Joker: Folie a Deux (2024) Official Teaser Trailer

Apollo Ends at Venus: A 1967 Proposal for Single-Launch Piloted Venus Flybys in 1972, 1973, and 1975

Probe release: the astronauts on board the Apollo Applications Program Venus flyby spacecraft release the last of their atmosphere-entry probes a few hours before closest approach to the cloudy planet. Meanwhile, their optical telescope, scanning radar, and other instruments switch to high-rate data-collection mode. Image credit: William Black.

For many space planners in the early 1960s, piloted Solar System exploration using large “post-Saturn” rockets and nuclear-powered spaceships seemed a natural follow-on to the Apollo lunar program. In November 1964, however, NASA Headquarters announced that its post-Apollo space program would emphasize Earth-orbital space stations based on Saturn/Apollo hardware. Their chief aim: to find space benefits for people on Earth. Agency officials explained that this was in keeping with the wishes of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. NASA critics, meanwhile, derided what they saw as its lack of an overarching goal beyond finding new uses for Apollo hardware.

Read More: No Shortage of Dreams

‘Blues Brothers’: Five things you didn’t know about the movie’s Chicago shoot

John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues on Maxwell Street.

Here are some of the nuggets that Daniel de Visé learned while researching and writing the new book ‘The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic,’ which comes out Tuesday.

Read More: Chicago Sun Times

‘The voice we woke up to’: Bob Edwards, longtime ‘Morning Edition’ host, dies at 76

Bob Edwards started his career at NPR as a newscaster and then hosted All Things Considered before moving to Morning Edition. He’s pictured above in 1989.
Max Hirshfeld for NPR

Bob Edwards, the veteran broadcaster and longtime host of Morning Edition who left an indelible mark on NPR’s sound, has died. He was 76 years old.

NPR’s Susan Stamberg says Edwards’ voice became part of the morning routine for millions of Americans.

“He was Bob Edwards of Morning Edition for 24 1/2 years, and his was the voice we woke up to,” she says.

Read More: NPR