[Fox News] China launches lunar probe to take samples from far side of the moon
China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.
It is the latest advance in China’s increasingly sophisticated space exploration program, which is now competing with the U.S., still the leader in space.
China also has a three-member crew on its own orbiting space station and aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. Three Chinese lunar probe missions are planned over the next four years.
Free from exposure to Earth and other interference, the moon’s somewhat mysterious far side is ideal for radio astronomy and other scientific work. Because the far side never faces Earth, a relay satellite is needed to maintain communications.
The rocket carrying the Chang’e-6 lunar probe — named after the Chinese mythical moon goddess — lifted off Friday at 5:27 p.m. as planned from the Wenchang launch center on the island province of Hainan. About 35 minutes later it separated entirely from the massive Long March-5 rocket — China’s largest — that had slung it into space, as technicians monitoring the launch from ground control smiled and applauded.
Shortly afterward, launch mission commander Zhang Zuosheng took to a podium at the front of the room and said the launch had gone off exactly as planned and the spacecraft was on its set trajectory. “I declare this launch mission a complete success,” Zhang said to further applause.
The Philippine Space Agency issued a statement saying expected debris from the rocket launch was “projected to have fallen within the identified drop zones.”
China in 2021 was forced to defend its handling of a rocket booster that burned up over the Indian Ocean after the administrator of the American space agency and others accused Beijing of acting recklessly by allowing its rocket to fall to Earth seemingly uncontrolled after the mission.
Huge numbers of people crowded Hainan’s beaches to view the launch, which comes in the middle of China’s five-day May Day holiday. As with previous recent launches, the event was televised live by state broadcaster CCTV.
After orbiting the moon to reduce speed, the lander will separate from the spacecraft and within 48 hours of setting down it will begin drilling into the lunar surface and scooping up samples with its robotic arm. With the samples sealed in a container, it will then reconnect with the returner for the trip back to Earth. The entire mission is set to last 53 days.
China in 2020 returned samples from the moon’s near side, the first time anyone has done so since the U.S. Apollo program that ended in the 1970s. Analysis of the samples found they contained water in tiny beads embedded in lunar dirt.
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Also in the past week, three Chinese astronauts returned home from a six-month mission on the country’s orbiting space station after the arrival of its replacement crew.
China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely because of U.S. concerns over the Chinese military’s total control of the space program amid a sharpening competition in technology between the two geopolitical rivals. U.S. law bars almost all cooperation between the U.S. and Chinese space programs without explicit congressional approval.
Faced with such limitations, China has expanded cooperation with other countries and agencies. The latest mission carries scientific instruments from France, Italy and the European Space Agency in cooperation with Sweden. A small Pakistani satellite is also on board.
China’s ambitious space program aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030, as well as bring back samples from Mars around the same year and launch three lunar probe missions over the next four years. The next is scheduled for 2027.
Longer-term plans call for a permanent crewed base on the lunar surface, although those appear to remain in the conceptual phase.
China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the U.S. to put a person into space using its own resources.
The three-module Tiangong, much smaller than the ISS, was launched in 2021 and completed 18 months later. It can accommodate up to six astronauts at a time and is mainly dedicated to scientific research. The crew will also install space debris protection equipment, carry out payload experiments, and beam science classes to students on Earth.
China has also said that it eventually plans to offer access to its space station to foreign astronauts and space tourists. With the ISS nearing the end of its useful life, China could eventually be the only country or corporation to maintain a crewed station in orbit.
The U.S. space program is believed to still hold a significant edge over China’s due to its spending, supply chains and capabilities.
The U.S. aims to put a crew back on the lunar surface by the end of 2025 as part of a renewed commitment to crewed missions, aided by private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin. They plan to land on the moon’s south pole where permanently shadowed craters are believed to be packed with frozen water.
