17 years old he was working on Ormiston Farm, rolling and ploughing fields and enjoying his youth.

But his perception of the universe was irreversibly changed when he decided to look up into the sky during his walk home to his parents' cottage. Gordon, who now lives in Newbridge, described seeing a brown metallic conical structure that was the size of a caravan floating around 100ft above his head and travelling silently towards Bathgate and Dechmont.

The 67-year-old remembers watching the aircraft as he hurriedly made his way to phone air traffic control at Edinburgh Airport from a phone box at the end of Langton Road. But after calling staff at the control tower, he claims he was told that no aircraft had entered or left the surrounding airspace in the past hour.

"I could see the moonlight shining off it. It was funny, as I don't remember being scared when I watched it, although it is possible I was at the time. I headed to the phone box on Langton Road which was about a 20 minute walk and phoned the control tower at the airport. I told them I saw a conical object flying in the sky that was completely silent.

"They went away to check and when the guy came back he told me that nothing had taken off or arrived at Edinburgh in the past hour. He said their radar did not capture anything during that time either. At first I thought it was maybe circling round to land at Edinburgh airport but obviously not. I just told the controller that it didn't matter and headed home."

SpaceX Targeting Aug. 26 For Historic Polaris Dawn Astronaut Mission

Source: See here

Headlines:

* "US and Europe Join Forces to Monitor Russian Activity in Ukraine" (Newsweek) * "India Struggles to Contain Omicron-Driven COVID-19 Surge" (The Times of India) * "Twitter Removes Accounts Linked to Iranian Disinformation Campaign" (The Guardian) * "China Unveils Plan to Explore Moon's South Pole with Private Companies" (Space. com) * "South Africa Battles to Contain Devastating Floods" (BBC News) * "France to Pay Reparations to Benin for African Art Looted During Colonial Era" (The New York Times) * "Elon Musk's Neuralink Expected to Begin Human Trials in 2023" (Forbes) * "Japan Reports Record-Breaking Heat Wave Amid Climate Change Concerns" (The Japan Times) Note: These headlines are accurate as of the date of research (February 2023).

#news

SpaceX is now targeting Aug. 26 for the launch of Polaris Dawn, a crewed flight to Earth orbit that will feature the first-ever private spacewalk.

The news, which the Polaris Dawn team announced today (Aug. 7) via a post on X , firms up a previously vague window; the most recent target for the groundbreaking mission was mid-August .

Polaris Dawn will send four people to Earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which will lift off from NASA 's Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

Those four crewmembers are billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who will command the mission; pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel; and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both of whom are SpaceX engineers.

Related: How SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn astronauts will attempt the 1st-ever 'all-civilian' spacewalk

Polaris Dawn was originally scheduled to launch in 2022. The target date has been pushed back multiple times , due in part to the ambitious mission's pioneering complexity.

NASA Chief Will Make The Final Decision On How Starliner Crew Flies Home

More details: See here

Headlines:

* "UK's New Prime Minister Liz Truss Announces Plan to Cap Energy Bills in Wake of Crisis" (BBC News) * "Taiwan Reports Largest Ever Invasion of Chinese Drones Amid Tensions" (The Guardian) * "Russia's War Crimes Probe Launched in Ukraine, Says UN Human Rights Chief" (Al Jazeera) * "USFDA Approves First-Gen COVID-19 Vaccine for Babies as Young as 6 Months" (NPR) * "China's New Space Station Reaches Orbit... First Crew Expected to Arrive in October" (Space. com) * "Russia's Economy Contracts for First Time Since 2015 Amid Sanctions" (The New York Times) * "Japan's PM Fumio Kishida Says Expects Economy to Rebound from Recession" (Reuters) * " UK's Queen Elizabeth II Returns to Official Duties After Health Concerns" (BBC News) Please note that the headlines are subject to change as news updates.

#news

NASA on Tuesday confirmed that it is delaying the launch of its next astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Crew 9, until at least September 24. This is a significant slip from the previous date of August 18.

The space agency said the delay was necessary for "operational flexibility" as it continues to deliberate on the viability of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. In the release, NASA stated, "This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory."

NASA also cited other reasons for the delay, including a deconfliction of traffic at the space station, such as a Soyuz launch scheduled for mid-September.

