Hello and happy Thursday everyone. Happy
Friday eve. I'm Ky Wire. This is CNN 10
where I tell you the what, letting you
decide what to think. I have your 10
minutes of news for March 19th. Thank
you for making us a part of your day.
Let's prepare for liftoff. We begin
about 250 mi above the Earth where a
pair of astronauts aboard the
International Space Station have
successfully completed a pair of spacew
walks. Spacew walks or extra vehicular
activities allow astronauts to conduct
experiments, perform repairs, or test
new equipment outside the ISS.
Astronauts Jessica Mir and Chris
Williams ventured outside for roughly
six and a half hours Wednesday morning
to help install new rollout solar arrays
which will augment the aging ISS arrays
by providing a significant boost to the
existing power system. It was Williams
first spacew walk me's fourth and the
278th time any astronauts have ventured
outside the ISS since its launch in
1998. Miss Mir said they had to practice
quite a bit inside the ISS because they
lose a lot of their dexterity once
inside the pressurized space suits. Now,
every spacew walk and every opportunity
to leave Earth's atmosphere inches the
US closer toward its Artemis 4 mission,
humanity's return to the lunar surface.
The US was the first nation to land
astronauts on the moon in 1969. The
state-run space program in China is
developing impressive technology that
could get their astronauts back to the
moon before NASA. Our Jackie Wattles has
more on why this has become so
competitive between the two nations.
>> Liftoff of Artemis 1. We rise together.
>> NASA officials and US politicians are
warning that we are in a new space race.
We are in a great competition with a
rival that has the will and the means to
challenge American exceptionalism across
multiple domains, including in the high
ground of space.
>> It's the US and its billionaires,
against China, to see who can return
humans to the moon.
>> Because if we fall behind, if we make a
mistake, we may never catch up.
>> The United States has already achieved
the only moon landings, but this time
around, it's quite possible China will
get there first. It is highly unlikely
that we will land on the moon before
China.
>> The US is about to launch a mission
around the moon called Aremis 2, but
NASA doesn't have all the tools it needs
to land on the lunar surface just yet,
and that's a problem for some on Capitol
Hill. The
>> United States must remain the
unquestioned leader in space
exploration.
>> China's space program has made
significant progress in recent years.
The country says it's aiming to land
astronauts on the moon by 2030. And the
country usually hits its deadlines.
NASA's goal here is not to repeat the
flags and footprints missions of the
Apollo era, but to develop the
technology so that people can live and
work on the moon, but that of course
requires funding space exploration in
the long term. These missions are far
more complex than just sending humans to
low Earth orbit, as we did with the
space shuttle and with SpaceX's Crew
Dragon. now and it remains to be seen
whether America will maintain the
political and economic will that it
takes to foot the bill.
>> We certainly haven't funded NASA as if
this has been a race and so we don't
want to put our space agency in the
position of suddenly being framed as
losing when we haven't really given them
the resources necessary even to truly
compete if it truly is a time-sensitive
situation. It's important to note that
China and the US have very different
playbooks. The US is partnering with
private industry including SpaceX and
Blue Origin. And China is using a
state-run program and they're putting
significant resources behind it.
>> The moon is a large place, but the
number of locations that have the
combination of water, ice, sunlight, and
other aspects that we need are actually
relatively limited. and we could lose
those to the Chinese if we don't move
quickly.
>> But while the best campsites in space
may be worth scouting, there could be a
lot more options than we realize.
>> They're setting up the flag now.
>> The US won the race to the moon more
than 50 years ago.
>> Beautiful. Just beautiful.
