Dominique Luchart's Blog, page 658
April 7, 2021
On This Day in Space! April 7, 1983: 1st spacewalk from a NASA space shuttle, ,
On April 7, 1983, astronauts took the first spacewalk outside of a space shuttle during mission STS-6. This was the maiden voyage of the space shuttle Challenger.
The goal of this mission was to deploy the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-1. NASA now uses a whole fleet of these satellites to relay communications between spacecraft in orbit and ground stations down on Earth.
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Astronauts Story Musgrave, left, and Donald Peterson float about in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger during their April 7, 1983. It was the first spacewalk from a space shuttle. (Image credit: NASA)NASA astronauts Don Peterson and Story Musgrave spent 4 hours and 17 minutes working in the vacuum of space while doing a series of tests in the shuttle’s payload bay. This was also the first time that NASA’s Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit was worn by astronauts in space.
Catch up on our entire “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist.
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History of NASA: $22.99 at Magazines Direct
Discover the story of how and why NASA was created, its greatest triumphs, darkest days, and of the times it exceeded all possible hopes. A tale of adventure, heroism and resourcefulness, learn of the space agency’s greatest achievements and how — over six decades — the organization has consistently and tirelessly devoted itself to its founding principle: that “activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all humankind”. View Deal
Still not enough space? Don’t forget to check out our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week.
Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
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eMarketer says that Amazon’s share of the US digital ad market grew to 10.3% in 2020 from 7.8% in 2019 and estimates that revenue grew to $15.73B, up 52.5% YoY (Alexandra Bruell/Wall Street Journal)
‘Resident Alien’ renewed for a second season on Syfy, ,
It’s official sci-fi fans: “Resident Alien” will be renewed for a second season, Syfy has announced. This news comes after the superb sci-fi comedy aired the first season finale and it didn’t disappoint.
For anyone who hasn’t seen it — for starters, you’re missing out — the show focuses on an alien who crash lands on Earth and murders a man named Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle (played by Alan Tudyk) and assumes his identity.
The alien, whose actual name is pronounced N’a [click] ka-tay-ahla-Oooay, is on a mission to destroy every human on Earth. However, he must attempt to blend in with the other residents of a small Colorado town in order to avoid detection while he searches for vital components of his spaceship that are now buried in snow on the neighboring mountains.
During his time spent getting to know the small town’s residents, Harry learns about humanity and begins to have doubts about his mission. There are some amazing characters, each with their own stories that we learn more about, including Asta Twelvetrees (Sara Tomko), D’Arcy Bloom (Alice Wetterlund) and Sheriff Mike Thompson (Corey Reynolds).
However, one young boy, Max Hawthorne (Judah Prehn) is unlike the rest of the townsfolk as he possesses a rare gene that allows him to look past Harry’s assumed human form and see him in his natural alien state. But, of course, no one believes him.
Harry struggles with even the most basic of human customs and at first, there is a little too much of Tudyk gurning and making strange “alien” faces, but once the show finds its footing an episode or two into the first season, Tudyk begins to deliver arguably his finest and funniest role yet and the dark, often-adult humor of the show is extremely entertaining.
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The opening credits show amusing images from a “How to Survive on Earth” guide written for visitors to our planet. (Image credit: SYFY/ Huge Designs)There are a number of relationships that are great to watch unfold throughout the season, in particular Sheriff Thompson and his deputy, Liv Baker (Elizabeth Bowen) and Max and his parents, Kate (Meredith Garretson) and Ben (Levi Fiehler). Some great cameos include Terry O’Quinn, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos and Linda Hamilton.
The show was adapted by Chris Sheridan (who also is a producer on “Family Guy”) from a series of comic books by British creators Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse and published by Dark Horse. Let’s hope Syfy realizes the potential of this show and doesn’t cancel it prematurely like they did with “The Expanse,” Dark Matter,” “Helix,” “Caprica” and “Stargate Universe.”
Every episode is available to watch on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, plus you can also download Syfy’s free app for lots of extra “Resident Alien” content. The website has lots of great content as well.
