US makes history with first all-female spacewalk

Yahoo – AFP, Issam AHMED, October 18, 2019

This image taken from NASA TV shows astronaut Christina Koch during a
spacewalk outside the International Space Station on October 18, 2019 (AFP Photo/HO)

Washington (AFP) - US astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir on Friday became the first all-female pairing to carry out a spacewalk -- a historic milestone as NASA prepares to send the first woman to the Moon.

"It symbolizes exploration by all that dare to dream and work hard to achieve that dream," Meir said after the 7-hour, 17-minute spacewalk to replace a power controller on the International Space Station.

The mission was originally planned for earlier this year but had to be aborted due to a lack of properly fitting spacesuits, leading to allegations of sexism.

Koch and Meir began the walk with standard safety checks on their suits and tethers, before making their way to the repair site on the station's port side, as the sunlit Earth came into view.

In a call to reporters just a few minutes before, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine emphasized the symbolic significance of the day.

"We want to make sure that space is available to all people, and this is another milestone in that evolution," he said.

"I have an 11-year-old daughter, I want her to see herself as having all the same opportunities that I found myself as having when I was growing up."

Suit flub

The first all-female spacewalk was supposed to take place in March but was canceled because the space agency had only one medium-sized suit. A male-female team performed the required task at a later date.

This undated combination photo obtained from NASA shows astronauts 

Christina Koch (L) and Jessica Meir (AFP Photo/HO)

The failure by traditionally male-dominated NASA to be adequately prepared was denounced in some quarters as evidence of implicit sexism.

When Koch and Meir had been outside the space station for about five hours, President Donald Trump reached them in a video call and told them they had made history.

"You are very brave, brilliant women," Trump said.

"You represent this country so well," the president added. "We are very proud of you."

Meir, a 42-year-old marine biologist who was recruited by NASA in 2013, answered by paying tribute to female pioneers of the past.

"We don't want to take too much credit because there have been many other female spacewalkers before us," she said.

"There's been a long line of female scientists, explorers, engineers and astronauts. We have followed in their footsteps, to get to where we are today."

After the call, the astronauts got back to their repair work.

"That is a view," one of them -- it was not clear which -- said at one point, as the earth was lit up in bright light from the sun.

Koch, an electrical engineer who is leading the mission, was carrying out her fourth spacewalk and was hooked up to the station's robotic arm.

Meir, making her first spacewalk, carefully made her way using handles.

The two were working to replace a faulty battery charge/discharge unit, known as a BCDU.

The station relies on solar power but is out of direct sunlight for much of its orbit and therefore needs batteries. The BCDUs regulate the amount of charge that goes into them.

US President Donald Trump (C), Vice President Mike Pence (L), Advisor to the 

President Ivanka Trump (3rd R) and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (2nd R) 

speak to NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir during the first 

all-woman spacewalk (AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)

The current task was announced Monday and is part of a wider mission of replacing aging nickel-hydrogen batteries with higher-capacity lithium-ion units.

Artemis

The US sent its first female astronaut into space in 1983, when Sally Ride took part in the seventh space shuttle mission, and has now had more women astronauts than any other country.

But the first woman in space was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1963, followed by compatriot Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982, who was also the first woman spacewalker two years later.

NASA acting associate administrator Ken Bowersox said he hoped that an all-female spacewalk would soon be a "routine" matter that would not require celebration.

Asked why it had taken so long -- Meir is the 14th US woman spacewalker -- he said men's added height provided an advantage.

"There have been a lot of spacewalks where very tall men were the ones that were able to do the jobs because they were able to reach and do things a little bit more easily," he said.

Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris said the spacewalk was more than historic.

"It's a reminder that for women, even the sky doesn't have to be the limit," she tweeted.

NASA plans to return to the Moon by 2024 for the first time since the Apollo landings of 1969-1972. The new mission is named Artemis, after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology.

The mission will likely see the first woman set foot on the lunar surface, perhaps as part of a male-female combination, as the space agency looks ahead to a crewed Mars expedition in the 2030s.

Is Boeing too big to fail?

