Astronaut Scott Kelly: In Space, You Can't See Political Divides
*By Chloe Aiello*
Astronaut Scott Kelly saw the sun rise and set about 32 times each day during the 520 total days he spent in outer space. He also spent considerable time looking at Planet Earth. Naturally, it changed his perspective ー in the most literal sense.
"You do get more in tune with the environmental issues when you see that our atmosphere is very fragile looking, very small ... you see pollution over certain parts of the planet. You see the Earth with no political borders between countries," Kelly told Cheddar Friday.
"That makes it seem like, you know, we're are all in this together ー this thing called humanity ー and we need to work together to solve our problems."
That's the perspective Kelly shares through images in his latest book, "Infinite Wonder: An Astronaut's Photographs from a Year in Space." The book contains Kelly's personal photography, which captures the Earth and Moon, sunrises and sunsets, and even life aboard the International Space Station, where Kelly spent so many hours.
But as awe-inspiring as his photos may be, there's nothing quite like the real thing. But Kelly said we're closer than we realize to space ー especially with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk on the case.
Kelly said he had the chance to visit Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin a little over one year ago.
"They are absolutely serious. They are not kidding around. They are going to be flying people in space pretty soon, and I think it's a great thing," Kelly said.
Bezos has said his company hoped to begin ferrying humans to outer-space in 2018 ー with the eventual goal of regularly transporting wealthy tourists in suborbital flight. Billionaire entrepreneur Musk's SpaceX also has radically ambitious space aspirations, including a mission to Mars in 2022 and a tour around the Moon [Musk reportedly arranged](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45518776) for tourists as early as 2018. The Moon trip has yet to happen.
Kelly said it doesn't really matter who transports civilians to space first.
"I don't look at it as a race who will be flying people in space first, whether it's SpaceX or Blue Origin, I think it'll probably all be around the same time, actually," he said.
Kelly would certainly know better than most.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/former-nasa-astronaut-scott-kelly-discusses-earths-infinite-wonders).
Retail platform operator and delivery company, Foxtrot,
raised $100 million in a Series C round led by D1 Capital Partners. Foxtrot bills itself as the modern convenience store that combines what it calls in-store curated discovery with 30-minute delivery and 5-minute pickup. Since launching first as a digital-only delivery service, the company has since grown into a popular local retailer, opening 16 brick and mortar locations across Chicago, Dallas, and Washington, DC. Foxtrot co-founder and CEO Michael LaVitola joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The January 6 committee has subpoenaed four tech giants for more information on what they did and didn't do leading up to last year's deadly Capitol insurrection. Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit were asked to assist the investigation in August, but the committee says their responses have been 'inadequate.' Craig Timberg, a national technology reporter at the Washington Post, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell for more details about the subpoenas, why this is happening now, and how it might impact social media companies moving forward.
As Meta and Microsoft ramp up their AR and VR tech futures, analysts have been waiting on word from Apple, but the consumer tech giant is reportedly delaying such an announcement. Doug Astrop, a managing partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joined Cheddar to dive into the rumors about the possibilities of a foray into the metaverse by Tim Cook's megacorp sometime in 2022 or 2023. "We can't really predict with a great deal of certainty how it's going to play out, but I'm confident Apple's going to be a big player and do very well in any scenario that unfolds," said Astrop.
Makena Kelly, politics reporter at The Verge, joins Cheddar News to discuss what's next for net neutrality as Biden's other nominee for the FCC, Gigi Sohn, awaits votes from the committee and Senate.
Specializing in AI, robotics, and automation for the global supply chain, Symbotic announced last month it will be tapping the public markets in a SPAC deal with investment giant SoftBank. Symbotic CFO Tom Ernst and Vikas Parekh, a managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers spoke with Cheddar about going public and the future of modernizing logistics amid the constrained supply networks. "The supply chain is fundamentally broken," said Ernst. "By employing the best in modern technology for autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence, we're able to fundamentally rethink the way in which you receive and store and sort goods, making for a dramatically more efficient supply chain."
Michael Hershfield, Founder & CEO of Accrue Savings, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the company's new round of funding, and its core mission of rewarding consumers for saving rather than taking on more debt with buy now, pay later options.
Markets opened higher on the first trading day of the new year as investors continue to watch inflation and the rapid spread of the omicron variant in the U.S. Frances Newton Stacy, Optimal Capital Dir. of Strategy/Market Analyst joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets opened higher as investors react to positive data on the labor front, with weekly jobless claims falling to 198,000 for the week ending December 25. Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the market open.
