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Streaming space tourism is the new reality TV

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When SpaceX launches its first all-civilian crew into space later this fall and takes a multi-day trip circling the Earth, humanity can follow along online thanks to an exclusive documentary deal Netflix sealed with Elon Musk’s private space company.
The first two installments of the five-episode miniseries, Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, will debut on the streaming platform September 6 and will be the closest Netflix has come yet to covering an event in “near-real time,” the company said on Tuesday. Over the course of September, a team of videographers will follow the civilian astronauts, including billionaire Jared Isaacman, who will be piloting the spacecraft, as they prepare for the journey and eventually launch into space. If all goes as planned, Netflix will release two more episodes September 13; it will film the actual launch on September 15 and then stream it as a “feature-length finale” at the end of the month.
Netflix is making it clear that it wants us to think the mission, which will also raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is really for everyone. One promotional poster for the show declares, “This September, we’re all going to space.” The streaming platform is even releasing a live-action/animated show to explain the mission to kids and their families.
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This September, four civilians will launch into space for a three-day trip orbiting Earth.
Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space — the first Netflix documentary series to cover an event in near real-time — will premiere in five parts leading up to and following the mission. <a href="https://t.co/8fLnxHCQNN">pic.twitter.com/8fLnxHCQNN</a>
— Netflix (@netflix) <a href="https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1422572972007575558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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But SpaceX and Netflix are hardly the only companies hoping to capitalize on the historic shift to commercial space travel. The Inspiration4 mission and its streaming special mark a new era of live broadcasting from space. The rise of space tourism also seems ripe for the streaming age, a time when people can watch these events almost anywhere, and the entertainment industry has already started turning billionaires’ joyrides in zero gravity into massive media events.
“Shooting something into space, that’s something that’s going to bring in subscribers globally,” Julia Alexander, a senior strategy analyst at Parrot Analytics, told Recode. Alexander added that growing demand and “the fact that they’re relatively cheap to produce compared to the high-profile prestigious dramas with the big Hollywood talent” means we’ll see many more space-bound reality shows in the future.
The space-focused science series Nova was the eighth-most popular documentary series in the United States between June 2020 and July 2021; last year, the Cosmos: Possible Worlds featuring Neil deGrasse-Tyson saw 18 times the average demand for science and nature documentary content, according to Alexander. And let’s not forget that the data-driven nature of platforms can steer viewers to specific types of shows.
“Netflix and other streaming platforms are able to create niche content like this because they are able to use their customer data to match the content to the interests of their consumers,” Michael Smith, an information technology and marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told Recode in an email.
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are also acutely aware that their launches can act as advertising for their brands, affiliated companies, and commercial space tourism in general. Accordingly, they’ve invested heavily into incorporating expert commentators, live updates, and streaming coverage of launches. Virgin Galactic has even recruited <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/20/kellie-gerardi-prepares-for-first-spaceflight-with-virgin-galactic.html">a TikTok influencer</a> for an upcoming flight.
Millions tuned into Blue Origin’s YouTube channel for the July 20 launch that <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22583997/billionaires-blue-origin-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-rockets-planes-commercial-space-tourism">carried Jeff Bezos on a suborbital flight</a> along with the oldest and youngest person to ever visit space, pilot Wally Funk and Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen.
“We also wanted to show this is a true rocket ride experience. There are fewer than 600 people who have ever been to space,” Linda Mills, Blue Origin’s vice president of communications, <a href="https://www.prweek.com/article/1723587/inside-story-blue-origin-focused-human-centric-storytelling-jeff-bezos-flight">told PR Week</a> of the event. “To demonstrate that specialness and uniqueness of the flight was something we were trying to get across to future customers.”
Bezos’s flight was also the first — and for now, the only — rocket launch that Amazon customers could watch live on Prime Video.
More reality shows filmed from space are planned for the near future. An American production company called Space Hero is working on a contest-based show that will have average people train and compete for the chance to win a very expensive trip to the International Space Station. Like Netflix, the company says it’s focusing on “opening space up to everyone” while offering the first-ever truly off-planet experience.” Space Hero even signed <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasa-considers-filming-reality-show-competition-international-space-station-more-space-commercialization-emerges-180977511/">a contractor agreement</a> with NASA in April.
Of course, rocket launches as blockbuster media events predate the streaming era. From the early days of the space program, NASA missions were live demonstrations of national achievement, and humanity’s journey to the final frontier was the stuff of national news broadcasts. An <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/business/media/apollo-11-television-media.html">estimated 600 million people</a> watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. While enthusiasm for broadcasting space events in real time dwindled after the Challenger explosion in 1986, private space companies are once again trying to market launches as something everyone on Earth can watch live.
That messaging has the convenient effect of distracting viewers from the fact that commercial space tourism, at least for now, is an <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22589197/space-travel-tourism-bezos-branson-rockets-blue-origin-virgin-galactic-spacex">environmentally questionable hobby for the ultrarich</a> that won’t immediately accomplish much in terms of advancing our scientific understanding of space. But while criticism of billionaires’ space dreams surged following Bezos’s launch, that same narrative may not pop up with Netflix’s latest SpaceX show, says Alexander from Parrot Analytics.
“I imagine SpaceX has some form of say in what is going on,” she told Recode. “Netflix just wants to carry it and make the best docu-series possible.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22610315/netflix-spacex-streaming-space-tourism">https://www.vox.com/recode/22610315/netflix-spacex-streaming-space-tourism</a>

