Launch | Common News Update

Jul302020 by adminNo Comments

NASA’s most advanced Mars rover ready for launch

ORLANDO, Fla., July 30 (UPI) -- The most advanced Mars rover yet -- with technology and tools to find signs of life on the Red Planet -- is ready to be launched Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover is encapsulated and stacked on a 197-foot-tall Atlas V rocket at Launch Complex 41, with liftoff set for as early as 7:50 a.m. EDT. Advertisement The mission, like any trip to Mars, comes with a lot of risks, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a press conference in Florida on Wednesday. "It's without question, a challenge. I mean we, there's no other way to put it, and it's not easy. ... That being said, we know how to land on Mars. We've done it eight times already," Bridenstine said.[embedded content] This year's mission to Mars b...

Jul282020 by adminNo Comments

‘Fix your bike’ vouchers launch, as doctors to prescribe bikes on NHS

Business

A government scheme offering £50 bike repair vouchers will launch in England on Tuesday as part of plans to boost cycling and walking.An initial 50,000 vouchers will be made available online later in the day on a first-come, first-served basis.The prime minister also announced that bikes will be made available on the NHS as part of the strategy.But Labour said many of the government's proposals were taking too long to come into effect.It comes after the government launched its obesity strategy on Monday.GPs in areas of England with poor health will be encouraged to prescribe cycling, with patients able to access bikes through their local surgery.Recent Public Health England research found that being overweight or obese puts people at greater risk of serio

Jun302020 by adminNo Comments

SpaceX plans to launch next-generation GPS satellite from Florida

Science

ORLANDO, Fla., June 30 (UPI) -- Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to launch the U.S. Air Force's third next-generation navigation satellite for the Global Positioning System from Florida on Tuesday. A Falcon 9 rocket is to lift off at 3:55 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40. The Air Force delayed the launch from April due to health concerns for the launch crews amid the coronavirus pandemic. Advertisement "We have to get it right the first time, and protecting our people is just as important as cost, schedule, and performance," Gen. John F. Thompson, commander of the Air Force's Space and Missiles Systems Center, said in a statement about the delay. The weather at launch time is predicted to by 60 percent favorable, according to Air Force meteorologists. A heavy clo...

Jun282020 by adminNo Comments

SpaceX scrubs Starlink launch with two BlackSky satellites

Science

ORLANDO, Fla., June 26 (UPI) -- SpaceX scrubbed Friday's plan to launch additional Starlink satellites in a mission that had another paying customer on board -- what SpaceX calls its ride-share program. The change in plans was not weather-related. Advertisement "Standing down from today's Starlink mission; team needed additional time for pre-launch checkouts, but Falcon 9 and the satellites are healthy. Will announce new target launch date once confirmed on the Range," SpaceX said in a tweet. A Falcon 9 rocket was set to lift off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying 57 Starlink communications satellites for Elon Musk's SpaceX, along with two small Earth observation satellites for Seattle-based BlackSky Global. SpaceX also postponed the launch Thursday, but...

Jun272020 by adminNo Comments

Northern Ireland to launch separate contact-tracing app

Technology

Northern Ireland is planning to release its own coronavirus contact-tracing app within weeks, the BBC has learned. It follows the failure of the NHS app in England, which was trialled on the Isle of Wight.The NI app will be based on the Google/Apple model. It is designed to be compatible with an app due to be released soon in the Republic of Ireland. That app is also based on the toolkit provided by Apple and Google. The Apple and Google model is more privacy-focused, but provides less data to epidemiologists than the centralised version that England was trialling."The Health Minister has commissioned work to develop a proximity app, based on the de-centralised Google/ Apple model, for use in Northern Ireland," said the Northern Ireland Department of Hea...