Dominique Luchart's Blog, page 570
July 11, 2021
Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked device lineup may have been entirely spoiled in huge new leak, Jay Peters
We might now know a lot of what’s coming at Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked event thanks to a series of tweets from noted leaker Evan Blass. It seems like the event could be a big one, as Blass tweeted a long thread with GIFs of two new Galaxy foldables, a new Galaxy FE phone, two new Galaxy Watches, and even a set of new Galaxy Buds. He also says the event is set to take place one month from now on August 11th.
First up, the foldables. Blass has already leaked what appear to be official renders of the rumored Galaxy Z Fold 3 (which could support the S Pen stylus) and Galaxy Z Flip 3, but the new GIFs he shared give looks at both devices at all angles.
Here’s the Z Fold 3, which Blass shared GIFs of in white, green, and black:
— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
And here’s the Z Flip 3, which Blass tweeted in purple, black, gold, and green:
— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
Blass’ thread also includes GIFs of what look to be the rumored Samsung Galaxy S21 FE in white, a yellow-ish gray, purple, and black. The phone, if released, will likely be a mid-range version of the S21 and looks to take a lot of design inspiration from the Samsung flagship (like how the S20 FE looked similar to the S20).
Whether or not this phone is actually in production has been something of an open question; in June, in response to a report claiming Samsung had stopped production of the phone, Samsung said that “nothing has been determined regarding the alleged production suspension.” These GIFs from Blass might be a sign that the phone is a go.
— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
But Blass didn’t just share GIFs of phones — he also tweeted GIFs of two new Samsung watches. One model seems to match closely with rumors of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, with what appears to be a rotating bezel and two buttons on the right side. The watch, which Blass tweeted in white, black, and gray, is also expected to run Google and Samsung’s new smartwatch platform.
— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
The other watch shared by Blass appears to match rumors of the Galaxy Watch Active 4. This watch doesn’t look to have a rotating bezel, and according to OnLeaks and GizNext, it might come in two different sizes: 44mm and 40mm. Blass shared GIFs of the watch in gray, dark green, white, peach, and two tweets of a black watch (though I can’t tell the difference between them besides what’s shown on the screen).
— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
Blass’ GIF thread also reveals three colors of unannounced Galaxy Buds that match rumors about the Galaxy Buds 2, which, according to leaker Ice Universe, will have active noice cancelation. Blass’ GIFs show the buds and the inside of the white case in gray, purple, and white, matching the style of a leaked render shared by 91mobiles that showed green, black, and white bud / inner case combos.
— Evan Blass (@evleaks)
Finally, let’s talk quickly about that rumored date, August 11th, which to me seems like the one you might want to circle on your calendar. When Samsung showed off its smartwatch platform developed with Google at the end of June, it said there would be an Unpacked event “later this summer,” so August 11th would fall in that timeline. And the company has hosted summer Unpacked events in early August for a few years now, meaning August 11th wouldn’t be out of the usual pattern.
Since Samsung hasn’t officially announced any of these products or the date of the event, there’s always the chance that what Blass leaked doesn’t actually come out. But given Blass’ past track record and the detail of the GIFs he shared, it seems possible he may well have revealed some of the biggest news from Samsung’s next Unpacked event.
The post Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked device lineup may have been entirely spoiled in huge new leak, Jay Peters appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 launch with Richard Branson. See video and photos of the flight., ,
Update 12:57 p.m. EDT: Richard Branson and the Unity 22 crew have safely landed back at Spaceport America. Read the full story here.
On July 11, Virgin Galactic made a giant leap toward commercial suborbital spaceflight. The company launched its first fully crewed flight of its SpaceShipTwo space plane Unity with a special passenger on board: the company’s billionaire founder Richard Branson.
Branson, three crewmates and two pilots launched on the historic flight after being carried into launch position by Virgin Galactic’s carrier plane VMS Eve. They will take off from the company’s homeport of Spaceport America in New Mexico, with a live webcast chronicling the flight. Here’s everything you need to know about the mission, which Virgin Galactic has dubbed Unity 22.
Related:
‘Welcome to the dawn of a new space age,’ Branson says
More:
Virgin Galactic teams with Omaze to raffle off 2 tickets to space
Virgin Galactic began webcasting the mission at about 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). The crew walked out to the ship about an hour earlier. The mothership VMS EVE is released Unity for launch at 11:20 a.m. EDT/1520 GMT, with landing occurring at 11:35 a.m. EDT/1535 GMT.
It looks like was a fun webcast.
Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show on CBS, hosted the webcast, with singer Khalid debuting his new single “New Normal” during the launch, former Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield and future Virgin Galactic astronaut Kellie Gerardi, who will launch on a research flight in 2022, offered live commentary along with Virgin Galactic’s Veronica McGowan.
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Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity launches billionaire Richard Branson and a crew of five others to suborbital space and back in a flight from Spaceport America, New Mexico on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 2 of 7[image error]
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson (foreground) and his crew float in weightlessness aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft during their suborbital Unity 22 spaceflight on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 3 of 7[image error]
A view of the Earth and the feathered tail of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity during the Unity 22 flight on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 4 of 7[image error]
A view of the Earth from Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity during the Unity 22 flight on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 5 of 7[image error]
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson in the cabin of VSS Unity during the space plane’s ascent on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 6 of 7[image error]
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson (left) and his fellow passengers in the cabin of VSS Unity during its fourth spaceflight, on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 7 of 7[image error]
Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson (third from right) will launch on the company’s first fully crewed flight on July 11, 2021 as part of a six-person crew. They are (from left): Pilot Dave Mackay; Coplin Bennet, lead operations engineer; Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor; Branson; Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations; and pilot Michael Masucci. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)The webcast began with the Unity spacecraft and its carrier plane taking off from its runway at Spaceport America, which is located 55 miles (88 kilometers) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Branson stated that the entire flight will take about 90 minutes, including the ascent up to launch position, release, flight to space and glide back to Earth for a runway landing at Spaceport America.
