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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARcH 8, 2019
SpaceX ends test flight with splashdown
By MARCIA DUNN
Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL,
Fla. — SpaceX’s swanky
new crew capsule returned
from the International Space
Station to an old-fashioned
splashdown in the Atlantic
today, successfully ending a
test flight that could lead to
astronaut rides later this year.
The Dragon capsule
undocked from the orbiting
lab early today. Six hours
later, the capsule carrying a
test dummy parachuted into
the ocean, a couple hundred
miles off the Florida coast.
It was the final hurdle
for the six-day demo, a crit-
ical prelude to SpaceX’s
first flight with astronauts
as early as summer. While
improvements still need to
be made, the company aims
to fly NASA astronauts Bob
Behnken and Doug Hurley
on the next test flight.
Astronauts have not
launched from Florida for
eight years, and NASA is
eager to end the drought and
reduce its costly dependence
on Russia for space station
trips.
NASA
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule splashes into the Atlantic ocean off the Florida coast.
SpaceX
employees
cheered and applauded at
company headquarters near
Los Angeles when the Drag-
on’s red and white para-
chutes popped open. NASA
televised the descent live,
the dramatic views com-
ing from a plane. The crowd
went wild once the capsule
splashed down and was seen
floating upright.
“Just amazing. I can’t
believe how well the whole
mission has gone” with
all major milestones met,
said Benji Reed, SpaceX’s
director of crew mission
management.
It was the first time in 50
years that a capsule designed
for astronauts returned from
space by plopping into the
Atlantic. Apollo 9 — which
orbited Earth in prepara-
tion for the moon land-
ings — splashed down near
the Bahamas on March 13,
1969.
Space station astro-
nauts have been stuck rid-
ing Russian rockets since
NASA’s shuttles retired in
2011. NASA is counting on
SpaceX and Boeing to start
launching astronauts this
year. SpaceX — which has
been delivering station cargo
for years — is shooting for
summer.
NASA Administrator Jim
Bridenstine was ecstatic fol-
lowing splashdown. All this
is “leading to a day where
we are launching Ameri-
can astronauts on American
rockets from American soil,”
he said.
A pair of recovery ships
was stationed in the Atlan-
tic well before splashdown
and quickly moved in, lifting
the capsule from the water
within an hour. The capsule
is expected at Port Canaveral
on Saturday night. Splash-
down will occur much closer
to shore once astronauts start
flying.
Astronaut Shane Kim-
brough, part of the recov-
ery team, said it was incredi-
ble watching the splashdown
up close. The capsule had
brown scorch marks from
top to bottom, but otherwise
looked fine.
Canadian space sta-
tion astronaut David Saint-
Jacques was the first to enter
the Dragon capsule and the
last to leave this week. He
found it “very slick” and
called it business class.
Next up is Boeing.
Boeing plans to launch its
Starliner capsule without a
crew as early as next month
and with astronauts possibly
in August. The Starliner is
designed to land on land —
in the U.S. Southwest.
NASA awarded the first
contracts in 2014 to SpaceX
and Boeing, now totaling
about $8 billion. This first
SpaceX test flight opens a
new era, Bridenstine said,
with new technology and
new business approaches.
SpaceX acknowledges
some capsule systems need
more work before Behnken
and Hurley climb aboard
for liftoff, as early as July.
Vibration, acoustic and other
measurements were taken
throughout the recently com-
pleted flight, not only of the
capsule but also the manne-
quin — named Ripley after
the lead character in the
“Alien” films — which was
strapped into one of the four
seats.
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
House broadly condemns
hate after emotional anti-
Semitism dispute
WASHINGTON — Divided in debate
but mostly united in a final vote, the House
passed a resolution condemning anti-Semi-
tism and other bigotry Thursday, with Dem-
ocrats trying to push past a dispute that has
overwhelmed their agenda and exposed fault
lines that could shadow them through next
year’s elections.
The one-sided 407-23 vote belied the
emotional infighting over how to respond
to freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar’s recent com-
ments suggesting House supporters of Israel
have dual allegiances. For days, Democrats
wrestled with whether or how to punish the
lawmaker, arguing over whether Omar, one
of two Muslim women in Congress, should
be singled out, what other types of bias
should be decried in the text and whether
the party would tolerate dissenting views on
Israel.
