NASA seeks proposals for deep space exploration, journey to Mars

Washington DC (SPX)
Oct 29, 2014

NASA is soliciting proposals for concept studies or technology development projects that will be necessary to enable human pioneers to go to deep space destinations such as an asteroid and Mars.

Through the release of a Broad Area Announcement (BAA), the agency seeks to use public-private partnerships to share funding to develop advanced propulsion, habitation and small satellite capabilities that will enable the pioneering of space.

Public-private partnerships of this type help NASA stimulate the U.S. space industry while working to expand the frontiers of knowledge, capabilities and opportunities in space.

NASA intends to engage partners to help develop and build a set of sustainable, evolvable, multi-use space capabilities that will enable human pioneers to go to deep space destinations. Developing capabilities in three key areas - advanced propulsion, habitation, and small satellites deployed from the Space Launch System - is critical to enabling the next step for human spaceflight.

This work will use the proving ground of space around the moon to develop technologies and advance knowledge to expand human exploration into the solar system.

State-of-the-art solar electric propulsion technology currently employed by NASA generates less than five kilowatts. The Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) BAA selected proposals for concepts developing systems in the 40-kilowatt range. NASA now is seeking to advance the technology to 50- to 300-kilowatt systems to meet the needs of a variety of mission concepts.

Orion is the first component of human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and will be capable of sustaining a crew of four for 21 days in deep space and returning them safely to Earth. NASA seeks proposals for concept studies, technology investigation, and concepts of operations to enable extended space habitation as the next foundational cornerstone of a future deep space transit capability.

The studies will help define the architecture and subsystems of a modular habitation capability, which will be used to augment planned missions around the moon as well as to provide initial operations and testing in the proving ground for future systems in support of human exploration in deep space.

Studies can address transportation, habitation, operations or environmental capabilities of a habitation system.

This BAA also provides for the selection of proposals for the development and delivery of small satellite missions that address strategic knowledge gaps for future human exploration.

Selected small satellites, known as cubesats, will fly as secondary payload missions on Exploration Mission-1. The mission provides a rare opportunity to boost these cubesats to deep space and enable science, technology demonstration, exploration or commercial applications in that environment.

Through awards from this BAA, NASA's goal is to accomplish both near-term missions and sustained investments in technologies and capabilities to address the challenges of deep space exploration. Because capabilities and technologies developed through these awards will have significant potential commercial applications, NASA expects partners to contribute significant resources.

Eligible applicants from U.S. companies, non-profit organizations, and international institutions must submit proposals electronically by 4:30 p.m. EST Dec. 12. BAA awards are subject to the availability of funding. NASA may not make any awards until the agency receives fiscal year 2015 appropriations, or may choose to award only in specific areas and reserve the remaining awards pending final appropriations for the fiscal year.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/NASA_Seeks_Proposals_to_Develop_Capabilities_for_Deep_Space_Exploration_Journey_to_Mars_999.html.

US space budget still exceeds rest of world's combined

Washington DC (SPX)
Oct 29, 2014

The United States spends on space programs - both civilian and defense-related - more than every other country combined, even though the NASA budget, which is a part of the program, has not grown in the recent years.

Last year the US spent about $40 billion on its space program, as China's space budget, which is the second largest in the world, was about $11 billion in 2013; the next, Russia's, was roughly $8.6 billion; and India's, the fourth largest, was about $4.3 billion, says a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The report is a statistical overview of the global space sector and its contributions to economic activity, providing indicators and statistics based on both official and private data, in over forty countries with space programs.

The US space budget is divided between NASA and a number of other institutions such as the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation (Office of Commercial Space Transportation), the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of the Interior's Geological Survey (USGS) and some others.

Last year NASA spent almost 18 billion of $40 billion counted by the OECD. The funding has been lowered since 2011, when the Shuttle program, operated 1981-2011, was stopped. The peak in US space spending was in 2009, when it invested $47.5 billion in exploration.

In 2014 over $5.1 billion was spent on scientific programs and over $5.2 billion for aeronautics, space technology and exploration. NASA scientific programs include Earth science ($1.785 billion), planetary science ($1.192 billion) and astrophysical programs ($659.4 million).

All these programs comprise numerous missions to study and explore the Earth, the Moon and planets of the Solar system. Some of the most famous are the Curiosity rover on Mars and the Cassini mission on Saturn. NASA takes significant part in International Space Station's work as well.

However, NASA is often criticized for unreasonable spending.

