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Tag: Space
Five people shot following dispute over a parking space at a Detroit blues club
DETROIT — Five people were wounded early Friday after what Detroit police say was a dispute over a parking space outside a blues club.
The argument started about 2:45 a.m. and had become physical when one man involved pulled a gun from a vehicle and fired shots into a crowd, Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald told reporters.
“When he came back he brought a gun, as most cowards do,” Fitzgerald added. “Five people get shot over a parking spot is just silly to me.”
The gunman then drove away. Seven or eight shell casings were found in the parking lot. No arrests have been made.
Fitzgerald said it appears only one of the shooting victims was involved in the fight. The others were bystanders. All five, ranging in age from 33 to 49, were hospitalized in stable condition, he added.
Police also are looking into why the club still was open for business after 2 a.m. It doesn’t have a city permit for extended hours, Fitzgerald said.
Ahead of total solar eclipse, NASA gives warning
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Canada to tighten foreign investment rules in AI, space technology sectors, Bloomberg reports
March 26 (Reuters) – Canada will require foreign companies to warn the government in advance before making investments or acquisitions in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and space technology, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing an interview with Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
The move will aid the government in conducting a national-security review before transactions get too far advanced and would-be investors may be restricted in their access to target companies’ user data or other property while the inquiry is taking place, the report said.
The tougher rules will also apply to investments in critical minerals and potentially other sectors, Champagne said to Bloomberg.
Earlier this month, Champagne said Canada will crack down on foreign investment in the interactive digital media sector to stop state-sponsored actors from endangering national security.
Canada’s Innovation, Science and Economic Development ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru)
3 astronauts aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft arrive at International Space Station
March 25 (UPI) — Three astronauts on board Russia’s Soyuz MS-25 made it safely to the International Space Station nearly 250 miles above earth after a nearly two-day orbital journey.
The spacecraft — which carried NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy — docked at 11:03 a.m. EDT after a 50 hour trip from Kazakhstan, a former Soviet satellite state south of Russia that borders China.
Joining them at the space station are seven other crew members of Expedition 70 who already are in orbit.
Dyson is expected to spend the next six months as a flight engineer before her return in September accompanied by cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos, who will have ended their year-long space missions, according to NASA.
But Novitskiy, whose fourth flight to space this was, and Vasilevskaya who is now on her first, will be in space for just 12 days.
The two newly-arrived astronauts will return to earth in a parachute-assisted landing at a Kazakh base along with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, who will have had 204 days in space by the time she lands.
Russian Soyuz brings crew of 3 to the International Space Station
Two days after launch, a Russian Soyuz crew ferry ship caught up with the International Space Station Monday and moved in for a picture-perfect docking, bringing two short-duration crew members and a NASA astronaut starting a six-month stay in orbit.
With Soyuz MS-25/71S commander Oleg Novitskiy, Belarus guest flier Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson monitoring the automated approach, the spacecraft glided in from below and docked at the Earth-facing Prichal module at 11:03 a.m. EDT
NASA TV
After leak checks to verify an airtight structural seal, hatches were opened and the Soyuz crew floated into the station, greeted by ISS commander Oleg Kononenko, cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin, along with NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps.
NASA TV
“Marina, you opened the door to Belarus to be in space,” Russian mission control radioed from Moscow. “So have a great and safe mission. Enjoy your work, your time off. We are so proud of you. The whole people of Belarus (are) proud of you.”
Vasilevskaya, smiling broadly, said through an interpreter, “I’m so happy that Belarus has made it safely and soundly to the International Space Station.”
“It took us two days, but we are in great spirits, and I’m super happy that it went this way. I loved all of the aspects of it. … We are so happy that you are supporting us. It’s a great pleasure to us and brings strength to us.”
NASA’s mission control team congratulated Novitskiy for safely returning “to your second home. We are happy to see you on the station once again.”
“Tracy, it’s so great to see your smiling face back on ISS,” said Costa Mavrides, NASA’s spacecraft communicator. “Everyone here in Houston, including your family and friends in the viewing room, are beaming with pride watching the screen.”
NASA TV
Kononenko, Chub and O’Hara were launched last September aboard the Soyuz MS-24/70S ferry ship while Dominick, Barratt, Epps and Grebenkin arrived earlier this month aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
Dyson is replacing O’Hara, who will return to Earth April 6 with Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya aboard the older MS-24/70S spacecraft that carried her into orbit last year. Dyson will come home next September with Kononenko and Chub using the MS-25/71S spacecraft delivered by Novitskiy.
