Monthly Archives: June 2020

Every 18 to 24 months, Earth and Mars align in such a way as to make deep-space travel that little bit easier, or at least a bit faster. That reduces a trip or "trajectory" to the Red Planet from about nine months down to seven.

That means that July is shaping up to be a very busy time for missions to Mars.

There are three all launching within days of each other the Emirates Mars Mission, with its atmospheric probe, Hope or "Al-Amal," NASA's Mars 2020, carrying a lander called Perseverance, and China's "Tianwen-1", a collection of orbiters and landers. In fact, there would have been a fourth mission in Europe's ExoMars 2020.

Read more:A question about race in space

"If they don't go know, they will have a very long wait," says Malcolm Macdonald, a professor of space technology at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. "That's why the Americans, for instance, through the current pandemic, prioritized Demo-2, the SpaceX crewed mission to the International Space Station, and their Mars mission."

How the coronavirus pandemic has affected the Chinese mission is hard to know. And Europe's ExoMars 2020 was already heading for delays.

As for the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), failing to leave now would set a 100-year plan for national and interplanetary transformation back by two years. So, after a round of ultra-fast thinking, which predicted the lockdown and those closed international borders, the team dispatched its spacecraft, Hope, and a team of Emirati engineers for the launch in Japan before it was too late.

A sense of urgency

There is a sense of urgency in the UAE that harks back to when the nation was established in 1971, starting from a point where infrastructure like transport and education were underdeveloped.

It was "evident then that you needed to do things rapidly to get on a par with the world," says Sarah Al-Amiri, the EMM's Science Lead, in an interview with DW.

Read more:SpaceX rocket ship blasts off on historic flight to International Space Station

And you can see that in the way the EMM has grown. The UAE has been developing Earth Observation spacecraft since 2006, which is a short time in itself. But the Mars mission has gone from a feasibility study in 2013 to its announcement a year later, and now a launch in 2020. Six short years.

Emirates Mars Mission - Al-Amal Probe in construction and testing

"We don't have a hundred years to sit around and grow organically. It's always been that way, developing in leaps and bounds," says Al-Amiri.

That culture of rapid growth has been hastened by a dwindling demand for oil.

"There is a drive to diversify," she says. "And the way to do that is use today's oil, which is knowledge and expertise that's routed in science and technology."

For Al-Amiri and mission manager, Omran Sharaf, seeing UAE's space sector blossom is a long-held passion. They were perhaps among the more fortunate, being able to study abroad. But they are back and among the country's pioneers.

Read more:Our first InSight into the interior of Mars

Al-Amir says she "never dared to dream of space, just for a lack of existing opportunities" at home, but she had started programming by the 5th Grade at school, studied computer engineering, and is now UAE's Minister of State for Advanced Sciences.

Meanwhile, Sharaf says he was always curious about satellites "I wished I could work on a space program." He studied electrical engineering in the US, came back to the UAE and joined a team of young Emiratis charged with setting up that space program. They started gathering experience in South Korea, working on Earth observation satellites, DubaiSat-1 and 2.

Why not the moon?

It's not only about getting to space. The mission is designed to establish the UAE's space capabilities to encourage homegrown innovation and inspire new generations of scientists, with job prospects and a sustainable future.

As such, it's reasonable to ask, "Why not go to the moon?" It is closer after all.

The answer lies in the science.

"We're not underestimating the moon it's difficult, too. Getting there is not easy," says Sharaf, in the same interview. "But Mars is the next level. When it comes to the scientific questions and the purpose of exploring Mars, we can build a better rationale behind it. It's a planet that scientists believe was once alive and became a dead planet. Understanding what happened there and why it lost its atmosphere will help us understand our own planet."

Mars is an active area of research that relies on data collected "at the planet," says Al-Amiri, rather than via telescopes and other forms of observation. So, she says, the EMM will deliver data that is actually needed by the global science community.

The team has collaborated with universities in the US and UK, and they have consulted the NASA-affiliated Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG).

Some roam, some drill The InSight lander collects seismic data by drilling into Martian ground

MEPAG is a gathering of experts that publishes scientific "vision papers," detailing scientific goals and questions that need to be answered about the planet.

Key scientific objectives for Hope

The Hope Probe aims to be the first to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere. It will try to explain why or how Mars loses hydrogen and oxygen gases into space over the span of a Martian year.

Significantly, Hope will explore Mars' "diurnal," or day-to-night cycle, which has never been done before.

Using three instruments an ultraviolet spectrometer, a digital camera and an infrared spectrometer, they will overlay images to create a picture from the lower to upper atmosphere. But Hope's orbit will be central to getting the data they want.

The EMIRS InfraRed Spectrometer one of three instruments onboard the Emirates Hope Probe that will orbit Mars

As Franois Forget, an astrophysicist at the Laboratoire de Mtorologie Dynamique in Paris, France, puts it: "The instruments are not revolutionary, but the orbit is completely new."

A new Martian orbit

"Mars rotates, like Earth, but in 24 hours and 38 minutes, and the spacecraft will have an elliptical orbit of about 20,000 kilometers at its lowest to 43,000 kilometers at the top," says Forget, who is also involved in the Emirates Mars Mission.

