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posted by martyb on Friday June 29 2018, @09:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the Fill-'er-up! dept.

[Update (06:00 EDT / 10:00 UTC): Launch was a success. Dragon module separated cleanly and is on route to the ISS.]

CRS-15 Mission Overview (PDF)

SpaceX is targeting Friday, June 29 for an instantaneous launch of its fifteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-15) at 5:42 a.m. EDT, or 9:42 UTC, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Dragon will separate from Falcon 9's second stage about nine minutes and thirty seconds after liftoff and attach to the space station on Monday, July 2. An instantaneous backup launch opportunity is available on Sunday, July 1 at 4:54 a.m. EDT, or 8:54 UTC.

Both Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft for the CRS-15 mission are flight-proven. Falcon 9's first stage previously supported the TESS mission in April 2018, and Dragon previously supported the CRS-9 mission in July 2016. SpaceX will not attempt to recover Falcon 9's first stage after launch.

Follow along on the YouTube Live Stream.

SpaceX will fly the Falcon 9 Block 4 for the last time on its June 29, 2018 launch of cargo to the ISS:

Because SpaceX has no plans to fly Friday's booster again, it will be expended into the ocean. However, the rocket's second stage will make a much longer "coast" in space before de-orbiting after four revolutions around Earth. This is likely another test of the second-stage engine's ability to fire after a longer period of dormancy in space.

CRS-15 will deliver 2,697 kg of cargo, including ECOSTRESS and other equipment and experiments:

The equipment launching to the space station inside the Dragon's trunk includes a spare Canadian-built latching end effector for the research lab's robotic arm, plus a 1,213-pound (550-kilogram) instrument developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to be mounted outside the station's Japanese Kibo lab module to measure the temperature of plants from space.

The cargo will include CIMON, a "robot crew member":

The robot's name is CIMON — for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion — and it looks a bit like a volleyball with a computer screen on one side. The screen displays a simplified cartoon face that the bot will use to interact with the humans on the ISS. And to maneuver around, CIMON is equipped with 14 internal fans that propel the white ball, by sucking in the station's air and expelling it to move in whatever direction it needs. That means CIMON can "float" throughout the station, zooming up to astronauts that call its name and nodding in response to questions.

Airbus developed CIMON for Germany's national space agency, and the goal is to see whether intelligent bots can cooperate with astronauts to simplify work life in space. CIMON's already been tested out on a parabolic flight — an airplane that flies a special trajectory to create brief moments of weightlessness. And CIMON has trained a few times on Earth with German astronaut Alexander Gerst, who is already on board the ISS. So the bot's microphones and cameras are specially tuned to recognize his voice and face. However, CIMON's makers say the bot's voice-controlled AI capabilities, provided by IBM, allow the companion to interact with any astronaut that calls its name.


Original Submission

posted by chromas on Thursday June 21 2018, @04:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-color-is-his-parachute? dept.

Intel CEO, Brian Krzanich, has resigned because of a "a violation of Intel's non-fraternisation policy". The BBC reports:

Chipmaker Intel has announced that its chief executive, Brian Krzanich, is stepping down with immediate effect because of "a violation of Intel's non-fraternisation policy".

[...] Intel said an inquiry had revealed that Mr Krzanich had had a consensual relationship with an Intel employee, which was against company rules.

His successor has been named as Robert Swan, currently the company's chief financial officer.

The company said the relevant policy applied to all managers.

"Given the expectation that all employees will respect Intel's values and adhere to the company's code of conduct, the board has accepted Mr Krzanich's resignation."

The Register reports:

Intel chief exec Brian Krzanich has quit after his "consensual relationship" with an employee came to light.

Staff flings are frowned upon in US corporate tech world, and against Intel company policy. In a statement within the past hour, the chip maker said:

Intel was recently informed that Mr. Krzanich had a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee. An ongoing investigation by internal and external counsel has confirmed a violation of Intel's non-fraternization policy, which applies to all managers. Given the expectation that all employees will respect Intel's values and adhere to the company's code of conduct, the board has accepted Mr. Krzanich's resignation.

