Category Archives: Space Travel

Your wish to fly around the moon may not be possible anytime soon, but chances are that your name can be flashed on the most awaited moon mission. Instead of people on board, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has invited names of people for the Artemis I mission.

How do you enroll? Its a simple process. Click on the NASA website link (https://www.nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-artemis/), enter your name and a custom pin to generate a boarding pass. The pass is important for access in the future as it is your ticket to ride with information such as launch site (which is the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida), launch vehicle type (Space Launch System or SLS), rocket type (Orion) and destination (Lunar Orbit).

The Artemis I will be the first uncrewed flight test of an SLS rocket and the names will be launched on an Orion capsule that will travel around the moon. The journey dates are yet to be confirmed but NASA is eyeing end of May or starting June for a possible launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

However, this is not the first time when NASA has opted for flashing names on a mission. For its Mars rover mission, over 11 million names along with the Perseverance rover had taken off inside Jezero Crater, on February 18, 2021. The Send Your Name to Mars campaign invited people around the globe to submit their names, which were etched on three fingernail-sized chips on board the Perseverance rover.

How did it work? NASAs Laboratory used an electron beam machine which could etch features as less than 1 micron.The launch of the Artemis I will be a historic moment for NASA and the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the moon for decades to come. Additionally, theres incredible excitement for the Artemis programme that will land the first person of colour on the moon and the first woman and the next man on the lunar South Pole by 2024.

Previous space missions have also seen a diverse next-generation of explorers in gender and ethnicity. There was a time when the only people who touched the moons surface in 1972 were white men. Gradually, this changed over the years.Guion Bluford became NASAs first African-American astronaut to fly in space on the STS-8 mission in 1983, the first of his four spaceflights. Among a long list of women who have travelled to space is Mae C Jemison. On the STS-47 mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992, she became the first African-American female in space. The first woman in space was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova who flew on Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963; the first American woman in space, Sally Ride, flew aboard the Space Shuttle STS-7 in June of 1983. Other notable firsts: Roscosmos cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya participated in a spacewalk in July, 1984; NASA astronaut Susan Helms was the first female crew member aboard the space station, a member of Expedition 2 from March to August 2001. The 2013 astronaut class was the first with equal numbers of women and men. Kalpana Chawla also became the first woman of Indian origin in 1997 to travel in space as the mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator aboard the US space shuttle Columbia. In December 2006, Sunita Williams became the second woman of Indian origin to venture into space on a 12-day repair mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

But the 2024 Artemis III mission will be humanitys return to the surface of the moon. After launching on SLS, the astronauts will travel about 240,000 miles to lunar orbit aboard Orion, at which point they will directly board one of the new commercial human landing systems, or dock to the Gateway to inspect it and gather supplies before boarding the landing system for their expedition to the surface, states the agency website.

Whats important here is that Artemis moonwalkers will wear revolutionary spacesuits that stand up to the Moons harsh environment and keep them safe. Spacesuits include life support, pressure garments, informatics, and avionics, tools and equipment, vehicle interfaces, flight and ground support hardware.

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A space for all: Adventures beyond the planet are now open to all, even if its a name on a microchip - The Financial Express

Here is the full list of titles coming to the platform in the first two weeks of April

Here is the full list of titles coming to the platform in the first two weeks of April

Avail on 4/1/2022

Trivia Quest

Test your knowledge of history, art, science and more across varying levels of difficulty in this interactive trivia series.

Battle: Freestyle

Amalie is elated when her and Mikaels dance crew is selected to compete in Paris, but becomes distracted when she reunites with her estranged mother.

Forever Out of My League

Life hangs in the balance after Martas operation, with true love just within reach. But can the heart prevail against old secrets and fickle fate?

Celeb Five: Behind the Curtain

Jokes and improv take center stage as comedian girl group Celeb Five brainstorms material for a comedy special in this behind-the-scenes mockumentary.

The Last Bus

After embarking on a life-changing field trip, a group of whip-smart students fight to save humanity from an army of ruthless drones.

Avail on 4/5/2022

Ronny Chieng: Speakeasy

In this stylish follow up to his highly acclaimed debut Netflix stand-up comedy special, Ronny Chieng performs live in New York City in the intimate setting of the Chinese Tuxedo bar and restaurant.

Ronny Chieng: Speakeasy. c. Marcus Russell Price/ Netflix 2022| Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Marcus Russell Price

With a unique blend of intelligence, rage and physicality, Ronny shares his take on the pandemic, race relations, cancel culture and stories from his experiences as an international touring comic.

Directed by Sebastian DiNatale and produced by All Things Comedy, Ronny Chieng: Speakeasy premieres globally on Netflix on April 5.

Avail on 4/6/2022

Furioza

A policewoman makes her ex-boyfriend an offer he cant refuse: Either he infiltrates and informs on a gang of hooligans, or his brother goes to jail.

Furioza. (L to R)Mateusz Damiecki as Golden, Wojciech Zielinskias 'Kaszub' and Mateusz Banasiuk as Dawid in Furioza. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix | Photo Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

Michela Giraud: the Truth, I Swear!

Career success. Fames shortcomings. The cringeworthy label of curvy and tough ballet days during her youth. Michela Giraud has a whole lot to unpack.

Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story

TV star Jimmy Savile charmed a nation with his eccentricity and philanthropy. But sexual abuse allegations expose a shocking unseen side of his persona.

Avail on 4/7/2022

Return to Space

Elon Musk and SpaceX engineers embark on a historic mission to return NASA astronauts to the International Space Station and revolutionize space travel.

Dasvi

A politician finds out the hard way that being good with people doesnt make you good with the syllabus of class 10th.

Avail on 4/8/2022

Yaksha: Ruthless Operations

On assignment in a perilous city to inspect a Black Ops team and its notorious leader, an upstanding prosecutor steps into a deadly war between spies.

