Science News Roundup: Xpeng-backed startup says to deliver flying cars in 2024; Chinese astronauts leave space station module for Earth and more

They consist of a billionaire internet commerce executive and jet pilot; a geoscientist and onetime finalist in NASA's astronaut candidate program; a physician's assistant at the childhood cancer hospital where she was once a patient; and an aerospace data engineer and U.S. Air Force veteran. First all-civilian crew launched to orbit aboard SpaceX rocket ship A billionaire e-commerce executive and three less-wealthy private citizens chosen to join him blasted off from Florida on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket ship and soared into orbit, the first all-civilian crew ever to circle the Earth from space.


Reuters | Updated: 16-09-2021 10:39 IST | Created: 16-09-2021 10:30 IST
Science News Roundup: Xpeng-backed startup says to deliver flying cars in 2024; Chinese astronauts leave space station module for Earth and more
Representative Image Image Credit: Flickr

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Xpeng-backed startup says to deliver flying cars in 2024

Xpeng Heitech, a flying car startup backed by electric vehicle maker Xpeng Inc, said on Wednesday that it would deliver flying cars to customers in 2024. The startup, founded in 2013 and funded by Xpeng and Xpeng's Chief Executive He Xiaopeng, now employs 400 people and will expand the workforce to have 700 people by the end of this year, company's founder Zhao Deli told World New Energy Vehicle Congress.

Chinese astronauts leave space station module for Earth

Three Chinese astronauts left a space station module on Thursday on a spacecraft bound for Earth, completing the third of more than 10 missions needed to finish China's first space station by the end of next year. The astronauts have left the Tianhe module on the Shenzhou-12 probe after spending 90 days in space, a record for China, according to state media.

Factbox-Profiles of first all-civilian space crew headed for orbit

The quartet of private citizens who make up the Inspiration4 team, poised to make history aboard a SpaceX rocket ship as the first all-civilian crew launched into orbit, may appear at first glance to be everyday people, but they are far from ordinary. They consist of a billionaire internet commerce executive and jet pilot; a geoscientist and onetime finalist in NASA's astronaut candidate program; a physician's assistant at the childhood cancer hospital where she was once a patient; and an aerospace data engineer and U.S. Air Force veteran.

First all-civilian crew launched to orbit aboard SpaceX rocket ship

A billionaire e-commerce executive and three less-wealthy private citizens chosen to join him blasted off from Florida on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket ship and soared into orbit, the first all-civilian crew ever to circle the Earth from space. The quartet of amateur astronauts, led by the American founder and chief executive of financial services firm Shift4 Payments Inc, Jared Isaacman, lifted off just before sunset from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

All-civilian SpaceX crew feels only 'good kind' of jitters before launch

The four would-be citizen astronauts poised to ride a SpaceX rocket ship around the globe as the first all-civilian crew launched into orbit said on Tuesday they were eager for liftoff on the eve of their flight, feeling only "the good kind" of jitters. "I was just worried that this moment would never come in my life. Let's get going, let's do it," said Sian Proctor, 51, a geoscience professor, artist, and lifelong space enthusiast who was a 2009 finalist in NASA's astronaut candidate program before she was cut.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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