Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 27 February 2019
NASA, SpaceX OK 1st test flight of crew capsule next week

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. its cargo capsule for as-
(AP) — NASA and SpaceX tronauts. If the upcoming
on Friday approved a first demo goes well, two NASA
test flight next week of the astronauts could strap in
new commercial Dragon for the next test flight this
capsule designed for crew. summer. Officials stressed
No one will be aboard, only much work remains to be
an instrumented dummy in done, with problems pos-
a white SpaceX spacesuit. sibly solved through rede-
But the capsule will still fly to sign, before the capsule is
the International Space Sta- qualified to carry humans.
tion, following its planned It would be the first launch
March 2 liftoff from NASA's of NASA astronauts from
Kennedy Space Center. U.S. soil in eight years, since
Officials gave the green NASA's shuttle program
light after conducting a ended. They have been
safety review. riding Russian rockets to get
NASA's head of human to and from the space sta-
exploration and opera- tion, costing NASA tens of
tions, William Gerstenmaier, millions of dollars per seat.
called the upcoming test The SpaceX Falcon 9 rock-
flight "an absolutely critical et scheduled to soar at
first step" to eventually put- 2:48 a.m. EST on March 2
ting astronauts on board. is brand new. NASA does
A phenomenal amount of not want recycled boosters
work has gone into ensuring for these crew capsule mis-
the capsule does not en- sions. SpaceX plans to con-
danger the space station duct a high-altitude launch
and its three occupants as This undated photo made available by SpaceX on Feb 6, 2019 shows the Dragon crew capsule abort in April, reusing this
atop a Falcon 9 rocket at the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida where the Saturn Vs
it pulls up and docks, Ger- and space shuttles were launched. same capsule.
stenmaier said. It will re- Associated Press Boeing is also in the com-
main at the orbiting lab just mercial race to transport
under a week before aim- samples and used equip- a SpaceX vice president, SpaceX," he told reporters. space station astronauts.
ing for a splashdown in the ment are coming down. and for now, there's noth- Space X has been making Its first Starliner demo is tar-
Atlantic off Florida. Radia- Human spaceflight is the ing more important than space station shipments geted for April, and the
tion monitors and supplies company's core mission, this endeavor. since 2012. The private second, with astronauts, no
are going up, and science said Hans Koenigsmann, "It's a really big deal for company had to overhaul earlier than August.q

Iceland to keep hunting up to 2,130 whales over 5 years

By EGILL BJARNASON land's national economy. more revenue than Ice-
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) "We risk damaging the land's fishing industry for the
— Iceland's whaling indus- tourism sector, our most im- first time.
try will be allowed to keep portant industry," legislator Iceland has four harpoon-
hunting whales for at least Bjarkey Gunnarsdottir said, equipped vessels, owned
another five years, killing up referring to the internation- by three shipping compa-
to 2,130 baleen whales un- al criticism and diplomatic nies reported to be running
der a new quota issued by pressure that Iceland faces them at a loss or small profit.
the government. for allowing the commer- Last year, the industry killed
The five-year whaling pol- cial hunting of whales. 5 minke whales and 145 fin
icy was up for renewal The Icelandic Travel Indus- whales, according to the
when Fisheries Minister Krist- try Association issued a Directorate of Fisheries.
jan Juliusson announced statement Friday saying the Since commercial whale
this week an annual quota government was damag- hunting resumed in Iceland
of 209 fin whales and 217 ing the nation's "great inter- in 2006, whaling compa-
In this file photo dated Saturday Aug. 23, 2003, a whale is hauled
onto a fishing boat after it was killed in the Atlantic Ocean off minke whales for the next ests" and the country's rep- nies have never killed their
the west coast of Iceland. five years. utation to benefit a small full quota. As a result, it's
Associated Press While many Icelanders sup- whaling sector that is strug- considered unlikely that all
port whale hunting, a grow- gling to sell its products. 2,130 whales will be killed
ing number of businessmen "Their market for whale under this policy.
and politicians are against meat is Japan, Norway The International Whaling
it due to the North Atlan- and the Republic of Palau," Commission imposed a ban
tic island nation's depen- the tourism statement said. on commercial whaling in
dence on tourism. "Our market is the entire the 1980s due to dwindling
Whaling, they say, is bad for globe." stocks. Japan in December
business and poses a threat Iceland's Statistics Agency said it was pulling out of the
to the country's reputation says tourism accounts for IWC due to its disagree-
and the expanding inter- 8.6 percent of Iceland's ment with that policy. Ice-
national tourism that has economic production. In land is still a member of the
become a mainstay of Ice- 2016, tourism produced IWC.q