Living an isolated life: Astronauts, Antarctic doctors and climbers share their advice - CNN

For climbers scaling isolated peaks, people stationed on submarines, doctors working in Antarctica and astronauts in space, it's a way of life.

They had to adjust to, and thrive in, isolation in order to live and work under extreme conditions.

Astronauts such as Scott Kelly can spend up to a year in space living on the International Space Station. They spend two hours a day working out to maintain muscle and bone mass, and the rest of their waking hours are spent working on tasks and experiments. The space station is comparable to a six-bedroom house, and six astronauts can comfortably live in it for six months or longer at a time.

Climbers, including Jon Kedrowski, ascend some of the most isolated and challenging peaks in the world. They huddle in tents on their own or with a small crew on the sides of mountains upwards of 20,000 feet, like Everest. They can spend months away from their families in dangerous conditions with limited ways of contacting them.

"I think the first step to understand and handle what is going on is to come to terms with the fact that the next three to six months of our lives are going to be changed and altered forever," Kedrowski wrote in a newsletter, addressing the pandemic. "The faster we get comfortable with accepting this, the better off we will all be.

"And yes -- I have often equated the past 10 days of this isolation on par with any of my four expeditions to Everest, or other 25 expeditions to peaks over 20,000 feet in my career," he told CNN. "Except in the home, we are way more comfortable right now than we are in dining tents with no heat."

Crews manning the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Antarctica lead isolated lives with the same people for months at a time -- including during the winter months, where going outside or flying home is impossible. The station holds 50 people during winter, a long period between mid-February and late October, while 150 people can live there during the summer.

As for submariners, Jon Bailey, a robot submarine driver and former Navy submariner, said it best: "During my time in the Submarine Service, I -- along with many others -- endured many weeks and months cooped up in a steel tube under the waves," he shared in a tweet. "Like all other patrols, this one will end. Bring your world closer, focus on little things that you enjoy and make plans for the future. At least you should have a window!"

Here are their tips for coping, staying sane and even thriving.

Establish a routine

Forming new habits and schedules is the number one thing all of our experts agreed on. It provides structure and helps the time pass without it feeling insurmountable or undefined.

European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake spent 186 days aboard the International Space Station between 2015 and 2016. While he was on the station, Peake even completed the London Marathon using the station's treadmill.

"Habits and routine are so key to keeping everything under control in a confined and isolated situation," he said during a call organized by International Asteroid Day founders on Thursday. "That structure it gives you is vital; it's key to feel that in situations that feel out of control. We need to embrace that at home in these difficult conditions for everyone. We call it normalizing the abnormal."

For Peake, when he was on station that meant having tea and a favorite meal after waking. For astronauts just starting their stint on the station, the initial schedule is rigid: They know when they need to eat, exercise and complete tasks. Gradually, this routine relaxes to give the astronauts more control over their time.

"It provides a positive mental attitude in a new environment," Peake said.

The key to astronauts successfully living with one another for six months or more can be chalked up to what NASA calls EB, or Expeditionary Behavior.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain, who spent 204 days on the station between 2018 and 2019, has been sharing good examples of successful EB on Twitter.

She highlights leadership -- as well as "followership," meaning knowing when to step back and follow another's lead -- as key for those living in confined spaces with one another and beginning a routine together. It's all about trusting each person and knowing they will all accept responsibility.

"Adjust your style to your environment," she said. "Assign tasks and set goals. Lead by example. Give direction, information, feedback, coaching and encouragement. Ensure your teammates have resources. Talk when something isn't right. Ask questions. Offer solutions, not just problems."

Breaking down your day into different categories, and even changing up the rooms where things happen, can help.

"Life at sea is dictated by shifts and routines," Bailey shared in a tweet. "You [could] tell what day it was by what was for dinner. Make a routine now, test it, then write it down & stick to it. Divide your day up into work (if home working) rest, exercise, meals, hobbies, etc. Do the same for kids."

Because you're all going to be spending more time in your home, make cleaning part of that daily or weekly routine, he said.

And it's OK if you need to take some time for yourself as part of the routine.

"The only place private at sea was your bunk," he shared in a tweet. "Make a dedicated private time / place in the routine. Even if you timeshare the front room get everyone a couple of hours alone. Do whatever you want."