Yaksha: Ruthless Operations (L to R) Sul Kyung-gu as Ji Gang-in in Yaksha: Ruthless Operations. Cr. Jeong Kyung-hwa/Netflix 2022| Photo Credit: Jeong Kyung-hwa/Netflix

Green Eggs and Ham: Season 2

A secret story, an unsolved mystery, a new beginning and spies! Settle in for a second helping of Seuss-inspired fun and epic adventure.

Avail on 4/12/2022

Hard Cell

Events planner-turned-womens prison governor Laura Willis documents the thrills and spills of life behind bars in this delightfully dry comedy series.

The Creature Cases

Special agents Sam and Kit hop the globe with their sleuthing skills, science facts and cool gadgets to solve the animal kingdoms many mysteries.

Avail on 4/13/2022

Smother-in-Law

Living with her family since the pandemic struck, the meddling Isadir does her best to disrupt the lives of her bumbling son and rival daughter-in-law.

Our Great National Parks

An epic five-part series narrated by President Barack Obama that invites viewers to celebrate and discover the power of our planets greatest national parks and wild spaces.

Avail on 4/14/2022

Ultraman: Season 2

Ultraman is joined by Seven, Ace, Zoffy, Jack and Taro and together, the united Ultraman brotherhood takes on a new alien threat.

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New on Netflix: Dasvi, Hard Cell and more - The Hindu

Microsoft is working with partners to develop innovative solutions and democratize access to space. ... [+] (Photo by Heritage Space/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Space. I dont know if its the final frontier, but it is a very compelling one for sure. While billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sir Richard Branson capture headlines and imaginations as they strive to modernize and commercialize space travel, hundreds of lesser-known companies around the world are pursuing projects to explore and leverage space for a wider range of objectives. Microsoft is not pursuing its own agenda for space exploration, but the company has its sights set on being the platform and ecosystem of choice for organizations engaging in space missions through Azure Space.

Microsofts effort with Intelsat is one example. Commerce is increasingly global and organizations need to stay connected. In developed nations and populated areas, that is generally not a problem, but much of the world still lacks network infrastructure. Intelsat recently demonstrated the ability to deploy a secure, high-performance private LTE and 5G network by combining Intelsats network of satellites and Microsofts Azure cloud platform.

A blog post from Intelsat explains, Via the private cellular network, users can access local enterprise resources via SIM-authenticated connections to the Azure Stack Edge and access remote resources through the FlexEnterprise connection, the IntelsatOne global network, and Azure.

I spoke with Jean-Philippe Gillet, SVP Global Sales Media, and Networks for Intelsat, about the collaboration with Microsoft. He told me that combining satellite communications with Microsoft Azure allows them to provide enterprise customers anywhere in the world with fast, reliable, and cost-effective network connectivity.

Gillet said that Intelsat satellites deliver global coverageincluding both land and sea. He shared that not only can customers provide access to applications and network resources from remote sites and offices, but this solution also enables seamless networking with moving fleetslike trucks or shipsto allow access and connectivity for communications, telemetry tracking, and other applications and analysis on the go.

As impressive as that is, it is just one facet of what Microsoft is doing to enable companies to leverage and benefit from space. Microsoft wants Azure Space to be the platform and ecosystem of choice for the mission needs of companies venturing into space or customers that want to take advantage of unique perspectives and data from space.

I spent some time a few months ago with Steve Kitay, Senior Director of Azure Space at Microsoft. He talked about how space exploration historically has been driven by government and scientific objectives, but we are now in a new era where commercial interests and commercial innovation are lowering the barrier to entry and expanding opportunities.

Kitay came to Microsoft from a career in the government sectorfilling positions from active-duty military service to Capitol Hill and working for Congress. Prior to joining Microsoft, he worked in the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for space policy.

There's tremendous investment going into space right now, proclaimed Kitay. Because I think that companies recognize the importance of this domain and really the opportunity that presents itself. So, Microsoft did as well and you know, our mission is to empower our customers to achieve more.

Edge computing is already a thing, but Microsoft is taking that to an extreme. For Microsoft Azure, the edge is outer space.

Kitay clarified that Microsoft is not jumping in to compete with SpaceX or Blue Origin. Microsoft does not even have plans to build or launch its own satellites. He explained that Microsoft views its role as partnering with others to facilitate and enable innovation. Essentially, Microsoft is focused on streamlining and accelerating value for commercial innovation in space.

Azure Space works with startups, midsize companies, and established players that are reinventing themselves and developing new technologies by bringing Microsoft technology into the equation to accomplish two things. One is to help space operators and space developers innovate much faster, said Kitay. And then the second area we're working on is how do we democratize space, or make space more accessible to more people in more industries?

He told me that Microsoft is expanding on its already-impressive ground infrastructure to be able to connect customers anywhere on the globe to the cloudto enable customers to bring geospatial data and analytics into the cloud to then perform artificial intelligence. Ultimately, we bring through enterprise capabilities to support different industries and objectives, whether it's agriculture, sustainability, emissions, government, weather. That gets to the issue of how we make space capabilities more accessible to these industries, and that's where Microsoft provides a great platform because we have these enterprise capabilities already and are already servicing these customers.

I also had a conversation with Tom Keane, Corporate Vice President of Azure at Microsoft, about why Microsoft is investing in this area and how space fits into the broader cloud journey.

We're trying to combine what we've been doing in Azure with our cloud as well as with the rest of the Microsoft Cloud with the potential of space and we sort of distill our strategy down into a multi-orbit, multi-vendor, multi-frequency approach, explained Keane. And really what that's about is bringing data from satellites and different orbits and insights into our cloud and to use our cloud to transform industries and create new paradigms.

