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NASA Tech Contributes to Soft Moon Landing, Agency Science Underway

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — For the first time in more than 50 years, new NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations are operating on the Moon following the first successful delivery of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, called Odysseus, completed a seven-day journey to lunar orbit and executed procedures to softly land near Malapert A in the South Pole region of the Moon at 5:24 p.m. CST on Feb. 22. The lander is healthy, collecting solar power, and transmitting data back to the company’s mission control in Houston. The mission marks the first commercial uncrewed landing on the Moon.

Carrying six NASA science research and technology demonstrations, among other customer payloads, all NASA science instruments completed transit checkouts en route to the Moon. A NASA precision landing technology demonstration also provided critical last-minute assistance to ensure a soft landing. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the lunar delivery is in the region where NASA will send astronauts to search for water and other lunar resources later this decade.

“For the first time in more than half a century, America returned to the Moon. Congratulations to Intuitive Machines for placing the lunar lander Odysseus carrying NASA scientific instruments to a place no person or machine has gone before, the lunar South Pole,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “This feat from Intuitive Machines, SpaceX, and NASA demonstrates the promise of American leadership in space and the power of commercial partnerships under NASA’s CLPS initiative. Further, this success opens the door for new voyages under Artemis to send astronauts to the Moon, then onward to Mars.” 

During the journey to the Moon, NASA instruments measured the quantity of cryogenic engine fuel as it has been used, and while descending toward the lunar surface, teams collected data on plume-surface interactions and tested precision landing technologies.

Odysseus’ surface operations are underway and expected to take place through Thursday, Feb. 29.

New lunar science, technology
NASA’s Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing (NDL) guidance system for descent and landing ultimately played a key role in aiding the successful landing. A few hours ahead of landing, Intuitive Machines encountered a sensor issue with their navigation system and leaned on NASA’s guidance system for an assist to precisely land. NASA’s instrument operates on the same principles of radar and uses pulses from a laser emitted through three optical telescopes. It measures speed, direction, and altitude with high precision during descent and touchdown.

“We are thrilled to have NASA on the Moon again, and proud of the agency’s contribution to the successful landing with our NDL technology. Congratulations for completing this first lunar delivery for NASA, paving the way for a bright future for our CLPS initiative,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. “Some of the NASA science instruments on this mission will bring us insight on lunar plume interactions and conduct radio astronomy. The valiant efforts and innovation demonstrated by Intuitive Machines is exemplary and we are excited for the upcoming lunar deliveries that will follow this first mission.”

Now that they are on the lunar surface, NASA instruments will focus on investigating lunar surface interactions and radio astronomy. The Odysseus lander also carries a retroreflector array that will contribute to a network of location markers on the Moon for communication and navigation for future autonomous navigation technologies.

Additional NASA hardware aboard the lander includes:

Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator: A small, CubeSat-sized experiment that will demonstrate autonomous navigation that could be used by future landers, surface infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally confirming their positions on the Moon relative to other spacecraft, ground stations, or rovers on the move.Laser Retroreflector Array: A collection of eight retroreflectors that enable precision laser ranging, which is a measurement of the distance between the orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. The array is a passive optical instrument and will function as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come.Radio Frequency Mass Gauge: A technology demonstration that measures the amount of propellant in spacecraft tanks in a low-gravity space environment. Using sensor technology, the gauge will measure the amount of cryogenic propellant in Nova-C’s fuel and oxidizer tanks, providing data that could help predict fuel usage on future missions.Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the Photoelectron Sheath: The instrument will observe the Moon’s surface environment in radio frequencies, to determine how natural and human-generated activity near the surface interacts with and could interfere with science conducted there.Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies: A suite of four tiny cameras to capture imagery showing how the Moon’s surface changes from interactions with the spacecraft’s engine plume during and after descent.

NASA is committed to supporting its U.S. commercial vendors as they navigate the challenges of sending science and technology to the surface of the Moon.

“In daring to confront one of humanity’s greatest challenges, Intuitive Machines created an entire lunar program that has ventured farther than any American mission to land on the Moon in over 50 years,” said Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines. “This humbling moment reminds us that pursuing the extraordinary requires both boldness and resilience.”

For more information about CLPS, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/clps

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SOURCE NASA

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Huawei Cloud in France: Building an AI-Native Cloud to Amplify Intelligence on the Tech Stage

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November 14, 2024

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PARIS, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — HUAWEI CONNECT 2024 PARIS commenced today, featuring the first Huawei Cloud Summit France. Huawei Cloud is building an AI-native cloud through systematic innovation and service reshaping. Moving forward, Huawei Cloud will continue to drive innovation in both the “AI for Cloud” and “Cloud for AI” directions, accelerating the intelligent transformation across industries in France.

