ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021 SCIENCE 11

Space

ISS power grid upgraded US billionaire buys entire SpaceX fl ight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb 2, (AP): A US billionaire who made a fortune in tech and fi ghter jets is buying an entire SpaceX fl ight and plans to take three “everyday” people with him to circle the globe this year. Besides fulfi lling his dream of fl ying in space, Jared Isaac- man announced Monday that he aims to use the private trip to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, half coming from his own pockets. A female health care worker for St. Jude already has been selected for the mission. Anyone donating to St. Jude in Feb- ruary will be entered into a random drawing for seat No. 3. The fourth seat will go to a business owner who uses Shift4 Payments, Isaacman’s credit card processing company in Al- lentown, Pennsylvania. “I truly want us to live in a world 50 or 100 years from now where people are jumping in their rockets like the Jetsons and there are families bounc- ing around on the moon with their kid in a spacesuit,” Isaacman, who turns 38 next week, told The Associated Press. “I also think if we are going to live in that world, we better conquer childhood cancer along the way.” He’s bought a Super Bowl ad to pub- licize the mission, dubbed Inspiration4 Musk and targeted for an October launch from Florida. The other passengers aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule - what Isaacman calls a di- verse group “from everyday walks of life” - will be announced next month. SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk expects the fl ight to last two to four days. Healthcare volunteer Melissa Lowry prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at a regional vaccination site, Feb 1, in Wakefield, Mass. (AP) Isaacman’s trip is the latest deal announced for private space travel - and it’s No. 1 on the runway for an orbital trip. “This is an important milestone toward enabling access to space for everyone,” Musk said during a press conference COVID-19 Monday from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. While expensive, these initial private fl ights will drive down costs over time, he noted. Tourists Deadliest month in US ends with signs of progress Last week, a Houston company revealed the names of three businessmen who are paying $55 million apiece to fl y to the International Space Station next January aboard a SpaceX Dragon. And a Japanese businessman has a deal with SpaceX Many nursing home staff decline shots to fl y to the moon. In the past, space tourists had to hitch rides to the space station on Russian rockets. NEW YORK, Feb 2, (AP): A little Isaacman would not divulge how much he’s paying SpaceX, more than a third of nursing home except to say that the anticipated donation to St. Jude “vastly workers have been getting COVID-19 Does wearing two masks provide exceeds the cost of the mission.” vaccines when the shots are fi rst of- While a former NASA astronaut will accompany the three fered, US health offi cials said Monday. businessmen, Isaacman will serve as his own spacecraft com- The Centers for Disease Control and more protection against COVID? mander. The appeal, he said, is learning all about SpaceX’s Prevention gave a national accounting Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket. The capsules are designed to fl y of a problem that’s been reported anec- NEW YORK, Feb 2, (AP): Does versity of California, San Francisco. A man takes his own COVID-19 swab autonomously, but a pilot can override the system in an emer- dotally - many nursing home workers wearing two masks provide more Gandhi said that combination — test at a newly set-up testing facility are not getting the shots. protection? with either mask on top — could gency. in a car park in West Ealing, London, A “space geek” since kindergarten, Isaacman dropped out of The CDC looked at more than It depends, but it’s possible that help achieve a similar effect as Feb 2. British health authorities plan 11,000 nursing homes and skilled high school when he was 16, got a GED certifi cate and started to test tens of thousands of people in doubling up could help in some the N95 mask. She recommended a business in his parents’ basement that became the genesis for a handful of areas of England in an nursing facilities that had at least one situations. the added protection for people Shift4. He set a speed record fl ying around the world in 2009 attempt to stop a new variant of the vaccination clinic between the middle The US Centers for Disease who will be indoors in areas where while raising money for the Make-A-Wish program, and