Raphael Stevens

SpaceX launched a group of astronauts for NASA early on Friday morning, with Elon Musk’s company now having sent 10 astronauts to space in under a year.The Crew-2 mission, the company’s second operational crew launch for NASA and its third to date, reached orbit after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:49 a.m. ET. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried the four astronauts to space in the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft named Endeavour.The launch marked multiple new firsts for SpaceX, with the company reusing both a rocket and a capsule for the mission, as well as surpassing the total number of astronauts launched to space under the Mercury program that began in 1958.In this handout provided by NASA, Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk watches the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the balcony of Operations Support Building II carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASAs SpaceX Crew-2 mission with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide onboard on April 23, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.NASA | Getty Images”It was just spectacular,” acting NASA administrator Steve Jurczyk said after the Crew-2 mission launched. “Our partnership with SpaceX has been tremendous.”SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule — carrying NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide and Thomas Pesquet of France — is on its way to the International Space Station. The mission is scheduled to dock with the ISS about 24 hours after launch, at around 5:10 a.m. ET on Saturday.”We’re just glad to be back in space, and we’ll send our regards to Crew-1 when we get there,” Kimbrough said, speaking from the spacecraft after the launch.The Crew-2 team will perform a full duration mission on the ISS, spending about six months on board. The four will join the Crew-1 astronauts, who launched in November, before the latter team’s Crew Dragon capsule Resilience undocks and returns to Earth.Acting NASA Adminstrator Steve Jurczyk (L hidden) and SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk (C) speak with NASA astronaut Bob Benkhen (R) before Crew-2 NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A to board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-2 mission launch, April 23, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Gianrigo Marletta | AFP | Getty ImagesAfter the launch, SpaceX also landed the booster of its Falcon 9 rocket, which is the large, lower section of the rocket. This Falcon 9 rocket booster previously launched the Crew-1 mission in November, and SpaceX plans to continue using it to launch future missions.”Thrilled to be part of advancing human spaceflight and looking forward to going beyond Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars, and helping make humanity a spacefaring civilization,” Musk said during a post-launch press conference.SpaceX developed its Crew Dragon spacecraft and fine-tuned its Falcon 9 rocket under NASA’s Commercial Crew program, which provided the company with $3.1 billion to develop the system and launch six operational missions.Commercial Crew is a competitive program. NASA also awarded Boeing with $4.8 billion in contracts to develop its Starliner spacecraft — but that capsule remains in development due to an uncrewed flight test in December 2019 that experienced significant challenges.In this handout image provided by NASA, (L-R) ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A to board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the SpaceX Crew-2 mission at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on April 23, 2021, in Cape Canaveral, Florida.NASA | Getty ImagesCrew-2 represents the second of those six missions for SpaceX, with NASA now benefiting from the investment it made in the company’s spacecraft development.NASA emphasizes that, in addition to giving the U.S. a way to send astronauts to space, SpaceX offers the agency a cost-saving option. The agency expects to pay $55 million per astronaut to fly with Crew Dragon, as opposed to $86 million per astronaut to fly with the Russians. NASA last year estimated that having two private companies compete for contracts saved the agency $20 billion to $30 billion in development costs. More