"When it's at 20,000 km, it will stay above the same [location on Mars], rotating with the planet for 8 hours and that will let us monitor what's going on throughout the day so, for instance, we'll see morning fog disappearing here, a storm start there," says Forget, " and then it will move up again, and when it's higher, the spacecraft moves slower, while the planet keeps rotating below it. When it returns to the lowest altitude, it will rotate with the planet again. So, we'll see what's happening over time."

Read more:NASA taps first woman to lead human spaceflight

With each swing of the orbit, Hope will track different locations from its lower and higher orbits. In the end, all the data will be stitched together to make a complete picture of those locations over a full 24-hour period, day and night. But it may take three orbits of a particular location to accumulate a full diurnal cycle, says Forget.

Weather patterns and dust storms

The data will be open to the scientific community, allowing it to be combined with other data, like seismic information collected by the InSight lander or other atmospheric data from the MAVEN probe.

Collaborators in space the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) probe is focused on the Martian upper atmosphere

There are so many questions to answer and no single mission can answer them all.

But, ultimately, scientists want to know how Mars became uninhabitable for humans, why its atmosphere wouldn't protect us like the atmosphere on Earth.

Mars' atmosphere is thin like Earth's, but it mostly consists of carbon dioxide (CO2), and there's only a small amount of oxygen and water vapor. So, finding out more about why that little oxygen which humans need to live and breathe escapes Mars is crucial to our understanding of the planet.

Read more:After Apollo: A new era for American human spaceflight

"MEPAG has set questions for the community, things we need to learn to understand Mars' evolution, and one of those things is historical atmospheric change," says Al-Amiri. "That's understanding the weather system, the day-to-night cycle, and the dynamics there what are the seasonal changes?"

Or why Mars gets global dust storms. "We get localized, regional dust storms. But Mars gets global dust storms. So, what factors allow a planet to be engulfed by a single dust storm," asks Al-Amiri.

What role does Mars play in its own atmospheric loss?

Then there's the specific question of why the planet is losing its atmosphere.

Scientists have looked at whether that's due to space itself for instance, that the atmosphere is being "stripped" by solar winds streams of charged particles that shoot out from the sun at speeds of up to 900 km per second.

The Emirates Mars Mission probe, Hope, spreads its solar panel wings

But some other theories suggest Mars may play its own role.

"There are dust storms, cloud formations, water vapor cycles, and we're asking how much impact that has on the loss of hydrogen and oxygen from Mars into its exosphere," says Al-Amiri.

The mission will do that by taking simultaneous measurements infrared technology in the lower atmosphere, where Hope will study temperatures and ice clouds, and ultraviolet technology for the Martian ozone in the lower atmosphere and hydrogen and oxygen loss in the upper atmosphere.

Finally, there's a simple camera that will enable Hope to take full "disc images" of the planet, which may reveal "interesting phenomena," says Forget.

"For example, a couple of years ago, we found these elongate clouds forming near the top of Olympus Mons [the largest volcano on Mars]. They went for 2,000 kilometers, and this had never been seen, because we were always looking at Mars in strips from the same local time," says Forget. "So, a full disc image can be spectacular, fun and scientific."

Mission to collaborate

Much has been made of the mission's launching from Japan. But the Japanese space agency, JAXA, points out that the mission is "UAE's independent program."

Japan has an overall good track-record for space launches a H-IIA rocket, similar to the one for the EMM, launched from Tanegashima Space Center

Even the launch on a Japanese H-IIArocketfrom JAXA's Tanegashima Space Center will be operated not by the agency but by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

But the Japanese connection is interesting to note because Japan has its own interests in Mars.

In an email to DW, JAXA's Nobuyoshi Fujimoto writes that Japan's MMX mission in 2024 will "survey Mars's two moons and collect a sample from one of them and bring it back."

There is also a good chance that data from the Emirates Mars Mission will flow into Japan's MMX moons mission.

"The Japanese have got fantastic capabilities, but they've never been to Mars," says Macdonald, "so, working as partners in the international community will give them more confidence for the next time they decide to go."

Read more:Why isn't Germany taking over the moon?

The EMM is all about international collaboration, which, Sharaf says, has been good with American teams at the University of Colorado Boulder, Arizona State University, and University of California, Berkeley.

"Getting some of the knowledge for our mission was not easy and we had to think about how it could be done in a way that serves everyone our national interests, that of our partners, and humanity," says Sharaf. "So, this is a case study from which other nations can learn. For instance, how we collaborated in 2006 with Korea a very different mindset and system and in 2014 with the US."

Hope's high-gain antenna dish for communicating with MBRSC Mission Control on Earth

That collaborative spirit will possibly also seep into other areas of research as the UAE moves towards a "post-oil" economy.

"Our space program is a tool for other goals," says Sharaf. "It's linked to national challenges like food and water, and clean energy is an issue, but also economic opportunities. Those are the pillars that dictate our program. It's not just about getting to space. So, if asteroid mining or rocket fuel addressed one of those pillars, we would look into it."

Read more:Of 'white guys on the Moon' and black America

All that's left

The only question that's left for now is whether the UAE and its first Mars mission will succeed.