Scott Parazynski knows a thing or two about "dealing with isolation, risk and uncertainty," he said. He's a NASA astronaut; has climbed Everest; ventured inside Masaya volcano's crater in Nicaragua; and has supported the winter crews at the South Pole Station via telemedicine.

"Time flies when you have a sense of purpose or mission," he said. "Keeping your mind and body active and engaged, and working towards a higher purpose can stave off the monotony and some of the stressors perpetually around you."

Set goals and start new hobbies

Part of that new routine can include making time for new things you've always wanted to try. Goals and hobbies can act as a motivational tool during uncertain times.

"Even though my life has been altered like most other people, I decided to refocus and create a new plan," Kedrowski said. "I signed up for the New York City Marathon and will start to train for that for later this year when the dust settles."

It's not easy for everyone to take on new things at this time, due to varying circumstances. But if you suddenly have more time than you used to, it might be uplifting to fill it with new things.

"This may be especially difficult for those who've been furloughed during this pandemic, and aren't able to otherwise continue their work from home, and/or having to care for homebound kids," Parazynski said. "If you now find yourself with lots of time but no mission, is it a time to learn a new language, or how to code through an online course? An opportunity to shed some extra pounds, or a chance to read the stack of books that's accumulated on your nightstand? Are you in a position to volunteer to support those most vulnerable? It might be the right time to find your new mission."

Beth Healey, a British medical doctor who has spent time at South Pole Station, said the hardest times may come later, rather than at the beginning. When that slump hits, it's time to find something that will bring you purpose and joy.

"In the beginning, you're super motivated and have grand plans of what you're going to do," she said. "The key challenge is to keep that motivation going. In Antarctica, we would plan out events and goals to get us through that 'third quarter' of winter. In this current situation, we don't know how long it will last, but it's more likely to be a marathon than a sprint."

She suggested putting down specific dates with things next to them that you'd like to accomplish, like mile markers along the way.

Remember to have some fun, too

Routines are great, but that doesn't mean you can't change things up. Even the astronauts on the space station take time for fun. NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who recently returned from a record-breaking stay on the station, said setting aside time for meals together, celebrations and other fun activities felt special.

Part of that was food-based, like care packages sent up to the station including pizza kits, which gave astronauts the opportunity to each create their own and eat together.

"Take time to prepare meals," Bailey shared in a tweet. "One boat did Steak Saturdays, Fishy Friday, Curry & Pizza nights."

And frankly, we all have a little more time now. Enjoy it while you can.

"Realize that this is an extended spring break," Kedrowski said. "This hasn't happened in our lifetime and probably won't ever happen again once we get through the tough parts in the next few months. Relax and rest, recharge your batteries and find ways to have some fun."

Get outside (if you can), take care of yourself and stay active

Astronauts know firsthand that taking care of yourself is key to mission success. They monitor their health on physical and psychological levels, especially during long-term spaceflight.

Self-care for astronauts includes hygiene, time management, sleep and maintaining mood.

"Realistically assess your own strengths and weaknesses," McClain said. "Learn from mistakes. Identify personal tendencies and their influence on your success or failure. Be open about your weaknesses and feelings. Take action to mitigate your own stress or negativity (don't pass it on to the group). Be social. Seek feedback. Balance work, rest and personal time. Be organized."

Taking time to exercise is not only good for you, it provides a mental break that separates you from work or something else you were doing, astronaut Scott Kelly told CNN.

During exercise, you can push yourself physically or turn inwardly to meditate.

"It's possible to get in your car, leave your town or city and get lost outside," Kedrowski said. "For me that's easy; I live in a place in Colorado where my home backs up to wilderness. But I will also get in the car and drive to trailheads. Get creative. Take your skis or snowshoes, or come up with something you haven't done before outside, and go do it.

"Every day I get up and stretch, most days I grab my foam roller and lately, if I'm not leaving for an excursion, I tap into my yoga routine," he added. "I recently started meditating. It allows the body to slow down, reflect and think, but also relax and [be] calm."

Stay connected and take care of others

If you're living with family or friends right now, the astronauts refer to that as "group living EB."

"Cooperate rather than compete," McClain said. "Actively cultivate group culture (use each individual's culture to build the whole). Respect roles, responsibilities and workload. Take accountability; give praise freely. Then work to ensure a positive team attitude. Keep calm in conflict."

