Private firm’s first in Nasa mission to space
Florida: Spacex has launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on the first fully fledged taxi flight for
Nasa by a private company.
The Falcon rocket thundered into the night from Kennedy Space Centre carrying the second crew to be launched by Spacex.
The Dragon capsule on top – named Resilience by its crew in light of this year’s many challenges, most notably Covid-19 – is due to reach the space station early today UK time and remain there until spring.
Nasa astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, took off at 12.27am yesterday, UK time.
Sidelined by the virus himself, Spacex founder and chief executive Elon Musk was forced to monitor the action from afar having tweeted he “most likely” had a moderate case of Covid19. The flight to the space station – 27.5 hours door to door – should be entirely automated, although the crew can take control if needed.
Athens: A bust of the ancient god Hermes, in good condition, has been discovered in central Athens during sewage work.
The Greek Culture Ministry said that the head, one of many that served as street markers in ancient Athens, appears to be from around 300 BC – that is, either from the late fourth century BC or the early third century. It depicts Hermes at “a mature age”, the ministry said, in contrast to his usual depictions as youthful.
The head is in the style of Greek sculptor Alcamenes, who flourished in the second half of fifth century BC, the ministry said.
After serving as a street marker, the head, at some point, had been built into the wall of a drainage duct, the ministry said.
Berlin: Four people have been injured, one seriously, in a fire at a subway station in Berlin.
The fire broke out late Sunday and 120 firefighters were still fighting the flames on yesterday morning, but the blaze was mostly under control.
The cause of the fire, which started at a store inside the Onkel Toms Huette station in the city’s south-west Zehlendorf neighbourhood, was not immediately known.
The fire quickly spread to two other stores and several people living nearby had to leave their homes because of the smoke, German news agency dpa reported.
Minsk: Crowds of retirees have marched in the Belarusian capital, marking 100 days since mass protests began after authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko won his sixth term in a widely disputed election.
More than 2,000 pensioners were estimated to have taken part in the rally, demanding the resignation of Mr Lukashenko and a halt to the government’s violent crackdown on dissent.
They carried flowers and red and white flags that have become a symbol of protest.
Such protests have rocked Belarus ever since the August 9 election handed Mr Lukashenko a crushing victory over his widely popular opponent Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. She and her supporters refused to recognise the result, saying the vote was riddled with fraud.