SpaceX set to launch next Starship Megarocket after failing twice
AP file photo
SpaceX
's
Starship Megarocket
is set to launch for a test flight on Tuesday from the company's Starbase facility near a Southern Texas village. This comes after the last two expeditions ended up in flames, where the upper stage of the rocket caught fire and sent debris raining down over the Caribbean islands.
The explosion is attributed to a hardware failure inside one of the central engines. Since then, SpaceX has taken measures to improve its rocket systems.
They have adopted a more aggressive testing approach, but also acknowledged that progress will not always 'come in leaps'.
The Starship Megarocket is around 123 metres tall and is the largest and most powerful vehicle ever built, and is seen as the culmination of Elon Musk's space aspirations.
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is also anticipating the launch of Starship in order to use it as the crew lander for Artemis 3, aimed at bringing Americans back to the moon.
The Wall Street Journal reports that SpaceX also has ambitions for a mission to Mars next year.
On a positive note, SpaceX can now successfully catch the Super Heavy first-stage booster in its giant robotic arms located at its launch tower. This will considerably save resources and reduce costs.
SpaceX is also set to deploy mockups of its Starlink internet satellite, which will burn up in the atmosphere.
The airspace closure zone has been doubled to 1,600 nautical miles east of the launch site as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA will be coordinating with authorities in Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas, the UK, and the British-controlled Turks and Caicos Islands.
Conservation groups have warned that the expansion could harm sea turtles and shorebirds while the FAA has overruled the concerns.
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Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
New COVID variant NB.1.8.1 spreading fast in the U.S — is your vaccine effective? Will there be a summer surge?
A new COVID variant, NB.1.8.1, is gaining traction in the United States just as summer approaches. Despite its rarity, it appears to be more transmissible than current strains. While not yet dominant, officials are closely monitoring its expansion and potential impact on public health. Although experts say it's too soon to predict whether the virus will lead to more COVID cases this summer, health officials are closely monitoring the variant as it spreads throughout the world. NB.1.8.1 is categorized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a "variant under monitoring." A descendant of the Omicron JN.1 lineage, NB.1.8.1 was first identified in late January and has experienced a dramatic increase in cases worldwide in recent weeks, as per a report by Health. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Mountain Gear for Extreme Conditions Trek Kit India Learn More Undo How serious is NB.1.8.1 compared to other variants? The WHO's latest data shows that between April 21 and April 27, 10.7% of all sequenced COVID cases worldwide were caused by NB.1.8.1, up from 2.5% just one month earlier. According to Shira Doron, MD, chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine, the variant is genetically distinct from LP.8.1, the dominant strain currently found in the United States. Live Events The variant may increase cases this summer because it seems more contagious than LP.8.1, the strain that is most prevalent globally. It appears to be no more effective than LP.8.1, though, at avoiding immunity from vaccinations or previous infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that it does not present an additional health risk because it has not discovered any evidence that it causes more serious illness. What are the symptoms of NB.1.8.1? Experts concur that NB.1.8.1 symptoms resemble those of other COVID infections. The majority of NB.1.8.1 patients should anticipate the following symptoms: Chills or fever, coughing, congestion and sore throat, weariness, breathing difficulties and diarrhea. The good news is that NB.1.8.1 doesn't seem to make people sicker than earlier versions. Could there be a summer COVID surge? While now accounting for only a small portion of U.S. cases, specialists are closely monitoring NB.1.8.1. Six spike protein mutations are present in the variation, which may improve its ability to spread and elude antibodies. According to Amy Edwards, MD, an infectious disease specialist and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, those mutations and early data point to NB.1.8.1 being marginally more transmissible, as per a report by NBC News. However, because of NB.1.8.1 or another variation, the number of COVID cases in the United States is probably going to increase this summer. Over the past few years, COVID has experienced two significant increases: one in the mid-to-late summer and another in the winter, Schaffner said, in contrast to influenza, which has one significant increase annually in the winter. Are NB.1.8.1 and current vaccines still effective? Experts say that current vaccines provide some protection, and the variant does not appear to be more severe. Some protection against NB.1.8.1 should come from preexisting immunity from vaccinations or previous infections. The Food and Drug Administration has asked drugmakers to update Covid vaccines to target the LP.8.1 variant this fall. Data from Pfizer and Moderna suggest the updated vaccines would offer protection against NB.1.8.1 as well. However, the FDA has said it will limit its approval of updated Covid shots to older adults and younger people with a medical condition that puts them at risk of severe illness. Doctors worry that pregnant people and children under 5 may be vulnerable to severe outcomes from Covid this winter. Even healthy adults who've been vaccinated before might not have optimal protection. According to Doron, new COVID booster shots from Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax are also being developed and should be available in the early fall. Preliminary results indicate that they will be effective against NB.1.8.1 and other more prevalent strains in the United States. FAQs Does the new variant result in more severe illness? No, NB.1.8.1 does not appear to result in more severe symptoms than previous variants. Will current vaccines protect me from it? Yes, existing vaccines and boosters should provide some protection against NB.1.8.1.
