TYB
1st Vulcan Centaur rocket will fly DNA samples of CEO, 'Star Trek' crew
Nov 27, 2023
A new United Launch Alliance rocket will now send its CEO's DNA into space alongside an already announced memorial for "Star Trek".
Memorial space burial company Celestis Inc. plans to fly the DNA of United Launch Alliance (ULA) CEO Tory Bruno, along with the DNA of his wife Rebecca, on the first-ever mission for the Vulcan Centaur rocket on Dec. 24.
The Brunos' genetic material joins dozens of files, cremated remains, and DNA samples of its "passengers." Prominent among previous announcements are several "Star Trek" luminaries, including Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on The Original Series or TOS), DeForest Kelley (Bones on TOS), James Doohan (Scotty on TOS), series creator Gene Roddenberry, and Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett Roddenberry (a recurring "Star Trek" actor). Douglas Trumbull, a visual effects wizard for movies "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977), also joins many others bound for interplanetary space.
Celestis' mission, appropriately called Enterprise after the iconic "Star Trek" ship, will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida's Space Coast. ULA was founded in 2006 as a joint alliance between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co, and this target date will be their shiny new rocket's maiden spaceflight.
Also onboard the deep space mission inside sealed capsules, as reported back on Presidents' Day in February, will be the remains of four U.S. presidents: George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.
Tory and Rebecca Bruno are both career rocket scientists and if the rocket goes on time, the occasion also marks their 38th wedding anniversary. Bruno has been ULA's CEO since 2014, and has helped develop multiple defense and space launch systems over the past four decades.
"This is such an amazingly unique opportunity, and we are thankful to fly with such distinguished people," Bruno said in a press statement.
In addition to Celestis' memorial payload, Vulcan Centaur will also be carrying Astrobotic's Peregrine moon lander, which will be gently nudged on its path towards a lunar encounter. Then, Vulcan's upper stage will zoom off into a heliocentric (sun-centered) orbit, where it shall be (appropriately) renamed Enterprise Station.
"Tory and Rebecca will be joining more than 200 participants from 35 nations aboard this mission of purpose — creating humankind's deepest outpost in the solar system," Charles M. Chafer, Celestis cofounder and CEO, said in the same statement.
https://www.space.com/united-launch-alliance-vulcan-centaur-rocket-dna-ceo-star-trek-launch
Michigan boy steals forklift from middle school, leads police on chase: officials
Updated November 27, 2023 6:48pm EST
A 12-year-old Michigan boy went for a joyride in a stolen forklift and dodged police and deputies before eventually being arrested Saturday evening, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department.
Around 6:45 p.m. Saturday, Ann Arbor Police were dispatched to Forsythe Middle School on reports of a juvenile trying to steal a construction vehicle, according to a post on their Facebook page.
Officers said just a few minutes after receiving the call, the vehicle in question was seen driving without lights.
A pursuit ensued and officers began chasing the boy, going roughly 15 to 20 miles per hour.
During the pursuit, police said the 12-year-old boy went through the Georgetown Boulevard neighborhood and hit around ten parked vehicles.
Around 7:18 p.m., Washtenaw County deputies picked up the chase after Ann Arbor police terminated the pursuit when the driver went across the M-14 bridge and nearly 30 minutes later, officers said the boy stopped near Gotfredson and was taken into custody.
Police said the stolen vehicle, a Genie GTH-636 Telehandler, was left unlocked at the middle school with the key hidden inside.
Officers say the incident remains an active and ongoing criminal investigation.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/michigan-teen-steals-forklift-from-middle-school-leads-police-chase-officials
Pentagon looks to commercial space for an edge
November 27, 2023
WASHINGTON — Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who has spearheaded Pentagon efforts to bring cutting-edge technology into defense programs, is overseeing the military’s first commercial space integration strategy.
The new strategy comes as the Pentagon seeks to tap into advancements in commercial space technology to maintain an advantage over China, now seen as America’s top military competitor.
“At Deputy Secretary Hicks’ direction, the Department is currently developing our first DoD Commercial Space Integration Strategy in order to drive integration and ensure the availability of commercial space solutions during competition, crisis and conflict,” Pentagon Spokesman Eric Pahon said Nov. 27 in a statement to SpaceNews.
The space integration strategy is being drafted by the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb. Speaking at an industry conference last month, Plumb said, “It’s an exciting time for innovation in space and there’s major opportunities for the department to leverage, like the rapid production and technology refresh rates that the commercial sector can provide.”
The Pentagon’s annual report on Chinese military capabilities released to Congress last month warned that China was closing once-substantial gaps with American space technologies, increasing the possibility that Beijing could gain the upper hand in a future conflict by attacking United States satellites.
Speaking with reporters last week, Hicks called China’s rise the Pentagon’s top concern and said partnering with the private sector is vital to outpacing Beijing in developing cutting-edge technology. But she acknowledged the Pentagon needs to do more to attract commercial innovation. “We have a challenge with the commercial sector really looking at DoD as a strong and capable partner,” she said.
The new commercial strategy joins other initiatives led by Hicks, including a project to rapidly develop fleets of unmanned vehicles and platforms using artificial intelligence and other advanced commercial technologies, which she has pushed as a lesson from Ukraine’s war against Russian forces.
“The Ukrainians are showing a lot of how that rapid iteration is happening” in deploying drones and other unmanned systems, Hicks said. The Pentagon is now working to emulate that agility, she added.
Commercial space reserve
Separately from the commercial space integration strategy, DoD and U.S. Space Force officials are drafting plans to establish a commercial space reserve to ensure the U.S. military has access to commercial satellites during conflicts.
Under the program known as Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR), DoD would sign agreements with companies to ensure services like satellite communications and remote sensing are prioritized for U.S. government use during national security emergencies.
Hicks is backing these efforts, said Pahon. “With the rapid growth of the commercial space sector, we have an opportunity to capture that innovation in support of the warfighter,” he added. “The Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve is one of several important initiatives that are getting after this challenge.”
The CASR project is led by the Space Force’s Space Systems Command.
The goal is to recruit companies to participate in the program during peacetime, with the incentive that they would get large contracts for services if they are needed during conflicts or crises. To motivate companies to be part of CASR, the Space Force would give them access to wargames, for example, allowing them to participate in exercises so they can better understand how satellite-based services are used.
https://spacenews.com/pentagon-looks-to-commercial-space-for-an-edge/