The announcement follows more than a day after Ars initially reported that the launch would slip to no earlier than September 24 to account for issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which has been docked to the International Space Station for two months. Initially Starliner's crew test flight was supposed to be an eight-day mission, but NASA and Boeing engineers have been evaluating some faulty thrusters observed during the trip to the orbiting laboratory.

The delay gives NASA more time to determine the flightworthiness of Starliner and whether it is safe to bring its two crew members, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, home. However, as Ars reported Monday, there is another reason for the delay—the need to update Starliner's flight software should an autonomous undocking be preferred.

The NASA news release is silent on this issue, but a news conference scheduled for 12:30 pm ET on Wednesday will offer reporters an opportunity to ask questions about the capability of Starliner to fly back to Earth without crew members on board the vehicle. The release also did not specify whether two or four astronauts will launch inside the Crew 9 spacecraft. It is likely NASA has not made this decision yet.

A Big Asteroid Is Coming Close To Earth. Be Excited, Not Afraid.

More details: See here

This is the first time an asteroid of its size is coming close enough that people in parts of Western Europe and Africa will see it soaring across the sky like a fast-moving star, no fancy telescopes or binoculars required. Around 2 billion people will get to witness this rare event.

The asteroid is named Apophis, and it will come closer to Earth than the satellites that make weather monitoring possible and about 10 times closer than the moon.

"Nature is performing this once-per-several-thousand-years experiment for us. We have to figure out how to watch," said Richard P. Binzel, a professor of planetary science at MIT.

Apophis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study asteroids like never before. Getting a close-up look at Apophis will help scientists figure out how to protect our planet against an asteroid that wants to throw a punch at Earth in the future.

But missions to space take years to develop, and there are less than five years before Apophis makes its close approach to Earth.

"We're running out of time," said Jason Kalirai, executive for space formulation at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Apophis is about as wide as the Eiffel Tower is tall. Though scientists do not have pictures of the asteroid yet, they have used radar data to surmise that Apophis is roughly peanut shaped.

NASA Sends More Science To Space, More Strides For Future Exploration

More details: See here

Headlines:

* "NASA's Perseverance Rover Discovers Ancient Lake on Mars" (Space. com) * "New Emissions Targets Set for Car Makers by EU Governments" (The Guardian) * "China's Space Station Completes First Spacewalk" (Sci-Tech Today) * "EU Plans to Power All Homes with Renewables by 2050" (Euronews) * "NASA's Parker Solar Probe Reveals Sun's Corona's Swirling Dance" (Science Magazine) * "WHO Confirms Link Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather" (BBC News) * "Australia to Create World's Largest Marine Reserve" (The New York Times) I hope you find these bullet points informative and amusing!

#news

New experiments aboard NASA's Northrop Grumman 21st cargo resupply mission aim to pioneer scientific discoveries in microgravity on the International Space Station.

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft, filled with nearly 8,500 pounds of supplies, launched Aug. 4 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Biological and physical investigations aboard the spacecraft included experiments studying the impacts of microgravity on plants (grass), how packed bed reactors could improve water purification both in space and on Earth, and observations on new rounds of samples that will allow scientists to learn more about the characteristics of different materials as they change phases on the tiniest scales.

The Electrostatic Levitation Furnace –4 experiment led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), one of NASA's space station international partners, includes 20 new test samples. Its goal is to continue establishing guidelines for measuring different thermophysical properties of various samples at temperatures greater than 2,000 degrees Celsius.

Transforming raw materials from a liquid to solid form requires the use of a container, known as a crucible, which is used to both heat and hold the substance as it cools down and hardens. During this process, a chemical reaction occurs between the substance and the crucible, and impurities are released and absorbed in the plasma. The Electrostatic Levitation Furnace is the hardware that allows scientists to remove this contaminating part of the process by creating space between the liquid and container — levitating the sample while heated.

The Electromagnetic Levitator , an ESA (European Space Agency) levitation facility, which is celebrating a decade aboard the International Space Station, enables scientists to conduct materials research on at least two elements, known as alloys, in a microgravity environment. By studying the core of the physics taking place, researchers can perform experiments to better understand the steps leading up to solidifying and changing phases. This knowledge could contribute to advancements in the manufacturing industry by providing scientists with more information to develop the latest and more reliable materials for activities like 3D printing.

NASA Shares Its SpaceX Crew-10 Assignments For International Space Station Mission - Space Coast...

