Polaris Dawn mission launch delayed 24 hours due to ‘ground-side helium leak,’ SpaceX says
(MERRITT ISLAND, Fla.) — Embarking on a new chapter of private space exploration, the Polaris Dawn mission is poised to make history this week by launching four private citizens into ultrahigh orbit and attempting the first civilian spacewalk.
Led by billionaire Jared Isaacman and in collaboration with SpaceX, the crew aims to reach as far as 870 miles above Earth, the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission in more than a half-century since the Apollo program.
SpaceX announced Monday that the Falcon 9 rocket that will carry the Polaris Dawn crew to orbit could launch as early as Wednesday at 3:38 a.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch was delayed 24 hours from the planned pre-dawn Tuesday blast-off.
The delay is due to a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical, SpaceX said.
Umbilical systems employ fluid connectors known as quick disconnects to transfer fluids into a vehicle, according to NASA.
“Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit,” the company added.
There are two additional launch opportunities within the four-hour window on Wednesday at 5:23 a.m. and 7:09 a.m. ET. If needed, backup opportunities are available on Thursday, Aug. 29 at the same times, according to SpaceX.
Isaacman, the CEO of the payment-processing company Shift4, will be joined by former Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and two SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.
During the historic mission, which is set to span five days under normal conditions, two of the crew members will exit the spacecraft in the first commercial spacewalk at an altitude of 435 miles above Earth.
During a press briefing last week, Isaacman shared details on the ambitious mission, which will see all four crew members exposed to the vacuum of space due to the absence of an airlock on the SpaceX Dragon capsule.
The spacewalk will also serve as a critical test for SpaceX’s new Extravehicular Activity spacesuits, an evolution of the intravehicular activity suit.
This new design includes a heads-up display, helmet camera and enhanced joint mobility. It also features thermal insulation, solar protection and a suspension system that allows you to pressurize the suit, put on a harness and actually go through operations as if you are weightless.
The Dragon spacecraft has undergone significant modifications, including upgrades to the life support systems to supply more oxygen during spacewalks, according to the Polaris Program. Environmental sensing has been improved, and a new nitrogen repressurization system has been installed.
The Polaris Dawn mission will be Isaacman’s second journey to space.
In 2021, he funded his first mission to orbit Earth. The project was billed as a childhood cancer fundraiser, garnering $250 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and marked the first all-civilian mission to orbit.
Looking to the future, Isaacman believes the SpaceX vehicles could unlock a new frontier in commercial space travel.
“It could very well be the 737 for human space flight someday,” he said of the company’s Starship vehicle. “But it’ll certainly be the vehicle that will return humans to the moon and then on to Mars and beyond.”
(NEW YORK) — A special encore “20/20” airing Friday, July 26, at 9 p.m. ET, which originally aired in 2020, revisits the case of missing Utah mom Susan Powell. The show looks at the continued hunt for Susan’s body and the heartbreaking details surrounding the murders of her two sons at the hands of her husband, Josh, who died by suicide after killing the boys.
Chuck and Judy Cox have spent the past eight years in agony while trying to find some semblance of justice after their son-in-law, Josh Powell, murdered their two young grandsons.
When it finally seemed like they were on the verge of finding some closure earlier this year, the coronavirus pandemic brought everything to a halt.
“I don’t know anything else I could have done and they’re still dead. My daughter’s still missing, and now the children are dead,” said Chuck Cox. “I had them safe… They were in my care.”
His daughter, Josh Powell’s wife Susan Powell, was the mother of Braden and Charlie Powell. She disappeared under suspicious circumstances in 2009 and her body has never been found.
In February 2012, Josh Powell killed himself along with Braden, 5, and Charlie, 7, in a house explosion during a supervised visit. Josh Powell locked out the social worker from the home upon their arrival.
“Why take the kids, why? It makes absolutely no sense,” said Cox.