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Commander’s cover: An envelope’s flight through space, time and eBay, ,
The last time that Richard Truly saw it, it was on board the space shuttle Challenger 38 years ago.
The small envelope, bearing a $9.35 Express Mail stamp and a special Aug. 14, 1983 postmark identifying it as “Space Mail Orbited Via STS-8,” was then newly-autographed by Truly and his four STS-8 crewmates. Although there were more than 260,000 similar envelopes flying on that same mission, this one was special: serialized on its back as number “3,” it was one of only 10 to be signed by all five astronauts and it was earmarked for Truly.
But Truly never received it.
“To be honest, I don’t have any proof which serial number was intended for me. All I know is I never got it,” said Truly, who was commander of the STS-8 mission and later served as NASA administrator. “The other four crew members got theirs, but I was the only stamp collector.”
Flash forward almost 40 years and the envelope reappeared — on eBay.
9 Weird Things That Flew on NASA’s Space Shuttles
Listed on March 16 for just $3 by a seller in Vancouver, Washington, the lot title identified the flown-in-space envelope only as a “1983 Crew Signed Challenger Launch $9.35 Eagle,” the latter referring to the stamp, which depicted an American Bald Eagle and the moon. The lot description offered no other details, but that was okay. The photos said it all.
Like the thousands of other envelopes flown on the STS-8 mission, the example for sale featured the crew’s patch on its front and two additional postmarks: one for when Challenger launched on Aug. 30, 1983 and one for when the orbiter landed on Sept. 5, 1983. In the upper left corner were the signatures of Truly, pilot Dan Brandenstein and mission specialists Dale Gardner, Guion Bluford (the first African American astronaut to fly) and William Thornton.
On the reverse, was the number “3” and another postmark for its return to Earth.
It took only a day for collectors to begin to take notice. Bidders steadily drove up on the price until it seemed to stabilize at $132 a few hours before the auction was set to end. Then, in the final seconds, the envelope skyrocketed to $1,801.76.
David Ball had won the crew-signed STS-8 space mail.
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The number “3” crew-signed STS-8 space mail cover as was sold on eBay on March 23, 2021 and is soon to be reunited with mission commander Richard Truly. (Image credit: eBay)NASA’s press kit for the STS-8 mission details how, in celebration of the agency’s 25th anniversary, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) collaborated on the launch of the approximately 260,000 envelopes — or “philatelic covers” as collectors refer to them — aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
“Each of the covers will be placed in a specially designed folder and sold for $15.35 each, by mail order only, from the USPS Philatelic Division,” NASA wrote. “Proceeds (exclusive of the postage affixed) from the sale of the Shuttle Flight Folder will be divided equally between NASA and the Postal Service.”
The bulk of the envelopes were stowed in Challenger’s payload bay, either in two large storage boxes that were attached to a pallet or in eight “Getaway Special” canisters, the latter more commonly used to host student and small experiments.
One thousand of the covers were set aside and packed in the shuttle’s crew cabin. Flown at the request of the Postmaster General, they were intended for post-flight presentation to museums and to postal service officials. Ten of the envelopes were left accessible to the crew for them to sign during the six-day flight.
Recognizing that the public sale of the covers could result in the astronauts being overwhelmed by autograph requests, NASA directed the STS-8 crew to only sign the ten envelopes on board Challenger. (In the decades that followed the mission, four of the five crew members, including Truly, would go on to autograph additional examples on request, with only Thornton abiding by NASA’s rule up until his death in January.)
After Challenger landed, the signed covers were presented to the Smithsonian, then-President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush, NASA Administrator James Beggs, Postmaster General William Bolger and, as now is known, only four of the five STS-8 astronauts.
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The “1983 Crew Signed Challenger Launch $9.35 Eagle” listing on eBay offered one of the ten STS-8 envelopes, or covers, that were autographed by the space shuttle Challenger’s crew. (Image credit: eBay)Ball was already familiar with the history of the STS-8 covers when he saw the no. 3 envelope on eBay.
“One might find a few autographs on these flown covers,” said Ball, a 40-year stamp collector and the author of “American Astrophilately: The First Fifty Years” (Joggling Board Press, 2010), “but seeing a crew-signed flight cover with a single digit in a six-figure series on the reverse is rather extraordinary.”
