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US taxpayers unknowingly paid millions to get Starlink terminals to Ukraine
SpaceX didn't foot the bill entirely by itself, according to documents.
The US started a social network in Cuba to foster dissent
At first glance, ZunZuneo had all the markings of your average Silicon Valley startup: a silly name, a focus on messaging and plans to make a splash abroad. That wasn't exactly the case though, as the Associated Press reports. No, ZunZuneo was a social messaging service (think of it as Twitter over SMS) cooked up by the US Agency for International Development to help foment political unrest in Cuba. The plan? To hook users on a steady stream "non-controversial" updates on banal topics, before subtly injecting political messages into the mix in hopes of sparking a movement.
NASA ISERV Pathfinder to link up with ISS, keep an eye out for natural disasters
It's easy to assume that the greater mysteries of the universe should require our space agency's utmost attention -- take that mission to Mars, for example. But not all of NASA's endeavors are focused on the bookends of the cosmos. In fact, the ISERV Pathfinder (short for International Space Station SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System), a new imaging instrument developed and constructed by its Marshall Space Flight Center, will turn a fixed eye on planet Earth from its ISS berth when it goes operational this coming November. A scheduled July 20th launch aboard Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's H-II Transfer Vehicle will ferry the device to its final destination, making it the first of an eventual series of sensor-laden "Earth-observing instruments" designed to track natural disasters, as well as climate change across various populations. Once assembled by the crew and affixed to the station's Destiny window, the system's camera will be used to map the globe and disseminate satellite imagery and data to developing nations for preventive planning and relief purposes. Sure, it's not as exciting as a fly by of Pluto's newly discovered moon, but this one's for the greater good, folks. Check out the official presser after the break.
