By Mari Yamaguchi
The liftoff of the United Arab Emirates' Mars orbiter was postponed until Friday due to bad weather at the Japanese launch site.
The orbiter named Amal, or Hope, is the Arab world's first interplanetary mission. The launch was scheduled for Wednesday from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, but the UAE mission team announced the rescheduled date on Twitter.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' H-IIA rocket will carry UAE's craft into space. Mitsubishi launch official Keiji Suzuki had said on Monday a postponement was possible as intermittent lightning and rain were forecast over the next few days.
Heavy rain has fallen for more than a week in large areas of Japan, triggering mudslides and floods and killing more than 70 people, most of them on the southern main island of Kyushu.
Hope is set to reach Mars in February 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since its formation. A successful Hope mission would be a major step for the oil-dependent economy seeking a future in space.
Hope carries three instruments to study the upper atmosphere and monitor climate change and is scheduled to circle the red planet for at least two years.
Emirates Mars Mission Project Director Omran Sharaf, who joined Monday’s briefing from Dubai, said the mission will provide a complete view of the Martian atmosphere during different seasons for the first time.
Two other Mars missions are planned in the coming days by the U.S. and China. Japan has its own Martian moon mission planned in 2024.
Walmart is expanding its HIV treatments, planning to add over 80 specialty facilities across nearly a dozen states by the end of the year.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel met to discuss regulatory approval for the Alzheimer's drug, Leqembi.
Air quality on the East Coast has improved to at least a moderate level and will continue getting better by the weekend.
A new study from Columbia University has found that taurina, a type of amino acid known mostly as an ingredient in energy drinks, extended the life of worms, mice and monkeys.
Artechouse, a digital art studio in New York City, has a new exhibition that lets visitors experience never-before-seen images that the James Webb space telescope captured. Cheddar News takes a peek inside the newest immersive experience.
A report said that cancer centers are dealing with shortages of carboplatin and cisplatin, drugs that are used to treat cancers.
On air quality maps, purple signifies the worst of it. In reality, it's a thick, hazardous haze that’s disrupting daily life for millions of people across the U.S. and Canada, blotting out skylines and turning skies orange.
With large swaths of the East Coast blanketed with smog, many are worried about their health. Mangala Narasimhan, director of critical care services at Northwell Health, offers some peace of mind with a handful of expert tips for coping with poor air quality.
Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, began erupting on Wednesday after a three-month pause, displaying spectacular fountains of mesmerizing, glowing lava that's a safe distance from people and structures in a national park on the Big Island.
Smoke from the Canadian wildfires has reached New York and New Jersey which prompted officials to declare the area as currently having some of the worst air quality in the world.
