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.
Christian Gormsen, Eargo CEO, joined Cheddar to discuss the hearing aid company going public. and also about the path to expanding insurance coverage to include hearing aids.
Pfizer CEO says it can't seek emergency authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine before the third week of November — and that's if everything goes well.
A trio of scientists is championing a controversial alternative to coronavirus lockdowns in a 500-word document called the Great Barrington Declaration, which is stirring up significant backlash from other public health experts.
Panera is doing its part to go green, upgrading its menu options to include the carbon footprint of each item. CEO Niren Chaudhary joined Cheddar to break down food production's link to climate change.
Former NASA astronaut, Scott Kelly provides some insight into the impacts of being isolated, particularly as people around the world experience it amid the coronavirus pandemic.
US Scientists calculate that Earth hit its warmest September on record last month. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Wednesday said there's nearly a two-to-one chance that 2020 will end up as the hottest year on record.
Facing public skepticism about rushed COVID-19 vaccines, U.S. health officials are planning an extra layer of safety scrutiny for the first people vaccinated when shots become available.
A late-stage study of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been paused while the company investigates whether a study participant’s “unexplained illness” is related to the shot.
At least 2 percent of American children are being raised by their grandparents, an arrangement that already has unique challenges for such families, but the COVID-19 pandemic is adding even more obstacles to contend with.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
