There are many other historical facts that appear to have influenced the Maximus character. One of these is the fact that Commodus is infamous for fighting crippled opponents, amputees, and wounded soldiers in the arena. He was a bully of a-man who loved to brutalize others while ensuring he was safe and able to win every time. This resonates with his willingness to stab Maximus before their final fight.
Even so, historically, Commodus wasn’t actually killed fighting in the arena. Instead, he’s strangled to death by his wrestling partner, Narcissus, who is urged by plotting senators to assassinate him. Once again, this echoes the story of Commodus’ old friend, Maximus, killing him in an athletic competition in the film.
Maximus’ Stoic nature is also reflective of historical fact. He is a loyal follower of Marcus Aurelius, who himself famously practiced Stoicism and was the author of the still-popular book «Meditations.» Of course, Stoics didn’t tend to believe in an afterlife, so that part had to be fudged a bit, but the connection still stands.
Finally, there’s the already-alluded-to element of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). In Scott’s film, Commodus’ sister is portrayed as an accurate but stereotypical iteration of the female influence on Roman politics. At different times in her life, the historical sister of Commodus was a daughter, wife, and sister to an emperor. She also actually conspired with senators to kill her brother and failed, at which point Commodus executed her. She married one of her father’s generals and had a son named Lucius Verus, all of which were integrated into Maximus’ backstory in the movie. While Maximus may not be real, there is no doubt that Scott and company did their homework when creating the character.
Renowned comedian, actor, and writer Tina Fey is known for many things, from her contributions to «Saturday Night Live» to her original sitcoms «30 Rock» and «Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.» However, one of her standout achievements occurred when she struck gold with her feature debut, the iconic «Mean Girls.» The film raked in over $130 million globally and became a cultural phenomenon. Recognizing the enduring appeal of her creation, Fey took a bold step in 2018, 14 years after the movie’s initial release, by adapting it into a Broadway musical. Securing an impressive 12 Tony Award nominations and earning widespread acclaim, the Broadway adaptation of «Mean Girls» proved to be a success. In Fey’s mind, the next best move was to adapt the musical into a film, but as we’ve seen so far, not everyone agrees.
Perhaps the reason the Broadway musical worked was because of the substantial time gap between both projects and the distinctiveness of the theatrical medium. In contrast, the 2024 remake comes less than six years after the Broadway musical’s debut, and its similarity to the original 2004 film has raised concerns about its distinctiveness and necessity. One Reddit user expressed, «You have enough money, Tina Fey. Please stop,» while another questioned, «Tina Fey is running out of ideas now?» But in the age of endless nostalgia and remakes, who can really blame her?
This mandala combines visualizations of cell types in the mouse brain. (Illustration via Allen Institute)
Neuroscientists have unveiled their most comprehensive and detailed map of cell types across the entire mouse brain, delivering the latest results of a six-year-long scientific effort in which Seattle’s Allen Institute has played a leading role.
Nine studies published today in the journal Nature document the identification of 5,322 different types of brain cells, and trace the similarities and differences found in a variety of mammalian species — including humans.
The work expands upon previous studies from the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network, including earlier surveys of cells in various regions of the mouse brain, as well as cross-species comparisons of cell functions. Researchers from the Allen Institute joined forces with colleagues from the Broad Institute, Harvard, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the University of California at San Diego, UC-Berkeley and other institutions to add to their “parts list” for the brain.
“Now we have the cell-type atlas of all the cells in the brain,” Hongkui Zeng, executive vice president and director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, said in an explanatory video. “This is really a landmark achievement. … It marks the completion of a kind of work that strives for completeness. But it also marks the beginning of the next phase of the journey. It just opens up the door for the next generation of investigations.”
Zeng, who is the senior author of one of the papers in Nature and a co-author of five others, said the next step will be to figure out exactly what all those different cell types do, how their functions are affected by disease, and whether there might be yet-to-be-discovered ways to restore those proper functions.
“It’s not just about a catalog, a list of cell types and where they are — reference information which by itself is already important — but we begin to see how a brain is organized,” Zeng said.
The studies relied on genetic sequencing data plus spatial maps of gene expression, gathered from millions of cells.