Republicans generally joined in the favor-
able vote, though nearly two-dozen opposed
the measure, one calling it a “sham.”
Generational as well as ideological, the
argument was fueled in part by young, lib-
eral lawmakers — and voters — who have
become a face of the newly empowered
Democratic majority in the House. These
lawmakers are critical of Israeli Prime Min-
ister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government,
rejecting the conservative leader’s approach
to Palestinians and other issues.
The resolution approved Thursday con-
demns anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrim-
ination and bigotry against minorities “as
hateful expressions of intolerance.”
Border agency watchdog
looking into database on
journalists and ‘instigators’
SAN DIEGO — The U.S. government
kept a database on journalists, activists, orga-
nizers and “instigators” during an investiga-
tion into last year’s migrant caravan, infuri-
ating civil liberties and media groups who
called it a blatant violation of free speech
rights.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
compiled information on dozens of people
that included passport and social media pho-
tos, dates of birth, personal information and
their suspected role in the caravan. Some of
the people on the list were denied entry into
Mexico and had their passports flagged or
visas revoked.
On Thursday, officials said the depart-
ment’s independent watchdog was looking
into the database, and stressed that journal-
ists were not targeted based on their occupa-
tion or reporting.
The database was revealed Wednesday
by the San Diego TV station KNSD. People
listed in the documents provided to the sta-
tion included 10 journalists, many of whom
are U.S. citizens, and an American attorney.
There were several dozen people in all on the
list, including many labeled as “instigators.”
The database was denounced by a vari-
ety of groups, including the Committee to
Protect Journalists, American Civil Liber-
ties Union, Amnesty International and the
Southern Poverty Law Center.
“This is the fault of the government.”
Maduro ordered schools and all govern-
ment entities closed and told businesses not
to open to facilitate work crews trying to
restore power.
Venezuela’s electrical system was once
the envy of Latin America but it has fallen
into disrepair after years of poor mainte-
nance and mismanagement. High-ranking
officials have been accused in U.S. court
proceedings of looting government money
earmarked for the electrical system.
Manafort gets 47 months
for fraud, judge cites mostly
‘blameless’ life
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Former Trump
campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been
sentenced to nearly four years in prison
for tax and bank fraud related to his work
advising Ukrainian politicians, much less
than what was called for under sentencing
guidelines.
Manafort, sitting in a wheelchair as he
deals with complications from gout, had no
visible reaction as he heard the 47-month
sentence. While that was the longest sen-
tence to date to come from special counsel
Robert Mueller’s probe, it could have been
much worse. Sentencing guidelines called
for a 20-year term, effectively a lifetime sen-
tence for the 69-year-old.
Judge T.S. Ellis III, discussing character
reference letters submitted by Manafort’s
friends and family, said Manafort had lived
an “otherwise blameless life.”
Manafort has been jailed since June, so
he will receive credit for the nine months he
has already served. He still faces the possi-
bility of additional time from his sentencing
in a separate case in the District of Colum-
bia, where he pleaded guilty to charges
related to illegal lobbying.
Manafort steered Donald Trump’s elec-
tion efforts during crucial months of the
2016 campaign as Russia sought to med-
dle in the election through hacking of Dem-
ocratic email accounts. He was among the
first Trump associates charged in the Muel-
ler investigation and has been a high-profile
defendant.
Massive Venezuela power
outage raises tensions amid
national political crisis
CARACAS, Venezuela — Hospitals
struggled to get backup generators running,
businesses shuttered and families anxiously
tried to contact loved ones amid Venezue-
la’s worst-ever power outage today, raising
tensions in a country already on edge from
ongoing political turmoil.
Much of the nation of 31 million peo-
ple was still without electricity as the black-
out stretched into a second day and patience
began to wear thin.
“This has never happened before,” a frus-
trated Orlando Roa, 54, said, decrying Pres-
ident Nicolas Maduro’s administration for
failing to maintain the electrical system and
letting qualified engineers leave the country.
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