Krzanich – who has two daughters with wife Brandee – will be replaced by interim CEO Bob Swan, who is otherwise the chief financial officer and an exec veep.

"The board believes strongly in Intel's strategy and we are confident in Bob Swan's ability to lead the company as we conduct a robust search for our next CEO," said Intel chairman Andy Bryant in a statement.

Also at c|net and Intel.

How will this affect Intel's competitive efforts with respect to AMD, ARM, and Nvidia?


Original Submission

posted by takyon on Tuesday June 12 2018, @12:12AM   Printer-friendly
from the launch-coded dept.

President Trump meets Kim Jong Un

President Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un will meet in just a few hours. Here's what to watch for and when, according to the White House schedule.

  • 8 p.m. ET (June 11) / 8 a.m. Singapore (June 12): President Trump departs Shangri-La Hotel en route to Capella Singapore, where the two leaders will meet.
  • 8:20 p.m. ET (June 11) / 8:20 a.m. Singapore (June 12): Trump arrives at Capella Singapore.
  • 9 p.m. ET (June 11) / 9 a.m. Singapore (June 12): President Trump and Kim Jong Un greet each other. This is the big moment. Cameras will be there to capture their expected handshake.
  • 9:15 p.m. ET (June 11) / 9:15 a.m. Singapore (June 12): President Trump and Kim Jong Un participate in a one-on-one bilateral meeting.
  • 10 p.m. ET (June 11) / 10 a.m. Singapore (June 12): President Trump and Kim Jong Un participate in an expanded bilateral meeting.
  • 11:30 p.m. ET (June 11) / 11:30 a.m. Singapore (June 12): President Trump and Kim Jong Un have a working lunch.
  • 4 a.m. ET (June 12) / 4 p.m. Singapore: President Trump is expected to speak with reporters.
  • 6:30 a.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. Singapore: President Trump departs Capella Singapore for Paya Lebar Air Base Singapore.
  • 7 a.m. ET / 7 p.m. Singapore: Trump departs Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore, en route to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. From there, he will travel on to the United States.

Kim Jong Un tours Singapore, takes selfie ahead of summit

Trump Kim: US says N Korea negotiations making quick progress

For All His Deals, Trump Has Never Faced an Adversary Like Kim Jong-un

Kim-Trump summit rife with opportunity for US


Original Submission

posted by janrinok on Tuesday May 29 2018, @12:54PM   Printer-friendly
from the again dept.

A man has shot dead two police officers and a civilian in the eastern Belgian city of Liège.

The gunman took a female cleaner hostage at a school before being killed by police. Two other police officers were also injured.

The man's motive is not yet clear but the incident is being treated as terrorism.

Police sources quoted in local media said the man was heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest" in Arabic).

Belgian broadcaster RTBF said the gunman was let out from prison on temporary release on Monday where he had been serving time on drug offenses. It said that he may have been radicalised while in jail.

The shooting unfolded late morning on Tuesday near a cafe in the city centre.

Update: 16:56 UTC

More recent reporting states:

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/29/europe/liege-shooting-intl/index.html

The incident occurred at around 10:30 a.m. when an assailant stabbed two policewomen from behind, before stealing their service weapons and using them on the officers, Liege Prosecutor Philippe Dulieu said at a news conference on Tuesday.

After killing the two officers, the attacker continued walking through the street and opened fire on a parked vehicle, fatally wounding the driver inside, Dulieu added.

https://news.sky.com/story/belgian-police-launch-terror-probe-after-shooting-of-police-and-bystander-11388883

The gunman also killed a 22-year-old male car passenger on the Boulevard d'Avory, before taking a female cleaner hostage at a nearby high school.

She was released when police shot dead the attacker, who has been named by local media as Belgian national Benjamin Herman.

See also, thanks to C0lo:


Original Submission

posted by takyon on Monday May 14 2018, @07:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the pretty-grotesque-problem dept.