"Going to Mars is difficult, not a lot of people have successfully gone to Mars," says Macdonald. "The Americans, Europe, Russia and India have orbited it. But Russia's had a lot of failures trying to land on Mars, and the Japanese have failed before."

So, what are the UAE's chances?

"Well, the launch vehicle tends to be a fairly big stumbling block, but the Japanese have a good heritage there, so you'd expect the launch to work and for the spacecraft to get to Mars," Macdonald says. "And as long as it wakes up and gets onto its correct trajectory But you can't expect success, because space is difficult."

The new NASA Mars rover has arrived. It will support the currently operating Curiosity rover in its work on the red planet. The new rover weighs just over 1 tonne (2,000 lbs) and is therefore 100 kg heavier than its predecessor. And, at 3 meters in size, it is also 10 centimeters longer. It can load more research equipment and sensors, and its gripper arm with cameras and tools is also stronger.

This is what the rover looks like when it travels. On board a C-17 Globemaster, it traveled from California to Florida in the US. From there, it will set off to Mars on July 17. The new rover is able to collect samples from Mars. It is equipped with 23 cameras and many other instruments. Among other things, it aims to find out whether oxygen can be extracted from the Martian rocks.

Curiosity is the largest and most modern of all Mars rovers currently deployed. It landed on August 6, 2012 and has since traveled more than 21 kilometers. It is much more than just a rover. Its official name is "Mars Science Laboratory," and it really is a complete lab on wheels.

For example, it contains special spectrometer, which can analyze chemical compounds from a distance with the help of a laser; a complete meteorological station that can measure temperature, atmospheric pressure, radiation, humidity and wind speed; and most importantly, a chemistry lab that can run detailed analyses of organic compounds and is always on the hunt for traces of alien life.

Curiosity has shown that life would theoretically be possible on Mars. But it hasn't discovered any life, yet. The robot's arm is equipped with a full power drill. Here, it's taking a sample in "Yellowknife Bay" inside the Gale Crater.

The Mars dust is processed by a large number of instruments. First, it's filtered and separated into different-sized particles. Then, those get sorted and sent off to different analytical laboratory machines.

Curiosity's predecessors were much smaller. On July 4, 1997, the small Mars rover Sojourner left its first tire tracks behind in the dust of the red planet. It was the first time a mobile robot had been left to its own devices there, equipped with an X-ray spectrometer to conduct chemical analyses and with optical cameras.

Three rover generations. (The tiny one up front is Sojourner.) At 10.6 kilograms (23 pounds), it's not much bigger than a toy car. Its top speed: 1 centimeter per second. Opportunity weighs 185 kilograms roughly the equivalent of an electric wheelchair. Curiosity is as big as a small car, at 900 kilograms. The big ones travel up to 4 or 5 centimeters per second.

Sojourner travelled about 100 meters during its lifetime and delivered data and pictures until September 27, 1997. This is one of the last pictures of it, taken nine days before the radio connection broke down. Sojourner probably died because the battery did not survive the cold nights.

Without the experience of Sojourner, newer rovers could have hardly been envisaged. In 2004, NASA landed two robots of the same model on Mars: Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit survived for six years, travelling a distance of 7.7 kilometers. The robot climbed mountains, took soil samples and withstood winter and sandstorms. Its sibling, Opportunity, lost contact on February 13, 2019.

Opportunity passed the marathon distance of 42 kilometers back in 2015, and to this day, it has covered much more ground than Curiosity. It can take ground probes with its arm. It has three different spectrometers and even a 3D camera. It was last operating in "Perseverance Valley," an appropriate workplace for the sturdy robot, before being incapacitated by a sand storm.

This panorama was taken by Curiosity's mast camera. The most modern of the rovers will stay in service as long as possible hopefully at least another five years and much longer. The Martian landscape looks familiar somehow, not unlike some deserts here on Earth. Should we give in to our wanderlust, then or would it be better leave Mars to the robots?

Author: Fabian Schmidt

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What's the science on the Emirates Mars Mission? - DW (English)

Theres this great moment I often think of when I need a laugh.

Its Donald Trump standing in front of a podium, announcing a new branch of the military astutely called Space Force, which will operate, you guessed it, in space.

The president of the United States asks rhetorically where would we be without space?

Meanwhile, Buzz Aldrin, one of the first people to ever walk on the moon, standing beside POTUS grimaces and rolls his eyes.

It is perfect comedy. Its also entirely real.

Unfortunately, Netflixs new big-budget comedy starring Steve Carell and John Malkovich never reaches this level of hilarity, despite some solid effort.

Space Force, which satirizes the concept of the whole enterprise, never comes close to the absurdity of the real thing, which is its biggest failing.

From the outset, I thought Space Force was basically a sure thing, which is probably what makes the final product such a letdown.

With Steve Carell at the helm and an incredible ensemble cast around him, including: Lisa Kudrow, John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Jane Lynch and more, it seemed like it had everything going for it.

But it mostly just falls flat.

General Mark Naird (Steve Carell), who is initially hoping to head up the Air Force is tasked with establishing Space Force, just announced by POTUS.

It represents a surprising new prong of a growing, bureaucratic U.S. military, with each of the joint chiefs acting essentially like high school bullies jockeying for position.