The Hindu
29 minutes ago
- The Hindu
What is DOGE? Exploring its journey and the impact of Elon Musk's exit
'It is probably the Manhattan Project of our time,' U.S President Donald Trump said as he announced the creation of DOGE- The Department of Government Efficiency- under Elon Musk's leadership. As Elon Musk steps away from DOGE, announcing his departure via X, we examine the DOGE journey so far. To “implement the President's DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.â€� And at its helm, in effect - Elon Musk, the world's richest man. The DOGE service has a USDS Administrator reporting to the White House Chief of Staff- subsequent reports have identified the acting administrator to be Amy Gleason.(Not who was designated a special government employee.) Additionally, the order established the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, 'to advance the President’s 18 month DOGE agenda,' with a termination date of July 4, 2026. It was this unknown entity which was converted into the United States DOGE Service with the signing of the executive order on January 20, 2025. Its mission statement: to use design and technology to deliver better services to the American people. It collaborated with public servants across agencies to improve critical services, for example, offering better user design for the Social Security Administration website. The United States Digital Service, a small technological unit within the Executive Office of the President, was created in 2014 to help streamline government services. These teams were to include, at the very least, one DOGE Team Lead, one engineer, one human resources specialist, and one attorney. each agency head was directed to establish a DOGE team with four employees, selected in consultation with the USDS administrator. Click on each of the photos of the employees shown below to know more about them DOGE has not been very forthcoming about its employees, and works without Congressional oversight. However, recent media investigations have revealed several of the key figures in the shadowy DOGE ecosystem, which is structured quite unlike other federal agencies, whether now or in the past. On March 11, Musk said he planned to double the size of his staff in DOGE, from the current 100-odd to 200. Which was then further reduced to $1 trillion (around 14.8% of the government's expenditure) Before Trump's inauguration, Musk promised the American public cuts of $2 trillion, which accounts for roughly 29.6% of the US Government's expenditure in fiscal year 2024 (cuts shown in the graphic are for reference.) In 2024, discretionary spending formed $1.8T, which is around 26.4% of the total. It is discretionary funding unrelated to military, immigration enforcement (and other heads specified via an executive order) which DOGE has chiefly targeted. Most of these DOGE cuts have come from non-military discretionary spendings. Broadly, the U.S federal budget is divided into 3 sections: mandatory (outlays for benefit programmes mandated by law-- like social security), discretionary (those Congress can earmark for a purpose through the budget or legislation), and interest. It has slashed DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity and Accessibility) programmes across departments, nixed most of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), cancelled grants pertaining to climate change and health and targeted the Department of Education- just some of many of its slash-and-burn actions. The Department of Government Efficiency says it is achieving its goals through eight measures: fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes and regulatory savings. The following graphic shows the major cuts (in contracts and grants) which took place across different departments and agencies, as per DOGE's website as of April 20, 2025. Layoffs The strength of the federal government, excluding military personnel, is around 2.4 million. Recent reports indicate that at least 12% of this has been cut. At least 140,000 more reductions are planned. For example, DOGE plans to cut down at least 90% of staff at the Social Security Administration. There are also reports that a Workforce Reshaping tool- a revamped version of a formerly developed Automated Reduction in Force (AutoRIF) tool- may be used to automate the process of cuts. Explore the layoffs by date below: Layoffs also took place at the following agencies on these dates, but the specifics remain unascertained. As of May 1, 2025, at least 1,400 had been laid off from the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) according to a report by Politico E&E In the near future, further layoffs are expected in multiple agencies. An April 22 report said that 15% of the staff at unspecified agencies in the Department of State are at risk of losing their jobs. The 20 agencies or departments where highest number of employees were laid off are as follows: Several of those laid off were probationary employees, terminated before their probations were up (some were reinstated by court orders). In February, Office of Personnel Management targeted all 220,000 probationary employees who were part of the federal government. In addition to this, federal employees across agencies received “fork-in-the-roadâ€� emails offering them the option to resign and receive full pay for a specified period. For example, everyone at the CIA was offered the chance to resign. More than 75,000 people have reportedly taken these buyouts. At least one-quarter of the 100,000 initially fired workers have been rehired at full pay, most of them after judges ruled that their firings were illegal. Some were