Virgin Galactic had initially planned to begin its launch webcast at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT), but bad weather delayed the rollout of the VMS EVE and VSS Unity vehicles from their hangar.
Related: How Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo works (infographic)
Who was Virgin Galactic launching on Unity 22?Image 1 of 6[image error]
Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson (third from right) will launch on the company’s first fully crewed flight on July 11, 2021 as part of a six-person crew. They are (from left): Pilot Dave Mackay; Coplin Bennet, lead operations engineer; Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor; Branson; Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations; and pilot Michael Masucci. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 2 of 6[image error]
Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations at Virgin Galactic. Bandla will be evaluating the human-tended research experience, using an experiment from the University of Florida that requires several handheld fixation tubes that will be activated at various points in the flight profile. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 3 of 6[image error]
Beth Moses, Chief Astronaut Instructor at Virgin Galactic. Moses will serve as cabin lead and test director on Unity 22, overseeing the safe and efficient execution of the test flight objectives. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 4 of 6[image error]
Virgin Galactic Lead Operations Engineer Colin Bennett will evaluate cabin equipment, procedures, and experience during both the boost phase and in the weightless environment. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 5 of 6[image error]
Dave Mackay, Chief Pilot, Virgin Galactic (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 6 of 6[image error]
Michael Masucci (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Virgin Galactic launched six people on the Unity 22 flight, although the spacecraft is designed to carry up to eight people (two pilots and six passengers).
Unity 22’s crew included four mission specialists:
Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations at Virgin Galactic. She will evaluate the human-tended research experience via an experiment from the University of Florida that requires several handheld fixation tubes to be activated at various points in the flight profile.Colin Bennett, Lead Operations Engineer at Virgin Galactic. He will evaluate cabin equipment, procedures and the experience during the boost phase and weightless environment inside Unity.Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic. Branson will evaluate the private astronaut experience. He will receive the same training, preparation and flight as Virgin Galactic’s future ticket-buying astronauts and use the flight to fine ways to enhance the experience for customers. Beth Moses , Chief Astronaut Instructor at Virgin Galactic. She will serve as cabin lead and test director in space. Her tasks include overseeing the safe execution of the test flight objectives. Moses has launched on Unity before.Related: Meet the crew launching on Virgin Galactic’s 1st fully crewed flight
Two veteran Virgin Galactic pilots were at the helm of Unity during the launch. They have both launched to space on Unity before and are:
Dave Mackay: Mackay is Virgin Galactic’s chief pilot and grew up in the highlands of Scotland. He is a former Royal Air Force pilot and flew for Branson’s airline company Virgin Atlantic before joining Virgin Galactic. Michael Masucci: Michael “Sooch” Masucci is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who joined Virgin Galactic in 2013 who racked up over 9,000 flying hours in 70 different types of airplanes and gliders during more than 30 years of civilian and military flight.Two other pilots will fly the VMS EVE carrier plane that will carry SpaceShipTwo into launch altitude. They are:
Frederick “CJ” Sturckow: A former NASA space shuttle commander who joined Virgin Galactic in 2013 with Masucci. A retired Marine Corps colonel, he was the first NASA astronaut to join the company and flew four space shuttle missions.Kelly Latimer: Latimer is a test pilot and retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force who joined Virgin Galactic’s pilot corps in 2015. She was the first female research test pilot to join what is now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center.What was Virgin Galactic’s mission for Unity 22?The primary objective for Unity 22 is to serve as a test flight for future passenger flights by Virgin Galactic. As its number suggests, this was the 22nd flight of Unity, but only its fourth launch to space.
The four mission specialists each evaluated different experiences that Virgin Galactic has promised its future customers, many of whom have already reserved trips to space with the company at $250,000 a seat.
Bandla, for example, tested the experience of performing experiments aboard Unity during different phases of the flight, including the weightless period. Branson took note of the flight as a paying passenger to look for ways to enhance the trip for ticket holders looking for the experience of a lifetime.
Related: The long road to spaceflight for Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin
Moses is Virgin Galactic’s Chief Astronaut Trainer and ensured everyone is safe in their tests while Bennet examined Unity’s cabin performance to look for potential enhancements.
This mission is a critical flight or Virgin Galactic, which Branson founded in 2004. VSS Unity is the company’s second SpaceShipTwo after the first, VSS Enterprise, broke apart during a 2014 test flight, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another. Virgin Galactic has made numerous safety upgrades to prevent such an accident from happening again.
What didVirgin Galactic’s astronauts experience?The mission began with takeoff from Spaceport America, where Virgin Galactic has built its “Gateway to Space” terminal to serve its future customers. They’ll wore custom Under Armour flight suits made for Virgin Galactic.
After takeoff, the carrier plane VMS EVE hauled the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity (short for Virgin Space Ship) to an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,000 meters), when it dropped the spacecraft.
