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NASA to make second attempt at launching Artemis moon rocket on Saturday

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2 years ago

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  • NASA’s moon rocket did not launch on Monday due to technical issues.
  • NASA aims to make a second attempt to launch on Saturday.
  • Monday’s experience was useful in trouble-shooting some problems.

NASA aims to make a second attempt to launch its giant next-generation moon rocket on Saturday, Sept. 3, five days after a pair of technical issues foiled an initial try at getting the spacecraft off the ground for the first time, agency officials said on Tuesday.

But prospects for success on Saturday appeared clouded by weather reports predicting just a 40% chance of favourable conditions that day, while the US space agency acknowledged some outstanding technical issues remain to be solved.

At a media briefing a day after Monday’s first countdown ended with the flight scrubbed, NASA officials said Monday’s experience was useful in trouble-shooting some problems and that additional difficulties could be worked through in the midst of a second launch try.

In that way, the launch exercise was serving essentially as a real-time dress rehearsal that hopefully would conclude with an actual, successful liftoff.

For now, NASA officials said, plans call for keeping the 32-story-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion astronaut capsule on its launch pad to avoid having to roll the massive spacecraft back into its assembly building for a more extensive round of tests and repairs.

If all goes as hoped, the SLS will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday afternoon, during a two-hour launch window that opens at 2:17 pm, sending the Orion on an uncrewed, six-week test flight around the moon and back.

The long-awaited voyage would kick off NASA’s moon-to-Mars Artemis program, the successor to the Apollo lunar project of the 1960s and ’70s before US human spaceflight efforts shifted to low-Earth orbit with space shuttles and the International Space Station.

NASA’s initial Artemis I launch attempt on Monday ended after data showed that one of the rocket’s main-stage engines failed to reach the proper pre-launch temperature required for ignition, forcing a halt to the countdown and a postponement.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, mission managers said they believe a faulty sensor in the rocket’s engine section was the culprit for the engine cooling issue.

As a remedy for Saturday’s attempt, mission managers plan to begin that engine-cooling process roughly 30 minutes earlier in the launch countdown, NASA’s Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said. But a full explanation for the faulty sensor requires more data analysis by engineers.

“The way the sensor is behaving doesn’t line up with the physics of the situation,” said John Honeycutt, NASA’s SLS program manager.

The sensor was last checked and calibrated months ago in the rocket factory, Honeycutt said. Replacing the sensor would require rolling the rocket back to its assembly building, a process that could delay the mission for months.

The first voyage of the SLS-Orion, a mission dubbed Artemis I, aims to put the 5.75-million-pound vehicle through its paces in a rigorous demonstration flight pushing its design limits before NASA deems it reliable enough to carry astronauts.

Named for the goddess who was Apollo’s twin sister in ancient Greek mythology, Artemis seeks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface as early as 2025, though many experts believe that the time frame will likely slip by a few years.

The last humans to walk on the moon were the two-man descent team of Apollo 17 in 1972, following in the footsteps of 10 other astronauts during five earlier missions beginning with Apollo 11 in 1969.

Artemis also is enlisting commercial and international help to eventually establish a long-term lunar base as a stepping stone to even more ambitious human voyages to Mars, a goal NASA officials say would probably take until at least the late 2030s to achieve.

But NASA has many steps to take along the way, starting with getting the SLS-Orion vehicle into space.

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Bitcoin makes its first breach of $94,000.

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As news broke that Donald Trump’s social media company was in negotiations to acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt (BKKT.N), Bitcoin surged to a record high above $94,000, adding to optimism that the next Trump administration would be cryptocurrency-friendly.

This year, Bitcoin, the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency in the world, has more than doubled in value. Just before the close of the previous session, it reached a record high of $94,078 before closing at $92,104 in Asian hours on Wednesday.

According to the Financial Times, which cited two persons with knowledge, NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.N) is supporting Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT.O), opens new tab, which runs Truth Social, in its pursuit of an all-stock purchase of Bakkt.

In addition to traders taking advantage of the first day of options trading on the Nasdaq over BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT.O), Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, stated that the Trump deal chatter had helped push bitcoin to a record high.

As traders hoped that President-elect Trump’s pledged support for digital assets would result in a less stringent regulatory framework and give bitcoin a boost after a sluggish few months, cryptocurrencies have surged since the U.S. election on November 5.

According to data and analytics aggregator CoinGecko, the global cryptocurrency market is now worth over $3 trillion, a new high, due to the growing excitement.

Australian online broker Pepperstone’s head of research, Chris Weston, stated that there is genuine underlying purchasing pressure on bitcoin and that “another kick higher should bring in a fresh chase from those who like to buy what’s strong.”

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The PTA discloses how many VPNs are registered in Pakistan.

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3 days ago

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Speaking at the Senate Standing Committee on IT meeting in Islamabad, which was presided over by Palwasha Khan, was the PTA chief.

The continuous regulation of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in Pakistan was the main topic of discussion. The committee called for the next meeting and voiced concerns about the Minister of State for IT’s absence for the third consecutive session.

“We have spent the last two years developing VPN legislation. Uninterrupted internet connection is guaranteed by registered VPNs without sacrificing privacy, according to the PTA chairman.

During the session, Senator Muhammad Humayun criticized the measures, saying, “Shutting down platforms like X (formerly Twitter) is jeopardizing the entire IT industry and impacting the livelihoods of over 2.5 million individuals in Pakistan.”

He opposed laws that would hurt independent contractors and small companies.

Although the PTA promised that registered VPNs would not experience internet outages, committee members wanted to know the exact legal foundation for these regulations. Senator Kamran Murtaza asked for documents that detailed the requirements for registration.

“If VPN services are abruptly halted, there will be a major backlash,” Senator Afnan Ullah said. While pointing out that Pakistan’s IT exports had increased by 20% in the previous year, he emphasised that the sector was still lagging behind India.

Concerns over the viability of the existing VPN whitelist method were voiced by the committee. While IT officials admitted that more than 1 million freelancers in Pakistan rely significantly on VPNs for their business, Senator Humayun pointed out that the laws should be more beneficial than harmful.

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Pakistan declares AI chatbots to be dangers to security.

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7 days ago

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The National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has released a security advisory concerning the increasing utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, emphasizing potential hazards related to the exposing of private data.

The recommendation recognizes that AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, have gained significant popularity for personal and professional duties owing to their capacity to improve productivity and engagement. Nonetheless, the CERT cautions that these AI systems frequently retain sensitive information, so posing a danger of data breaches.

Engagements with AI chatbots may encompass sensitive information, such as corporate strategy, personal dialogues, or confidential correspondence, which could be compromised if inadequately safeguarded. The warning emphasizes the necessity for a comprehensive cybersecurity framework to alleviate concerns associated with AI chatbot utilization.

Users are advised against inputting critical information into AI chatbots and are encouraged to deactivate any chat-saving functionalities to mitigate the danger of unwanted data access. The CERT additionally advises performing routine system security checks and employing monitoring tools to identify any anomalous behavior from AI chatbots.

Organizations are urged to adopt rigorous security protocols to safeguard against possible data breaches resulting from AI-driven interactions.

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