vox Streaming space tourism is the new reality TV

When SpaceX launches its first all-civilian crew into space later this fall and takes a multi-day trip circling the Earth, humanity can fol...

China Hunkers Down As Delta Reaches Nearly Half The Country

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China imposed new travel restrictions across the nation.
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China imposed new travel restrictions across the nation as a delta-driven outbreak grew to over 500 cases across 15 provinces, adding to the global case count that has now topped 200 million.
The World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots to enable poorer countries to catch up in vaccination rates, while the U.K. eased quarantine rules. Thailand set a daily record of almost 21,000 new cases and infections at the Tokyo Olympics hit a new high.
The Japanese government plans to extend a quasi state of emergency to eight more prefectures as the nation struggles to control outbreaks, public broadcaster NHK reported. Also in Japan, Isetan Mitsukoshi found 88 cases of coronavirus among vendors in the past week at its flagship department store in Tokyo.
Key Developments:
<ul>
<li>Global Tracker: Cases top 200 million; deaths pass 4.25 million</li>
<li>Vaccine Tracker: More than 4.27 billion doses administered</li>
<li>Vaccine mandates for kids is next back-to-school fight</li>
<li>U.S. weighs requiring vaccinations for all foreign visitors</li>
<li>WHO calls for halt on boosters to let poorer nations catch up</li>
<li>U.K. will ease quarantine rules from Aug. 8</li>
<li>The prospect of a slower rebound from the pandemic is weighing on markets </li>
<li>How Delta makes goal of herd immunity harder to reach: QuickTake</li>
</ul>
Singapore to Provide Update on Virus 'Soon' (1:45 p.m. HK)
Singapore's Covid-19 task force will be providing an "update on the Covid-19 situation soon," according to a Facebook post from Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, a co-leader of the group. 
Singapore's vaccination rate has soared to among the best in the world, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, though hospitalizations have continued to tick up in recent days even as cases begin to ease. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post last week that "the Heightened Alert should be over" by the time Singapore holds its National Day Parade Show on Aug. 21
IOC Says Winter Olympics May Not Have Fans (12:45 p.m. HK)
The 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing could proceed without spectators, International Olympic Committee Executive Director Christophe Dubi said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
"Let's see how the pandemic evolves around the globe and especially in China, and then let's look at the consequence of participation for spectators," he said on Thursday. "We have heard a number of the athletes say, 'What matters is that we can compete, and we've gotten used to participating even without spectators.' But if you have the choice, you would prefer to have spectators."
Beijing 2022 organizers haven't said anything about whether foreign or domestic spectators will be allowed to attend, and tickets aren't on sale yet.
China Sets New Restrictions (11:20 a.m. HK)
China imposed new travel and movement restrictions across the nation, including in its highly protected capital of Beijing, as a delta-driven outbreak grew to over 500 symptomatic cases scattered across 15 provinces and municipalities.
Public transport and taxi services were curtailed in 144 of the worst-hit areas nationwide, while officials curbed train service and subway usage in Beijing, where three new cases were reported Wednesday. Hong Kong re-imposed quarantine on travelers from the mainland, though an exception remained for the southern Guangdong province which neighbors the financial city.
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In just two weeks, confirmed cases -- people infected and sickened by the virus -- have grown to more than 500. The infections can be traced back to three cluster areas in China: an outbreak among airport cleaning staff in eastern city Nanjing, another found at a hospital treating Covid patients in Zhengzhou and sporadic cases detected in Yunnan, the province bordering Myanmar. 
Traffic has thinned on some of China's typically busy city roads amid the coronavirus resurgence that's raising concerns about near-term fuel demand in the major Asian consumer. 
Tokyo Olympics Add Record 31 Cases (10:15 a.m. HK)
The Tokyo Olympics added a record 31 Covid-19 cases, one of which is an athlete, according to its positive case list. 
The athlete is a Greek artistic swimmer, bringing total infections on the team to six. As of yesterday, the team previously had five of 12 competitors and officials test positive
Sydney's Delta Outbreak Hits Record (9:35 a.m. HK)
Sydney reported a record number of new daily delta variant cases on Thursday, with authorities to enforce stay-at-home orders beyond Australia's largest city as Covid-19 spreads north into other regions.
New South Wales state recorded 262 new cases, the vast majority in Sydney, which has been in lockdown for almost six weeks. Five more people died, and four of them weren't vaccinated, Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.
“Every jurisdiction around the world is finding delta challenging,” Berejiklian said. “We can try and eliminate it but we know the vaccine is critical to stopping the spread.”
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U.K. Ready to Ease Quarantine Rules (6:45 a.m. HK)
