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Astronauts Confident Boeing Space Capsule Can Safely Return them to Earth

In this image from video provided by NASA, astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore give a news conference aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (NASA via AP)
In this image from video provided by NASA, astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore give a news conference aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (NASA via AP)
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Astronauts Confident Boeing Space Capsule Can Safely Return them to Earth

In this image from video provided by NASA, astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore give a news conference aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (NASA via AP)
In this image from video provided by NASA, astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore give a news conference aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (NASA via AP)

Two astronauts who should have been back on Earth weeks ago said Wednesday that they’re confident that Boeing’s space capsule can return them safely, despite breakdowns.
NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule early last month, the first people to ride it. Leaks and thruster failures almost derailed their arrival at the International Space Station, and has kept them there much longer than planned, The Associated Press reported.
In their first news conference from orbit, they said they expect to return once thruster testing is complete here on Earth. They said they’re not complaining about getting extra time in orbit, and are enjoying helping the station crew.
“I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home, no problem," Williams told reporters.
The two rocketed into orbit on June 5 on the test flight, which was originally supposed to last eight days.
NASA ordered up the Starliner and SpaceX Dragon capsules a decade ago for astronaut flights to and from the space station, paying each company billions of dollars. SpaceX's first taxi flight with astronauts was in 2020. Boeing's first crew flight was repeatedly delayed because of software and other issues.

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UK's Sunniest Spring Yields Unusually Sweet Strawberries

(FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)
(FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)
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UK's Sunniest Spring Yields Unusually Sweet Strawberries

(FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)
(FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)

British strawberry farmers say this year's record-breaking spring sunshine and warm days have yielded the cream of the crop, with a bigger and sweeter harvest than usual.

Long periods of sun and cool nights provided "perfect" conditions for the strawberry harvest, according to James Miller from WB Chambers Farms.

The dry and pleasant weather also boosted insect pollination, which further improves the quality and shape of the berries, Miller explained, according to AFP.

"They're bigger and sweeter this year than we've seen in previous years," said Miller, the commercial director for one of the country's biggest berry producers.

At one farm near Dartford in Kent, southeast England, rows of strawberry plants drooped with the weight of the gleaming red fruit housed in insulating polytunnels.

As farmhands made their way meticulously down the semi-circular white tunnels, punnets were filled with ripe strawberries -- some the size of small fists.

The weather has resulted in "super berry size and super flavor," said Nick Marston, chairman of British Berry Growers, which represents most of the UK's soft fruit farms.

"I've been in the berry industry for 30 years and this is one of the best springs I've ever seen, in terms of both the weather and also the crop," Marston told AFP.

This year Britain experienced the warmest spring in terms of mean temperatures since records began in 1884, the Met Office announced this week.

It was also the second-sunniest and the driest spring in over a century for England, known for its damp climate.

Southeast England received only 30-50 percent of its average spring rainfall, according to the Met Office, raising fears of drought for many farmers.

Human-induced climate change is driving longer-lasting, more intense and more frequent droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather events.

To conserve water, the WB Chambers farm in Dartford uses drip irrigation -- which involves water slowly trickling to the roots of the plant through a controlled pipe.

"We've reduced our water usage for growing strawberries quite significantly," Miller told AFP. "So I hope we're in a better place than others."

According to Marston, British producers have already sold nearly 21,600 tons of strawberries -- 5,000 tons more than by the same time last year, when the country experienced an overcast spring.

This is in part due to warmer conditions yielding an earlier crop than usual, with large and juicy strawberries hitting the shelves in April, rather than May.

But it is also due to a rise in demand when the sun comes out, said Miller, with consumers hankering for British summer classics like strawberries and cream.

"The sun is our biggest salesman in the UK," said Miller. "When the sun picks up, then the demand picks up."