Flight Fiasco, Relief in Buffalo, and a Cabin Fever Cure

US Flight Fiasco 

Thousands of flights across the US were delayed or canceled yesterday after the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded all departing flights due to an overnight outage in a critical pilot-alerting system. The White House initially said the outage did not appear to stem from a cyberattack, though the Department of Transportation is conducting an investigation. 

Pilots check the Notice to Air Missions system, or NOTAM, (see overview) before flying for real-time information about flight operations, including closed runways, equipment outages, and safety issues about a flight route or location. The FAA first discovered the glitch in the decades-old system Tuesday night and resorted to using a backup telephone hotline that was later overwhelmed. A ground stop was issued Wednesday morning as the FAA worked to restore the system. Domestic flight operations gradually resumed starting at 9 am ET. 

The delays and cancellations are the latest in a series for US travelers who faced issues during the holidays and amid winter storms.

Space Rescue Mission

Russian space agency Roscosmos said yesterday it would launch an uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft to retrieve three astronauts who became stranded on the International Space Station after their transport vehicle was damaged in December.

One of Russia's standard Soyuz spacecraft, the vehicle successfully launched and docked at the space station in September, the first step of a six-month mission. The crew was forced to scratch a planned spacewalk in mid-December after a stream of white particles was observed ejecting from the docked spacecraft (see video). Preliminary evaluation suggests a micrometeoroid—tiny rocks, typically asteroid fragments traveling at high speeds—punched a quarter-inch hole in the vehicle's external cooling system. 

Officials said the crew is not in any immediate danger and will remain aboard the ISS, while the damaged vessel will return to Earth uncrewed. The rescue spacecraft is expected to launch Feb. 20. 

Read about the related issue of dangerous space debris here. 

Hamlin Heads Home

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was released yesterday from Buffalo General Medical Hospital after undergoing a series of evaluations. He returned home nine days after collapsing on the field from cardiac arrest during Monday Night Football. Hamlin has yet to make any announcements about a return to the sport. 

Early expert speculation suggested 24-year-old Hamlin's collapse stemmed from ultrarare commotio cordis, where blunt force to the heart disrupts its rhythm and forces it to stop, but cardiologists claim it likely indicates an underlying cardiac condition. At least 100 people are estimated to die from cardiac-related events during competitive sports per year in the US.

A toy charity Hamlin has sponsored since 2020 for his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, has received close to $9M since his collapse and is now managed by professional charity organization the Giving Back Fund. 

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