US Parents Excited Over Jabs for Kids
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ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021 SCIENCE 11 Space 1st American in space marked 60th ’versary: Tourists lining up for space trip CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 5, (AP): Sixty years after Alan Shepard became the first American in space, everyday people are on the verge of following in his cosmic footsteps. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company is finally opening ticket sales for short hops from Texas launched by a rocket named New Shepard. Details are coming Wednesday, the 60th anni- versary of Shepard’s Mercury flight. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic aims to kick off tourist flights next year, just as soon as he straps into his space- skimming, plane-launched rocketship for a test run from the New Mexico base. And Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch a billionaire and his sweepstakes winners in September. That will be followed by a flight by three businessmen to the International Space Station in January. “It’s a huge leap, right?” said NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, commander of SpaceX’s most recent flight to the space station. “But it’s pretty cool ... citizens will be able to have the chance to go to space and experience what we get to.” It’s all rooted in Shepard’s 15-min- ute flight on May 5, 1961. Shepard was actually the second per- son in space - the Soviet Union launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin three weeks earlier, to Shepard’s ever- lasting dismay. Shepard The 37-year-old Mercury astronaut and Navy test pilot cut a slick sci-fi figure in his silver spacesuit as he stood in the predawn dark- ness at Cape Canaveral, looking up at his Redstone rocket. Impatient with all the delays, including another hold in the countdown just minutes before launch, he famously growled into his mic: “Why don’t you fix your little problem and light this candle?” His capsule, Freedom 7, soared to an altitude of 116 miles In this July 2020 photo, provided by Robin Perry, (second from right), she poses with her family in Mauston, Wis. In the (back row from left) are Cooper, Reece, (186 kilometers) before parachuting into the Atlantic. Robin and Aaron. In the (front row from left) are Quin, Tucker and Hutch. Robin and Aaron Perry are anxiously waiting for federal officials to approve COVID-19 Twenty days later, President John F. Kennedy committed to vaccinations for children between the ages of 12 and 15. The Perrys’ oldest son, 17-year-old Cooper, has been battling leukemia and the family hopes vaccinating landing a man on the moon and returning him safely by 12-year-old Tucker and 15-year-old Reece will bolster protection for him. (AP) decade’s end, a promise made good in July 1969 by Apollo 11s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Command Coronavirus Shepard, who died in 1998, went on to command Apollo 14 in 1971, becoming the fifth moonwalker - and lone lunar golfer. Since Gagarin and Shepard’s pioneering flights, 579 people have rocketed into space or reached its fringes, according to ‘It could be a game changer’ NASA. Nearly two-thirds are American and just over 20% Soviet or Russian. About 90% are male and most are white, although NASA’s crews have been more diverse in recent decades. US parents excited over jabs for kids A Black community college educator from Tempe, Arizona, sees her spot on SpaceX’s upcoming private flight as a sym- MISSION, Kan., May 5, (AP): After bol. Sian Proctor uses the acronym J.E.D.I. for “a just, equi- more than a year of fretting over her table, diverse and inclusive space.” 13-year son with a rare liver disease, Biden aims to vaccinate 70% NASA wasn’t always on board with space tourism, but is Heather Ousley broke into tears when today. she learned that he and millions of “Our goal is one day that everyone’s a space person,” other youngsters could soon be eligi- NASA’s human spaceflight chief, Kathy Lueders said follow- ble for the COVID-19 vaccine. of American adults by July 4 ing Sunday’s splashdown of a SpaceX capsule with four “This day is the best day in the his- WASHINGTON, May 5, (AP): of about 965,000 per day - half the astronauts. “We’re very excited to see it starting to take off.” In this May 5, 1961 file photo, astro- tory of days!!! I love this day!!!” she President Joe Biden set a new vac- rate of three weeks ago, but almost Twenty years ago, NASA clashed with Russian space offi- naut Alan Shepard sits in his capsule texted, joining other parents and edu- cination goal to deliver at least one twice as fast as