SpaceX transport successfully docks with ISS
2020.06.17
First commercial spacecraft to take astronauts up
ON 31 May, Dragon 2, a spacecraft belonging to the space exploration company SpaceX, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS, 國際太空站). It brought two astronauts, Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken, to the ISS.Hurley and Behnken were prepared to take control ofthe procedure, but Dragon 2 managed to dock with the ISS automatically. Dragon 2 and the rocket that carried it, Falcon 9,launched from Kennedy Space Centre on 30 May. The footage ofthe launch was streamed worldwide and was watched by some 10 million viewers, according to Nasa.
This is the first time SpaceX has transported people, and it isalso the first time a commercial spacecraft has done this. Thelaunch was delayed to 30 May due to bad weather. SpaceX saidit aims to go to the Moon or even Mars one day.
Disabled boy raises funds for school and hospital
INSPIRED by Tom Moore – a 100-year-old veteran who walkedlaps around his house to raise money for the British healthcare system – a British boy with cerebral palsy (腦麻痺) walked 42km over 70 days and raised alot of money for a special needs schooland a children’s hospital.
The nine-year-old, Tobias Weller, was diagnosed with autism and cerebral palsy when young, and has to use a walker tomove around. He could only walk about 50m per day, but he insisted on walkingevery day for 70 days. In total, he walked 42km, the full length of a marathon.
On 31 May, he finished his walkand raised over 81,600 pounds (about HK$800,000). When he finished, his neighbours and friends all cheered. Weller said he had gotten stronger overthe daily walks and can now walk 750m per day.
(This article is published on Goodies on 17 Jun 2020)