Keane told me about Azure Orbitalan effort by Microsoft to expand beyond its own ground stations and integrate third-party ground stations natively into Azure as well. In addition, Microsoft has engaged in a variety of key partnerships to democratize access to space to reduce cost, accelerate time to market, and enable important research.

For example, Microsoft Research has developed methods for removing cloud cover from satellite images. Keane told me, When you look at satellite images, often two-thirds of them have cloud cover, making them much harder to use and SpaceEye and some of the work that we've been doing with Planetary Computer are about removing clouds through AI and completing that picture to give you more usable images.

Keane stated, What technology is ultimately doing is democratizing access. In our strategy to partner, were bringing together a whole bunch of capabilities, and then we're also building tools for space developers, so that you can write applications and make use of space infrastructure, and even emulate and simulate that infrastructure before you go on orbit.

We talked about using geospatial data to understand ocean and weather patterns. Microsoft was able to demonstrate the use of satellite technology to monitor large-scale bodies of water over time to see how global warming is affecting and changing them. One example is the ability to analyze the level of a lake over a 10-year period using geospatial data.

That data is interesting for sustainability reasons. It's interesting for insurance companies. It's interesting for supply chain monitoring and tracking. The possibilities are pretty endless. And weve got customers across a whole variety of industries that are really interested in leveraging it, shared Keane.

We are still at a very early stage when it comes to space, and we have barely begun to even scratch the surface of what is possible when it comes to commercial innovation. Partnerships like the one between Microsoft and Intelsat demonstrate what can be achieved when companies collaborate to push the envelope. Microsoft seems very focused on driving innovation and democratizing access to space for companies of all sizes around the world.

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Microsoft And Intelsat Combine Space And Cloud To Deliver Seamless 5G Networks Virtually Anywhere - Forbes

About two-thirds of U.S. adults (65%) say science has had a mostly positive effect on society, while 28% say it has had an equal mix of positive and negative effects and just 7% say it has had a mostly negative effect, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Over the past few years, around two-thirds or more of Americans have seen sciences effect on society as mostly positive.

Of course, science encompasses a wide swath of disparate fields and developments. What exactly do Americans have in mind when they think about science?

A few common themes arise when U.S. adults are asked to talk about sciences effects on society in their own words or when they discuss areas of science they follow or find interesting. Most prominent among these are developments in health and medicine, such as new treatments for disease. Other, less commonly mentioned areas include references to computer and digital technology, the environment and advances in space exploration. Heres a closer look at what Americans mean when they think about science, based on a new analysis of open-ended survey data and focus group discussions from the past several years.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to look at how Americans describe science in their own words. Analysis of survey data comes from a Center survey of 10,260 U.S. adults conducted from Nov. 1 to 7, 2021. Open-ended responses come from an earlier survey conducted in January 2019, with focus group discussions from a series of focus groups held in July 2021.

Everyone who took part in the survey is a member of the Centers American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way, nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATPs methodology.

Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

Focus group discussions were part of a broader Center research effort to better understand opinion about science and scientists among Black and Hispanic Americans. Six groups were held with Black adults (28 individuals in total) and six groups with Hispanic adults (29 individuals in all) between July 13 and July 22, 2021. All focus group discussions were held virtually for 90 minutes with three to six participants in each group. Groups with Hispanic adults were conducted in English or Spanish. Group discussions were conducted by professional moderators using a guide developed by Pew Research Center. Center researchers systematically coded interview transcripts for thematic responses using qualitative data analysis software. Here are the questions from the moderator guide and the focus group methodology.

In a January 2019 survey, the Center asked Americans who said science has had a mostly positive effect on society to explain, in their own words, what they had in mind. The most common answer given by 56% of those asked referred to health and medical advancements, such as disease eradication, medical devices and new medications, and cancer research leading to longer lifespans and improved public health.

Medical science was also top of mind for some of those who said science has had a mostly negative effect on society. Some in this group lamented the wait for cures of serious diseases while others cited concerns about developments in biotechnology, such as cloning and designer babies.

These responses are generally in line with some of the themes that came up during a series of virtual focus groups the Center conducted in July 2021. The 12 focus groups consisted of 28 Black and 29 Hispanic adults and were part of a broader effort to better understand opinion about science and scientists among these racial and ethnic groups. The topics that were mentioned in these discussions offer another window into what the public sees as science.

Asked to elaborate on the areas of science they find interesting or exciting or to discuss the science topic areas they follow in the news several focus group participants referenced health and medicine. One Hispanic man in the 25-39 age group said he paid attention to anything that has been developed in the medicine world or just for different treatments.

Others mentioned progress in treatment for specific diseases such as cancer, sickle cell disease, diabetes or HIV, or the development of coronavirus vaccines. For example, one Black woman in the 40-65 age range said she was excited to hear about medical breakthroughs, such as stuff with heart patients that theyve done. Stuff with blood treatments and just going back to blood transfusions and cancer treatments, things of that sort.

Another Black woman in the 40-65 age group said, Its more about the treatments that they are finding for diseases and for the vaccines and things theyre coming up with, especially for COVID and just the different types of treatments that are helping people, the different types of diseases. Thats what interests me most.

Its more about the treatments that they are finding for diseases and for the vaccines and things theyre coming up with, especially for COVID and just the different types of treatments that are helping people, the different types of diseases. Thats what interests me most.

In the Centers 2019 survey, a smaller but still sizable segment of the public described the effects of science in terms of technology, computerization, workplace automation, GPS tools or social media platforms.

Participants in the Centers 2021 focus group discussions also pointed to developments in technology, as well as the so-called internet of things from GPS navigation to voice-activated assistants as sources of interest and excitement for them. A Black man in the 40-65 age group said, I find all the new products they are coming out with exciting. I can say, Alexa, play music, and shell play my music.

