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CBS News
2 days ago
- Science
- CBS News
Ax-4 crew docks with International Space Station after 28-hour rendezvous
An international crew of four in SpaceX's newest Crew Dragon capsule caught up with the International Space Station Thursday and moved in for a problem-free docking to wrap up an automated 28-hour rendezvous that began with blastoff Wednesday. The capture mechanism in the nose of the Crew Dragon Grace, the fifth and final such spacecraft in SpaceX's fleet, engaged its counterpart in the space-facing port of the forward Harmony module at 6:31 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft sailed 260 miles above the mid Atlantic Ocean. The Crew Dragon Grace closes in for docking at the International Space Station after a 28-hour rendezvous. NASA webcast With the initial "soft capture" confirmed, the capsule was pulled in and firmly locked in place, power and data umbilicals automatically connected and flight controllers began a series of leak checks to verify an airtight structural seal. Hatches were finally opened at 8:14 a.m., and Crew Dragon commander Peggy Whitson and her crewmates — Shubhanshu Shukla of India; Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a European Space Agency astronaut from Poland; and Hungarian engineer Tibor Kapu — floated into the station to hugs and handshakes from the lab's seven long-duration crew members. Ax-4 crew member and European Space Agency astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, known by the nickname "Suave" (center), greets space station astronaut Anne McClain (white shirt, back to camera) after floating into the space station. NASA webcast Whitson, a retired NASA astronaut, is the most experienced American space flier, logging 675 days in orbit during four previous missions. On her fifth flight, she is leading the fourth privately-financed commercial space station visit chartered by Houston-based Axiom Space. The company charges up to $70 million or so per seat to carry non-NASA astronauts, professional researchers and others to the space station. Whitson also commanded the company's second space station flight. Throughout their two-week Ax-4 mission, Whitson and her crewmates plan to carry out a full slate of science research and technology demonstrations, along with interactive educational events in the crew's home countries. They were trained for space station operations and will have full use of the U.S. segment of the orbital lab. "Peggy, welcome back," station commander Takuya Onishi said when the combined 11-member crew gathered for an official welcoming ceremony. "It's a great honor and privilege to have such a legendary astronaut like you on board with us. "And Tibor, Shux and Suave, congratulations on your first space flight. We've been waiting for you guys so long, and we are so happy to see your smiling faces. With your arrival, there are 11 astronauts from six countries and all of us are here in order to advance human space exploration and scientific research." The combined 11-member crew gathered for a welcome aboard ceremony where Whitson, at left with a microphone, pinned astronaut wings on the flight suits of her rookie crewmates (dark shirts, left to right: Hungarian engineer Tibor Kapu, Shubhanshu Shukla of India and Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski. NASA webcast Whitson thanked Onishi, saying "you guys are exceptional hosts and hopefully, you'll think we're exceptional guests at the end of a couple of weeks! We're looking forward to getting a lot of work done with you guys." All told, researchers from 31 countries will be helping evaluate data from the Ax-4 experiments and technology demonstrations. Whitson said before launch the mission "opens up access to countries that might not normally get access to space. So this is very exciting." Before they reached the space station, the Ax-4 crew beamed down televised comments describing the flight and their expectations. "Welcome, earthlings, from Grace," Whitson radioed. She revealed the name of the new Crew Dragon moments after reaching orbit Wednesday. "We are in the newest Dragon capsule, and we are very happy with her," Whitson said. "She's got a little bit of a new-spacecraft smell, and we're loving her a bunch. It's so much fun to be up in space again, always fun to be in space, but it's really fun to be in space with three new astronauts." During an overnight video call from orbit, Indian test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla shows off the Ax-4 crew's zero-gravity indicator, a small toy named Joy, as the astronauts described their impressions of spaceflight. Axiom Space Uznański-Wiśniewski said "it's an amazing feeling to be in orbit for the first time. When I unbuckled for the first time, I didn't feel 100 percent, but then everything settled and when I looked out the window, the view was just stunning." Shukla, a test pilot in the Indian air force, said of the launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket, "wow, what a night it was." "When the flight started, it was something, you get pushed back in the seat, it was an amazing flight. And then suddenly, nothing, everything silenced, and you were just floating ... it was an amazing feeling." Tibor added the crew's thanks "to everyone around the world and every person on the team that made this beautiful day happen."