Now at the bottom of an elite pecking order, Naird is trying to prove this new branch is worthy of the billions of dollars being spent on it and also posturing to prove his worth as well.

Naird also has the unenviable mission of trying to satisfy POTUS (whos never really named as Trump, but its heavily implied) and his goals of domination in space.

Things go wrong often. Gotta test that new rocket. And if it blows up? well, whats a few hundred million? Government waste while millions go hungry is so funny.

On top of the sheer stress of his drop, Naird deals with a fidgety and sarcastic head scientist (Malkovich) constantly demanding Space Force changes its priorities to focus on science, a wife (Kudrow) in jail for decades for some unknown reasons and a daughter (Diana Silvers) who is frustrated she had to move away from Washington to the badlands of Colorado.

Carell is unfortunately employing a gruff, raspy tone to his voice as Naird, which is perhaps appropriate for the setting, but ultimately distracting. His character has occasional moments of hilarity, singing classic pop songs to calm down and other quirks, but hes mostly just a jerk cleaning up his own mess as he defends asinine decision making.

Naird is just not that likeable, which is kind of surprising because Carells most well-known comedy character, Michael Scott from The Office (still on Netflix in Canada for now), is one of the most beloved TV characters of all time.

There are a few tender moments between the cast, but theyre too few and far between. Everyone just feels like theyre bouncing around and occasionally interacting with each other. Theres chemistry, but its haphazard.

The show also leans on some problematic stand-in characters, such as representative Anabela Ysidro-Campos (Ginger Gonzaga), an obvious AOC doppelgnger who goes after Space Force funding.

Another episode features Edison Jaymes (Kaitlin Olson), a stand-in for Elon Musk, whos going to revolutionize space travel with a sexy new rocket fuel. Its a joke that may have sounded good on paper, but just comes off as contrived.

What hurts Space Force is its off-putting tone. Its played essentially like a scripted drama, with comedy bits thrown in for flavour.

The show really could have benefited a lot from the documentary style that allowed The Office, Parks And Recreation and other modern comedies to feel so tangible and relatable. Again, Space Force is based on a real thing thats actually sort of happening, but the plot seems so far impossible. A lot of wouldnt it be funny ifs - only the real thing remains even funnier.

The 10-episode run, which I had to push myself to finish, ends on a cliffhanger and based on Netflixs cryptic rating system it seems to be doing relatively well, so we can expect more to come out at some point. Hopefully the show finds its space legs by then.

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STREAMING WARS: Netflixs big-budget comedy Space Force has all the right ingredients, but fails to deliver the laughs - SaltWire Network

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday. We'll have another update for you on Monday.

UK tourists can visit Spain without having to quarantine on arrival, Spanish officials have told the BBC, giving fresh hope to those wishing to have a summer holiday abroad this year. British citizens will be allowed to enter the country freely, without the need to self-isolate, said Spain's foreign affairs minister. Meanwhile, do you really know Britain's lockdown rules? Test your knowledge.

Countries around the world are easing their lockdown restrictions, but coronavirus is far from over and even those controlling the outbreak fear "the second wave". The second phase of Spanish flu a century ago was deadlier than the first. So, is a second wave inevitable, and just how bad could it be?

More staff at a chicken factory that produces a third of all poultry products consumed in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus. All staff at the 2 Sisters meat processing plant in Llangefni, Anglesey, northern Wales, are self-isolating after a number of workers were confirmed to have the virus on Thursday. Public Health Wales said that the number of staff affected had risen to 75, with cases expected to increase.

A Scottish architect has filled six A4-size sketchbooks documenting his family's life under lockdown. Prof Alan Dunlop has drawn about 120 pictures - one or two for each day of the 10 weeks since restrictions came into place.

Lockdown has led many to explore new hobbies - and inspired a new generation of backyard vegetable growers. But what do you do if your only outside space is tiny? Here's how to grow lockdown veg in a tiny space, from window ledges to patio pots.

Get a longer coronavirus briefing from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning, by signing up here.

You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page and get all the latest via our live page.

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Coronavirus: Travel to Spain, and the 'second wave' - BBC News

(CNN) A design that reconfigures airplane cabins with double-decker lie-flat seats in premium economy is being touted as a possible solution for fliers looking for more protection from the spread of Covid-19.

Zephyr Seat is the vision of designer Jeffrey O'Neill, who reckons the isolation from fellow passengers that his creation will offer could be a game changer in the wake of the pandemic.

With Zephyr Seat, airlines could provide double-decker seating in a 2-4-2 configuration which, O'Neill says, would allow the majority of global airlines to maintain the same seating density as offered by their existing premium economy cabins.

Seated in premium economy,O'Neill realized halfway through the super long-haul journey that he wasn't going to get any shut eye.

"I'm on probably the best rated airline in the world, and I'm getting wonderful service and the food is edible, but I can't sleep," he recalls. "This is really uncomfortable. Why is it so difficult to find an affordable way to lie flat on a flight that's 19 hours?"

Real estate on an airplane is expensive -- and airlines usually don't want to sacrifice space.