rehired after it was found that DOGE had “accidentallyâ€� fired workers responsible for nuclear weapons safety and aviation safety, and researchers involved in the response to bird flu and Ebola. DOGE’s actions were met with resistanceâ€' even internally. On February 27, 21 DOGE employees reportedly resigned in protest, writing in an anonymous letter that they would not use their skills as technologists 'to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans' sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services.' Their concerns about data stemmed from DOGE employees seeking- and obtaining- access to tranches of sensitive data, some of which was usually given to officials with high security clearance, often on a need-to-know basis. Legal challenges Around 200 lawsuits and appeals have been filed against actions taken by the Trump administration, and around 30 implicate DOGE. Some of these deal with the status of DOGE, questioning Mr Musk’s position in the government and the constitutional basis for the creation of the department. One of these - J. Does v. Musk â€' has been filed by state attorneys general and retired government officials, and alleges that Mr. Musk’s role required confirmation by the Senate, given the authority he was wielding. A multi-State suit â€' New Mexico v. Musk â€' raises similar contentions. The lack of transparency has given rise to lawsuits alleging violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Department of Interior, Public Citizen v. Trump). A protestor waves an inverted American flag, known as a symbol of distress, at City Hall during a Hands Off! protest in Los Angeles, California on April 5, suits have questioned the dismantling of agencies or their boards by DOGE. Brehm v. Marocco deals with the shuttering of the African Development Foundation, while at least two suits relate to the actions taken by DOGE at the United States Institute of Peace (Pippenger v. DOGE, United States Institute of Peace v. Kenneth Jackson). The decision in the second lawsuit, ruling that DOGE’s actions at USIP were unlawful , has been appealed. Layoffs and cuts have also been challenged in court. A Maryland judge ruled on March 13 that the government should rehire probationary employees who were fired without cause (in State of Maryland v. United States Department of Agriculture ), but this has been appealed by the government. Some complaints are making their way through administrative bodies which serve appellatory functions. Several citizen organisations and non-profits all came together in Japanese American Citizens League v. Musk , alleging that DOGE and Musk's actions were ultra vires the constitution and causing harm to the public. Actions cited by them included the firing of federal employees in departments such as the Department of Education and National Park Service, and the cutting of funding for scientific research. The biggest tranche of suits involving DOGE perhaps is those alleging violation of privacy laws by permitting access to sensitive government information such as social security numbers and tax information. This includes those brought by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Alliance for Retired Americans and the American Federation of Teachers. On March 20, a temporary restraining order blocked DOGE from accessing social security records. Conflicts of interest A major concern about DOGE raised by detractors was the fact that Mr. Musk may have several conflicts of interests in his role, as a technocrat with multiple government contracts. Over the years, Musk’s business has benefitted from at least $38 billion in funding from the US government, in the form of government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax creditsâ€' particularly those aimed at boosting the electric vehicle industry. Some of these contracts are ongoing. For example, SpaceX has multiple contracts with several US departments, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Defense and NASA. It has been developing spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office, which comes under the ambit of the Pentagon. It continues to participate in bids for government contracts: a Washington Post article reported that internet satellite service Starlink, which comes under SpaceX, and Verizon were in competition for a $2.4 billion FAA contract. Demonstrators protest against Elon Musk and Department of Government Efficiency cuts outside a Tesla dealership, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (Charlie Riedel/AP Photo) DOGE cuts may also, directly or indirectly, aid Mr. Musk’s businesses. For example, the EPA, which saw major reductions and cuts, has in the past cited Tesla for hazardous waste mismanagement and pollution. A division in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which saw cuts was tasked with the oversight of autonomous vehiclesâ€' a major component of Tesla’s business. The now-dismantled USAID had been investigating government ties with Starlink. Some employees at the Food and Drug Administration who had been reviewing Mr. Musk’s neurotech company Neuralink had been firedâ€' and later rehired DOGE’s access to sensitive data, including those pertaining to labour, was another issue. Elon Musk is, or was, a special government employee. Such employees are subject to relaxed financial reporting and conflict of interest laws such as the Ethics in Government Act and criminal conflict of interest provisions. Additionally, the White House informed the press that Mr. Musk would police his own conflicts of interest. There is a dearth of oversight particularly after the widespread layoffs. In early