SpaceX's first all-civilian crew is set for lift-off next September for a three-day mission designed to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Jared Isaacman, a pilot and CEO of payment processor Shift4 Payments, who is funding the mission, told Cheddar that the launch will be the beginning of a new era of civilian space travel.
"This is the first time that you didn't have a global superpower sending people into space," he said. "This is the first step towards a world where everyday people are going to be able to go and explore among the stars and all the great things to come from here."
The goal is for the mission to raise $200 million for the research hospital. Isaacman, who has already donated $100 million, said the initiative is about 60 percent of the way toward its goal.
Two members of the crew, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski, both of whom have backgrounds in science and aerospace, were selected through a lottery.
"This is huge for me. I thought that this moment had passed me by," said Proctor, a scientist and educator who was previously a finalist in NASA's 2009 astronaut class.
The mission will launch from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A where the historic Apollo and space shuttle programs were based.
The team starts training on Wednesday with a visit to the centrifuge. Then it's on to a mountaineering expedition at the end of the month, with plenty of manual-reading on orbital mechanics and simulated flight training in between.
"We have a packed schedule for sure," said Sembroski, a former Air Force missileman and Lockheed Martin employee.
The fourth member of the crew, Hayley Arceneaux, a cancer researcher from St. Jude's who herself was treated for bone cancer at the hospital as a 10-year-old child, said the mission will inspire the young people with who she works every day.
"I think this mission is going to give a lot of kids, who are just like me 19 years ago battling cancer, I think it's going to give them hope, and hope is priceless," she said.
The flight will travel at 17,500 miles per hour up to 335 miles high in Earth's lower orbit.
"That's pretty much farther than anyone's gone in probably the last 15 years," he said.
At one point, he added, the crew will look down on the Hubble space telescope.
"It's really symbolic of all of the cool missions that will come," Isaacman said. "We know we're going back to the Moon, and then we're going to Mars, and then we're going beyond."
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
At the core of the ongoing government shutdown is a fight over the decision to end subsidies that let some 12 million Americans get health coverage.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