But O'Neill found himself remembering a long-distance bus journey he'd made on a trip through Argentina. The bus utilized bunk beds, and he'd slept far better than on his ostensibly more luxurious air journey to Singapore. It occurred to him that maybe that was the solution.

This was two years ago, and O'Neill says his idea's since graduated from a back of a napkin drawing he dreamed up with his design partner, to a life-size mockup, which he says proves its feasibility.

Double decker seating

The Zephyr Seat offers a double decker airplane interior concept.

Courtesy Zephyr Aerospace

Zephyr's double-decker concept utilizes the space that exists between a standard seat and an overhead bin.

"We basically retrofitted a whole other seat on top of another," explains O'Neill. "So it's essentially two levels, it's not as tall off the ground as people might imagine, it's only four and a half feet off the ground from the entry point to the lower seat to the upper seat."

The result, O'Neill says, is more passenger leg room without the airline being forced to sacrifice space or reduce passenger headcount.

The idea's still in its infancy, although O'Neill says he's identified an engineering partner -- and he's been in conversation with four major airlines, including US carrier Delta, although there are no firm commitments right now.

He presented the idea to airline executives at the 2019 Airline Interiors Expo at Hamburg, Germany -- and said got some valuable feedback on how to make the seat a feasible option for the mid-range aviation market.

The next stage would be passing the product through the required safety tests, which could be a three-year process.

New aviation opportunities

Of course, a question mark currently hangs over aviation's future, with no one quite knowing what air travel is going to look like over the next few months, let alone years.

O'Neill reckons that the new aviation landscape fits with his vision for Zephyr Seat.

Designer Jeff O'Neill thinks the seat will allow travelers in Premium Economy to sleep better.

Courtesy Zephyr Aerospace

The increased privacy the seat would offer, he says, could reassure travelers demanding on board social distancing. That said, the concept, like other ideas in the pipeline, doesn't totally solve the issue of being in close proximity on aircraft and the potential Covid risk.

O'Neill also points towards a future where there could likely be fewer scheduled flights and those that are operating could be busier and more expensive -- something we're already seeing happen.

"The price for a business class or first class seat is going to be out of range for probably about 85% of all travelers, which means a more affordable option might become a reality or a consideration for a lot of those people," he says.

Excerpt from:

Is this double-decker seat the future of airplane travel? - CNN

As summer revs up, many families who've planned vacations and long-anticipated reunions are left wondering whether it's safe to travel during the coronavirus outbreak. Most states have reopened, giving residents a semblance of normalcy, but COVID-19 cases are still rising in some areas.

The good news is you can travel this summer, especially if you stay within U.S. borders, as there are still many restrictions on international travel and if you follow basic precautions.

"Its OK to have fun, (but) do it safely," Saad Omer, director of Yale Institute for Global Health in New Haven, Connecticut, told TODAY. "You just need to strike a balance."

Here are some ways to take a safe vacation during the COVID-19 outbreak, from the best modes of transportation to tips to plan safe gatherings.

Naturally, how safe your vacation will be depends on where you're going. Omer and NBC investigative and consumer correspondent Vicky Nguyen offered these tips.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, flying can be safer than going to a restaurant or public pool, Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told TODAY. That's in part because airlines and airports have measures in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19. It's also now believed that high-touch surfaces aren't as common a method of transmission as previously thought.

Still, flying doesn't come without risk. Here are some ways to lower your risk and your family's if you travel by plane.

Trending stories,celebrity news and all the best of TODAY.

Dr. Allison Agwu, an infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told TODAY that driving will be safer than flying because "you have more control in your own personal space." Here are some recommendations for staying safe on the road.

Experts believe hotels and vacation rental homes pose a similar risk of coronavirus transmission. But they're safer than staying with family or friends, Omer said. Some strategies to consider:

Staying with people without quarantining separately for two weeks after your travel period increases risk of coronavirus transmission, Omer said. But if you can't stay in a separate space, he recommended:

Because they're outdoors, beaches, Omer said, are a safe summer activity, provided they're not too crowded. Still, you should take these precautions:

Outdoor pools come with a similar risk level as beaches, but they have the added benefit of chlorine, which kills the coronavirus. Skip indoor pools. Outdoors, follow the same guidelines for beaches, and these:

Restaurants around the country have started reopening with new safety measures, like reduced capacity and disposable dinnerware. Call ahead to make sure the restaurant has space to seat you, and consider these tips:

Another beloved summer pastime is barbecuing in the great outdoors. Having people over can be a safe activity, with these precautions:

Read this article:

Safe vacations and traveling during coronavirus: Advice to follow - TODAY

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For the free-speech absolutists out there, let me point you to a corner of the digital world that embraces its utter lack of free expression: Apples app stores.

Apple alone decides what apps you can download on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. The company reviews every line of software code and is happy to block any app that it believes promotes harmful behavior, is in poor taste, enables surveillance, or is trying to steal money or your data.

There are dangers to apps being subject to Apples whims. But the success of the app storefronts and online hangouts like Snapchat that also dont pretend to be anything-goes havens of freedom show that the public sometimes embraces companies dictating what people can say and do inside their virtual walls. You yes, you! are probably not universally against digital censorship.

