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SpaceX To Send First All-Civilian Crew Into Orbit For 3 Days

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="SpaceX To Send First All-Civilian Crew Into Orbit For 3 Days" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/1of28k4o_spacex-falcon-9-rocketnasas-kennedy-space-centerreuters_625x300_12_September_21.jpg" title="SpaceX To Send First All-Civilian Crew Into Orbit For 3 Days" /></div>
The crew vehicle is set for blastoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday
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Yet another billionaire entrepreneur is set to ride into space this week, strapped inside the capsule of a SpaceX rocketship, as part of an astro-tourist team poised to make history as the first all-civilian crew launched into Earth orbit.
Jared Isaacman, the American founder and chief executive of e-commerce firm Shift4 Payments, will lead three fellow spaceflight novices on a trip expected to last three days from blastoff at Cape Canaveral, Florida, to splashdown in the Atlantic.
The 38-year-old tech mogul has plunked down an unspecified but presumably exorbitant sum to fellow billionaire and SpaceX owner Elon Musk to fly Isaacman and three specially selected travel mates into orbit aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
The crew vehicle is set for blastoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center atop one of Musk's reusable Falcon 9 rockets, with a 24-hour targeted launch window that opens at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT) on Wednesday. That window will be narrowed, or possibly altered, a few days before, depending on weather.
Dubbed Inspiration4, the orbital outing was conceived by Isaacman primarily to raise awareness and support for one of his favorite causes, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a leading pediatric cancer center. He has pledged $100 million personally to the institute.
But a successful mission would also help usher in a new era of commercial space tourism, with several companies vying for wealthy customers willing to pay a small fortune to experience the exhilaration of supersonic flight, weightlessness and the visual spectacle of space.
Setting acceptable levels of consumer risk in the inherently dangerous endeavor of rocket travel is also key, and raises a pointed question.
"Do you have to be both rich and brave to get on these flights right now?" said Sridhar Tayur, a professor of operations management and new business models at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, in an interview with Reuters on Friday.
BEYOND THE BILLIONAIRE SPACE RACE
SpaceX is easily the most well-established player in the burgeoning constellation of commercial rocket ventures, having already launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.
Rival companies Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin both recently celebrated their debut astro-tourism missions with their respective founding executives - billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos- each going along for the ride.
But those two high-profile flights were suborbital in scale, sending their crews of citizen astronauts to space and back in a matter of minutes.
The SpaceX flight is designed to carry its four passengers where no all-civilian crew has gone before - into Earth orbit.
There, they will circle the globe once every 90 minutes at more than 17,000 miles per hour, or roughly 22 times the speed of sound. The target altitude is 575 kilometers, or nearly 360 miles high, beyond the orbits of the International Space Station or even the Hubble Space Telescope.
Like Blue Origin, the 20-story-tall SpaceX launch vehicle and crew capsule will take off vertically from a launch pad on a flight directed entirely from the ground.
Branson's suborbital rocket plane, by contrast, had two highly trained pilots at the controls as it carried its four rear-seat passengers 50 miles high.
The Inspiration4 crew will have no part to play in operating their spacecraft, despite some largely honorary titles, though two members - Isaacman and geoscientist Sian Proctor - are licensed pilots.
Isaacman, who is rated to fly commercial and military jets, has assumed the role of mission "commander," while Proctor, 51, once a NASA astronaut candidate herself, has been designated as the mission "pilot." She was selected to join the team through an online contest run by Shift4 Payments.
Rounding out the crew are "chief medical officer" Hayley Arceneaux, 29, a bone cancer survivor turned St. Jude physicians' assistant, and mission "specialist" Chris Sembroski, 42, a U.S. Air Force veteran and aerospace data engineer. He won a seat in a sweepstake that drew 72,000 applicants and has raised over $100 million in St. Jude donations.
The four crewmates have spent the past five months undergoing rigorous preparations, including altitude fitness, centrifuge (G-force), microgravity and simulator training, emergency drills, classroom work and medical exams.
Inspiration4 officials stress that the mission is more than a joyride. Once in orbit, the crew will perform medical experiments with "potential applications for human health on Earth and during future spaceflights," the group said in its press materials.
Appearing in a promotional clip for a Netflix documentary series on the mission, Arceneaux said a big part of her motivation was to kindle hope in her cancer patients.
"I'm getting to show them what life can look like after cancer," she said.
(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/spacex-to-send-first-all-civilian-crew-into-orbit-for-3-days-2538515">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/spacex-to-send-first-all-civilian-crew-into-orbit-for-3-days-2538515</a>

