SpaceX test may launch more flights
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The rocket launched. It exploded. SpaceX and NASA declared the blast a success.
Usually, the destruction of a rocket means a failed mission. But on Sunday, SpaceX was demonstrating a crucial safety system of its Crew Dragon spacecraft, a capsule that is to carry astronauts for NASA to the International Space Station.
There was no one on board during Sunday’s flight. The passengers this time were two test dummies with sensors to measure the forces that real astronauts would experience if the capsule’s escape system were ever needed. The system proved itself, even during a phase of the flight when atmospheric forces on the spacecraft are most severe. About nine minutes after the test, the capsule landed in the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk called the launch “a picture-perfect test.”
This accomplishment may set the stage for opening a new era in spaceflight. SpaceX and Boeing are nearly ready for their first crewed flights, and probably not just of NASA astronauts.
“We’re on the cusp of commercializing low-Earth orbit,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said.
FBI works with Va. cops
The FBI and local law enforcement are working together regarding “threats of violence,” and Virginia clergy leaders are urging prayer and peace as the state’s capital braces for a gun-rights rally Monday — a date which coincides with the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy.
“On the very day we set aside to honor the life and enduring legacy of Dr. King, these dark and dangerous forces threaten to converge on our city and our Commonwealth, bringing hate and violence,” prominent faith leaders warned in a statement released Sunday.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the FBI Richmond field office said the agency “would provide assistance as deemed appropriate to ensure public safety.”
Federal authorities arrested a number of suspected neo-Nazis around the country this week out of concern that they were planning violent acts at the rally.
Blizzard hits E. Canada
The historic blizzard that slammed Canada’s easternmost province is headed for Greenland — but it left snowburied neighborhoods, a slew of power outages and shattered records in its wake.
St. John’s superseded its record for the most snow in 24 hours, recording 30 inches, as the storm hit Newfoundland and Labrador on Friday. A state of emergency continued through Sunday as most businesses were ordered closed and few beyond emergency vehicles were allowed on the roads. Snow drifts rose 12 to 15 feet high on some highways, officials said.
“Newfoundlanders are going to be talking about this for a very, very long time,” meteorologist Ashley Brauweiler said.
Also in the world ...
In a solemn ceremony at an airport in Ukraine on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy paid his respects to the returned bodies of 11 citizens from his country who were killed when Iran’s military mistakenly shot down a passenger jet in Tehran this month . ... A mass protest in Hong Kong came to an abrupt and chaotic end on Sunday when demonstrators attacked plainclothes police officers, sparking a response from authorities that included pepper spray, tear gas and numerous arrests . ... The authorities in China reported a third death from a mysterious virus and more than 130 new cases over the weekend, including ones found in Beijing and southern China for the first time.