In Photos: Virgin Galactic’s Sleek Under Armour Spacesuits for Space Tourists
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Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson (foreground) and his crew float in weightlessness aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft during their suborbital Unity 22 spaceflight on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)After separation, Unity ignited its hybrid rocket motor, which uses a mixture of solid and liquid propellant, to begin the boost phase. This carried Unity to its target altitude of 53 miles (86 km), where the pilots and crew experienced 4 minutes of weightlessness. They exited their seats and enjoy sweeping views of the Earth below through the many round windows that dot the space plane’s fuselage.
After that short encounter with weightlessness, the crew will climb back into their seats as Unity prepares to return to Earth. Pilots Mackay and Masucci “feathered” the spacecraft’s twin tail booms to provide stability during atmospheric reentry.
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Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity drops from its carrier plane on its fourth flight to suborbital space, on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 2 of 6[image error]
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity is seen during the ferry flight up to launch altitude during the Unity 22 flight on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 3 of 6[image error]
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo vehicle carried Richard Branson and three other passengers in its cabin during its fourth spaceflight, on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 4 of 6[image error]
VSS Unity powers its way to suborbital space on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 5 of 6[image error]
An up-close look at VSS Unity’s rocket motor in action on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 6 of 6[image error]
VSS Unity touches down after completing its fourth flight to suborbital space, on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)The feathered tail was then locked back into place for the glide back to Earth, which will end with a runway landing at Spaceport America. The entire flight, from takeoff to landing, should last about 90 minutes, Branson has said.
Will Virgin Galactic really reach space with Unity 22?[image error]
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceliner captured this view of Earth during the vehicle’s first trip to space, on Dec. 13, 2018. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Virgin Galactic launch Unity to an altitude above 50 miles (80 km), which NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. military classify as space. They will earn astronaut wings for reaching that height.
Another widely recognized boundary of space, the Karman line, is at an altitude at 62 miles (100 km) above Earth. The SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity won’t reach this milestone, which has led Virgin Galactic’s competitor Blue Origin (which does fly higher than 62 miles) to call out Virgin Galactic for missing that mark.
Richard Branson has downplayed that criticism and saying that “the actual difference in experience is going to be almost non-existent,” in an interview with NPR’s Leila Fadel.
Where does Virgin Galactic launch SpaceShipTwo from?Virgin Galactic initially launched SpaceShipTwo test flights from the company’s facilities at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. However, in 2020 the company moved Unity and its carrier craft to its permanent home at Spaceport America, where it plans to fly regular passenger flights beginning in 2022.
Spaceport America is located near Las Cruces, New Mexico and is home to Virgin Galactic’s “Gateway to Space” terminal, a welcome center and waiting room for ticketed passengers preparing for trips to space. It also sports a large hangar designed to fit multiple SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes and the VMS Eve. Virgin Galactic has also built a new vehicle, the SpaceShip III VSS Imagine.
When could I launch to space with Virgin Galactic?If you booked a trip with Virgin Galactic early and have one of the first reservations, you may get your chance to fly in space as early as 2022. If not, there’s a long wait ahead. And that’s assuming you can afford the $250,000 ticket price.
Virgin Galactic has said it plans to begin passenger launches in 2022 after a series of final test flights in 2021. The company does have hundreds of reservations for customer flights in backlog from eager would-be astronauts that have been waiting for over 17 years (since Richard Branson first announced Virgin Galactic in 2004) for the SpaceShipTwo to finally fly. The company paused taking new reservations after the 2014 accident.
Virgin Galactic is expected to resume taking reservations for “a limited number of tickets for future spaceflights” sometime this year, according to its website.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
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Virgin Galactic teams with Omaze to raffle off 2 tickets to space to the public, ,
Virgin Galactic is offering a free ride to suborbital space to two contest winners from the general public.
The company announced a partnership Sunday (July 11) with charity fundraising platform Omaze for the contest, which will put two people on a spaceflight expected to launch in early 2022. The news came shortly after billionaire Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and five other people safely launched (and landed) from a trip to suborbital space aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceliner.
You can enter the contest here; payment is not necessary to participate. In a pre-recorded video released by Virgin Galactic on Sunday, Branson detailed how he had “the most incredible experience of Earth from above” and that he is “thrilled” to give the opportunity to others.
Related: Virgin Galactic launches Richard Branson to space in 1st fully crewed flight
More: ‘Welcome to the dawn of a new space age,’ Branson says
“You’ll be flown out to meet me for a private tour of Spaceport America, where we’ll prepare you to be among the first to experience a Virgin Galactic spaceflight,” Branson explained. Spaceport America is the liftoff and landing zone of VSS Unity, about 55 miles (88 kilometers) from Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Based on Branson’s experience, you’ll experience about four minutes of weightlessness aboard VSS Unity, which lifts off beneath the wings of the carrier plane VMS Eve and achieves a peak altitude above 50 miles (80 km). That’s below the traditionally defined Karman line, which lies 62 miles (100 km) up, but above the space demarcation boundary recognized by NASA, the U.S. military and the Federal Aviation Administration.
More: How Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo works (infographic)
[image error]
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson (foreground) and his crew float in weightlessness aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft during their suborbital Unity 22 spaceflight on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Eligible participants for the new contest must meet numerous conditions on the Omaze website, with some of the main ones including being at least 18 years of age, coming from a worldwide jurisdiction not prohibited from participation and providing proof of a coronavirus vaccination.
In a reminder that spaceflight is inherently dangerous, any participants must also release the contest-holders from “all liability, loss or damage or expense arising out of, or in connection with, participation in any experience or the acceptance, use or misuse of any prizes.”