Others talked about developments in robotics and artificial intelligence as an area that catches their attention. A Black woman in the 25-39 age group said, The improvements, we have drones flying in the air. Now youre talking about drones delivering our packages.

Some participants said they were interested in the ways digital technology connects people. One Hispanic woman in the 40-65 age range said, I think technology has taken us to a third dimension, the fact that we can communicate with people in other parts of the world is something we never thought we could do.

I think technology has taken us to a third dimension, the fact that we can communicate with people in other parts of the world is something we never thought we could do.

A number of other areas come to mind when people think about the effects of science on society. Some respondents to the 2019 survey gave a broad answer, such as the idea that science provides a better understanding of our world. Others mentioned a range of specifics, including improvements in food safety and crop yields, weather forecasting and air travel. Among the ideas that came up repeatedly were references to climate, energy and the environment, as well as the world of space exploration.

Focus group discussions in 2021 also touched on a range of topics, including some related to space. One Black woman in the 25-39 age group described what she found interesting as the commercial travel of people into outer space, and then the research behind the different planets and finding out whats beyond our galaxy.

While this analysis is limited to the United States, there is some evidence that people in other countries may think of similar things when they think about science.

In the United Kingdom, government surveys have asked respondents to explain, in their own words, what comes to mind when they think of science. In the most recent of these, the 2019 UK Public Attitudes to Science survey, 24% of UK adults ages 16 and older associated science with fields of study such as biology, chemistry or physics. Another 16% referred to health, drugs, medicine and doctors.

As was the case in the U.S., some UK adults in the 2019 survey referred to technology (mentioned by 13%) or to space, rockets and astronomy (mentioned by 15%).

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When Americans think about science, what do they have in mind? - Pew Research Center

This weeks new entertainment releases include albums from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Thomas Rhett, a look back at Whitney Houston's life and legacy and the musical comedy Better Nate Than Ever.

By The Associated Press

March 28, 2022, 6:20 PM

5 min read

Heres a collection curated by The Associated Press entertainment journalists of whats arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

MOVIES

Richard Linklater returns to animation with Apollo 10, which comes to Netflix on Friday. But this is no Waking Life or A Scanner Darkly, though parts do use the rotoscoping technology he used in those films. Its about being a kid in Houston during the summer of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and is loosely based on Linklaters own childhood. Glen Powell and Zachary Levi voice men of NASA, while newcomer Milo Coy takes on the leading role as Stanley, with Jack Black voicing the adult version. Critics called it sweetly nostalgic after its well-received debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

Space travel is big on streaming this week, apparently, as HBO Max has its own sci-fi rom com, Moonshot available starting Thursday. Produced by Greg Berlanti and directed by Chris Winterbauer, Moonshot stars Cole Sprouse as a barista who sneaks on a shuttle to colonize Mars and teams up with To All the Boys Ive Loved Before star Lana Condor to avoid getting caught. Zach Braff also co-stars.

And for the family set, Disney+ will start streaming Better Nate Than Ever on Friday. The musical comedy based on Tim Federles 2013 novel follows an unpopular 13-year-old in Pittsburgh (Nate, played by Rueby Wood), who dreams of being a Broadway star and decides to take matters into his own hands and go to New York City with a fellow theater kid, Libby. Lisa Kudrow co-stars as Nates Aunt Heidi. Federle wrote and directed the film, too.

AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

MUSIC

The Red Hot Chili Peppers return on April Fool's Day with a new album and some old friends. Unlimited Love marks their first recording with guitarist John Frusciante since 2006's Stadium Arcadium and first with producer and longtime collaborator Rick Rubin since 2011. Black Summer is the slow-building, arena-ready first single and it features Fleas energetic bass work and multiple solos from Frusciante. The second is a delicious slice of funk called Poster Child that celebrates music itself: The 70s were such a win/Singing the Led Zeppelin/Lizzy looking mighty Thin/The Thomsons had another Twin.

Thomas Rhett will release Where We Started, with Katy Perry as the guest on the albums title song and closing track. Riley Green, Florida Georgia Lines Tyler Hubbard, and Russell Dickerson will also be featured as album collaborators. Everyone including Rhett expected him to follow Country Again: Side A with Country Again: Side B" but it was just pushed back in favor of Where We Stand. Of the new album, he says: There are songs that'll make you cry on this record, there are songs that make you kiss the person you love, there are songs that'll make you want to dance and there are songs that'll make you want to party.

AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

TELEVISION

A decade after the loss of Whitney Houston, CBS remembers the music greats life and final days with Whitney, A Look Back, airing Saturday, on the broadcast network (and streaming on its Paramount+ sibling). The hour-long special produced by Entertainment Tonight promises lost performances and rare moments with Houston, as well as new interviews including with Dionne Warwick, Clive Davis and CeCe Winans. Houston, 48, died by accidental drowning in her hotel room bathtub in Beverly Hills, California in 2012. Coroners officials ruled that heart disease and drug use were contributing factors.

Jane Seymour stars as a literature professor opening a new chapter in Harry Wild, which debuts with two episodes April 4, on the Acorn TV streaming service. A mugging has sent Harriet Harry Wild to recover with her police detective-son Charlie (Kevin Ryan), whos immersed in an intriguing murder case. Turns out it has parallels to a little-known, Elizabethan-era play and who better to join the hunt than the well-read Harry? Fergus (Rohan Nedd), her troubled teenage attacker, joins her for further sleuthing on the eight-episode series set in Ireland.