Ars Technica is reporting that there are critical PGP and S/MIME bugs which can reveal encrypted e-mails. Their advice is to uninstall the plugins, for the time being. More information will be released tomorrow (Tuesday at 07:00 UTC, 3:00 AM EDT, midnight PDT).

Little is publicly known about the flaws at the moment. Both Schinzel and the EFF blog post said they will be disclosed late Monday night California time in a paper written by a team of European security researchers. Schinzel's Twitter messages used the hashtag #efail, a possible indication of the name the researchers have given to their exploit.

The EFF also published a warning, Attention PGP Users: New Vulnerabilities Require You To Take Action Now:

A group of European security researchers have released a warning about a set of vulnerabilities affecting users of PGP and S/MIME. EFF has been in communication with the research team, and can confirm that these vulnerabilities pose an immediate risk to those using these tools for email communication, including the potential exposure of the contents of past messages.

The full details will be published in a paper on Tuesday at 07:00 AM UTC (3:00 AM Eastern, midnight Pacific). In order to reduce the short-term risk, we and the researchers have agreed to warn the wider PGP user community in advance of its full publication.

The EFF also gives additional advice on disabling PGP in Thunderbird with Enigmail as well as other mail and mail-like clients.

takyon: The embargo is broken and the full details, including the paper (PDF), have been published.


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

posted by takyon on Friday April 27 2018, @05:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the DMZ-dance dept.

North Korea's Kim Jong-un crosses into South Korea

Kim Jong-un has become the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea by crossing the military line that has divided the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953. In a moment rich with symbolism and pomp, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and Mr Kim shook hands at the border. Mr Kim said he hoped for "frank" discussion in a warm opening exchange.

Just months ago North Korean rhetoric was warlike, but now they may discuss a peace treaty and nuclear weapons. Much of what the summit will focus on has been agreed in advance, but many analysts remain deeply sceptical about the North's apparent enthusiasm for engagement.

Also at The Guardian (live) and Reuters:

During their private meeting, Kim told Moon he came to the summit to end the history of conflict and joked he was sorry for keeping Moon up with his late night missile tests, a South Korean official said.

North Korea's nuclear site collapse may be reason Kim Jong Un ceased bomb tests, scientists say

North Korea's nuclear test site has collapsed after the region sustained damage from five nuclear blast trials, Chinese scientists said Wednesday — leading many to believe it may be the reason why Kim Jong Un suddenly announced the rogue regime would freeze its nuclear and missile tests.


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

posted by martyb on Saturday April 14 2018, @02:09AM   Printer-friendly

Submitted via IRC for chromas

President Trump announced Friday night that the U.S. and its allies had launched attacks on Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack last week by President Bashar Assad's regime.

In televised remarks from the White House, Trump said the attacks were underway, and that Great Britain and France were also taking part.

The president did not provide details, but U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea, armed with cruise missiles, were in position to strike. British and French forces were also in place.

[...] The president said the U.S. prepared to sustain effort until the Syrian regime stops using chemical weapons.

[...] In the days leading up to the U.S. attack, Russia had warned that it would defend its troops in Syria. This has raised fears of a possible direct clash of U.S. and Russian forces.

Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/13/601794830/u-s-launches-attacks-on-syria

Also at Bloomberg and The Guardian


Original Submission

posted by chromas on Tuesday April 03 2018, @09:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the oh-FFS-another dept.

Submitted via IRC for fyngyrz

From NPR:

Police are responding to an active shooter at the headquarters of YouTube. A hospital has received "several" patients from the incident, a spokesman says.

Local TV news reports show pictures of people evacuating a building with their hands over their heads. Each person was being frisked by a police officer, apparently to make sure that they pose no threat.

Local law enforcement officials have not issued any information.

From Reuters:

Police in San Bruno warned people in a Twitter message to stay away from the address where YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc's Google, is based.

"We are responding to an active shooter. Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive," San Bruno police said on Twitter.

Lisa Kim, a spokeswoman for Stanford Health Care, said the hospital was receiving between four to five patients from the shooting incident at the YouTube offices.


Original Submission