US moon lander launched half century after last Apollo lunar mission – The Jerusalem Post

A moon lander built by Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines was launched from Florida early on Thursday on a mission to conduct the first US lunar touchdown in more than a half century and the first by a privately owned spacecraft.

The company's Nova-C lander, dubbed Odysseus, lifted off shortly after 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) atop a Falcon 9 rocket flown by Elon Musk' SpaceX from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

A live NASA-SpaceX online video feed showed the two-stage, 25-story rocket roaring off the launch pad and streaking into the dark sky over Florida's Atlantic coast, trailed by a fiery yellowish plume of exhaust.

The launch, previously set for Wednesday morning, was postponed for 24 hours because of irregular temperatures detected in liquid methane used in the lander's propulsion system. SpaceX said the issue was later resolved.

Although considered an Intuitive Machines mission, the IM-1 flight is carrying six NASA payloads of instruments designed to gather data about the lunar environment ahead of NASA's planned return of astronauts to the moon later this decade.

Thursday's launch came a month after the lunar lander of another private firm, Astrobotic Technology, suffered a propulsion system leak on its way to the moon shortly after being placed in orbit on Jan. 8 by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket making its debut flight.

The failure of Astrobotic's Peregrine lander, which was also flying NASA payloads to the moon, marked the third time a private company had been unable to achieve a "soft landing" on the lunar surface, following ill-fated efforts by companies from Israel and Japan.

Those mishaps illustrated the risks NASA faces in leaning more heavily on the commercial sector than it had in the past to realize its spaceflight goals.

Plans call for Intuitive Machines' Nova-C vehicle, a hexagonal cylinder with four legs, to reach its destination after about a weeklong flight on Feb. 22 for a landing at crater Malapert A near the moon's south pole.

If successful, the flight would represent the first controlled descent to the lunar surface by a US spacecraft since the final Apollo crewed moon mission in 1972, and the first by a private company.

The feat also would mark the first journey to the lunar surface under NASA's Artemis moon program, as the US races to return astronauts to Earth's natural satellite before China lands its own crewed spacecraft there.

IM-1 is the latest test of NASA's strategy of paying for the use of spacecraft built and owned by private companies to slash the cost of the Artemis missions, envisioned as precursors to human exploration of Mars.

By contrast, during the Apollo era, NASA bought rockets and other technology from the private sector, but owned and operated them itself.

NASA announced last month that it was delaying its target date for a first crewed Artemis moon landing from 2025 to late 2026, while China has said it was aiming for 2030.

Small landers such as Nova-C are expected to get there first, carrying instruments to closely survey the lunar landscape, its resources and potential hazards. Odysseus will focus on space weather interactions with the moon's surface, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies and navigation.

Intuitive Machine's IM-2 mission is scheduled to land at the lunar south pole in 2024, followed by an IM-3 mission later in the year with several small rovers.

Last month, Japan became the fifth country to place a lander on the moon, with its space agency JAXA achieving an unusually precise "pinpoint" touchdown of its SLIM probe last month. Last year, India became the fourth nation to land on the moon, after Russia failed in an attempt the same month.

The United States, the former Soviet Union and China are the only other countries that have carried out successful soft lunar touchdowns. China scored a world first in 2019 by achieving the first landing on the far side of the moon.

Continue reading here:

US moon lander launched half century after last Apollo lunar mission - The Jerusalem Post