Adam McKay, the Oscar-winning writer-director of Big Short and a nominee this year for Dont Look Up, turns to nonfiction TV as executive producer of the HBO docuseries The invisible Pilot. Filmmakers Phil Lott and Ari Mark explore the life of a small-town Arkansas family man and pilot who, in 1977, appears to have met a tragic end, leaving his family and friends bewildered. Years passed before a tangled story of a double life and drug smuggling came into focus and that, HBO promises, is just the beginning. The three-part series, including interviews with Betzners intimates, law officers and journalists, will be released in weekly installments beginning April 4.

AP Television Writer Lynn Elber

Catch up on APs entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.

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New this week: Red Hot Chili Peppers and 'Apollo 10' - ABC News

During a panel at The Future of Food @ SXSW, panelists argued that innovation in the food system can help drive space exploration and address challenges of food security and sustainability.

Everyone whos an explorer has to consider their food supply, says Dane Gobel, Co-founder of the Methuselah Foundation, supporting NASA Deep Space Food Challenge.

According to Gobel, the shelf-stable foods that exist today are not viable for space missions that spans three to five years. The NASA Deep Space Food Challenge seeks innovative ideas for food production technologies or systems that require minimal resources and produce minimal waste, while providing safe, nutritious, and tasty food for long-term travel.

But the panelists also believe that the technologies developed for the challenge will also have applications for those on Earth.

In order for humans to do anything in space, we have to take our biology with us, says Mackenze McAleer, CEO for FreshProduce.Supply. Were taking that technology to space and studying how to make it resilient and build it into ecologies that support life.

This will be important,Chef Joseph Yoon, because at the rate were using the worlds resources, we are a tipping point where we will need to address how we will sustainably produce enough food for the burgeoning global population. A culinary advisor to the Deep Space Challenge, Yoon goes on to say that the initiative poses the question: How can we apply this technology to address food security and sustainability?

Everything has to be hyper-engineered [for space], Gobel says. Its the perfect place to test out new technologies.

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"Everyone Who's an Explorer Has to Consider their Food Supply" Says Dane Gobel Food Tank - Food Tank

Happy Monday, readers. Today we're sharing insights from an interview with Elon Musk, and showing you "the charging station of the future."

Ready? Let's get started.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app click here for iOS and here for Android.

1. Elon Musk talks war, space travel, and loneliness in a new interview. In a conversation with Mathias Dpfner, the CEO of Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, Musk discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, space travel, the ideal dinner guest, and what makes human beings special. Here are a few highlights:

Read Musk's full interview here.

In other news:

2. Apple became the first streamer to land the best picture Oscar with its coming-of-age drama "Coda."The tech giant pipped Netflix's western "The Power of the Dog" to the top spot during an eventful night for the Academy Awards. Check out our full list of award winners here.

3. A Google engineer describes the weeks after finding out they may be laid off. The engineer one of dozens who were told they'd be let go if they don't find another job at the company says they experienced a lack of communication that filled the past few weeks with uncertainty. Read the employee's story here.

4. Microsoft fired employees after allegations of bribery in the Middle East and Africa. In an essay, a former employee accused the tech giant of turning a blind eye to employees, subcontractors, and government operators engaging in bribery. Here's what the ex-employee is alleging.

5. Documents show Amazon's prototype delivery drones have crashed at least eight times in the last year. Confirmation of the crashes comes as Amazon looks to secure new registration that would allow it to test drones closer to population centers and with fewer restrictions. What we know about the crashes.

6. SpaceX's Starlink internet poses danger for users in Ukraine, experts say. Starlink terminals are "visually distinctive" and difficult to camouflage, and Russian troops could consider their users as targets, according to experts. Why Starlink could be endangering its users in Ukraine.

7. Meet a "soul reader" who charges up to $100,000 to help Silicon Valley execs improve their lives. 51-year-old Sacha Knop uses her "super empath" abilities to help CEOs, financiers, and the ultrawealthy overcome personal and professional hurdles. Take a look inside a typical soul-reading session.

8. The CMO of Pinterest shares her daily routine. Andra Mallard, 45, starts her day when she feels most creative: 5 a.m. But before she starts work, she exercises, listens to a five-minute meditation , and drinks a breakfast smoothie. Here's how she organizes her mornings to get everything done.

Odds and ends:

9. VW's electric charging firm just unveiled "the charging station of the future." Electrify America has released designs for EV charging stations with solar panels, coffee bars, and lounges. See inside the charging stations.

10. Google's CEO swears by a relaxation technique called non-sleep deep rest. We tried it out. NSDR puts you into a "liminal space between being awake and falling asleep," and has been hailed by Sundar Pichai as a trusty relaxation method. An Insider reporter gave it a shot, and found it was pretty hit or miss. Here's what it was like.

What we're watching today:

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.

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10 Things in Tech: Musk talks war & love - Business Insider

British astronaut Tim Peake took to the stage in Aberdeen's Music Hall and provided a fascinating insight into his life journey that ultimately saw him fulfil his ambition of travelling to space.

Peake was in the north-east on Wednesday evening and delighted a near sold-out audience with his stories of travelling to and living on the International Space Station (ISS) and the challenges that were overcome to get there.

Tim Peake My Journey to Space is his first UK tour and the crowd of all ages were treated to astounding photos from his time orbiting Earth, never-before-seen footage and unprecedented access on what it takes to become an astronaut for the European Space Agency (ESA).

His presentation chronicled his life from growing up in Chichester as a child and young man with ambitions, his career in the Army and as a test pilot, his mission that took him to the ISS and what the future of space travel will hold.

Dressed in his distinctive ESA blue suit, Peake outlined that growing up he thrived in the environment of the Army cadets and knew that he wanted a career that would take him to the skies as a pilot.

He joked that some of his life has been similar to that of the early Tom Cruise movies with the first being Cocktail when he worked in a bar to help pay for a trip to Alaska. That expedition proved to be the spark for the adventures that were to come.