Jacqueline Shi, President of Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service, delivered a welcome speech in her digital presence built using Huawei Cloud MetaStudio. She stated, “Innovation is the heart of our success, our competitiveness, and our growth. That’s why we invest heavily in R&D to bring you the most secure and reliable cloud services possible, including cloud native, AI, and big data. In Europe, Huawei Cloud has collaborated with over 500 local partners to deliver a wide range of industry-specific solutions and proven expertise, enabling European businesses to expedite their cloud adoption, leverage global resources, and achieve leapfrog growth.”

In his keynote speech, William Dong, President of Huawei Cloud Marketing, highlighted the importance of AI in building economic moats. To this end, Huawei Cloud launches Pangu models to enable intelligent upgrades across industries, with over 400 use cases in 30 industries now benefiting from Huawei Cloud’s AI-native cloud infrastructure that extends cutting-edge technologies and premium experiences to European customers. On the tech stage, Huawei Cloud is set to amplify intelligence.

Huawei Cloud’s AI-native strategy has been a cornerstone of the company’s innovation. This strategy is twofold: AI for Cloud and Cloud for AI, marking significant advancements in Huawei Cloud’s capabilities. “AI for Cloud” means integrating Pangu models with cloud services for product R&D, data governance, security, and O&M to make them more intelligent and efficient.

With full-stack systemic innovations, “Cloud for AI” covers data centers, cloud platform architectures, and infrastructure services, enabling efficient and high-performance data preparation, training, inference, and application of foundation models. The distributed cloud database GaussDB features high performance, high intelligence, and easy migration. Huawei Cloud Stack 8.5 provides more than 120 locally deployed cloud services and 50 industry-specific solutions, building the optimal hybrid cloud for intelligent transformation.

At this summit, Huawei Cloud officially released the Flexus cloud services for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in France. Flexus feature flexible specifications, AI-driven high speed, 6x burst speed, compute hot upgrade, and ultimate experience.

Presently, Huawei Cloud has more than 500 customers, partners, and developers in France. Song Wanying, President of Huawei Cloud France, shared insights on fostering business growth through cloud innovation and introduced new media & entertainment, e-commerce, and retail solutions for the French market, furthering intelligent initiatives.

Huawei Cloud has upgraded media services in a 3E approach: efficiency, experience, and evolution. For instance, AIGC for virtual humans can significantly reduce the time required for short video production from days to mere minutes. In terms of experience, Huawei Cloud leverages its self-developed RTP protocol to minimize latency to 500 ms and reduce frame freezing to 10%. For business model evolution, Huawei Cloud offers virtual human technology to facilitate efficient video production, leading to new business opportunities and growth.

In retail and e-commerce, Huawei Cloud has developed the B.R.A.N.D. model to assist retailers in driving innovation and growth. Through professional services, deterministic operations, security, reliability, and 16 sub-scenario solutions, B.R.A.N.D. enables retailers to build agile, efficient, and secure business systems.

In terms of ecosystem expansion, Huawei Cloud has partnered with Station F, the world’s largest startup incubator, to launch a sustainability-themed incubation program. This program aims to provide comprehensive support for startups, including cloud resources, investment opportunities, and dedicated office spaces. Additionally, Huawei Cloud and 20 ecosystem partners have unveiled the Industry Partner Innovation Program at the summit.

This two-day event features a packed agenda, including the partner forum and the Cloud Native Elite Club (CNEC) roundtable. At this year’s HUAWEI CONNECT Europe, CNEC returned to Europe and invited its first members to join this technical community built for European technology pioneers.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/huawei-cloud-in-france-building-an-ai-native-cloud-to-amplify-intelligence-on-the-tech-stage-302306351.html

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ALBERT GAHFI, NEWCO CAPITAL GROUP CEO, NOMINATED FOR THE U.S. FINTECH AWARDS’ INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR

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November 14, 2024

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NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — NewCo Capital Group is proud to announce that Albert Gahfi, CEO of NewCo Capital Group and Co-Founder and Director of Bizcap, has been nominated for the prestigious Innovator of the Year Award by the U.S. FinTech Awards. This recognition highlights Albert’s groundbreaking contributions to the FinTech sector and his dedication to founding companies that empower small businesses with forward-thinking capital solutions.

We are focused on what’s next—continuing to build the tools and services that will drive the future of FinTech

As a proven enterprise-building founder and CEO, Albert co-founded Kings Cash Group and oversaw its merger with a large FinTech consortium that included an SEC-registered fund. As the Co-Founder and CEO of NewCo Capital Group, Capytal.com, and NewCo Canada, as well as the co-founder of Melbourne-based BizCap, Albert’s global expansion strategy has led to the opening of offices in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and a recently announced strategic initiative in Asia via Singapore.

