In the period between May 31st and June 2nd, 2022, the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Agatha generated adverse atmospheric conditions that caused moderate to heavy rainfall over several regions of Belize.
This event briefing describes the impact of rainfall on Belize, which was associated with a Covered Area Rainfall Event (CARE), starting on May 31st and ending on June 2 nd 2022. The Rainfall Index Loss (RIL) was below the attachment point of the Excess Rainfall policy for Belize and therefore no payout is due to the Government of Belize.
Neither Belize nor any of the other CCRIF members experienced tropical-storm-force winds from Tropical Cyclone Agatha, and therefore, a tropical cyclone event briefing was not issued for this event.
WASHINGTON, April 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission sending astronauts to the International Space Station.
The launch is targeted for 5:26 a.m. EDT Saturday, April 23, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, dubbed by Crew-4 as Freedom, is scheduled to dock to the space station at 6 a.m. Sunday, April 24.
Prelaunch activities, along with launch and docking will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
The Crew-4 flight will carry Mission Commander Kjell Lindgren, Pilot Bob Hines, and Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins, all of NASA, and Mission Specialist Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency), to the space station for a science expedition in microgravity.
The mission is the fourth crew rotation to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket and the fifth SpaceX flight with NASA astronauts, including the Demo-2 test flight in 2020 to the space station, as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
The deadline has passed for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch. More information about media accreditation is available by emailing: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
All media participation in the following news conferences will be virtual except where specifically listed below.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):
Friday, April 15
5 p.m. (approximately) – Flight readiness review media teleconference at Kennedy (no earlier than one hour after completion of the review) with the following participants:
Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy
Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
Zeb Scoville, flight director, Flight Operations Directorate, Johnson
Jared Metter, director, Flight Reliability, SpaceX
Frank De Winne, program manager, International Space Station, ESA
Media may ask questions via phone only. The teleconference audio will stream on nasa.gov/live. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 4 p.m. Friday, April 15, at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Monday, April 18
12:30 p.m. (approximately) – Crew arrival media event at Kennedy on the NASA Television Media Channel with the following participants (limited to previously confirmed in-person media only):
Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Janet Petro, director, Kennedy Space Center
Frank de Winne, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren
NASA astronaut Bob Hines
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti
No teleconference option is available for this event.
Tuesday, April 19
6:30 a.m. – Virtual crew media engagement at Kennedy with Crew-4 astronauts on NASA Television:
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren
NASA astronaut Bob Hines
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti
Media may ask questions via phone only. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour prior to the start of event at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Thursday, April 21
9:30 p.m. (approximately) – Prelaunch news teleconference at Kennedy (no earlier than one hour after completion of the launch readiness review) with the following participants:
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy
Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
Zeb Scoville, flight director, Flight Operations Directorate, Johnson
Jessica Jensen, vice president, customer operations and integration, SpaceX
Frank de Winne, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA
Arlena Moses, launch weather officer, U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron
Media may ask questions via phone only. The teleconference audio will stream on nasa.gov/live. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 8:30 p.m. on April 21 at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Friday, April 22
10 a.m. – NASA Administrator Media Briefing on NASA Television with the following participants:
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana
Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Kirt Costello, chief scientist, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
Frank de Winne, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA
NASA Astronaut
Media may ask questions in-person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 9 a.m. on Friday, April 22, at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Saturday, April 23
1:45 a.m. – NASA Television launch commentary coverage begins
5:26 a.m. – Launch
7 a.m. (approximately) – Postlaunch news conference on NASA Television
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
Jessica Jensen, vice president, customer operations and integration, SpaceX
Frank de Winne, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA
Media may ask questions in-person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 6 a.m. on Saturday, April 23, at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Sunday, April 24
6 a.m.– Docking
7:50 a.m. – Hatch Opening
8:15 a.m. – Welcome Ceremony from the International Space Station with the following participants:
Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Josef Aschbacher, director general, ESA
NASA TV Launch Coverage
NASA TV live coverage will begin at 1:45 a.m. on Saturday, April 23. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit:
Audio only of the news conferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA “V” circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, -1260 or -7135. On launch day, “mission audio,” countdown activities without NASA TV launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135.
NASA Website Launch Coverage
Launch day coverage of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission will be available on the agency’s website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 1:45 a.m. on Saturday, April 23, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our launch blog at:
Launch also will be available on local amateur VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz and UHF radio frequency 444.925 MHz, FM mode, heard within Brevard County on the Space Coast.
Attend the launch virtually
Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following a successful launch.
Watch and engage on social media
Let people know you’re following the mission on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtags #Dragon and #NASASocial. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts:
Did you know NASA has Spanish language social accounts called NASA en Espanol? Make sure to check out NASA en Espanol on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube for more coverage on Crew-4.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo 321-501-8425 antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov.
