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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Rahul, Congress tried since 2002 to target Modi's image, PM's credibility remains high: BJP
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Thursday dubbed Rahul Gandhi's attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the US prosecutors' indictment of Gautam Adani on alleged bribery and fraud charges as part of his long-running efforts to target its leader, and noted that none of the four states named in American courts had a BJP government.
Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson and MP Sambit Patra made it clear that as far as allegations against the Adani group are concerned it is for the company to issue a clarification and defend itself.
"Law will take its own course," he said, while keeping the focus on Gandhi's allegations against the prime minister and the BJP government at the Centre.
Since 2002, Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi and the Congress have been trying to tarnish Modi's image, but they have not succeeded and the prime minister received the highest civilian award in a foreign country on a day the opposition party was attacking him, the BJP leader said.
Rahul Gandhi claimed in his press conference that the opposition has been successful in destroying Modi's credibility over his alleged proximity to the business tycoon.
Citing the Adani group's investment in various states ruled by the Congress and its allies, Patra noted that it invested Rs 25k crore and Rs 65k crore in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan when Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot were at the helm there respectively.
The conglomerate invested Rs 45k crore in the DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu and had recently given Rs 100 crore donation to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for a skill development foundation, he added.
If Adani is "corrupt", then why are the Congress governments seeking investment from his company, he asked.
The billionaire industrialist has been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay over USD 250 million (about Rs 2,100 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange of favourable terms for solar power contracts.
This was concealed from the US banks and investors from whom the Adani group raised billions of dollars for the project, the prosecutors have alleged. US law allows pursuing foreign corruption allegations if they involve certain links to American investors or markets.
The Adani group, however, has denied the charges.
The Congress, Patra alleged, cannot tolerate the Indian economy gaining in strength with Modi as prime minister, as it is now on track to become the third biggest global economy.
Rahul Gandhi has been trying to target the Indian economy by making all kinds of allegations, and over 2.5 crore investors even on Thursday lost a lot of money as the stock market tanked, he said.
The Congress leader targeted the government over the alleged corruption in the Rafale aircraft deal and had also gone after it over the issue of Covid vaccines, he added.
Patra also objected to Gandhi's claim that his party has to do the job of the judiciary as well, saying it amounted to contempt of court. Gandhi does not understand legalities and technicalities around an issue and merely repeats what he is briefed by a few advisors, he added.
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha will now start a "drama" when Parliament's Winter session begins from November 25 and try to disrupt its proceedings and target the economy, he claimed.
