​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. The four astronauts on the Artemis II mission are nearly halfway to the moon since launching on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center.. “Since [Thursday’s] trans-lunar injection burn to send the crew around the moon, the mission continues to perform well overall, and the crew is in great spirits,” Lakiesha Hawkins, acting deputy associate administrator for NASA’s exploration systems said in a news conference on Friday.. “Currently, the crew is more than 100,000 miles from Earth and about 150,000 miles to go away from the moon.. “We call amazing things that humans do moonshots for a reason, and indeed, this is literally and symbolically our moonshot that we are in the middle of.”. NASA RACES TO BUILD MOON BASE AS US CHALLENGES CHINA IN NEW SPACE RACE. Hawkins also shared two photos taken by astronaut Cmdr. Reid Wiseman from the Orion spacecraft.. The first image, Hawkins said, shows a “backlit Earth revealing auroras as the crew heads toward the moon.”. She said it was taken by astronaut Wiseman out of a window on the Orion spacecraft, and it features two auroras and zodiacal light “at the bottom right. It’s visible as the Earth eclipses to sun.”. “It’s great to think — with the exception of our four friends — all of us are represented in this image,” Hawkins said.. NASA RETURNS HUMANS TO DEEP SPACE AFTER OVER 50 YEARS WITH FEBRUARY ARTEMIS II MOON MISSION. A second photo taken by Wiseman after the trans-lunar injection burn, which propels a spacecraft out of the Earth’s orbit, on Thursday shows the terminator line, separating day from night on Earth.. “So, we continue to learn about our spacecraft as we operate it in deep space with crew for the first time and it’s important to remind ourselves of that as we learn a little bit more day-by-day,” Hawkins said.. ARTEMIS II CREW DESCRIBES LIFE ABOARD ORION SPACECRAFT ON HISTORIC JOURNEY TO THE MOON AND BACK. Artemis II Ascent Flight Director Judd Frieling said after the translunar injection burn on Thursday that the crew did an inspection of their windows, had planned medical conferences, and while they were asleep, the ground crew checked to see how the spacecraft was functioning.. And after the astronauts woke up Friday morning, they were able to talk to their families.. “We had planned a trajectory correction burn,” Frieling said. “The systems are doing so well now — navigation and propulsion systems together — that that was not needed. So, we’ll roll that into the next planned correction trajectory burn tomorrow.”. THE RACE TO THE MOON IS BACK — NASA NEEDS TO GET SERIOUS TO BEAT THE CHINESE. Howard Hu, Orion’s program manager, said that the subsystems on the spacecraft continue to perform well, the air revitalization system is “doing very well” and the propellant usage was within 5% of their predicated usage limits.. He said they are working through one pressurization issue that relates to helium that pressurizes propellant  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. A U.S. Coast Guard rescue mission off Puerto Rico turned perilous Tuesday night when two boats capsized, leaving five people — including three federal agents — stranded in rough seas before all were safely rescued.. Officials said all three agents and the two boaters are safe, and there are no other people missing.. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan were notified by Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action about a capsized vessel off Isla de Cabras in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, prompting an urgent marine information broadcast (UMIB) alert to vessel traffic in the area, according to authorities.. The Guard directed the launch of a Station San Juan 45-foot Response Boat Medium and a Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter to provide rescue assistance.. DESPERATE SEARCH FOR TWO MEN AS FISHING BOAT FOUND EMPTY 70 MILES OFF FLORIDA COAST. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Caribbean Air and Marine Branch Marine Unit and a Puerto Rico Police Joint Force of Rapid Action (FURA) helicopter were also dispatched.. A short time later, a good Samaritan reported seeing a 22-foot capsized vessel and two people holding onto the boat, officials said. He provided a position for response units, while a Puerto Rico police helicopter crew tracked down the capsized vessel.. As the CBP marine unit approached the boaters in 10-foot swells to attempt the rescue, their vessel also capsized, throwing the three agents into the water.. The Station San Juan boat crew tried to reach the agents and boaters but were unable due to the deteriorated sea state and the original capsized vessel being beyond the reef line.. COAST GUARD RESCUE SWIMMER DIES AFTER MEDICAL EVACUATION MISSION OFF WASHINGTON COAST TURNS TRAGIC. As the Coast Guard helicopter responded, the Puerto Rico police helicopter crew rescued one of the boaters and one of the CBP agents, taking them to Isla de Cabras.. The Coast Guard aircrew then deployed their rescue swimmer and safely hoisted the remaining two agents and boater safely aboard the aircraft.. The survivors were taken to the Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport in San Juan, where they were received by awaiting Puerto Rico Emergency Medical Service personnel and treated for minor injuries.. “The quick actions by FURA and CBP AMO allowed for constant eyes on all five people in the water and their prompt rescue,” said Lt. David Tirado-Tolosa, Coast Guard Air Station MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter aircraft commander.. “This mission highlights the high-risk environment our crews, federal and local partners face every time they respond to a search and rescue. We are very glad everyone made it home safely, as this could have easily had a different outcome.”. Cmdr. Zach Geyer, Coast Guard Sector San Juan Search and Rescue mission coordinator, added the case highlights the dangers rescue professionals face coming to the aid of mariners in peril.. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. A 25-year-old man has been charged with murder after authorities say he randomly stabbed a woman to death in a quiet South Florida neighborhood, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.. Kersten Francilus, who lives in a nearby community, is accused of attacking a woman in her 70s as she walked her dog Friday in the Southwood neighborhood in Stuart, Sheriff John Budensiek said.. Neighbors had called deputies shortly before the attack to report a suspicious man going door to door and asking unusual questions.. “We receive multiple calls in this community. The Southwood community, which is a quiet, higher end community here in Martin County. Multiple calls of a suspicious male walking door to door and interacting with different people,” Budensiek said during a news conference.. GOT A TIP?. “He asked several times, several different people where the new bank was. There’s no bank around here,” he said.. Witnesses described the man as calm and nonconfrontational during those encounters, the sheriff said.. A short time later, authorities received additional calls reporting that the same man was attacking a woman in a cul-de-sac.. A deputy who was already en route to investigate the suspicious activity arrived to find the suspect “actively stabbing” the victim while she lay on the ground, Budensiek said.. “Our suspect was on top of her, actually actively stabbing her,” he said.. A brave good Samaritan attempted to intervene but was unable to stop the attack before deputies arrived, officials said.. When confronted by the deputy, Francilus immediately dropped the knife and surrendered.. The victim suffered stab wounds to the upper torso and was transported to Cleveland Clinic Martin South, where she died, authorities said.. “This was a violent, vile homicide,” Budensiek said.. Police said there is no known connection between Francilus and the victim, and no clear motive has been identified.. “At this point, this appears like an extremely violent, random act of violence,” Budensiek said.. FOLLOW US ON X. Francilus was taken into custody at the scene and later booked into the Martin County Jail. Authorities said the knife used in the attack was a steak knife believed to have come from his home.. GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL. The sheriff’s office said Francilus has no known criminal history, though deputies had previously responded to a call involving him acting strangely at his residence.. CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS. Budensiek said residents were wise to report the man’s peculiar behavior.. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. “The community did what they needed to do. They saw something that wasn’t right. They called the Martin County Sheriff’s Office,” he said.. Authorities have not released the victim’s name.  

