AP-AM Prep-Cyber Corner

A robot’s attempt to get a sample of the melted fuel at Japan’s damaged nuclear reactor is suspended

TOKYO – An attempt to use an extendable robot to remove a fragment of melted fuel from a wrecked reactor at Japan’s tsunami-hit nuclear plant has been suspended due to a technical issue. The collection of a tiny sample of the debris inside the Unit 2 reactor would start the fuel debris removal phase, the most challenging part of the decades-long decommissioning of the plant. The work was stopped Thursday when workers noticed that five pipes used to maneuver the robot were placed in the wrong order and could not be corrected within the time limit for their radiation exposure. The plant operator said a new start date is undecided.

NASA will decide Saturday if Boeing’s new capsule is safe enough to fly 2 astronauts back from space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA will decide this weekend whether Boeing’s new capsule is safe enough to return two astronauts from the International Space Station, where they’ve been waiting since June. The space agency said Thursday that top officials will meet Saturday. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner from Florida on June 5. But the test flight quickly encountered thruster failures and helium leaks so serious that NASA kept the capsule parked at the station as engineers debated what to do. If necessary, SpaceX could retrieve the astronauts, but that would keep them up there until next year.

Cruise will dispatch some of its trouble-ridden robotaxis to join Uber’s ride-hailing service

Cruise’s trouble-ridden robotaxis are on the road to joining Uber’s ride-hailing service next year as part of a multiyear partnership bringing together two companies that once appeared poised to compete for passengers. The alliance is the latest change in direction for Cruise since its license to provide driverless rides was suspended in October 2023 after one of its robotaxis dragged a jaywalking pedestrian who had been struck by a human-driven vehicle across a darkened San Francisco street. Cruise’s robotaxis are still sidelined in California, but some of its Chevy Bolts are giving autonomous rides in Phoenix and Dallas with humans behind the wheel to take over if something goes wrong.