February, Mr. Trump fired the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, the department that would oversee potential conflicts of interest. And in January, he had fired 17 Inspectors-General, who perform a watchdog function for various departments. Protests Several anti-government protests have taken place across the United States since the start of Donald Trump’s second term. This includes Hands Off rallies protesting administration policies and planned events under the 50501 movement â€' a decentralized campaign that began on Reddit and got its name from a February 5 push for '50 protests in 50 states in 1 day.' Protesters attend a Hands Off rally to demonstrate against U.S. President Donald Trump near the Washington Monument on the National Mall on April 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo bySome protests and criticisms have expressly targeted Elon Musk and his involvement with DOGE. In a poll released in May, 58% of those surveyed said they disapproved of how Mr. Musk was handling DOGE’s work, and 60% disapproved of Mr. Musk himself. He demonstrated a net favourability rating of -14.4 in another poll released on May the dismantling of USAID, Mr Musk was criticised by fellow billionaire Bill Gates. 'The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,' Mr. Gates said in an interview with The New York Times. Along with Democrats, Republicans too have expressed reservations over the speed and scale of DOGE’s work. 'These are real people. These are real lives. These are mortgages ... It's a false narrative to say we have to cut and you have to be cruel to do it as well,' Senator John Curtis (R-Utah), is reported to have said. Tesla itself has borne the brunt of anti-Musk sentiments. Several Tesla locations have seen anti-Musk demonstrations, with slogans like “Musk Must Goâ€� and “Block Fascism Now.â€� Tesla cybertrucks and charging stations have also been destroyed, in cities like Seattle and Boston. A website called DOGEQUEST was created to pinpoint owners of Tesla and their addresses, specifically to target them. The public ire has also translated to a poor performance for Tesla on the stock market. Reports indicate that, at one point, share prices dropped by 71% post the Presidential election. On May 28, Tesla's stock prices were $356.9, which was just over 16% less than its price when assumed office. Tesla investors such as Ross Gerber, a wealth manager and longtime Tesla supporter, criticised Musk’s government role, and in April, Mr. Musk assured his investors that he would significantly scale back his government responsibilities to focus on his corporate ones. This is even as some media outlets reported that it would be difficult to see DOGE cuts pass muster in Congress. The White House is sending some proposed rescissions, a mechanism used to cancel previously authorised spending, to Capitol Hill to solidify some of DOGE’s cuts, The end of the road for Musk? On March 27, Elon Musk said he was disappointed by the 'big, beautiful bill' mooted by President Donald Trump and passed by House Republicans last week. The Bill is yet to pass in the Senate. 'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,' Mr. Musk said in an interview with CBS News. In a post on X on May 29, he announced his departure:
NDTV
30 minutes ago
- NDTV
How To Eat Rice In Space: Astronaut's Rundown To NDTV
New Delhi: As India prepares to send its second astronaut, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon, the insights of veteran astronaut Thomas Pesquet offer invaluable perspective. Group Captain Shukla will be part of a crew that will include Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary for the June 8 Axiom Mission 4. Mr Pesquet, who has flown to space twice and spent over a year aboard the ISS, shared his experiences and advice for Captain Shukla in an exclusive interview with NDTV. "Well, first, going into space on a rocket is very impressive, obviously. It's a sensory experience," Mr Pesquet said. "Just getting on the elevator to get on top of the rocket, you get an appreciation of the size of those machines. You only see them from a distance, but when you see them from up close, they're as tall as several different buildings, like put on top of one another. And then you get on top, you look down, you see the cars that brought you. They're very, very small." Mr Pesquet, a veteran European Space Agency (ESA) described the moments leading up to launch as calm and quiet, with final checks and fuelling of the rockets. "Then you hear the countdown and you blast into space. Almost nine minutes of acceleration, very dynamic, and then it stops. You're weightless, you're floating around the Earth. It becomes so smooth. It's like you're floating in a cloud, like in your dreams." Acknowledging the inherent risks, Mr Pesquet emphasised the controlled nature of space travel. "You have a lot of speed, a lot of altitude, a lot of chemical energy with all that propellant. So yeah, it is risky, but it's controlled. You know, all the engineers at different space agencies make sure that it's very safe." Having flown both the Soyuz and Falcon 9 systems, Mr Pesquet noted the differences. "First of all, same principles, right? Space is the same. The physics is the same. Escape velocity remains the same. I'd say the Soyuz is from earlier times, and the Falcon is more modern. So you've got digital screens, it's very sleek, and Soyuz is more from the 70s. But actually, I like Soyuz a lot as well, because the reliability is very, very high. They have many different systems, many different backups, and it's not as comfortable as the Dragon. It's smaller, it's more