France24 –AFP, 4 August 2019

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg was strategic in his picks for the company's board
of directors, such as by naming former UN ambassador Nikki Haley (pictured
November 2018) - AFP/File

New York (AFP) - The grounding of the 737 MAX for more than four months after two deadly accidents has tarnished Boeing's reputation, but it still has the confidence of US policymakers.

This is despite the fact that one of the MAX flight systems, the MCAS, has been cited in both accidents.

Is this an indication that the American aerospace giant is too big to fail?

President Donald Trump, whose mantra is "America first," certainly criticized Boeing early in his administration over the presidential plane, Air Force One, but he has been largely silent about the recent woes.

The wave of negative press about the flaws that caused the deaths of 346 people did not prompt legislators to summon Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg before Congress to inflict on him the kind of humiliation Wall Street bankers were subject to following the global financial crisis.

"Boeing is one of the engines of the US economy, it's way too big and too important for the United States," said Michel Merluzeau, an expert at Air Insight Research.

Political ties

If American politicians were to attack the manufacturer, they would be shooting themselves in the foot, Merluzeau said, because "there are many jobs involved, a very, very numerous supply chain and it cannot be replaced with Facebook or Google that don't produce anything tangible."

Founded 103 years ago, Boeing employs more than 150,000 people around the world, the vast majority in the United States.

In addition to direct jobs, its subcontractors -- like General Electric (GE), United Technologies and Spirit Aerosystems -- are large US industrial employers.

The location of Boeing plants resembles a political campaign map, with facilities in Republican strongholds like Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, and Democratic areas like California and Washington, as well as states that helped Trump win the election: Pennsylvania and Arizona.

And Muilenburg has shown political savvy in his picks for the company's board of directors, naming Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and Trump's former ambassador to the United Nations, and Caroline Kennedy, ally of former president Barack Obama and daughter of former president John F. Kennedy.

Air Force One

Boeing is a dominant player not just in civilian aircraft but in the defense and space industries, and is a major supplier to the Pentagon.

The company produced the famous B-17 and B-29 bombers of World War II and the B-52 used the Vietnam War. Today it produces a variety of aircraft including the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, Apache attack helicopters, the B-1 bomber and combat drones.

It also is part of SpaceX, which will manage travel to the International Space Station.

And Boeing manufactures the presidential plane, the iconic Air Force One.

But Boeing also "can be used as a strategic tool," said Arthur Wheaton, a professor at Cornell University in New York.

Chinese purchases of Boeing aircraft are part of trade negotiations with Beijing, according to a source, since that can be a fast way to reduce the US trade deficit.

US civilian aircraft exports fell 12 percent to $20.4 billion in May, due to the MAX crisis, which affected the GDP, according to government data.

Boeing apologises for 737 MAX crashes as Paris Air Show opens

Yahoo – AFP, Joseph Schmid, June 17, 2019

If the aviation market continues to soften, Airbus and Boeing could face a
disappointing year (AFP Photo/ERIC PIERMONT)

Le Bourget (France) (AFP) - A top Boeing executive apologised Monday for two crashes of 737 MAX jets that together killed 346 people, disasters which have pushed safety to the top of the agenda as aerospace firms gathered for the opening of the Paris Air Show.

The US aerospace giant is battling to regain the trust of passengers, pilots and regulators after a 737 operated by Indonesia's Lion Air flight crashed last October, followed by an Ethiopian Airlines jet in March.

"We are very sorry for the loss of lives as a result of the tragic accidents... our thoughts and our prayers are with their families," Boeing's head of commercial aircraft Kevin McAllister told journalists at the air show.

"Our priority is doing everything to get this plane safely returned to service. It is a pivotal moment for all of us," he said.

But McAllister and other executives faced a barrage of questions over Boeing's handling of the 737 MAX disasters, thought to be caused by a faulty MCAS anti-stall system.

Boeing's Kevin McAllister apologised for the 737 MAX crashes, but questions
remain (AFP Photo/ERIC PIERMONT)

Critics accuse Boeing of failing to sufficiently test a system that used just one sensor to determine if the 737 was at risk of stalling, and of failing to adequately inform and train pilots.

