NASA denies Sunita is stranded in ISS with Starliner plagued by snags
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Appreciating Sunita's courage in travelling in the first flight of a new spacecraft, ISRO chairman Somanath said, "We are all proud of her. There are many missions to her credit." The ISS is a safe place for people to stay for a long time, he said.
The jinxed Boeing ship had faced several snags and postponements before its actual firing. On the contrary, success of a space mission was planned by Boeing to restore its image severely damaged by several crashes and mishaps of its Dreamliners in the recent years, it is said.
The Boeing is currently under fire in the US Congress also.
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CAPE CANAVERAL (Florida), June 30: NASA has refuted reports that astronauts
Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are stranded in the International
Space Station (ISS) due to glitches in the Boeing Starliner spaceship by which
they had arrived and was scheduled to return on June 14 after staying in orbit for eight days.
Meanwhile, ISRO chairman S Somnath told NDTV that ISS is a safe place for people
to stay for a long time. He praised Sunita's courage in travelling in the first
flight of a new spacecraft. "We are all proud of her. There are many missions
to her credit," he said. Sunita, who is also an engineer, had taken part in
designing the ship herself.
CNN quoted a NASA official that the mission duration is being extended to 90
days.
Amidst concerns over a helium leak in Starliner, NASA officials told reporters
on Friday that the situation is under control. They are also evaluating Starliner’s
propulsion system to ensure safe return to earth. There was also an issue of
a recent water leak that prevented a spacewalk planned for June 24 which has
been postoned by a month. Obviously, Sunita and Wilmore's stay in the ISS originally
planned for about a week will now get extended, likely by a few months! However,
Suni says it's fine with her.
The space capsule had five helium leaks, five dead manoeuvring thrusters and a propellant valve failing to close completely. The expandable propulsion system need to push the capsule away from the ISS in order to start the return had problems. As for the thrusters they had overheated during firing.
According to one report it can stay docked for up to 72 days.
In case Starliner is not repaired, the alternative is sending SpaceX's Crew Dragon.
NASA said the ISS has sufficient resources to support their overstay.
The Starliner spacecraft had lifted off on June 5 after two failed attempts from the Cape Canaveral Space
Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The jinxed Boeing ship had faced several snags and postponement before its
actual firing. A success of a space mission was planned by Boeing to restore
its image damaged severely by crashes of its Dreamliners in the recent years,
it is said.
On its part, NASA was testing Boeing's spacecraft to certify its ability to
carry out space missions. It wanted one more spacecraft to ferry astronauts
to the ISS other than the existing SpaceX's Crew Dragon.
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SELECTIONS FROM OUR ARCHIVES |
Mouth freshener with dry ice sends diners to hospital: Gurugram cafe manager arrested
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The manager has defended himself saying that dry ice got mixed with mouth freshener by the negligence of the staff...After taking the mouth freshener the customers felt a burning sensation and started vomiting blood. Five of them were hospitalised. Two are in critical condition.
Harmful effects of dry ice: Ingested, dry ice can burn your mouth, esophagus and stomach as it sublimates on contact with the moisture of the organs and turns into CO2, apart from other damaging physical and chemical changes it induces. The pressure building up in the stomach due to sublimation can also rupture the stomach muscles. It turns lethal. In normal direct handling it leads to frostbite due to the cold temperature.
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Two shot dead inside salon in south-west Delhi's Najafgarh
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One of them is seen in CCTV being shot at close range. The motive is suspected to be personal enmity.
TAILPIECE: Almost every other day we hear of shootings in one place or other in the country. India will very soon replace the US as the world's No 1 in the incidence of mass shooting. It will eclipse terrorism as a source of concern. Who can help? At least, has it occurred to anyone's mind?
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India shines at Grammys with Best Global for 'Shakti' fusion
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'This Moment' of Shakti fusion won the Best Global Music Album at the Grammys. Zakir Hussain has won two other awards too. In a great victory for Indians, five of them have won the Grammys this time. In other sections, Taylor Swift got her fourth Album of the Year award and Miley Cyrus got an award for the first time.
