Latest news with #BuzzAldrin
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Katy Perry's Futuristic Lifetimes Tour Costume Draws Flak
was recently in the news for the Blue Origin space trip she embarked on with prominent female celebrities. Now, the singer has dropped pictures of her unique look for the Lifetime musical tour on her social media with her fans. However, Katy Perry's tour costume has ended up sparking jokes regarding space travel. Katy Perry has been in the limelight for her Lifetime tour that started on April 23. The singer took to her X and Instagram to share pictures of her intriguing and special look for the musical tour. The pictures and video show Katy Perry dressed up in a blue and red space costume with a silver metal helmet. Additionally, her silver eyeshadow and nude red lipstick perfectly completed the look. Aside from pictures of her stage performance, Perry shared a small video offering every angle of the outfit. She captioned the video, 'Introducing KP143.' While Perry looked confident posing in the outfit, it ended up sparking mixed reactions, especially numerous jokes on X. One user wrote, 'I'm gonna tell my kids this was Buzz Aldrin,' while another one called her a 'Powerpuff girl.' One more joked, 'Do you consider yourself an astronaut now?' referring to her space tour, while another user commented, 'Today, she's Iron Man.' Another user stated, referring to the space trip, 'Is this what happens after you go to space and back?.' Aside from the bunch of jokes, Perry also received positive reactions for her new look on Instagram. A fan page called her 'favorite video game character'. Additionally, a user wrote, 'You look fabulous in this costume, Mom. Good show tonight! You are light! I love you.' While many users dropped heart emojis, one went gaga calling her a goddess. Prior to the close-up video, Perry had shared a clip on her Instagram, appearing confident in this attire. The clip saw the 40-year-old glossing her lips before leaving for her performance. Katy Perry's Lifetime Tour comes after her space trip on April 14. Perry went on a celestial journey as part of Blue Origin's mission with an all-female crew. The other female celebrities who accompanied the singer were Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Kerianne Flynn, Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez. Originally reported by Ritika Singh on Reality Tea. The post Katy Perry's Futuristic Lifetimes Tour Costume Draws Flak appeared first on Mandatory.
Times
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Soneva Fushi Soul Festival is drawing alternative thinkers
If wellness festivals are the new music festivals, then Soul Festival at Soneva Fushi in the Maldives is like the VIP-est bit of Glastonbury. Not only can you see your heroes perform, but you can also hang out with them afterwards — for a whole five days. It's like boozing with Liam and Noel after the Oasis gig. And, just like Glastonbury, to score a pass you have to be either famous, loaded or a freeloader. I'm the only journalist to slip under the Soul Festival velvet rope and I'm pinching myself. Soneva Fushi is the castaway fantasy of its visionary owners, Sonu and Eva Shivdasani, who in 1995 pretty much invented the idea of barefoot luxury and the slogan 'No shoes, no news'. Since then, amid the hundreds of hotels that have sprung up on these pristine atolls, Fushiis still the place where movie stars, billionaire businessmen and their extended families merrily rub sun-kissed shoulders. • This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue The Shivdasanis have always invited extraordinary people to their island to share stories and experiences with guests: the astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the actor Stanley Tucci, the tennis player Jonas Bjorkman. But after Sonu was diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2017, they zeroed in on wellbeing, turning the already expansive spa into a space for doctors to practise alternative and western medicine. Alongside ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, there are cutting-edge integrative medicine treatments, including auto-haemotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, cryotherapy, prolotherapy and plasma therapy. The (sugar-free) icing on the (gluten-free) wellness cake is the yearly Soul Festival, when for five days in October this tiny paradise island vibrates with big brains and big ideas. The speakers are wildly varied; for the latest edition they included the dazzling Jamie Wheal, the Pulitzer-nominated author, founder of the Flow Genome project and one of the world's leading experts in human performance, who has worked with US Navy Seals, athletes and Silicon Valley folk. He was joined by Eric Edmeades, the so-called architect of transformation who educates with levity while leaping about the sandy stage; Dr Nasha Winters, the integrative oncology expert and author, who speaks about metabolic health; and Robin Lim, a midwife, who blows us away with her life's work of saving and birthing babies in areas affected by climate change. The big draw is Zach Bush, a specialist in internal medicine, endocrinology and hospice care, who talks about the interconnectedness between the soil and