After the house explosion, Chuck and Judy Cox sued the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) in civil court, alleging that its negligence contributed to the deaths of their grandsons. The lawsuit was thrown out in 2015 but was appealed and revived in 2019 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The fact of the matter is they’re the only ones who could have protected the children at that point,” Cox said of the child welfare agency run by DSHS. “They’re the ones with responsibility.”
The wrongful death civil trial began in February in Tacoma, Washington, but was interrupted in March as COVID-19 swept through the nation.
“We have been robbed of three precious lives and it’s just devastating to think the same person did it,” Denise Cox-Ernest, Susan Powell’s sister, told ABC affiliate KOMO-TV in 2012.
What happened to Susan Powell remains a mystery to this day.
She was reported missing in December 2009 when the family was living in West Valley City, Utah. That night, Josh Powell claimed he had gone on a camping trip in the middle of the night with their sons. Susan Powell, he said, stayed home because she was tired.
“As soon as I heard that he was back and Susan was not with them, I instantly said to myself, ‘What has he done?’” Kiirsi Hellewell, Susan Powell’s friend. “Susan would have never allowed him to ever take the boys out in the winter to the desert, in the middle of the night. Never. I never believed his story at all.”
West Valley City Police Det. Ellis Maxwell, who led the investigation into Susan Powell’s disappearance, said that when investigators arrived at the house, there were no signs of a disturbance or physical altercations.
At the bank in which she’d worked, inside a safe deposit box that belonged to her, investigators discovered a handwritten will and testament. In the will, Susan Powell had written about how bad her marriage had become and that Josh Powell had taken out a $1 million life insurance policy on her.
“If I die,” her note said, “it may not be an accident.”
Police discovered a safety deposit box that contained Susan Powell’s makeshift last will and testament. She wrote about her “extreme marital stress” and a note to her boys: “I would never leave you!”
“That is our biggest piece of evidence,” Maxwell said. “It’s her last words. There was no doubt that this document was authored by Susan.”
Authorities also determined that Josh Powell had filed paperwork to withdraw money from her retirement account about 10 days after she had disappeared.
At the time of her disappearance, Susan Powell’s close friends said her marriage had been in turmoil for years and that she had even seen a divorce lawyer.
“She’d been really happy. He’d been a great husband, and she said that he really changed. He became not affectionate,” said the Cox family attorney, Anne Bremner.
Her friends also said Susan Powell would complain about a lack of intimacy from her husband.
“He kept her at arm’s length. He wouldn’t kiss her anymore. He wouldn’t touch her. He wouldn’t hold her hand,” said Hellewell.
“Josh and Susan’s marriage reaches rock bottom in the summer of 2008. Josh and Susan are constantly fighting. They’re arguing in front of the kids. Josh is exhibiting extreme control over Susan,” said Dave Cawley, the host of “Cold,” an investigative podcast on the case.
Hellewell said Susan Powell would email her a lot, saying she wants “to do everything in my power to save my marriage before I walk away.”
Chuck Cox said that after his daughter’s will was found, he felt “frustrated” that authorities didn’t arrest Josh Powell.
“I felt they had plenty of evidence to arrest him,” Chuck Cox said.
Police publicly declared Josh Powell as a “person of interest” about a week after his wife went missing. However, despite suspicions, Josh Powell was never charged in Susan Powell’s disappearance.
Those close to the family say Josh Powell acted strangely in the wake of his wife’s disappearance. He was observed cleaning his minivan and the garage.
“It was really odd to me because he was running around the house grabbing piles of towels and putting them in the washer And finally, we’re like, you’ve got to go to your interview with the police,” said Jennifer Graves, Josh Powell’s sister.
Friends and close relatives also said that he never participated in search efforts or showed urgency to find his wife.
“There was no point at which Josh ever seemed to even be concerned that Susan was missing,” said Hellewell. “He never participated in any of the massive, massive efforts that myself and relatives and friends launched to put out flyers in malls and parking lots.”
When detectives pushed Josh Powell on the details from the night his wife went missing, he said he could not remember the events leading up to her disappearance.
“I just don’t remember what activity we were doing,” he had told Maxwell.
Investigators also questioned then 4-year-old Charlie the day after his mother disappeared.