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Climate protesters attack Mona Lisa in Louvre, spray pumpkin soup
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“Two activists from the environmental movement ‘Riposte Alimentaire’ sprayed pumpkin soup on the armoured glass protecting the Mona Lisa, this Sunday, January 28, 2024, around 10 am (4aET),” a statement from the museum said.
It is not understood how undesirable elements are allowed to get so close to her
and play havoc with the artwork. Several times over this has happened in the
past, deranged minds masquerading as tourists and cultists venting their frustration.
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TRAVEL ALERT: Dog attacks on the rise in Delhi-NCR; woman mauled by three strays
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Two days earlier, in a similar incident in the area, a domestic help was bitten by a pet dog in the lift when she was going for work.
Tailpiece: Sometimes appearing to outnumnber men and women on the streets, the stray dogs are turning more and more daring with sections of anti-social elements out there to feed and protect them in order to find a window for their unfulfilled love! There is an all-pervading feeling of lack of authority.
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Tamil Nadu police arrest ED official for accepting Rs 50 lakh bribe
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Ankit Tiwari had told the employee that “instructions had been received
from the Prime Minister’s Office to conduct an enquiry” and reopen the
“already disposed of” case and asked him to appear before the ED office
at Madurai on October 30, DVAC said. The doctor was allegedly
threatened with arrest and told to pay a bribe of Rs 3 cr to avoid the ED
probe, which was later negotiated down to Rs 50 lakh.
Tailpiece: We are made to believe RBI, CBI, ED, Judiciary as sacrosanct
and all others like railways, transport, revenue, education, PWD
departments are composed of us the mortals, absolutely corrupt! As if in
the sacrosanct places the angels descend from the heavens to work in the
night and fly away before day-break! Let's be true to ourselves, we are all
cut from the same cloth. |
Centre blocks Mahadev Book, 21 other online betting apps
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Betting through Dubai-based Mahadev Book in India is conducted through a countrywide network. Probes reveal that the online gambling is worth several millions and top politicians, officials and celebs have been beneficiaries.
TAILPIECE: Polling dates for some States are round the corner. Top
politicians have begun their acrimonious debate who looted more, even as
Mahadev is washing their dirty laundry in the open ghat. Come what may,
one needs to seize power to amass "thy wretched pelf!" One simple
question is, why else one should spend lakhs or crores to get elected! A
question every Indian should ask to oneself at least once a day!
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State Govt-Guv ding-dong reaches Supreme Court's door: Kerala joins
TN... |
His inaction amounts to defeating the rights of the people of the State to
welfare measures sought to be implemented through the Bills, the Kerala
Government's petition submitted, while the State of Tamil Nadu remarked
that its "Governor is acting as a political rival."
Tailpiece: Coming up back to back, the petitions in their totality seem to question the provision of Raj Bhavan, and not motives of a Governor as a
person.
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10, including kids, die of heart failure at Garba dance performances in
Gujarat
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Doctors reasoned how the incidence of heart attacks is spiking over time and
advise the simple way to play safely is to take a break and rehydrate
yourself.
But how come ten people, including children, die of cardiac arrest at
Garba in 24 hours, and that at different places of Gujarat? Garba had been going on
for six days, and every year it is celebrated.
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Retailers ask UK Govt to act against surging cases of shoplifting, assaults
on workers |
Shocking news from the UK: Leading grocers have started bribing policemen with free food and drinks to persuade them to take action against shoplifters.
Shoplifting has risen by about 27 per cent in 10 major cities across the UK
this year. The cost of retail crime last year was $2.15 billion. Besides, “We
are seeing organised gangs threatening staff with weapons and emptying
stores," Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium,
said. Data shows that the police failed to respond to 73 per cent of serious
retail crimes that included assault and abuse of workers, apart from
shoplifting.
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Kamala bopping to rap in pink marks hip-hop anniversary on VP's lawn |
Harris said hip-hop is “the ultimate American art form” that “shapes every
aspect of American popular culture.” “Hip-hop culture is American
culture,” she said in a talk at her official residence at the US Naval
Observatory in Washington, D.C.
The social media had mixed reaction. There was much appreciation that
she dances better than any VP in American history. But some called her
"moves" as “cringe” while others did not like her pink pants - "pink pants
don’t look good.” In fact, her ensembles have always been incongruous.
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