NASA's internal watchdog criticized the agency in September for its lacklustre management of a program intended to identify and monitor asteroids that could be potentially dangerous to Earth - Near Earth Objects project (NEO).

NASA Inspector General Paul K. Martin said the program is nowhere near meeting its stated goal. He noted that the lack of progress came even though NASA's budget for the NEO program has increased significantly over the past five years. During fiscal year 2014, the program was granted $40 million by Congress. Previously, it was working with $4 million.

"We believe the program would be more efficient, effective and transparent were it organized and managed in accordance with standard NASA research program requirements," Martin said in his report.

The US space agency is also extending the Opportunity Mars rover's mission no matter what, sources in NASA told the media. The rover was meant to be abandoned in 2013 after 10 years of use as it suffered constant mechanical glitches and flash memory issues which caused several computer resets. Its mission has been accomplished but NASA still wants to continue using it.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/US_space_budget_still_exceeds_rest_of_worlds_combined_999.html.

China's Main Competitor in Space Exploration is India, Not Russia

Moscow (RIA Novosti)
Oct 29, 2014

China's principal competitor in space exploration is India, not Russia, researcher at the Russian Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Vasily Kashin told RIA Novosti on Friday.

"China and India are two new space powers. They have vast resources and consider their space programs from the national prestige perspective ," the expert said.

He added that China and India are following Russian and US footsteps in space exploration.

"China's more developed space-rocket industry and immense resources have let it take the lead in the two countries' space race," Kashin argued.

Despite being behind China in space exploration, India has a significant advantage, according to the researcher.

"China is still under rigid restrictions on any form of cooperation with the United States, including on the purchase of components...The Chinese are forced to do many things on their own and they sometimes cannot produce components of a required level. The Indians have less resources, but they are in good relations with everyone. India can cooperate with both Russia and the West, adopting their best technologies," Kashin concluded.

Earlier on Friday, China launched an experimental spacecraft to the moon orbit, which is to return to Earth in eight days. The spacecraft is to test out re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere for the planned 2017 Chang'e-5 lunar mission.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Chinas_Main_Competitor_in_Space_Exploration_is_India_Not_Russia_999.html.

Mars 2020 Will Continue Search for Habitability

Moffet Field CA (NASA)
Oct 29, 2014

How habitable was Mars in the past? Since the Curiosity rover touched down on Mars in August 2012, it has helped answer a few of these questions in the area surrounding its equatorial landing site of Gale Crater.

Most notably, in March 2013, Curiosity investigators announced extensive evidence of a lake bed or river system in a region that NASA dubs 'Yellowknife Bay.' The environment, which could be a favorable spot for microbes, includes minerals such as clays that are formed in waters that once existed there.

The waters themselves were probably not too salty or acidic, geologic evidence shows, which gives further credence that life could have been possible on the Red Planet.

Curiosity is now preparing to ascend its prime target - Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons). NASA isn't going to stop there, however. The agency is readying a successor rover to follow on the heels of Curiosity.

Mars 2020, as it's currently called, will have improved instruments over Curiosity. The new rover is heavily based on the Curiosity design, and as with its predecessor it will be able to search for habitable environments.

But Mars 2020 would also look directly for evidence of life, something Curiosity was not designed to do. This will make choosing a landing site crucial, since it would involve finding a spot where water or volcanic activity was present in the past. These processes provide energy for microbes.

"It will be a multi-year, hundreds of people effort to choose the landing site for 2020," said Jim Bell, a planetary scientist at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration.

"There are lots of great places to go. The finalist sites for Curiosity are already listed for consideration," he added.

These sites include Holden Crater, which scientists suspect may have been a lake system, and Eberswalde Crater, a possible ancient lake bed.

Picture zoom for science

Mars 2020's success will depend heavily on the seven instruments the rover is expected to carry to the Red Planet. The shortlisted instruments will have capabilities that range from taking pictures, to doing chemical composition analysis of the surface, to probing for organics, chemicals and carbon dioxide.

The seven instruments include:

+ Mastcam-Z, a camera system that can zoom, take panorama images or spectroscopic images. Principal investigator: Jim Bell, Arizona State University

+ SuperCam, an instrument that can sense organic compounds in rocks and regolith through mineralogy and chemical composition analysis. Principal investigator: Roger Wiens, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico.

+ Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL), which is designed to look for elements in the Martian surface. Principal investigator: Abigail Allwood, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

+ Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC), which will examine the spectrum of surface samples to learn what they are made of, and possibly to find organic compounds. Principal investigator: Luther Beegle, JPL.

+ Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE), a device that will try to produce oxygen from the atmosphere of Mars, which is made up of carbon dioxide. Principal investigator: Michael Hecht, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

+ Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA), a sort of weather station that will provide information on conditions around the rover such as temperature, humidity, dust size and shape, and wind speed and direction. Principal investigator: Jose Rodriguez-Manfredi, Centro de Astrobiologia, Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial, Spain.

+ Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Exploration (RIMFAX), which will use radar to probe underground to see what geology is there. Principal investigator: Svein-Erik Hamran, Forsvarets Forskning Institute, Norway.

While many of these instruments are new technologies, Mastcam-Z stems from a proven technology on Mars. Predecessors of this instrument flew on Curiosity, as well as on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004. While Spirit ceased transmissions in 2010, Opportunity is still roaming the surface and taking pictures with that instrument.

With Curiosity, it's very difficult to get stereo images from its pair of cameras, Bell said. To do that, investigators have to combine nine images from a wide-angle camera, and a single one from a narrow-angle camera of higher resolution.

"That's a lot of data volume and there's not a lot of bandwidth from Mars," Bell said.

The new Mastcam system is able to zoom, meaning that investigators can match the focal length between the cameras and make the stereo images. This is not only important for rover navigation, but also to direct the rover's science.

Pictures are an important public relations tool, but for the scientists it establishes relationships between outcrops and sand dunes, provides a view of layers of rock, and guides the investigators on where to probe next.

"You can't scoop everywhere, it takes weeks to do those activities, so you have to winnow places down using the cameras. Their resolution and color capability help identify the best possible places," Bell said.

Proof of life?

Luther Beegle's instrument, SHERLOC, has been ongoing since about 1998, and was most recently funded under the Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development Program grant that was awarded to Deputy PI Rohit Bhartia.

This time around, the investigators made sure to design the proposal to meet the Mars 2020 requirements, and received approval to go ahead.

The instrument auto-focuses on an image, then scans a laser beam across a 7 x 7 millimeter area. It performs fluorescence spectroscopy to identify organics and Raman spectroscopy to look at the vibrations of individual molecules.

All ringed organic molecules fluoresce in distinctive ways, which is where the search for organics comes in. If investigators detect the signal of organics using this instrument, it would be a first step to looking for evidence of current life on Mars. (Organics can be produced from both biological and non-biological processes, so they are not definitive proof that life exists.)

Beegle emphasized that even if the organics are living, the laser will not hurt them.

"At such low power we don't see any disruption of organic molecules. The number of photons we use is really small."

Before doing the scans, Beegle said it will be necessary to use an instrument to remove dust from the surface. Organics do not survive well under surface environmental conditions on Mars, but could cling to the surfaces underneath. The instrument is also designed to peer into drill holes that the rover does.

If organics are found, one key to habitability will be to see where they are located. For example, if the organics follow an individual geologic feature such as a vein, that could strengthen the case for life. But this would depend on what the instruments say, and what environment the rover is scanning.

Building oxygen

Michael Hecht's instrument is something entirely new to Mars, but a similar technology was developed by Johnson Space Center for an earlier mission that never flew.

MOXIE has been in the works since the 1990s, when NASA was pursuing a "faster, better, cheaper" approach to Mars using small missions. A notable success to this approach was the Mars Pathfinder lander, but there were failures as well. One, called the Mars Polar Lander, never made it to the surface.

At that time, there was a sister lander to MPL in development for 2001. For that mission, Hecht was developing MECA, an instrument to study dust-related hazards to future astronauts, but NASA cancelled the mission late in development out of concern that it would meet a similar fate as MPL. Other stationary landers were planned for 2003 and 2005, but were replaced with the Spirit and Opportunity rovers instead.

"We were disappointed as scientists directly involved in the Mars Surveyor Program, but as Mars explorers really excited about how bold and daring those replacement missions were," Hecht recalled.

MOXIE builds on the predecessor instrument, called MIPP, but is more efficient after 20 years of development, Hecht said. It proposes to create 20 grams of oxygen per hour at 99.6 percent purity on Mars to operate for the equivalent of 50 Martian days or sols.

This instrument could eventually strengthen the search for habitability because it would make it easier for humans to do investigations on the Red Planet themselves.

One major obstacle to landing people on Mars is making sure they have enough fuel and oxygen to return. If MOXIE is successful in generating oxygen in the long term, this would be an encouraging step to making Martian colonies possible in the coming decades.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Curiositys_Successor_Mars_2020_Will_Continue_Search_for_Habitability_999.html.

