Have you ever dreamed of flying into space? For just $ 28 million, a beautiful rocket will take you off the Earth.
Two companies Blue Origin (founder Jeff Bezos) and Virgin Galactic (founder Richard Branson) have seriously thought about space tourism.
You probably saw on the news that Richard Branson and three of his colleagues climbed to about 53 miles above the earth. As far as I understand, they did not leave the limits of our atmosphere, but they experienced weightlessness and enjoyed panoramic views of the Earth and space
Virgin Galactic plans to conduct another test flight before it starts flying with paid customers. It was reported that more than 600 people booked tickets at a price of $ 200,000 to $ 250,000. The company is expected to resume selling tickets soon, although at a higher price.
On July 20, Jeff Bezos (the billionaire founder of Amazon and Blue Origin ) is preparing to ride a New Shepard rocket to conduct a test flight to the lower reaches of space at an altitude of just over 62 miles (100 km), the internationally recognized “border” of space.
Along with Jeff will fly his brother Mark, Wally Funk (82, she trained for space flight in the 1960s, but was ultimately not allowed to fly because she was a woman), the auction winner, who paid $ 28 million, cannot fly, he will be replaced by Oliver Daemen, 18 years old.
Bezos and his crewmates will experience a three-minute weightlessness at the top of the trajectory, enjoying a breathtaking view of the Earth from six windows, which, according to the company, are the largest ever flown into space.
It is expected that none of the companies will offer tickets that are affordable for the average American.
But back to earth, or to other news…
-People continue to shoot.
At least 233 people were killed and 618 people were injured in more than 500 shootings across the country over the Fourth of July weekend.
-Another news is the hacker attack by the Russian-speaking hacker group REvil and the reaction or non-reaction of politicians. American officials say that President Putin could stop such attacks if he wanted to.
In the meantime, according to the cybersecurity company Huntress Labs, hundreds of American businesses have suffered from a ransomware attack ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
-The death toll from the collapse of a building in the Miami area has risen to 97.
Although there is no longer any hope of finding survivors in the rubble, rescuers are working almost non-stop, except for periodic problems associated with dangerous conditions caused by the weather and the movement of debris.
-Facebook disagreed with President Joe Biden’s comments. Biden believes that misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine is spreading on platforms such as Facebook. Facebook accuses the White House of looking for “scapegoats” after the White House failed to meet its goal of vaccinating 70% of adults by July 4.
As of Friday, almost 60% of American adults were fully vaccinated.
-A colorful fish the size of a 4-year-old child washed up on the coast of Oregon. But it shouldn’t be there.
The opah fish, also known as the moonfish, was discovered on Sunset Beach in Oregon, representatives of the Seaside Aquarium said on Facebook on Wednesday.
When the aquarium workers found out about this fish, they were delighted, because Opahs are very rare on the Oregon coast. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, they are usually found in tropical waters.
Some people believe that the appearance of tropical fish indicates that the ocean is getting hotter due to global warming.
In our state…
4.34 million people have been fully vaccinated, which is 63% of the population.
According to Boston infectious disease experts, the more contagious Delta variant is becoming the dominant strain of coronavirus in Massachusetts.
The number of cases of COVID-19 is growing again in our state (and throughout the country).
State health officials reported another 236 confirmed cases of coronavirus (in one day, July 15).
Governor Charlie Baker said he is monitoring the data, but does not yet believe there is cause for concern. He believes that the reason for the recent increase in the disease is gatherings around the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
In our city, the mask regime for the vaccinated has been canceled. Unvaccinated people should wear masks indoors, but this is completely on their conscience, no one checks anyone.
As for us…
Daniel’s returning to work on Monday (July 19).
The Union has signed a new contract with the Administration. There was also a “back to work” contract, with which my husband did not agree and voted against. Daniel believes that the contract (return to work) infringes on the rights of some workers (those who will not receive a pension from the plant): 4 months of the strike are not included in their work experience. Daniel from my FB account wrote a comment under one of the union posts.
513:427 in favor of the “return to work” contract (votes from all the plants in a country: 9 factories = 1300 workers).
At my job, everything is as usual. I am glad that I do not need to force people to wear masks indoors! I myself periodically wear them.
This year we have a strange summer: either rains or humid heat. Daniel is frankly upset about the suspension of all his projects around the house. He wanted to paint the door to the basement, and the shed, and continue to lay out stones and replace the threshold, and constantly mow the grass.
The plum tree has given us several plums this year. The squirrels bit them while they were still green. Several apples fell to the ground during the last thunderstorm. The rest are in black dots. Something eats blackberries…I don’t even know who…probably birds. And blueberries do not have time to ripen. Somehow, green peas survive; in past years, sparrows ate its flowers.
I recorded a second talk show. We talked with the wonderful Maria about meditation. As usual, comments about my Russian accent and as usual from Russian speakers arrived. For some reason, it is the Russians who are annoyed by my accent.
I’m not happy that I have it. And I honestly tried to get rid of it, but sometimes it’s good to be different, not like everyone else.
By the way, the show will be shown on Wednesday on local TV at 5:30 pm.
The video is also available on my Youtube channel.
Materials were used:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/watch-live-jeff-bezos-launches-134700891.html
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/blue-origin-first-paying-customer-151137093.html
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/us/miami-dade-building-collapse-thursday/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/us/miami-dade-building-collapse-thursday/index.html
https://news.yahoo.com/rare-100-pound-fish-size-175241653.html
