SPACE RACE 2.0

Virgin Galactic launches its third successful spaceflight

Published: May 23, 2021 

By 

Associated Press

Tests for commercial space flights could begin next year

The VSS Unity releases from VMS Eve and its rocket motor ignites over Spaceport America, N.M. on Saturday.

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SANTA FE, N.M. — Virgin Galactic on Saturday made its first rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space in a manned shuttle, as the company forges toward offering tourist flights to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.

High above the desert in a cloudless sky, the VSS Unity ignited its rocket to hurtle the ship and two pilots toward space. A live feed by NASASpaceFlight.com showed the ship accelerating upward and confirmed a landing later via radar.

Virgin Galactic SPCE, +6.36% announced that its VSS Unity shuttle accelerated to three times the speed of sound and reached an altitude of just over 55 miles above sea level before making its gliding return through the atmosphere.

British billionaire and Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson said the flight and landing bring the roughly 15-year-old venture tantalizingly close to commercial flights for tourists. Virgin Galactic says those flights could begin next year.  

“Today was just an incredible step in the right direction,” Branson told The Associated Press shortly after the flight landings. “It tested a lot of new systems that the teams have been building and they all worked.”

Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said at least two more undated test flights lie ahead — the next with four mission specialist passengers in the cabin. Pending trials also include a flight that will take Branson to the edge of space.

“The flight today was elegant, beautiful,” Colglazier said. “We’re going to analyze all the data that we gather on these flights. But watching from the ground and speaking with our pilots, it was magnificent. So now it’s time for us to do this again.”

Virgin Galactic said the flight provided an assessment of upgrades to a horizontal stabilizer, other flight controls and a suite of cabin cameras designed to provide live images of the flight to people on the ground. The shuttle also carried a scientific payload in cooperation with NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program.

Preparations for the latest flight included a maintenance review of the special carrier plane that flies the six-passenger spacecraft to a high altitude, where it is released so it can fire its rocket motor and make the final push to space.

The first powered test of the rocket ship in New Mexico from Spaceport America was delayed repeatedly before Saturday’s launch. In December 2020, computer trouble caused by electromagnetic interference prevented the spaceship’s rocket from firing properly. Instead of soaring toward space, the ship and its two pilots were forced to make an immediate landing.

While Virgin Galactic’s stock price ticked up this week with the announcement of the latest test being scheduled for Saturday, it wasn’t enough to overcome the losses seen since a peak in February. Some analysts have cautioned that it could be a while before the company sees profits as the exact start of commercial operations is still up in the air.

Virgin Galactic is one of a few companies looking to cash in on customers with an interest in space.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch a billionaire and his sweepstakes winners in September. That is expected to be followed in January 2022 by a flight by three businessmen to the International Space Station.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched a new capsule in January as part of testing as it aims to get its program for tourists, scientists and professional astronauts off the ground. It’s planning for liftoff of its first crewed flight on July 20, the date of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Virgin Galactic has reached space twice before. The first time was from California in December 2018.

The flights are designed to reach an altitude of at least 50 miles as the rocket motor is turned off and the crew prepares to reenter the atmosphere and glide to a landing.

As part of the return trip, a feathering system slows and stabilizes the craft as it re-enters the atmosphere.

New Mexico taxpayers have invested over $200 million in the Spaceport America hangar and launch facility, near Truth or Consequences, after Branson and then-Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, pitched the plan for the facility, with Virgin Galactic as the anchor tenant.

Richardson watched Saturday’s flight from the ground below and later thanked the residents of local counties who committed early on to a sales tax increase to support the venture.

“It’s finally a great day after all of us taking a lot of heat — mainly me — over a period of time,” Richardson said. “But it’s happened. It’s successful.”

 

DR Congo counts cost of volcanic eruption in Goma

Some people are returning home a night after Mount Nyiragongo erupted, sending dangerous lava flows in the direction of the nearby city of Goma.

    

Residents took stock of damage caused by lava from a volcanic eruption in Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has begun counting the physical and human cost on Sunday of a volcanic eruption.

Mount Nyiragongo erupted late on Saturday night, prompting the evacuation of Goma, a nearby city of some 2 million people.

There were fears that lava could flow around 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) to the lakeside city, but the flows stopped just short.

Death toll will likely rise

At least 15 people died, including nine in a traffic accident as residents fled, four who tried to escape Munzenze prison in Goma and two who burned to death, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a statement.