Reports also suggest that US safety regulators allowed Boeing engineers to self-certify the system, prompting worries of insufficient oversight at the planemaker.

McAllister said a planned fix for the anti-stall software would use two sensors, but it has yet to submit its proposal to regulators, who have grounded the plane indefinitely.

"We are very confident that the three layers of protection we are planning with the software update will prevent anything like this happening again," he said.

Europe's new fighter jet

Several executives at the Paris Air Show vowed to improve transparency over plane safety in the wake of the 737 MAX crashes, while also pledging to reduce emissions for an industry increasingly in the public spotlight.

The Paris Air Show kicked off with a markedly less self-congratulatory
mood (AFP Photo/BENOIT TESSIER)

Few blockbuster products or orders are expected at the world's biggest aerospace show, which brings together nearly 2,500 firms from 49 countries, and 290 official delegations, including government leaders and military chiefs.

But with passenger traffic slowing this year, the atmosphere at the fair, where arch-rivals Boeing and Airbus usually vie for aircraft orders, was markedly less self-congratulatory than in recent years.

President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the event at Le Bourget airport after flying in on a hulking grey Airbus A330 refuelling tanker operated by the French Air Force.

He then attended the unveiling of a full-size model of the new fighter jet that France and Germany are promoting as a symbol of their efforts to bolster European defence autonomy at a time of fraying ties with the United States.

The stealth plane is part of the ambitious Future Combat Air System (FCAS) that includes next-generation drones and missiles, which would help reduce the EU's long reliance on US planes and equipment.

At an airbase near you in about 20 years: The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) 

jet (AFP Photo/ERIC PIERMONT)

The cooperation framework was later signed by the defence ministers of France, Germany and Spain, so far the only other EU nation to join the project, which aims to have its new plane in operation by 2040.

Macron then toured the vast exhibition halls at Le Bourget, where dozens of companies are touting their efforts to make flying cleaner amid criticism of airlines' carbon emissions.

Airbus officially unveiled its A321 XLR jet, the latest iteration of its hugely popular single-aisle A320, which can now cross the Atlantic thanks to increased fuel efficiency.

That makes it an option for airlines which currently have to use bigger, fuel-hungry twin-aisle planes on longer routes.

The US-based Air Lease Corporation has signed a letter of intent to buy 27 of the planes, with deliveries to start in 2023.

France and Germany hope to reduce their reliance on US equipment (AFP Photo/

BENOIT TESSIER)

Clouds on horizon

Both Airbus and Boeing have suffered a wave of order cancellations as airlines grapple with slowing passenger traffic growth since the start of this year.

And air cargo shipments, often an indicator of passenger traffic trends, have been slumping so far in 2019, reflecting the trade tensions prompted by US President Donald Trump's move to impose tariffs on several European and Chinese imports.

If the aviation market continues to soften, Airbus and Boeing could suffer their first disappointing year after more than a decade of solid growth driven in particular by the soaring numbers of people flying in Asia.

The two industry leaders can take comfort from jam-packed order books after hefty revenue growth last year, when their combined deliveries exceeded 1,600 planes.

Analysts say nearly 40,000 planes will be in service by 2038, double the industry's current fleet.

Seoul earmarks more than $260 mn for rail, roads in North

Yahoo – AFP, November 8, 2018

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) advocates talking to the North's leader
Kim Jong Un to push him to denuclearise (AFP Photo)

Seoul (AFP) - South Korea has earmarked more than $260 million to build new railways and roads in the North, an official said Thursday, as Seoul pushes ahead with cross-border projects despite international sanctions on Pyongyang.

The figure comes as Seoul and Washington follow increasingly divergent approaches to Pyongyang, with the South pursuing engagement while the US insists pressure on it should be maintained until it denuclearises.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in offered to help upgrade the North's outdated rail and road infrastructure and connect it with the South's in meetings this year with the North's leader Kim Jong Un.

Seoul plans to spend about 295.1 billion won ($264 million) on the schemes next year, an official at Seoul's unification ministry told reporters, with most of it -- 186.4 billion won -- given freely and 108.7 billion won in loans.