cramped, but it feels good to fly both." Mr Pesquet shared his preference for the Dragon due to its roominess, especially given his height. "Honestly, for my knees, because I'm a little bit tall. And having my knees folded in the Soyuz was very painful, because you're strapped really tightly in your seat for a long time before launch and after launch. So I think the Dragon was roomier." Docking at the ISS is a precise operation, Mr Pesquet explained. "You have to be very, very precise. Those are vehicles that are flying at 28,000 kilometres per hour, roughly. And you have to control their relative velocity in a very, very tight manner so that you don't impact one with the other. From the crew's perspective, you've been launched, you see the emptiness, the vastness of space, and then you see your targets, you're getting close, and then you realise how big and huge the space station is. It's really magical. It's like a castle in the sky." Entering the ISS after docking is a momentous occasion. "It actually takes a lot of time once you've docked to do the second mechanical link. First of all, it's just a small docking, then you have to equalise the pressure. You wait for the temperatures as well to settle. It takes a lot of time to do all the checks, sometimes 45 minutes, an hour, or an hour and a half, and then you can finally open the hatch. You hear your colleagues, they're knocking on the other side of the hatch. That's how you communicate. Knock, knock, knock, and then you answer. And eventually you open and you enter a new world." Life aboard the ISS is a unique experience, Mr Pesquet noted. "Life in weightlessness is not hugely complicated, but it's different. You have to relearn how to do simple things like sleeping, doing your hygiene or eating. Everything floats, right? Everything is in free fall. That's weightlessness. And so you cannot put anything on the table. It would float again. You cannot put your spoon on the table. It would float away. So everything comes with Velcro. And sometimes we even put tape on the table so that it sticks." Eating in space requires adaptation, he said. "All the food is in cans or in pouches or dehydrated foods. And then you prepare your food like you would a meal. You're asking your crew members what they feel like eating. Sometimes you prepare for them. Sometimes they prepare for themselves. And then you have your own spoon. Eat your food. Always hold your packet, your pouch. And if you stick it, you have to make sure it sticks. And the beginners at the beginning, it's always fun to see them eat because it's hard to control. Things like rice. I mean, imagine rice. It goes everywhere. And then, as they're trying to catch the bits of rice floating away, they send even more rice away. So sometimes there's a bit of a catastrophe. But you know, that's how you learn." Mr Pesquet described the daily routine aboard the ISS, which includes shared meals and individual portions. "We start the day at the same time. We finish the day at the same time. Usually, the lunch break can vary between everybody's different schedules. So it's more like the evening meals that we share together. But the portions are individual. The packaging is always individual, so that you can cook your own can or your own pouch. And then somebody else can choose something else to eat. So at least once a day, we make a point to be all together to cook different types of meals that we share." Hygiene in space is another area of adaptation. "There's no running water, obviously. So we use wipes, wet wipes, and dry wipes. We also have wet towels. Put a bit of soap, put some water on the towel, and then you can wash yourself. No showers, no bathtub, no spa. Very rough conditions." Mr Pesquet reassured that despite the lack of showers, astronauts remain clean. "You're actually very clean. It was one of the questions I had. I thought, hmm, you must be pretty dirty when you come back, but you're not. First of all, because there's much less dust and perspiration and things in the air, it's much more controlled. So it's a clean environment. And second, also because you're wiping yourself with wet towels and etc., works really well." Sleeping in space requires adjustment. "We've got some bunks, some crew quarters. It's like a telephone booth size. You stick your sleeping bag on the wall pretty much. But you could sleep anywhere on the space station. You could sleep on the floor. You can sleep upside down. You just need a bungee to bungee you against the wall, and then you'll be fine. It takes some getting used to because you have to really let go of all your articulations. Your head won't be resting against anything like it does on the bed." Mr Pesquet offered advice to Captain Shukla as he prepared for his mission. "Trust your training, because sometimes, you know, it's still an unexpected environment that you haven't been in. So trust your training, like you've been doing your whole life. Do the right thing. Keep calm. If things don't go the way it's expected-its space, you know, it doesn't always cooperate. Enjoy the ride. Try to make yourself some good memories. Look at the Earth, take pictures of your activities, of your crewmates, and it's going to go superfast. So be really conscious in trying to imprint those memories on your brain, because you're going to need them when you come back." Mr Pesquet also had a message for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India. "Be part of the mission. Make sure that Shukla is supported, which I think is the case by the government, by ISRO, by the entire population. It's going to be a huge wave of national pride and hopefully happiness."