But if you're in isolation, it's important to maintain a connection with others. Check on your loved ones, use FaceTime, Skype or other ways of video-chatting and let them know you care.

On the space station, they call it "team care."

"Demonstrate patience and respect," McClain said. "Encourage others. Monitor your team for signs of stress or fatigue. Encourage participation in team activities. Develop positive relationships. Volunteer for the unpleasant tasks. Offer and accept help. Share credit; take the blame."

Astronauts during long-term spaceflight have video chats with loved ones to stay connected.

"Even during radio silence," submariners would receive weekly telegrams from loved ones, Bailey said.

Parazynski has seen the benefits of staying connected and communicating across his varied experiences with isolation.

"It can take extra effort and energy to do so -- I can only imagine how difficult it is for the 44 or so winter-over crew who spend many months isolated together in an isolation ultramarathon at the South Pole Station -- but it makes the journey a shared, more enjoyable and productive experience," he said.

And you've heard it a lot, but we're all in this together

During the Apollo 9 mission, NASA astronaut Rusty Schweickart served as the lunar module pilot for the third manned flight of the Apollo series and the first manned flight of the lunar module, according to the agency.

Schweickart left the spacecraft for a 46-minute spacewalk to test the portable life support backpack that would later be used on the lunar surface. In images captured by his crewmates, Schweickart exits the craft in space with a brilliant view of Earth behind him.

It gave him a unique perspective about our planet and all of the life that exists on it.

"This is one of the very few times when it's very clear to everyone on this planet that we're all one life form, and our life form is being challenged by a little bug we can't see," he said. "But it's so insidious, it has spread through the whole community. We're used to being individuals -- this is kind of a shock to find, in a sense, we're all one and wrestling with this bug. This is an interesting moment in time when everyone on the planet has realized that."

Taking comfort in that -- in the team around us, all on this "mission" -- can help create a positive attitude.

"In anything that's bad and challenging, if you look hard enough, you can find some good in it," Kelly told CNN.

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2020-03-27 16:25:06Z
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Frogs' skulls are more bizarre (and beautiful) than you ever imagined - Livescience.com

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Frogs' skulls are more bizarre (and beautiful) than you ever imagined  Livescience.com
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2020-03-27 11:37:00Z
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Neanderthals Feasted on Seafood, Seabirds, Perhaps Even Dolphins - The New York Times

Neanderthals are often portrayed chowing down on mammoth meals and woolly rhino ribs. But an analysis of their leftovers from a coastal cave in Portugal suggests fish and mollusks claimed a special place on their Paleolithic palates.

“We all have that image of the primitive Neanderthal that eats lots of meat,” said Filipa Rodrigues, an archaeologist at the University of Lisbon and author of a paper published Thursday in Science. “Now, we have this new perspective that they explored the marine resources like Homo sapiens did.”

Archaeologists have previously found evidence that Neanderthals ate, collected and wore jewelry fashioned from shellfish. But evidence they consumed large amounts of fish has been lacking. Some scientists have argued Neanderthals did not have the skill or wit to catch fish as their Homo sapiens contemporaries did in Africa, and may have lost out on consuming aquatic animals rich in fatty acids that could have aided with brain development.

But deep in Cueva de Figueira Brava, which housed Neanderthals about 100,000 years ago, Dr. Rodrigues and her colleagues have uncovered more than 560 fish bones, as well as remains from clams, mussels, crabs, waterfowl, seabirds, seals and dolphins. The findings suggest Neanderthals cast a wide net to add sea creatures to their dinner menus, and the researchers say it shows the behavior of the archaic species was comparable to modern humans that lived at the time.

“In this one tiny window of visibility, they demonstrate that Neanderthals ate quantities of seafood,” said Peter Rowley-Conwy, an archaeologist from Durham University, who was not involved in the study.

When Neanderthals occupied Figueira Brava, it was about a mile from the water. Today the cave, some 20 miles south of Lisbon, is right on the coast. The site had been previously explored and identified in the 1980s as a Neanderthal shelter, but no fish remains were uncovered.

Dr. Rodrigues and her team excavated the cave from 2010 through 2013. To get to their point of interest, they went through one of three cave entrances into a room and then squeezed through a narrow passageway into another, much smaller room. To fit through the channel, Dr. Rodrigues had to stretch one arm straight above her head and place the other at her side and start “crawling like a worm.”