Orbital rocket explodes after launch

Washington DC (AFP)
Oct 28, 2014

An unmanned rocket owned by Orbital Sciences Corporation exploded Tuesday in a giant fireball and plummeted back to Earth just seconds after launch on what was to be a resupply mission to the International Space Station.

"The Antares rocket suffered an accident shortly after lift-off," NASA mission control in Houston said, describing the blast at Wallops Island, Virginia, as a "catastrophic anomaly."

Orbital's unmanned Cygnus cargo ship was carrying 5,000 pounds (2,200 kilograms) of supplies for the six astronauts living at the research outpost.

After the countdown, the base of the tall, white rocket ignited on cue, then rose a short distance into the air before it suddenly exploded in a fiery blast six seconds later.

Enveloped in flames, the rocket collapsed to the ground, as a cloud of dark gray smoke rose from the wreckage.

Officials said the cost of the rocket and supplies was over $200 million, not including the damage caused on the ground.

Investigators swiftly secured the perimeter of the area and forbade any outside interviews of witnesses or staff, citing classified equipment that had been aboard the spacecraft.

As night fell, fires were seen burning at the coastal launch pad, where waves lapped at the shore.

It was unclear what caused the explosion, which occurred at 6:22 pm (2222 GMT).

"Something went wrong, and we will find out what that is," said Frank Culbertson, executive vice president at Orbital Sciences.

He said investigators would evaluate the debris and analyze the rocket's telemetry to uncover the exact sequence of events.

All personnel in the area were accounted for, and there were no injuries, officials said.

There was, however significant property damage at the launchpad.

It was the first nighttime launch of an Antares rocket, according to Orbital's pre-launch blog.

Engineers said the countdown had gone smoothly, and there were no issues apparent with the machinery before the launch.

"We don't really have any early indication of what might have failed," Culbertson said.

Space station well-stocked

The mission, known as CRS-3, was to be Orbital's fourth trip to the ISS, including an initial demonstration flight.

Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, said the space station was well-stocked and that no "absolutely critical" cargo was lost in the blast.

Orbital has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA for a total of eight supply missions.

After the US space shuttle program ended in 2011, leaving no government program to send humans to the space station, private companies raced to restore US access.

SpaceX's Dragon was the first commercial spacecraft to make a supply journey there in 2010. Its next trip is scheduled for early December.

The Cygnus craft, which is shaped like a massive beer keg, made its first journey to the ISS in 2013.

Unlike the Dragon, which returns to Earth intact, the Cygnus burns up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the launch failure and would continue to receive updates on the probe, the White House said.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Orbital_rocket_explodes_after_launch_999.html.

Russian Progress-M Cargo Spacecraft Undocks From ISS

Moscow (RIA Novosti)
Oct 28, 2014

The Russian M-24M cargo resupply spacecraft has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS), a spokesperson for Russian space agency Roscosmos told RIA Novosti on Monday.

"The spacecraft has undocked in normal mode at the expected time," the spokesperson for Roscosmos said.

It was previously reported that upon leaving the ISS, the cargo spacecraft would be taking part in a scientific experiment until November 20 to study the impact of its engines on the plasma in the Earth's ionosphere. On October 20, the spacecraft will be drowned.

The Progress M-24M space freighter that was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan earlier in July has delivered fuel, oxygen, food, equipment for scientific experiments and parcels for the cosmonauts.

On October 29, the Progress M-25M spacecraft is expected at the space station.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Russian_Progress_M_Cargo_Spacecraft_Undocks_From_ISS_999.html.

Wenchang to launch China's next space station

Beijing (XNA)
Oct 28, 2014

China's fourth space launch center, the Wenchang satellite launch center in south China's Hainan Province, will launch the country's space station and cargo spacecrafts.

Tao Zhongshan, chief engineer of the Xichang launch center, told Xinhua on Sunday that the new center will be used mainly for geosynchronous orbiters, large-tonnage space stations, cargo spacecraft, and large polar orbit satellites.

Wenchang has an advantage for transportation of modules of such spacecraft as it is located near a seaport. The site's low latitude will also help the carrying capacity of rockets by about 10 percent, compared to Xichang.

The Chang'e-5 moonlander, which will collect samples and return to Earth, will be launched from Wenchang, probably in 2017.

Once put into use, Wenchang, along with the three other centers in Jiuquan, Xichang and Taiyuan, will all have their different functions.

