Hey everybody and welcome to our first ever current events episode. Today we are going to learn what was good,

what was bad, what was important, what was interesting, and what was strange about 2020. Let's get

started. Okay, Olivia, I want to know what was good in 2020. There was a lot of good news to come out of 2020.

In November, four astronauts launched into space.

Those four astronauts took the 27-a-half-hour flight to the International Space Station.

The flight was completely automatic, meaning that the astronauts didn't have to do anything

to control the capsule they were flying in.

There was a similar launch six months earlier in May,

with two astronauts traveling to the International Space Station.

But that launch was a test.

Because it was so successful, Space X, the private company that designed the rockets, plans to send astronauts into space every six months. Why is this so significant? Well, it's because it had been nine years since NASA astronauts launched into space from American soil. Not only can we expect frequent

missions to space from the United States going forward, but there are plans to allow tourists

to travel to space soon as well. Who knows? Maybe one of us will soon take the 27 and a half hour

journey to the International Space Station.

Hey, Olivia, what was bad in 2020?

The coronavirus was very bad, of course.

A year ago, many of us didn't even know about the coronavirus yet, but since then, the virus has changed our life so much.

A year ago today, nobody in the United States had even tested positive for the virus yet.

The first confirmed case didn't occur until January 20th of 2020,

when an American citizen who had recently traveled to Wuhan, China, tested positive for

COVID-19 in Washington state. At this time, close to 100 million people have tested positive

for COVID-19, and the virus has caused lots of pain and suffering all over the world.

...