SpaceX launches 4 amateurs to circle Earth; Milley defends actions; Sequoia National Park at risk

A customer uses her mobile phone before the start of a movie show as she sits amid physical distancing markers during the first day of reopening at a cinema in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. Cinemas in several cities shut during the deadly wave of coronavirus outbreak that hit the country in July were allowed to begin reopening with capacity limit as cases decline. 

A sign announces the closure of Sequoia National Park, where the KNP Complex Fires are burning, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in Tulare County, Calif. Individually named the Colony and Paradise Fires, the blazes are burning near the Giant Forest, home to more than 2,000 giant sequoias. 

FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2021, file photo Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a briefing with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington. 

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with four private citizens onboard, lifts off in this time-exposure photo from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. 

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, left, looks dejected after Young Boys scored during of the Champions League group F soccer match between BSC Young Boys and Manchester United, at the Wankdorf stadium in Bern, Switzerland, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (Peter Klaunzer/Keystone via AP)

General view of the wrapped Arc de Triomphe, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021 in Paris. The "L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped" project by late artist Christo and Jeanne-Claude will be on view from, Sept. 18 to Oct. 3. The famed Paris monument will be wrapped in 25,000 square meters of fabric in silvery blue, and with 3,000 meters of red rope. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles during a news conference with the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Merkel is on a farewell tour of the Western Balkans, as she announced in 2018 that she wouldn't seek a fifth term as Germany's Chancellor. (AP Photo/Franc Zhurda)

Yulimar Rojas, who won the Olympic gold medal in the women's triple jump at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and set a new world record, is welcomed home upon return to Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. The "queen of Venezuela," as Rojas is commonly known, earned the third gold medal in Venezuelan Olympic history. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku heads the ball to score his side's first goal during the Champions League Group H soccer match between Chelsea and Zenit St Petersburg at Stamford Bridge stadium in London Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Colasa Pichardo, center, is comforted by her daughter Rosalinda Rosario after she is presented with the American flag off the casket of her daughter Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, a U.S. Marine who was among 13 service members killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, during her burial service in Lawrence, Mass., Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man of the Kiryat Sanz Hassidic sect prays on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea as they participate in a Tashlich ceremony, in Netanya, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Tashlich, which means "to cast away" in Hebrew, is the practice in which Jews go to a large flowing body of water and symbolically "throw away" their sins by throwing a piece of bread, or similar food, into the water before the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which starts at sundown on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Salzburg's goalkeeper Philipp Koehn, second left, tries to save a ball during of the Champions League group G soccer match between Sevilla and Salzburg at the Ramon Sanches Pizjuan stadium in Seville, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Angel Fernandez)

Rosalinda Rosario, center, salutes the casket of her sister, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, a U.S. Marine who was among 13 service members killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, during her burial service in Lawrence, Mass., Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Tampa Bay Rays' Nelson Cruz is hit by a pitch from Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in Toronto. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses reporters after beating back the recall attempt that aimed to remove him from office, at the John L. Burton California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The family of Marine Cpl. Humberto Sanchez are presented folded flags during the graveside service at Mount Hope Cemetery in Logansport, Ind., on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Sanchez was one of 13 U.S. service members killed in last month's suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport during the U.S.-led evacuation. (Jonah Hinebaugh/The Pharos-Tribune via AP)

Actress Kristin Chenoweth gives the curtain speech on the stage of "Wicked" at the Gershwin Theatre Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in New York. The show opened today after being closed due to Covid-19 concerns in early 2020. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Seattle Mariners center fielder Jarred Kelenic dives for but misses the ball on a single by Boston Red Sox's Jose Iglesias during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Pope Francis meets with young people at Lokomotiva Stadium in Košice, Slovakia, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Francis first trip since undergoing intestinal surgery in July, marks the restart of his globetrotting papacy after a nearly two-year coronavirus hiatus. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cleveland Indians first baseman Bobby Bradley (44) and second baseman Owen Miller collide as Bradley caught a popup hit by Minnesota Twins' Willians Astudillo during the sixth inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

People watch workers wrapping the Arc de Triomphe monument, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021 in Paris. The "L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped" project by late artist Christo and Jeanne-Claude will be on view from, Sept. 18 to Oct. 3. The famed Paris monument will be wrapped in 25,000 square meters of fabric in silvery blue, and with 3,000 meters of red rope. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, center, celebrates his three-run home run with Christian Walker, left, during the seventh inning of the team's baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

A car is seen flooded in Bernis, southern France, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. Emergency workers rescued or evacuated hundreds of people in southern France as flash flooding abruptly turned roads and fields into rivers and lakes. As new heavy rainfall threatened the area Wednesday, the emergency service for the Gard region said rescuers were searching for at least one person reported missing after the Tuesday evening flood. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street as he makes his way to Parliament to attend the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session, in London, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

A man wearing a face mask to protect against COVID-19 sits with dogs on leashes near a neighborhood with a suspected coronavirus case in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. China tightened lockdowns and increased orders for mass testing in cities along its east coast Wednesday amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A firefighter lays hose around the Foothills Visitor Center while battling the KNP Complex Fire in Sequoia National Park, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. The blaze is burning near the Giant Forest, home to more than 2,000 giant sequoias. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft-evaders.