[Fox News] Scientists discover thick atmosphere enveloping rocky so-called ‘super Earth’ planet
A thick atmosphere has been detected around a planet that’s twice as big as Earth in a nearby solar system, researchers reported Wednesday.
The so-called super Earth — known as 55 Cancri e — is among the few rocky planets outside our solar system with a significant atmosphere, wrapped a blanket of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The exact amounts are unclear. Earth’s atmosphere is a blend of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and other gases.
“It’s probably the firmest evidence yet that this planet has an atmosphere,” said Ian Crossfield, an astronomer at the University of Kansas who studies exoplanets and was not involved with the research.
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The research was published in the journal Nature.
Super Earth refers to a planet’s size — bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. The boiling temperatures on this planet — which can reach as hot as 4,200 degrees Fahrenheit – mean that it is unlikely to host life.
Instead, scientists say the discovery is a promising sign that other such rocky planets with thick atmospheres could exist that may be more hospitable.
The exoplanet 41 light years away is eight times heavier than Earth and circles its star Copernicus so closely that it has permanent day and night sides. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. Its surface is encrusted with magma oceans.
To identify the makeup of its atmosphere, researchers studied Webb Space Telescope observations before and after the planet passed behind its star.
They separated the light emitted from the planet versus its star and used the data to calculate the planet’s temperature. There’s evidence the planet’s heat was being distributed more evenly across its surface – a party trick atmospheres are known for.
Gases from its magma oceans may play a key role in holding its atmosphere steady. Exploring this super Earth may also yield clues to how Earth and Mars might have evolved first with magma oceans that have since cooled, scientists say.
“It’s a rare window,” said Renyu Hu, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was part of the research. “We can look into this early phase of planet evolution.”
[Fox Business] Save $10K in a year with this step-by-step guide
Saving money all starts with a tangible goal. So, let’s start with $10,000 in one year.
Saving money is challenging, with pressures to buy, buy, buy all around us, bills to pay and debts to eliminate.
If you want to save $10,000 in a single year, it is going to require financial discipline, budgeting and taking advantage of high-yield savings accounts to do it.
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Below is a step-by-step guide on how you can have $10,000 in your bank account in 365 days.
The first step is to think of what you are going to use this $10,000 for. Having an exciting goal you are working toward, rather than just the dollar amount, can help inspire you to save.
For example, maybe you want to use the $10,000 as a down payment on a home. Maybe you will use it to pay off an existing debt you have. You could be saving for a new car, a wedding, a house renovation or an investment property.
Whatever it is that you are saving for, use that to inspire you to keep putting money away and stick to the goal.
Now, it is time to update your budget to work this new goal in. If you do not have one already set up, it is time to make one. Your budget does not need to be overly complex, but at a minimum, you need to have a good idea of how much you are bringing in each month and how much you are spending.
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For this specific $10,000 in a year example, you are going to need just around $833 per month going into your savings. If you create your budget and have the room to put this amount aside, great. If not, you are going to have to make some adjustments.
If you do not have $833 per month left over to put toward your savings goal, there are really only two solutions. You can either cut down on your expenses, or increase your income. You may have to do a little bit of both these things to make your budget work.
When trying to decrease expenses, there are a few major things you can look for. One is how much you order take-out versus cooking. If the amount of times you order food each week far outweighs how often you cook at home, this is one place where you can cut spending.
Another thing you can look at is the subscriptions you pay for. Make sure you are not paying for a service you completely forgot you had and are no longer using. Also, if you have multiple streaming services you are paying for, consider getting rid of some that you are not getting your money’s worth with.
You can also look at how much you are spending on shopping each month. If you are buying expensive technology or new outfits often, this is an area you can cut down on to save yourself money.
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While it is important to have money to spend on the things that you want, if you are spending on everything you want, you will not be able to save. When you are looking at your budget, think about what areas are really important to you and for the areas that are not, take them out of the budget, so you have more to save.
