Apple calls Texas’ abortion law ‘uniquely restrictive’ in memo
Apple in an internal memo has told employees that it’s “actively monitoring the legal proceedings challenging the uniquely restrictive abortion law in Texas”. “At Apple, we support our employees’ rights to make their…decisions regarding their reproductive health,” it added. Apple also said it allows its employees to travel out-of-state for medical care if it’s unavailable in their home state.
Chinese astronauts return to Earth after 90-day mission to space station
A trio of Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a 90-day stay aboard their nation’s first space station in China’s longest mission yet. Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo landed in the Shenzhou-12 spaceship just after 1:30 pm local time. After launching in June, the three astronauts went on two spacewalks and deployed a 33-foot mechanical arm.
India’s first solar mission Aditya L1 likely to launch in 2022: ISRO
India’s first solar mission, Aditya L1, is likely to be launched in the third quarter of 2022 which was earlier pushed from early 2020 due to COVID-19, Indian Space Research Organisation officials said. India’s second space observatory Xposat will also be launched then, they added. The spacecraft in the mission will be sent 1.5 million kilometres away to L1 Lagrangian.
‘Incredible 1st day’, says world’s 1st all-civilian crew on orbiting Earth 15 times
The Inspiration 4 crew, which became the world’s first all-civilian crew to be launched to orbit Earth aboard SpaceX spacecraft, said they “had an incredible first day in space”. “They’ve completed more than 15 orbits around planet Earth since liftoff and made full use of…Dragon cupola,” Inspiration 4’s Twitter handle added. The crew will be in space for three days.
SpaceX capsule moving faster than sound, circling Earth every 90 mins: Musk
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the Dragon capsule that has the world’s first all-civilian crew onboard is moving 23 times faster than the speed of sound and is circling Earth every 90 minutes. The SpaceX team also shared a view of an orbital sunset from Dragon’s cupola. The ‘Inspiration 4’ crew will be spending around three days in space.
Facebook denies report its leaders discussed if firm has ‘gotten too big’
Facebook has denied a report claiming that a meeting of its leaders in early September focused on “whether Facebook has gotten too big”. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal had reported that the general tone in the meeting was, “We created the machine and we can’t control the machine.” Facebook said it disagrees with the report, but declined to comment further.