The Soyuz swap out was required because Kononenko and Chub are midway through a year-long stay aboard the station, and the Russian crew ships are not certified for flights lasting longer than six months.
After Novitskiy, Vasilevskaya and O’Hara depart, the station’s NASA fliers will press ahead with on-going research and make preparations for the arrival of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in early May, the first piloted flight of a NASA-sponsored alternative to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
After two unpiloted test flights and extensive work to correct software problems and unexpected trouble with corroded propulsion system valves, NASA and Boeing officials say the spacecraft is finally ready to carry astronauts to and from the station.
NASA
For the upcoming “crew flight test,” astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams will put the ship’s automated and manual control systems to the test during the trip to and from the station, spending about 10 days aboard the outpost.
If the flight goes well, the Starliner will be certified for use in future ISS crew rotation missions, alternating with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and providing NASA with redundancy when it comes to launching astronauts to and from the space station.
“Today, all of our Crew Dragons are launching on (SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets),” said space station Program Manager Dana Weigel. “If there was a problem with F9, for example, and we had to stand down for a while … if we had another vehicle we could continue flying.”
And that would help ensure a permanent U.S. presence aboard the space station.
“So that’s the reason, when we talk about having multiple providers, why it’s so important for us to have that continual capability,” Weigel said.
Earth just experienced a severe geomagnetic storm. Here’s what that means – and what you can expect.
The planet was just slammed with what government officials dubbed a severe geomagnetic storm, the second-highest level of NOAA’s rating system. The event brought “a major disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field” that may have impacted infrastructure and made the northern lights visible farther than usual, officials said.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a geomagnetic storm watch on Saturday, saying that a coronal mass ejection was detected and expected to hit the planet late that same day with impacts into Monday. Coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, are when a large cloud of plasma and magnetic field bursts from the sun’s corona.
This particular CME exploded alongside a solar flare on Friday, an event that occurs when electromagnetic radiation suddenly erupts from the sun. NOAA says these flares can last hours and the eruption “travels at the speed of light,” meaning it can impact Earth as soon as it is observed. An X-class flare, like what was observed with the CME, is the strongest type of flare, although this particular one was not the strongest on record. NOAA forecasters did say, however, that more X-class flares are possible through Wednesday.
“The public should not be concerned, but may wish to keep informed by visiting our webpage for any forecast changes and updates,” NOAA said on Saturday, saying a moderate geomagnetic storm was possible. By Sunday afternoon, however, the agency alerted of a “severe” storm that could potentially impact technology – and eventually extend the northern lights as far south as Alabama.
“The public should not anticipate adverse impacts and no action is necessary, but they should stay properly informed of storm progression by visiting our webpage,” NOAA said in its alert, adding that “normally mitigable” problems with voltage control was possible, as well as “frequent and longer periods of GPS degradation.”
“Infrastructure operators have been notified to take action to mitigate any possible impacts,” the agency said.
On Monday morning, NOAA said that the impacts of the CME “appear to be weakening,” but that solar wind speeds – which help carry the event – were still elevated. The warning of a “moderate” storm has since been extended. Moderate geomagnetic storms, classified as G2, can potentially impact high-latitude power systems, damage transformers and extend the northern lights to New York and Idaho. It can also potentially require flight ground control to issue corrective actions for orientation.
Li Cohen
Russian Soyuz rocket blasts off with 3 bound for the International Space Station
Two days after a rare last-second launch abort, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft blasted off Saturday on a flight to the International Space Station, carrying two short-duration crew members and a NASA astronaut bound for a six-month tour of duty.
Soyuz MS-25/71S commander Oleg Novitskiy, Belarus guest cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson thundered away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 8:36 a.m. EDT (5:36 p.m. local time) and slipped into orbit eight minutes and 45 seconds later.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
Launch originally was planned for last Thursday, but the countdown was aborted inside 20 seconds to launch when computers detected low voltage readings in the Soyuz 2.1a rocket’s first stage electrical system.
It was the first ever such abort for a Soyuz rocket, and it took Russian engineers a day to review telemetry, pinpoint the problem and replace suspect batteries. Subsequent testing showed all systems were go for a second launch attempt Saturday.
As the Soyuz countdown ticked toward a late afternoon launch in Kazakhstan, a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship launched Thursday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station caught up with the space station and moved in for docking at 7:19 a.m. local time, bringing 6,200 pounds of science gear, spare parts and crew supplies to the lab complex, including fresh food and coffee kits.
