Other Assorted Stuff

[Yazata]

Multiple reports are coming in that North Korea just attempted to launch a satellite and that its booster rocket exploded about two minutes into flight.

(Screenshot from Japanese TV network NHK)

[Image: 3-Zam_QA?format=jpg&name=small]

[Yazata]

Bloomberg is now estimating SpaceX's valuation at $210 billion, which would make it America's most valuable privately-held company. Apparently Flight 4's successes have impressed would-be investors who want a piece of the insider-held company. (Company founder Elon personally owns about 50%, the rest by employees and various friends-of-Elon investers who helped fund it in the early days.)

Bloomberg says:

"The world’s second-most valuable startup decided to price its current tender offer — a transaction that enables employees and insiders like investors to sell shares — at higher than the $200 billion valuation that was discussed last month, due to significant investor demand, the people said, who declined to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak publicly.
The new valuation is a record for an American private company..."

[Yazata]

Crew-8 returned from the Space Station today, but not without some drama.

The Crew Dragon performed flawlessly and the four astronauts aboard splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico safely. (There were three NASA astronauts, two men and one woman, plus one male Russian cosmonaut.)

Once aboard the SpaceX recovery ship, they were checked over by a SpaceX flight surgeon. This physician found something he/she didn't like and the four astros were helicoptered to a hospital in Pensacola FL for more thorough examination. Three of the astros checked out fine and have flown back to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston TX. But one astronaut was admitted to the hospital for precautionary observation where he/she remains. NASA says that due to privacy, they won't be revealing the hospitalized astronaut's identity or medical problem.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2024...-8-health/