later coronavirus first identified in South of December and the middle of Janu- Control and Prevention recom- transmission rates are high - which established Draken International, the world’s largest private Africa spreading in the community. ary. The researchers found that while mends wearing a cloth mask made could reflect the circulation of more fl eet of fi ghter jets. The Department of Health says a 78% of residents got at least one shot, with two or more layers, and ensur- contagious variants. Isaacman’s $100 million commitment to St. Jude in Mem- small number of people in England only 37.5% of staff members did. ing it covers your nose and mouth. Another option Gandhi and a col- who had not travelled abroad have Data previously showed that people The agency says it should fit snugly league recommend for situations phis, Tennessee, is the largest ever by a single individual and so there aren’t any gaps at the where you want “maximum” pro- one of the largest overall. tested positive for the strain. (AP) who work in nursing homes and long- term care facilities get fl u vaccines sides of your face. tection: A two-layer cloth mask that “We’re pinching ourselves every single day,” said Rick Wearing just one mask should be has a filter material in between. Shadyac, president of St. Jude’s fundraising organization. at lower rates than other health-care workers. Surveys suggest that long- enough for most situations, as long With single cloth masks for every- Besides SpaceX training, Isaacman intends to take his crew as it fits well and isn’t loose, said day use, Gandhi noted it’s important on a mountain expedition to mimic his most uncomfortable term care workers are skeptical the shots work and don’t think viruses Dr. David Hamer, an infectious dis- that they’re made of tightly woven experience so far - tenting on the side of a mountain in bitter ease expert at Boston University. material and have at least two layers, winter conditions. spread easily from them to the people “Starting out with a good mask to which creates “an obstacle course” “We’re all going to get to know each other ... really well they care for. begin with is going to be key,” Ham- that makes it harder for virus-carrying before launch,” he said. Policy er said. Still, some people might particles to break through. He’s acutely aware of the need for things to go well. want extra protection if they’re at Meanwhile, travelers on airplanes “If something does go wrong, it will set back every other The problem was discussed last risk for severe illness if infected and public transportation like buses person’s ambition to go and become a commercial astronaut,” week during a meeting of an expert or will be in situations where they and subways will be required to he told the AP over the weekend from his home in Easton, panel that advises the CDC on vac- expect to be around others for ex- wear face masks starting next week Pennsylvania. cine policy. At the meeting, the CDC’s tended periods, such as on a plane. to curb the spread of COVID-19. Isaacman said he signed with Musk’s company because it’s Adkesson Creecy Dr. Amanda Cohn said more staffers One option in scenarios when you The US Centers for Disease the clear leader in commercial spacefl ight, with two astronaut get vaccinated when a second or third want extra protection is to wear a Control and Prevention issued a fl ights already completed. Boeing has yet to fl y astronauts to clinic is held at a home. cloth mask as well as a regular surgi- mask-wearing rule recently that the space station for NASA. While Richard Branson’s Virgin Ecology “Continuing to capture those staff cal mask, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an builds on an order announced Jan Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin expect to start fl ying who did not accept vaccine early will infectious disease expert at the Uni- 21 by President Joe Biden. customers later this year, their craft will just briefl y skim the be really important as we try eliminate surface of space. outbreaks and protect both staff and Isaacman had put out spacefl ight feelers for years. He Lockdown helps cut poaching: The residents in long-term care facilities,” navirus outbreak in the US drew to a recorded the highest number of COV- traveled to Kazakhstan in 2008 to see a Russian Soyuz blast number of rhinos killed in South Africa’s Cohn said. close with certain signs of progress: ID-19 deaths in any month since the off with a tourist on board, then a few years later attended national parks dropped by 33% last year, The government tasked CVS and COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations pandemic began,” said Dr. Rochelle