CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Intense solar storms responsible for breathtaking auroras across the U.S. delayed the launch of Blue Origin’s big new rocket Wednesday.
Already grounded by poor weather, the New Glenn rocket was poised to blast off in the afternoon with two Mars orbiters for NASA from Florida. But five hours before the targeted liftoff, it was called off because of the heightened solar activity.
Worried about the possible impact of increased radiation on its Mars-bound spacecraft, NASA decided to postpone the launch until conditions improve. Officials said they would try again Thursday.
This will be only the second flight of a New Glenn rocket, which made its debut in January. At 321 feet (98 meters), it is considerably larger and more powerful than the New Shepard rockets that Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is launching from Texas with passengers.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready on Launch Complex 36 a few minutes before the launch was scrubbed at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
LONDON (AP) — A man charged after a car plowed into a crowd outside a pub in the English city of Derby over the weekend, injuring seven people, appeared in court Wednesday and was jailed pending trial.
Sandhu Ponnachan, 36, appeared in Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court on six counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of attempted grievous bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article.
He didn't enter a plea.
Counterterrorism officers assisted local police in the investigation, but Derbyshire police said that is common practice for this type of incident and they were “keeping an open mind” about the incident.
The crash occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday on Friar Gate, a popular night spot in central Derby, a city of about 275,000 people northeast of Birmingham.
The victims, four men and three women, were aged between 36 and 52. Four have been discharged from hospital, Derbyshire police said.
Ponnachan was ordered to appear in Derby Crown Court on April 29.
Forensic investigators work on the scene in Friar Gate, Derby, Sunday March 29, 2026, where a number of people had been injured, some of them seriously, after being hit by a car in the city centre on Saturday night. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
A forensic investigator works on the scene in Friar Gate, Derby, Sunday March 29, 2026, where a number of people had been injured, some of them seriously, after being hit by a car in the city centre on Saturday night. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
