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NASA, SpaceX Targeting October for Next Astronaut Launch

NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Oct. 23 for the first operational flight with astronauts of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as a part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission will be the first of regular rotational missions to the space station following completion of NASA certification.

The mission will carry Crew Dragon commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Shannon Walker, all of NASA, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Soichi Noguchi for a six-month science mission aboard the orbiting laboratory following launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Crew-1 will launch in late October to accommodate spacecraft traffic for the upcoming Soyuz crew rotation and best meet the needs of the International Space Station. Launch will follow the arrival of NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos aboard their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft and the departure of NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner from the space station. The launch timeframe also allows for a crew handover with NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission next spring.

YouTube is under attack

First Twitter and now YouTube is under attack by hackers promoting Bitcoin scams through live broadcasts using old Elon Musk speeches and a fake broadcast of the launch that SpaceX and NASA made last week. The hackers appear to have compromised several high-profile YouTube channels and today the account of youtuber Jon Prosser was the object of this attack, his channel is broadcasting with 40 thousand viewers and the attackers have already received around 4 thousand dollars in Bitcoins.

It may also interest you: What are cryptocurrencies?

Last week there were several reports that people who wanted to see the launch of the SpaceX clicked on videos that looked official and that they were posted by seemingly legitimate YouTube channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and were found with messages from “Bitcoin giveaway” urging them to send Bitcoin for double cash back, a common scam tactic. Today Jon Prosser reports that something similar is happening on his channel.

A full-scale prototype of the huge Starship rocket SpaceX says will fly people to the moon and Mars left the ground for the first time Tuesday in South Texas

A full-scale prototype of the huge Starship rocket SpaceX says will fly people to the moon and Mars left the ground for the first time Tuesday in South Texas, flying to an altitude of roughly 500 feet before settling on a nearby landing pad.

“Mars is looking real … Progress is accelerating,” says Elon Musk.

📷: @SpacePadreIsle