Today on CNN STUDENT NEWS, the last space shuttle launch in 2011 was a blast from the
past. We`ll tell you where NASA is looking for the future of space exploration.
First up, though, we are taking you to California where firefighters are racing the contained
wild fires that are scorching parts of the state.
About 60 miles east of Sacramento, in Eldorado National Forest, one fire had chewed up about
8600 acres by yesterday afternoon. That`s like 8600 football fields. And it was only
five percent contained when we produced this show. Thousands of people have had to evacuate
their homes, and this is only one of almost a dozen different fires that are fueled by
the state`s historic drought. California sees a lot of wildfires. It has a wildfire season
that runs from May to October. But Cal Fire says this one is on track to be the most destructive
season ever.
A heatwave that settled over California this week, isn`t helping.
Jumping cross-country to Atlanta, Georgia. It`s the headquarters of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. And it`s where President Obama spoke yesterday about Ebola.
Several nations in West Africa are losing their fight against it. There are more people
with suspected Ebola than there are hospital beds to treat them. The U.S. has committed
$100 million to efforts to help stop the favor from spreading.
But yesterday the president asked Congress to approve an additional 88 million. It would
be used to build treatment centers in West Africa and send more American medical workers
to affected regions. Obama administration officials say as many as 3,000 additional
U.S. troops could be send to West Africa as well. The U.N. says Ebola could become a major
humanitarian crisis.
NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is calling taxi. Its space shuttle program
might have ended three years ago, but it`s using some of the taxpayer funding it gets
to pay private companies to invent space taxis: vehicles that could potentially get Americans
to the International Space Station, maybe beyond.
They`ll launch from Florida`s Kennedy Space Station starting in 2017. So, who will be
making them?
A major milestone has been met in the new private space race. Boeing was awarded the
majority of NASA`s commercial crew contract to replace the space shuttle.
And lift off, the final lift off of Atlantis .
Boeing CST-100 will ferry American astronauts back and force to the International Space
Station. This is a big deal, since NASA canceled the shuttle program in 2011, we`ve had to
rely on Russia to get our astronauts into space.
Seats on the Russian Soyuz capsule cost over $70 million each.
Now, I`ve actually been inside the CST-100. And while it`s designed for safety, it`s actually
pretty cramped in there. It can fit up to seven, but it`s configured to only fit five
right now.
Boeing bid out two other private companies to win this contract: Sierra Nevada and Elon
Musk`s SpaceX, which won a smaller contract to develop an alternative to Boeing`s capsule,
the Dragon.
NASA turned to the private sector to reduce cost and risk in both the long and the short
term. That set off a new private space race. And the announcement marks are big win for
Boeing. Boeing officials told me they believe this industry could be worth $20 billion over
the next 20 years.
See, if you can I.D. me. I`m a term for both a currency and a unit of weight. Currently,
I`m worth just over $1.60 and made up 100 pence, and I`m used in the United Kingdom.
I`m the pound or officially the pound sterling. And I`m the world`s oldest currency that`s
still being used today.
But will Scotland, currently part of the U.K. still use the pound, if it separates from
the U.K.? That`s one question ahead of this Thursday`s vote. But the biggest one will
be on the ballot: should Scotland be an independent country? Polls show Scottish voters are split
on the issue. U.K. government leaders are asking Scotts to stay part of Britain and
promising them more power in the government if they do.
Independents movement leaders say it`s time to break away from Britain and give Scotts
total control over their country`s taxes and spending. But getting back to the currency
question:
What`s the cost of independence? The United Kingdom has been united for 307 years, but
on September 18, the Scotts will vote on whether to break free and form their own country.
Now, if they do end up getting a divorce, it could be expensive, no one knows exactly
how this is going to play out, but it`s e(INAUDIBLE) both the economies of the U.K. and a newly
formed Scotland will take a short time hit.
Here are some facts that you should know about.