>> We went to the moon. You can't undo
that. We need to be confident in our own
plan. Stay focused. absolutely welcome
trying to move as fast as possible, but
it's not the end of the world
figuratively or literally if China gets
there first. Did any of you see or hear
the massive meteor that streak through
the skies over Ohio and Pennsylvania
Tuesday morning? Weighing roughly 14,000
lbs, the fireball was moving so fast it
triggered a sonic boom heard from Ohio
to Kentucky. NASA says the six-foot
space rock was traveling 40,000 miles
per hour when it entered Earth's
atmosphere over Lake Erie. Some
residents thought there was an
earthquake or an explosion, but it was
this sonic boom, which occurs when an
object travels through the air faster
than the speed of sound, approximately
750 mph. It broke apart over Madina,
Ohio, releasing a burst of energy equal
to about 250 tons of TNT. The boom was
heard up to 600 miles away. Scientists
call it a bolide, which is a meteor that
explodes midair. Experts say they
actually happen all the time, just
rarely in the daylight and over such
populated areas. Now to an update on the
ongoing energy crisis in Cuba. Parts of
the island are recovering from a
nationwide blackout that lasted more
than 24 hours following a complete
collapse of the country's electrical
grid. These blackouts have intensified
lately due to the US oil blockade, which
has effectively cut off the island's
main fuel supply. Our Patrick Ottman is
on the ground in the capital of Havana
with an update. After more than 24 hours
of an islandwide blackout, power is
coming back to many parts of Havana.
Still, there are other parts of the
city, many parts of the island that are
still without any electricity. and the
underlying causes of this blackout, an
aging electrical system that is
collapsing, an oil blockade on the part
of the Trump administration on this
island. Those are still there. The power
could go out again at any point. That's
really the concern here. And so the
Cuban government says they are
negotiating with the United States. They
are trying to work out some kind of
deal. We've heard Donald Trump say that
he plans on taking Cuba, essentially
being the one to call the shots here,
and Secretary of State Marco Rubio say
that in his opinion, the officials in
charge of this island are unable to
resolve the problems that they have here
and that they need to leave. So while
talks are going on, it is clear that the
Cuban government is being pushed to do
much more than up until now they have
been willing to do. And very soon
officials here could be facing an
ultimatum from the US.
Pop quiz hot shot. What did the earliest
vending machine dispense? Toys, holy
water, bread, or bird seed?
If you said holy water, bless your
heart. The earliest known vending
machine was invented in ancient Greece
at a temple. It's credited to the Greek
engineer Hero of Alexandria. His device
worked by accepting a coin which
triggered a mechanism releasing small
amounts of holy water into the hands of
worshippers. If you've ever been to
Japan, you know they have arguably the
coolest vending machines on the planet.
I've been there a handful of times and
you can get everything from sushi to
gyoza fried chicken. The machines are
iconic and big business, but some
beverage companies are saying they're
going to start taking their vending
machines off the streets. Our Hanukkah
Montgomery has more on the why.
>> Japan's iconic vending machines are in
big trouble.
Major beverage companies are reporting
hundreds of millions of dollars in
losses. And this company, Daido, says
it's removing 20,000 of them because
they're no longer profitable. And it
comes down to two reasons. First, labor
shortages. There are millions of these
machines across Japan, and they need
constant restocking and maintenance, but
there aren't enough workers to keep them
running. Second, price hikes. Rising
costs for raw materials mean drinks
inside these machines are getting more
expensive, and consumers are noticing.
Some drinks now cost nearly 50% more
than what they did before the pandemic.
So, people are instead heading here to
convenience stores or drugstores where
the exact same drink can be sold
cheaper.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. A
group of students diving into the deep
end of innovation and making waves in
STEM. At the University of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, dozens of student teams put
their skills to the test, engineering
remotely operated vehicles or ROVs
designed to tackle challenges
underwater. Each robot is built to
navigate obstacles, glide through rings,
and complete hands-on missions against
the clock. Top teams advance to an
international competition in Maryland
this June, where they'll not only test
their robots, but the realworld skills
they've built along the way.
>> Perseverance is usually one of the big
things, and that's hard to just teach
every day in a class.
>> For many competitors, this is just the
beginning with dreams of engineering
careers already in motion.
>> I plan to go to MIT to do aerospace
engineering. Uh and I think here I learn
uh lots of working together as a team
which I'll do in engineering in any
engineering field.
>> From trial and error to teamwork and
innovation, these students are charting
a course toward their future in STEM.
That is all about we have time for
today. But first, we want to show some
love to the folks who make this the best
10 minutes in news. We have a shout out
to Miss Lal at the Froel Bilingual
School in Auadia, Puerto Rico. Rise up
friends and thank you for subscribing
and commenting on our CNN 10 YouTube
channel. I'm also sending some love to
Mr. Lincoln and friends at Melba High
School in Melba, Idaho. I do believe a
pizza party may be in order. You've
stolen a pizza our hearts. Make it an
awesome day everyone. I'm Koi Wire and
we are CNN 10.