needed to meet cials over the flight of the world’s first space tourist. at Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard a cators in welcoming the news that the shot to 70% of adult Americans by Biden’s target. California businessman Dennis Tito paid $20 million to Mercury-Redstone rocket. Freedom 7 Food and Drug Administration is July Fourth as he tackles the vex- “I’d like to get it 100%, but I think visit the space station, launching atop a Russian rocket. was the first American manned subor- expected to authorize Pfizer’s vaccine ing problem of winning over the realistically we can get to that place Virginia-based Space Adventures arranged Tito’s weeklong bital space flight, making Shepard the by next week for children ages 12 to “doubters” and those unmotivated between now and July Fourth,” trip, which ended May 6, 2001, as well as seven more tourist first American in space. (AP) 15. to get inoculated. Biden said of his new goal. flights that followed. Ousley, who is president of the Demand for vaccines has He said the administration would “By opening up his checkbook, he kicked off an industry 20 school board for the 27,000-student dropped off markedly nationwide, focus on three areas as it tries to with some states leaving more than ramp up the pace of vaccinations: yrs ago,” Space Adventures co-founder Eric Anderson tweet- Shawnee Mission School District in ■ Discovery Kansas, plans to get her 13- and half their available doses unordered. Adults who need more con- ed last week. “Space is opening up more than it ever has, and Aiming to make it easier to get vincing to take the vaccine. for all.” 15-year-olds promptly vaccinated and shots, Biden on Tuesday called for ■ Those who have struggled or There’s already a line. then celebrate with ice cream. They states to make vaccines available are in no hurry to obtain a shot. A Russian actress and movie director are supposed to US birth rate falls: The US birth rate have been learning from home with ■ fell 4% last year, the largest single-year on a walk-in basis and he will direct Adolescents aged 12-15, once launch from Kazakhstan in the fall. They’ll be followed in their younger brother since the start of many pharmacies to do likewise. federal authorities approve vacci- December by Space Adventures’ two newest clients, also decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a the outbreak. government report being released His administration for the first time nation for that age group. launching on a Russian Soyuz rocket. SpaceX will be next Pfizer is also anticipating the FDA also is moving to shift doses from Acknowledging that “the pace of up in January with the three businessmen; the flight from Wednesday. will endorse use of its vaccine in even The rate dropped for moms of every states with weaker demand to areas vaccination is slowing,” Biden pre- Florida’s Kennedy Space Center was arranged by Axiom major race and ethnicity, and in nearly age younger children sometime this fall. with stronger interest in the shots. dicted the inoculation effort is Space, a Houston company run by former NASA employ- group, falling to the lowest point since fed- And results are expected by the middle “You do need to get vaccinated,” “going to be harder” when it comes ees. And as early as 2023, SpaceX is supposed to take a eral health officials started tracking it more of this year from a US study of Biden said from the White House. to convincing “doubters” of the Japanese entrepreneur and his guests around the moon and than a century ago. Moderna’s shots in 12- to 17-year- “Even if your chance of getting seri- need to get their shots. back. Births have been declining in younger olds. ously ill is low, why take the risk? It He said the most effective argu- While no fan of human spaceflight - he prefers robotic women for years, as many postponed moth- could save your life or the lives of ment to those people would be to explorers - Duke University emeritus history professor Alex erhood and had smaller families. Vaccinations somebody you love.” protect those they love. “This is Roland acknowledges the emergence of spaceflight compa- Birth rates for women in their late 30s Officials are hoping that extending Biden’s goal equates to delivering your choice: It’s life and death.” nies might be “the most significant change in the last 60 and in their 40s have been inching up. But vaccinations to children will drive at least the first shot to 181 million Biden’s push comes as his not last year. adults and fully vaccinating 160 mil- administration has shifted away years.” Yet he wonders whether there will be much interest down the nation’s caseload even fur- lion.