SPACE CADETS / SKY HIGH AND BEYOND

COMING AND GOING:

Outgoing. Big week for space cadets as NASA successfully launched its Perseverance rover as part of its Mars 2020 exploration program.  All’s well so far as the probe targets a February, 2021 landing on the red planet.

Incoming.  SpaceX’s Crew Dragon returns NASA astronauts to Earth after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida.  The first launch and recovery from U.S. soil in decades brought home two astronauts, Robert Behnken  and Doug Hurley.  SpaceX capsule is shown being hoisted aboard a recover vessel.

PORT EXPLODES:

Speaking of going sky high: More than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate, a powerful ingredient in fertilizer and terrorist bomb making exploded in a Beirut, Lebanon warehouse killing more than 130 and injuring thousands.  Reports filtering in after the blast say the fertilizer had been stored in the port area for six years.  A fire nearby to the storage area set off the massive explosion. Could it have been an ammo dump for regional bomb making? No one is talking because it either isn't true or it is true.  
Satellite image is by Planet Labs, Inc.