Source: GatoradeIt’s about to get real for star-studded quarterback Trevor Lawrence.The 21-year-old presumptive No. 1 NFL draft pick announced Friday he has signed his first endorsement deal — with Gatorade.The Clemson quarterback, who is expected to be drafted on Thursday by the Jacksonville Jaguars, has signed a multiyear deal with the sports drink company and will be part of their marketing efforts and national campaigns.Lawrence is the first quarterback to sign with Gatorade since Cam Newton and joins other young rising stars such as Fernando Tatis Jr., Zion Williamson, Jayson Tatum and Mallory Pugh also with the brand. Exact terms of the detail were not disclosed.”It has been a staple in my sports journey since I was a kid, so I couldn’t be more excited to join the brand,” Lawrence told CNBC. “I don’t just look at the financial aspects of it, but do I really fit with companies? … I always have to ask myself, ‘Is this me?’ So Gatorade was an easy choice,” he said.Lawrence said his taste for Gatorade has gone back years. At Clemson, he used its protein products to build muscle and maintain his weight. He said his favorite flavor of Gatorade is Berry Rain.”We want to work with athletes who are leaders among their peers, committed to performance and authentic users of our products,” said Jeff Kearney, Gatorade global head of sports marketing. “Trevor is all of those things, and with his help we hope to inspire and fuel the next generation of athletes.”Gatorade dominates the U.S. sports drink category, holding a 72% market share of retail sales, according to Euromonitor. Coke’s Powerade is number two with 16% share.Lawrence holds great appeal to brands, according to marketing experts.”He has a proven track record, he isn’t shy, and isn’t afraid to take a stand on issues,” said Joe Favorito, sports marketing consultant and professor at Columbia University.During his three year career at Clemson, Lawrence led the Tigers to a national championship, was a Heisman runner-up, was 34-2 as a starter and adored by fans.Favorito said when it comes to athlete endorsers, Lawrence reminds him a lot of a former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.”He wasn’t Joe Namath when he came to New York, you know, loud and boastful, he let his athletics do the talking and then figured out how to be a great brand marketer,” Favorito said.Fans in Jacksonville area are already embracing the quarterback, buying him and his wife wedding gifts and donating to their favorite charities.Lawrence said despite the big payday coming up, not much will change for him and he’s not planning any big splurges. His focus remains on football, and his first goal is earning the respect of his teammates.”It’s really just not changing anything, just being who I am,” he said. “Making sure money doesn’t ever change me. It won’t, but honestly I’m not too concerned with it [the money].”He said he has financial advisors to make sure his savings are well accounted for but he still plans to be involved.”If I’m going to have money invested in something or in a few different things, I want to know what’s going on and be educated,” he said. The Tigers star said he’s kept a watchful eye on his colleagues starting NFTs and he’s be open to it in the future.”I definitely think there is a future in that and it will be cool to see that unfold,” he added.When it comes to social media, Lawrence has the highest earning potential among draft prospects, according to athlete marketing firm Opendorse. He can expect to earn millions more over the course of his career via social media alone. Opendorse said he has the ability to command $10,000 per tweet or $50,000 per Instagram post.In addition to Gatorade, Lawrence is expected to sign an apparel deal with Adidas, joining the ranks of Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, who are also Adidas endorsers.The only thing that could stand in his way long term: winning.”The downside of course is, he’s going to a place that is rebuilding but that’s nothing he can control and that’s nothing a brand can control,” said Favorito. “It’s very rare that you will see an athlete be unbelievably successful for the long run if they don’t perform well on the field.” More

Students on the UC Berkeley campus on March 4, 2020 in Berkeley, California.Gabrielle Lurie | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers via Getty ImagesCalifornia State University and the University of California announced Thursday they will require all students, staff and faculty who plan to be on campus to be vaccinated against Covid.The two California university systems are the largest among dozens of higher education institutions that will require vaccinations for the fall semester, with more than 1 million students and staff affected by the decision. Students and staff will be able to request exemptions based on medical or religious reasons as they would with other mandatory vaccines.”Together, the CSU and UC enroll and employ more than 1 million students and employees across 33 major university campuses, so this is the most comprehensive and consequential university plan for COVID-19 vaccines in the country,” said Cal State Chancellor Joseph I. Castro.The universities hesitated to make the decision previously because of legal questions around requiring vaccines that have not been fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are being distributed under emergency-use authorization, but the companies expect FDA approval by the fall.Both universities are planning to operate mostly in-person for the semester.Vaccines are a “key step people can take to protect themselves, their friends and family, and our campus communities while helping bring the pandemic to an end,” said UC President Michael V. Drake, a physician.Some health experts believe that requiring vaccinations for college and universities will help stop the spread of Covid among young people, who have been increasingly at risk for severe illness from variants that are rapidly mutating and spreading.California recorded almost 2,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday and a “double mutant” Covid variant was recently detected in the state. The state has plans to reopen businesses by June 15 while keeping a mask mandate in place. Almost half of adults in the state have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. More