Researchers found a strong correlation between the characteristic gene expression patterns for cell types and their location in the brain. In the upper regions of the brain, also known as the dorsal regions, there was a small number of widely diverse cell types. In contrast, the brain’s lower or ventral regions contain a large number of distinct cell types that are more closely related to each other.
“Our hypothesis is an evolution-based explanation,” Zeng told GeekWire in an email. “The evolutionally more ancient, ventral part of the brain (especially the hypothalamus / midbrain / hindbrain) is mainly involved in the survival function of the animal (including feeding, reproduction, metabolism, etc.), and thus it is subject to more evolutionary constraints, and its cell types are more numerous but haven’t diverged much.”
In contrast, the dorsal part of the brain — including the cortex, thalamus and cerebellum — is mainly involved in fast-changing adaptive functions, such as sensory-motor specialization and cognition. “Thus it has expanded and diversified faster, even with fewer millions of years of evolution,” Zeng said.
Another study compared gene regulation in the primary motor cortex of humans, macaques, monkeys and mice. Researchers found that patterns of gene expression that were specific to particular cell types seem to have evolved much more rapidly than patterns that are shared across different cell types.
They said nearly 80 percent of the regulatory elements that are unique to humans are transposable elements — that is, small sections of DNA that can easily change position within the genome.
The analysis also pointed to features that are highly conserved across species in genetic variants that have been linked to multiple sclerosis, anorexia nervosa and tobacco addiction. The researchers said their results demonstrate the value of brain maps for identifying genetic factors that play a part in neurological conditions.
“Humans have evolved over millions of years, and much of that evolutionary history is shared with other animals,” Joseph Ecker, a professor at the Salk Institute who helped lead the cross-species study, explained in a news release. “Data from humans alone is never going to be enough to tell us everything we want to know about how the brain works. By filling in these gaps with other mammalian species, we can continue to answer those questions and improve the machine learning models we use by providing them more data.”
Hongkui Zeng, the executive vice president and director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, is one of the leading researchers participating in the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network . (Allen Institute Photo)
Now that researchers have filled out the parts list for the mouse brain, they’ll be devoting even more attention to the human brain. The Allen Institute is spearheading a five-year effort to create a human cell-type atlas with $173 million in funding from the BRAIN Initiative.
Zeng said cell-type maps are likely to point to new strategies for treating diseases. In that sense, having an accurate map could be the first step toward putting a wayward brain back on the right track.
“We know that many of the diseases originated actually in specific parts of the brain, and probably in specific cell types in those parts of the brain,” she said. “With the map in hand, now we can find out exactly how genes changed in those cell types, in those parts of the brain. … We can then create genetic tools or other kinds of tools, like pharmacological tools, to target those specific cell types.”
John Ngai, director of the BRAIN Initiative, suggested that the best is yet to come.
“Where we previously stood in darkness, this milestone achievement shines a bright light, giving researchers access to the location, function, and pathways between cell types and cell groups in a way we couldn’t imagine previously,” Ngai said. “This product is a testament to the power of this unprecedented, cross-cutting collaboration and paves our path for more precision brain treatments.”
A special section on Nature’s website highlights research from the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network relating to the mouse brain-cell atlas, including the nine papers published today as well as a paper that was published in September.
For a movie about chocolate, it doesn’t get a lot of screen time, aside from the fountain at the end, and some delightful treats that look way more like sculptural, colorful candy than easily recognizable chocolate bars. So where is the sweet stuff?
Well, the joke’s on us. The intricately shaped candy in the movie that doesn’t look a lot like chocolate, actually is chocolate: Chocolatier Gabriella Cugno made over 2,000 chocolates for the movie. «Any piece of chocolate you see, it’s not wax,» Keegan-Michael Key tells Vanity Fair. «It’s not like they cut to a prop that looks like a piece of chocolate; the chocolatier made all of it. Sometimes, it was so delicious that I asked for an extra take.»
Cugno’s intricate bonbons are more in keeping with the general Old World Europe style of the film, rather than the 1971 «Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory» very American take on big old chocolate bars. Wildly, even the liquid chocolate that Willy and Noodle almost drown in was real. Director Paul King tells People, «We actually made an enormous vat of hot chocolate — not scalding, just warm hot chocolate for them to immerse themselves in.» This just might be the most delicious «Wonka» plot hole that isn’t truly a plot hole at all.
