Astronauts set to make history: First all-female spacewalk

NASA will try again Friday to conduct the first-ever all-female spacewalk, six months after the first attempt had to be canceled because of a lack of available spacesuits aboard the International Space Station. Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are scheduled to replace a faulty power controller on the orbiting spacecraft. NASA will stream the spacewalk live starting at 6:50 a.m. ET. Koch had been scheduled in March to conduct the historic spacewalk with Anne McClain. But the two astronauts both required medium-size suits, and there was only one available. NASA says it has the correct size spacesuits this time.

NASA will attempt to conduct an all-female spacewalk months after the first attempt had to be canceled due to a lack of available spacesuits.

USA TODAY

Former energy Minister Perry faces a deadline in court in the impeachment investigation

The fourth week of the impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump wraps up Friday with outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry facing a subpoena deadline for documents about Ukraine from the three House committees conducting depositions Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight and Reform. Trump said he made the infamous July 25 phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Perry’s suggestion. The committees cited reports that Perry, who will resign from his position at the end of the year, according to Trump, pressed Zelensky to fire board members of the state-owned energy company Naftogaz. Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have already defied subpoenas to turn over documents as part of the inquiry.   

A handout image provided by NASA shows NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (left) and Christina Koch (right) inside the Quest airlock, preparing the American spacesuits and instruments they will use during their first joint spacewalk.

(Photo: NASA HANDOUT, EPA-EFE)

The teachers ‘ strike Chicago teachers returned to the picket lines

Classes will be closed for a second straight day Friday as about 32,000 Chicago Public Schools teachers and aides remain on strike in the nation’s third-largest school district. The first major walkout by Chicago teachers since 2012 came after 10 months of talks over pay and benefits, class sizes and teacher preparation time. Labor leaders also say the city has failed to offer a fair contract that pays for more support staff in the form of nurses, librarians, counselors and school psychologists. On day one of the strike, public workers and kids rose before the sun to picket outside their schools. After rejecting the Chicago Teachers Unions demands, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced classes for about 360,000 students would be canceled until the walkout ends. 

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So many options! Moviegoers dream as “Maleficent ” and” Zombieland ” stars return

Film fanatics get a colossal clash at the box office Friday. “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” a continuation of a reimagined “Sleeping Beauty,” picks up five years after the original as villain-turned-protector Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) battles Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), queen of a neighboring kingdom and future mother-in-law of Maleficent’s adopted daughter Aurora (Elle Fanning). “Zombieland” depicted a viral outbreak that brought zombie global domination and four bickering survivors (Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin) bonding over great kills. But in the sequel “Zombieland: Double Tap,” the virus has mutated and created stronger zombies. Finally, in “Jojo Rabbit,” Scarlett Johansson plays a single mother hiding a Jewish girl in Nazi Germany. 

Tropical storm warnings issued for Gulf coast, surges possible

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Gulf Coast as a system gathers strength in the western Gulf of Mexico that could become Tropical Storm Nestor in the next day or two. “Tropical development can occur at any time into Saturday as the system travels northeastward over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Dan Kottlowski, an AccuWeather hurricane expert. The storm will most likely make landfall somewhere along the Florida Panhandle. AccuWeather predicted that the storm will bring drenching rain and localized flooding as it moves over the southeastern states. Urban flooding can occur even though much of the Southeast states could stand more rain because of ongoing drought conditions. 

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