The Soyuz is expected to catch up with the space station Monday, moving in for docking at a port on the station’s Earth-facing Prichal module at 11:09 a.m. local time.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
Standing by to welcome them aboard will be station commander Oleg Kononenko, cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin and NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps.
Vasilevskaya, an accomplished ballroom dancer and flight attendant with Belavia Airlines, is the first citizen of Belarus, a staunch ally of Russia, to fly in space since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
She was selected as a “spaceflight participant” in a nationwide competition and will conduct research for scientists in Belarus as part of a program known as the Belarusan Woman in Space.
Dyson is making her third spaceflight and her second aboard a Soyuz. Despite the political tension between the United States and Russia, the crew appears to get along well together.
“It’s actually been a real delight working with Marina,” Dyson said. “She’s got a fantastic attitude, and that goes a long way when you’re working together with emergency masks on your face in awful conditions trying to get through (emergency training) procedures. She’s been a real delight to work with.”
NASA
Kononenko, Chub and O’Hara were launched to the station last Sept. 15 aboard the Soyuz MS-24/70S spacecraft. Dominick, Barratt, Epps and Grebenkin were launched on March 3 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry ship. Known as Crew 8, they replaced four other Crew Dragon fliers — Crew 7 — who returned to Earth March 12 after a short handover.
Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya plan to spend 12 days aboard the space station. O’Hara will replace Dyson for the trip home and the trio will return to Earth April 6 aboard the Soyuz MS-24/70S spacecraft that carried O’Hara, Kononenko and Chub into orbit last September.
Kononenko and Chub are midway through a planned yearlong stay aboard the station. If all goes well, they will return to Earth next September, along with Dyson, using the Soyuz MS-25/71S ferry ship delivered by Novitskiy’s crew.
With O’Hara’s return, five of the station’s seven full-time crew members will have been replaced, completing the latest crew rotation sequence.
Dyson first flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour for a 13-day space station visit in 2007. Three years later, she blasted off aboard a Soyuz spacecraft as a long-duration station crew member, logging 176 days aboard the outpost between April and the end of September 2010.
During that flight, a now-famous picture of Dyson captured her gazing down at the blue-and-white Earth suspended in the darkness of space as seen from the lab’s multi-window Cupola compartment.
NASA
In an interview with CBS News, she said she now knows what to expect and “this time, I’m going to just see how I can help the others.”
“Part of the beauty of living on board is being part of a crew and a team and helping each other out,” she said. “So if I’ve got any spare time and the rest of my compadres are working, then I’m certainly going to try to lend a hand where I could. But if we’re all experiencing some free time, I’m really looking forward to that view out the window.
“I have such a great memory (of the experience) and that cupola shot certainly captures that, of viewing the Earth. And that just never gets old.”
The training it takes to get there is another matter, she said.
“That’s the toughest part about what we do, the training, which requires us to be away from home for long periods of time,” she said. “When I did this on my first two flights, it was not as bad because it was really just me at home. I had a dog that others were willing to take care of. My husband was deployed on a ship.”
“But now it’s a little different, and I have a lot of support from my family, who’s reminded me over and over that I’m that I’m doing this for them as much as I’m doing it for myself.”
NASA
She will face a very busy six months in space.
Boeing’s Starliner ferry ship, a NASA-sponsored alternative to SpaceX’s already proven Crew Dragon, is expected to take off on its first piloted test flight in early May, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the space station on a shakedown flight.
If the flight goes well, the Starliner will be certified for use in future ISS crew rotation missions, alternating with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and providing NASA with redundancy when it comes to launching astronauts to and from the space station.
“Today, all of our Crew Dragons are launching on (SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets),” said space station Program Manager Dana Weigel. “If there was a problem with F9, for example, and we had to stand down for a while … if we had another vehicle we could continue flying.”
And that would help make sure one or more American astronauts is always on board the space station.
“So that’s the reason, when we talk about having multiple providers, why it’s so important for us to have that continual capability,” Weigel said.
In June, NASA plans three spacewalks, or EVAs, to carry out a variety of tasks, including work to prepare for the addition of a final set of roll-out solar array blankets.
Astronauts have not yet been assigned to the excursions, but Dyson is a spacewalk veteran and her experience may prompt NASA to send her back outside.
“We’ve got three EVAs planned for our increment, and I am one of the spacewalkers trained to do those EVAs,” she said. “We’ll see how they all work out and who goes out and who stays inside to get them all suited up.”