Fully vaccinated visitors arriving in England from France will no longer have to isolate for 10 days, a loosening of restrictions that puts them in the same category as travelers from most other European countries.
The U.K. also eased rules for arrivals from India, Bahrain, and travel hubs the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Those countries will move from the U.K.'s highest-risk "red" list to its medium-risk "amber" list, meaning arrivals will no longer need to quarantine in a government-approved hotel.
Six other European nations, including Germany, were added to the lowest-risk "green" list, meaning all visitors can avoid quarantine whether or not they are fully vaccinated. All changes will come into effect from 4 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 8.
U.S. May Require Vaccines for Visitors (4:50 p.m. NY)
The Biden administration is developing a plan to require nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a White House official.
Florida Hospitals Fight for Oxygen (3:52 p.m. NY)
Florida hospitals are struggling to get oxygen due to a rise in Covid-19 cases attributable to the delta variant and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's decision not to declare another state of emergency.
A shortage of drivers who are qualified to transport oxygen, as well as restrictions around how long truck drivers can be on the road - which went back into effect following the expiration of the public health emergency in the state - means that the supply isn't getting to the hospitals that need it most.
 N.Y. Auto Show Canceled (2 p.m. NY)
Organizers of the 2021 New York International Automobile Show have canceled the event for the second year in a row, citing concerns over the spread of the Covid-19 delta variant.
The annual event was to be held in its traditional venue, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. This marks the second-consecutive year that the 121-year-old New York Auto Show was canceled. The organizers expressed confidence the show will return to its regular spring schedule in April 2022.
Florida Hospitalizations Extend Surge (12:15 p.m. NY)
Florida now has a record 11,906 adults patients hospitalized with confirmed Covid-19, up from 11,515 a day earlier, further surpassing the peak from the previous summer's wave, according U.S. Department of Health & Human Services data.
A total of 12 of 238 hospital facilities reported critical staffing shortages, but that number is down from as high as 33 over the weekend, the HHS data show.
U.K. to Offer Vaccines to Those 16 and Up (10:45 a.m. NY)
The U.K. will offer coronavirus vaccines to people age 16 and over, after its medicines regulation recommended the change. U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid accepted a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that young people age 16 and over should get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine,
WHO Calls for Halt on Booster Shots (9:30 a.m. NY)
The World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots to enable poorer countries to catch up in vaccination rates.
The halt on third doses should be in place until at least the end of September, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing on Wednesday. That would help achieve the WHO's goal to vaccinate at least 10% of the population in every country by that date, protecting health-care workers and vulnerable people.
EU in Deal for 200 Million Doses of Novavax (9:20 a.m. NY)
The European Commission approved a contract with Novavax Inc. for up to 200 million doses of the U.S. company's Covid vaccine, according to statement. The Novavax vaccine is under rolling review by the European Union's drug regulator in view of a potential market authorization.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-hunkers-down-as-delta-reaches-nearly-half-the-country-2503124">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-hunkers-down-as-delta-reaches-nearly-half-the-country-2503124</a>

news world China Hunkers Down As Delta Reaches Nearly Half The Country

China imposed new travel restrictions across the nation. China imposed new travel restrictions across the nation as a delta-driven outbr...

Delta Pushes Herd Immunity Threshold To Above 80%: Experts

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Nearly 60% of Americans have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine
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The spread of the delta coronavirus variant has pushed the threshold for herd immunity to well over 80% and potentially approaching 90%, according to an Infectious Diseases Society of America briefing on Tuesday.
That represents a "much higher" bar than previous estimates of 60% to 70%, because delta is twice as transmissible, said Richard Franco, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
"It is becoming clear that this is a very dangerous, way more dangerous virus than the original one," Franco said.
Herd immunity is based on the idea that when a certain percentage of the population has been vaccinated against the virus or gains immunity by a previous infection, it helps protect the broader population and reduce transmission.
Nearly 60% of Americans have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and about 50% have been fully vaccinated, representing about 165 million individuals, according to CDC data. Some 35 million people in the U.S., meanwhile, have tested positive for the virus over the course of the pandemic.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
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news world Delta Pushes Herd Immunity Threshold To Above 80%: Experts

Nearly 60% of Americans have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine The spread of the delta coronavirus variant has pushed ...