In a recent interview, Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut and deputy chief of China's Manned Space Agency, said the Tiangong-2 space lab will be launched around 2016, followed by the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft and Tianzhou cargo craft to rendezvous with the lab.

A core module for space station will be launched around 2018 and the station will be completed around 2022.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Wenchang_to_launch_Chinas_next_space_station_999.html.

SpaceX may soon start landing rockets on a platform

Hawthorne, Calif. (UPI)
Oct 27, 2014

Elon Musk of SpaceX has announced his spacecrafts could soon be returning to Earth and landing on platforms.

During a conversation at MIT's AeroAstro Centennial Symposium on Friday, Musk said he plans to have his Falcon 9 rockets land on football field-sized floating platforms in the Atlantic Ocean as soon as December. He hopes to one day land the rockets back where they were launched.

"Imagine if an aircraft were single-use. Then how many people would fly?" Musk said. "The fly rate would be really low. To buy a 747 is like $250 million, or maybe $300 million, and you'd need two of them for a round trip." Musk joked that people would just go places by boat if the airplane industry worked that way, and he believes using reusable rockets that can leave Earth and return to Earth to be used again will save money and make space travel more accessible.

He spoke about how lowering costs can make it more likely humans can colonize other planets or the Moon. He said estimates for the cost of a Mars mission usually hover around $100-200 billion, and he believes there could be a "10,000 fold reduction" of that cost.

In April, SpaceX successfully tested launching a Falcon 9 rocket into space and landing it on a stage in the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_may_soon_start_landing_rockets_on_a_platform_999.html.

Russia successfully test fires Bulava missile

Moscow (AFP)
Nov 28, 2014

Russia's military on Friday successfully test-fired a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile from one of its submarines in the Barents Sea, the defense ministry said.

It marked the third successful test of the missile since a failed attempt a year ago. There have been 22 tests overall since 2005, with eight having failed.

Friday's test was launched from Russia's Alexander Nevsky submarine.

The missile has a range of 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) and can be equipped with 10 nuclear warheads.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_successfully_test_fires_Bulava_missile_999.html.

Malaysian prime minister: stop fighting in Ukraine

July 31, 2014

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Malaysia's prime minister on Thursday called on Ukrainian and pro-Russian separatists to agree to a cease-fire in the area surrounding the site where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down.

Two weeks after the plane's destruction on July 17, the remains and personal possessions of many of the victims haven't been recovered — to the anguish of their relatives and friends. "The conflict in eastern Ukraine may not be easily resolved, but the people on board that plane had no part in it," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said shortly before investigators succeeded in reaching the crash site.

Razak, who was speaking in a joint news conference with Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte in The Hague, is visiting the Netherlands to discuss repatriating Malaysian victims' remains and the security situation in Ukraine.

"We ask there be an immediate cessation of hostilities in and around the crash site by both Ukrainian and separatist forces," Razak said. "We ask that all sides respect the lives lost and the integrity of the crash site so that the investigation may proceed."

All 298 passengers and crew aboard Flight 17 were killed, including 43 Malaysians and 195 Dutch nationals. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has said around 80 bodies have yet to be recovered from the wreckage, which had been inaccessible to investigators for days because of fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russia separatists.

The remains of more than 200 victims that have been recovered and brought to the Netherlands are being painstakingly identified at a military base in Hilversum, a process expected to take weeks or months.

Razak signed a condolence register for victims and will visit the Hilversum center later Thursday. Rutte said "the pain of the terrible accident is almost unbearable."

Anti-Russia sentiment running deep in Malaysia

July 20, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Many Malaysians are urging their government and world leaders to take a tough stance against Russia after pro-Russia rebels allegedly shot down a Malaysia Airlines jet, with some calling for economic sanctions and a boycott of Russian goods.

While the rebels and Ukraine blame each other for Thursday's downing of Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, Russia's government is being accused of not doing enough to ensure that authorities have proper access to the crash site.

Much of the Malaysian anger toward Russia stems from the inability for family members of Muslims who were aboard the plane to perform burial rites as quickly as possible, according to Islamic custom. Of the 298 people aboard the plane, 43 were from Muslim-majority Malaysia and 12 were from Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.

The plane crashed in rebel-held territory, and the separatists — who are being blamed for shooting down the plane by much of the international community, including the United States — have been accused of preventing emergency workers from retrieving the victims' bodies.

The issue has caused deep resentment in Malaysia, where many have blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin. Even politicians, who on Friday were careful not to point any fingers, seem to be losing patience.