"It is an estimate for now... we will continue efforts, including policy coordination with the US, to carry out the projects agreed between the two Koreas without a hitch," said the official who declined to be named.

Security allies Seoul and Washington agreed last week to set up a new working group to co-ordinate policy amid growing concerns in the US over Moon's approach.

The official's comments came as a Southern lawmaker accused Seoul of ignoring UN sanctions on the North.

"The US maintains the position that it would maintain maximum pressure until the North produces visible progress on denuclearisation and so does the international community including the EU," Chung Byoung-gug told the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper.

"The budget allocation by our government may make it look like our government is undermining international coordination on sanctions on the North," he was quoted as saying.

The isolated, impoverished North is under multiple sets of sanctions imposed over past nuclear and missile tests staged in violation of UN resolutions.

Lifting the measures -- which bans much of its trade including coal exports -- is a key demand of Pyongyang's in its ongoing denuclearisation talks with the US.

Kim and Donald Trump held a historic summit in June in Singapore and signed a vaguely worded deal on denuclearisation, but little progress has been made since then, with the two countries sparring over the exact meaning of the agreement.

Planned talks between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and one of Kim's right-hand men, Kim Yong Chol, were also delayed this week.

Moon -- a dove who advocates dialogue with the North to push it towards denuclearisation -- has met Kim three times so far this year and another summit is being planned in Seoul.

Travel to US down 6.5% after Trump travel ban: report

Yahoo – AFP, February 8, 2017

People arrive at the international terminal of Los Angeles International Airport on
February 8, 2017 in Los Angeles, California (AFP Photo/Frederic J. Brown)

Washington (AFP) - Travel bookings to the United States fell 6.5 percent in late January compared to last year in the wake of President Donald Trump's travel ban, according to a report Wednesday.

The travel restrictions apparently deterred travelers from outside the seven Muslim-majority countries hit by the ban, according to data from ForwardKeys, a travel analysis firm.

The executive order, signed January 27 and suspended by the courts since February 3, blocked the arrival of travelers and refugees from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Sudan.

Arrivals from those countries from January 28 to February 4 were down 80 percent from the same period of 2016, the report said.

But bookings from Western Europe and the Asia Pacific region each fell about 14 percent, while those from Northern Europe were down 6.6 percent. (The data excludes China and Hong Kong due to the Chinese New Year holiday impact.)

"The data forces a compelling conclusion that Donald Trump's travel ban immediately caused a significant drop in bookings to the USA and an immediate impact on future travel," ForwardKeys CEO Olivier Jager said in the report.

"As inbound travel is an export industry (it earns foreign currency), this is not good news for the US economy."

While he cautioned that the data represents just an eight-day snapshot, the report said the period represents the first consistently long run of declines from the corresponding year-earlier period since before the presidential election in November.

In addition, total international bookings for travel to the United States for the coming three months have slowed amid the continuing immigration controversy. While they are currently 2.3 percent ahead of last year, they had been running 3.4 percent ahead just eight days earlier, the report said.

Trump ban leads Dutch to halt talks with the US on clearance at Schiphol

DutchNews, January 31, 2017

Several dozen people protested against the ban at Schiphol airport on Sunday.
Photo: Joris van Gennip via HH

The Dutch government has halted talks with the US on setting up border and customs controls at Schiphol airport because of president Donald Trump’s entry ban. 

The talks on allowing the US to carry out pre-clearance checks on travellers to the US while on Dutch soil began in December. The aim was to help travellers bypass long waits at US passport control. 

Foreign minister Bert Koenders told MPs on Tuesday that the talks had been suspended temporarily. 

MPs from across the political spectrum criticised prime minister Mark Rutte for not coming to parliament for Tuesday’s question and answer session. 

The prime minister, as the keeper of Dutch values, should have been in parliament to denounce racism and discrimination, Socialist Party leader Emile Roemer said. 