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The crew vehicle is set for blastoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday Yet another billionaire entrepreneur is set to ri...

Several Gorillas At US Zoo Being Treated For Coronavirus

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Several Gorillas At US Zoo Being Treated For Coronavirus" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-01/4rkcqu8_gorillas-650x400_625x300_12_January_21.jpg" title="Several Gorillas At US Zoo Being Treated For Coronavirus" /></div>
The western lowland gorillas were tested after keepers saw them coughing and other symptoms (File)
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Washington:
Several gorillas at Zoo Atlanta in the southern US state of Georgia have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, the zoo said.
The western lowland gorillas were tested after keepers saw them coughing and other symptoms, it said.
Initial tests indicated they were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 and the zoo said in a statement Friday it was awaiting the results of confirmatory tests from the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.
Gorillas at risk of developing complications were being treated with monoclonal antibodies and the zoo's whole population of 20 gorillas was being tested.
"The teams are very closely monitoring the affected gorillas and are hopeful they will make a complete recovery. They are receiving the best possible care," said Sam Rivera, senior director of animal health at Zoo Atlanta.
"We are very concerned that these infections occurred, especially given that our safety protocols when working with great apes and other susceptible animal species are, and throughout the pandemic have been, extremely rigorous."
The zoo said it believed the gorillas were infected by an asymptomatic keeper, despite the employee being fully vaccinated and wearing personal protective equipment.
"While humans are known to be able to transmit the virus to animals such as gorillas, and these cases have occurred at other zoos, there is currently no data to suggest that zoo animals can transmit the virus to humans," the zoo said.
In any case, it said visitors did not pose a threat due to the distance between them and the primates' habitat.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that 13 of the zoo's gorillas were infected, including 60-year-old Ozzie, the oldest male gorilla in captivity.
Rivera told the paper Ozzie was showing mild symptoms.
"We don't feel that we're out of the woods," he added. "We're taking it on a day by day basis."
Zoo Atlanta said it has been authorized to use the Zoetis Covid vaccine, developed for animals, and would inoculate the gorillas when they recover.
The zoo said it would also vaccinate its orangutans, Sumatran tigers, African lions and clouded leopard.
Covid-19 has also been known to infect domestic cats and dogs.
(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/several-gorillas-at-us-zoo-being-treated-for-coronavirus-2538441">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/several-gorillas-at-us-zoo-being-treated-for-coronavirus-2538441</a>

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The western lowland gorillas were tested after keepers saw them coughing and other symptoms (File) Washington: Several gorillas at Zoo ...