"Pro-Russian terrorists have not handled #MH17 victims with dignity. Putin promised PM @NajibRazak he would help. He hasn't," Malaysian Youth and Sport Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tweeted Sunday, referring to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

As people headed to Kuala Lumpur shopping malls on Sunday, their minds were still reeling from the horrific images of the crash site that have inundated television screens here. Many were calling for tough economic sanctions and an international boycott of Russian goods and services.

"Our government and the whole world have to do something about this case," said 27-year-old Nur Zehan Abu Bakar, who works in the education sector. "If not, what will happen to our country? What will happen to (Malaysia Airlines)? To show that we are angry with Russia and if they still continue not to help us, I think the best way is for all Malaysians to boycott Russian products."

Charles Foo, a retiree who was spending time with his family outside a mall, echoed Nur Zehan's sentiments. "They (Russia) are a big country. We are a very small country, so how much can we do, unless all nations in the world stop buying their goods and whatever," he said.

Malaysia is one of Russia's main trading partners in Southeast Asia. Russia also is a key supplier for Malaysia's military, delivering 18 Sukhoi fighter jets to the Malaysian air force over the past decade.

James Chin, a professor at the political science unit of Monash University in Malaysia, said he believed it was unlikely that Russian-Malaysian relations would be seriously harmed as a result of the incident, though he added that a lot would depend on the outcome of the official investigation.

"The Malaysian government really can't do much," Chin said. "The Malaysian government takes the position that it cannot antagonize the Russians now because they hold the key to the investigation." Some Malaysians said it was important to remain rational and wait for the investigation to be completed.

"For now, I will calm myself down and not listen to all the noise," a 36-year-old dancer, who wanted to be identified only by his family name, Wong, said at a popular Kuala Lumpur shopping district. "There is no point for me to get emotional at the moment. I encourage everyone to stay calm."

Tricia Yeoh, chief operating officer at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a Malaysian think tank, said while she could understand why Malaysians are so upset, people need to wait for a thorough investigation to be completed before reaching any conclusions on who is responsible for the disaster.

"People need to be cautious in a geo-political climate and environment in which not all information is being revealed," Yeoh said. "We certainly do not know all there is to know, and for that reason I would have to wait. Having said that, of course all governments should be cooperating to ensure investigations are thoroughly done. This includes Russia."

Malaysia activists: Obama you are not welcome here!

2014-04-18

KUALA LUMPUR - About 100 Malaysian Muslim activists protested Friday outside the US embassy against the coming visit by President Barack Obama, denouncing him as an enemy of Islam.

The demonstration underscored the delicate nature of Obama's trip to Muslim-majority Malaysia, which will make him the first sitting US president to visit in nearly half a century, a period marked by mutual distrust.

The protesters marched to the embassy in Kuala Lumpur from a nearby mosque after Friday afternoon prayers, shouting "God is great" and "Obama is the enemy of the Prophet Muhammad."

They also bore placards and banners saying: "US is axis of evil" and handed out leaflets saying "Reject Obama, World's No. 1 Terrorist."

They dispersed after about 15 minutes.

Malaysia has opposed US wars in the Middle East and supports the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Obama embarks on a week-long Asia tour next week that will bring him to Malaysia April 26-28.

The last US president to visit was Lyndon Johnson in 1966.

US-Malaysia relations have been marked by rancor in recent decades, particularly during the tenure of former authoritarian premier Mahathir Mohamad from 1981-2003, who was harshly critical of US policy around the world.

Current Prime Minister Najib Razak has taken a more friendly tone toward the West, but he is restrained by conservative elements in his Muslim-dominated government.

Obama will also visit South Korea, Japan and the Philippines at a time of unease around the region over China's rise.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=65475.

Turkey's Erdogan attacks US 'impertinence' on Syria

2014-11-26

(AFP)- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday slammed US "impertinence" on the Syrian conflict, exposing the extent of strains between Washington and Ankara days after his key meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden.

Ties between the the US and Turkey have soured in recent months over the reluctance of Turkish leaders to intervene militarily in the US-led campaign against the Islamic State jihadists, who have taken control of swathes of Iraq and Syria.

In an indication of the tensions that remain between the two NATO allies, Erdogan accused the US of being "impertinent" for pressuring it to help save the besieged Syrian town of Kobane, which is within sight of the Turkish border.

"Why is somebody coming to this region from 12,000 kilometers (7,000 miles) away?" Erdogan said during an address to a group of businessmen in Ankara, in a clear reference to the US.

