International
New launch attempt Saturday for NASA’s Moon rocket
AFP
NASA will make a second attempt to launch its powerful new Moon rocket on Saturday, after scrubbing a test flight earlier in the week, an official said Tuesday.
The highly anticipated uncrewed mission — dubbed Artemis 1 — will bring the United States a step closer to returning astronauts to the Moon five decades after humans last walked on the lunar surface.
Mission manager Mike Sarafin, said the NASA team “agreed to move our launch date to Saturday, September the third.”
Blastoff had been planned for Monday morning but was canceled because a test to get one of the rocket’s four RS-25 engines to the proper temperature range for launch was not successful.
Sarafin announced the date for the new launch attempt during a media briefing on Tuesday, and NASA later tweeted that the two-hour launch window on Saturday would begin at 2:17 pm (1817 GMT).
Launch weather officer Mark Burger said there is a 60 percent chance of rain or thunderstorms on the day of the launch, but added that there is still a “pretty good opportunity weather-wise to launch on Saturday.”
The goal of Artemis 1, named after the twin sister of Apollo, is to test the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule that sits on top.
Mannequins equipped with sensors are standing in for astronauts on the mission and will record acceleration, vibration and radiation levels.
Tens of thousands of people — including US Vice President Kamala Harris — had gathered to watch the launch, 50 years after Apollo 17 astronauts last set foot on the Moon.
Ahead of the planned Monday launch, operations to fill the orange-and-white rocket with ultra-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen were briefly delayed by a risk of lightning.
A potential leak was detected during the filling of the main stage with hydrogen, causing a pause. After tests, the flow resumed.
NASA engineers later detected the engine temperature problem and decided to scrub the launch.
“The way the sensor is behaving… doesn’t line up with the physics of the situation,” said John Honeycutt, manager of the Space Launch System program, adding that such issues with sensors were “not terribly unusual.”
Sarafin said the team would reconvene on Thursday to assess the situation.
– Orbiting the Moon –
The Orion capsule is to orbit the Moon to see if the vessel is safe for people in the near future. At some point, Artemis aims to put a woman and a person of color on the Moon for the first time.
During the 42-day trip, Orion will follow an elliptical course around the Moon, coming within 60 miles (100 kilometers) at its closest approach and 40,000 miles at its farthest — the deepest into space by a craft designed to carry humans.
One of the main objectives is to test the capsule’s heat shield, which at 16 feet in diameter is the largest ever built.
On its return to Earth’s atmosphere, the heat shield will have to withstand speeds of 25,000 miles per hour and a temperature of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) — roughly half as hot as the Sun.
NASA is expected to spend $93 billion between 2012 and 2025 on the Artemis program, which is already years behind schedule, at a cost of $4.1 billion per launch.
The next mission, Artemis 2, will take astronauts into orbit around the Moon without landing on its surface.
The crew of Artemis 3 is to land on the Moon in 2025 at the earliest.
And since humans have already visited the Moon, Artemis has its sights set on another lofty goal: a crewed mission to Mars.
The Artemis program aims to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon with an orbiting space station known as Gateway and a base on the surface.
Gateway would serve as a staging and refueling station for a voyage to the Red Planet that would take a minimum of several months.
International
Brésil : 11 morts et 45 blessés dans un violent accident entre un bus et un camion
Onze personnes ont perdu la vie et quarante-cinq autres ont été blessées lors d’une collision frontale entre un camion de marchandises et un autobus dans le centre-ouest du Brésil, ont annoncé les autorités ce samedi.
L’accident s’est produit vendredi à 21h40, heure locale, sur la route BR-163, près de la localité de Lucas do Rio Verde, dans l’État du Mato Grosso.
Selon la Police routière fédérale (PRF), un autobus reliant la capitale de l’État, Cuiabá, à Sinop est entré en collision frontale avec un camion transportant des graines de coton.
« L’accident a fait 11 morts », a indiqué la PRF dans un communiqué, précisant qu’une enquête est en cours pour déterminer les causes du drame.
Les blessés ont été transportés vers des hôpitaux de la région : 11 sont dans un état grave, 26 présentent des blessures modérées et 8 sont légèrement touchés, selon la police routière.
Le conducteur du camion a subi des blessures modérées.
La société de transport Rio Novo, propriétaire de l’autobus, a confirmé l’accident.
« Notre priorité est de prendre soin des victimes et de leurs familles », a déclaré l’entreprise dans un message publié sur les réseaux sociaux.
Les accidents mortels sont fréquents sur les routes brésiliennes, un pays aux dimensions continentales.
Dimanche dernier, huit personnes avaient trouvé la mort dans une collision impliquant deux voitures et une moto dans l’État de Minas Gerais (sud-est).
En mai, une collision frontale entre une minifourgonnette et un camion avait fait neuf morts et dix blessés, également dans le Minas Gerais.
International
U.S. doubles bounty on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to $50 million
In February, the United States designated eight Latin American criminal organizations as “global terrorist” groups, including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, and the MS-13 gang. In July, it added the Cartel of the Suns to the list — a group Washington claims is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Last Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, raising it from $25 million to $50 million, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on social media platform X.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that labeling the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization allows for a strategic shift in dealing with the Venezuelan regime, as it is now also considered a direct threat to U.S. national security, according to El Espectador.
In an interview with The World Over on EWTN, Rubio said the designation enables the U.S. to “use intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, or any other element of American power to go after them.” He stressed this is no longer just a law enforcement matter, but a national security operation.
When asked at the White House whether he believes it is worth sending the military to combat Latin American drug cartels, Trump responded:
“Latin America has many cartels, a lot of drug trafficking, so, you know, we want to protect our country. We have to protect it.”
International
Three injured in early-morning New York City shooting
A shooting in New York City early Saturday morning left three people injured, a police spokesperson told AFP.
The incident occurred at around 1:20 a.m. local time (05:20 GMT) following a dispute. An 18-year-old woman sustained a scratch to the neck, while a 19-year-old man and a 65-year-old man were injured in the lower limbs.
The victims were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where they were reported to be in stable condition.
The alleged shooter was taken into custody at the scene, and a firearm was recovered. As of now, the suspect has not been formally charged.
Videos circulating on social media show scenes of panic among the crowd, though AFP has not been able to verify their authenticity. The incident comes just weeks after another shooting in a Manhattan skyscraper that left four people injured before the gunman took his own life.
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