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Science
- Washington Post
Submersible explores the crash site of a sunken submarine
National Submersible explores the crash site of a sunken submarine June 25, 2025 | 4:42 PM GMT Deep sea submersible from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explores the crash site of USS F-1 submarine, which was accidentally rammed and sunk by another sub in 1917.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Was THIS the fatal flaw that doomed Titan? How 'peanut butter' glue used to join 22ft sub together was never certified to work in deep seawater
Glue used to hold the doomed Titan submersible together was never certified to work in deep seawater, it can be revealed today. Henkel, the German adhesive giant which manufactured the resin in question, said it was only ever marketed for the aerospace sector. Although it admits the glue can safely be used 'in other applications', Henkel 'does not certify its products for various uses'. A spokesperson said: 'It is the end user's responsibility to test their design to ensure proper performance.' Sources from inside Henkel had no idea their glue was even used on Titan until MailOnline told them, and confirmed it was 'not specified for usage under water'. Questions are now being asked as to whether the choice of glue was partly to blame for the 22ft sub's catastrophic implosion on June 18, 2023. All five passengers onboard were killed near instantaneously when the vessel caved in on itself. Cruising 12,500ft beneath the Atlantic Ocean, they were just minutes away from getting a glimpse of the Titanic's wreck. One world leading expert said he would never have advised OceanGate, the firm which operated Titan, used the Loctite EA 9394 Aero resin to bond the carbon fibre hull and titanium sections of the submersible together. Loughborough University's Dr Christian Stone, who specialises in corrosion, said it effectively turned the sub into a giant battery. The paste, listed online as possessing 'excellent strength' and having 'improved wet properties', contains between 30 and 40 per cent powdered aluminium. By using the metallic-based glue, OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush, who died in the implosion, may have introduced a fatal flaw into his 'experimental' submersible. Titan's maintenance log noted on June 17 a problem with 'unsightly' sealant joining the titanium to the carbon fibre. The crew 'ground off bumps' to make a 'smooth surface'. Dr Stone, whose expertise is in galvanic corrosion – an electrochemical process where one metal will, when placed in certain environments such as seawater, sacrifice itself on behalf of another, said this should have been seen as a major red flag. He told MailOnline: 'If you put two metals together and they're connected electrically to a media which conducts electricity like seawater you make a battery. 'One side of that battery will corrode and give up ions. The other side will actually be protected. 'At the corroding side, we call this the anode and that makes acid. The other side is the cathode in which case in our case that will be carbon fibre or titanium and that will make alkaline. 'How quickly that anode side, the corroding side, corrodes depends in part on how conductive the environment is.' The wreckage of Titan showed that much of the five-inch thick carbon fibre hull delaminated and pulled apart into different layers as well as losing its bonding to the crucial titanium ceal Dr Stone said the 'unsightly' area on the joint could have been evidence of aluminium oxide – the result of the corrosion. Without testing, he cautioned it is difficult to determine how big an effect this would have had on the Titan's structure. Dr Stone warned that 'in the most extreme circumstances', this might have potentially triggered a 'very small amount of honeycombing'. Any gaps would have weakened the hull's structure and left it vulnerable to the extraordinary force exerted by the ocean. He said this reaction would begin once Titan was exposed to any salty air but would 'accelerate once they are within the water'. Dr Stone added: 'This will be especially potent when they are going in and out of the water many times because then it will also get exposed to oxygen as well as water, which is good for corrosion.' Dealing with the unsightly sealant by grinding it off was also unwise. He said: 'If they were repeatedly cleaning that kind of sealant, they may have actually done more damage cleaning it than would have occurred due to the corrosion. 'The use of vibrating tools on brittle materials such as epoxy (resin) can have a damaging effect on the stress cycle of these things. It all depends on what the engineering margins are in these extreme environments.' Lower safety margins would result in a greater danger of failure. Ultimately, Dr Stone told MailOnline that the product they used was designed for high altitudes and not the deep sea. He said: 'I would have advised them to use a filler material that was inert and does not conduct electricity.' Dr Stone said OceanGate should have spent more time testing, including the use of accelerated corrosion and stress testing. He added: 'I would also recommend preventive measures such as anodizing the titanium, coating the carbon fibre, and coating the sealant as well just to remove any chance of any of them interacting to make a cell and a battery.' When building his submersible, Rush appeared in a promotional video showing his team applying the glue to craft using large plastic spatulas. He said the product was 'like peanut butter' and thicker than