human microbiome, the failing of agriculture and how all these puzzle pieces will determine the future of humanity and the world. The conversation lasts long after the lecture's last clap. Over beach picnics, cocktail parties and sushi dinners, the island is abuzz with swapping and sharing, connecting and challenging, plotting and networking. It feels like the modern version of an ancient trading city, maybe Petra or Venice. But instead of frankincense or spice, the booty is hope and healing. The guests are a hotchpotch of festival junkies, a chapter of Young Presidents' Organisation members, wellbeing investors and inventors peddling wares that include controversial stem-cell therapy, nasal breathing contraptions and a sound-frequency healing bed. There are plenty of sideshows. There's Marcel Hof (Wim's brother) leading the celebrated breathwork-ice-bath combo, ayurvedic pulse diagnosis and gong baths among the wafting palms. And then there's Sanctum: the physical and mindful euphoric-movement system (now famous for getting this year's Davos stiffs to 'raise their vibration'). Its effects are spectacular. As we speed-boat at sunrise to a spit of sand in the sea, we slip on headphones that connect us to the founder Luuk Melisse, who delivers instructions to a soaring soundtrack. He plays us like a fiddle, physically, mentally and emotionally. By the end, some are whooping, others are sobbing. Everyone is feeling something. You can't not be affected by hanging out in this heightened environment. For some, the effects are extreme. Six months post-festival, one attendee tells me the Soul Festival was so inspiring it was like chucking a firework into her life; she has developed a new business, has written a book and explains how 'during that week, my life's purpose became crystal clear. It's like I'm living on psychedelics. Now I can see things.' • The Maldives resort that will challenge your idea of the fly and flop So be warned: unlike a thumping Glasto hangie, the aftershocks of Soul Festival might well change your life. The next Soneva Fushi Soul Festival is from October 9 to 13. Seven nights, from October 9 to 17, staying in a one-bedroom Family Villa Suite with pool, half-board, costs from £9,999pp, based on two sharing, with return seaplane transfers and Etihad flights from London, There's nothing that breaks the ice like crawling around in cold, wet January grass with your bum in the air like a baboon, alongside 15 perfect strangers, writes Alice B-B. I'm at the inaugural Emotional Health Retreat weekend created by Dr Tamsin Lewis, a psychiatrist and the founder of Wellgevity, a longevity-focused functional and integrative medicine service based in London. This primal movement is both ego-shedding and unexpectedly fun. We're on the lawns of a grand private house in Richmond (with ozone pool, sauna, steam and cold plunge), lent to Lewis by its philanthropically minded owner. It's a fat gaff that must have witnessed plenty of riotous behaviour over the years; it was originally Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's hunting lodge and, more recently, home to the Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood. Our leader is the charming and wildly energetic osteopath Boniface Verney-Carron. We follow him barefoot to encourage hormesis (what doesn't kill you makes you stronger), sniff the grass (to reconnect with nature and lower cortisol), run laps like loons (which gets the heart rate up), hold hands consciously (to properly connect with each other) and then enjoy feeling our heartbeat and breath (helping to connect with ourselves). • 44 health-boosting habits to feel better in 2025 We are living in an epidemic of loneliness and self-isolation, which Vivek Murthy, the former US surgeon general, says 'increases the risk for premature death'. Which is why, on these retreats, Lewis aims to create connectivity and eudaimonia. The latter is an internally driven sense of happiness resulting from an increase of oxytocin and serotonin (most commonly achieved through relating to others and nature — and the opposite of dopamine-chasing hedonism). Bioharmonising, this adaptable, balanced approach, is an alternative to the rigid, toxic biohacking popular with social media 'gurus'. Each retreat is focused on emotional health with a varying roster of therapists. This time there's Rob Rea, a breathwork coach to chief executives, founders, actors and the superyacht brigade, who leads the group in sessions accompanied by the pianist Rosey Chan. Joining him is the intimacy and relationship coach Chloe Mackintosh, who has our group staring into each other's eyes and practising consensual touch. It's a little confronting and my awkward self is hugely relieved to be partnered with my best girlfriend. Once we've gone beyond nervous giggling, her teaching is powerful and jolly useful. 'It's about increased eye contact, being better communicators whether that's for individuals, couples or teaching the art of relating within business,' she says. It's clear from the retreaters I chat to (some very broken, others dealing with relationship issues, others keen for increased intimacy) that this weekend has delivered — both as a reset and a springboard, serving up new tools, ideas and a new community (many of us swap details and make plans for further work with the therapists). 'Emotional health is the heartbeat of longevity,' Lewis says. 'With the right facilitators and environment it's like CTRL-ALT-DELETE for the nervous system — and the group setting magnifies it.' And what feels like a two-fingers-up to the biohacking bros, Lewis adds: 'Wellness is a skill, not a pill.' An emotional wellness retreat costs from £195 a day,
