
-
Kenya's economy faces climate change risks: World Bank
-
Lessons and liquids: buried alive in Myanmar's earthquake
-
Nintendo Switch 2 sparks excitement despite high price
-
Sri Lanka's crackdown on dogs for India PM's visit sparks protest
-
China vows 'countermeasures' to sweeping new US tariffs
-
Trump jolts allies, foes and markets with tariff blitz
-
How Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs will impact China
-
Europe hits out at Trump tariffs, keeps door open for talks
-
Australia sweats through hottest 12 months on record: official data
-
South African artist champions hyenas in 'eco-queer' quest
-
Taiwan says US tariffs 'highly unreasonable'
-
Trump escalates trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
China says opposes new US tariffs, vows 'countermeasures'
-
Quake-hit Myanmar's junta chief to head to Bangkok summit
-
New Spielberg, Nolan films teased at CinemaCon
-
Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children
-
Stocks tank, havens rally as Trump tariffs fan trade war
-
Financial markets tumble after Trump tariff announcement
-
Europe riled, but plans cool-headed response to Trump's tariffs
-
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
-
Revealed: Why monkeys are better at yodelling than humans
-
Key details on Trump's market-shaking tariffs
-
US business groups voice dismay at Trump's new tariffs
-
Trump sparks trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
US stocks end up, but volatility ahead after latest Trump tariffs
-
Boeing chief reports progress to Senate panel after 'serious missteps'
-
Is Musk's political career descending to Earth?
-
On Mexico-US border, Trump's 'Liberation Day' brings fears for future
-
Tesla sales slump as pressure piles on Musk
-
Amazon makes last-minute bid for TikTok: report
-
Tesla first quarter sales sink amid anger over Musk politics
-
World's tiniest pacemaker is smaller than grain of rice
-
Nintendo says Switch 2 console to be launched on June 5
-
Certain foreign firms must 'self-certify' with Trump diversity rules: US embassies
-
Nigerian president sacks board of state oil company
-
Heathrow 'warned about power supply' days before shutdown
-
Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre 'stable' after car crash
-
Swedish insurer drops $160 mn Tesla stake over labour rights
-
Stock markets mixed as uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
Warner showcases 'Superman' reboot, new DiCaprio film
-
Asian markets edge up but uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
UK imposes online entry permit on European visitors
-
How a Brazilian chief is staving off Amazon destruction
-
Brazil binman finds newborn baby on garbage route
-
Trump set to unleash 'Liberation Day' tariffs
-
GM leads first quarter US auto sales as tariffs loom
-
Trump 'perfecting' new tariffs as nervous world braces
-
Trump puts world on edge as 'Liberation Day' tariffs loom
-
UK vows £20 million to boost drone and 'flying taxi' services
-
Ford's US auto sales dip in first quarter as tariffs loom

Spacewalk an 'emotional experience' for private astronauts
The commander of the daring space voyage that included the first-ever spacewalk by private astronauts described opening the hatch into the void as an "emotional experience" that left him in awe, yet deeply aware of the dangers.
Jared Isaacman, the 41-year-old founder and CEO of Shift4Payments, led the recently concluded SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, where a team of four ventured farther into the cosmos than any humans in half a century.
On the mission's third day in orbit, Isaacman and crewmate Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer, conducted the first extravehicular activity (EVA) by non-government astronauts -- marking a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry.
"What an emotional experience, a sensory overload," Isaacman said during a Space on social media site X on Tuesday.
"There's the physical exertion, there's the pressure changes, the temperature changes -- it gets a little cold -- and then, of course, the overwhelming visual sensation, when you see Earth with no kind of barrier between you other than the visor that's in front of you."
Since Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed the first spacewalk in 1965, national space agencies have executed hundreds of EVAs.
Isaacman and Gillis gripped onto a hatch structure called "Skywalker" for the few minutes they each spent partly outside their Dragon spacecraft, while government astronauts have carried out far more daring feats, including floating away on a tether, or flying jetpacks untethered.
But Isaacman stressed the importance of his commercial endeavor was the benefit it brought to accelerating the evolution of SpaceX's next-generation spacesuit, as Elon Musk's company sets its sights on the colonization of Mars.
He added that while he was overwhelmed by the planet's beauty, the experience was far from peaceful.
"This is a hard, very threatening environment," he said, likening his experience to that of early maritime explorers sailing to the ends of the Earth.
Crewmate Gillis, who followed Isaacman outside, didn't have the same stunning views of Earth.
Still, the classically trained violinist was thrilled as she recapped the experience of playing a rousing rendition of "Rey's Theme" by Star Wars composer John Williams.
Bringing a violin into space came with its own set of challenges. Gillis had to use a smaller bow, and the instrument underwent rigorous testing to ensure it could withstand exposure to the vacuum during the spacewalk, as the Dragon spacecraft lacks an airlock.
"It was so interesting to be able to play an instrument in space," she said. "There were so many instances where you're just trying to keep it still enough that you can actually play successfuly."
The violin will be auctioned off, along with copies of a children's book authored by astronaut Anna Menon and read from space, to raise funds for St. Jude's Hospital.
D.Goldberg--CPN