8/31/2024
By Matthew, Ren, and Ishaan
New Slate. Need I say more?
Special Must Read – Olympics! 3
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore: A Journey Extended 4
Djokovic Eliminated After a HUGE Shocker! 6
Venezuelan Election Troubles 7
We’re Back!
Hey everyone! Welcome back to yet another issue of SVM News! Again, we will be satisfying the TV fans with yet another update on upcoming films! However, this month we have something special we’d like to recognize. What is it? Read on and you’ll find out!
Updates
- Nothing much has changed over the past month, we did lose one of our members due to personal reasons that we will not spoil. Which means… WE ARE HIRING! Yep, you heard it, we are hiring. Please keep in mind, by the time you are reading this, we might have already found a new member to add to our staff crew, but otherwise, you are welcome to join us!
Newsfeed
Special Must Read – Olympics!
From Snoop Dogg cheering for the women’s gymnastic’s team (Yes, I really said Snoop Dogg), to Lebron being the rebounding leader for our country, the Olympics are a subject of much excitement, controversy, and emotion. Let’s focus on some of the key moments
- The U.S.’s greatest achievement (in our opinion) was its men’s gymnastics team. Having not been on the podium since 2008, the bronze medal was a great achievement for team U.S.A.. The team’s victory was greatly contributed to by Brody Malone, who miraculously led the U.S. to success after a serious knee injury in 2023. Notably (or maybe someone just loved watching that one video and we saw it too many times) Stephen Nedoroscik, fighting with coloboma and strabismus, which are two vision disorders, succeeded against all odds in the horse event. All in all, our country broke a barrier with the medals in gymnastics. Go U.S.A.!
- With the most famous NBA players in the U.S., from James Harden to Curry, team U.S.A is abso-freakin-lutely stacked! According to teamusa.com, “The 2024 Paris Olympic Games proved to be a huge success for all 31 teams and 595 athletes from Team USA. With 40 gold, 44 silver, and 42 bronze medals, Team USA topped the medal podium with a total of 126 medals and gave their best performance since Los Angeles 1984.”
- In swimming, Katie Ledecky once again dominates the competition. After winning her ninth medal, she is one of the most decorated female olympians in the U.S. Her competition expounds her extreme perseverance, what with racing neck-to-neck in the lanes with Ariane Titmus. The stakes were high, with Ledecky barely winning my one second. However, she prevailed in the end.
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore: A Journey Extended
In an unexpected turn of events, NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore are extending their stay aboard the International Space Station because of technical issues their return vehicle, Boeing’s Starliner, is presenting. The astronauts will stay in space until February of 2025 after their eight-day mission that began on June 5, 2024.
The Mission
Williams and Wilmore were flown into space with the big task of testing Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft-a major milestone for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. This new program is intended to enable new spacecraft to be certified for regular crewed missions to the ISS, giving NASA more options for its needs in space travel. The mission was expected to show that Starliner would be ready to fly on future missions.
Technical Challenges
Within hours of launching into space, it developed a couple of problems: helium leaks and malfunctioning thrusters. “These issues have raised concerns about the spacecraft’s ability to safely bring the astronauts back to Earth. After extensive analysis and testing by NASA and Boeing there was too much risk to bring the astronauts home on the Starliner.
NASA has decided to send Williams and Wilmore back to Earth using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceships. This would mean that the astronauts will have to stay on the ISS for six continuous months, attending to scientific research and performing maintenance work. Both are known veterans of space flight and have embraced the decision to get them ready for an extended mission.
Look Ahead
Their extended stay will afford Williams and Wilmore increased opportunities to contribute to ongoing projects of the ISS. They will conduct several scientific experiments, perform spacewalks, and carry out maintenance tasks for station functionality and productivity. Such stamina and flexibility on behalf of the astronauts indicate just how unpredictable space travel is and why rigorous testing and safety measures are in place.
While NASA and Boeing have been ironing out the wrinkles with Starliner, the concern has been with the safety and health of the astronauts. The fact that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon would be utilized to return them shows great cooperation within the space industry in assuring mission success and safety by all means.
The extended mission of Williams and Wilmore is a reminder of the pitfalls and high points of space travel. Their dedication and professionalism serve as a continued inspiration and set the path for other future astronauts.
Djokovic Eliminated After a HUGE Shocker!
24 hours after Carlos Alcaraz, a young tennis star, got booted from the tournament, Novak Djokovic, the reigning champion and 24-time Grand Slam winner, lost to a suddenly lethal Australian, Alexei Popyrin. He put Djokovic into the scrap pile of men’s seeds at this year’s tournament, winning 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
CNN shows: Djokovic says, “I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played, honestly, serving by far the worst ever,” he said. “Just an awful match for me.”
“While the No. 1 seed, Jannik Sinner, is still standing, these two results in two nights have blown open the U.S. Open men’s field. Grand Slam near-misses, like Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev, and a cast of home dreamers desperate to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam since 2003, are suddenly alive with a clearer path.”
Novak against Alexei.
This current US Open has been a huge disappointment for some of the rising and current stars.
Venezuelan Election Troubles
The Venezuelan election march against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, took to the streets this Wednesday, and is now called a ‘fraud’.
“The demonstration in the capital, Caracas, comes exactly a month after the fraught July 28 vote in which Maduro was declared the winner despite strong evidence that opposition candidate Edmundo González won by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, which drew international condemnation that the vote lacked transparency.” VAO News states. “Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who along with González went into hiding following the election, re-emerged to attend Wednesday’s rally, waving a Venezuelan flag and hugging small children from the back of a truck as supporters shouted “Freedom!”
Maduro is now using security forces to preserve his power.
“Acknowledging the steep challenge of forcing Maduro from power, Machado said the movement she leads will be strategic about calling for additional demonstrations. But she said the international pressure on Maduro is unlikely to cease any time soon and pointed out that not a single Western democracy has recognized what she called Maduro’s “fraud.”
This Venezuelan crisis has reached a new level, and it’s not looking too good.
Credits
We’d like to thank…
- teamusa.com, for information
- Matthew Fu, for his devotion (and Olympics section)
- Ren Cai, for his writing (NASA section)
- Ishaan Jain, for his two articles