In 1982, the massacre of between 1,200 and 1,400 Palestinian men, women and children at the hands of Israeli-allied Christian Phalange militiamen began in west Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

In 2007, O.J. Simpson was arrested in the alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in Las Vegas. (Simpson was later convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery and sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison; he was released in 2017.)

In 2009, Mary Travers, 72, part of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died in Danbury, Connecticut. 

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama signed into law a major overhaul of the nation’s patent system to ease the way for inventors to bring their products to market. 

Ten years ago: A World War II-era fighter plane plunged into spectators during air races in Reno, Nevada, killing 74-year-old Florida stunt pilot Jimmy Leeward and 10 others. 

Ten years ago: A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three crew members, including NASA astronaut Ron Garan, from the International Space Station touched down safely in Kazakhstan, but not without rattling nerves after a breakdown in communications.

In 2013, Aaron Alexis, a former U.S. Navy reservist, went on a shooting rampage inside the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 people before being shot dead by police.

In 2014, President Barack Obama declared that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa could threaten security around the world and ordered 3,000 U.S. troops to the region in emergency aid muscle.

Five years ago: After five years of promoting a false conspiracy theory about Barack Obama’s birthplace, Republican Donald Trump abruptly reversed course, acknowledging that the president was born in America, but then claiming the “birther movement” was begun by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. (While the question of Obama’s birthplace was raised by some backers of Clinton’s primary campaign against Obama eight years earlier, Clinton had long denounced it as a “racist lie.”)

Five years ago: Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee, 88, died in Montauk, New York.

One year ago: Hurricane Sally lumbered ashore near the Florida-Alabama line with 105 mph winds and rain measured in feet, swamping homes and forcing the rescue of hundreds of people as it pushed inland. 

1927 — Rene Lacoste wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship, beating Bill Tilden in three sets.

French tennis player Rene Lacoste, with his trophy after he defeated American William T. Tilden, unseen, in the final of the Men's Singles Championship, at Forest Hills, N.Y., on Sept. 28, 1927. (AP Photo)

1973 — O.J. Simpson rushes for 250 yards to lead the Buffalo Bills to a 31-13 victory over the New England Patriots.

Buffalo's O.J. Simpson finds a wide opening for a first-quarter gain Sunday, Sept. 16, 1973 against the New England Patriots at Foxboro, Mass. Other Bills are J.D. Hill (40) and Bo Connoll (30). (AP Photo)

1989 — No. 1 Notre Dame beats No. 2 Michigan 24-19 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Fighting Irish wide receiver Raghib Ismail stars by returning kickoffs 88 and 92 yards for touchdowns. It’s the second time Ismail has two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same game, accomplishing the feat against Rice in 1988.

A Notre Dame player holds his helmet after running onto to field before an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

1996 — Paul Molitor gets his 3,000th career hit, becoming the 21st major leaguer to reach the mark and the first to do it with a triple.

In this Sept. 16, 1996, file photo, Minnesota Twins' Paul Molitor loosens up during batting practice before a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)

2007 — Bengals QB Carson Palmer passes for six TDs and the Browns’ Derek Anderson has five in Cleveland’s 51-45 win over Cincinnati, making it just the third time in NFL history that two QBs threw five TD passes apiece in the same game. Jamal Lewis of the Browns rushes for 215 yards and a touchdown. Palmer passes for 401 yards and Chad Johnson has 11 catches for 209 yards and two TDs.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer (9) fires a 16-yard touchdown pass to running back Rudi Johnson in the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

2007 — Jim Thome is the 23rd player — and third this season — to reach 500 home runs. The slugger hits a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning off reliever Dustin Moseley to give the Chicago White Sox a 9-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Chicago White Sox's Jim Thome waves to fans as he leaves the field after the Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels 9-7 in a baseball game Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007, in Chicago. Thome hit a walk-off home run, the 500th home run of his career, to win the game. (AP Photo/Jerry Lai)

2012 — Eli Manning hits 31 of 51 passes for 510 yards — the second-best passing day in team history — with three touchdown passes and three interceptions as the New York Giants rally for a 41-34 win over Tampa Bay.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning makes a pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

2017 — In front of the largest crowd to attend a stand-alone MLS match, Josef Martinez gets his second hat trick in a row and his third of the season to help Atlanta United hold on for a 3-3 draw against Orlando City. Atlanta United sets the record with 70,425 on hand at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Atlanta United forward Josef Martinez (7) stops the ball during the first half of an MLS playoff soccer game, in Atlanta against Columbus Crew, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. The Columbus Crew won in a 3-1 shootout. (AP Photo/Danny Karnik)