One of Anakin Skywalker’s first acts upon succumbing to the dark side is to go on a full-tilt, child-killing murder spree, so it’s a little difficult to sympathize with the constant, consuming pain that he endures post-transformation. While Darth Vader’s armor is built from nearly impenetrable durasteel and provides a temperature-controlled climate, super strength, and intermittent pain relief, the suit is itchy, claustrophobic, unnecessarily heavy, and restrictive. The pauldrons alone weigh over 50 pounds, making any above-the-shoulder arm movements functionally impossible. What’s worse, Darth Sidious designed the armor to ensure that his apprentice continues to experience the pain of his wounds. The Sith Lord believes that fuels Vader’s obedience and, more importantly, his battle viability.
By leaving Anakin in constant agony with infrequent medical assuagement, Darth Sidious guarantees that his easily manipulated pupil remembers his weakness and who’s in charge. There is no excuse for Anakin’s actions as Darth Vader, but he’s trapped in a vicious cycle in which his only relief is to lash out against those his master deems unworthy to live. Pain is powerful, and no one knows that better than Anakin.
The sole, unambiguous confirmation that Grand Moff Tarkin is effectively aware that Darth Vader is the same person as Anakin Skywalker takes place in the «Tarkin» novel. That said, fans in a Reddit thread about this question have proposed a couple of reasons this must be the case, using evidence directly from the primary film continuity.
For instance, the thread’s top comment, by u/epicjeff, points to the fact that in «Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope,» Vader calls Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) his former master. This blatantly evokes Vader’s past life as Anakin, and Tarkin doesn’t question it. Of course, if it’s true that Lucas didn’t know Vader was Luke’s father when writing this scene, the reveal is an unintended consequence of the subsequent movie’s big plot twist.
Meanwhile, u/ewokwarrior_ mentions that Anakin is in charge of the attack on the Jedi Temple after Palpatine executes Order 66. By this point, Anakin has taken on the Darth Vader mantle but has not yet lost the fight with Obi-Wan on Mustafar, so he isn’t wearing his iconic suit. Tarkin, presumably, knows about the attack on the Jedi Temple and can figure out that its leader is the same person as the Darth Vader behind the black mask.
Zuper, a Seattle startup that sells software to help companies with field workers, raised a $32 million Series B round led by FUSE.
Founded in 2018, the company serves industries including residential and commercial cleaning, HVAC, electrical, internet service providers, property maintenance, plumbing, landscaping, and more.
Zuper is led by CEO Anand Subbaraj, a former Microsoft leader who joined in 2020. The 180-person company has offices in Seattle and India.
Bellevue, Wash.-based venture capital firm FUSE also led the company’s Series A round in 2021. Prime Venture Partners, another previous backer, invested again in the new round, along with Kin Ventures, Peak XV Partners, and Zendesk. Other early investors include Sequoia Capital India and HubSpot Ventures. Total funding to date is $46.1 million.
A Star Wars encyclopedia and some flashbacks in the Jedi Apprentice book series recount how Qui-Gon Jinn and Tahl first met as children. Tahl started training alongside Qui-Gonn at the academy located in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant when she was 6 years old. The friendship they quickly developed eventually culminated in a duel that attracted an audience of Jedi Masters interested in its outcome.
From this point on, Qui-Gon and Tahl are closely linked. After they both attained the rank of Jedi Master, they would undertake missions for the Jedi High Council together with some regularity. Since Jedi are explicitly encouraged to reject their own feelings for a possible love interest, it’s unclear precisely when Qui-Gon and Tahl developed their mutual interest in one another. Based on the fact that their bond dates back to childhood, however, it’s reasonable to assume that their shared love for each other that they confess in «Jedi Apprentice: The Ties That Bind» was suppressed for decades before finally seeing the light of day.