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Meet HALO, the First Module of NASA's Gateway Lunar Space Station
The Apollo lunar missions worked by using a spacecraft in two parts. The Command and Service Module (CSM) and the Lunar Module (LM) traveled together from the launch pad at Cape Kennedy to lunar orbit a quarter of a million miles from here. Once there, the Lunar Module separated and descended to the Moon's surface. While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were putting the first boot prints in the lunar regolith, Michael Collins was holed up in the CMS, waiting to rendezvous with the away team and return home. It's been over 50 years since then, but when humanity returns to the Moon with the Artemis program, astronauts orbiting in lunar orbit will have somewhere a little nicer to hang their helmets. The HALO module will serve as the heart of the upcoming Gateway lunar space station, and it's almost ready for showtime. Like the International Space Station, Gateway will provide a pressurized and livable environment for astronauts to work in space. Unlike the ISS, Gateway will orbit much farther away and provide regular access to the lunar surface. It's a space-based architectural project nearly on par with the interstellar crafts of The Ark (streaming now on Peacock). The Gateway station will be built in stages, but it begins with HALO and its traveling partner, the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE). Both modules will be joined together into one integrated spacecraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and strapped to the top of a Falcon Heavy rocket. Once off Earth, HALO and PPE will take about a year to settle into a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. Rather than having a mostly circular orbit like a planet, Gateway will have an oblong orbit like a comet. Most of the time the station and its crew will hang out in deep space, as much as 43,500 miles from the Moon, but once a week it will swing in for its closest approach, just 1,000 miles above the lunar surface. This peculiar orbit marries the benefits of a wide orbit (lower fuel requirements) with the benefits of a low orbit (access to the surface). Gateway is intended as an orbiting research facility, a staging ground for lunar surface activities, and a stepping stone toward crewed missions to Mars. Short for Habitation and Logistics Outpost, HALO is the first habitation module for the Gateway station. The module, which was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space in Italy, recently completed the first leg of its journey to the Moon. On April 1, 2025, following a quick flight across the Atlantic and across most of North America, HALO arrived at Northrop Grumman's integration and test facility in Arizona. The module provides space for astronauts to live, work, do space-based research, and prepare for surface activities on the Moon. It also provides docking ports for visiting spacecraft, resupply missions, and lunar landers. While in Arizona, the HALO team will install propellant and electrical lines, attach radiators for thermal control, and mount racks to house life support hardware, flight computers, avionics systems, and other crucial spaceflight equipment. Once finished, HALO will also feature an Internal Dosimeter Array (IDA), the Heliophysics Environmental Radiation Measurement Experiment Suite (HERMES) and European Radiation Sensors Array (ERSA) to measure and study the effects of cosmic radiation in a unique lunar environment. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) is being assembled at Maxar Space Systems in California. The PPE is a vast solar electric plant of the same type used on NASA's asteroid-punching DART mission. Two sprawling solar arrays, each about the size of a football field's endzone, collect sunlight and convert it to electricity. The system generates 60kW of power, enough to keep all of Gateway's subsystems fed, in addition to powering the station's solar eclectic propulsion system. Electricity generated by the PPE is used to ionize xenon gas, then those ionized atoms are fired away from the craft to generate thrust and keep the station in orbit. Onboard batteries provided by JAXA will keep the station in power during eclipse periods when the solar panels won't get enough sunlight. Both modules will be connected together at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and launched as a single integrated spacecraft no earlier than September 2028, as a part of Artemis IV. Later missions will integrate additional modules, including the ESA's Lunar I-Hab. Taken together, astronauts will be able to live and work around the Moon for about 30 days, splitting time between orbital operations in deep space and surface operations at the lunar South Pole. Catch The Ark, .