Given the envelope’s rarity, Ball discussed the auction with a few fellow hobbyists and became concerned that it might be stolen. One his friends mentioned having previously met Truly and was aware that the STS-8 commander was missing his signed cover. Ball decided to reach out to the astronaut to be sure.
“If this was yours and you want it back, I’m prepared to assist in whatever way I can,” Ball wrote to Truly in an email. “I would love to have it, but it isn’t my history and I certainly wouldn’t want you cheated out of an important memento.”
“I’d love to have one,” Truly responded. “The last time I saw the cover was on orbit when we signed the 10 covers.”
It was settled. Ball placed a sizable bid to ensure he would be the winner, with the knowledge that he was buying it on Truly’s behalf.
It is not clear why Truly never received his cover when the others on the STS-8 crew did, or how it ended up on eBay 38 years later (if indeed the no. 3 cover was the one meant for Truly). Annotations on the cover’s reverse suggest that at some point the cover made it into a known reference collection, says Ball, but otherwise it’s a mystery.
Truly is just happy to finally be receiving a cover for his stamp collection.
“I’m watching the mail,” he said.
Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @ collectSPACE . Copyright 2021 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
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No, the Perseverance rover didn’t spot a rainbow on Mars, ,
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NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover acquired this image of the area in back of it using its Rear Left Hazard Avoidance Camera on April 4, 2021. The “rainbow” is just a lens flare, agency officials said. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)This Mars “rainbow” would lead only to fool’s gold.
NASA’s Perseverance rover snapped a photo on Sunday (April 4) that appeared to show a rainbow arcing across the dusty Martian sky. The striking image spread quickly across social media, as did the “rainbow” explanation, prompting NASA to step in with the real story.
“Many have asked: Is that a rainbow on Mars? No. Rainbows aren’t possible here. Rainbows are created by light reflected off of round water droplets, but there isn’t enough water here to condense, and it’s too cold for liquid water in the atmosphere. This arc is a lens flare,” agency officials wrote Tuesday via Perseverance’s official Twitter account, @NASAPersevere.
Related: NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover mission in photos
Perseverance captured the photo using its left rear hazard-avoidance camera, so the light-scattering effect isn’t surprising.
“I have sunshades on my front Hazcams, which were considered mission-critical (I need them for driving forward & I’m usually driving forward). Sunshades weren’t considered essential on my back Hazcams, so you can see scattered light artifacts in their images,” officials wrote in another @NASAPersevere tweet on Tuesday.
Perseverance landed inside Mars’ 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater on Feb. 18. The rover is currently preparing to watch the historic flights of NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity, which recently deployed from Perseverance’s belly.
Ingenuity’s month-long flight campaign, which is designed to demonstrate that aerial exploration is feasible on Mars, could kick off as soon as Sunday (April 11), NASA officials have said.
After Ingenuity finishes flying, Perseverance will begin focusing on its own science goals. The car-sized rover will hunt for signs of ancient life on the floor of Jezero, which hosted a lake and a river delta billions of years ago.
Perseverance will also collect and cache several dozen particularly promising samples for return to Earth, where they can be examined in great detail by scientists in well-equipped labs. A joint NASA-European Space Agency campaign will haul this Mars material home, possibly as early as 2031.
Mike Wall is the author of “ Out There ” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
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Hubble telescope reveals a gorgeous, detailed new view of the Veil Nebula, ,
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With new processing techniques, NASA’s Hubble space telescope has captured the beautiful Veil Nebula in the finest detail ever. (Image credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble/Z. Levay)NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a stunning photo of the Veil Nebula in more exquisite detail than ever before.
The new image, released by NASA on April 2, was captured using new processing techniques that highlight small details like the nebula’s delicate thread and filaments of ionized gas, NASA said in a statement. Observations were taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 using five different filters. New post-processing methods were used to further enhance emissions from doubly ionized oxygen (seen in the image in blue), ionized hydrogen and ionized nitrogen (seen in red).
