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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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In three months, Pakistan’s IT exports increased by 33.54 percent.

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23 hours ago

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During the first three months of FY 2024-25 (July to September), Pakistan’s IT export remittances hit US$ 876 million, a notable 33.54 percent rise from US$ 656 million during the same period previous year (FY 2023-24).

In a statement, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated that the amount of money sent home by the export of ICT services was US$ 292 million in September 2024, a 41.7% increase from US$ 206 million in the same month the previous year.

She stated that efforts to make it easier for businesses to conduct business in the nation are the reason why IT exports are rising and that actions are being taken to increase them.

In response to the Prime Minister’s directions, Shaza Fatima stated that the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, the Pakistan Software Export Board, and the IT industry are dedicated to boosting IT exports with the full assistance of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

A trade surplus of US$ 764 million was recorded by the IT & ITeS sector in the first three months of FY 2024–25, accounting for 87.21 percent of all ICT export remittances.

Over the same period last year, this surplus represents a 36.67 percent gain over US$ 559 million. The services industry as a whole, however, experienced a trade deficit of US$ 699 million during this period.

The largest of all service sectors, ICT export remittances from July to September 2024, were US$ 656 million, followed by “other business services” at US$ 374 million.

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Instagram, WhatsApp, and Reality Labs layoffs are announced by Meta

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5 days ago

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Instagram, WhatsApp, and Reality Labs divisions of tech behemoth Meta have all announced layoffs.

Part of the company’s continuous endeavour to match resources with its long-term strategic goals and location plan is the decision that was made on Wednesday.

The long-term goal of the adjustments, according to a statement from Meta, is to keep the business competitive. “Today, a few teams at Meta are making changes to ensure resources are aligned with their long-term strategic goals and location strategy,” said the statement. Though attempts would be made to assist affected staff in securing other opportunities, the corporation stated that although some employees will move to different roles, others may find their positions abolished.

Despite not disclosing the precise number of layoffs, Meta seems to be carrying out CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “Year of Efficiency,” which he started in the previous year. In an effort to reduce costs overall and shift its attention away from the Metaverse, Meta has eliminated over 10,000 workers since making that announcement.

Curiously, the second quarter’s financial results beat expectations, and this was announced right after the layoffs. That being said, the decision to restructure its virtual reality hardware and software operations was probably influenced by the department’s continued significant losses.

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Adobe unveils the Firefly AI video creator.

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5 days ago

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Adobe has enhanced its Firefly Video Model by introducing an AI-driven video generator to augment its creative apps.

The Adobe Firefly Video Model will boost the functionalities of creative tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Express, and Premiere Pro.

Ely Greenfield, chief technology officer of digital media at Adobe, stated, “The adoption of Firefly in our creative applications has been substantial, and it is inspiring to observe how the creative community has utilised it to expand the limits of possibility.” “We are excited to provide creative professionals with additional tools for ideation and creation, all engineered to ensure commercial safety.”

The inaugural Generative Extend tool for Premiere Pro is currently accessible in beta, enabling users to prolong clips by a maximum of two seconds at resolutions of 720p or 1080p at 24 FPS.

Users will furthermore have the capability to utilise the program to augment audio, prolonging sound effects by up to ten seconds.

Furthermore, Adobe is launching two new web-based video production tools: Text-to-Video and Image-to-Video.

These tools are currently accessible in a restricted public beta within the Firefly online application.

According to Adobe, the Firefly Video Model is currently in a restricted public beta on their website.

Individuals wishing to utilise the new tools must currently join the waitlist, while generations remain complimentary during this period.

The company announced that it will provide additional details regarding Firefly AI video generation offerings and pricing following its formal public launch.

The news occurred weeks after Meta introduced Movie Gen, an AI-driven tool for generating realistic movie clips.

The program will utilise a text prompt to produce 16-second films accompanied by synced AI-generated audio.

Meta has stated that Movie Gen will create personalised artificial intelligence videos utilising only one photograph.

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