Between now and Aug. 31, all funds raised will go to the nonprofit Space for Humanity organization, which seeks to democratize access to space. Its advisors include Andrew Aldrin, director of the Aldrin Space Institute at the Florida Institute of Technology, and son of Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, along with Alan Stern, a scientist best known for being principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and other Kuiper Belt destinations.
Virgin Galactic has been aiming to bring tourists into space since its foundation in 2004, and seats for space have sold, most recently, for $250,000 each. Today’s suborbital spaceflight of Branson, and the planned July 20 jaunt of fellow billionaire and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, alongside an apparent competition between the two companies for deep-pocketed customer attention, have prompted some public discussion about how to increase tourist access to space among people who cannot afford such large sums.
That said, a selection of lucky people of ordinary means have been invited to take part in tourist spaceflights so far. Mercury 13 aviator Wally Funk will fly alongside Bezos and other passengers on July 20, while two contest winners and a childhood cancer survivor will fly with billionaire Jared Isaacman on the Inspiration4 mission to Earth orbit that will launch later this year aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
Employees of spacefaring companies may also get chances to see space, such as the three Virgin Galactic workers who flew alongside Branson on Sunday, or those entities who partner with Axiom Space, which will send its first all-private spaceflight to the International Space Station in 2022 on a Crew Dragon, if all goes to plan.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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‘Welcome to the dawn of a new space age,’ Richard Branson says after Virgin Galactic flight, ,
SPACEPORT AMERICA, N.M. — Virgin Galactic‘s newly minted astronauts are beyond thrilled following their journey to space on the company’s first fully crewed spaceflight.
Today (July 11), Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson joined crewmates Sirisha Bandla and Colin Bennett in earning their astronaut wings following the successful launch and landing of the company’s Unity 22 suborbital mission. Beth Moses, who also flew aboard the craft, had already achieved astronaut status on a previous flight. The whole crew shared their excitement after returning to Earth, popping Champagne bottles, with Branson even lifting Bandla up onto his shoulders.
“It was just magical,” Branson said during the ceremony following the flight, which was Virgin Galactic’s fourth rocket-powered spaceflight. “I feel I’m still in space,” he added later during a post-launch news conference.
“Welcome to the dawn of a new space age,” he added.
Related: Virgin Galactic launches Richard Branson to space in 1st fully crewed flight
More: What to know about Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 launch
[image error]
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson (right) and the crew of Unity 22 celebrate their successful suborbital launch over Spaceport America, New Mexico after landing on July 11, 2021. Branson’s crewmates are: (from left) Colin Bennett, Beth Moses and Sirisha Bandla, all Virgin Galactic employees. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)“We’ve been to space, everybody! ” Branson cheered during a post-flight press conference. “So thrilling when a lifetime’s dream comes true.”
“I think like most kids, I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid and honestly, nothing could prepare you for the view of Earth from space … We have this incredible Earth,” Branson said of his flight. “I’m just taking it all in. It’s just unreal.”
“I was once a kid with a dream looking up to the stars, and now I”m an adult in a spaceship looking back to our beautiful Earth,” Branson said during the news conference. “If we can do this, just imagine what you can do,” he added in a comment directed to a group of children at the event.
Branson tweeted out an image of himself taken during the mission with this sentiment later on in the day.
Related: How Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo works (infographic)
See more
His crewmates were equally overjoyed with their experience. “I couldn’t be happier,” Bandla said during the news conference. She also shared how happy her parents were for her to accomplish this goal.
“They’ve heard me say I want to go to space since I was little,” Bandla said. “My dad hugged me so hard when I got here my sunglasses shattered … I couldn’t thank them more for their support.”
In addition to being exciting for the crew, the mission also went extremely well technically, according to Mike Moses, Virgin Galactic’s president of space missions and safety.
“Everything looked perfect in real time. We’ve looked at the data; we’ve done our quick engineering walkaround,” Moses said during the news conference. “Normally, we take it in the hangar to do that. But the quick walkaround on the ramp [was] perfect. The ship looks pristine — no issues whatsoever.”
As part of this test flight, the crew was tasked with evaluating multiple facets of the mission experience, including comfort, research, customer service and more.
[image error]
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson (foreground) and his crew float in weightlessness aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft during their suborbital Unity 22 spaceflight on July 11, 2021. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)“I was so honored to test the customer experience,” Branson said. “Initially, I thought testing the customer experience was a little bit of an excuse to get me on [the mission],” he said, but he added that he came to see how important it actually was. “It’s the little details that matter.”
Virgin Galactic’s flight came less than two weeks before Blue Origin‘s New Shepard vehicle is set to make a crewed suborbital test flight with its founder, Jeff Bezos, on board. This has sparked questions of a “race” between the two billionaire founders to get to space before the other. However, Branson previously dispelled those rumors and continued to do so after this flight.
“It really wasn’t a race,” he said. “We’re just delighted that everything went fantastically well. We wish Jeff the absolute best, and the people going up with him during his flight.”
In the spirit of support among commercial spaceflight companies, Branson added that SpaceX founder Elon Musk showed up to show his support.
“It was great this morning to find Elon in my kitchen at 3 o’clock to come to wish us the best. I’d already been to bed and he still hadn’t gone to bed,” he said. “So nice of him to come all this way to wish us well.” Branson added that Bezos also sent a “goodwill message.”
Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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June 2021 smashed heat records in North America, ,
If the melting power cables in Portland, Oregon, weren’t enough of an indication, new satellite data confirms what many sweat-drenched Americans could have guessed: June 2021 was the single hottest June on record in North America.
The new data comes courtesy of the European Union’s Copernicus program, which produced climate measurements from billions of observations taken by satellite, aircraft and weather stations around the globe. According to the program’s new June 2021 report, last month was also the fourth-hottest June recorded worldwide and the second-warmest June recorded in Europe.
While human-induced climate change has been steadily bumping up average summer temperatures year after year (2020 tied 2016 for the planet’s hottest year on record, Live Science previously reported), a weather anomaly also contributed to the broiling temperatures in North America. The month saw record heat waves blast the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, with stagnant air bearing down on densely populated cities, like Seattle and Portland, for several days in a row. The culprit was a dangerous weather phenomenon called an omega block, which is essentially a dome of hot air trapped in place by atmospheric currents.
Related: 10 Steamy signs that climate change is speeding up
On June 28, Seattle saw its hottest day ever — a scorching 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius), or roughly 34 F (19 C) above the normal highs this time of year, according to The Washington Post. Not to be snubbed by American exceptionalism, Canada recorded national all-time high-temperature records three days in a row, culminating with a 121 F (49 C) day in British Columbia on June 29.
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These records are not surprising, however; scientists have long predicted that global warming will result in ever-rising temperatures around the world. But the extreme June heat waves shed light on a new concern: The high-temperature records set in North America didn’t just surpass the old records; they utterly smashed them. During the heat waves, several cities in the U.S. and Canada saw temperatures rise more than 7 F (4 C) above previous records, Peter Stott, a climatologist at the U.K. Met Office, told the BBC — a far larger temperature increase than expected.
The data is “telling us that changes in average climate are leading to rapid escalation not just of extreme temperatures, but of extraordinarily extreme temperatures,” Stott said.
Welcome to another Hot Climate Summer.
Originally published on Live Science.
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Virgin Galactic will launch billionaire Richard Branson into space today. Here’s how to watch it live., ,
Editor’s note: This story was updated July 11 at 7 a.m. EDT.
Virgin Galactic will launch its billionaire founder Richard Branson and a crew of five others into suborbital space today (July 11) and you can watch milestone flight live online.
The 70-year-old Branson and the rest of his Unity 22 mission’s crew will depart from Spaceport America about 55 miles (88 kilometers) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico on Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo vehicle. The live broadcast was originally scheduled to start at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT), but will now begin 90 minutes later at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) due to weather delays moving the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity and it’s carrier plane VMS Eve out of their hangars, Virgin Galactic said today.
You’ll be able to watch the broadcast live on this page, the Space.com homepage and directly from Virgin Galactic. The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert will host Virgin Galactic’s webcast, with singer Khalid performing a new single and science communicator Kellie Gerardi, who will launch on a SpaceShipTwo flight next year, also appearing. Former Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield will, too.
Related: What to know about Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 launch
More: How Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo works (infographic)
Virgin Galactic has also now released key timing milestones of the flight.
Branson and his fellow Unity 22 crew, six people in all (two pilots, four passengers) will walk out to their vehicles about an hour before takeoff. The engines on VMS Eve will be switched on about 30 minutes before the webcast begins.
About 50 minutes after the webcast begins, (about 11:20 a.m. EDT, or 1520 GMT), VMS Eve is expected to release Unity from an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,000 meters). Unity will ignite its rocket motor and launch on its spaceflight while its carrier plane pulls away.
Unity will land at Spaceport America about 1 hour, 5 minutes after takeoff, about 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT), according to Virgin Galactic’s timeline.
Related: The long road to spaceflight for Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin
[image error]
Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson (third from right) will launch on the company’s first fully crewed flight on July 11, 2021 as part of a six-person crew. They are (from left): Pilot Dave Mackay; Coplin Bennet, lead operations engineer; Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor; Branson; Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations; and pilot Michael Masucci. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Based on past Unity flights, Sunday’s mission will last about 90 minutes in total, and the “weightless” phase — when the ship reaches the top of its suborbital path — will last about four minutes.
Branson’s fellow passengers will include Beth Moses, Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennett, Virgin Galactic lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, the vice president of government affairs and research operations at the company. VSS Unity will be piloted by Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, with C.J. Sturckow and Kelly Latimer piloting VMS Eve.
If all goes to plan, Branson is expected to achieve spaceflight only nine days before another company, Blue Origin, notches a similar milestone with its New Shepard suborbital vehicle. Blue Origin expects to send its chief — Jeff Bezos, the billionaire Amazon founder who recently resigned as the e-shopping giant’s CEO at age 57 — into space on July 20, along with a small crew.
In Photos: Virgin Galactic’s Sleek Under Armour Spacesuits for Space Tourists
Bezos’ flight will come on the 52nd anniversary of the first crewed moon landing, that of Apollo 11, in 1969. Branson has said in interviews that he was inspired to go to space as a young man after watching the moonwalkers’ mission. More recently, Branson denied that he and Bezos are in competition to get to space first; Bezos has remained largely silent on the matter.