Brown crab claws recovered from the site.Credit...Zilhão et al. Science, 2020

Palourde clam fragments.Credit...Zilhão et al. Science, 2020

Her cramped and damp destination offered little relief.

“I was in the fetal position every single day,” Dr. Rodrigues said. “It’s not possible to stand up or stretch your legs.”

Inside, she worked alongside João Zilhão, an archaeologist from the University of Barcelona and lead author of the study, scraping away and collecting sediments. The two were sometimes joined by a third researcher, but never a fourth because the space was too tight. They had widened an existing hole in the cave wall that led outside, which let them receive supplies and deliver bags full of sediments to other team members for analysis. The sediment layers formed between 86,000 and 106,000 years ago.

One day in 2012, Dr. Zilhão made an unusual find.

“I was going through the sediment with my trowel and all of a sudden I spotted something and went ‘Wow! Looks like a fish vertebra,’” Dr. Zilhão said. He kept it, shimmied through the passageway and returned to the team so he could show the coin-size object to Sónia Gabriel, a zooarchaeologist at the Portuguese Ministry of Culture.

“When he came out he was like ‘Oh look at this vertebra. Is this a mammal vertebra?’” she said. “And I was like, ‘No, no that’s a fish vertebra — It’s a shark!’”

They later found shark teeth belonging to a different species, which suggested the Neanderthals feasted on a buffet of aquatic animals. The sediment contained bones belonging to eels, morays, conger, mullet and sea bream. They also found burned and cracked claws belonging to brown crabs and spider crabs, and even sea birds. They said this marine life could have made up about half of these Neanderthals’ diet, although they don’t know what was caught directly from the sea or scavenged from creatures that washed ashore or got trapped in tide pools.

In addition to the “surf,” they found plenty of “turf,” such as remains from horses, deer, ibex, aurochs, porcupine and tortoise. Plants were also part of the Neanderthal’s diet as evidenced by pine nuts.

The find from the Portuguese cave taps into ongoing scientific debates about the cognitive sophistication of Neanderthals, and how different the extinct species really was from our earliest modern human ancestors.

Dr. Zilhão said he hoped his finding would help reshape the popular image of Neanderthals as cold-adapted, mammoth hunting brutes.

“The real Neanderthals are like what we’ve been able to show at Figueira,” he said. “They are no different from people living in the same setting and the same environment 100,000 years ago in South Africa or 7,000 years ago across the river in Portugal.”

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2020-03-27 10:57:03Z
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Atlas 5 launch caps deployment of ultra-secure military communications network - Spaceflight Now

An Atlas 5 rocket fired off pad 41 at Cape Canaveral at 4:18 p.m. EDT (2018 GMT) Thursday. Credit: United Launch Alliance

The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. military’s most secure satellite communications fleet lifted off from Cape Canaveral Thursday aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, extending the network’s expected lifetime beyond 2030.

The 197-foot-tall (60-meter) Atlas 5 rocket fired off pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:18 p.m. EDT (2018 GMT) Thursday. The fiery start to the mission was delayed more than an hour for ULA teams to troubleshoot a problem with a ground hydraulics controller, which triggered a last-minute hold in the day’s first countdown.

The technical concern was cleared before the end of Thursday’s two-hour launch window, and the countdown resumed for another launch attempt. At T-minus 2.7 seconds, the rocket’s kerosene-fueled RD-180 engine flashed to life, followed seconds later by ignition of five strap-on solid rocket boosters.

The Atlas 5 climbed away from the launch pad with some 2.6 million pounds of thrust, turning east over the Atlantic Ocean with the U.S. military’s sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite.

The launcher’s boosters — made by Aerojet Rocketdyne — burned out and jettisoned less than two minutes after liftoff, followed by separation of the Atlas 5’s Swiss-made payload fairing. Four-and-a-half minutes into the mission, the Atlas 5’s first stage Russian-built main engine shut down, and stage separation occurred seconds later.

The Atlas 5’s Centaur upper stage ignited its RL10C-1 engine for the first of three burns to inject the AEHF 6 satellite into a unique, high-altitude transfer orbit on the way to a final operating post more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator.