From the day the iPhone app store opened, employees reviewed and tested apps before making them available to the public. The vetting gave people confidence that apps were safe and worthy of their consideration. Googles Android storefront also screens apps, but is generally more permissive. Apple said last year that it reviewed 100,000 apps weekly and rejected about 40 percent.

There are downsides to Apples absolute app authority. In China, Apples control at times has enabled the government to block apps it believes break its laws. That has included some news apps, including The New York Times.

In addition, app makers gripe about the process, the reasons for rejections, as well as the fees Apple charges for apps on the store. They also question whether Apple shuts out their apps or makes them harder to find because the company wants to help its own apps or internet services. The makers of a new email service, which my colleague Brian X. Chen reviewed, are furious about what they say are Apples capricious reasons for blocking the app.

European regulators are investigating whether Apples terms go too far, my Times colleagues reported this week. Apple has said it worked to make people trust the app store and offer app makers a good business opportunity. The company said there was no basis to complaints that it was violating European competition laws.

But few credible people say that Apple should let anyone and anything into its app stores, at least in the way that some people argue for a Wild West on social media. The fight were having appropriately is over the terms of Apples censorship zones. (The freewheeling internet gives Apple some cover here.)

Its time to stop debating whether we want powerful gatekeepers vetting information. We do. We dont want people to be able to shout the proverbial fire in a crowded theater, and we dont want terrorists, stalkers, dangerous conspiracy theorists and authoritarians to have free rein on the internet.

Lets move past simplistic free-speech arguments. The real debate is how we make sure that powerful gatekeepers exercise their authority effectively, fairly and with accountability.

I promise you that I love to argue. But I confess that Im a little bored arguing about political advertising on Facebook. It feels as if were fighting too much about the wrong thing. (This, perhaps, is the theme of todays newsletter.)

If you have been alive and conscious for the last forever you might have noticed that politicians twist or ignore the truth when they pitch themselves to voters.

This has become a much bigger problem in the social media age. Lies can travel farther and faster than ever before.

This is a serious problem, and the big internet companies have tried different approaches to tackle it. Twitter has refused to accept political-related advertisements at all, and Facebook has staked out an opposite position that people should be able to evaluate the warts-and-all paid pitches from candidates.

Now, my colleague Mike Isaac reported, Facebook will start giving people the option to hide from their feeds political ads, commercials about social issues and similar paid messages. Its a mushy middle ground that, I assure you, will satisfy no one.

Political ads are important because they represent what a candidate most wants voters to know. And its fair to say that internet companies shouldnt financially benefit from false advertisements.

But we also cant lose sight that most of the garbage-fire parts of Facebook are not paid political messages.

The Air Force sergeant who sought to organize violence against law enforcement officials on Facebook had nothing to do with paid political messages. Dangerous health conspiracies that spread on Facebook are not paid political messages. And even most of the horrible stuff that politicians say on Facebook are not paid political messages.

So, yes, we should be debating how Facebook and political candidates should best keep voters informed. But lets not forget about all the noxious online speech and lies that are free of charge.

Taking a company public is just strange now: My colleague Erin Griffith relays how the coronavirus is warping the usual public spectacle of initial public offerings. Instead of C.E.O.s traveling the world to pitch their companies, one crammed back-to-back virtual meetings from his home and made sure to dress up and wear shoes. Instead of the typical ceremonial bell ringing at a stock exchange, employees of one company uploaded photos of themselves for display at the Nasdaq video screen.

The existential question for internet marketplaces: Bookshop has been billed as the anti-Amazon a place for people to buy books online and still support the shop around the corner. But some bookstore owners fear that Bookshop is another way to lose revenue and reader loyalty to an internet middleman, my colleague Alexandra Alter writes.

A glimpse at the humiliation for black executives in technology: Bloomberg News writes about the challenges black people face when they start a tech company or run one. Some executives are advised to bring a white colleague with them to business meetings. One black chief executive told Bloomberg that he carried around a notebook with the logo of alma mater, Stanford University, to try to fit in.

I am a sucker for red pandas. Their adorableness is too much. (Stick around through the end of the video to watch Lin get a birthday cake of apples and bananas.)

We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else youd like us to explore. You can reach us at ontech@nytimes.com.

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The Internets Most Censored Space - The New York Times

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) is one of many companies in the market today where the numbers dont matter. SPCE stock is climbing despite the unknowns Virgin Galactic faces.

Source: Tun Pichitanon / Shutterstock.com

The company hopes to do intercontinental flights that briefly enter low Earth orbit. It hopes to do them cheaply by launching off larger planes before engaging on-board engines. It hopes to be offering commercial flights in a few years. Virgin Galactic even hopes to get you from the United States to Sydney in a few hours.

Meanwhile, the company struggles to perfect its system, prove its safety and keep generating the hype needed to stay in business.

Its a mark of just where the market is that, so far in 2020, that has gone quite well. The shares are up almost 30% year to date.

Until Elon Musks SpaceX or Jeff Bezos Blue Origin seek capital from the public markets, Virgin Galactic is the only crazy billionaire space stock.