​A sweeping federal takedown in Los Angeles has exposed what prosecutors say is a brazen, multimillion-dollar scheme that turned end-of-life care into a cash grab, allegedly using people who weren’t even dying to rip off taxpayers by more than $50 million. Eight defendants, including nurses, a chiropractor and a purported psychologist, were arrested in a crackdown targeting sham hospice operations and fraudulent medical billing schemes, according to the Justice Department. At the center of the case, hospice companies are accused of enrolling healthy patients, paying kickbacks and pocketing millions from Medicare for treatment that was never needed or never provided.

“We are enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for criminals who defraud American taxpayers,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. “The defendants arrested this morning who are charged with stealing millions of dollars of health care benefits got caught and now face years in federal prison.”

Investigators say the pattern was repeated across multiple cases. Patients who weren’t dying were enrolled in hospice, marketers were paid illegal kickbacks and providers cashed in while delivering little or no legitimate care.

In Anaheim, Lolita Minerd, a nurse, allegedly ran a hospice business that recruited patients at a market, promising them free services and $300 a month in cash to enroll. Some of the couples who signed up were not terminally ill, a doctor confirmed, yet they were paid $600 a month in envelopes of cash while Medicare was billed for end-of-life care. Minerd’s company alone submitted more than $9.1 million in claims, collecting roughly $8.5 million from taxpayers, authorities said.

“More than $50 million in losses to taxpayers” across the scheme were noted by HHS Inspector General T. March Bell, who said anyone who weaponizes hospice care to bilk Medicare should expect to be held accountable.

In another case, a Covina couple, a nurse and a self-described psychologist, allegedly pulled in more than $4 million from Medicare and spent it on mortgages, international travel, restaurants and personal bills.

Federal prosecutors say one repeat offender went even further, allegedly running multiple fraudulent hospice companies while already facing charges in a separate case and being legally barred from operating such businesses.

Beyond hospice fraud, authorities say the takedown uncovered a $19 million scheme targeting a labor union’s health plan that the defendants allegedly billed for fake or unnecessary chiropractic and therapy services.  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently lodged a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer pleading with Texas authorities not to release an illegal immigrant accused of fatally slitting his wife’s throat with a pocketknife in Dallas.. Francisco Mendez-Marin, a 24-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, was arrested March 18 by the Carrolton Police Department and is charged with felony homicide after he allegedly killed his wife, 20-year-old Karla Rangel, during a domestic dispute.. The couple had been married for less than a month, FOX 4 Dallas reported.. When police arrived at the scene, Mendez-Marin had blood on his clothes and a bloody pocketknife on him, officials said.. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CONFESSES TO 2 COLD-BLOODED MURDERS MONTHS APART: REPORT. Body camera footage shows Mendez-Marin telling officers, “I didn’t do anything bad” and “I was obligated to do it” in Spanish, according to the arrest affidavit.. “This depraved animal murdered his own wife just one month after they were married by brutally slitting her throat with a pocketknife,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis wrote in a statement. “This illegal alien should have never been allowed into our country to commit this heinous murder.”. “ICE requested authorities in Dallas to not release this cold-blooded killer onto the streets,” she continued. “Thankfully, Dallas politicians cooperate with ICE, so together we can ensure this murderer is NEVER loose in American communities.”. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. Mendez-Marin is currently in Dallas County Sheriff’s Office custody and being held in the Dallas County Jail, according to DHS.