He then undertook his training for the Army at Sandhurst and became a pilot and later instructor during his time in the armed forces. He served for 17 years reaching the rank of Major. After leaving the army he became a test pilot.

It was during this time that he explained that Top Gun was the Cruise film that best reflected his life.

He was then successful in gaining a place in ESA's astronaut training programme beating thousands of applicants.

His training took him underwater and to caves in Sardinia which he said were ideal conditions to study how humans react to living in extreme conditions with complete isolation and gave them a taste of what they could expect on the ISS.

On his launch day on December 15, 2015, Peake said his biggest worry was leaving his wife Rebecca and sons behind and if he would return to them.

He showed on board footage of himself and crew mates Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra as the Soyuz rocket took off from Kazakhstan.

He gave insight into how they came across the first significant problem during the mission when the docking navigation system failed and they had to do it manually to finally reach the ISS.

Peake said when he got on the space station he was surprised to see a bacon sandwich and cup of tea waiting for him and was if he had just arrived home.

He explained what life aboard the ISS was like, the work schedule, the fun moments, how he went to the toilet and slept and how he managed to complete the London Marathon.

His highlight of the mission was the spacewalk.While carrying it out he said they arrived early at the circuit breaker they had to fix and mission control told them to hang around for 10 minutes. As he looked out into space he said it was the most remarkable 10 minutes of his life.

However, it was not without its issues as water leaked into the helmet of his crewmate Tim Kopra and they were called back into the space station.

He explained it was mixed emotions when he had to leave the ISS after six months as he was leaving such a remarkable and interesting place but was soon to be reunited with his family.

He detailed the highly dangerous part of the mission that is re-entry into earth's atmosphere and the extreme heat that their capsule experienced. He joked that he was smiling on the news reports when he landed but was feeling awful inside as the gravity pulled down on his body again.

He then had to get used to living on Earth again and reconnected with nature after living in the confines of the ISS.

The future of space travel was touched on with astronauts returning to the moon and he believes space travel to Mars is closer than we think.

Peake's presentation was full of information and his personal stories and humour added a human element to complement the technical aspects.

A collection of photos that he took from the ISS were featured which included the orange hue of the Sahara Desert, the striking green of the Northern Lights and the white tops of the Himalayas.

Peake informed and entertained during the evening and he is bound to have inspired the many young budding astronauts in the audience wearing NASA T-shirts with dreams of following in his footsteps.

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REVIEW: Tim Peake's stories of life in space entertain and inspire - Grampian Online

Artists rendering of a SpaceX Starship leaving a lunar colony. Credit: SpaceX

Space travel is all about momentum.

Rockets turn their fuel into momentum that carries people, satellites, and science itself forward into space. 2021 was a year full of records for space programs around the world, and that momentum is carrying forward into 2022.

Last year, the commercial space race truly took off. Richard Branson and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos both rode on suborbital launches and brought friends, including actor William Shatner. SpaceX sent eight astronauts and 1 ton of supplies to the International Space Station for NASA. The six tourist spaceflights in 2021 were a record. There were also a record 19 people weightless in space for a short time in December, eight of them private citizens. Finally, Mars was also busier than ever thanks to missions from the U.S., China, and United Arab Emirates sending rovers, probes or orbiters to the red planet.

In total, in 2021 there were 134 launches that put humans or satellites into orbit the highest number in the entire history of spaceflight. Nearly 200 orbital launches are scheduled for 2022. If things go well, this will smash last years record.

Im an astronomer who studies supermassive black holes and distant galaxies. I have also written a book about humanitys future in space. Theres a lot to look forward to in 2022. The Moon will get more attention than it has had in decades, as will Jupiter. The largest rocket ever built will make its first flight. And of course, the James Webb Space Telescope will start sending back its first images.

I, for one, cant wait.

NASA is planning to build a base on the Moon, and many missions in pursuit of this goal are happening this year. Credit: NASA Johnson Space Center

Getting a rocket into orbit around Earth is a technical achievement, but its only equivalent to a half a days drive straight up. Fifty years after the last person stood on Earths closest neighbor, 2022 will see a crowded slate of lunar missions.

NASA will finally debut its much delayed Space Launch System. This rocket is taller than the Statue of Liberty and produces more thrust than the mighty Saturn V. The Artemis I mission will head off this spring for a flyby of the Moon. Its a proof of concept for a rocket system that will one day let people live and work off Earth. The immediate goal is to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2025.

NASA is also working to develop the infrastructure for a lunar base, and its partnering with private companies on science missions to the Moon. A company called Astrobotic will carry 11 payloads to a large crater on the near side of the Moon, including two mini-rovers and a package of personal mementos gathered from the general public by a company based in Germany. The Astrobotic lander will also be carrying the cremated remains of science fiction legend Arthur C. Clarke as with Shatners flight into space, its an example of science fiction turned into fact. Another company, Intuitive Machines, plans two trips to the Moon in 2022, carrying 10 payloads that include a lunar hopper and an ice mining experiment.

Russia is getting in on the lunar act, too. The Soviet Union accomplished many lunar firsts first spacecraft to hit the surface in 1959, first spacecraft to soft-land in 1966 and the first lunar rover in 1970 but Russia hasnt been back for over 45 years. In 2022, it plans to send the Luna 25 lander to the Moons south pole to drill for ice. Frozen water is an essential requirement for any Moon base.

The SpaceX Starship performed a number of test flights in 2021 and is set to do its first real mission in 2022.

While NASAs Space Launch System will be a big step up for the agency, Elon Musks new rocket promises to be the king of the skies in 2022.

The SpaceX Starship the most powerful rocket ever launched will get its first orbital launch in 2022. Its fully reusable, has more than twice the thrust of the Saturn V rocket and can carry 100 tons into orbit. The massive rocket is central to Musks aspirations to create a self-sustaining base on the Moon and, eventually, a city on Mars.