OTR: Mayor Wu weighs in on migrant shelter crisis in Mass. – WCVB Boston

OTR: Mayor Wu weighs in on migrant shelter crisis in Massachusetts

Updated: 12:29 PM EST Jan 14, 2024

BOSTONS MAYOR MICHELLE WU. WE WILL HEAR MORE FROM GOVERNOR HEALEY ABOUT THIS A LITTLE LATER THIS WEEK. BUT THE COST OF EMERGENCY SHELTERS IS BECOMING A BUDGET BUSTER FOR THE STATE. IT IS DRIVEN BY A SURGE IN MIGRANT FAMILIES. THE GOVERNOR IS NOW CUTTING SPENDING. SEVERAL PROGRAMS BOSTON, A SANCTUARY CITY, IS IN A DIFFICULT POSITION. WHERE IS THIS GOING? THE STATE SAYS THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE IN THE LONG TERME. THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT I HEAR FROM EVERY MAYOR I TALK TO ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS A TREMENDOUS STRESS. WE KNOW THAT NATIONALLY, PEOPLE NEED SERVICES, NEED SUPPORTS, AND WE HAVE A SYSTEM WHERE FOLKS ARE FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS BECAUSE THE BUREAUCRACY IS IS TAKING SO LONG. SOME OF THIS IS IT IN BOSTON, SOME OF THE INTERVENTIONS THAT THE GOVERNOR AND OUR TEAMS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON TOGETHER HAVE BEEN WORKING. WEVE HAD SEVERAL VERY SUCCESSFUL WORK AUTHORIZATION CLINICS TO HELP PEOPLE APPLY FOR THEIR THEIR AUTHORIZATIONS FASTER AND THEN BE ABLE TO GET TO WORK. BUT THIS IS A LARGER CHALLENGE AROUND HOUSING WHERE WE STARTED BECAUSE HOUSING IS SO EXPENSIVE TO BEGIN WITH. WHEN WE HAVE NEW FAMILIES ARRIVING WHO NEED SERVICES, IT IT ALL CONTINUES TO PILE ON. AND SO WE HAVE TO DO MORE TO MAKE SURE OUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS ARE WELCOMING AND HAVE MULTI LINGUAL, UH SERVICES AND SUPPORTS, BUT ALSO ON THE HOUSING FRONT TO MAKE SURE WERE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO BUILD MORE HOUSING. NEXT. NEXT TOPIC I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT WAS HARVARD. YOU HAVE YOU HAVE TWO DEGREES FROM HARVARD. YOU YOU ARE THE MAYOR OF OF THE LARGEST CITY IN IN NEW ENGLAND. YOU ARE THE MAYOR OF ONE OF THE LARGEST CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. YOUR NAME HAS COME UP IN CONVERSATION ABOUT WHO THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE ALMA MATER MIGHT BE. WHATS YOUR RESPONSE TO THAT? IS THAT WHAT THE QUESTION IS? I, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE WITH THAT QUESTION. OKAY, OKAY. I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PLANS TO LEAVE THIS AMAZING JOB THAT I HAVE. I THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT DECISION, THOUGH, THAT THE UNIVERSITY IS GOING TO MAKE IN A TIME OF TREMENDOUS STRESS AND CHALLENGE FOR ACADEMIA. OVERALL, THERE ARE MANY, MANY WAYS IN WHICH THE THE CONVERSATIONS NATIONALLY ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, ABOUT WHO BELONGS AND WHAT THE ROLE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS AND DIVERSITY AND EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN IS BEING DIRECTED AT PARTNERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION. AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WE KNOW THAT MASSACHUSETTS AND BOSTON IS HOME TO THE, THE BEST OF THE BEST. ITS WHERE THE WORLD LOOKS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO LEAD AND TO TEACH, TO EDUCATE AND THEY HAVE A BIG TASK AHEAD OF THEM. AND WELL CONTINUE TO TRY TO SUPPORT WHEREVER WE CAN WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO CLAUDINE GAY? I THINK IT IS. UM, I, IM VERY SADDENED. I THINK IT WAS A, A VERY QUICK AND RAPID, UM, SERIES OF MISSTEPS AND MISTAKES THAT SHE TOOK ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THAT GOT WRAPPED INTO A MUCH LARGER CONVERSATION ABOUT ISSUES THAT THAT WERE BEYOND WHAT SHE COULD CONTROL AND BEYOND, UM, THE WHAT YOU NORMALLY THINK OF AS WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF A UNIVERSITY. AND SO THERE ARE, UM, DECISION POINTS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS WE HEAD INTO THIS NEXT YEAR AND THIS NEXT ELECTION CYCLE, ABOUT HOW WE INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER, HOW WE COME TOGETHER AND UNITE CITIES ARE DEFINITELY IN THE CROSSHAIRS. WAS SHE WRONGED CLAUDINE GAY, IN YOUR OPINION, WRONGED. I MEAN, SHE SHE HAS MADE HER DECISION AT THIS POINT AND SHE HAS SPOKEN PUBLICLY ABOUT THE, UM, STATEMENTS THAT SHE WISHES HAD GONE DIFFERENTLY. SHE I DO BELIEVE, THOUGH, THAT THERE WAS VERY MUCH A TARGETED EFFORT HERE BECAUSE OF WHO SHE WAS. THE INSTITUTION SHE REPRESENTED, AND A MOMENT WHERE THERE ARE PEOPLE TRYING TO DISMANTLE THE PROGRESS TO INCLUDE MORE PEOPLE AND TO INCLUDE ALL OF US IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN LEADERSHIP. THIS WAS A THIS WAS VERY MUCH CONNECTED TO THE SAME, UH, SOURCE OF TRYING TO DISMANTLE DEI AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND RESHAPE WHO HAS ACCESS AND WHO BELONGS HERE. WE CANT LET YOU LEAVE WITHOUT ASKING IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO RUN FOR A SECOND TIME. I HAVE, WHICH IS WHY WE KIND OF TRIED TO ASK ABOUT THE HARVARD PRISON. RIGHT? RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT. I KNOW, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. ARE YOU RUNNING RIGHT? UM. I LOVE MY JOB. I HAVE A LOT TO DO. AS AS YOU HEARD EARLIER IN THE WEEK, MANY OF OUR PLANS THAT IVE LAID OUT WILL REQUIRE SOME TIME TO UNFOLD. AND TO REALLY IMPLEMENT AND GET GOING. THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF TIME LATER FOR POLITICAL FRUITION. IS THAT. OH, I WOULD LOVE TO. I WOULD LOVE TO. UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, THERES A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF US AND IM FOCUSED ON GETTING THAT WORK DONE. AND WHEN THERES TIME FOR POLITICS, WELL GET TO THAT IN THE FUTURE. BUT RIGHT