Charlie confirmed to investigators that he went “camping” the night his mother vanished, saying “my dad and my mom and my little brother” were also there.
“The children said, ‘Mommy was in the van but didn’t come back with us,’ a pretty significant thing for a 4-year-old to tell a detective,” said Rebecca Morris, who authored a book about the case titled “If I Can’t Have You.”
“My mom stayed at Dinosaur National Park. My mom stayed where the crystals are,” Charlie had also said.
Many people interpreted Charlie’s statement to mean that his mother was dead. However, the toddler also made comments that were clearly false, including taking an airplane to go camping.
“There’s a pile of circumstantial evidence,” said Maxwell. “Is there enough there to arrest him and book him into jail and hold him accountable? Absolutely, there is. Could we? No.”
Maxwell said that the Salt Lake County district attorney refused to file charges without a body until a year had passed.
ABC News reached out to the district attorney at the time, but they declined to respond to this claim and refused to comment on this case.
In January 2010, less than a month after his wife disappeared, Josh Powell said he had sought to get away from media attention and moved with his sons into his father Steven Powell’s house in Puyallup, Washington.
In an effort to get more information for authorities, Graves wore a wire and confronted her brother about his wife’s disappearance.
“Suddenly I just shoved Josh into the bathroom and at that point, I was like, ‘Drop all pretense. Just tell me where her body is,’” said Graves.
He continued to deny knowing anything about Susan Powell’s disappearance and the situation escalated. Steven Powell then kicked Graves out of the house.
“I regret not getting the confession, but I don’t regret going,” said Graves.
“Suddenly, I just shoved Josh into the bathroom,” Jennifer Graves recalled about confronting Powell. “At that point, I was like, ‘Drop all pretense. Just tell me where her body is.’“
In 2010, about a year after investigators first spoke to Charlie on the day after his mother’s disappearance, they sat down with the 5-year-old again and asked him about what he remembers from that night.
“We can’t talk about Susan or camping. I always keep things as secrets,” Charlie said in the interview. “I didn’t want to talk to you on this long, I mean this many minutes. Now I’m done.”
“The only thing we got out of [Charlie] that time was that he said that she went camping, but she didn’t come home with them. Then, he kinda clammed up after that,” said Det. Sgt. Gary Sanders of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
All the while new details began to emerge about Steven Powell’s unusual fixation and inappropriate behavior toward his daughter-in-law, Susan Powell.
In a 2011 interview with ABC News, he alleged that Susan Powell had made sexual advances toward him.
“She told me that part of the reason they moved to Utah was to get away from her father-in-law, Steven Powell. She was like, ‘He is the most filthy, foul, sick, disgusting pervert the world has ever seen. He’s in love with me,’” said Hellewell.
“Susan was very, very sexual with me. She was very flirtatious,” Steven Powell told ABC News. “We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that. I enjoy doing that.”
“Why are you telling everyone that? That’s not to your benefit,” Graves said of her father. “But somehow in my dad’s own twisted mind, he thought that that was the greatest strategy to keep the dogs off Josh or something. I don’t know.”
Denise Cox-Ernest said her sister, Susan Powell, had complained about her father-in-law’s inappropriate advances and that she had told Josh Powell about them, too.
“She was extremely upset about that and disturbed, but even more disturbed when Josh just said that, you know, that’s his dad,” said Cox-Ernest.
Shortly after ABC News’ interview, Utah police searched the Powell family home in Puyallup, where Josh Powell and his sons were living at the time. Investigators found home videos taken by Steven Powell that showed secret recordings of his daughter-in-law’s body parts and video diaries in which he smelled her underwear and expressed his love and sexual feelings toward her. The search also yielded dozens of computer disks containing images of women and young girls that focused on their private parts, according to prosecutors.
Police arrested Steven Powell in November 2011 and charged him with voyeurism and possession of child pornography. Josh Powell was named as a “subject” in the child pornography investigation.
