News Anchor March 2 – March 8

SpaceX ship falls apart after seemingly successful landing

A rocketship owned and operated by SpaceX burst into flames on March 3 after a seemingly successful landing in Texas. The rocketship was a prototype Starship, and the first of three prototypes to land successfully after flying about six miles up in altitude. While the rocket ship landed successfully, which was the goal of the mission, the unmanned prototype burst into flames and pieces of debris began flying away from it. While it is unknown why the rocketship fell apart after landing, the successful landing marked an important step to SpaceX’s goal to one day operate a fully reusable and heavy duty rocketship. The company is counting the mission as an overall success.

 

Texas and Mississippi lift mask mandate and other COVID-19 restrictions

Texas Gov., Republican Greg Abbott, lifted the state’s mask mandate on March 2 and many business guidelines pertaining to COVID-19, including capacity limits and social distancing rules. He declared the state “100% open” in a social media post after the announcement was made. A few hours later, Mississippi joined Texas in throwing out their mask mandate statewide. While some cities and businesses in the states still require masks, mask wearing has already decreased significantly throughout both states the days following the announcement. While many civilians are relieved they no longer have to wear masks, others are worried about opening completely without more vaccinations being given.

 

San Diego Zoo gives experimental vaccine to resident apes

The San Diego Zoo is the first location to attempt to vaccinate an animal. Several great apes at the zoo were vaccinated against COVID-19 by an experimental veterinary vaccine made by Zoetis. The zoo was concerned about its animals, specifically its human-relatives, after an outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in their gorilla population, marking the first known group of animals besides humans to have an outbreak. All of the gorillas are in recovery. While scientists prioritized the great apes due to their endangered status, four orangutans and five bonobos were also given the experimental vaccine. One of the orangutans given the vaccine at the San Diego Zoo was also the first orangutan in the world to receive open heart surgery. The zoo has reported that none of the animals have had adverse effects to the vaccine so far, and soon, they will be testing for antibodies to see if the vaccine was successful.

 

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