This is not the first time the Veil Nebula has been featured in a Hubble image release. The space telescope captured a less detailed, but still beautiful image of the nebula in 2017. The Veil Nebula exists about 2,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus, the swan, which makes it relatively close to Earth compared to other astronomical objects, NASA said in the statement.
Related: Hubble snaps breathtaking views of colorful Veil Nebula
The Veil Nebula is part of the nearby Cygnus Loop, which is a remnant of a supernova created about 10,000 years ago by the death of a star 20 times the mass of our sun. The cataclysmic release of energy following the star’s death resulted in the Veil Nebula’s delicate filaments of ionized gas.
Although only a small portion of the nebula was captured in this Hubble image, you can see larger glimpses of the nebula in Hubble’s Caldwell Catalog.
Follow Kasandra Brabaw on Twitter @KassieBrabaw. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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Selene III commander’s report: When all hope drains away from the crew on the ‘moon’ — Day 8, ,
Dr. Michaela Musilova is the director of Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation ( HI-SEAS ) program, which conducts analog missions to the moon and Mars for scientific research at a habitat on the volcano Mauna Loa. Currently, she is in command of the two-week Selene III lunar mission and contributed this report to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights .
Lunar Day 8 (March 1, 2021)
Grey and more grey. That is all that we could see outside the window — endless grey “dust clouds” on the moon (aka mist and storm clouds on the volcano Mauna Loa in Hawaii where the HI-SEAS analog space habitat is located). Today was the eighth day of complete confinement for the Selene III crew inside the habitat. The crew can’t go on moonwalks outside of the habitat unless the atmospheric conditions are safe for them. Any kind of storm poses a major safety hazard for the crewmembers on both the simulated moon and the actual volcanic terrain HI-SEAS is located in.
Day after day, more hope started to drain away from each crewmember. At first, they would look out the main habitat window every few minutes hoping for a different view. Slowly, it became looking out the window every few hours. When someone remarked that they could see some new topographic features appearing within the grey dust, the whole crew would rush to the window filled with hope. Now, some crewmembers would prefer that the window be covered up so the greyness outside would not depress us further.
Related: Selene III: Starting off an analog lunar mission with exploding bombs — Commander’s report: sol 3
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Crew Bioengineer Zoe Maxwell looks out one of the two windows at HI-SEAS in a sad manner, since the view has been that of grey clouds for over a week. (Image credit: Courtesy of Michaela Musilova)Not being able to go outside to perform research experiments and explore the lunar surface is only part of the problem. On bad weather days, we can’t recharge our habitat’s batteries properly, as they are solar-powered. During dust storms, very little solar energy reaches the solar panels outside of the habitat. This means that we have to live in so-called low power mode to get through each day. One of the first things that we do is unplug all devices that aren’t vital to our survival and we turn the heating down dramatically (to around 55 degrees Fahrenheit, or 13 degrees Celsius).
Cold and disheartened, the Selene III crew had their first very low spirit day today. They have been trying hard to find the silver lining in our situation and to cheer themselves up with various fun activities. However, yet another grey day seems to have done the trick. Even crewmembers from the Valoria 1 crew reached out to us with words of encouragement and privately exclaimed to me, “not again!” They themselves suffered through a series of very low power days and endless moonwalk rescheduling.
Related: The Valoria 1 crew is fighting to survive the night — Commander’s report: sol 8
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Officers Maxwell and Ojeda prepare the RoboTech Vision’s Androver rover for testing during the Selene III lunar analog mission. (Image credit: Courtesy of Brooke Edwards)Another negative aspect of this situation is that the crew started to distrust our Mission Support team and CAPCOM (capsule communicator, who is the main person communicating with the crew from the Mission Control Center on Earth). We have a big team of volunteers that perform Mission Support and CAPCOM duties during each mission at HI-SEAS. One of their many roles is to provide weather reports and forecasts to the crew on a daily basis or even more frequently upon request.