Now, the other side of this is raising your income. Again, there are a variety of ways to do this. You could ask for a raise at work if you think you have earned one, you can look for higher-paying jobs or you could pick up a side hustle in addition to your full-time job.
Where your money goes is vital to your saving success. One of the best places you can put your money is in a high-yield savings account. These types of accounts offer users a higher interest rate than a traditional savings account, allowing your money to grow faster with no extra effort from you.
On average, high-yield savings accounts have around 5% APY, sometimes even higher. They are very easy to open and only take a couple of minutes to complete the process. Once you see your money grow in one of these accounts, you will regret not signing up for one sooner.
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So many banks offer high-yield savings accounts, so do some shopping around and find the one that best fits your needs.
Do not trust yourself to transfer money into the account manually each month. Even if you tell yourself you will take $833 out of your paycheck each month and put it in your savings, you may find yourself hesitant to do so when the time actually comes.
Setting up automatic transfers makes saving a seamless process.
You can typically do this right on your phone or computer through your bank’s mobile app or website.
If you tack on any additional debts to your budget, it is going to be really hard to save the $10,000 you are looking to save.
For example, if you buy a new car during this time frame, or rack up thousands in credit card debt, your focus is going to be shifted from saving to paying off debt.
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If possible, try to avoid accruing any additional debt during this time, so you can really prioritize your saving.
[Fox Business] Snoop Dogg’s ‘Gin & Juice’ drink brand to sponsor college football bowl game
Rapper Snoop Dogg is getting into the big business of college football with the sponsorship of the Arizona Bowl, which will be formally presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop – the first product launched under his brand with longtime musical and business partner Dr. Dre.
The agreement marks the first time that an alcohol brand has been the presenting sponsor of a college football bowl game and will showcase the Gin & Juice brand. The premium spirits company, named after Snoop Dogg’s 1994 hit song produced by Dr. Dre, currently offers ready-to-drink cocktails made with “premium light gin” in four flavors – apricot, citrus, melon and passionfruit.
“College football fans are exhausted by the constant talk around NIL, conference realignment, coach movement, transfer portal and super conferences,” Snoop Dogg said in a social media post announcing the sponsorship. “So it’s time that we get back to the roots of college football – when it was focused on the colleges, the players, the competition, the community, the fan experience and the pageantry.
“Being a fan, coach, supporter of all levels of the game I sent many players from my SYFL to colleges and the NFL, so it’s only fitting that I step up and help get this thing right,” he explained. “I’m ready to bring the Juice back to college football, and I’m taking my talents… that’s right, to Arizona. Believe me, Arizona, baby! I’m here to announce the new collaboration – the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop.”
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“We’re thrilled about our groundbreaking partnership with Snoop and Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop,” Arizona Bowl Executive Director Kym Adair said in a statement. “This year, the Arizona Bowl is bringing sports, libations, and entertainment into a singular bowl game, and we are changing the definition of what a brand partnership is in the NCAA.”
Aside from putting the spirits brand in the spotlight, the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice will also feature charity events and a youth football game called the SNOOPER Bowl that will feature teams from California and Arizona. The bowl game will also continue to donate 100% of its net proceeds to charity.
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Snoop Dogg has long been associated with football, making regular appearances on the sidelines of college and professional football games and practices. He’s also a longtime youth football coach.
He founded the Snoop Youth Football League (SYFL) in California 17 years ago and the league has produced over 40 players who eventually went on to play in college and the NFL, including C.J. Stroud, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jack Jones, Daiyan Henley, Deommodore Lenoir, De’Anthony Thomas, Ronnie Hillman and others.
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The bowl game will mark the third time in which a living individual has been named in the bowl game’s title, following in the wake of the LA Bowl, which had talk show host Jimmy Kimmel as the name sponsor for two years and last year gave the honors to former NFL star Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski.
The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop will be played at Arizona Stadium in Tucson on Dec. 28, 2024. It’s expected to feature teams from the Mountain West Conference and Mid-American Conference.
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