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Tag: flight

Airlines sue Dutch government over flight cuts

Airlines sue Dutch government over flight cuts

Science
Getty ImagesBy Georgina RannardBBC climate and science reporterFive airlines are suing the Dutch government over plans to cut the number of flights operating from Europe's third-busiest airport.The government cited local concerns at Amsterdam Schiphol about the impact of flying on noise pollution and climate in its decision.Airlines KLM, Easyjet, Delta, Tui and Corenden say the plans are in breach of EU and international law.The cap would reduce the annual number of flights from 500,000 to 440,000.The government says it wants to strike a balance between the economic benefits of a large airport and a healthy living environment, prioritising tackling noise pollution.Global aviation is responsible for 2.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. These gases warm the atmosphere, contributing to gl...
Blue Origin to launch space tourist flight next week

Blue Origin to launch space tourist flight next week

Science
July 29 (UPI) -- Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plans to launch its sixth space tourism flight next week with six people, including the first Egyptian and Portuguese crew members to reach suborbital space. Blue Origin said in a news release that NS-22 will lift off at 8:30 a.m. from Launch Site One at the company's site in West Texas on Thursday. The flight will make Sara Sabry, an Egyptian mechanical and biomedical engineer, and Portuguese entrepreneur Mário Ferreira the first of their respective countries to reach space, according to Engadget. The other four members of the crew include Coby Cotton, a cofounder of the popular YouTube channel Dude Perfect, as well as British-American explorer Vanessa O'Brien and telecom CEO Steve Young. The sixth passenger, Clint Kelly III, started the Autonomou...
Long-duration space flight equal to decade of bone loss in astronauts, study says

Long-duration space flight equal to decade of bone loss in astronauts, study says

Science
July 1 (UPI) -- Scientists have long known that astronauts lose bone density while in space, but a study published this week found they only partially recover this loss one year after returning to Earth. The researchers said the findings suggest long-duration spaceflight is equal to decades of bone loss in weight-bearing bones on Earth. The extent of the impact, though, varies depending upon the subject. Bone loss happens because bones don't have to carry your weight in microgravity, meaning astronauts use them less, leading to weakening. "Bone loss happens in humans -- as we age, get injured, or any scenario where we can't move the body, we lose bone," said Leigh Gabel, assistant professor in kinesiology at the University of Calgary and lead author of the study. The researchers scanned ...
Jeff Bezos wants flight Tuesday to expand ‘new frontiers’ in space

Jeff Bezos wants flight Tuesday to expand ‘new frontiers’ in space

Science
July 19 (UPI) -- The man who made e-commerce the "economy's new frontier" plans to fly into space Tuesday in an effort to make tourism far above the Earth the new frontier. Time magazine recognized Bezos as "Person of the Year" in 1999 for his founding of the Amazon retail website, saying, "Some people must be genetically predisposed explore the frontiers." Bezos has been one of the richest and most famous people on the planet since he launched Amazon in 1994 at age 30. After amassing billions of dollars from the Amazon venture, Bezos decided to make childhood dreams of spaceflight personal and founded the Blue Origin space company in 2000, two years before fellow businessman Elon Musk founded SpaceX. "I posted our first job opening 25 years ago today, when I hadn't even settled on the n...
Mars Ingenuity flight delayed after rotor test fails

Mars Ingenuity flight delayed after rotor test fails

Science
April 10 (UPI) -- NASA has delayed the first flight of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter until at least Wednesday. The agency announced the delay in a Saturday news release after a high-speed test of the helicopter's rotors abruptly stopped Friday. Advertisement The drone's watchdog timer expired as it was trying to transition the flight computer from "pre-flight" to "flight" mode, according to NASA. The watchdog timer oversees the command sequences and alerts the system to any potential problems, preventing the system from proceeding when an issue is detected. NASA described the helicopter as "safe and healthy" and said the Ingenuity Mars' team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the full-speed test. Friday's test was the last major one before the helicopter's first scheduled f...