I have lived in Pretoria for half my life, but even at almost 50, l still am not ready for mornings like this . I step out of home in the morning at 7 a.m., greeted by a warm, gentle breeze and sunshine so golden it felt like summer had arrived overnight. The sky was clear; the jacaranda trees glowed purple; the air smelled of warmth and possibility. “Perfect day,” l muttered, locking his door. By the time l drive out—five minutes later—the sky starts to be darkened. A cold wind came crawling in from nowhere, sweeping dust across the pavement. The temperature dropped so suddenly that l have to switch the heater for warmth. Laughing. “Ah, Pretoria… you never disappoint.” Halfway to the office, the heavens opened. Not soft rain— a storm . Sheets of water hammered the road, street gutters overflowed instantly, and distant thunder rolled like a grumpy giant waking up too early. People scattered, hiding under bus shelters already too full. “Ten minutes ago...
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China Just Announced That It's Sending the First Humans to Mars
China's go-to rocket manufacturer revealed a roadmap for the nation's forthcoming crewed missions to Mars, according to an initial report from Global Times.
While the nation's plans also call for a permanent Mars base, NASA, SpaceX, or another conventional spaceworthy power will likely beat them to it. But it's great to see China stepping up, and committing to aspirational goals like landing the first humans on the Red Planet.
China aims to put the first humans on Mars by 2033
The Head of state-owned China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) Wang Xiaojun announced the plans during a speech called "The Space Transportation System of Human Mars Exploration", which took place at the Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2021), à la virtual link, according to the Global Times report. In review of the success of China's Tianwen-1 probe, the nation's first interplanetary mission to orbit, land, and see a rover disembark on the Red Planet — in one comprehensive mission — Wang declared his nation's three-step plan to put humans on Mars.
The primary stage, also called the technology preparation phase, will reportedly involve robots designed to return Mars samples, and explore a base site for a future human installation on Mars. Afterward, a second stage will send humans there, who will construct a permanent base. Once it's completed, a third stage will see large-scale Earth-to-Mars cargo fleets depart to seed and accelerate development projects on the Red Planet. The schedule for these and additional phases are 2033, 2035, 2037, 2041, 2043, and more, according to the academy.
Notably, China is considering nuclear-propelled vehicles for human missions of exploration to Mars, in addition to a "Sky Ladder" system, which is currently under investigation as a means of reducing the scale or cost of future probe and transport missions to the Red Planet. We're not sure what the academy means by "Sky Ladder", but, taking a wild guess: it could be a space elevator. While not a new idea, the notion of building a vertical transport connecting a planet's surface to orbital altitudes would be extremely difficult, on Mars or Earth, to pull off. But the technological skills necessary for such a grandiose feat of engineering may simply not exist yet.
If this is a space race, China isn't winning yet
There exists an illustration of a "Space Ladder" in a Xinhua Global Service report, which depicts a crewed or cargo space capsule moving up a carbon nanotube "ladder" toward a space station, from where it's launched once more, to explore deep space. But the capsule can also dock with a second lunar space station, and then be carried down another "ladder" to the moon's surface. This comes on the heels of China and Russia jointly announcing plans to build a lunar base, but China has also disclosed plans to explore distant asteroids, and even the Jovian system, according to the report.
It's important to keep in mind that, unlike the U.S., where NASA, SpaceX, and many other private aerospace players collaborate to build economically feasible systems like a heterogeneous space program, China is fairly united under one system, and so announcing detailed plans of its forthcoming expansion into space before the U.S. or other powers is not very surprising. But this doesn't mean China will be the first to settle humans on Mars, or the moon, or anywhere else, not necessarily. Suffice to say that if we're entering another space race, China is doing great, but to say it's winning would be misguided.
USINESS REPORT COMPANIES MultiChoice’s black economic empowerment scheme is looking for about 22 000 shareholders who owned shares and did not receive dividends of R207 million between 2006 and 2020. Picture: Karen Sandison/African News Agency(ANA) MultiChoice’s BEE scheme trying to find 22 000 shareholders who are missing out on millions By Edward West Feb 16, 2021 CAPE TOWN - PHUTUMA Nathi, the MultiChoice black economic empowerment scheme of more than 80 000 shareholders, is looking for about 22 000 shareholders who owned shares and did not receive dividends of R207 million between 2006 and 2020. “This money belongs to our shareholders. We’re calling on them to contact us to get their money. In these tough economic times we want to do everything in our power to give them what is rightfully theirs,” Phuthuma Nathi chairperson Mandla Langa said in a statement yesterday. Phuthuma Nathi has been paying dividends every year since the start of the scheme in 2006. Am...
Home > News > Renderings It's easy to understand why a muscle car or a Ferrari is cool - the big engine and cool body. But car culture is also influenced by television, rarity, or simply a generation growing up with a particular vehicle. The Volkswagen Bus is a perfect example of this because it's slow, not sporty-looking, yet it can cost a lot of money. 16 photos The Bus is perhaps one of the least understood collectibles, right up there with bubble cars. You see them grabbing huge money at auctions, making it difficult to visualize why somebody wouldn't rather have a Ferrari or some 1960s Mustang. Comedian Gabriel Iglesias is known as the VW Bus King, as his collection of Vdubs is reportedly worth in excess of $3 million. The Hoonigan crew recently did a feature video, but we still had trouble picturing the value of these vehicles. Fortunately, there's a set of renderings that takes the visuals of the Microbus to the level where everybody...
Here's the story: We sat down with a man who had a harrowing journey with addiction. He began by telling us about his early days in tertiary education, where he would occasionally smoke dagga with friends. However, his focus remained on his studies, and he worked hard to graduate and secure a qualification. After landing a job, he started building a life for himself. He got married, bought a property, and even splurged on a car. Life was good, and he felt like he was on top of the world. But one fateful night, while out with friends, he was introduced to heavier narcotics. At first, the experience was exhilarating. He described it as an elevation from the mild high of dagga to a level 5 high, where he felt invincible and euphoric. The effects would last for days, allowing him to party from Friday to Sunday without sleep. The problem, however, began to manifest on Mondays and Tuesdays every week, when the withdrawal symptoms would kick in, and he'd struggle to function at work....
![[Pics] Remember This WWE Star? Wait 'Till You See Her Now](https://images.outbrainimg.com/transform/v3/eyJpdSI6Ijk1YTA5ZWQwZmFhYzU4YzBhZGM2NTJiZmExNmE2YzE3ZmQ4MDI0OTlhNGY2MTRlNGYzNjBkZGRhYmQ5NDEwMmEiLCJ3IjozNjAsImgiOjMwMCwiZCI6MS41LCJjcyI6MCwiZiI6NH0.webp "[Pics] Remember This WWE Star? Wait 'Till You See Her Now")
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