Part of what makes Starship so important is how cheap it will make bringing things into space. If successful, the price of each flight will be US$2 million. By contrast, the price for NASA to launch the Space Launch System is likely to be over $2 billion. The reduction in costs by a factor of a thousand will be a game-changer for the economics of space travel.

Jupiters moons, many of which are thought to have liquid water under their surfaces, are good places to look for life. Credit: NASA/JPL/DLR

The Moon and Mars arent the only celestial bodies getting attention next year. After decades of neglect, Jupiter will finally get some love, too.

The European Space Agencys Icy Moons Explorer is scheduled to head off to the gas giant midyear. Once there, it will spend three years studying three of Jupiters moons Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. These moons are all thought to have subsurface liquid water, making them potentially habitable environments.

Additionally, in September 2022, NASAs Juno spacecraft which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016 is going to swoop within 220 miles of Europa, the closest-ever look at this fascinating moon. Its instruments will measure the thickness of the ice shell, which covers an ocean of liquid water.

The James Webb Space Telescope is built to allow astronomers to study the earliest days of the universe. Credit: NASA

All this action in the Solar System is exciting, but 2022 will also see new information from the edge of space and the dawn of time.

After successfully reaching its final destination, unfurling its solar panels, and unfolding its mirrors in January, NASAs James Webb Space Telescope will undergo exhaustive testing and return its first data sometime midyear. The 21-foot (6.5-meter) telescope has seven times the collecting area of the Hubble Space Telescope. It also operates at longer wavelengths of light than Hubble, so it can see distant galaxies whose light has been redshifted stretched to longer wavelengths by the expansion of the universe.

By the end of the year, scientists should be getting results from a project aiming to map the earliest structures in the universe and see the dawn of galaxy formation. The light these structures gave off was some of the very first light in history and was emitted when the universe was only 5% of its current age.

When astronomers look out in space they look back in time. First light marks the limit of what humanity can see of the universe. Prepare to be a time traveler in 2022.

Written by Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona.

This article was first published in The Conversation.

Link:

Space Missions To Watch: A Lunar Return, a Jupiter Moon, and the Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built - SciTechDaily

We asked: SpaceX is planning its first orbital test flight of a starship that could one day take people to the moon or even Mars. What do you think about the future of space travel?

As a child, I remember spending late nights looking out of the window beside my bed, my warm breath fogging up the cold, reflective glass. I remember gazing wondrously at the sparkling stars above in the clear night sky, imagining that I was in a starship of my own. I remember imagining the loud hum of my house heater as the roar of my starships engines as I was taken into the immense expanses of the universe. I remember dreaming about stepping foot onto the ground of foreign planets and exploring their alien environments, finding myself gazing into their vast horizons. Little did my young self know that may very well be possible in the near future.

With the development of next-generation spacecraft and technology, my dream of setting foot onto an unfamiliar planet these days may not be so impossible. Of course, I dont think wed be setting foot on planets dozens of parsecs away anytime soon, but the future of space travel looks bright with SpaceX and NASAs recent advancements in spacecraft.

More specifically, SpaceXs recent developing spacecraft known as Starship has been in development for almost two decades and will reach orbit around Earth this year. This same spaceship is even capable of taking people to Mars on a planned mission in the future, as it can also refuel in orbit. These new developments in space technology, in my opinion, make space travel much more practical.

From what I think, at least, space travel may even one day enter the commercial field. Imagine this: You set foot into the cozy cabin of a starship after scanning your ticket, pulling your luggage inside and sighing as the air-conditioned cabin cools you down. After making your way farther into the cabin of the spaceship, you finally locate your seat beside a window. You place your luggage into the overhead bin and plop yourself onto the soft cushions of the seat, sighing as you look out the window and gaze into the vast expanse of the solar system and beyond. As you tune out the voices of nearby passengers and blend them into the peaceful lull of the spacecrafts engine, you observe the bright Moon in the distance. Maybe space travel for common people like you and me wont be so impractical soon!

Arthur Nguyen, Mira Mesa

In the 1960s, I was an Apollo engineer at Cape Kennedy. We were going to land on the moon because President John F. Kennedy vaguely said it was a good idea. The money flowed freely. Some 50 years later, my grandson asked me why we went there. I was one of the people who worked to achieve that goal, and I could not find a good answer as to why.

I attended meetings at the cape in which the word was out no questions permitted as to why, only discussions allowed as to how. It became clear the corporations, the universities, the engineers everyone wanted to share in the dollars. We brought back lots of moon rock samples to analyze. Still available to look at in Houston. More rocks would not be very useful.

The Challenger explosion in 1986 should remind us of how dangerous it is to try again to go back. The old phrase Been there, done that is more than a clich. It is also a warning.

Fred Zarse, Alpine

Whenever humankind discovers a new technology, its common for people to be afraid. Before modern science, when a woman liked to study botany or holistic practices, society might accuse her of witchcraft and put her on trial to be burned at the stake. Edgar Allan Poe wrote about his fear of modern technology and the future. At one point, reading books was criticized and considered strange.

Later, when the internet was invented, there was a lot of resistance. Older people used to be so out of touch, but now if you walk through an elderly facility, youll see dozens of older people scrolling through the internet. My grandmother would stay up late into the night asking Siri questions about her childhood and past presidents. It was adorable.

People dont like to change. Although it can be scary to try new things, thats why we have so many wonderful inventions around the world. Who would have imagined that by studying genetics eventually scientists would be able to grow new hearts, livers and other organs for sick patients? (Although its still a new science). Who would have imagined the prospect of growing our meat products in a lab instead of farming animals? The idea of space exploration is the same as all the other discoveries weve made.

The unknown is scary, but its also promising. Just as you never know what harm it could bring, you never know what good it could bring either. Therefore, I say, bring on the unknown!