Starring in «The Hunger Games» was a life-changing experience for Jacqueline Emerson. She was invited to audition for the role of Foxface after participating in an interview for fans of the books where she gave feedback on the series. Emerson felt an immediate connection to her character, telling Seventeen that she thought Foxface was really unique for making it to the final four in the games without having to kill any of the other tributes. «I think that’s really cool, especially when she’s thrown into this society where that’s what you’re brought up to do,» she added.
Emerson continues to hold the movie and her part in it in high regard as the years go by. To celebrate the film’s 10th anniversary in 2022, Emerson reflected on playing the intelligent and stealthy character in an Instagram post. «This story changed my life, in more ways than I can count,» she gushed. «I will forever be humbled by the small part I got to play in bringing this to life.»
The following year, in celebration of the movie hitting Netflix, Emerson posted a tongue-in-cheek tribute to «The Hunger Games» by mocking her on-screen death. Celebrating the film being on Netflix, the actor shared a clip of Foxface’s death by poisonous berries, before showing herself happily eating a handful of blueberries. «Check it out and let the nostalgia ROLL (as it def did for me),» she joked.
Alan Dean Foster is no stranger to crafting Star Wars novelizations, penning 1976’s «Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker» and the 1978 sequel, «Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye.» As for the decision to write the «Force Awakens» novelization, Foster told Midnight’s Edge he knew the script director J.J. Abrams co-authored would be good since he wrote the novelizations for the filmmaker’s Star Trek reboot movies.
Foster said he can fix certain things he reads in the script, like the science behind the technology. The author noted his improvement of the description of the First Order’s Starkiller weapon — which he anticipated being removed — was left in. On the flip side, he doesn’t have as much leeway with the characters.
«The characters are fairly well-established in a screenplay,» Foster said. «Some things they said to take out, and some things they left alone. Some of the things they said to take out I thought were silly and would really have improved the book.»
As such, Foster not only had to remove any hints of a Finn-Rey romance but also a callback to «A New Hope.» The author included a line where Han Solo (Harrison Ford) tells Rey, «Don’t get cocky, kid,» when she fixes a problem he can’t solve aboard the Millennium Falcon. The production made him cut it.
Playing Watto in the first two Star Wars prequels gave actor Andy Secombe some interesting challenges. Having prior experience with dub work for foreign animated shows broadcast on Channel 4, Secombe’s life was changed when casting director Robyn Gurland reached out for his recommendations of suitable voice actors for the upcoming «Phantom Menace.» The performer excitedly jumped at the opportunity, soon finding himself in a voice booth and doing table reads alongside Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor.
Secombe’s first day on set saw him and Neeson perform their interaction during the start of the podrace. To give the effects artists an idea of where Watto would be, the production fitted Secombe with a wardrobe piece that birthed more trouble than anticipated. «They made me wear this hat with a metal rim so that I could be easily identifiable for the animators,» the actor explained in an interview at MCM Comic Con Birmingham. «And the rim of it stuck Liam right in the bridge of the nose.» The impact was enough to drop Neeson to the ground and make him bleed, which spiked Secombe’s anxiety quite a bit. «First day of filming, and I disabled the leading actor!» he continued. «I thought, ‘This is not a good look.’»
Thankfully, Neeson came out alright, and makeup was applied to cover the wound. Nevertheless, it remains an unforgettable moment for Secombe and likely would have received Watto’s seal of approval.
Given her well-established love for «In the Heights» that goes back years before she was ever cast in the movie (or had even become a professional entertainer), it probably isn’t easy for Melissa Barrera to pick a favorite song from the musical. But, when asked by Cosmopolitan which song from the musical resonated the most with her personally, her answer was emphatic. «‘It Won’t Be Long Now,’ is literally, I feel like, the anthem of my life,» she answered.
She went on to explain in detail just why the song has so much significance for her: «[T]he thing that has kept me going in the difficult times, in the down times of not knowing when I’m gonna work again or getting rejected from roles that I really want and being in such low, dark places that you want to give up and throw the towel in, is thinking that, ‘it won’t be long now.’ That I’m getting closer. That I’m getting closer to my dream.»
That behind-the-scenes inspirational drama might make you want to rewatch «In the Heights» and appreciate its story on a whole other level.