OTR: Mayor Wu weighs in on migrant shelter crisis in Massachusetts

Updated: 12:29 PM EST Jan 14, 2024

The mayor of Boston also addresses speculation that she will step down and become president of her alma mater, Harvard University.

The mayor of Boston also addresses speculation that she will step down and become president of her alma mater, Harvard University.

Continued here:

OTR: Mayor Wu weighs in on migrant shelter crisis in Mass. - WCVB Boston

Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal is up and running. It’s ‘cataclysmic’ for UK food exports – POLITICO Europe

Press play to listen to this article

Voiced by artificial intelligence.

LONDON When Rishi Sunak signed his new Brexit deal in February, he boasted that it would deliver smooth flowing trade within the whole United Kingdom.

But just two months after the Windsor Framework came into effect, it's having huge unintended consequences for a key export sector, with hundreds of millions of pounds in trade now at risk.

Since October this year, all meat and some dairy products moving from Great Britain to be sold in Northern Ireland a part of the U.K. have been required to carry not for EU labels. It's meant to ensure goods aren't moved onward into the Republic of Ireland, an EU member country.

But the British government is going further.

From October 2024, all meat and dairy products sold right across the U.K. will also have to include the labels even if there is no intention to ever send the products to Northern Ireland.

The requirement will be applied to more U.K. food products from July 2025. And it applies whether the food is produced in the U.K. or imported.

Businesses say the plans for a U.K.-wide rollout go way beyond Brussels requirements as set out in the Windsor Framework and, crucially, could see EU exports plummet because of the costs and inefficiency of doing separate production runs for British and European markets.

Sean Ramsden, director of the Food and Drink Exporters Association and the CEO of food export business Ramsden International, described the new system as absolutely cataclysmic for food exporters.

Ramsden told POLITICO he fears that eventually all of the products he is supplied with by partner Co-op will be labeled not for EU, which means we cant export them to the EU."

While large manufacturers may find it easier to comply with the new rules, Ramsden says the changes could prove too costly for smaller operations.

A lot of manufacturers will probably just give up on the European market, he said. It seems an inconsequential thing to say put it onto the packaging, but in practice it means changing production runs. Manufacturers are saying this is crazy because they dont want to start doing additional production runs.

His concerns were echoed by Balwinder Dhoot, director of sustainability and growth at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). He told British MPs recently that implementation costs of the labeling requirement would run into hundreds of millions of pounds a year across the industry.

It generates a risk for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of pounds worth of exports, he told MPs last month. That is an unnecessary domestic policy. You cannot have a trade policy that is trying to promote exports on one hand, and then undermine that with domestic policy on the other.

A spokesperson for the group, which represents food and drink manufacturers, said the labeling removes the flexibility that was agreed with the EU and will result in less choice for shoppers in both Northern Ireland and GB.

A more pragmatic approach would be to monitor supply before taking action, and work with the industry to find a practical solution.

Although the U.K.-wide labeling requirements do not come into force until October next year, some manufacturers appear to already be using the labeling system in preparation for the rollout.

As a result, Ramsden says his company is having to do manual checks on everything, take out the [labeled] products from the orders, return them to the supplier, credit them to the customer and take them off our list.

Another unintended consequence, Ramsden warns, is that non-EU consumers will be put off by the not for EU labels.

If we export to other markets, what are the consumers going to think when they see not for EU on the packaging? They are going to question whether its safe, he said.

For Ramsden, the labeling requirement is just the latest in a string of headaches resulting from the U.K. leaving the EU, which has already seen the companys sales with the bloc plummet from 25 million to 16 million as a result of Brexit.

This will finish it all because we are supplied by stock thats in circulation in the U.K. market.

A government spokesperson said: The Windsor Framework drastically reduces the paperwork and processes required compared to the old protocol. We continue to engage extensively with businesses to support them in adapting to these new arrangements.

The rest is here:

Rishi Sunak's Brexit deal is up and running. It's 'cataclysmic' for UK food exports - POLITICO Europe