Following Steven Powell’s arrest, Josh Powell lost custody of his two sons. Chuck and Judy Cox were awarded temporary custody of the children in which they acted essentially as foster parents — the state had official custody — and Josh Powell was given weekly supervised visitation.
“Because of all the things that the police encountered in the search of the Steven Powell home, it became apparent, eventually, these boys were at imminent risk of harm,” Ted Buck, another attorney for the Cox family.
In February 2012, new evidence emerged that a laptop from Josh Powell’s Utah home contained images of cartoon pornography. A judge then ordered Josh Powell to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and take a polygraph test.
But before Josh Powell could take the evaluation or polygraph test, he killed himself and the two boys. On Feb. 5, 2012, a state caseworker brought the boys to Powell’s home for a supervised visit. He locked the official out, incapacitated the 5- and 7-year-old children with a hatchet, poured gasoline on them and around the house and then caused an explosion, according to authorities.
A few months later, in June 2012, Steven Powell was convicted on the voyeurism charges and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. The trial court had initially dismissed the charge for possession of child pornography in 2012, but the state’s court of appeals reinstated the charge in 2014. He was convicted of possession of child pornography in 2015 and spent another two years in prison.
Steven Powell served a total of seven years in prison before being released in July 2017. He died of heart problems a year later.
Maxwell believes that Josh Powell’s murder-suicide was “definitely an admission of guilt” for Susan Powell’s murder.
“She was going to divorce him. If he can’t have her, nobody will,” he said. “So he essentially kidnaps Susan and most likely murders her and disposes of her body. Where? I have no idea. Nobody knows.”
The Cox family civil case reconvened at the end of July this year. In August, the jury awarded the family a record $98.5 million award against the State Department of Social and Health Services.
Chuck Cox said he is going to use the reward money to honor his late grandchildren.
“I intend to … use the award to try and help other people, [so] that we can save more children,” said Chuck Cox.
The judge presiding over the case has since reduced the reward to $32 million — $16 million for Charlie and $16 million for their other grandson Braden. The Cox family will appeal the court’s decision to reduce the jury’s verdict, their attorney said.
Graves said Susan Powell’s story “will continue to live on and inspire others to move in the right direction. To move towards good relationships and get out of bad situations — abusive situations.”
(WASHINGTON) — Cecilia sat in front of her computer repeatedly refreshing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services webpage on Monday, waiting for the application for the Biden administration’s “Keeping Families Together” program to show up on her screen.
Minutes later, she clicked it open and submitted the form in less than 20 minutes.
A little more than 24 hours later, she got an e-mail sharing the news that she had been waiting 20 years to hear.
“I see that I got approved, and I’m like, oh that was quick,” she told ABC News in an interview. “I was lost for words…a whole bunch of emotions were going on.”
Cecilia, who asked ABC News not to disclose her full name so she can freely disclose her immigration status, is one of the first immigrants to receive parole in place, a temporary relief from deportation under a new program that allows undocumented spouses and stepchildren of United States citizens to apply for permanent legal residence without having to leave the country.
Noncitizen spouses are already eligible for legal status under current laws but often have to apply from their home countries and face up to a 10-year ban from returning to the U.S.
On June 18, President Joe Biden announced an executive action launching the program, calling it a “commonsense fix” to keep families together.
“This action is a better way. It doesn’t tear families apart, while requiring every undocumented spouse to fulfill their obligations under the law,” Biden said.
It’s estimated that half a million noncitizen spouses and 50,000 children could benefit from the program, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In order to qualify for the program, applicants must be in the country unlawfully and pass background checks. They also have to prove they’ve lived in the country for at least a decade and must be married to a U.S. citizen on or before June 17, 2024.
Some noncitizen stepchildren under the age of 21 are also eligible.
Cecilia’s family brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was a 4-year-old, she told ABC News.
After unsuccessfully applying for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which continues to be paused pending a yearlong battle that could permanently end the program, she thought her dreams of finally being able to pursue a career as a chemist were over. For years, she said her parents worked to help her with paying out of state tuition because of her status.
In 2018, she met her future husband when he was studying biology at the same school.