The Seattle skyline from Lake Union. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
The Seattle City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved rules requiring roughly 4,100 existing buildings of more than 20,000 square feet to slash their greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. Mayor Bruce Harrell is scheduled to sign the bill into law on Wednesday.
The Seattle Building Emissions Performance Standard would apply to structures including skyscrapers, low- to high-rise buildings, multifamily residences, retail spaces, restaurants, churches, schools and universities, and community centers.
“Future generations will look back to this moment and judge us for what we did today to address our climate crisis,” said Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“It’s time for us to take big swings and make sure that we’re doing everything we can for ourselves and for future generations of Seattleites.”
– Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold
The region is experiencing the negative impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, drought and smoke from wildfires, she added. “It’s time for us to take big swings and make sure that we’re doing everything we can for ourselves and for future generations of Seattleites,” she said.
Buildings account for 37% of Seattle’s carbon emissions, behind transportation’s 61% contribution, according to data from the city. The greenhouse gas sources in buildings are primarily oil and natural gas, including fossil fuel-powered furnaces and water heaters, gas stoves, and fuel leaks from pipes and storage tanks. The new rules are expected to cut emissions from the city’s buildings by 27% by mid-century.
City leaders held more than 125 stakeholder meetings over multiple years to get input on the rules. The measure won support from environmental and climate organizations, organized labor, building professionals and affordable housing providers.
The standards roll out gradually over time, requiring property owners to measure a building’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, document its existing performance and equipment, and then make plans and take steps to reduce a building’s energy and carbon footprints.
The policy includes support to help building owners achieve the goals, and penalties for those who fail to report or meet targets.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell requested the rules, and the measure was co-sponsored by city councilmembers Herbold, Teresa Mosqueda and Dan Strauss.
There are swaths of buildings not covered by the building performance standards that also need to cut their carbon impacts. That includes structures under 20,000 square feet and single-family homes.
“Many of the people who testified in support of the legislation have noted that there’s much more to do to advance climate justice,” Mosqueda said. “Today, though, is a moment for celebration as we pass this landmark policy, as we lead by example.”
In the same interview with James Cameron, George Lucas explained that his main interest in science fiction has never been the science portion. «I come out of anthropology,» he said, «so my focus is social systems. In science fiction, you’ve got two branches. One is science, and the other is social.»
As Lucas once explained in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, his original «Star Wars» script was motivated by both Vietnam and the growing scandals around then-president Richard Nixon. «It was really about the Vietnam War, and that was the period where Nixon was trying to run for a [second] term, which got me to thinking historically about how do democracies get turned into dictatorships?» Lucas said (via Time).
That focus became the basis for the entire Star Wars prequel trilogy — a story about a longstanding democracy corrupting itself through military imperialism. By the time Sheev Palpatine crowns himself emperor in «Revenge of the Sith,» the system he’s worked up through has become so intrinsically perverted that he’s greeted with thunderous applause. Even Anakin’s relationship with Padmé is an analogy for liberalism being seduced (and ultimately destroyed) by fascism.
Even after Lucas sold the franchise to Disney, these political undertones have continued to anchor the franchise. Most recently, the critically acclaimed Disney+ series «Andor» returned Star Wars to its revolutionary roots, dealing with themes like mass incarceration and Indigenous displacement and genocide. Showrunner Tony Gilroy said of his own inspiration in an interview with Deadline, «This is the Russian Revolution. This is the Montagnard. This is something interesting that happened in the Haitian Revolution. This is the ANC. Oh, this is the Irgun Building, Palestine. This is the Continental Congress.»
Next on the list is a terrible twofer from a show that you may not even remember came out this year. The Amazon Prime series «Citadel» was one of the biggest flops of 2023, and it certainly feels like the show’s leading couple should shoulder some of the blame. Visually captivating as they may be, Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra playing a stupidly attractive spy couple torn apart by a mission awry had all the on-screen chemistry of a brick and a plate full of jelly. They had no reason to be near each other in a story that sparked very little interest, leaving only one of its supporting stars to keep the wheels turning through an already lifeless show.