Cassidy Eiler, El Cajon

Matthew McConaughey redeemed himself on Super Bowl Sunday. In contrast with his suave Lincoln promotions, he turned out for Salesforces Team Earth in a Super Bowl ad aimed at workers who would be happy for a benign commute on terra firma honest Earthlings with no ambitions of being Joe the Plumber-turned-astronaut. It was refreshing.

In the last year, if we werent reeling enough from the pretentious Donald Trump years and callous disregard for workers on the front lines of a pandemic, we were treated to the spectacle of billionaires flexing their intrepid astronaut wings, boldly bragging and spinning where none could have dreamed to do so before.

Some were honest not to dress it up as science, rather as a new consumer experience. Sir Richard Branson literally took a pen and pad to take notes on how to improve the guest experience. I suppose that merits a tax write off? Jeff Bezos won the feel-good moment by sponsoring our beloved Captain Kirks initiation to actual space. Well played. Elon Musk surprised us by deferring his own travel in favor of sending a geologist along with a paying guest. That might offer a momentary counterbalance to his Scarlet A (arrogance), but it is hard to square his sustainability initiatives with this suspected objective to take his toys and slip the surly bonds of earth.

I cant sort out if he lacks confidence that humanity will solve the climate action imperative (and he would need a Planet B) or if he thinks his efforts will succeed so stunningly that his space exploits and all the carbon emissions and resource diversion they require will be a harmless investment?

Since none of these billionaires has shown how space travel could be affordable to the 99 percent, let alone environmentally benign, it feels a lot like our billionaire astronauts arent content to simply squander Earths resources for their own thrill rides They want adulation as well, as though Joe the Plumber now aspires to be a millionaire Martian, and dreaming will make it so.

Mothers like me watched NASAs missions as kids Apollo missions, in my case. We have it in us to dream of new frontiers, and we want our children to carry forward and explore. SpaceX has helped this continue. But there is a clear and urgent threat we are facing now that makes our planetary explorations take a back seat to species health and sustenance. Further, even if we imagine earning a golden ticket, what kind of humans would emigrate from a populous planet in crisis without focusing their best efforts at saving it for all?

Resources are finite. Our atmospheric carbon budget is non-negotiable. Carbon capture and sequestration, if it ever works out, will be a bandage, not a cure. We must not allow the 1 percent to delude the 99 percent on this. There is no Planet B for any of us, and certainly not the working class. Im fighting for Team Earth!

Darlene Garvais, Sabre Springs

The future of space flight will be the same as it is today: scientific robotic exploration and limited commercial missions, such as communication satellites. Meanwhile, the future of space travel for humans will still be a fantasy. These are just a few reasons why.

With current technology, the energy required to launch an Atlas D rocket into space with one person aboard could fuel some 3,000 cars. Basically, a person is sitting on top of high explosives, traveling hundreds of miles per hour into the massive debris field that shrouds the planet to be exposed to high levels of radiation. Despite the buy-in from various billionaire space moguls, getting people into space is expensive. While its still murky what a commercial flight will cost, a ride in a Soyuz capsule was $20 million or more per seat. So space travel remains an impractical, dangerous and expensive proposition.

There is one other reason why human space flight is a fantasy. In 1969, I watched reruns of Star Trek with its rich tapestry of star bases and Class M worlds to explore. I had a scrapbook of news clippings of the NASA moon landing. Using the logic of a 7-year-old, the next step was for us to establish space stations and bases on the moon, Mars and other planets. Which presents the real problem with human space travel: There is nowhere for us to go.

Mike Stewart, Spring Valley

Space. The final frontier, or so they say. Many of us may have dreamt of being astronauts when we grew up one day, and some of us probably did. I frankly did not. But, I am always interested in hearing more about what the future of Space exploration holds, what was discovered, and simply looking at pictures of distant galaxies. When SpaceX came out saying they are developing a craft that could possibly take people to the moon or Mars, it was pretty exciting knowing what we may discover in the future.

I always used to say that I would go to the moon when I grew up, and I was going to find other life on planets we had yet to set foot on. First of all, training to go to space is significantly gruesome having to prepare your body for the mission. Secondly it is extremely expensive to get all the equipment needed, and faculty to ensure everything runs smoothly. That is not to mention all the debris that is left behind in Earths orbit which is no longer of use to anyone. This was one of the main problems of space exploration before. The amount of money used to just no longer be of use to anyone and remain in Earths orbit.

This is where the engineers at SpaceX revolutionized space travel. They finally achieved the ability to reuse what was once considered space junk, by returning stage one of the spacecraft back to the place of launch. This has opened new possibilities in terms of space as a whole. I am no scientist, but being able to consistently reuse the thruster of a spacecraft seems as if you would be able to send more spacecraft into or out of orbit within a much smaller time frame, and possibly even cost less in the long run.

If these rockets were to be mass produced and widely used, traveling to space would not take as long, and the price for someone to go into space should be lower as time goes on. We would not only be able to run more test experiments in space, but scientists would also be able to gather more information much more efficiently as well. I imagine a high end production line of scientist and groups waiting their turn to board the reusable rocket, or mounting their telescopes on other stages to explore the great unknown. It will all eventually trickle down to spacecraft becoming similar to airfare, where people will be boarding to fly to a colony on mars or the moon for a small getaway.

This is a long process ahead of scientist and engineers, yet it is one that could change our way of life, and possibly lead to the evolution of mankind. Who knows, by that time we could be boarding our own Millennium Falcon or X-Wings that can take us into hyperdrive to other galaxies, and our current methods of transportation would become obsolete.

Daniel Martinez, San Ysidro

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Opinion: What will the future of space travel look like? And what does it mean for this planet? - The San Diego Union-Tribune