Their predictions have not been very accurate for the past week, so my crewmembers have become very skeptical of any information provided to them in relation to the weather. This kind of crew-ground disconnect is a mutiny of sorts, which is not uncommon on both analog and real space missions. It can develop for a number of reasons, for instance, when the staff on Earth has too many demands for the crew in space or in this case, when Mission Support provides the crew with inaccurate information. I have thus been needing to remind the crew that this discrepancy in information is caused by incomplete data from our location on the moon and not from the ill-will of our Mission Support team.
It was time for a change before my crew would become more grumpy and depressed. We all have to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, so I suggested that we have a dance party as our exercise session for today. In this way, we fulfilled our exercise quota for the day and cheered ourselves up. I had every crewmember choose their favorite song for us to dance to and I started us off with some ’90s techno music. Next thing I knew, there were smiles on my team’s faces again and we all felt much warmer too.
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Selene III crewmembers exercise indoors using the stationary bicycle and other available exercise equipment at HI-SEAS. (Image credit: Courtesy of Michaela Musilova)Filled with more positive energy, we decided to continue with fun and creative activities to keep our spirits high. Most crewmembers are big fans of the Star Wars movies, so we decided to introduce them to the others that had not seem them yet. Soon enough, crewmembers would exchange inside jokes about “Dark Vader” and “lovely” Skywalker family traditions of cutting off each other’s hands with lightsabers. We even posed for a fun crew picture together with simulated lightsabers. Considering my past jokes about favoring the dark side, based on my experiences with the Valoria 2 crew, I chose a red lightsaber.
These challenging times on the Selene III mission have been a great source of inspiration for Science Communication Officer Brooke Edwards’ outreach project. Brooke has been recording her experience as an analog astronaut to analyze what she thinks will be important factors for the mental wellbeing of future space travelers. Her experience has shown that good relationships within the crew and having a positive mindset are vital to the success of a simulated space mission.
Similarly, our Operations Officer Eboni Brown has been able to collect very interesting data for her chronic stress and human connectivity study through anonymous survey questions. Results of her research will help determine what impact chronic stress, such as the global pandemic, had on the Selene III crew and their ability to connect with each other.
However, the rest of the crew faced further negative news on mission due to their projects not going as well as they hoped. Crew Bioengineer Zoe Maxwell’s perchlorate and nitrate reduction using bacteria and aquaponics started out well and showed signs of initial success. However, one of the fish in the aquaponics part of the experiment died and the plants, which she was trying to grow, never adapted to the challenging environment in the habitat and ended up wilting.
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Selene III crewmembers perform cardiovascular exercise on the stairs and inside the airlock where there is less of a risk to the habitat’s equipment. (Image credit: Courtesy of Michaela Musilova)Crew Engineer Oscar Ojeda’s project, focused on the characterization of the communications and hazards during an analog space mission, has been progressing steadily. Nonetheless, he has not been able to evaluate anything related to doing moonwalks, since the crew has been limited to the inside of the habitat because of the dust storms. Instead, he focused on new projects, such as operating and testing the Slovak RoboTech Vision company’s Androver we have at HI-SEAS.
At least part of Bioscience Officer Jason Fischer’s project is going well. He is trying to determine the efficacy of simulated wastewater permeate as a nutrient source for growing microgreens. Jason is comparing it to an industry standard hydroponic nutrient solution. So far, the wastewater permeate is not conducive to growing microgreens and it will need to be treated with a nutrient modification to succeed in this endeavor.
Commander Musilova signing off hoping the force will be with us and that we’ll see more than just grey outside the window tomorrow.
Follow Michaela Musilova on Twitter @astro_Michaela. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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DJI Air 2S with improved camera sensor leaks in new images,
DJI’s unannounced Air 2S drone has leaked in a series of images posted by TechnikNews and WinFuture‘s Roland Quandt. The images come after the drone was listed in an FCC filing last month, suggesting that a launch can’t be far away. The DJI Air 2S is expected to be an upgraded version of last year’s Mavic Air 2, with an improved camera and compatibility with new DJI accessories like its V2 Goggles and Motion Controller.