Stanley Tucci, at his most relaxed, provided more of a compelling watch than the two lead stars he was supporting. Unfortunately, with so little screen time, it meant the rest of the show became an absolute slog of a watch, and Madden and Chopra didn’t have enough between them to pick up the pace. Nevertheless, the superpowers of streaming somehow gave the green light for Season 2, so maybe «Citadel» could come back with this killer couple actually being worth a watch. For now, though, we’re not going to hold our breath; perhaps they should start seeing other people, instead.
Whether this was Joel Schumacher’s intention seems to be beside the point for many «Batman» fans who have thought about the theory. «That is probably the only thing that salvages that movie from being an utter disaster of a Batman movie,» wrote u/ArdentPriest.
Regularly cited among the worst movies of all time, «Batman & Robin» was such a fiasco that Warner Bros. decided to reboot the entire franchise rather than continue with the series. Still, many fans evidently think that if the intention was to imagine how Hollywood would make «Batman» as a movie based on a real-life Gotham City hero, that changes everything.
«With Alfred Pennyworth playing…himself? Jokes aside, that is a stupidly elegant theory; I love it!» wrote u/DrSousaphone. Meanwhile, u/calltheavenger5 agreed, writing, «That makes more sense than the actual movie.»
While it’s unlikely at this point that any fan theory or reassessment of the film’s value can save «Batman & Robin» from its place in the dumpster of cinematic history, takes like this one show that even a movie that has been this derided can be partially redeemed with a little bit of imagination.
Considering the small hints that McG has shared regarding the alternate ending, it’s possible that it could wrap up with John dying during the base operation or even Marcus betraying John and killing him.
Of course, with McG keeping his lips sealed concerning the details, we can only speculate on how dark this ending might end up going. As for the legacy of «Terminator Salvation,» McG’s spirits aren’t broken quite yet, though it’s clear that it still haunts him. «We tried hard,» he recalled. «On that one, we brought in Jonah Nolan to write it; there was a writers’ strike back then.»
«[We] brought in Christian Bale, you can’t reach much higher than that,» the filmmaker went on. «We certainly gave it everything we had. A lot of people like that movie; it didn’t quite do what I hoped it was gonna do, and I’ve been living with that wound a long time.» Even still, perhaps audiences may think differently of the much-maligned film if this alternate conclusion is eventually released. Until the day when that possibility becomes a reality, however, all we can do is wonder.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship was grounded after a failed mission in 2022. (Blue Origin Photo)
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture plans to send its New Shepard suborbital spaceship on an uncrewed research mission as early as Dec. 18, marking the company’s first launch since a rocket engine malfunction spoiled a similar uncrewed mission more than a year ago.
In an update posted to X / Twitter, Blue Origin said the upcoming mission, known as NS24, would carry 33 science and research payloads — plus 38,000 postcards sent in by students as part of a program organized by the Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s educational nonprofit.
No further details were available, but it’s possible that at least some of the payloads (and postcards) have been carried over from the mission that went awry in September 2022. New Shepard’s launch escape system worked as planned for that NS23 mission, and the capsule was unharmed even though the booster was destroyed.
A successful uncrewed mission could smooth the way for the resumption of crewed flights soon afterward.
An investigation overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration determined that the booster’s BE-3 rocket engine malfunctioned when its nozzle suffered a structural failure, due to engine operating temperatures that were higher than expected. The FAA required Blue Origin to take 21 corrective actions, including design changes for the engine as well as organizational changes.
The fact that Blue Origin is gearing up for a return to flight next week might seem to imply that the company has fully addressed the corrective actions. However, the FAA said there’s still some work to do. “The FAA and Blue Origin are continuing to work on outstanding items related to the license modification application,” the regulatory agency said in an emailed statement.
Thirty-one people — including Bezos himself — have taken suborbital trips to the edge of space and back from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas since mid-2021. Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, has said she would lead one of the upcoming crewed flights and take five other women with her.
In addition to the New Shepard suborbital space program in Texas, Blue Origin is gearing up for orbital New Glenn launches from Florida, working on its Blue Moon lunar lander for NASA’s eventual use, and continuing development of the Orbital Reef commercial space station. All this is taking place amid a transition that is shifting CEO responsibilities from veteran aerospace executive Bob Smith to former Amazon executive Dave Limp.
We’ve updated this report with a statement from the FAA.