"Lived In Kabul Right Under Everyone's Nose": Taliban Spokesman Mocks US

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="'Lived In Kabul Right Under Everyone's Nose': Taliban Spokesman Mocks US" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/9pc1clc4_zabihullah-mujahid-1-650_625x300_03_September_21.jpg" title="'Lived In Kabul Right Under Everyone's Nose': Taliban Spokesman Mocks US" /></div>
Zabiullah Mujahid said he became the spokesman of the Taliban following the arrest of his predecessor.
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Islamabad:
Taliban's spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, who appeared before the media for the first time in a decade at a press conference after the insurgent group seized Kabul last month, said that he lived in the Afghan capital right under the nose of his adversaries who considered him a "ghost-like" figure during the war.
Mujahid, who operated in the shadows for years, also admitted that he studied at the Haqqania seminary in Nowshera in northwest Pakistan, which has also been dubbed the Taliban University or the ''University of Jihad'' internationally.
"They (US and Afghan National Forces) used to think I did not exist," Mujahid told The Express Tribune newspaper in an interview.
"I escaped so many times from their raids and attempts to capture me that they seriously considered that 'Zabiullah'' was a made up figure, not a real man who exists," the 43-year-old spokesman said.
"And yet, I managed to move about Afghanistan freely. I think this perception helped with that," he explained. "I lived in Kabul for a long time, right under everyone's noses. I roamed the width and breadth of the country. I also managed to have first-hand access to the frontlines, where the Taliban carried out their actions, and up to date information. It was quite puzzling for our adversaries."
Due to his shadowy appearance for years, there was speculation as to whether the faceless spokesman might actually be more than one person.
"The US forces would often pay off locals to obtain some information about my whereabouts. Using that information, like I said, they must have launched dozens of intelligence-based operations hoping to find some trace of me," he said. "But I never left or tried to - even think about try to leave Afghanistan."
Mujahid, who was born in the Gardez district of Paktia province sometime in 1978, said that he specialised in Islamic jurisprudence from the Haqqania seminary in northwest Pakistan.
The Taliban government's acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Water and Energy Minister Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor and Telecommunication minister Najibullah Haqqani - all on the UN blacklist - and Education Minister Maulana Abdul Baqi Haqqani studied at the Haqqania seminary, which has regularly received grants from successive governments in Pakistan.
Mujahid said he became the spokesman of the Taliban following the arrest of his predecessor. He also said that he had never seen the Taliban founder Mullah Umar. "But I have worked with Sheikh Mullah Mansoor, and Sheikh Hebatullah," he said, referring to Mullah Omar's successors.
(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/taliban-spokesman-zabiullah-mujahid-mocks-us-lived-in-kabul-right-under-everyones-nose-2538422">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-spokesman-zabiullah-mujahid-mocks-us-lived-in-kabul-right-under-everyones-nose-2538422</a>

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Zabiullah Mujahid said he became the spokesman of the Taliban following the arrest of his predecessor. Islamabad: Taliban's spokesm...

Will Allow Women At Universities, But Mixed Classes Banned: Taliban

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Will Allow Women At Universities, But Mixed Classes Banned: Taliban" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/ev8j2gb_afghan-womenheratreuters_625x300_12_September_21.jpg" title="Will Allow Women At Universities, But Mixed Classes Banned: Taliban" /></div>
The Taliban earlier this month said that women could study at university wearing an abaya robe and niqab
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Kabul:
Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as they study separately from men, the Taliban's new higher education minister said Sunday.
Women's rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule.
But speaking to reporters about the new regime's plans for the country's education, Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani was unapologetic about bringing an end to mixed sex classes.
"We have no problems in ending the mixed-education system," he said. "The people are Muslims and they will accept it."
The Taliban announced earlier this month that women could still study at university if they wore an abaya robe and niqab covering most of the face, with classes segregated by sex -- or at least divided by a curtain.
Haqqani said that Afghanistan's education system had changed greatly since the Taliban's last time in power, when women were effectively barred from schools and universities.
"Compared to the past the number of educational institutions have increased dramatically," he said.
"This gives us hope for a future, prosperous and self-sufficient Afghanistan... we will continue from where they were left."
Some fear the new rules will exclude women because the universities do not have the resources to provide separate classes.
But Haqqani insisted there were enough female teachers and, where they were not available, alternatives could be found without breaching rules.
"It all depends on the university's capacity," he said. "We can also use male teachers to teach from behind a curtain, or use technology."
The Taliban say they want to distance themselves from the harsher policies of old, when half the population was excluded from work and education.
Under new rules, women may work "in accordance with the principles of Islam", the Taliban have decreed, but few details have yet been given as to what that exactly might mean.
(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/will-allow-women-at-universities-but-mixed-classes-banned-taliban-2538374">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/will-allow-women-at-universities-but-mixed-classes-banned-taliban-2538374</a>

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The Taliban earlier this month said that women could study at university wearing an abaya robe and niqab Kabul: Afghan women will be al...

