plans | Common News Update

May22022 by adminNo Comments

Watch live: Rocket Lab plans launch, booster catch with helicopter after days of delays

Science

ORLANDO, Fla., May 2 (UPI) -- Unfavorable weather conditions pushed Rocket Lab's 26th launch of an Electron booster to the end of last week, and the company decided to wait for Monday to take a shot at catching the rocket with a helicopter for the first time. With final checks on its recovery system under way, the company now plans for liftoff around 6:41 p.m. EDT from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. The mission, called "There and back again," will mark the first time Rocket Lab has attempted to recover one of its first stage boosters. If recovery with the helicopter is successful, the company also plans to conduct it's first booster offloading, with the aircraft dropping the rocket on to a waiting ship. "We don't usually give mother nature quite so much power over launch timing, but fo...

Dec112021 by adminNo Comments

Blue Origin plans to launch largest crew yet Saturday

Science

Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket company plans to launch six people, its largest crew yet, including the daughter of late astronaut Alan Shepard and ABC News anchor Michael Strahan, into space Saturday from Texas. Blue Origin plans liftoff of the New Shepard rocket on its NS-19 mission at 8:45 a.m. CST from its Corn Ranch spaceport 160 miles east of El Paso. Launch personnel postponed a launch Wednesday because of high winds in the area. Previous launches in July and October carried Bezos and William Shatner, 90, respectively. Bezos also invited former aviator Wally Funk, 82, to fly with him in July. Those previous crews were composed of four people. Let's light this candle! We put Alan Shepard's famous words on the crew access gantry for the astronauts to see just before ...

Oct32021 by adminNo Comments

NASA plans careful restart for Mars helicopter after quiet period

Science

Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The Mars helicopter Ingenuity is on its own without NASA's guidance for two weeks as the sun interferes with communications to the Red Planet. Sometime around Oct. 14, NASA plans to check in with the helicopter and the Mars rover Perseverance. Previous rovers have endured so-called solar conjunction communication dropouts, but never has a tiny aircraft sat alone on the planet for so long with no Earthly contact. "Ingenuity is unique, something never tried before," Jaakko Karras, Ingenuity deputy operations lead, told UPI. "It contains all kinds of components and construction methodologies that have no parallel on Mars. We just don't know what will happen during the conjunction, although we're hopeful," Karras said. Potential hazards during conjunction include ...

Apr62021 by adminNo Comments

Covid passports: Entertainment venues air concerns over plans

Entertainment

Getty ImagesLeading figures in the UK entertainment industry have expressed reservations about the prospect of using Covid passports as venues reopen, especially if they require proof of vaccination.The government has said Covid-status certificates could be used at theatres, nightclubs and festivals from June.They could be used to prove if a person has been vaccinated, has had a recent negative test or has natural immunity.But some industry figures say they have "deep concerns" over the proposals.The announcement of a series of pilot events, which will start later this month, has already proved controversial.Trial events are due to take place at venues in Liverpool, as well as sporting fixtures including the Snooker World Championships and FA Cup Final.Covid passports are 'one option', say...

Apr32021 by adminNo Comments

Covid-19 surge derails banks’ plans to get back to HQs

Finance

(This story originally appeared in on Apr 03, 2021)MUMBAI: Bank corporate offices are getting back to a work-from-home mode (WFH) with a skeletal staff attending office, given the resurgence of Covid in Mumbai where most of them are headquartered. Public sector banks, private sector banks and even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are moving back to last year’s system of working when Covid cases were first on the rise. Bankers said that there was a feeling of deja vu because of the increasing coronavirus numbers. The return to WFH comes at a time when banks were seeing more employees attend office following the roster system from February this year. The return to work had resulted in larger crowds in business districts. However, recently banks recorded multiple cases among staff members, f...