“At the time I didn’t really tell him about my status, because I was like, what if he doesn’t like me because I’m not here legally,” she told ABC News.
However, she said her husband was overwhelmingly supportive of her despite her being undocumented. He has helped her get through school while raising their 3-year-old. He was working when she shared the news that her application was approved.
“He was like, ‘Are you not playing with me?'” she recalled. They went to celebrate as soon as he got home.
“We always try to celebrate little moments in our lives, even if they’re small, because we never know when one us might not be there and we try to be united as a family, she said.
Cecilia learned about the new policy from American Families United, a nonprofit organization that advocates for legal pathways to citizenship for foreign nationals married to U.S. citizens.
“Countless American families like Cecilia’s have endured years of uncertainty, holding onto the hope that one day they could live without fear,” said Ashley DeAzevedo, president of American Families United, in a statement. “We are encouraged to see the quick approval of Cecilia’s application—she is American in every way that counts. Now, she will have the opportunity to contribute even more to her family and this nation that she calls home.”
Cecilia believes that because she had already submitted biometrics and other information to USCIS as part of her DACA application, her case was expedited.
A USCIS official told ABC News that the agency may prioritize applicants who already have other pending applications and have submitted accurate biographic information.
Cecilia has already applied for her work permit and plans to apply for lawful permanent residence status as soon as she’s able to, finally putting the frustration of living in limbo as an undocumented immigrant in the past for good. Her dreams of owning a home, launching her career and raising her child with her husband seem within reach.
She’s urging other undocumented immigrants to remain hopeful.
“I feel like people should be more hopeful and that there are people advocating for them,” she said. “Everyone deserves an extra opportunity.”
(NEW YORK) — A 28-year-old mother has been missing for two weeks under what police in Virginia said are believed to be “involuntary” circumstances.
Mamta Kafle was last seen on July 31 in Manassas Park, Virginia, about 30 miles outside of Washington, D.C, the Manassas Park Police Department said. She hasn’t had any contact with family or friends since then, police said.
Her husband reported her missing on Aug. 5, Manassas Park Police Chief Mario Lugo said.
Authorities said they believe Kafle is “involuntarily” missing, citing the length of time she’s been missing.
“Investigators have conducted several follow-ups with neighbors, friends, co-workers and the husband,” police said in a statement. “The investigators are also utilizing several investigative tools to help in an attempt to locate Mamta Kafle.”
Kafle works as a registered nurse, according to her friend and former colleague, Sunita Basnet Thapa.
Basnet Thapa told ABC Arlington, Virginia, affiliate WJLA-TV the two bonded over both being from Nepal, and that she was a mentor to Kafle. She attended an event Tuesday in Manassas Park to raise awareness about Kafle’s disappearance and press for updates.
Basnet Thapa told WJLA they have “no clue what is going on,” adding that she has been waiting for news for 14 days.
The case remains active, police said. Lugo said in a statement to WJLA that Kafle was entered as missing in a law database “immediately,” and detectives “immediately started investigating this case.”
Kafle’s friend, Nadia Navarro, who organized Tuesday’s gathering, told WJLA that it is unlike the mother to leave her 11-month-old daughter.
“Even if she was desperate, even if she might have been facing something, she wouldn’t have left her daughter,” Navarro told WJLA. “She was very self-sacrificial that way, no matter what would have been happening.”
ABC News was unable to reach Kafle’s family.
Her husband spoke to a crowd gathered in support of Kafle on Monday by phone, saying that he couldn’t attend because he was caring for their daughter, according to WRC-TV.
“I need to find her as soon as possible, and then using all the tools — community, society, police,” he told the crowd.
Friends are planning to hold a search for Kafle on Thursday afternoon.
Kafle is 5 feet tall, weighs 132 pounds and has black hair and dark brown eyes, police said. She was last seen wearing blue scrubs, police said.
Police urge anyone with information to call the Manassas Park Police Department at 703-361-1136 or submit an anonymous tip to Manassas/Manassas Park Crime Solvers at 703-330-0330.