Northrop Grumman launches final Antares rocket to International Space Station
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End of an era for Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket with Russian and Ukraine components
Northrop Grumman readied its final Antares 230+ rocket for launch Tuesday on a flight to deliver 4 tons of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station, the swan song for a booster built in a cooperative venture with U.S., Russian and Ukrainian components.
Liftoff from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Island, Virginia, flight facility was targeted for 8:31 p.m. EDT, roughly the moment Earth’s rotation carries pad 0A on Virginia’s Eastern Shore into the plane of the space station’s orbit.
Northrop Grumman
If all goes well, Northrop Grumman’s unpiloted Cygnus cargo ship will catch up with its quarry early Friday, pulling up to within about 30 feet of the lab complex to await capture by the station’s robot arm. From there, it will be pulled in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the central Unity module.
“This vehicle will deliver over 8,000 pounds of cargo,” said station program manager Joel Montalbano. The total includes “just over 2,400 pounds of utilization and research hardware, over 2,000 pounds of systems hardware and over 3,500 pounds of crew support equipment that we’ll use for spacewalks as well as food and other consumables for the crew.”
Included with the crew supplies: Fresh grapefruit, apples, oranges, cherry tomatoes and blueberries, along with a pizza kit, an assortment of cheeses and ice cream.
As Montalbano quipped: “A well-fed crew is a happy crew.”
Northrop Grumman’s 19th station resupply flight — NG-19 — is the last using an Antares 230+ rocket with Russian-built RD-181 first stage engines and propellant tanks and other components built in Ukraine. The next three Cygnus flights will use SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets while Northrop Grumman and Firefly Aerospace develop a new rocket — the Antares 330 — using American-made components.
In the meantime, despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Kurt Eberly, Northrop Grumman’s director of space launch programs, said engineers in both countries are still working with their American counterparts to ensure a safe flight for NG-19.
“We’ve had a number of (Ukrainian) personnel here on site at Wallops, and they’ve provided their usual support over the past year and are in their usual roles here for NG-19.
“They don’t actually operate any of the hardware. Northrop Grumman employees control the rocket, but it’s really great to have our Ukrainian partners here advising us and providing (their) design expertise.”
NASA
As for the Russian RD-181 engines, Eberly said Russian engineers remotely participated in the most recent previous Cygnus launch and planned to provide that same virtual support for NG-19.
“We appreciate that they are supportive of the International Space Station program and that they see the benefit to providing that support and getting these missions launched for the benefit of the entire ISS partnership,” Eberly said.
As with all resupply fights, a major objective is to deliver science gear to the station for ongoing research.
Heidi Parris, associate space station program scientist, said experiments in a wide variety of disciplines are packed aboard the Cygnus, ranging from materials science and biomedical research to technology development for future missions to the moon and Mars.
She said the space station “enables scientists from around the world to really redefine the boundaries of their discipline by imagining what might be possible if you could take gravity out of the equation.”
Another advantage, Parris said, the station is “sufficiently close to Earth, and it allows us to send up hardware and test it out and see how it works. And if it doesn’t work, then we’re able to send it back and make changes that ultimately will be useful for future spaceflight exploration.”
NASA
The Cygnus launch kicks off a busy two months for the space station program.
On Aug. 9, cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin plan to stage their fifth spacewalk this year, followed by a Cygnus thruster firing two days later to boost the lab’s altitude.
A Russian Progress cargo ship will undock and depart the station on Aug. 20. The next day, at 5:23 a.m. on Aug. 21, NASA plans to launch four fresh crew members to the lab aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
The Crew 7 astronauts — NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov and Japanese veteran Satoshi Furukawa — will replace four long-duration station fliers, Crew 6, who plan to return to Earth on Aug. 28 to wrap up a 179-day mission.
Before that, on Aug. 22, the Russians plan to launch another Progress cargo ship.
On Sept. 15, Russia will launch the Soyuz MS-24/70S spacecraft carrying cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and NASA’s Loral O’Hara to the space station.
They will replace Prokopyev, Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who will close out a marathon 371-day mission with landing in Kazakhstan on Sept. 27. Launched on Sept. 21, 2022, they originally planned to come home in March, but their Soyuz suffered a massive coolant leak in December.
A replacement Soyuz was launched in February, but the crew’s stay aboard the station was extended six months to put the Russian flight sequence back on its normal schedule.
As a result, Rubio will set a new U.S. single flight record, eclipsing astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s current 355-day mark on Sept. 11.
William Harwood