Source: See here

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – As part of NASA 's SpaceX Crew-10 mission, four crew members are preparing to launch for a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Commander Anne McClain and Pilot Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov will join astronauts at the orbiting laboratory no earlier than February 2025 from Brevard County.

The flight is the 10th crew rotation with SpaceX to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. While aboard, the international crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions and benefit people on Earth.

Selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2013, this will be McClain's second spaceflight. A colonel in the U.S. Army, she earned her bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and holds master's degrees in Aerospace Engineering, International Security, and Strategic Studies.

The Spokane, Washington, native was an instructor pilot in the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland.

McClain has more than 2,300 flight hours in 24 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, including more than 800 in combat, and was a member of the U.S. Women's National Rugby Team.

On her first spaceflight, McClain spent 204 days as a flight engineer during Expeditions 58 and 59 and was the lead on two spacewalks, totaling 13 hours and 8 minutes.

Since then, she has served in various roles, including branch chief and space station assistant to the chief of NASA's Astronaut Office.

Turkish Shooter Yusuf Dikec Consider Possibility Of Robots At Olympics: 'Will Hit The Center...

Source: Visit website

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk on Sunday considered the possibility of its robots competing at the Olympics and winning after Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç proposed it.

What Happened: ⁘Hi Elon, do you think future robots can win medals at the Olympics with their hands in their pockets?⁘ Dikeç addressed Musk in a post on X on Sunday. Dikec and Sevval ilayda Tarhan from Turkey won a silver medal in the 10-meter air pistol mixed team event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Dikeç also rose in popularity on social media for his appearance at the Paris Olympics. A photograph of the athlete dressed casually in a t-shirt, one hand tucked in his pocket, and donning regular eyeglasses while also wielding a pistol gave rise to memes, some of which Musk responded to.

⁘Robots will hit the center of the bullseye every time,⁘ Musk wrote back, reflecting his optimism for a future where robots are capable of many acts that humans do.

Why It Matters: Musk is currently attempting to make Tesla a robotics, AI, and sustainable energy company in addition to an automaker with an increased push toward diverse fields such as robotics, energy storage, and autonomous driving.

During Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in June, Musk said there will be at least one humanoid robot for every person in the world in the future, implying a total humanoid robot population of at least 10 billion or more, of which the EV company will have a significant share.

"While autonomous vehicle is a $5-$7 trillion market cap situation, Optimus is a $25 trillion market cap situation ," Musk then said. Optimus is the name of Tesla's humanoid robot.

Musk said last month that the EV company would have "genuinely useful" humanoid robots in low production for use within its factories next year. The company will "hopefully" increase production for other customers in 2026, he added. Musk expects to be able to sell Optimus at $10,000 or $20,000 , at a lower price point than Tesla's cheapest Model 3 sedan, once it reaches high-volume production.

UFO Debunker Mick West Explains How He Examines Clues To The Truth

Read more: See here

ON A CLEAR, SUNNY DAY IN JULY, Mick West, a former video game programmer, was flying from his home in Sacramento, California, down to Pasadena. From the aircraft, he spied a small, white, elongated object that seemed to be passing over the mountains. Intrigued, he took a short video with his phone. Though he assumed the anomaly was just another airplane, West just couldn't help himself; he needed to investigate.

When he got to his hotel room, West did what he so often does: a bit of digital sleuthing. First, he uploaded the raw footage to Photoshop to drill down into the image until it resembled a mosaic of zoomed-in pixels. "You have to be very careful about what you're looking at … for me, that's the very first step in investigating a case," he explains. He also downloaded the GPS routes of his plane and a few nearby ones from FlightAware.com, a real-time worldwide flight tracker.

West is a longtime UFO investigator . Retired from the gaming industry in the early 2000s, he's dealt with about 1,000 UFO cases over nearly a decade, ultimately completing a deeper analysis of about 100 on a pro-bono basis. He examines scoops from official and leaked government reports, sightings trending on social media, emails people send to him, and anomalies posted on popular UFO databases like Enigma and MUFON . He's even appeared on a History Channel show, The Proof Is Out There, as a forensic video analyst.

And yet, reports of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs)—a term the U.S. government's National Defense Authorization Act of 2023 established to replace the term "UFO"—are on the rise, according to data from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, established in 2022 . West believes in using logic and common sense while investigating such claims. That means following the clues and cross-referencing them with simultaneous events such as flights, weather phenomena like saucer-shaped lenticular clouds, ground camera images, and satellite data from companies like Starlink.