Of Coffee With Artemis: More Scrubs And Immigration

If you were having coffee I would welcome you to my tangle of words and by now you probably already know that the Artemis I Launch which had been rescheduled for 3 September has been scrubbed… again.

During Tanking Operations, ground teams fuel the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2). A reoccurring hydrogen leak led to the decision to scrub the launch after a third troubleshooting exercise failed to rectify the leak. While a new launch date hasn’t been announced the next available launch window will be from September 19 – October 4.

If you are having coffee with me I would tell you that while I don’t know much about rocket science, I would say springing a fuel leak sounds like a basic sort of fault that makes one wonder if the project was ready to be unveiled to the world. Apparently the great space race is back on with countries , global corporates and billionaires rushing towards space tourism, lunar bases, space colonie, missions to Mars and beyond. Alliances on the International Space Station are probably a bit frayed as some countries (Russia) announce plans to pull out and focus on their own space programs.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that at around the time the announcement of the Artemis launch scrub was being announced, an airport worker in Tupelo who had stolen an aircraft and gone on a 5 hour  joy ride amidst threats of crashing into a local Walmart disappeared from radar leaving people to wonder if he had crashed… His last Facebook post had been an apology that he hadn’t meant to hurt anyone.

Fortunately he managed to crash-land into a soybean field with the plane suffering some damage but otherwise surprisingly intact. Apparently the 29 year old knew how to take off but could not land a plane. The police apprehended him and he faces charges of grand larceny and making terroristic threats -possibly some federal charges too.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that speaking about aircrafts, The Zimbabwean Dream, to some people is to leave Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency – ZIMSTAT released the 2022 preliminary report on migration from the The 2022 Population & Housing Census. About 900 000 of the population are outside of the country for various reasons, top being employment.

Our neighbouring country South Africa has 85% of Zimbabwe’s emigrant population. Zimbabwe and South Africa have had some dicey relations in the wake of xenophobic attacks and operations to put South Africans first.

In a move that brought relief to Zimbabwean emigrants in South Africa who had a deadline of 31 December 2022 to regularize their stay or face deportation, the Home Affairs department made the decision to grant a six month extension on the validity of their Zimbabwe Exemption Permits. The initial decision to terminate the permits in December came after the South African Cabinet agreed that permit holders with critical skills must apply for visas to remain in South Africa.

A somewhat relatable situation has been a ban announced in Nigeria to bar foreigners from being models and voice-over artists in television commercials made in the country. The intention may be to protect their local interests and it makes sense for them to say we have beautiful and talented people here let’s use those… but the flip side has a slippery slope of discrimination, xenophobia and even racism.

If you were having coffee with me I would ask where or how a country draws the line in looking out for their own citizens and of course the immigrant problem, considering how you never fully know one’s story or the ripple effect in which protecting your people opens up immigrant workers to exploitation and abuse. Scrolling the internet you will find stories of people who seek employment opportunities in some countries and end up needing to be rescued from exploitative and dehumanizing conditions.

Whats been going on in your neck of the woods?

~B