Iran To Allow UN Watchdog To Service Nuclear Monitoring Cameras After Talks

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Iran To Allow UN Watchdog To Service Nuclear Monitoring Cameras After Talks" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/t853nkl8_iaearafael-grossi-iransmohammad-eslamireuters_625x300_12_September_21.jpg" title="Iran To Allow UN Watchdog To Service Nuclear Monitoring Cameras After Talks" /></div>
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami, in Tehran
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Dubai:
Iran is to allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog to service monitoring cameras at Iranian nuclear sites after talks on Sunday with IAEA head Rafael Grossi, according to the head of Iran's atomic energy body and a joint statement.
The talks with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Grossi were aimed at easing a standoff between Tehran and the West just as it threatens to escalate and scupper negotiations on reviving the Iran nuclear deal.
The IAEA said this week that there had been no progress on two key issues: explaining uranium traces found at old, undeclared sites and getting urgent access to monitoring equipment so the agency can continue to keep track of parts of Iran's nuclear programme as per the 2015 deal.
"We agreed over the replacement of the memory cards of the agency's cameras," Mohammad Eslami, who heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), was quoted as saying by state media.
"IAEA's inspectors are permitted to service the identified equipment and replace their storage media which will be kept under the joint IAEA and AEOI seals in the Islamic Republic of Iran," the nuclear bodies said in a joint statement.
Grossi is expected to hold a news conference at Vienna airport around 8:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) after returning later on Sunday, the IAEA said.
The IAEA told member states in reports this week that there had been no progress on two central issues: explaining uranium traces found at several old, undeclared sites and getting urgent access to some monitoring equipment so the agency can continue to keep track of parts of Iran's nuclear programme as provided for by the 2015 deal.
"These reports were the official stamp on what we have been saying for a long time already: The Iranians are advancing unobstructed on the nuclear (weapon) project," Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in televised remarks on Sunday. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Separate, indirect talks between the United States and Iran on both returning to compliance with the deal have been halted since June. Washington and its European allies have been urging hardline President Ebrahim Raisi's administration, which took office in August, to return to the talks.
Under the 2015 deal between Iran and major powers, Tehran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018, re-introducing painful economic sanctions. Iran responded as of 2019 by breaching many of the deal's core restrictions, like enriching uranium to a higher purity which makes it closer to that suitable for use in nuclear weapons.
Western powers must decide whether to push for a resolution criticising Iran and raising pressure on it for stonewalling the IAEA at next week's meeting of the agency's 35-nation Board of Governors. A resolution could jeopardise the resumption of talks on the deal as Tehran bristles at such moves.
Countries on the IAEA Board of Governors have watched Grossi's visit to see whether Iran yields either on granting access to the monitoring equipment to service it or offers the prospect of answers on the uranium particles found at the undeclared former sites.
(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/iran-to-allow-un-watchdog-to-service-nuclear-monitoring-cameras-after-talks-2538349">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iran-to-allow-un-watchdog-to-service-nuclear-monitoring-cameras-after-talks-2538349</a>

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IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami, in Tehran Dubai: Iran is to allow the U...

No Apologies As Biden Admin Murders Families

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This is what your Government told you. This is what the media said.
And this is what really happened, Immediately following the reportedly ISIS-affiliated suicide bomber attack A US drone strike the military called ‘righteous’ mistakenly targeted an aid worker and killed 10 Afghan civilians, including 7 kids.
According to the New York Times The Father Zemari Ahmadi who had returned with water for his family after shuttling friends and family to work was targeted by a hellfire missile according to further analysis at the scene.
The Biden Administration only added to the death count and misery of thousands of innocent people annihilated by erroneous drone attacks carried out by the Obama and Biden Administrations.
Only to magnify the ongoing debacle that continues in Afghanistan.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/no-apologies-as-biden-admin-murders-families-2">https://www.infowars.com/posts/no-apologies-as-biden-admin-murders-families-2</a>

news No Apologies As Biden Admin Murders Families

This is what your Government told you. This is what the media said. And this is what really happened, Immediately following the reportedly...