Thursday’s mission marked the 500th production RL10 engine to be flown. RL10 engines, which burn liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, have flown on Atlas, Saturn and Titan rockets, sending spacecraft toward every planet in the solar system.

After the Centaur’s second burn — around a half-hour after liftoff — the rocket released a small suitcase-sized CubeSat secondary payload named TDO 2.

Sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory and produced at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the TDO 2 spacecraft is based on a 12U CubeSat design. Its mission will support “space domain awareness” through optical calibration and satellite laser ranging, according to the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.

After deploying the TDO 2 payload, the Centaur coasted for five hours before reigniting the RL10 engine for a third time to reshape the rocket’s orbit. The final RL10 burn occurred at an altitude of around 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers).

The planned 88-second burn raised the orbit’s perigee, or low point, and reduced its inclination. The maneuver placed the AEHF 6 spacecraft closer to its operating orbit, reducing the satellite’s expected fuel usage and extending its usable lifetime.

At 9:59 p.m. EDT (0159 GMT), the Centaur stage released the AEHF 6 spacecraft. Minutes later, satellite-builder Lockheed Martin confirmed ground teams were receiving signals from the new satellite.

“We are thrilled to accomplish this important milestone on the last AEHF satellite,” said Col. John Dukes, senior materiel leader for the geosynchronous orbit division of SMC’s production corps. “The combined integrated team worked diligently to ensure the success of this mission. The satellite is operating as expected and is ready to undergo orbit raising and on-orbit testing for the next several months after which it will provide mission critical capabilities to our warfighters.”

The AEHF 6 satellite was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing in February ahead of Thursday’s launch. Credit: United Launch Alliance

The successful launch Thursday marked the first deployment of a U.S. Space Force payload since the formal establishment of the new military service in December. The AEHF satellites were previously managed the Air Force, and the first five launched on Atlas 5 rockets from Cape Canaveral beginning in August 2010.

The Space Force remains part of the Air Force, but the new service took over units formerly under the authority of Air Force Space Command.

“Congratulations to the U.S. Space Force on liftoff of your first mission,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO, in a statement. “We are proud to be your partner for this historic mission and honored to have launched the entire Lockheed Martin produced AEHF constellation on Atlas 5 rockets. We understand the critical importance of delivering protected communications to strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air.”

U.S. military satellite tracking data indicated the AEHF 6 spacecraft separated from the Centaur upper stage in an elliptical transfer orbit ranging between 6,767 miles (10,891 kilometers) and 21,492 miles (35,313 kilometers), with an inclination of 13.7 degrees to the equator.

Those orbit figures were very close to pre-launch predictions. The RL10’s final burn before deploying the AEHF 6 satellite was programmed to continue until sensors detected a low propellant level on the Centaur stage, ensuring the payload reached the best orbit possible.

The AEHF 6 satellite will use its own engine and plasma thrusters to maneuver into a circular geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles over the equator, where the craft’s speed will match the rate of Earth’s rotation. That will allow AEHF 6 to remain over the same part of the world 24 hours per day.

Military officials have not disclosed the geographic coverage area for AEHF 6.

Designed to operate at least 14 years, the AEHF satellites are follow-ons to the Air Force’s Milstar satellite network.

Each of the AEHF satellites, which are spread around the world to enable global coverage, provides more capacity than the entire five-satellite Milstar constellation, which launched in the 1990s and 2000s. The AEHF satellites are cross-linked with one another, allowing the network to beam signals around the world without going through a ground station.

AEHF 6 will go straight into operations once it passes post-launch tests, Space Force officials said.

The AEHF satellites provide connectivity at different specified data rates between 75 bits per second to 8 megabits per second. Those data rates are slow by modern standards, but what distinguishes the AEHF satellites is their ability to resist jamming and continue operating, even in the event of nuclear war.

Each satellite also carries gimbaled dish antennas to reach users on-the-move, phased array antennas with beams can be steered electronically rather than mechanically, and nulling antennas to provide “extremely high anti-jam capability to in-theater users,” according to Northrop Grumman, supplier of the AEHF communications payload.

“AEHF, if we were to have to operate in (the highest bandwidth) mode, will enable the President of the United States, national leaders and four international allies to be able to communicate in voice-recognizable communication, even through any event,” Dukes said.

