Florida

New NASA lander captures 1st sounds of Martian wind

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new Mars lander has captured the first sounds of the “really unworldly” Martian wind.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory released audio clips of the alien wind Friday. The low-frequency rumblings were collected by the InSight lander during its first week of operations at Mars.

The wind is estimated to be blowing 10 mph to 15 mph (16 kph to 24 kph). These are the first sounds from Mars that are detectible by human ears, according to the researchers.

Mars touchdown: NASA spacecraft survives supersonic plunge

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Minutes after touching down on Mars, NASA’s InSight spacecraft sent back a “nice and dirty” snapshot of its new digs. Yet the dust-speckled image looked like a work of art to scientists.

The photo revealed a mostly smooth and sandy terrain around the spacecraft with only one sizable rock visible.

“I’m very, very happy that it looks like we have an incredibly safe and boring landing location,” project manager Tom Hoffman said after Monday’s touchdown. “That’s exactly what we were going for.”

White House deputy chief receiving millions from Fox

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Bill Shine has received millions of dollars in severance from Fox News Channel’s parent company and is owed millions more, a new financial disclosure report shows.

The report released Friday shows that Shine received $8.4 million in severance pay from 21st Century Fox after he left in May 2017. He’ll also receive bonus and options payments in 2018 and 2019 amounting to $7 million for the two years combined. The agreement is set to expire May 1, 2019.

Mars landing comes down to final 6 minutes of 6-month trip

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — For NASA’s InSight spacecraft, it all comes down to the final six minutes of a six-month journey to Mars.

The lander will enter the Martian atmosphere at supersonic speed, then hit the brakes to get to a soft, safe landing on the alien red plains.

After micromanaging every step of the way, flight controllers will be powerless over what happens at the end of the road Monday, nearly 100 million miles (160 million kilometers) away.

Yoga studio terrorist appeared to have made misogynistic videos

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A brooding military veteran and former teacher appeared to have made videos in which he railed at women and blacks, years before he fatally shot two women at a Florida yoga studio, wounded five other people and then killed himself.

The Friday evening shooting at a busy upscale shopping plaza jolted the state capital and police said they were still searching for a motive that led to the deaths of a Florida State University student and a well-known local doctor who was a member of the school faculty.

Terror attack on Florida yoga studio - 2 dead 5 wounded

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — What was supposed to be a routine Friday night ritual of socializing, dining and exercising in an upscale shopping center a few miles from Florida’s Capitol turned into a chaotic scene after a gunman shot two people to death and wounded five others at a yoga studio before killing himself.

Michael charges into Southeast after slamming north Florida

PANAMA CITY, Fla.; 11oct 2018; (AP) — The most powerful hurricane on record to hit Florida’s Panhandle left wide destruction and at least two people dead and wasn’t nearly finished Thursday as it crossed Georgia, now as a tropical storm, toward the Carolinas, that are still reeling from epic flooding by Hurricane Florence.

9yr old US boy on home detention for pointing loaded gun at classmates

HOUSTON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- A 9-year-old boy in Broward county in the U.S. state of Florida was placed on home detention Wednesday after he pointed his father's loaded handgun at three classmates at school, according to local authorities.

The police said with a loaded gun in hand, the boy, a third-grader, made "threatening comments" to the victims who the boy claimed had bullied him, saying "you see this, this is a real gun."

The school resource officer managed to take the gun and arrest the child without causing any incident.

Japanese supply run to space station delayed again

CAPE CANAVERAL, 15 Sep2018; (AP) — A Japanese supply run to the International Space Station has been delayed again.

The countdown was halted Saturday local time in Japan, with only a few hours remaining before liftoff. Earlier in the week, a typhoon delayed the launch.

The Japanese space agency said there was an issue with the propulsion system. No new launch date has been set.

The cargo ship — the seventh to be launched by Japan — contains new batteries needed for a pair of NASA spacewalks.

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