one of NASA’s last space shuttle launches. SpaceX invited with COVID-19 restrictions helping by Walgreens with administering the are plummeting, while vaccinations Walensky, director of the Centers for reducing movements around the country, shots to long-term care homes in near- are picking up speed. Disease Control and Prevention. him to the company’s second astronaut launch for NASA in the country’s environmental ministry an- November. ly every state. Each vaccine requires The question is whether the nation Deaths do not move in perfect lock- nounced Monday. two shots a few weeks apart, and CVS can stay ahead of the fast-spreading step up or down with the infection While Isaacman and wife, Monica, managed to keep his According to authorities, 394 rhinoc- space trip hush-hush over the months, their daughters couldn’t. and Walgreens say they have wrapped mutations of the virus. curve. They are a lagging indicator, eroses were poached for their horns com- up fi rst-dose clinics in nursing homes. The US death toll has climbed past because it can take a few weeks for The girls, ages 7 and 4, overheard their parents discussing the pared to 594 that were killed in 2019. The chains plan three visits to each lo- fl ight last year and told their teachers, who called to ask if it 440,000, with over 95,000 lives lost in people to get sick and die from COV- “During the COVID hard lockdown cation. January alone. Deaths are running at ID-19. was true dad was an astronaut. period we had a signifi cant reduction in The CDC released a second report “My wife said, ‘No, of course not, you know how these kids about 3,150 per day on average, down After a slow start, the vaccination poacher incursions into Kruger National Monday that offered a larger national slightly, by about 200, from their peak drive that began in mid-December is make things up.’ But I mean the reality is my kids weren’t that Park,” Minister Barbara Creecy an- look at who has been getting the vac- in mid-January. picking up the pace. More than 31.1 far off with that one.” nounced in a statement. cine. But as the calendar turned to Febru- million doses have been administered ❑ ❑ ❑ “However, that changed later in the year as the lockdown levels eased and a The CDC study found that of the ary on Monday, the number of Ameri- in the US, according to the CDC. That A pair of spacewalking astronauts completed a four-year ef- signifi cant spike in poaching in Kruger people who got at least one shot be- cans in the hospital with COVID-19 is up from 16.5 million on the day fort to modernize the International Space Station’s power grid was experienced toward the end of 2020, tween mid-December and mid-Janu- fell below 100,000 for the fi rst time President Joe Biden took offi ce, Jan. on Monday, installing one last battery. especially during December,” she said. ary, 63% were women, and 55% were in two months. New cases of infec- 20. Over the weekend, fl ight controllers in Houston used the The country’s largest national park, age 50 or older. It also found 60% were tion are averaging about 148,000 day, The number of shots dispensed in space station’s big robot arm to replace the last pair of old- Kruger experienced 1,573 poaching ac- White, 11.5% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 5% down from almost a quarter-million in the week and a half since Biden’s in- style batteries with a single better-quality one. NASA’s Mike tivities overall during the period, a 21.9% Black, 2% American Indian/Alaska mid-January. And cases are trending auguration has been running at close Hopkins and Victor Glover put the fi nishing touches on this decrease compared to 2019. Native, and most of the others multi- downward in all 50 states. to 1.5 million per day on average, well newest lithium-ion battery to complete a series of spacewalks This was the sixth consecutive year that racial. “While the recent decline in cases over the president’s oft-stated goal of 1 that began in 2017. a decline in poaching in the country had The report echoed previously re- and hospital admissions are encour- million per day. More than 5.6 million been recorded, according to Creecy. leased data from states. aging, they are counterbalanced by Americans have received the required Installations Signifi cant arrests of poachers had The deadliest month yet of the coro- the stark reality that in January we two doses, the CDC said. Although the spacewalk got started late, Hopkins and Glov- also been made, thanks to cooperation er hustled through the battery work in under an hour. They between law enforcement agencies and also made quick work of camera installations and squeezed in prosecutors, resulting in a 97.8% convic- tion