Human rights

Koenders and PVV leader Geert Wilders clashed over Wilders support for the ban. ‘You want to ensure than human rights do not apply to everyone,’ Koenders told the MP, pointing out that the ban affected Iraqi soldiers who had fought with the US against Isis.

‘You are making the world a less safe place,’ Koenders said. 

Koenders also said that the cabinet wants to ensure people with dual nationality who have been hit by the ban are properly protected. He has called a meeting of European ambassadors in Washington to discuss the situation. 

Academics

DutchNews.nl is aware of at least one dual Dutch Iranian academic who was supposed to travel to New York this week for research.

‘This order bans many of my Iranian friends, especially those who work in academia from attending conferences, research visits, or even going back to their work although they have valid US visa,’ he told DutchNews.nl. ‘These are highly intelligent decent young engineers, doctors, researchers, faculty members and PhD students who are contributing to the society that they live in.’ 

The ban will also be an important point on the agenda at the European summit on Malta at the end of this week. 

Schiphol

Ministers are also talking to Schiphol airport and KLM to ensure people caught up in the ban are looked after as well as possible. 

DutchNews.nl reported on Sunday that six Iranian nationals had been stuck at Schiphol airport after KLM refused to fly them to the US. When asked if any special provisions had been made to help them, Schiphol said it was up to the airline concerned. 

The six are expected to fly back to Iran on Tuesday afternoon. 

Related Article:

KLM refuses seven passengers following Trump’s Muslim country ban

Trump blasts F-35 fighter jet program cost as 'out of control'

Yahoo – AFP, December 12, 2016

Lockheed Martin has a $1.5 trillion contract through 2070 for the F-35 fighter
jet (AFP Photo/Roslan Rahman)

Washington (AFP) - Lockheed Martin stocks were down about four percent in early trading Monday after President-elect Donald Trump blasted "out of control" costs for the F-35 stealth fighter program.

With a current development and acquisition price tag of $379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft -- most of them destined for the Air Force -- the Lockheed Martin-built plane is the most expensive in history.

"The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th," Trump said on Twitter, as Defense Secretary Ashton Carter was in Israel to celebrate delivery of the country's first two of the Lockheed Martin fighters.

Once servicing and maintenance costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft's lifespan through 2070, overall program costs are expected to soar to $1.5 trillion.

Lockheed stock dropped to about $248.40 while the broader market surged amid an ongoing post-election rally.

The US Air Force declared an initial squadron of F-35A fighters "battle ready," in August, after reports of cost overruns and delays.

The Air Force's F-35A is one of three variants of the aircraft, designed to conduct conventional landings and take-offs.

F-35 stealth fighter (AFP Photo/Adrian Leung)

The F-35B, used by the Marine Corps, is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings, and the Navy's F-35C is built for use on aircraft carriers.

Trump has frequently turned to Twitter to vent his outrage about anything from critiques of Saturday Night Live, a weekly comedy-variety television show, to attacking Boeing for the cost of designing a new version of Air Force One, the presidential plane.

Proponents tout the F-35's radar-dodging stealth technology, supersonic speeds, close air-support capabilities, airborne agility and a massive array of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information.

But the program has faced numerous setbacks, including a mysterious engine fire in 2014 that led commanders to ground planes until the problem could be resolved.

Other issues have led to delays and cost overruns, including software bugs, technical glitches and even a faulty eject system that risked killing pilots who weighed less than 136 pounds (62 kilos).

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Running the JSF fighter jet currently 'too expensive' says minister

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  8 - The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.….”

"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

“…  There's another quantum energy on the planet that has the quantum factor... the Great Shift. It is a benevolence that you have created, and that is new. You now sit in a revolutionary change and some of you are aware it and feeling it. It is the shift of Human consciousness and it's shifting right into the quantum factor, since you are becoming more quantum in your consciousness... and it is becoming benevolent. That is why you're seeing this earth react the way it is.

You're starting to see those who will not allow the old systems. You will no longer have dictators. Citizens all over earth want control over lives. They don't want war. They want their families to be safe! They want peace and abundance. They want their grandchildren to have hope for a better life than they had. You're starting to see it over and over in these places that have had dictators for years. ..”