Toggle light / dark theme

Earlier this year, Axiom Space announced it signed a deal with SpaceX to launch a crew of four private passengers to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. New details emerged about who those passengers will be, turns out, the voyage is booked for Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, who is notorious for putting his life on the line to perform his own stunts in the action-packed saga ‘Mission: Impossible.’

Cruise will ride alongside producer Doug Liman who will film the first movie in outer space. One of the passengers will be former NASA Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria. He is heading back to orbit as Dragon-ship commander for Axiom’s space tour with Cruise. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will propel Dragon to orbit towards the Space Station where they will stay for eight days to film in microgravity and enjoy beautiful views of Earth. The fourth passenger has not been revealed yet, it will probably be a Hollywood actress that will join them. They are scheduled to embark on a 10-day voyage to the Space Station in October 2021. These details were released in a graph about planned launches to ISS, created by Space Shuttle Almanac, pictured below.

So its confirmed that @CommanderMLA is flying the @Axiom_Space @SpaceX #CrewDragon tourist mission with Director @DougLiman & Tom Cruise. One seat still to be filled. They are to launch in October, 2021. pic.twitter.com/dn6SLvCOGz — Space Shuttle Almanac (@ShuttleAlmanac) September 19, 2020

O,.o.


A new mini-moon might be about to join Earth’s orbit briefly, before being hurled back into space.

‘Minimoons’ are only a few feet across, and each tends to do a stint of around a few months in orbit – before resuming their previous lives as asteroids.

But this particular mini-moon may be a little different – as experts have suggested it’s not a moon at all, but man-made space junk.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued its second letter this afternoon allowing U.S. financial institutions to back digital dollar stablecoins under the leadership of Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks. This letter permits U.S. financial institutions to hold deposits as reserves for stablecoins that represent fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar.

The OCC regulates large national banks such as Wells Fargo WFC and J.P. Morgan Chase, so the guidance from this agency only applies to ‘National Associations’ and ‘Federal Savings Banks’. In coordination with the OCC, a statement from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency that has for the most part dominated this area of regulation in the U.S., supported the actions as well.