rate of poachers that have been pros- with a custom, patient-designed implant plications from the implant. AP) birth announcement: Two female calves some extra chores. ecuted. (AP) to be attempted on a tiger in North Amer- ❑ ❑ ❑ The astronauts gazed down at Earth and soaked in one last of a critically endangered antelope spe- ❑ ❑ ❑ ica. In fact, they had already planned the cies are ready for their close-ups. sunset before reentering the space station. second surgery to relieve the tiger’s dis- Antelopes born at Fla zoo: The Jack- “Yeah, enjoy the view. You guys did a great job today. You The stepsisters — one born Dec 17 and Tiger undergoes hip surgery: An comfort in the event there were any com- sonville Zoo and Gardens has a bongo the other Jan 8 — are the fi rst offspring guys rocked it,” Mission Control said as the fi ve-hour space- Amur tiger that underwent hip-replace- ment surgery only to dislodge the or- for Sienna and Shimba, as well as the walk concluded well ahead of schedule. sire, Mickey, the zoo said. They’re east- The space station is now equipped with 24 lithium-ion thopedic implant within hours has been operated on again, offi cials at a suburban ern bongos — a species that’s critically batteries to store power collected by the solar panels. The endangered due to deforestation and hunt- big, boxy batteries, surpassing 400 pounds (180 kilograms) Chicago zoo said Monday. A team of veterinary specialists re- ing. each, provide electricity for the orbiting lab when it’s on the Both mothers also were born at the night side of Earth. They’re so powerful that only half as moved the original implant over the weekend and performed an alternative zoo, in 2018. Sienna delivered fi rst, a calf many are needed as the old nickel-hydrogen batteries they that weighed 42 pounds (19 kilograms) replaced. procedure on 10-year-old Malena to allow a fi brous joint to form and let her leg mus- at a Dec 22 exam. Shimba followed this The upgrade took longer than expected after one of the new cles provide stability to the joint, Brook- month with a calf weighing 38 pounds (17 batteries failed after it was installed two years ago and had to fi eld Zoo said in a news release. kilograms). be replaced. In all, 14 spacewalks were needed to complete the She may not be able to perform the “Our animal care team is very excited battery work. kind of “high energy and high impact ac- with how well the fi rst-time mothers are NASA expects these batteries to last the rest of the space tivities” of a normal tiger as she recovers doing. This is great news for our herd station’s operating life. under close observation, but severe arthri- and we look forward to more offspring Besides battery work, Hopkins and Glover installed a new tis was already limiting Malena’s move- in the future to enhance conservation ef- camera on the US Destiny lab and replaced parts in the cam- ments, the zoo said. forts for this species,” Assistant Curator era system outside the station’s Japanese lab, named Kibo, or “We anticipate Malena will have better of Mammals Corey Neatrour said in a Hope in English. use and mobility of her leg than she did statement. During a spacewalk last Wednesday, the two astronauts before surgery and most importantly, her Mickey was transferred to Jackson- made improvements to the European lab, Columbus. hip will be free of pain,” said Dr Mike ville in October 2019 from the Cape May Two more spacewalks will be conducted in about a month Adkesson, vice president of clinical med- In this undated image provided St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Jared County Zoo, based on breeding recom- to get ready for additional solar panels set for delivery later icine for the Chicago Zoological Society, Isaacman pauses while speaking about his enthusiasm for St Jude Children’s mendations through the Association of this year. which manages Brookfi eld Zoo. Research Hospital and his spaceflight called Inspiration4, in Memphis, Tenn. Zoos and Aquariums Bongo Species Sur- Seven astronauts currently live on the space station: four The need for a second operation did not Isaacman, a billionaire who made a fortune in tech and fighter jets is buying an vival Plan, the statement said. Americans, two Russians and one Japanese. come as a total surprise to the veterinar- entire SpaceX flight and plans to take three people with him to circle the globe Bongo are the largest African forest ians who performed what was believed to this year. Isaacman announced, Feb 1, 2021, that he aims to use the trip to raise antelope and are known for their striking be the fi rst full hip replacement surgery more than $200 million for St. Jude. (AP) appearance. (AP)