The nomination for Innovator of the Year underscores NewCo’s commitment to reshaping how small-to-medium businesses and enterprise companies access financing. Since its founding, NewCo has remained at the forefront of Specialty Finance within the FinTech sector, continually creating custom capital solutions that leverage advanced technology, nuanced underwriting, and a deep understanding of client needs.

Bruce Gurvitsch, Chief Revenue Officer for NewCo Capital Group and Capytal.com, commended the nomination, stating, “Albert’s nomination for Innovator of the Year reflects his unwavering pursuit of excellence—a drive that defines our mission at NewCo. We’re committed to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in FinTech, ensuring that SMBs have access to the capital they need for growth, job creation, and long-term success.”

NewCo and its affiliate companies have transformed traditional financing models, making it easier, faster, and more efficient for businesses to secure funding. With over $1.8 billion deployed across 40,000+ businesses globally, NewCo continues to lead the charge in specialized financing and working capital.

Reflecting on the nomination, Gahfi remarked, ‘This recognition from the U.S. FinTech Awards validates our efforts and inspires us to continue delivering the most innovative solutions to the market.’ He emphasized NewCo’s long-term vision, adding, ‘We are focused on what’s next—continuing to build the tools and services that will drive the future of FinTech. Our mission has always been to empower small businesses globally.’

For more information about NewCo Capital Group, visit www.NewCoCapitalGroup.com or email Info@NewCoCapitalGroup.com.

About NewCo Capital Group & Capytal.com

Founded in 2020, NewCo Capital Group and its affiliate companies empower SMBs globally with fast, accessible financing and funding. The companies have successfully deployed $1.8 billion to over 40,000 SMBs while maintaining a 4.9/5 Trustpilot rating.

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SOURCE NewCo Capital Group

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Enrollsy Unveils Brand Refresh and New Website to Enhance Enrollment Experience for Schools, Camps, Nonprofits, and More

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November 14, 2024

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LEHI, Utah, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Enrollsy, the platform dedicated to making enrollment simple and accessible for organizations of all sizes, is thrilled to announce its brand refresh and launch of a new website at www.enrollsy.com. With a renewed focus on simplifying enrollment processes and delivering unparalleled support, Enrollsy’s brand refresh reinforces its commitment to empowering non-technical professionals with a seamless, user-friendly experience.

Enrollsy is online enrollment software made easy.

The name “Enrollsy” reflects the platform’s mission: combining “enroll” and “easy” to describe a solution that effortlessly manages the enrollment process—from sign-up to payments and communications—without requiring technical expertise or IT support. Enrollsy’s customizable platform is designed to solve enrollment challenges and make life easier for administrators everywhere.

Empowering Purpose, Mission, Vision, and Values

Driven by a purpose to create an exceptional experience from the first interaction to ongoing support, Enrollsy ensures every aspect of its service is tailored to customer needs. Enrollsy’s mission—to provide an amazing enrollment experience to 10 million people in a single year—drives the platform to innovate, simplify, and perfect enrollment solutions for organizations managing data, payments, and communications.

Enrollsy envisions a world where education, enrichment, and connection drive better outcomes, helping organizations fulfill their missions. As a trusted partner, Enrollsy shares its values with customers by prioritizing consistency, honoring commitments, and maintaining clear, actionable communication.

Unmatched Customer Experiences

Enrollsy’s brand refresh also highlights its commitment to delivering value through real-life customer success stories. Elizabeth Fizer, owner of Fizer Fine Art, shares, “Enrollsy transformed our registration process from an absolute nightmare to easily manageable. Their unmatched customer service and ability to tailor the software to meet our specific needs allowed us to offer flexible schedules and simplified invoicing—enabling me to focus on my family during a busy registration period. Parents found it easy and intuitive, which only enhanced our customer experience.”

Similarly, Matthew Vinson from Common Ground on the Hill, a nonprofit, noted, “Enrollsy exceeded our expectations by listening to our unique needs and creating a system that integrates with our existing applications seamlessly. They understood our operations and provided features we needed, making the registration process efficient and stress-free.”

Visit the New Enrollsy Website

Enrollsy’s reimagined website offers a refreshed look at how the platform simplifies enrollment, billing, and communication for education, enrichment, and nonprofit organizations across the U.S., Australia, and Canada. Visitors are invited to explore www.enrollsy.com to discover how Enrollsy’s solutions are transforming the enrollment experience and simplifying administrative processes.

About Enrollsy Enrollsy provides a complete, easy-to-use solution for managing enrollments, payments, and participant communications. Designed for non-technical professionals, Enrollsy’s mission is to simplify enrollment for organizations while delivering unmatched support and flexibility. Visit www.enrollsy.com to learn more about how Enrollsy is shaping the future of enrollment.

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SOURCE Enrollsy, Inc.

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