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Only Photo of Neil Armstrong on the Moon and Other Famed Space Images Are Headed to Auction
One small step for man, one giant addition to your treasure trove of collectibles. The only photo of Neil Armstrong on the moon is heading to auction next month via Bonhams. The sale, For All Mankind: The Artistic Legacy of Early Space Exploration, will include 449 other NASA photographs—some of which are previously unknown—from the collection of Victor Martin-Malburet, a space historian who uncovered some of the rare snapshots in archives and collections of former NASA engineers over 25 years. More from Robb Report A Rare Michael Jordan Autographed Card and a Slew of Sports Treasures Have Hit the Auction Block Virgin Galactic's New 6-Person Spacecraft Will Launch Next Year An Anonymous Musician's Bonkers Collection of Wines Is Heading to Auction Taken by Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, the Armstrong photo shows the famed astronaut standing beside the Lunar Module Eagle, which is what took the crew into space on the Apollo 11 mission. Expected to fetch between $20,000 and $27,000, the image was discovered 17 years after the 1969 historic trip made Armstrong the first man to walk on the moon. The astronaut was also behind the camera on the Apollo 11 mission. The first snapshot Armstrong took on the lunar surface is also up for grabs in the auction, estimated to hammer down for between $7,600 and $11,000. After taking that famed first step, the astronaut was supposed to collect a contingency lunar sample in case of an emergency return, Bonhams says. Instead, Armstrong decided to take the first photo on the moon. Another notable memento up for grabs is the first photograph of Earthrise, which is an image that shows both the Earth and part of the moon's surface. Astronaut William Anders took the black-and-white snapshot during the Apollo 8 mission on Christmas Eve in December 1968; it's expected to fetch anywhere from to $13,000 to $19,000. 'The Apollo astronauts captured humanity's greatest dream through their cameras,' Sabine Cornette de Saint Cyr, head of the Bonhams sale, said in a press statement. 'Their photographs will forever symbolize the beginning of our expansion into the universe. Today, space exploration is once again a burning topic. It was only natural for Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr to present these undisputed masterpieces of the 20th century to collectors, as they continue to fascinate and enrich our imagination.' Alongside these historic images, other space collector's items going under the hammer include the first selfie in space, taken by Buzz Aldrin on the 1966 Gemini 12 mission ($8,700 to $13,000); the first photograph taken in space by humans, which was captured by John Glenn during Friendship 7's first orbit in 1962 ($4,400 to $6,700); and the first snapshot of a human in space, taken by James McDivitt during the first American spacewalk on Gemini 4 ($1,600 to $2,200). For All Mankind: The Artistic Legacy of Early Space Exploration will be held online from April 14 to 28 in Paris, so you won't have to wait long to hopefully add the memorabilia to your collection. You could take some stellar space photographs for yourself soon enough, thanks to an wide variety of space-tourism programs that are on the horizon. Virgin Galactic's new six-person spacecraft is gearing up to take civilians to space in the fall of 2026, while Space Perspective's Spaceship Neptune balloon also hopes to have consumers hop aboard next year. And Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin also has its eyes set on the stars. Best get your camera ready, then. Click here to read the full article.
Voice of America
09-03-2025
- Science
- Voice of America
A Short History of Spacecraft Landings on the Moon
Many years have passed since the first spacecraft landed on the moon in 1966. From then until now, there have been many additional attempts with some succeeding and others failing. Here is a short history of some of these attempts. First victories The Soviet Union's Luna 9 spacecraft was the first to land on the moon. It touched down on the lunar surface in 1966. The landing came after several other Soviet spacecraft either did not reach the moon or crashed on the surface. The American space agency NASA says Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to carry out a soft landing on the moon. It was also the first to send 'photographic data' from the moon's surface to Earth. Luna 9's landing proved 'the lunar surface could support the weight of a lander and that an object would not sink into a loose layer of dust as some models predicted,' NASA said. In May 1966, the United States followed with its Surveyor 1 mission. NASA describes this effort as 'the first of a series of seven robotic spacecraft sent to the moon to gather data in preparation for NASA's Apollo missions.' The successful soft landing of Surveyor 1 'was one of the great successes of NASA's early lunar and interplanetary program.' Both the U.S. and Soviet Union had other successful robotic landings. Next, the countries aimed to be the first to land humans on the moon. Apollo program In 1969, NASA successfully landed Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. The U.S. Apollo program sent 12 astronauts to explore the moon over six missions. Apollo 17 was the last in 1972. The U.S. is still the only country to land humans on the moon. NASA officials say the agency's Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface possibly by the end of 2026. China expands space efforts In 2013, China became the third country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. China landed an exploring vehicle, or rover named Yutu that year. China followed with the Yutu-2 rover in 2019, this time touching down on the moon's unexplored far side. In 2020, China successfully returned samples of rock and dirt collected by the rovers. The mission returned about 1.7 kilograms of lunar material collected from the near side of the moon. Then in 2024, another mission returned rock and soil samples from the less explored far side of the moon. China has said it aims to land its astronauts on the moon by 2030. Russian landing failure In 2023, Russia tried its first moon landing in nearly 50 years. The Luna 25 spacecraft was attempting to land near the lunar south pole. But it is believed to have crash landed on the moon's surface. The country's last effort before that, Luna 24 in 1976, landed successfully and returned moon rocks to Earth. India succeeds on second attempt After its first lander crashed into the moon in 2019, India made its second attempt in 2023. The country successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface. The mission made India the fourth nation to complete a moon landing. Japan lands sideways In January 2024, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. But the SLIM spacecraft landed upside down. This caused some power and communication problems, but the lander was able to operate for a short time. I'm Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English with additional information from NASA. ____________________________________________________ Words in This Story layer – n. an amount of a substance that covers a surface mission – n. (space travel) the flight of a spacecraft to perform a certain task or job sample – n. a small amount of something that gives you information about the thing it was taken from