Technically speaking, whether a successful flight will actually reach space depends on the definition you use. SpaceShipTwo flights typically fly slightly below the Karman line, the 62-mile (100 kilometers) altitude mark recognized by many people as the boundary of space. But VSS Unity has already flown three crewed test missions above 50 miles (80 km), the demarcation line recognized by NASA, the U.S. military and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Virgin Galactic has been aiming to bring tourists into space since its foundation in 2004, while Blue Origin has been trying for the same after its foundation four years earlier. The SpaceShipOne vehicle, on which Virgin Galactic based the design of SpaceShipTwo, flew 62.5 miles (100 km) above Earth’s surface twice in 2004 to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize for repeated flights in a privately developed, reusable spacecraft.
Unity 22 will be Virgin Galactic’s fourth crewed spaceflight, while Bezos will be aboard the first crewed spaceflight for Blue Origin (though New Shepard has aced more than a dozen uncrewed suborbital test flights). The most recently stated price for a Virgin Galactic seat was $250,000, and more than 700 people have put down a deposit, company representatives have said.
Blue Origin has not yet released its per-seat pricing, although a so-far anonymous auction winner paid $28 million to fly to space on July 20 with Bezos, his brother Mark and Mercury 13 aviator Wally Funk.
Visit Space.com Sunday, July 11, for complete coverage of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo launch with Richard Branson.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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July 10, 2021
Feds indict ‘The Bull’ for selling insider trading info on the dark web, Richard Lawler
Nearly four years after the lights went out at AlphaBay, the feds are still charging people with criminal activities linked to the dark web marketplace. On Friday the SEC and the Department of Justice announced charges against Apostolos Trovias, a Greek national who they allege posted on dark web marketplaces using the nickname “The Bull.”
However, unlike drug dealers targeted in previous actions, the authorities allege Trovias used dark web forums as a way to troll for people willing to buy or sell insider trading information while hiding behind “anonymizing software, screen names, and bitcoin payments.”
On AlphaBay and other dark web sites like Dream Market or Nightmare Market, the indictment alleges Trovias offered and eventually sold stock tips. However, as the complaint describes (PDF) his customers included at least one IRS agent and an FBI agent working undercover. In 2017, the document alleges Trovias gave the IRS agent pre-release info from earnings releases on at least two occasions in exchange for Bitcoin. The information came from quarterly earnings reports for Illumina and Analogic, although the documents indicate Trovias mixed up some of the data on one of the reports.
Between in or about December 2016, when he registered for the site, and in or about July 2017, when AlphaBay ceased operations, APOSTOLOS TROVIAS, a/k/a “The Bull,” the defendant, offered for sale, in, among other places, the “Fraud > Other> Other ” category on AlphaBay, stock tips that were based on nonpublic inside information about certain securities issuers and which could be purchased individually, on a weekly basis, or on a monthly basis for prices ranging from approximately $29.95 per tip to approximately $329.95 for a monthly subscription for tips based on non-public inside information.
6. Between in or about December 2016, when APOSTOLOS TROVIAS, a/k/a “The Bull,” the defendant, registered his account, and in or about July 2017, when AlphaBay ceased operations, TROVIAS completed the sale of dozens of individual tips, approximately three weekly plans, and approximately three monthly plans, for a total of approximately 45 transactions through the AlphaBay marketplace.
7. Also in or about 2017, APOSTOLOS TROVIAS, a/k/a ” The Bull ,” the defendant, offered for sale and did sell, among other confidential information belonging to various securities issuers, for approximately $5,000 in Bitcoin, at least one pre-release earnings report misappropriated from a publicly-traded company.
As late as 2020, the feds claim Trovias was trying to build his own dark web site, likely because the marketplaces he used kept getting shut down. The SEC and DOJ documents don’t mention taking the man into custody. However, PCMag.com points out a document from May 27th pursuing extradition after he was arrested in Peru. The DOJ has charged him with one count of securities fraud which carries a max penalty of 25 years in jail, as well as one count of money laundering with a max penalty of 20 years in jail.
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Bo Burnham’s Netflix special Inside will make a one-night-only theater appearance, Richard Lawler
If you can’t get “Bezos I” out of your head, then you’re in good company as a soundtrack to Bo Burnham: Inside scored the comedian the first Billboard Top 10 appearance of his career. But since the musical comedy special was on Netflix and came out during the pandemic that inspired much of its content, you probably watched it alone.
[embedded content]Now fans of the special can see it in a group setting, as Netflix and Iconic Events have teamed up to present the special in theaters nationwide on July 22nd. Tickets are available at many theaters across the country, but you may want to move fast — at the moment there is only one showing per theater at the locations I checked, and some already show that they’re sold out.
Check the BoBurnhamInside.com website for showing and ticket information, assuming you’re ready to see the show in the company of other people.
come on out. july 22nd. https://t.co/YankW6ZJN9 pic.twitter.com/gnDi6JTgTA
— Bo Burnham (@boburnham)
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Watch Virgin Galactic launch Richard Branson to space, Joey Roulette
Virgin Galactic will launch Richard Branson and three company employees to the edge of space on the morning of Sunday, July 11th. The company is promising quite a show for the mission: Stephen Colbert will host the mission’s livestream, singer-songwriter Khalid will reportedly perform a new single live onstage following the spaceplane’s landing, and Branson has said he’ll “announce something very exciting” after his spaceflight.
The flight marks one of the company’s final test missions before it aims to kick off commercial space tourism business next year. The mission, dubbed Unity 22, will mark Virgin Galactic’s fourth flight to space carrying humans, with its largest crew yet. Four people, including Branson, will test the astronaut cabin experience, and two pilots will be in the cockpit.