The crazy billionaire in this case is Richard Branson. He has had to sell out what was a 46% holding in big tranches to support Virgin Atlantic, the airline he co-owns with Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL). Those sales went well. Since they also cleared out warrants Branson held, they were seen to be bullish.

Virgin Galactics efforts cost about $200 million per year. At the end of March, it still had $431 million of cash. The Federal Aviation Administration issued rules about private human space flight in March. But formal safety regulations wont arrive until 2023.

Until it can take passengers, Virgin Galactic stock is tied to the markets moods and the hype over commercial space travel.

When the market was in a good mood in February, before the novel coronavirus, SPCE stock traded as high as $40 per share. People went on TV to explain it, but there was nothing they could say. There was no news.

A second stage of speculation was a UBS report in March saying that using space as Virgin Galactic proposes could be a $20-billion business in 2030. The report said space tourism could be a $3-billion opportunity. If Virgin Galactic can get 100 passengers onto a flight, cutting travel times 80%, and charging $2,500 per ticket, the estimate could be conservative, UBS wrote.

The shares got a third boost in early June, after SpaceX sent two astronauts to the International Space Station. Shares rose 6% but, again, this was not news relevant to Virgin Galactic.

When forced to say yea or nay on SPCE stock, most analysts start dancing.

Making money with it isnt rocket science, InvestorPlaces David Moadel wrote recently. He recommended a low-key, patient approach. Ian Cooper looked at the same set of facts and suggested avoiding the stock. Virgin Galactic has been taking deposits on flights, worth $100 million in future revenue, but cant yet fulfill those contracts.

TV analyst Jim Cramer considers most of the action a game. There were spikes of short interest in February and in May. As much as 30% of the float is sometimes being borrowed on the hope of lower prices. Take away that pressure and the stock settles back to Earth.

There are stocks you invest in for income, stocks you invest in for capital appreciation and stocks you trade.

Virgin Galactic is a stock you trade.

Its system works in theory. The company has done some test flights. But until there are real flights, with paying passengers, its all a guess.

The stock will rise or fall with news, with the markets temperature with its own short interest. But, as Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, theres no there there. Until there is, risk-averse investors should stay on the sidelines, and leave SPCE stock to the speculators.

Dana Blankenhorn has been a financial and technology journalist since 1978. He is the author of the environmental thriller Bridget OFlynn and the Bear, available at the Amazon Kindle store. Follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned no shares in companies mentioned in this story.

Read more:

Virgin Galactic Stock Is Only for Astronauts and Speculators - InvestorPlace

A Chinese man wears a protective mask to prevent COVID-19 and protective glasses as he watches the ... [+] sun during the annular solar eclipse outside the Forbidden City on June 20, 2020 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Early on Sunday morning as much as 99.4% of the Sun was covered by the Moon for less than a minute as seen from parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Although few international eclipse-chasers could travel to witness the event, and many living near the 27 miles-wide path of the Moons shadow were also thwarted by COVID-19 travel restrictions, amateur astronomers were out in force for this rare annular solar eclipse.

The path of today's eclipse began in Africa and crossed into the Arabian Peninsula.

This special kind of partial solar eclipse was visible for just under six hours between 03:45 UTC and 09:34 UTC, from the Republic of Congo in Central Africa to Guam in the Pacific Ocean. From everywhere along the track solar eclipse glasses had to be worn.

Ethiopia was where some of the first images came from; heres an image from the iconicLalibelain Ethiopia, which is famous for its rock-hewn monolithicchurches:

Heres a great video from Ethiopia (scan to 23 minutes for the ring of fire):

Next was Yemen. Not much was seen online during the eclipse, but soon after this beautiful photo appeared on Twitter:

Next up was Oman. Heres a video (scan to 1 hour 43 minutes for the ring of fire):

While a massive swathe of the eastern hemisphere saw a partial solar eclipse, that delicate ring around the Moon was visible for between 38 and 82 seconds only from a narrow path through the Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen, Oman, Pakistan, India, Tibet, China and Taiwan.

Heres that perfect circle moment from Quriyat, Oman:

Minutes later, it was Pakistans turn. In Sukkur, Pakistan, research astronomer Talha Moon Zia took this spectacular image (below) thatin my opinionis the definitive image of the entire eclipse; a ring of fire that shows the Suns pinkish chromosphere an even a few pink prominencesexplosions on the surface of the Sun (look on the lower-left where the ring is at its thinnest):

Heres what was going minutes later in Ahmedabad, India, which experienced a maximum 77% partial solar eclipse:

Meanwhile, a ring of fire was visible in northern Rajasthan, India, back along that narrow full eclipse path:

Can you see those broken rings on the images above? Those are Bailys beads. These beads of light are the Suns light coming through the mountains of the Moon. They were only visible for a few seconds before and after the ring of fire.

The path of today's annular solar eclipse.

From Dehradun, India the spectacle of Bailys beads was again briefly visible:

To the south, New Delhi, India saw a 93% partial solar eclipse:

The moon moves in front of the sun during an annular solar eclipse as seen from New Delhi on June ... [+] 21, 2020. (Photo by Jewel Samad / AFP) (Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

The word annular comes from annulus, a Latin word for little ring. An annular solar eclipse is caused when a New Moon is further away from Earth on its slightly elliptical orbit, so not big enough in our sky to cover the whole of the Sun.