The governments of Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have joined the AEHF program.

“Across the globe, we have numerous Army, Navy, Air Force, and joint international partner terminals with the AEHF constellation online,” Dukes said. “We have enough bandwidth to service all the terminals in our concept of operations. So by upgrading from the Milstar to the AEHF constellation, we’re able to provide that capability from now to beyond 2030.”

Thursday’s launch went ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced delays in many upcoming launches.

But the launch of the AEHF 6 satellite was deemed critical by military leaders.

“There are critical things or mission-essential things that the U.S. Department of Defense does every day, regardless of what the current global situation is,” said Lt. Gen. John “JT” Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base. “So even in the face of a global pandemic like the COVID-19 crisis, we must continue to perform mission-essential tasks.

“One of those mission-essential tasks, one of those things that we have to do for the warfighter and for the United States of America is launch AEHF 6,” Thompson said. “It is designated mission-essential, and it’s because the AEHF constellation supports the President of the United States, other national leaders and the joint forces with critical strategic communications around the planet.

“This particular launch extends that capability out into the timeframe beyond 2030,” Thompson said.

ULA says its next Atlas 5 launch is scheduled for May, when the next flight of the military’s X-37B spaceplane is scheduled for takeoff from Cape Canaveral.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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2020-03-27 06:51:08Z
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Live: Watch the most powerful Atlas V rocket launch from Cape Canaveral - Florida Today

Emre Kelly, Antonia Jaramillo and Rachael Joy Florida Today

Published 1:55 PM EDT Mar 26, 2020

Follow live as United Launch Alliance targets 2:57 p.m., the opening of a two-hour window, for the launch of a military communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Atlas V rocket is set to its most powerful configuration with five solid rocket boosters.

Watch live and join our chat below:

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2020-03-26 17:59:36Z
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Newly discovered feathered dinosaur was one of the last raptors before extinction - CNN

The fossils of the newly discovered dinosaur, Dineobellator notohesperus, were discovered in New Mexico, according to a new study.

Robert Sullivan, research associate at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, first discovered the fossils in 2008. The fossils were in rocks dating back to the Cretaceous period in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico.

Sullivan and his colleagues, including State Museum of Pennsylvania curator of paleontology and geology curator Steven Jasinski, excavated and collected 20 fossils over four separate digs.

They named it Dineobellator notohesperus, which means "Navajo warrior from the Southwest" to honor the Navajo people who live in the same region. The study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.

The funky-looking dinosaur was on the small side, only about three feet tall at the hip, reaching between six and seven feet long and only weighing about 40 to 50 pounds.

Researchers now believe that all dinosaurs in the raptor family, including the Velociraptors of "Jurassic Park" fame, were covered in feathers. Dineobellator is no exception, with the presence of quill knobs, or bumps, left on fossilized bone, suggesting the same.

The raptor family of dinosaurs is known as dromaeosaurids. And this new fossil sheds light on their diversity and evolution -- especially as one of the last surviving raptors before all dinosaurs went extinct.

Dineobellator was built to be a carnivorous predator who thrived, even during the reign of Tyrannosaurus rex at the end of the Cretaceous period before the mass extinction event 66 million years ago.

Jasinski was able to visualize the dinosaur's specialized, unique features by studying its fossils -- things that may not have even been apparent if you observed a live dinosaur.

The shape of its bones, like its upper arm bone, allowed muscles to be attached from a different angle, providing more strength. It also had excellent grip and grasping strength.

Compared to other dinosaurs at the time, like Tyrannosaurus rex, they had relatively larger, longer arms, Jasinski said.

"Combining the large claws with the stronger arms and grasping ability suggests Dineobellator could have used this combination to jump on and attack much larger dinosaurs than themselves, and this would have been especially useful if a pack went after dinosaurs several times their size," he said.

This particular dinosaur bears scars on its bones from some of its rough encounters.

Something caused an injury to its ribs, but the dinosaur survived and its bone even regrew and healed. There is also a gouge and puncture mark on one of its claws that was likely caused by another Dineobellator sinking its own claw into it. The conflict was likely over a mate or resources.

"It is interesting to find out new things about a species of dinosaur, but it's especially surprising when you can understand a bit more about the life of a single individual," Jasinski said.