The action will start when Virgin Galactic’s twin-fuselage WhiteKnight carrier aircraft takes off from Spaceport America, the company’s spaceport in New Mexico on Sunday morning. The WhiteKnight aircraft, VMS Eve, will carry a rocket-powered spaceship called VSS Unity, with Branson and others on board. About 40 minutes after takeoff, Unity will drop from the middle of the mothership and ignite its rocket engine moments later to send Branson and the crew to the edge of space, about 55 miles high, for a few minutes of weightlessness. Unity will return to a landing strip at Spaceport America, much like any normal commercial airplane.
Unity 22 is a significant step forward for Virgin Galactic’s ambitions for space tourism, a burgeoning market catered to wealthy adventure-seekers. The company, started in 2004, has already sold roughly 600 tickets, with each ticket going for around $250,000. Branson is just one player in the billionaire-led race to court space tourists. He’s vying with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which aims to launch passengers on its suborbital New Shepard rocket, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which plans to put tourists in its orbital Crew Dragon capsule for a longer and more expensive experience in space.
Sunday’s mission has also been surrounded by an increasingly spicy air of competition with Bezos. Virgin Galactic announced Branson’s spaceflight a few weeks after Blue Origin announced it would send Bezos to space on July 20th. Then, Blue Origin announced it’d also fly Wally Funk on its July 20th mission, an aviator who initially planned to fly on Virgin Galactic’s spaceship first. Branson denies his new flight date was meant to beat Bezos to space; he told The Washington Post last week it was just a “wonderful coincidence that we’re going up in the same month.”
Watch Virgin Galactic’s livestream starting at 9AM ET on Sunday on its Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
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Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 launch with Richard Branson: Here’s when to watch and what to know., ,
On July 11, Virgin Galactic will make a giant leap toward commercial suborbital spaceflight. The company will launch its first fully crewed flight of its SpaceShipTwo space plane Unity with a special passenger on board: the company’s billionaire founder Richard Branson.
Branson, three crewmates and two pilots will launch on the historic flight after being carried into launch position by Virgin Galactic’s carrier plane VMS Eve. They will take off from the company’s homeport of Spaceport America in New Mexico, with a live webcast chronicling the flight. Here’s everything you need to know about the mission, which Virgin Galactic has dubbed Unity 22.
Related: How to watch Virgin Galactic launch Richard Branson to space
More: How Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo works (infographic)
Virgin Galactic has not released a specific time for the actual Unity 22 launch, but the company has announced it will begin webcasting the mission at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). And it looks like it’s going to be fun. The crew will walk out to the ship about an hour earlier.
Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show on CBS, will host the webcast along with singer Khalid (who will debut a new single during the launch), former Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield and future Virgin Galactic astronaut Kellie Gerardi, who will launch on a research flight in 2022.
The webcast will begin with the Unity spacecraft and its carrier plane taking off from its runway at Spaceport America, which is located 55 miles (88 kilometers) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Branson has stated that the entire flight will take about 90 minutes, including the ascent up to launch position, release, flight to space and glide back to Earth for a runway landing at Spaceport America.
Who is Virgin Galactic launching on Unity 22?Image 1 of 6[image error]
Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson (third from right) will launch on the company’s first fully crewed flight on July 11, 2021 as part of a six-person crew. They are (from left): Pilot Dave Mackay; Coplin Bennet, lead operations engineer; Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor; Branson; Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations; and pilot Michael Masucci. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 2 of 6[image error]
Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations at Virgin Galactic. Bandla will be evaluating the human-tended research experience, using an experiment from the University of Florida that requires several handheld fixation tubes that will be activated at various points in the flight profile. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 3 of 6[image error]
Beth Moses, Chief Astronaut Instructor at Virgin Galactic. Moses will serve as cabin lead and test director on Unity 22, overseeing the safe and efficient execution of the test flight objectives. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 4 of 6[image error]
Virgin Galactic Lead Operations Engineer Colin Bennett will evaluate cabin equipment, procedures, and experience during both the boost phase and in the weightless environment. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 5 of 6[image error]
Dave Mackay, Chief Pilot, Virgin Galactic (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Image 6 of 6[image error]
Michael Masucci (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Virgin Galactic will launch six people on the Unity 22 flight, although the spacecraft is designed to carry up to eight people (two pilots and six passengers).
Unity 22’s crew includes four mission specialists:
Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations at Virgin Galactic. She will evaluate the human-tended research experience via an experiment from the University of Florida that requires several handheld fixation tubes to be activated at various points in the flight profile.Colin Bennett, Lead Operations Engineer at Virgin Galactic. He will evaluate cabin equipment, procedures and the experience during the boost phase and weightless environment inside Unity.Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic. Branson will evaluate the private astronaut experience. He will receive the same training, preparation and flight as Virgin Galactic’s future ticket-buying astronauts and use the flight to fine ways to enhance the experience for customers. Beth Moses , Chief Astronaut Instructor at Virgin Galactic. She will serve as cabin lead and test director in space. Her tasks include overseeing the safe execution of the test flight objectives. Moses has launched on Unity before.Related: Meet the crew launching on Virgin Galactic’s 1st fully crewed flight
Two veteran Virgin Galactic pilots will be at the helm of Unity during the launch. They have both launched to space on Unity before and are:
Dave Mackay: Mackay is Virgin Galactic’s chief pilot and grew up in the highlands of Scotland. He is a former Royal Air Force pilot and flew for Branson’s airline company Virgin Atlantic before joining Virgin Galactic. Michael Masucci: Michael “Sooch” Masucci is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who joined Virgin Galactic in 2013 who racked up over 9,000 flying hours in 70 different types of airplanes and gliders during more than 30 years of civilian and military flight.Two other pilots will fly the VMS EVE carrier plane that will carry SpaceShipTwo into launch altitude. They are:
Frederick “CJ” Sturckow: A former NASA space shuttle commander who joined Virgin Galactic in 2013 with Masucci. A retired Marine Corps colonel, he was the first NASA astronaut to join the company and flew four space shuttle missions.Kelly Latimer: Latimer is a test pilot and retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force who joined Virgin Galactic’s pilot corps in 2015. She was the first female research test pilot to join what is now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center.What is Virgin Galactic’s mission for Unity 22?The primary objective for Unity 22 is to serve as a test flight for future passenger flights by Virgin Galactic. As its number suggests, this will be the 22nd flight of Unity, but only its fourth launch to space.