The figure could still rise as provincial authorities from hard-hit villages continue to assess the damage. A total of 17 outlying villages were hit, Muyaya said.

Community members have given a provisional toll of 10 dead in Bugamba alone, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Thousands flee Goma

The International Federation of Red Cross said that between 3,000 and 5,000 people fled into Rwanda on Saturday, many of them peasants and farmers with livestock. Some began returning on Sunday.

A further 25,000 others sought refuge to the northwest in Sake, UNICEF, the UN children's agency, said on Sunday.

Debris from the volcano engulfed buildings in Bushara village, Nyiragongo area, near Goma

More than 170 children were still feared missing Sunday and UNICEF officials said they were organizing transit centers to help unaccompanied children in the wake of the disaster.

Three health centers, a primary school and a water pipeline were destroyed.

Lava crossed a main road running north from Goma, severing a key aid and supply route, and the city's principal supply of electricity, delivered along a line run by the Congolese Water and Electricity Distribution Company, was cut.

Residents took stock of damage caused by lava from a volcanic eruption in the DRC

What's next?

The government has sent a delegation to Goma to help the disaster response efforts.

"Local authorities who have been monitoring the eruption overnight report that the lava flow has lost intensity," Muyaya said.

But authorities have warned that the danger is not yet over and that seismic activity in the area could cause further lava flows.

kmm/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP)

VIDEODR Congo counts cost of volcanic eruption in Goma | News | DW | 24.05.2021

Samoa in crisis as elected leader locked out of Parliament

Samoa was plunged into a constitutional crisis after the woman who won an election last month was locked out of Parliament and the previous leader claimed he remained in charge

By NICK PERRY Associated Press

23 May 2021

The Associated Press

Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa arrives at Faleolo Airport in Apia, Samoa...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Samoa was plunged into a constitutional crisis Monday when the woman who won an election last month was locked out of Parliament and the previous leader claimed he remained in charge.

The fast-moving events marked the latest twist in a bitter power struggle that has been playing out in the small Pacific nation since it elected its first female leader. Not only is Samoa's peace and stability at stake, but also its relationship with China.

On Monday morning, Prime Minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and her supporters showed up at parliament to form a new government, but were not allowed inside.

The nation’s Supreme Court had earlier ordered the Parliament to convene. And the constitution requires that lawmakers meet within 45 days of an election, with Monday marking the final day by that count.

But Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who was prime minister for 22 years before his unexpected election loss, doesn't appear ready to give up power. He was already one of the longest-serving leaders in the world.

Two powerful allies have been supporting Tuilaepa.

The nation's head of state, Tuimalealiifano Va'aletoa Sualauvi II, wrote in a proclamation last week that he was suspending Parliament “for reasons that I will make known in due course." On Sunday, the Parliament's speaker backed him.

After Fiame was locked out on Monday, Tuilaepa held a news conference proclaiming his government remained in charge.

Samoan journalist Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson translated the back-and-forth into English on Twitter.

At his news conference, Tuilaepa said: “There is only one government in Samoa, even if we are just the custodian government. We remain in this role and operate business as usual."

Meanwhile, Fiame told her supporters: “There will be a time when we will meet again, inside that House. Let us leave it to the law."

Fiame's election win was seen as a milestone not only for Samoa, which is conservative and Christian, but also for the South Pacific, which has had few female leaders.

An advocate for women’s equality, Fiame, who was born in 1957, broke new ground during her campaign by going on the road and robustly criticizing the incumbent.

She has pledged to stop a $100 million port development backed by Beijing, calling the project excessive for a nation that's already heavily in debt to China, according to news broadcaster RNZ.

Fiame said she intends to maintain good relations with China but has more pressing needs to address, RNZ reported.

Last month's election initially ended in a 25-25 tie between Fiame's FAST Party and Tuilaepa’s HRP Party, with one independent candidate.

The independent candidate chose to go with Fiame, but meanwhile, the electoral commissioner appointed another HRP candidate, saying it was required to conform to gender quotas.

That made it 26-26.

The head of state then stepped in to announce fresh elections to break the tie. Those elections in the nation of 200,000 were scheduled to be held last week.

But Fiame’s party appealed and the Supreme Court ruled against both the appointed candidate and the plans for the new elections, restoring the FAST Party to a 26-25 majority.uality, Fiame, who was born in 1957, broke new ground during her campaign by going on the road and robustly criticizing the incumbent.

