Hopkins was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20. He made his first spaceflight as a Flight Engineer on Soyuz TMA-10M/Expedition 37/Expedition 38, from September 2013 until March 2014.
He was the first member of his astronaut class to fly in space.
Lebanon, Missouri
Lebanon is a city in Laclede County, Missouri, United States. The population was 14,474 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Laclede County.
Victor J. Glover
Victor Jerome Glover (born April 30, 1976) is a NASA astronaut of the class of 2013 and Pilot on the first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station.
Glover is a commander in the U.S. Navy. He was born in Pomona, California. He is an F/A-18 pilot and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School.
Shannon Walker
Shannon Walker (born June 4, 1965) is an American physicist and a NASA astronaut since 2004. She launched on her first mission into space on 25 June 2010 onboard Soyuz TMA-19 and has currently been 163 days in space over one long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Hyla
Hyla is a genus of tree frogs in the family Hylidae. Over the years, scientists have changed their minds about which frog species should be in "Hyla" and which should be in "Litoria", "Ranoidea" or other genera. At one time, "Hyla" had more than 300 species from Europe, Asia, Africa, and across the Americas. Now, "Hyla" has only 17 extant (living) species. They are from Europe, northern Africa and Asia. The earliest known fossil from a "Hyla" frog is †"Hyla swanstoni" from the Eocene. The fossil was found in Saskatchewan, Canada, but it is not clear whether we would consider "swanstoni" a "Hyla" frog today.
Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti made the genus in 1768. He named it after Hylas from Greek mythology. Hylas was a friend of Hercules. Even though the mythological person Hylas was male, the name "Hyla" is given the feminine grammatical gender.
Some people say this word comes from the Greek word ("", "forest" or "wood"), but it does not.
In most "Hyla" frogs, the male frogs sing, and then the female frogs choose which male to mate with based on their songs. But females from different species like different things about male frogs' voices. Female "H. versicolor", for example, choose males whose calls last longer. Female "H. arborea" choose males who show up to sing in the same place for many nights.
In some "Hyla" frogs, the male frogs fight and compete. Male "H. versicolor" frogs show up where the females like to go. This behavior, called lekking, is common in many species of "Hyla". In order to sing clearly, the males need to be a certain distance apart from each other. When one male gets too close to another male's singing place, the two males may fight or do something else that is like fighting. Male "H. versicolor" sometimes show off to each other before they fight, so they can see whether they are likely to win first.
Indirect selection is when one partner chooses a mate based on just one thing that is related to how fit and healthy the mate is all together. "H. arborea" is a frog that is awake at night, and the females listen to the males sing and then choose one, so the frogs must be able to hear well. These frogs can also see well in low light. This ability to see may be related to how females choose males. Scientists say female "H. arborea" choose males with more brightly colored vocal sacs. They think colorful vocal sacs may show that the frog has enough carotenoids in the food it eats. This may mean the male frog is better at finding food than other frogs, and he might pass on some of this skill to his offspring.
Pomilio PE
The Pomilio PE is an Italian reconnaissance biplane aircraft. It flew for the World War I and was built as at least 985 planes.
Soichi Noguchi
His first spaceflight was as a Mission Specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle mission after the "Columbia" disaster.
He was most recently in space as part of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22 to the International Space Station (ISS), returning to Earth on 2 June 2010.
He is the fifth Japanese astronaut to fly in space and the fourth to fly on the space shuttle.
New Administrative Capital
The New Administrative Capital (NAC) () is a large-scale project in Egypt that has been under construction since 2015.
It was announced by then-Egyptian housing minister Moustafa Madbouly at the Egypt Economic Development Conference on 13 March 2015. The city will reportedly be named Wedian, the Egyptian Arabic plural for "Wadi".
Great conjunction
A great conjunction is a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Great conjunctions occur regularly (every 19.6 years, on average) due to the combined effect of Jupiter's about 11.86-year orbital period and Saturn's 29.5-year orbital period. The last great conjunction happened on 21 December 2020. It was the closest great conjunction since 1623.
2020 Moldovan presidential election
The 2020 Moldovan presidential election took place on Sunday, 1 November 2020. It was the 4th presidential election since the nation's declaration of independence. Voters elected former Prime Minister Maia Sandu as the new president in the second-round of the election on 15 November.
Dassault Aviation Falcon 7X
The Dassault Aviation Falcon 7X is a tri-jet business aircraft built in France.
2020 Venezuelan parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2020. Aside from the 167 deputies of the National Assembly who are eligible to be re-elected, the new National Electoral Council president announced that the assembly would increase by 93 seats, for a total of 277 deputies to be elected.
Many saw the election was unfair saying that there were many illegal votes and it was rigged.
Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020
A total solar eclipse occured on Monday, December 14, 2020. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, which will cover the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth.
A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality happens in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide.
The Moon’s apparent diameter was larger because the eclipse occured only 1.8 days after perigee, the point at which the Moon is closest to the Earth (on December 12, 2020).
It was visible from Chile and Argentina. There was also a partial solar eclipse in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
Baalveer Returns
Baalveer Returns is an Indian fantasy television series. It premiered on 10 September 2019 on SAB TV, and stars Dev Joshi, and Vansh Sayani in the titular lead role. It is a sequel of Baal Veer, which ran from 2012 to 2016. It is produced by Optimystix Entertainment with screenplay by Manoj Tripathi.
Timnasa, an evil enchantress and the queen of Kaal Lok (the Dark Realm), begins a quest to rule the whole universe and become the most powerful and evil entity. She destroys the Fairy Realm, but Baalveer saves the surviving fairies. They find refuge in the Brave Realm whose leader is a white lion, Shaurya. Baalveer becomes weaker with every passing moment as he was injured in the attack. On Shaurya's instructions, Baalveer goes to Earth as Debu with the fairies as his sisters to find his younger successor, the next Baalveer, as he needs help to fight Timnasa.
The new Baalveer is a 9-year-old mischievous boy named Vivaan, and soon is made realise his destiny while battling Timnasa and her agents and makes Vivan the new 'Junior Baalveer'. Both the Baalveers, the fairies, and Shaurya cross all the hurdles and fight with Timnasa, by foiling her plans all the time.
Timnasa captured Sarvakaal, a monstrous but righteous sage of the Dark Realm, as he knows the one who'll kill Timnasa.