4 astronauts return to Earth after being delayed by Boeing's capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton
Cape Canaveral (AP): Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing's capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton.
A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week.
The three Americans and one Russian should have been back two months ago. But their homecoming was stalled by problems with Boeing's new Starliner astronaut capsule, which came back empty in September because of safety concerns. Then Hurricane Milton interfered, followed by another two weeks of high wind and rough seas.
SpaceX launched the four — NASA's Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Russia's Alexander Grebenkin — in March. Barratt, the only space veteran going into the mission, acknowledged the support teams back home that had “to replan, retool and kind of redo everything right along with us ... and helped us to roll with all those punches.”
Their replacements are the two Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose own mission went from eight days to eight months, and two astronauts launched by SpaceX four weeks ago. Those four will remain up there until February.
The space station is now back to its normal crew size of seven — four Americans and three Russians — after months of overflow.
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Jyotirmath Shankaracharya slams RSS chief for 'politically convenient' position on restoring temples
Haridwar, Dec 22: Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath Peeth in Uttarakhand Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati on Sunday criticised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his "politically convenient" position on restoring temples.
Avimukteshwaranand said a list of temples destroyed in the past by invaders be prepared and archaeological surveys of the structures be carried out to "restore Hindu pride".
"When he wanted power, he went around speaking about temples. Now that he has power, he is advising not to look for temples," he said on Bhagwat's remarks.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Bhagwat recently said that it was not acceptable that new temple-mosque disputes are raked up after the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The seer said a lot of atrocities have been committed against the Hindus and their religious places have been destroyed in the past. "If now, the Hindu society wants to restore and preserve its temples, then what is wrong in it?"
The Shankaracharya also criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on BR Ambedkar in Parliament that has triggered a huge row between the ruling BJP and the Opposition.
Defending Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Avimukteshwaranand said the scuffle outside Parliament was due to Shah's remarks on Ambedkar.
He said that there are a lot of people who support Ambedkar's ideology so everyone is using his name for their politics.
Shah has been under fire from several opposition parties since Tuesday over a comment he made referring to Ambedkar during a debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha.
The next day, the BJP leader held a press conference and accused Congress of twisting facts and distorting his comments.
The seer also condemned alleged atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and said that the central government should take strict action on the matter. He said that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in India should be sent back. He slammed the central government accusing it of lack of action on the matter.
Bhagwat has recently expressed concern over the resurgence of new temple-mosque disputes and asserted that certain individuals, after the construction of Ayodhya's Ram Temple, seem to believe they can become "leaders of Hindus" by raking up such issues.