In this article104-SZ305-HKGMWuling Motors unveiled a convertible model of its highly popular budget mini electric car at the Shanghai auto show in April 2021.Evelyn Cheng | CNBCSHANGHAI – General Motors’ joint venture in China is launching a miniature electric convertible under a low-cost brand that has soared in popularity in the last year.Called the Hongguang Mini EV Cabrio, the convertible will begin mass production next year, according to a release. Details on pricing and availability weren’t available at the time of the vehicle’s unveiling at the Shanghai auto show this week.The car is the latest from the popular Hongguang Mini EV line developed by General Motors’ joint venture with Wuling Motors and state-owned SAIC Motor. GM China has a 44% stake, while SAIC holds 50.1%, according to GM’s website.The initial Hongguang Mini EV launched in July with a starting price of just a couple thousand U.S. dollars. It has sold more than 270,000 units over 270 days, according to the company.That Mini EV was second only to Tesla’s Model 3 by the number of new energy cars sold in China last year and climbed past it into first place during the first quarter, according to figures from the China Passenger Car Association.Another new model from Hongguang Mini EV, the Macaron, has received more than 45,000 orders in just 10 days, according to a release.General Motors and its joint ventures delivered more than 780,000 vehicles in China in the first quarter of 2021, with the Hongguang Mini EV accounting for about 9%, according to GM. More

In this articleTPGC-MYRVHL-SGUGHE-SGMTCS-SG.STILatex gloves are filled with water in a watertight test room at a Top Glove factory in Selangor, Malaysia, on Dec. 3, 2015.Charles Pertwee | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesSINGAPORE — Shares of several medical suppliers in Singapore have jumped this month, coinciding with a renewed surge in daily global Covid-19 infections.Singapore-listed shares of Top Glove, the world’s largest medical glove maker, have risen 18.4% as of Thursday from its March 31 close. The company’s shares in Malaysia, where it’s based, jumped 24.3% in the same period.Other medical supplier stocks in Singapore that have surged this month include:Rubber glove maker Riverstone Holdings, which has risen 16.3% so far this month.UG Healthcare, another glove maker, which has jumped 15.2% in the same period.Personal protective equipment manufacturer Medtecs International, which has climbed 15.1%.These stocks have all outperformed the benchmark Straits Times Index, which inched 0.7% higher between March 31 and Thursday. They have also been among the 100 most traded stocks in the Singapore market this year, Geoff Howie, market strategist at the Singapore Exchange, told CNBC in an email. Howie said a resurgence in daily confirmed Covid-19 cases and concerns about vaccine safety may have driven investors’ interests in those stocks.Globally, the seven-day moving average of daily reported Covid cases reached a record high of more than 797,500 on Wednesday, according CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. A major contributor of the increase is a surge in daily reported cases in India, the data showed.A moving average smooths out big spikes and slumps in the daily data that could be caused by availability of tests or frequency of reporting.Cumulatively, coronavirus cases globally reached more than 143 million cases with around 3 million deaths as of Wednesday, Hopkins data showed. The jump in cases have also come as Covid vaccination progress varies widely between rich and poor countries, which the World Health Organization has described as a “shocking imbalance.”   Ben May, director of global macro research at consultancy Oxford Economics, said the recent rise in Covid infections is “clearly a huge public health concern” — but it’s not yet weighing down the global economy.”For now, it seems that the rise in cases may partially reflect a growing desire from governments and individuals to get back to normal. If this is the case, higher case numbers may not necessarily signal weaker activity to come,” he wrote in a Monday report.But May added that the economic outlook could become more uncertain if the jump in Covid infections derails further attempts to reopen economies or leads to greater voluntary social distancing among people. More