Let’s start with the camera sensor. The new renders, as well as a teaser trailer shared earlier in the week by reliable leaker OsitaLV, show a drone with a 1-inch, 20-megapixel sensor. Although that’s lower resolution than the 48-megapixel 1/2-inch sensor found in the Mavic Air 2, its larger physical size should have big performance benefits, especially in low light. The sensor has similar specs to what we saw in the Mavic 2 Pro, which offered excellent image quality.
so? pic.twitter.com/VtbHXoXDIx
— OsitaLV (@OsitaLV)
If reports from DroneDJ are accurate, the Air 2S should also work with DJI’s new V2 Goggles and motion controller, which released alongside its FPV drone last month. Compatibility with the goggles would allow the drone to be piloted from a first-person perspective, in addition to regular flight using the app. The Air 2S isn’t expected to be capable of the kind of acrobatic flight you can get out of the DJI FPV, but the goggles should provide a more immersive flying experience for those who want it.
Other more minor changes include the loss of the “Mavic” branding in its name, and an upgrade to version 4 of DJI’s ActiveTrack standard, TechnikNews notes, which should make it better at tracking subjects during filming. There’s also support for DJI’s newer, lower-latency OcuSync 3.0 standard. Although it’s battery is the same capacity at 3,500mAh, the Air 2S appears to be slightly heavier than the Mavic Air 2 by 30 grams.
Updated with additional and new 4K Renders#DJIAir2s https://t.co/9G7WQlM8IH pic.twitter.com/uRGPBzEiSJ
— Nils Ahrensmeier (@NilsAhrDE)
In December 2020, the Trump administration added DJI to a commerce blacklist, citing ties to the Chinese government. The filing accuses the company of enabling “wide-scale human rights abuses within China through abusive genetic collection and analysis or high-technology surveillance.” It has been reported that DJI has provided drones to the Chinese government for use in surveilling brutal prison camps in the Xinjiang province.
There are also potential security concerns with DJI drones. The US Interior Department and the Department of Justice are both reviewing — or have outright banned — the use of foreign-made drones.
DJI disputes the Trump administration’s characterization.
Despite all that, DJI’s products continue to be available in the US as of this writing.
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April 6, 2021
On This Day in Space! April 6, 1965: NASA launches 1st commercial communication satellite, ,
On April 6, 1965, NASA launched the world’s first commercial communications satellite into orbit. The satellite was named Intelsat 1 and nicknamed the “Early Bird.” It was built by Hughes Aircraft Company for the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT).
Early Bird could relay phone, TV, telegraph and fax communications, and it became the first satellite to provide direct and almost instantaneous communications between the U.S. and Europe.
It also provided the first live TV coverage of a crewed spacecraft returning to Earth when Gemini 6 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. The satellite was deactivated after four years, but COMSAT briefly reactivated it so NASA could use it during the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Catch up on our entire “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist.
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History of NASA: $22.99 at Magazines Direct
Discover the story of how and why NASA was created, its greatest triumphs, darkest days, and of the times it exceeded all possible hopes. A tale of adventure, heroism and resourcefulness, learn of the space agency’s greatest achievements and how — over six decades — the organization has consistently and tirelessly devoted itself to its founding principle: that “activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all humankind”. View Deal
Still not enough space? Don’t forget to check out our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week.
Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
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Yelp is making it easier for users to search for Asian-owned businesses,
Yelp is rolling out a new tool that will allow businesses the option to identify themselves as Asian-owned, chief diversity officer Miriam Warren announced today. The new optional attribute will make it easier for Yelp users to find and support Asian-owned businesses easily.
Business owners will be allowed to edit their existing listing on Yelp and select the attribute that notes they are an Asian-owned business. The feature will be available when a business owner logs in to their Yelp for Business account. Once enabled, users who filter by “Asian owned” restaurants will find a list of businesses near their location that have self-selected that attribute. Yelp previously rolled out similar attributes for businesses to display, such as the option to identify as Black– or women-owned.
[image error]Yelp for Business will allow owners to enable the Asian-owned attribute. Image: YelpYelp also confirmed in its latest Economic Impact Report on diverse businesses that searches on Yelp for Asian-owned businesses increased by 130 percent in February. The company also said that, during the months of April and May, the Yelp Foundation will double match any donations a Yelp employee makes to selections that are Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving, such as Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta and Stop AAPI Hate.
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