Friday, September 13

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Also, United States Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump faced off in an intense debate on Tuesday night, battling over their stances on major issues like the economy, wars, and border security. Look out for a Deep Dive article by Mihir Gupta coming later this week on the debate.

In addition, Apple made some big announcements at their annual event over the weekend, including the release of the iPhone 16 with the company's new AI feature, Apple Intelligence. Stay tuned for another Deep Dive article by Adit Kakkad coming soon on the event.

The world's first civilian spacewalk was carried out yesterday, with a four-person crew traveling outside their spacecraft as part of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission.

The crew consists of Jared Isaacman, the billionaire founder of Shift4 Payments, Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a former US Air Force pilot, and Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis-- both SpaceX engineers. They took off aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon rocket early on Tuesday, beginning a five-day journey into the fringes of outer space.

From there, the spacecraft reached a maximum height of 870 miles, but the actual spacewalk took place between 118 and 435 miles up. Before the crew could exit, they went through a process known as "pre-breathing," which removes nitrogen from your bloodstream. When in a vacuum like space, nitrogen can puff up into gas bubbles, which is a dangerous condition that can block blood vessels, leading to tissue damage, pain in joints and muscles, and even paralysis, organ failure, and death. Pre-breathing is needed whenever someone is ascending from a high-pressure environment, such as deep-sea diving.

During the spacewalk, Isaacman and Gillis were the only crewmembers to actually exit the spacecraft, but the views from the windows of the capsule were also stunning. They received the opportunity to see Earth from above and a sunrise and sun set every hour and 46 minutes, providing a truly unique experience. Isaacman exited the hatch after the cabin depressurized, turning the air inside the spacecraft into a vacuum, and enjoyed the breathtaking views of Earth outside. Then, after he returned, Gillis went out for about 10 minutes, testing out their new spacesuit as she walked around-- SpaceX is aiming to create a lighter, less bulky spacesuit that is more like human clothes on Earth.

The spacesuit, named EVA, will only be used by SpaceX for their civilian missions, as it does not include a Primary Life Support System (PLSS). This system is a backpack-like item that is attached to government spacesuits allowing them to move around more freely, while SpaceX astronauts have to stay attached to the spacecraft via hose. This also reduces the cost of the suit, allowing it to be mass produced in the future.

The astronauts will stay in space for another two or three days as they conduct almost 40 different experiments, including research on space adaptation syndrome, a strange condition that affects around 50% of all astronauts. They are expected to return sometime on Sunday or Monday.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): The first First Lady to decorate the White House for Halloween was Dwight D. Eisenhower's wife, Mamie Eisenhower.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): You can often find success at the intersection of passion and expertise. (Cliff Lerner)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Fraternize (verb)- To fraternize with someone is to be friendly with them or to spend time with them in a friendly way. Fraternize is often, though not always, used in situations where such friendly behavior is considered wrong or improper, as in “fraternizing with the enemy.”

In a Sentence: The boss warned that fraternizing with the junior employees could be a risky career move for a manager.