Elmer's glue. Showing absolute confidence in his problem-solving skills and ability to think independently, Rush told the camera that attaching carbon fibre to titanium 'is pretty simple, but if we mess it up, there's not a lot of room for recovery'. A US Coast Guard investigation into the June 2023 tragedy is expected to publish a report into the disaster before the end of the year. As part of the investigation, experts at the National Transportation Safety Board examined the wreckage which was recovered from the scene. Examining the crucial joint, the NTSB found: 'Most of the adhesive originally used to bond the hull to the titanium segment had disbonded from the machined end of the hull piece, but there was an approximately 3.5-inch-long patch where some adhesive bits were still attached.' The glue had failed to hold the sub together, although it is not thought to be the underlying factor behind the implosion. Donald Kramer, senior materials engineer of the NTSB, wrote: 'The aft dome, aft segment, aft portions of the hull, and rails were located together in a comingled mass. The forward dome was located by itself.' The sub had failed at the front, investigators believe. Much of the imploding sub behind the very front was sent hurtling towards the rear dome, hitting it with such force it twisted the titanium ring which was glued to the hull, and ripped out several of the heavy duty bolts screwing the two parts together. OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations following the disaster.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Forbes
Inside A Billionaire Banker's Laboratory For Sustainable Luxury Travel
The original lighthouse of Vejrø island Courtesy of Vejrø Resort Maybe it's utopian. Maybe it's dogmatic. Maybe it's ideologically rigorous. That's largely beside the point. A stay on Denmark's Vejrø island is a pure pleasure. Vejrø is not a political project. There's no preaching. But in fact, it's the owner's deep commitment to state-of-the-art sustainability and regeneration that underlies all the island's pleasures: the exuberant flavor of just-picked vegetables. The soft Atlantic quietly lapping at the pebbled beaches. The simple 19th-century houses that were home to generations of islanders. The island, which spans almost 400 acres, is not connected to the mainland and is powered only by what it harnesses and creates. It's the passion project of billionaire Kim Fournais, who co-founded the Nordic fintech powerhouse Saxo Bank in 1992 and still serves as its CEO. But he also spent much of the past two decades developing his vision for Vejrø—which he purchased in 2005—revitalizing its structures and land, and using the island as a nature-forward gathering place for his family, colleagues and friends. Some of the accommodations on the island Courtesy of Vejrø Resort Now that this vision is more complete, he and his team are working to attract more people to Vejrø. While the island is still a popular destination for corporate gatherings and private celebrations, it's also positioning itself as a place for sailors, day trippers, overnight guests, weekenders and anyone who wants a deep immersion in rural tranquility and a glimpse of what's possible when technology and nature work together. 'I think it's kind of obvious to most people that the world is not necessarily in balance now climate-wise, ecologically, geopolitically,' says Fournais. 'So to have a small place like this, if you can build sustainability in 155 hectares where people can have relaxed luxury and calm down a little bit…. And then produce our own energy and produce our own food and make sure we have regenerative farming with a lot of biodiversity…' He trails off, considering what he's building. 'I love the nature. I love being here,' he continues. 'I think it's amazing to be here, but I also think it's a very, very important thing because if you can do it on 155 hectares, you can do it everywhere.' Some of the greenhouses and gardens Courtesy of Vejrø Resort In some ways, Vejrø is not unlike other Nordic islands, like Denmark's Bornholm or Sweden's Gotland, where a windswept rustic simplicity is mixed with a strong gourmet sensibility. That famous Scandinavian hygge is less a branding gambit than an unassuming fiber that's woven through everything. But Vejrø is much smaller and more tightly controlled, fully based on the dreams of one entrepreneur and unique in its thoroughgoing hybrid of the homespun and the high tech. Fournais has invested millions in a wind turbine and solar power system that produces both electric and thermic energy, a reverse-osmosis plant and a biological micro-treatment plant. (The latest addition is a new electric hydrofoil, one of only four in the world and an investment of more than $2 million. It's bringing its first guests to the island from Karrebæksminde, about an hour's drive from Copenhagen, this week.) The machines are all programmed to work together in a microgrid, and relevant staffers monitor its real-time data on an app on their phones. Visitors who want to nerd out with them are more than welcome: Operations director Steen Erik Højgaard happily leads tours around the island on foot or in a little electric vehicle, answering question after question about how it all works. The island from above Courtesy of Vejrø Resort But there's no need to be an environmentalist or a data scientist to enjoy Vejrø. While the island is largely forest; grazing areas for pigs, cattle, sheep and chickens; or plots that are cultivated following the principles of regenerative agriculture, the man-made parts are a handcrafted homage to simpler times. The island was inhabited until the 1980s, with houses, a lighthouse, a school and a store, but it never had a ferry to the mainland or even a marina. Their building style was simple, and they never added a lot of flourishes. Over time, the structures degraded. And because people understandably tend to be more motivated to ship goods into the place where they live than to ship them out when they leave, the last residents left behind cars and appliances and other large trash. 