After leaving India across the Himalayas, the ring of fire then crossed Tibet and China, with the last views of the ringfor about a minutein Xiamen, China and southern Taiwan.

Heres a photo from Tibet:

The annular solar eclipse is seen on June 21, 2020 in Ali Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of ... [+] China. (Photo by Jia Jiqian/VCG via Getty Images)

Macau then saw an 84% partial solar eclipse. Heres a great amateur video of it, which demonstrates just how useful cloud can sometimes be for eclipse-viewing:

Dont confuse an annular solar eclipse with a total solar eclipse, which occurs when a New Moon covers 100% or more of the Sun.The next total solar eclipse will happen next on December 14, 2020 as seen from a narrow path of totality through Chile and Argentina.

People gather to watch the partial solar eclipse along a promenade on June 21, 2020 in Hong Kong, ... [+] China. (Photo by Billy H.C. Kwok/Getty Images)

The next annular solar eclipse will occur on June 10, 2021 and be visible from Canada, Greenland and Russia. It will be the first of three solar eclipses of some kind in North America inside just four years.

Solar eclipses are predicted using an ephemeris that accurately plots where the Sun and Moon are, with respect to Earth, where the Moons shadow is in space, and when its going to strike Earths surface. Spherical trigonometry has been used to plot how the Moon-shadow moves across the surface in 3D.

Science aside, you owe yourself a trip to see a solar eclipsebut make sure its a total solar eclipse you travel to. Annular solar eclipses make great photosas demonstrated herebut theyre not a patch on the experience of totality.

Disclaimer: I am editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

More:

Best Solar Eclipse Photos And YouTube Videos Of The Solstice Ring Of Fire From Around The World - Forbes

Elon Musk is one of the many individuals that has played a crucial role in tech innovation. Musk is known all over the world for a number of companies and a variety of products.

Specifically, he is known as an engineer, industrial designer, technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. Tesla as his brain child has led the revolution of electric cars which have the potential to replace the polluting combustion engine-driven vehicles.

Tesla vehicles represent mans drive towards clean transportation; being able to move around without contaminating the air he breathes. In 2019, the company manufactured over 300,000 vehicles and generated about US$24.578 dollars. Thats a lot of money.

READ ALSO: Elon Musk fires back at SEC on twitter

Musk is also the progenitor of The Boring Company, an American Infrastructural and tunnel construction company founded in 2016. We cant also forget Open AI, an Artificial Intelligence company dedicated to ensuring AI does not lead to human extinction. Elon with regards to Open AI, shares the idea that AI, if not controlled can broaden its ability to re-design and improve itself which can be inimical for man. Because of this, the company partners with other organisations and researchers in the field to ensure AI remains an extension of human intelligence and not necessarily a competitor.

A company that will be of interest to any is SpaceX officially known as the Space Explosion Technologies Corp., an American aerospace manufacturing and space transportation company. SpaceX is not just a representation of Elons desire for space travel, but the deeper vision of colonizing Mars.

In 2017, SpaceX unveiled the Interplanetary Transport System, a privately funded system.

In 2020, SpaceX in collaboration with NASA launched two astronauts into space, the first launch since the U.S. government retired its space program after a national tragedy. It was also the first collaboration between NASA and a private organisation. This, however, does not seem to be the last launch for Elons company as the next launch is scheduled for June 12.

READ ALSO: Disruptive Opportunities: Can developing AI and robotics stabilise the Naira?

SpaceX will among other things, be sending another 60 of its starling satellites into orbit. Elon Musks works do not in any way undermine the products, innovations, researches and actions of others in the tech field. But they unsurprisingly put him at the forefront of it all.

How this affects the tech space and the rest of the world?Elons companies and their products are causing ripple effects in their respective industries. They are giving the old way of doing things a run for its money. His inventions and innovations ordinarily represent the tools of the new era of tech.

At the same time, he is becoming a threat to competitors in the tech industry. Kanyes West words, how can one man have all that power?! resonates in the minds of competitors and businessmen who want a slice of Elons cake.

Be this as it may, without worthy competitors, Elon will be left to dominate and control the trends in Artificial Intelligence, Space travel among others. This is not strange in any way. Once upon a time, we had Steve Jobs at the forefront of innovation in tech.

For consumers, Elons dominance in the tech field might be a little troublesome. Having innovative tech is good for us, but having them from the same person does not cut it. If that is to happen, the tech market will be dominated by Elon Musk and his many tech companies which could in more ways than one, limit the variety of products in our lives.

READ ALSO: Tech group suspends Crowdfunded relief to Nigerians

Moreover, tech could become monotonous being that the concepts emanated from the same mind. Governmental policies could also be affected by Elons dominance of the tech industry.

SpaceX launches, as much as they have a record of firsts, it wont be wrong to say that either subtly or not, the company and Elon has impacted governments policies; specifically, as regards space travel.

On the whole, these dont mean Elon Musk is an overbearing capitalist, but we need the tech industry to step up to match his innovations specifically in these fields: artificial intelligence, space travel, automobile and car manufacturing.

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The amazon bond offering - Nairametrics