At a press conference on 5 July 1969, 11 days before the launch of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins sat on stage in a plastic box with blowers making sure they did not inhale airborne germs from the sizeable gathering of journalists.
Asked about the risk of getting stranded on the moon, Armstrong replied: “Well, that’s an unpleasant thing to think about.”
More than half a century later humans are now finally going back to earth’s nearest neighbour and, once again, obliged to sell the enterprise to the public. The four astronauts – three Americans and a Canadian – who will fly around the moon on Nasa’s Artemis II came to Washington last week to charm members of Congress and the media.
The turnout for a press conference at the Canadian embassy was more modest than for Armstrong and co. Instead of a plastic box, the blue flight suited astronauts spoke in an open air courtyard dominated by The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, a bronze sculpture of 13 mythological figures in a canoe.
But the most obvious break from the Apollo era was the diversity of the crew.
Christina Koch is the first woman and Victor Glover the first person of color assigned to a lunar mission. Nasa administrator Bill Nelson has called it “humanity’s crew”. The agency that does its best to stay above the political fray is aware of the potency of representation when it comes to public support and congressional funding.
Koch, mission specialist, noted on Wednesday that the many teams working on the mission “are a little bit different than the last time we went back to the moon, because we are going in an era this time where we go for all and by all, where everyone who has a dream and who’s willing to work hard on that dream is welcome at the table to contribute, and we’re going to be more successful as a result”.
Koch grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and spent summers on her family’s farm in Michigan. She studied electrical engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was selected as a Nasa astronaut in 2013.
Koch holds the world record for the longest spaceflight by a woman with a total of 328 days and took part in the first all-female spacewalks. The Nasa website says she enjoys “backpacking, rock climbing, paddling, surfing, running, yoga, community service, photography and travel”.
Glover, pilot, was born in Pomona, California, and holds various qualifications in engineering and military operational art and science. He joined the navy while still in college, was a test pilot in F-18 fighter jets and flew combat missions in Iraq. He was working as a legislative fellow in the office of Senator John McCain in 2013 when he was selected as an astronaut.
Glover served as pilot and second-in-command on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience and became the first Black astronaut to live on the International Space Station as part of a long-duration mission. During 168 days there he completed four spacewalks, spoke with vice-president Kamala Harris and delivered a university commencement address.
On Wednesday the Guardian asked both Koch and Glover about the challenge of growing up without obvious role models in a space program dominated by white men. Did they run into a set of assumptions from parents, teachers and others about who an astronaut is – and isn’t?
Koch replied: “When you look at the missions from 50 years ago, they looked very different than what you’re seeing here and I feel fortunate that, when I told my kindergarten teachers and all the teachers after that, I wanted to be an astronaut, they supported me. No one told me that that was unattainable. .
“What I can credit is people believing in me but also the role models I had. Even though I had never seen a female engineer in my small town in North Carolina, I did see people that believed in something and were brave enough to pursue what they believed in. Those were my heroes in North Carolina of the civil rights movement, who I learned about.”
Koch also named Sally Ride, who in 1983 became the first American woman to fly in space, and Mae Jemison, who in 1992 became the first African American woman to fly in space, among her sources of inspiration.
Glover, whose grandfather broke racial barriers to serve in the air force, recalled his childhood. “I took apart all my toys when I was a kid and I would put them back together and make new toys,” he said. “My parents were like, OK, they let me do it. I told them I want to pole vault – this was the earliest opportunity to leave the ground for an extended period of time – and my parents said, OK, be careful.”
“I told them I was going to go and fly after being in college to study engineering, and they were like, ooh, that sounds really dangerous and you might fly in combat but eventually they got to the point where they said, OK, be safe, we love you.”
He added: “I may have faced those challenges but I didn’t face them alone. I hope that I can continue to be there for someone who may be going through that in their own life. I’m sure we faced unique challenges but my mentors and my role models also weren’t just folks who looked like me. That’s a part of this as well.”
Glover recalled how a boy once came up to him and said Glover reminded him of Captain America, a Marvel comic book hero typically portrayed as white. “That really hit me in the heart. That kid looks up to me and he doesn’t look anything like me and that’s important. Some of my role models didn’t look like me but some of them did and so it’s great for us to have people that we look like and that we can relate to when we think about the things we want to do in the future.”
The mission’s commander is Reid Wiseman from Baltimore, Maryland. During a 165-day mission on the International Space Station, he and his crewmates completed more 300 scientific experiments.
Wiseman said: “These are our professional colleagues and we just look at them as astronauts, but every once in a while it hits me that we have the first woman, the first person of colour, the first Canadian on this mission to go see the far side of the moon.
“One of those moments was about three hours ago when we’re leaving Capitol Hill and there were just a couple of people outside. They’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh, astronauts, we want to get a picture with you!’ We stopped, did a quick picture, and as we were walking away, it was a group of women and we overheard them go, ‘And there’s a woman!’ She [Koch] just stopped and turned around and it was this magical moment.
“We are astronauts and we start to just see who we are as professionals but those magical moments when we realise how much it does matter for people to see themselves in this crew, to see themselves in the professional Nasa astronaut corps, it is foundational to our nation and to our world.”
This is also the first moon crew to include someone from outside the US: Canada’s Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot and the crew’s lone space novice.
He said: “It is important for me to see Canadians take ownership of their wins, and I often feel like as Canadians, we sell ourselves a little bit short, we maybe wouldn’t see ourselves as part of a moonshot and that just couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The Artemis crew, all in their 40s, will be the first to fly the Orion capsule, launching atop a space launch system rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida late next year. They will not land or even go into lunar orbit, but rather fly around the moon and head straight back to earth, a prelude to a lunar landing a year later.
Facing competition from China, Nasa aims to establish a long term moon presence to pave the way for sending the first humans to Mars in the late 2030s. But getting to the red planet will take an estimated nine months – a punishing physical and psychological journey for anyone.
Wiseman said: “The Earth is the most beautiful place we’ve ever seen and when you leave Earth and look back at it, you realise it’s alive and it is gorgeous. Floating is amazing. But floating also, after six months or a year, takes a huge toll on the human body. When we go to Mars, we’re going to have other issues that are going to become huge factors, which is: you’re not going to get to see your Earth every day. You’re not going to get that connection to your friends and family at home. You’re going to start to experience longer and longer communication delays, very high levels of radiation.”
“There are challenges that we will have to overcome. But in the last 20 years, working on the International Space Station, we’ve had people living off our planet since in the year 2000 continuously. So we’ve learned how to tackle these challenges and we’ve learned how important it is to have human interaction, human connection, to uplift those that are doing these missions. I know for sure when you put a crew on a vehicle and say you’re going to Mars, they are going to absolutely crush that mission and do well.”
Koch expressed a similar sentiment that implied, despite all the acrimony and self-doubt engulfing Washington in recent years, the can-do spirit is not dead yet. “After almost 11 months in space, my main thought in coming home about a Mars mission was: we can absolutely do this,” she said.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
