Today’s USA (Week of Dec. 13)
Photo provided by Google Public Use
December 13, 2017
Today’s USA is a weekly column that aims to brief LHS students on major world events.
New York City Subway Station explosion
Last Monday morning consisted of a typical activity for many New Yorkers; commuting to work among the swarms of their fellow big apple residents. However, for those who witnessed the Port Authority station explosion, it was anything but an everyday occurrence.
A 27-year-old man, Akayed Ullah, set the busy transit hub into panic as his homemade pipe bomb exploded from straps on his chest. After being arrested by authorities, Ullah pledged allegiance to ISIS, adding yet another terrorist attack to the Islamic State´s name.
Luckily, the five commuters who were injured only suffered from minor cuts and burns, and have all recently been released from New York hospitals.
Alabama senate election results
In a battle head to head, Democrat Doug Jones and Republican Roy Moore, who recently was the subject of sexual misconduct allegations, were competing for the Alabama senate seat on election night, Dec.12.
The race, once called a longshot for Jones, who won 49.9 percent of the vote yesterday, has provided him with a spot in history as only the second Democrat to be elected in Republican Alabama in a generation. Moore who lost with 48.4 percent of the votes, the predicted winner, has been the center of allegations of sexual abuse and child molestation.
Whether the election will provide a future trend of blue voters is unknown. Many Alabamians’ votes shocked the country, and Jones’ upcoming presence in the senate will surely provide a new perspective for the Alabama government.
U.S. Astronaut sets space record
As the Soyuz space capsule broke through the atmosphere and touched down on the rural Kazakhstan, famed astronaut, Peggy Whitson, was about to receive long awaited recognition for her more than 665 days in space, making her the world record holder for the longest amount of time spent in space by an American and a woman.
Whitson’s time off of Earth was spent researching biochemistry at the International Space Station, which she also commanded during her stay. Outside from researching and commanding inside the station, the NASA astronaut also set the record for the most time spent spacewalking by a woman, logging 57 hours and 22 minutes, along with the record for the oldest woman to visit space, at the ripe age of 57 years old.
After finally landing on Earth, Whitson was called to be congratulated by President Trump, along with her fellow Soyuz capsule astronaut and American, Jack Fischer. The impressive feat was recognized at a White House ceremony that also included the President signing a policy directive to send astronauts back to the moon.
Trump is not the only administrator that recognized Whitson´s tremendous amount of dedication to the NASA program. Because of Whitson´s large impact on the space program’s scientific research, Ellen Ochoa, fellow astronaut, space woman and now director of the Johnson Space Center, spoke about her fellow cosmic duster´s recent accomplishments.
“In space she’s able to just work so efficiently that in general we can schedule a lot more activities for her than we normally can for crew members,” Ochoa told The Washington Post. “For us to be able to have had her in orbit between nine to 10 months, we just got so much done with her up there.”