Number one, administrative costs: Scotland will need a new Defense Department, a foreign
affairs department, economic regulators and a new tax system, among other things. Now,
one estimate from academics pegs a cost up to 200 million pounds. That`s about 40 pounds
per Scott. But another estimate puts the price tag more than ten times higher, at 2.4 billion
pounds, that`s almost four billion dollars. That`s only the tip of the iceberg.
The big question is whether or not a new Scotland will use the U.K. pound. Independence campaigners
say yes, the U.K., however, says no. Does that mean that Scotland would use the currency
without permission? It`s creating serious uncertainty for businesses and trade, another
option would be to use the euro, but that would take time. Or will they create their
own currency.
And that brings us to a third point, which is debts. The debate is raging over Scotland
paying its share of U.K. debt, like the upwards of 100 billion pounds, but on top of that,
will investors lend to a new Scotland?
Those are just some of the costs and risks of independence. Now, pro- independence campaign
has argued that a break will give Scottish lawmakers more power to create long term prosperity
for the nation and support local industry. And, of course, independence is never only
about economics. But change is hot and markets certainly don`t like change, so the short
term might be costly.
For CNN Money, I`m Zain Asher.
We are traveling all over North America for today`s call of the roll. Atikameg, Alberta,
Canada, is where we are starting. Glad to be part of your day at Atikameg School.
Next, we`ll run with the Mustangs of Somers Middle School. Found them in Somers, Montana.
And in Charlottesville, Virginia, how about the Mustangs of Monticello High School, turning
up the horse power on today`s roll.
It`s neat to think that if your little brother is missing a lego block or you need a new
case for your phone, or you can`t find a certain size measuring cup, you could just print it
up, right there in your house. 3-d printers aren`t new, but they are getting more affordable.
Traditionally when you think of printing, you think of printing out something on a piece
of paper using ink. Well, 3-D printing is actually printing out a physical object.
You have a digital image that you can create using a different animation modeling software.
You connect this image with your 3-d printer, and it actually takes that, analyzes it, and
it prints it out in physical form: layer by layer. If you think about traditional printing,
you have syringeswith ink.
With the, 3-D printing you can have syringes filled with all different types of liquid
consistency. So, this could be plastic. This could be rubber. Some are more advanced when
they are using metals.
Manufacturers have been using 3-D printing for decades, and you can print out car parts,
an airspace industry uses this, but also more and more you can print out really creative
things. Doctors are printing out prosthetic limbs, you can now print out organs. We spoke
to a fashion designer who was able to actually -D print sun glasses that he put on his models
for fashion weeks.
It used to be that the average person couldn`t own one, because 3-D printers were really,
really expansive. We are talking like half a million bucks. But now, a couple of different
companies came in and said, you know what: we want to make this. So average people can
have this. You can probably get one for about 1,000 bucks. So, let`s say I had a jacket
and I lost my button. Instead of going in and trying to go to a store and find a new
button, I could actually download the blueprint, connect it with my 3-D printer and I could
print out a new button. The people at the forefront of this movement, they said they
want this to be as common in people`s homes as the toaster oven. So, you can only imagine
that five, ten years down the road, a lot of folks are going to have 3-D printers in
their home.
So, last week we covered a contractor who was planning to 3-D print houses. What about
a car? Done and done. Sort of. The engine, lights and windshield had to be made the old-fashion
way, but the car (INAUDIBLE) everybody was printed up in less than two days. We are not
sure if it`s street legal, it`s top speed is only 40 miles per hour, and it`s electric,
so it`s range is limited to 120 miles in a charge. The cost between 18 and 30,000.
So, it`s kind of like a wheely pricy golf car. But if the idea drives further innovation,
the technology accelerates while the price throttles down, things could speed up for
3-D printed vehicles, signaling a new era in automobiling. At least it`s a Nobel transmission
statement.
I`m Carl Azuz, and I`m hitting the road.