US commander visits Yemen border for firsthand look at war
Posted on 23. Aug, 2017 by Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines in Democratic Party
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The top U.S. commander for the Middle East got a first-hand look on Wednesday at Saudi Arabia's military fight against Yemen's rebels, visiting the border area on the same day the Saudi-led coalition was accused of bombing a hotel and killing civilians.
Iraqi forces advance towards heart of IS-held bastion
Posted on 23. Aug, 2017 by Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines in Democratic Party
Iraqi forces Wednesday recaptured several districts and advanced towards the centre of Tal Afar, one of the Islamic State group's last strongholds in the country, as aid workers braced for an exodus of civilians fleeing the fighting. Six weeks after routing the jihadists from Iraq's second city Mosul, Iraqi forces launched an assault Sunday on Tal Afar, where an estimated 1,000 jihadists are holed up.
You won't believe how snazzy SpaceX's spacesuit looks
Posted on 23. Aug, 2017 by Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines in Democratic Party
Elon Musk's space transport company SpaceX will one day start carrying humans into space, and now we know what their spacesuits will look like. Musk shared a photo of the spacesuit on his Instagram feed Wednesday, noting that it's a photo of the actual suit and not a mockup. SEE ALSO: Elon Musk reveals SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch animation, and it's amazing "Worth noting that this actually works (not a mockup). Already tested to double vacuum pressure. Was incredibly hard to balance esthetics and function. Easy to do either separately," Musk said in the photo's description. First picture of SpaceX spacesuit. More in days to follow. Worth noting that this actually works (not a mockup). Already tested to double vacuum pressure. Was incredibly hard to balance esthetics and function. Easy to do either separately. A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Aug 23, 2017 at 12:59am PDT The suit is definitely more elegant than NASA's classic designs, and (judging solely by looks) handily beats Boeing's spacesuit designs, which the company showed in January. Musk noted we'll see more of the suit "in days to follow." Musk's words echo the comments he made during a Reddit AMA interview back in January 2015. He then wrote the spacesuit "needs to both look like a 21st century spacesuit and work well," noting that it's "really difficult to achieve both." As for when they may be put to use, there's no exact date yet, but we know that SpaceX plans to send humans to orbit in its Dragon spacecraft, which was first tested in May 2017. In 2018, the company aims to send two humans around the moon, and they would presumably use this spacesuit. Together with Boeing, the company has been awarded a government contract to fly astronauts to the International Space Station starting this year, but it may not happen until 2019. Those astronauts, however, are likely to wear NASA-constructed suits. WATCH: We won't always have total solar eclipses in the future. Here's why
The Awkward, Necessary U.S.-Turkey Relationship
Posted on 23. Aug, 2017 by Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines in Democratic Party
Secretary of Defense James Mattis has a difficult task ahead. In a visit to Turkey Wednesday, he will step into the thicket of competing interests that characterizes one of America's most important military partnerships. At the center of the difficulty is American efforts in Syria, which rely fundamentally on a collection of local forces among whom are actors Turkey considers terrorists.