"Husband Has Abandoned Me": Indian Woman SOS To Embassy In US

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The woman said she reached the US with husband on 1st March,2021. (Representational image)
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Washington:
A newly married Indian woman who arrived in the United States in March has been running from pillar to post for the past several weeks to get justice, alleging torture by her husband.
"My husband has abandoned me without any financial support. I have no place to go. My parents in India sought help from my father-in-law but he is demanding dowry to get me back in my husband's life," the woman from Bihar's Patna said in a distress complaint, sent to senior officials in the Indian government, the Indian embassy here and the consulate in San Francisco.
Anamika (name changed) has even reached out to the US State Department, which issued F-1 student visa to her husband and Freddie Mac, where he is temporarily employed on OPT, seeking justice but to no avail so far.
The abuse and torture reached to a point that police had to be called at their apartment in McLain, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC on June 15.
"Police helped me get into the cab," she writes in her complaint.
The local Fairfax County Police has registered a complaint against her husband and it is treating it as a criminal complaint.
"I was rescued by police due to his cruelty as my life was in danger," she told PTI.
"I reached the United State of America with my husband on 1st March,2021 and started living with him in Mclean, Virginia 22102. On reaching the USA, my husband started committing domestic violence on me and demanding dowry from my parents," Anamika wrote in her complaint, a copy of which is with PTI.
When approached, her husband who works as a quantitative analytics professional in Freddie Mac, denied the allegations and told PTI that he is being framed.
However, he quickly hung up the phone when asked if he was a student of a university. First he said he is a student of University of Maryland College Campus and then Baltimore campus, before hanging up the phone.
In the complaint, Anamika alleged that her husband, who has now sent her a divorce summons, forced her to keep the washroom door open.
"When I used to go to the washroom, he used to make allegations that you are doing something to prevent pregnancy in the washroom as there was no noise while using the washroom. Then he told me to keep the door open and use the washroom," she alleged.
"Many times, he has checked my vagina to see whether I used anything to prevent pregnancy. Few times he checked the same by using his phone flashlight and a few times by using his finger and sometimes by wearing gloves. After sex he used to shout at me that you are using something to prevent pregnancy," she alleged.
Anamika, who is now staying with a close relative in Seattle, has also approached several non-governmental organisations, many of whom in the past have been funded by the Indian government to address the cases of abuse of newly married Indian women in the US. The number of such cases has increased in the last one decade, as a result of which all the Indian diplomatic missions in the US, a few years ago, were asked to establish special cells to address such cases.
"He never let me go out anywhere alone. I was only allowed to go to the trash room that was on the same floor where we used to stay but without my phone. Even to the mail room he used to take me along with him. Even though I was not well, he used to force me to go along with him," she alleges in her complaint.
"One day, he made me sit on the knees on the road to say sorry to him. He always used to harass me by saying that once you leave him or told anyone about torture, he will make my life miserable," Anamika alleged.
The South Asia Minorities Alliance Foundation said it is planning to take up the "abuse of girls" who are married off to Indian or S Asian professionals working in the USA on work visas with relevant authorities in the US, including the State Department.
"These girls and their families are then at the mercy of their husbands while living in the USA," said Puneet Ahluwalia, executive director of the South Asia Minorities Alliance.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/husband-has-abandoned-me-indian-woman-alleges-torture-sos-to-embassy-in-us-2503101">https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/husband-has-abandoned-me-indian-woman-alleges-torture-sos-to-embassy-in-us-2503101</a>

news world "Husband Has Abandoned Me": Indian Woman SOS To Embassy In US

The woman said she reached the US with husband on 1st March,2021. (Representational image) Washington: A newly married Indian woman who...