She has pledged to stop a $100 million port development backed by Beijing, calling the project excessive for a nation that's already heavily in debt to China, according to news broadcaster RNZ.

Fiame said she intends to maintain good relations with China but has more pressing needs to address, RNZ reported.

Last month's election initially ended in a 25-25 tie between Fiame's FAST Party and Tuilaepa’s HRP Party, with one independent candidate.

The independent candidate chose to go with Fiame, but meanwhile, the electoral commissioner appointed another HRP candidate, saying it was required to conform to gender quotas.

That made it 26-26.

The head of state then stepped in to announce fresh elections to break the tie. Those elections in the nation of 200,000 were scheduled to be held last week.

But Fiame’s party appealed and the Supreme Court ruled against both the appointed candidate and the plans for the new elections, restoring the FAST Party to a 26-25 majority.

How Gaza Defeated Israel – OpEd


Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood protestors in East Jerusalem. 

Photo Credit: Fars News Agency

EURASIAN REVIEW
May 24, 2021

By Prakash Kona

Whatever little respect I had for the Israeli on the street, I’ve conclusively lost it after seeing the attempted lynching of a Palestinian motorist by a mob of Jewish men. This is blatant majoritarian violence and there is no other way to describe it except as a sickness, which is what the colonization of Palestine is all about.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Nothing justifies the lynching of Jews by Arabs, and nothing justifies the lynching of Arabs by Jews. We will not accept it. This is not us, not this violence, not this savagery…”

If the brutal occupation of Palestinian Territories and the killing of common people is not savagery, what is! The violence is you and so is the savagery! No two ways about it!

Who started the fight? By all accounts the eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem based “on a 1970 Israeli law that allows Jews to reclaim East Jerusalem land owned by Jews before 1948” was the trigger for the violence. That there is no such a law for the Palestinians who have lost their land is only one part of the issue. The main issue is that an occupier’s law is meaningless for the occupied; they don’t have to recognize or even acknowledge its existence because it is the law of a robber imposed on the one who is robbed.

Israel as a state does not even qualify for a highway robber because the latter have some ethics. They don’t first rob and then embark on murdering innocents. Every Palestinian is by definition innocent because they are not the occupiers. They are fighting an unjust occupation. Yes, morality is universal and no harm should be inflicted randomly on any people in any part of the world. This principle applies to both Israelis and Palestinians. This does not however alter the simple fact that Israel has absolutely no right to colonize the Palestinians and then expect them to behave ethically while their land is appropriated, their homes bombarded and their children killed in cold blood.

Israel’s savagery can only be answered by fearlessly confronting its brutality like it happens in any anti-colonial war of resistance. While the deaths of individuals are extremely tragic for the families, irrespective of whether they are from Israel or Palestinian Territories, there is no doubt that the responsibility lies with Israel and the American state.

Violence comes with a heavy price both for the occupier and the occupied; but, in the case of the latter there is hope that freedom will give them the chance to liberate themselves from the mental chains that enslave them to the past. Israel is a free country that has chosen to walk the path of savagery. There is no such hope for Israel unless it ends the military occupation.

The Palestinians must celebrate their victory over Israel. Every time Israel demonstrates its savagery to the world by indiscriminately bombing and killing civilians, Palestinians are one step closer to freedom. Suffering, death and destruction of homes is the price that Palestinians have to pay for ending the occupation. In the end no price is too big for freedom.

The Gazans have won against the might of the Israeli war machine by reminding the world that Israel’s occupation is illegitimate. A person afraid and in possession of weapons becomes more violent than what he or she would normally be. An abnormally afraid Israeli state used weapons relentlessly on the Gazans because they did not know how to handle the fear of facing a people resisting occupation. They know that the Palestinians are winning and the Iron Dome defense system has nothing to with it. It’s time that the Palestinians start living proudly and with dignity like free citizens in a land that was theirs to begin with.

Prakash Kona
Prakash Kona is a writer, teacher and researcher who lives in Hyderabad, India. He is Professor at the Department of English Literature, The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad

Jewish-Arab ties in region hang in balance after Hamas-Israel heaviest fighting since 2014

(Xinhua) PEOPLES DAILY, May 24, 2021

Palestinian protesters use slingshots to hurl stones at Israeli security members during a protest against the continued Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on May 20, 2021. (Photo by Luay Sababa/Xinhua)

After 11-day-long war between Israel and Gaza that only ended last Friday, tension between Arabs and Jews in the region that grew dramatically during the war can still be felt, leaving a big question mark over the future of their relations.

