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Campus News
The Clarion \ May 6, 2020
‘Murder Hornet ’
comes to North
America
Continued from Page 3
Queen Asian hornets can grow up to two
inches long. Asian giant hornets have sharp
spiked mandibles that they use to prey
upon bees. They feed their young with the
thoraxes from the carnage they leave behind.
Unfortunately for humans, the murder hornet
has a long and powerful enough stinger to
pierce through beekeeping suits.
Scientists have now embarked on a full
force fight to stop the hornets from spreading
throughout the United States any further. “This
is our window to keep it from establishing,”
said Chris Looney, an entomologist at the
Washington State Department of Agriculture.
“If we can’t do it in the next couple of years, it
probably can’t be done.”
Washington state beekeepers are now
resorting to making their own traps, in an
effort to ward off the invasive insect. “Most
people are scared to get stung by them,” Ms.
Danielsen, a beekeeper, said. “We’re scared
that they are going to totally destroy our hives.”
Everyone knows that the bee is one of the
most important creatures on earth, as they
pollinate plants. Without our dutiful pollinators,
life would cease to exist on Earth. The invasion
of the Asian murder hornet is just the newest
struggle in maintaining the bee population and
ensuring that they survive.
Sizing up the Asian giant hornet
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A chart from the Washinton State Departement of
Agriculture comparing the size of the Asian Murder
Hornet to other, simiiar-iooking insects.
NASA and SpaceX
soon to take off
By Lande Simpson
staff Writer
NASA recently announced that SpaceX will
launch astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug
Hurley to the International Space Station on
May 27, launching from the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida. This will be the first rocket
that takes astronauts into space from the
United States in almost nine years. It will also
be the first SpaceX launch with humans aboard
in 18 years of the program. But, unfortunately,
due to the pandemic, there will not be any
spectators along the beach of Cape Canaveral,
or any sort of viewing sights to watch the
spaceship take off.
Bob Behnken and Dough Hurley had
experience on shuttle missions in the past,
but this is the first time NASA has put anyone
into space through a private company to go to
the International Space Station. Statistically,
it is said to be a riskier mission since this type
of spaceship has yet to go into space with
humans in it. And it is very different than the
spaceships the two have operated in the past.
But the two have high hopes and are confident.
NASA has stated that the pandmeic is forcing
them to make adjustments to ensure the safety
of their astronauts and everyone else.
They want to prevent the vims from spreading
among crew members, the astronauts and
other NASA employees. Behnken and Hurley
entered their pre-flight quarantine a bit earlier
to ensure no foriegn pathogens would affect
them and that they do not have COVID-19.
These procedures are most important now more
than ever because Behnken and Hurley cannot
risk spreading the vims (most importantly) or
anything else to the crew members already
aboard the laboratory, or at the International
Space Station.
Behnken and Hurley are expected to spend
up to 110 days in space, but this timeline
could change based on the readiness of the
International Space Station for the next
launch. Upon the two’s return, once Behnken
and Hurley have gotten back into Earth’s
atmosphere, they are expected to land in the
Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of Florida.
Astronauts Robert L. Behnken (left) and Douglas G. Hurley (right) prepare for a test flight.