NASA will provide a live video feed of Launch Complex 39A approximately 48-hours prior to the planned liftoff of the Crew-4 mission. Pending unlikely technical issues, the feed will be uninterrupted until the prelaunch broadcast begins on NASA TV, approximately four hours prior to launch.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science and more commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars.
For NASA’s launch blog and more information about the mission, visit:
Three months after the deal to build a replacement for the aging Saddledome fell through, Calgary city councillors are scheduled to be briefed on the event centre project at their meeting on Tuesday.
The briefing is set to be confidential, and it remains unclear what details, if any, will be made public.
It comes after a unanimous vote by council back in January to engage with a third party to determine if the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. would be interested in re-entering discussions on building an event centre, or if there are other parties interested in partnering with the City of Calgary to complete the project.
“This time we’re looking at the entertainment district as a whole, which includes the event centre,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said after the meeting in January. “It may be possible that we need to enter into a partnership that includes more than two parties.
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“We’re also looking into everything else that goes into an entertainment district, so we’re being very holistic in how we’re moving forward.”
According to city officials, between $23 million to $24 million had been spent to date on the event centre project. CSEC and the city are expected to split those costs, as well as the remaining wind-down costs, as part of their agreement.
Event centre timeline
The original deal between the City of Calgary and CSEC to build the event centre was signed in July 2019.
As part of the agreement, both sides were to cover the half cost of the then $550-million building. The city agreed to provide the land and retain ownership of the building, as well as pay $22.4 million to demolish the Saddledome and for reclamation work on the land.
It was a “monumental move forward,” according to Jeff Davison, who served on the event centre assessment committee at the time.
“The new Calgary event centre wasn’t just about a building for hockey games,” Davison told Global News on Monday. “It was, ultimately, a catalytic move to develop up to $3 billion worth of real estate, to think about how we achieve economic recovery and how do we achieve downtown recovery.”
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Davison said there was a lot of work in that first year, including examining similar builds and entertainment districts in other cities, and engaging with Calgarians.
But in the spring of 2021, the project was paused after it was revealed costs had escalated to $608 million.
CSEC and the city re-entered negotiations to adjust the agreement, which saw both parties increase their share by $12.5 million through a clause in the previous agreement.
As part of the redeveloped deal, the city’s share of the costs went up to $287.5 million and Calgary Municipal Land Corp. was replaced by CSEC as development manager. CSEC also committed to covering the risk of all cost overruns moving forward, and was set to contribute $321 million to build the project.
“I think the best thing about that agreement was we got our partner to carry all the cost overruns,” Davison said.
“When we think about achieving that whole (entertainment district), achieving all of those benefits and getting our money out of the deal; you couldn’t have asked for a better setup.”
The development permit was brought to the Calgary Planning Commission in Nov. 2021.
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As part of a list of 70 conditions attached to the approval of the development permit, the commission recommended sidewalk improvements and climate mitigation on the roof. City officials said at the time that conditions are typically attached to development permits as part of their approval.
One month later, Gondek announced via Twitter that CSEC majority shareholder Murray Edwards informed her that there was no viable path to complete the project due to rising costs, and Flames ownership would be pulling out of the deal.
CSEC said at the time that both sides were in “mutual alignment” when it comes to wanting to build an event centre, but Flames ownership had concerns with the infrastructure and climate costs attached to the development permit, “that were introduced by the city following our July agreement.”
City officials said the city offered to cover $6.4 million for roadway reconstruction as part of right-of-way costs totalling $12.1 million. The climate resiliency items were set to cost $3.9 million, and officials said the city offered to find grant funding to cover those costs.
“I think that it’s pretty common that large infrastructure projects of a sports nature — or non-sports nature — usually come in substantially overbudget,” said Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander. “I think the shocking factor is that when we start talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, an extra $100 million among friends is a huge number.
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“But in the grand scheme of things, 20 per cent over costs wasn’t that big a deal.”
As part of the deal, because both the city and Flames ownership didn’t agree to move forward to construction by Dec. 31, 2021, the event centre agreement ended.
“It was a shame to see the whole thing fall apart,” Davison said.
Ryan Pike, the managing editor of the Flames Nation website, said he doesn’t expect the Flames to relocate given the financial success of the team in Calgary. However, he said fans were anxious when the deal collapsed.
“I think there’s a bit of fan consternation or anxiety because until you have a building and a long-term lease, there’s always a little bit of fan anxiety,” Pike said.
“A lot of fans, I think their mindset is, ‘Oh, goodness, did we deal with this already? Why are we dealing with this again?’ I think that’s where a lot of the the frustration boiled over.”
At the time, CSEC said the Flames plan to stay and play at the Saddledome “for many years to come.”
WHO/Europe will hold a virtual press briefing on the situation in Ukraine and the wider region, with Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, and technical experts. As we mark International Women’s Day, we will shine a spotlight on women in conflict. And we will also be ready to take your questions on COVID-19, in Ukraine and the wider European Region.