JERUSALEM, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Despite the cease-fire reached between Gaza's ruler Hamas and Israel for a round of their probably heaviest fighting since 2014, the tension between Arabs and Jews in the region that grew dramatically during the fighting can still be felt, leaving a big question mark over the future of their relations.

In Israel, there are many mixed cities of Jewish and Arab residents. The 11-day-long war between Israel and Gaza that only ended last Friday pushed the underlying turmoil in the region to a climax.

The trigger for this round of fighting, as most previous cases, was from the Old City of Jerusalem. The Palestinians accused Israel of restricting movement in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City, after the Israeli police took a rare step of blocking buses of Arab worshippers heading to the mosque on the holiest night of the Ramadan month.

"Al-Aqsa is a red line. It is a consensus among Arabs. It is explosive and the issue needs to be handled properly," said Afif Abu Much, a political analyst and contributor to the U.S.-based Al-Monitor news website that reports and analyses developments of the Middle East.

Israeli border police(WO)men are positioned during a protest against the continued Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on May 20, 2021. (Photo by Luay Sababa/Xinhua)

In addition, Arabs protested what they said was illegal eviction of Palestinian residents from an East Jerusalem neighborhood to make room for Jewish settlers. Clashes with police erupted throughout Jerusalem and quickly spread to other places in the region.

In the mixed Israeli city of Lod, an Arab man was shot dead by Jews who claimed they were acting in self-defense, while a Jewish man was killed by rocks thrown at his car. Scenes of lynches being committed by both Jews and Arabs were seen across the country.

According to the Israeli police' foreign media spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, 280 policemen were injured in nationwide violence, while more than 1,000 suspected of being involved in the unrest were arrested.

THE WEAPON OF DAVID AGAINST THE ISRAEL MILITARY GOLIATH

A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to hurl a stone at Israeli security members during a protest against the continued Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on May 20, 2021. (Photo by Luay Sababa/Xinhua)

"There is intense bitterness which blew up this time," said Thabet Abu Rass, co-director of the Abraham Initiatives, a non-governmental organization that promotes Jewish-Arab co-existence. "The combination of the issues together with the ethnic, religious and identity crisis (makes) Arabs feel humiliated."

As a whole, Arab residents in Israel have a lower participation rate in the workforce and lower salaries than Jewish Israelis. Many of the mixed cities are undergoing a gentrification trend, in which the real estate prices have risen and made home ownership for Arabs unattainable. The predominantly Jewish cities are even more expensive and often not welcoming to Arabs.

In addition, the rate of crime and violence in the Arab society is significantly higher than that in Jewish society. Years of empty promises to tackle the problem have resulted in pent-up frustration and ethnic undertones that have the potential of spiralling into a violent internal conflict.

Worse still, the Israeli parliament passed the Jewish-Nation State law in 2018, which essentially downgrades the status of the Arabs that make up 20 percent of the population in the country. Many believe the law was a turning point in the already tense relations between Arabs and Jews.

"Israel has still not come to terms with the fact that it has Arab citizens," said the political analyst Abu Much. "We still see Jewish paternalism and supremacy. This makes the Arabs feel like they are outsiders."

Israeli security members are positioned during a protest against the continued Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on May 20, 2021. (Photo by Luay Sababa/Xinhua)

"The disparity, the uneven development and radical and racist statements ... the years of neglect of civilian projects and development, policies of discrimination ... led to the explosion. If these things will not be taken care of now ... we will witness another outbreak in the coming years," Abu Rass noted.

After what has occurred recently, the possibility of an Arab party joining a government likely to be formed in Israel in the coming weeks may have been ruled out, representing yet another setback for Arab-Jewish relations.

"It is unacceptable that Arabs are not part of the political game," said Abu Rass. "We need to think about how to incorporate them in the decision-making process to promote a sense of belonging and a sense of ownership." 

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Liang Jun)

How the West’s opinion of Israel may be changing

MAHA AKEEL

ARAB NEWS
May 23, 2021



People participate in a pro-Palestinian rally on May 22, 2021 in the Queens borough of New York City. (AFP)

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Another round of exchanges of fire followed by a negotiated ceasefire between the Israeli occupiers and the Palestinians is complete. This is the never-ending cycle of violence and destruction because of the injustice and humiliation the Palestinians have suffered at the hands of the Israelis for more than 70 years now. Unless true peace and justice is reached, we can expect similar attacks to flare up again.