'I had to start by throwing out a hundred tons of garbage. It was all overgrown and so forth,' says Fournais. 'But I'm the kind of person who sees a lot of opportunities in many things, and I love nature. I just thought this would be a great experiment, but also a good proof of concept that you could take something that was like an outcast, that was really not in balance at all, and try to change that by being committed.' Directions on the island Courtesy of Vejrø Resort He and his team used old photos and worked with architects to re-create a residential structure that feels true to the past. The historic houses were restored and sometimes expanded, creating 35 guest rooms spread across buildings around the island. These range from cozy doubles to a romantic suite with a wood-burning stove beside the freestanding bathtub. (There are an additional five glamping tents, with the possibility to set up more for larger events.) The accommodations are soothing and perfectly comfortable, but you don't come to Verjø for a luxury hotel experience. You come to reconnect with nature and its rhythms. A big piece of that is the food that's grown, raised or hunted on the island. (Species such as pheasants and deer have been reintroduced, and humanely culling the herds is part of sustainable wildlife management.) 'I think we got a little bit out of sync with how to live an active, sustainable life,' says Fournais, pointing out that his country's biggest company (by far) is one that sells a pharmaceutical solution to some of the problems caused by that asynchrony. A stay at Vejrø won't reverse that, of course, but it offers a chance to eat wholesome food and feel good about it. The suite Courtesy of Vejrø Resort It's also delicious. At lunchtime, the Skipperly restaurant serves smørrebrød (open-face rye bread sandwiches) with toppings like batter-fried fish and tiny shrimps in mayo, or green asparagus with boiled eggs and lighthouse cheese—'we're very Danish and very proud of that,' says the island's administrative director, Charlotte Winter Cederbye—but they've recently changed the concept to be gastronomic at night. Now they're calling it Restaurant Gaia and aiming for a Michelin green star and inclusion in the White Guide (the Nordics' answer to Michelin). The dinner offer, for overnight guests, is a series of ever-changing tasting plates composed of meat raised on the island, vegetables grown in its fully organic garden plots and greenhouses, and fish caught in the waters nearby: turbot with wild asparagus and caviar, for example, or grilled langoustine with miso-fermented tomato and rosemary flowers. There's a great deal of technique, and the presentations are beautiful, along the lines of what you'd find in many fine dining restaurants in Europe. But they're not abandoning any principles to play the gastronomy game. They bring in olive oil and wine, but that's about it. In late May, a request for fresh fruit at breakfast went politely unmet; that simply wasn't something the island was giving then. A chef gathering herbs from the garden plots Anthon Unger Of course, there were delicious alternatives on offer, and the equilibrium was kept. Luxury here is not abundance. It's something deeper. 'I think it's really the combination of showing how we as people can find a balance but without giving away [nice things],' says Fournais, who admits that Vejrø is not yet profitable or break-even as a business. He's aiming for it to become viable now that all of its elements are complete. 'I think that there's a lot in the debate where environmental fighters want us to more or less dig a hole and change our lifestyle completely and not travel anymore and not do the things that people like. I don't think that's very likely, and I don't think it's common sense because there are a lot of [developing] countries that are, I think, equally keen to get a better life like the rest. I think the right way forward is to find out how you can apply technology.' He continues, 'My job here is not to change the world, but it's just to give an indication that there can be spots where you can build self-sustainability in a different way, but still where it's a great experience.' MORE FROM FORBES Forbes This Wildly Creative Restaurant Turns Campfire Cooking Into Fine Dining By Ann Abel Forbes At Copenhagen's New Epicurus, Fine Dining Meets Subterranean Jazz By Ann Abel Forbes This Maverick British Chef Is Rewriting The Rules Of Fine Dining By Ann Abel
CNN
4 days ago
- Climate
- CNN
Tropical Storm Andrea becomes first named system of 2025 Atlantic hurricane season
An area of stormy weather in the open Atlantic Ocean became Tropical Storm Andrea on Tuesday morning, the first of the Atlantic hurricane season, according to the National Hurricane Center. Andrea is 1205 miles from The Azores, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph as of 11:00 a.m. ET Thursday. The storm is forecast to move northeast at 17 mph and is not a threat to land. No coastal watches or warnings are in effect, and Andrea is forecast to dissipate on Wednesday. This is a developing story and will be updated.