One of the most unique features was its tail. Raptors were known for having long, stiff tails that helped provide balance and allowed for greater speed, stabilized by bones and tendons.

But Dineobellator's tail was more mobile at the base, which was near its hips.

"Think of a cheetah chasing a gazelle," Jasinski said. "The tail is held straight, but when the gazelle changes direction, the cheetah whips its tail around to counterbalance its change of direction. This increases the cheetah's agility by having the tail act as a counterbalance for the sudden changes in direction."

So not only was Dineobellator able to run with balance and speed in a straight line, but it could also turn quickly and change directions, "making it an excellent pursuit predator, and potentially better than other dromaeosaurids," Jasinski said.

Geographically, the discovery puts Dineobellator in southern North America at a time when most raptors had already disappeared from the fossil record.

It's most closely related to Velociraptor and other species like it, which originated in Asia. This means Dineobellator's ancestors not only migrated from Asia before the mass extinction, but raptor dinosaurs likely ventured back and forth on this route multiple times.

Living in a diverse ecosystem filled with a wealth of other Late Cretaceous dinosaurs, Dineobellator would have thrived by hunting prey across open habitats. Tyrannosaurus rex, however, likely stuck to the forest's edge, Jasinski said.

"All of this leads to the picture of an active, swift, agile predator living in the twilight of the time of the dinosaurs without realizing that a catastrophe was just around the corner," Jasinski said. "This dynamic ecosystem was doing well, with a large variety of dinosaurs and other animals, right up until the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous."

Jasinski warned that it's not too dissimilar from the current state of things.

"If we don't want our tigers and polar bears and other endangered animals to suffer the same fate as Dineobellator, we must seek to change what's happening and stop being a modern day 'asteroid,' " he said.

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2020-03-26 17:00:00Z
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ULA targeting first launch for the US Space Force this afternoon during pandemic - The Verge

The United Launch Alliance is on track to launch a communications satellite for the US Space Force out of Cape Canaveral, Florida this afternoon — the company’s first flight for the newly minted military branch. The flight is happening against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced other rocket companies to stand down from their missions to space.

For ULA, the pandemic has not stopped the company’s ability to move forward with launch preparations, though they did make some adjustments to protect their workers. In early March, before state governments started issuing lockdowns, ULA CEO Tory Bruno said that the company had issued new precautions in response to the outbreak, such as limiting how many people could be in meetings and eliminating all non-essential travel, according to Space News. However, travel associated with upcoming launches — such as traveling to launch sites — was considered essential, he said.

ULA confirmed that these policies are still in place and that the company has made it easier for employees to work from home. A “cross-functional team” is also monitoring the situation and following CDC guidelines, according to ULA. Meanwhile, the company is deep cleaning their facilities daily and quarantining personnel who may have been exposed to people with COVID-19.

ULA says it does not anticipate any delays in the future. “As for other launches or developments, we are not currently projecting any disruptions to our manifest,” a ULA spokesperson said in a statement. “ULA is working closely with our mission partners to navigate this unprecedented situation. We are working to ensure that we retain a fully functioning mission-essential capability to support our nation.”

While ULA is still able to launch, other US space companies are standing down or postponing missions as they start to feel the full weight of the pandemic. Small satellite launcher Rocket Lab announced it would delay its upcoming launch out of New Zealand next week in order “to protect the health of our team members, our families & the community.” Meanwhile, SpaceX’s upcoming launch of a Venezuelan satellite has been postponed indefinitely because of restrictions put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19. It’s not just launch companies that are hurting. Bigelow Aerospace, which creates space habitats, laid off its entire workforce this week in order to comply with the Nevada governor’s order to close all non-essential businesses.

Things could change for ULA in the future, but for now, the company is ready to launch its workhorse Atlas V rocket. The vehicle is lofting the sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite, or AEHF-6, for the Space Force. The satellite, headed to a high orbit above Earth 22,000 miles up, will join the five other AEHF satellites already in space that “provide global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea, and air platforms,” according to the company. ULA also launched all the other AEHF satellites.

Takeoff of ULA’s Atlas V is scheduled for 2:57PM ET out of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and the company has a two-hour launch window to get the rocket in the air. ULA plans to provide live coverage of the launch starting at 2:37PM ET, so check back then to watch the Atlas V take flight.

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2020-03-26 13:58:39Z
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