Security for one group of people living in the same territory as another group will not be attained unless the members of both groups feel secure in their homes and on their lands. Attempting to evict one group of people and replace them with another will only exacerbate the situation and will not result in peace and security. This is the reality that Israel refuses to accept because it feels confident in its power and is immune from accountability as long as it is protected by the US. The latest round of attacks did, however, ignite an unfavorable turn of events for Israel.

Every conflict has two sides, otherwise it wouldn’t be a conflict. Controlling the narrative and public opinion is an essential component in winning any conflict. How the story is framed, including the words used and images published, helps to gain and maintain official and public support. Once there is a more persuasive argument that challenges the dominant discourse and grabs people’s attention, it causes questioning and rejection.

The latest escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict exposed the strengths and weaknesses of the dominant narratives on both sides. Those on the side of the Palestinians are aware of the historical facts that led to the creation of the state of Israel at the Palestinians’ expense, as well as the suffering and deprivation of the Palestinians and their rights ever since. These facts and realities on the ground, however, have not been widely or adequately explained and delivered beyond the region. They are most often overshadowed by other crises and conflicts and undermined by internal divisions and mismanagement.

On the other side are the powerful, rich Western countries and those under their influence who promoted the right of Israel to exist as a haven for Jews who had suffered from discrimination, particularly during the Holocaust, in lands far away. By trying to atone for their bigotry and atrocities against the Jews, the West supported and continues to support Israel politically, financially, militarily and in the media, turning a blind eye to any atrocities it commits.

For people in the region, Israel is a sore reminder of the West’s colonial and imperial legacy — a malign foreign body deliberately created to serve the interests of the former colonizers.


Controlling the narrative and public opinion is an essential component in winning any conflict.
Maha Akeel

Israel calls itself a “democracy” and a “civilized state” that is surrounded by barbaric people and autocratic states. Such words and their framing are important to understand in the wider context of Islamophobia and the demonizing and negative stereotyping of Arabs and Muslims in the West.

A closer look at Israel exposes it as a racist, militaristic and fundamentalist state, which is what a Human Rights Watch report released last month determined. “Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution,” the report stated. Its findings were based on an “overarching Israeli government policy to maintain the domination by Jewish Israelis over Palestinians and grave abuses committed against Palestinians living in the occupied territory, including East Jerusalem.”

A few other significant changes contributed to this reconfiguration in the balance of worldwide public opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Social media has provided a platform for immediate, raw and touching footage by Palestinians of the destruction and abuses they have suffered. This has garnered overwhelming support and sympathy around the world and rallied demonstrators in various cities, even though some of these platforms tried to censor the Palestinians by blocking hashtags and suspending accounts that referred to the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, where this latest round of violence erupted after the Israeli security services forcefully tried to displace Palestinians from their homes and attacked worshippers.

Such aggression and violations of human rights infuriated Palestinians in many cities and towns and caused them to rise up in a much-needed show of unity. In response, Israel went as far as bombing a tower in the Gaza Strip that housed media offices in an attempt to silence local and international news coverage under the guise of targeting terrorists. Living under the inhumane conditions of blockade, poverty and threat in Gaza — described as the world’s largest open-air prison — we need to ask, who is being terrorized and dehumanized?

Calls by Western countries for human rights to be upheld and defended ring hollow when these same nations refuse to acknowledge the abuses and violations committed by Israel and bring it to justice. Some even prevent peaceful demonstrators from expressing their support for Palestinians or callously raise the flag of Israel over their institutions in a show of solidarity. Claims that Israel has the right to defend itself need to be challenged by asking, who is the aggressor?

We finally heard a change in the tone of the discourse in the US and other Western nations and a noticeable shift within the Democratic and Republican parties to take a tougher stance against Israel. The presence of conscientious politicians, especially those with Arab and Muslim backgrounds, and other supporters in the corridors of power is giving the Palestinians a voice, which had previously been muffled and their very existence obscured.

It remains to be seen how the Palestinians and their supporters will be able to build on and cultivate this turn of events to reach their ultimate goal of having an independent, viable state where they can live in dignity.

• Maha Akeel is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. Twitter: @MahaAkeel1
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view