The four mission specialists will each evaluate different experiences that Virgin Galactic has promised its future customers, many of whom have already reserved trips to space with the company at $250,000 a seat.
Bandla, for example, will test the experience of performing experiments aboard Unity during different phases of the flight, including the weightless period. Branson will take note of the flight as a paying passenger to look for ways to enhance the trip for ticket holders looking for the experience of a lifetime.
Related: The long road to spaceflight for Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin
Moses is Virgin Galactic’s Chief Astronaut Trainer and will ensure everyone is safe in their tests while Bennet will examine Unity’s cabin performance to look for potential enhancements.
This mission is a critical flight or Virgin Galactic, which Branson founded in 2004. VSS Unity is the company’s second SpaceShipTwo after the first, VSS Enterprise, broke apart during a 2014 test flight, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another. Virgin Galactic has made numerous safety upgrades to prevent such an accident from happening again.
What will Virgin Galactic’s astronauts experience?The mission will begin with takeoff from Spaceport America, where Virgin Galactic has built its “Gateway to Space” terminal to serve its future customers. The crews of Unity and Eve will walk out to their vehicles at about 8 a.m. EDT (6 a.m. local time, 1200 GMT). They’ll be wearing custom Under Armour flight suits made for Virgin Galactic.
After takeoff, the carrier plane VMS EVE will haul the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity (short for Virgin Space Ship) to an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,000 meters), when it will drop the the spacecraft.
In Photos: Virgin Galactic’s Sleek Under Armour Spacesuits for Space Tourists
[image error]
Virgin Galactic’s first test passenger Beth Moses looks out the window of the VSS Unity during a test flight with pilots Dave Mackay and Michael “Sooch” Masucci, on Feb. 22, 2018. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)After separation, Unity will ignite its hybrid rocket motor, which uses a mixture of solid and liquid propellant, to begin the boost phase. This will carry Unity to its target altitude above 50 miles (80 kilometers), where the pilots and crew can expect up to 4 minutes of weightlessness. They will exist their seats and enjoy sweeping views of the Earth below through the many round windows that dot the space plane’s fuselage.
After that short encounter with weightlessness, the crew will climb back into their seats as Unity prepares to return to Earth. Pilots Mackay and Masucci will have “feathered” the spacectraft’s twin tail booms to provide stability during atmospheric reentry.
The feathered tail will then be locked back into place for the glide back to Earth, which will end with a runway landing at Spaceport America. The entire flight, from takeoff to landing, should last about 90 minutes, Branson has said.
Will Virgin Galactic really reach space with Unity 22?[image error]
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceliner captured this view of Earth during the vehicle’s first trip to space, on Dec. 13, 2018. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)Virgin Galactic will launch Unity to an altitude above 50 miles (80 km), which NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. military classify as space. They will earn astronaut wings for reaching that height.
Another widely recognized boundary of space, the Karman line, is at an altitude at 62 miles (100 km) above Earth. The SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity won’t reach this milestone, which has led Virgin Galactic’s competitor Blue Origin (which does fly higher than 62 miles) to call out Virgin Galactic for missing that mark.
Richard Branson has downplayed that criticism and saying that “the actual difference in experience is going to be almost non-existent,” in an interview with NPR’s Leila Fadel.
Where does Virgin Galactic launch SpaceShipTwo from?Virgin Galactic initially launched SpaceShipTwo test flights from the company’s facilities at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. However, in 2020 the company moved Unity and its carrier craft to its permanent home at Spaceport America, where it plans to fly regular passenger flights beginning in 2022.
Spaceport America is located near Las Cruces, New Mexico and is home to Virgin Galactic’s “Gateway to Space” terminal, a welcome center and waiting room for ticketed passengers preparing for trips to space. It also sports a large hangar designed to fit multiple SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes and the VMS Eve. Virgin Galactic has also built a new vehicle, the SpaceShip III VSS Imagine.
When could I launch to space with Virgin Galactic?If you booked a trip with Virgin Galactic early and have one of the first reservations, you may get your chance to fly in space as early as 2022. If not, there’s a long wait ahead. And that’s assuming you can afford the $250,000 ticket price.
Virgin Galactic has said it plans to begin passenger launches in 2022 after a series of final test flights in 2021. The company does have hundreds of reservations for customer flights in backlog from eager would-be astronauts that have been waiting for over 17 years (since Richard Branson first announced Virgin Galactic in 2004) for the SpaceShipTwo to finally fly. The company paused taking new reservations after the 2014 accident.
Virgin Galactic is expected to resume taking reservations for “a limited number of tickets for future spaceflights” sometime this year, according to its website.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
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