Astronauts thrilled to be making first piloted flight aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft
CBSN
Two veteran astronauts flew to the Kennedy Space Center Thursday afternoon to prepare for the first piloted launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, a long-awaited flight running years behind schedule after two uncrewed test flights and extensive work to resolve a variety of technical problems.
Astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams, two of NASA's most seasoned astronauts with four previous spaceflights, 11 spacewalks and 500 days in orbit between then, landed at the spaceport's 3-mile-long runway in T-38 jet trainers after a flight from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
"We love Florida. We love the Kennedy Space Center, because this is where you launch humans into space," an ebullient Wilmore told reporters on the runway. "In less than two weeks, the next flight we take we'll be laying on our backs and (launching) into the heavens."
President Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is suiting up for his annual voyage from the North Pole to households around the world. In keeping with decades of tradition, the North American Aerospace Command, or NORAD, will once again track Santa's journey to deliver gifts to children before Christmas 2024, using an official map that's updated consistently to show where he is right now.
An anti-money laundering law called the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, appears to have been given new life after an appeals court on Monday determined its rules can be enforced as the case proceeds. The law requires small business owners to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, by Jan. 1, or potentially pay fines of up to $10,000.