'Long Covid' Is Real, A Matter Of Deep Concern: WHO Warning

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Long Covid remains one of the most mysterious aspects of the pandemic. (File)
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Geneva:
With nearly 200 million people known to have had Covid-19, the WHO said Wednesday it was deeply concerned by the unknown numbers who may still be suffering with Long Covid.
The World Health Organization urged people struggling with the after-effects of the virus -- despite having recovered from the acute phase -- to seek medical help.
Long Covid remains one of the most mysterious aspects of the pandemic.
"This post-Covid syndrome, or Long Covid, is something that WHO is deeply concerned about," Maria Van Kerkhove, the UN health agency's Covid-19 technical lead, told a press conference.
The WHO was "making sure that we have recognition of this, because this is real".
She said of those infected with SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus which causes Covid-19 disease -- "many are suffering from long term effects".
"We don't know for how long these effects last and we're even working on a case definition to better understand and describe what this post-Covid syndrome is," said Van Kerkhove.
She said the WHO was working to have better rehabilitation programmes for Long Covid sufferers plus broader research to gain a better understanding of what the syndrome is and how it can be managed.
- More than 200 symptoms -
The WHO has held a series of seminars this year aimed at expanding understanding of post-Covid conditions, hearing not only from scientists and doctors but also directly from sufferers themselves.
Little is known about why some people, after coming through the acute phase, struggle to recover and suffer ongoing symptoms including shortness of breath, extreme fatigue and brain fog as well as cardiac and neurological disorders.
Janet Diaz, the clinical care lead in the WHO's emergencies programme who leads the organisation's Long Covid efforts, said there had been more than 200 reported symptoms.
They include chest pain, tingling and rashes, she told a WHO live social media session on Tuesday.
Diaz said some patients had symptoms that dragged on from the acute phase; others got better and then relapsed, with conditions that could come and go; while others had symptoms that only appeared after recovering from the acute phase.
Studies can only go back as far as the first patients to recover from Covid-19, which first emerged in China in December 2019.
Diaz said some people seemed to have post-Covid conditions for three months, and others up to six months.
"We are concerned there may be a small proportion that go on to nine months -- and to longer than that," said Diaz.
The US expert said it was not yet fully understood what caused the post-viral symptoms, with various hypotheses including neurological problems, the immune response to the infection, and the virus persisting in some organs.
Van Kerkhove said: "We advise anyone who is suffering from the long-term effects to seek help."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/long-covid-is-real-a-matter-of-deep-concern-who-warning-2503095">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/long-covid-is-real-a-matter-of-deep-concern-who-warning-2503095</a>

news world 'Long Covid' Is Real, A Matter Of Deep Concern: WHO Warning

Long Covid remains one of the most mysterious aspects of the pandemic. (File) Geneva: With nearly 200 million people known to have had ...

Google Co-Founder Larry Page Allowed Into New Zealand Despite Closed Border

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Larry Page had reportedly been based on an outlying Fijian island during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Wellington:
Google co-founder Larry Page was allowed into New Zealand despite its closed border so his son could receive urgent medical attention, the government confirmed Thursday.
The billionaire's visit had prompted criticism from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's political opponents, who demanded an explanation for why he was permitted to enter despite coronavirus travel restrictions.
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi told reporters Page had applied for a medical exemption "to make sure his son got the treatment that was required".
Health Minister Andrew Little, when questioned in parliament about Page, said an application was approved in January for a child, accompanied by an adult, to be medevaced from Fiji.
He said anyone accepted for treatment is considered to require immediate care and could not be treated locally.
"I'm advised all of the normal steps occurred in this case," Little said.
Ardern said she was not briefed at the time Page was in New Zealand.
Immigration New Zealand general manager of border and visa operations, Nicola Hogg, told AFP that Page "met relevant requirements" to be approved entry.
"Mr Page is not a permanent resident. Citizenship is a matter for the Department of Internal Affairs. Due to privacy reasons, we are unable to comment further without a privacy waiver."
Hogg did not address the question of whether Page spent two weeks in quarantine, as required of people entering New Zealand.
The billionaire had reportedly been based on an outlying Fijian island during the Covid-19 pandemic.
New Zealand's opposition ACT Party called on Ardern's government to be more open about his visit.
"The Government has questions to answer about why billionaire Google co-founder Larry Page was allowed into New Zealand when desperate Kiwis and separated families can't get through the border," ACT leader David Seymour said.
Seymour said while he had sympathy for Page's situation, there were numerous people with similar issues who could not get in.
"I have had to tell them, 'sorry, but there is no way you can get through the border, government policy will not allow it'," he added.
"New Zealanders stranded overseas who are desperate to get home deserve answers."
Page founded Google with Sergey Brin in the 1990s and is listed by Bloomberg as the sixth-richest person in the world with a reported wealth of $121 billion.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
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news world Google Co-Founder Larry Page Allowed Into New Zealand Despite Closed Border

Larry Page had reportedly been based on an outlying Fijian island during the Covid-19 pandemic. Wellington: Google co-founder Larry Pag...