Author: ANews

FAA grounds SpaceX after fiery landing of uncrewed launch: It may impact Starliner, Polaris Dawn

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SpaceX has been looking for a viable window to launch four private astronauts into orbit on the Polaris Dawn mission, where the crew hopes to become the first commercial spacefarers to conduct a spacewalk. The launch has already been delayed three times.

And next month, two NASA astronauts were scheduled to travel to the International Space Station on Crew-9, a mission that would in February also bring home the Boeing Starliner test crew. Just last week, NASA determined that the Starliner is unsafe to transport astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back to Earth following their June arrival at the orbital outpost aboard the Boeing capsule.

But the future of both Polaris Dawn and Crew-9 now looks even more uncertain.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered that no launches involving Falcon 9 rockets can take place for awhile after a rocket booster from an uncrewed SpaceX mission tipped over and exploded early Wednesday upon returning to Earth.

Polaris Dawn: SpaceX delays Polaris Dawn again, this time for ‘unfavorable weather’ for splashdown

Rocket booster has fiery landing after SpaceX satellite delivery

The rocket booster failure occurred in the early morning hours Thursday during a delivery of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

While the overall mission appeared to be a success, the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket failed to properly land on the uncrewed drone ship named “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” Instead, the booster exploded, sending flames billowing around the doomed booster, which then tumbled onto its side.

No injuries or public property damage were reported after the mishap, which occurred during the booster’s 23rd flight.

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LA to pay more than $38M for failing to make affordable housing accessible

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The complaint was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of a Los Angeles resident, Mei Ling, who uses a wheelchair and the Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley, a disability rights advocacy group. Their share of the settlement has not been determined.

Ling, 57, has used a wheelchair since January 2006— and has either been homeless or in housing without the accessibility features, the lawsuit said.

It alleged that the city of LA did not make its multifamily affordable housing options accessible to those with disabilities for at least six years. Some issues were slopes that were too steep, counters that were too high, and entryways that did not permit wheelchair access, officials said.

The lawsuit also stated the city failed to maintain a publicly available list of accessible units and their accessibility features, and that it “knowingly and falsely certified” to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that it complied with these requirements. By doing so, it violated the False Claims Act, the lawsuit said.

“The City denies that it violated the False Claims Act,” LA city attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said in an emailed statement. “Nonetheless, we are pleased to have reached this $38.2 million settlement, particularly in light of the federal government’s initial claim that it was entitled to well over $1 billion in alleged damages.”

When the Housing and Urban Development department provides grant funds to local governments to build and rehabilitate affordable multifamily housing units, they must comply with federal accessibility laws, officials said. This includes a mandate that 5% of all units in certain types of federally assisted housing be accessible for people with mobility impairments, and another 2% be accessible for people with visual and auditory impairments.

They also must maintain a publicly available list of accessible units with a description of their accessibility features, among other housing-related accessibility requirements.

In the six years prior to the lawsuit filing in 2017, LA received nearly a billion dollars in various funds from the federal housing agency that went toward at least 28 multifamily housing projects, according to the plaintiffs. None of them contained the minimum number of accessible units required by law.

Meanwhile, the city “caused HUD and the public to believe that it was in compliance with all federal obligations relating to the receipt of federal housing and community development funds,” the lawsuit said.

Previously, the city settled a similar suit in 2016.

LA to pay more than $38M for failing to make affordable housing accessible

The complaint was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of a Los Angeles resident, Mei Ling, who uses a wheelchair and the Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley, a disability rights advocacy group. Their share of the settlement has not been determined.

Ling, 57, has used a wheelchair since January 2006— and has either been homeless or in housing without the accessibility features, the lawsuit said.

It alleged that the city of LA did not make its multifamily affordable housing options accessible to those with disabilities for at least six years. Some issues were slopes that were too steep, counters that were too high, and entryways that did not permit wheelchair access, officials said.

The lawsuit also stated the city failed to maintain a publicly available list of accessible units and their accessibility features, and that it “knowingly and falsely certified” to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that it complied with these requirements. By doing so, it violated the False Claims Act, the lawsuit said.

“The City denies that it violated the False Claims Act,” LA city attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said in an emailed statement. “Nonetheless, we are pleased to have reached this $38.2 million settlement, particularly in light of the federal government’s initial claim that it was entitled to well over $1 billion in alleged damages.”

When the Housing and Urban Development department provides grant funds to local governments to build and rehabilitate affordable multifamily housing units, they must comply with federal accessibility laws, officials said. This includes a mandate that 5% of all units in certain types of federally assisted housing be accessible for people with mobility impairments, and another 2% be accessible for people with visual and auditory impairments.

They also must maintain a publicly available list of accessible units with a description of their accessibility features, among other housing-related accessibility requirements.

In the six years prior to the lawsuit filing in 2017, LA received nearly a billion dollars in various funds from the federal housing agency that went toward at least 28 multifamily housing projects, according to the plaintiffs. None of them contained the minimum number of accessible units required by law.

Meanwhile, the city “caused HUD and the public to believe that it was in compliance with all federal obligations relating to the receipt of federal housing and community development funds,” the lawsuit said.

Previously, the city settled a similar suit in 2016.

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