"I want you to know that we are against impertinence, recklessness and endless demands," he said.

Biden had personally stung Erdogan last month by suggesting his policies in supporting Islamist rebel forces in Syria had helped encourage the rise of the IS militant group, a slight that prompted Erdogan to warn his relationship with the US number two could be "history".

Washington is pressing Ankara for the use of the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey by US jets launching assaults on IS.

But Turkey has refused to bow to the pressure, setting several conditions for playing a greater role in the coalition.

"They looked on as the tyrant (President Bashar) al-Assad massacred 300,000 people. They remained silent in the face of Assad's barbarism and now they are now staging a 'conscience show' through Kobane," Erdogan said.

"We will resolve our problems not with the help of a 'superior mind' but with the help of our people," he said.

Biden wrapped up a three-day visit to Turkey on Sunday without a breakthrough on military cooperation in the Syrian crisis.

But Erdogan's comments contrasted with the relatively upbeat assessment of US officials that the meeting with Biden had brought closer the two sides' positions.

On Monday, Erdogan accused the West of coming to the region for "oil".

"I'm always meeting with them but it does not go any further than what I say. They don't have any sensitivities. They have only one sensitivity: oil, oil, oil..." he said.

So far, Turkey's sole contribution to the coalition has been allowing a contingent of Iraqi peshmerga Kurdish fighters to transit Turkish soil to fight IS militants for Kobane.

Source: Zaman alwasl.
Link: https://www.zamanalwsl.net/en/news/7704.html.

Turkey to Open Mosques in All Universities

Sunday, 23 November 2014

ISTANBUL – Catering to the needs of hundreds of thousands of students, Turkey’s top religious body has announced plans to construct a mosque in every state university, making it easier for Muslim students to observe their prayers.

“Mosques are under construction in over 80 universities,” Mehmet Gormez, the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, known as Diyanet in Turkish, was quoted by Agence France Presse (AFP).

“Fifteen of them have been opened for prayers and we will open at least 50 more in 2015.”

The decision to construct the new mosques was seen as an attempt to reach out to millions of young Turkish students.

“There are 20 million young people in our country and we would like to reach out to each one of them,” he told the official Anatolia news agency.

According to Gormez, each of the new mosques would have government-paid imams to attend to “young people’s problems” and provide guidance.

“They will be the place where they will feel the love of God in their hearts,” he said.

“We attach great importance to mosques in city universities. They are the only way to bring mosques back into the lives, the cities and the hearts of our people,” he added.

Muslims pray five times a day, with each prayer made of a series of postures and movements, each set of which is called a rak‘ah.

The five prayer times are divided all through the day which starts with Fajr prayer at dawn.

The new mosques were seen as a new step taken by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reinstall Islamic tenets in the Turkish secular community.

Last September, the government allowed girls in state high schools to wear the Muslim headscarf while banning pupils from wearing make-up, dyeing their hair, or having tattoos or body piercings.

Hijab, an obligatory code of dress, has been banned in public buildings, universities, schools and government buildings in Muslim-majority Turkey since shortly after a 1980 military coup.

Turkey’s secular elite, including army generals, judges and university rectors, staunchly oppose easing the hijab ban.

In 2008, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK) passed a constitutional change easing restrictions on hijab at university.

Later in November 2012, Turkey has lifted a decades-long ban on wearing hijab in Islamic schools which came into effect for the first time in the school year 2013-2014.

In October 2013, a veiled lawmaker has entered the Turkish parliament for the first time in fourteen years, marking the end of 'hijab ban' in state institutions.

Source: On Islam.
Link: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/480029-turkey-to-open-mosques-in-all-university.html.

Taliban attack rocks upscale Kabul district

November 28, 2014

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters staged an attack Thursday evening in an upscale district in the Afghan capital Kabul. Witnesses described multiple explosions and bursts of gunfire in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, which contains numerous foreign embassies and compounds housing international agencies and companies — as well as the homes of some senior Afghan government officials.

The attack came hours after a suicide car-bomber struck a British embassy vehicle, killing five people including a British citizen. Kabul Police Chief Gen. Mohammad Zahir said there were three explosions followed by extended gunfire. A Taliban spokesman said the intended target was a guesthouse in the district occupied by foreigners. The spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, refused to give further details, adding only that the target of the attack was, "enemies."

Afghan police flooded into the area and locked down the surrounding streets. Footage from area security cameras showed heavily armed security forces and armored vehicles deploying in large numbers. The attack took place near the compound of the development agency International Relief and Development. The agency's head of security, Tony Haslem, told The Associated Press the attack lasted about 45 minutes and he heard rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons being fired.

Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayoub Salangi confirmed that the target of the attack was a guesthouse in the diplomatic area. He said no foreigners had been killed. "One Nepalese guard was wounded, but all the foreigners are fine," Salangi said. Three attackers had been killed, two by Nepalese guards at the guesthouse, he said.

"One of the attackers blew himself up," he added. Kabul has come under regular attack in recent weeks. Earlier Thursday, a suicide bomber targeted a British embassy vehicle, killing at least five people, including a British security guard, officials said.

An Afghan national who was driving the vehicle was also killed, and a second British security guard was wounded, Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman Seddiq Sediqqi confirmed that four Afghans were killed in the attack and said another 33 civilians were wounded.

Earlier the British Embassy said no diplomats were riding in the car at the time it was hit. Hammond, speaking at a press conference in Rome, called the attack "senseless and cowardly" and paid tribute to those killed.

"Let me take this opportunity to offer my condolences to those who lost their lives this morning, the families and friends of those who lost their lives and were injured in this appalling attack," Hammond said. "It reminds us once again of the risks that our personnel take every day in trying to help the Afghans to build a better future for their country and by helping them to do so to protect our own security and our own interests. "

Police said that a car packed with explosives rammed the heavily armored British embassy vehicle, exploding on impact and sending a huge plume of dust and smoke into the air. The midmorning attack happened on the traffic-choked road between Kabul and Jalalabad city. Witnesses said at least a dozen civilian cars were damaged by the blast, and the road was strewn with smoldering debris from the British vehicle.

Video footage showed the roof of the embassy jeep had been blown off and flung about 15 meters (50 feet) along the road, an indication that it was a powerful blast, as the vehicles are built to withstand substantial impact.

Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack in a brief statement. In recent weeks, suicide bombers have launched attacks on military convoys and on compounds housing foreign service companies and their international employees.

Thursday's suicide bomb attack is the first on a diplomatic target in Kabul for some time, as most embassies are secured behind high concrete blast walls with razor wire and guards with automatic weapons. The U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Herat was attacked last year and the Indian consulate in the same city was attacked in May this year.

In September 2011, insurgents launched a complex attack involving suicide bombers and gunmen on the diplomatic area of Kabul -- close to the U.S. Embassy and NATO's headquarters -- that lasted around 20 hours and left seven people dead, none of them U.S. citizens.

Kabul has come under almost daily attack as insurgents intensify their war on local security forces and U.S. and NATO troops, who are set to officially conclude their combat role in the country at the end of next month.

Aleppo rebels seek one military command: meetings

2014-11-27

ALEPPO (Zaman Al Wasl)- Key rebel groups of Aleppo province are massing efforts to unite in one military command as fall of the city seems imminent by Syrian regime forces, field source said.

A rebel commander told Zaman al-Wasl that a unified command is the only solution to surpass all challenges whether on the battle ground or in managing people issues in rebel-held areas. For that, rebel senior commanders have held series of meetings, the source said.

"Conflict of interest considers rebels’ weakness point where rebel areas turned to be cantons affiliate to this leader or that," source said.

Meanwhile, Bashar al-Assad’s forces are pressing very hard to invade Aleppo’s rebel-held suburbs.

Moderate rebels and many Islamist groups have recognized the surrounding danger where only two options available, fight or being ‘up for grabs’ for Assad or Islamic State (IS).

In that grim scene, people’s suffering continues in regard to their ordinary life, food, fuel and small business to keep surviving. “They went to streets weeks ago, demanding rebel commanders to unite but no concrete response yet,” activists said.

More than 190,000 people have been killed in Syria since the revolution began in March 2011.

Source: Zaman alwasl.
Link: https://www.zamanalwsl.net/en/news/7707.html.

Families of kidnapped Lebanese soldiers protest

November 28, 2014

BEIRUT (AP) — Police used water cannons to break up a protest Friday by relatives of several kidnapped Lebanese soldiers after the protesters blocked a main highway in the capital.

Security forces beat several protesters and some journalists as they broke up the demonstration. The Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Syria seized some 20 Lebanese soldiers and police officers in August during a cross-border raid. They have already killed three of the captives, beheading two of them.

Friday's protest came a day after Nusra Front threatened to kill one of the soldiers. The families are demanding that the government negotiate seriously with the militants — who are demanding the release of Islamist prisoners from Lebanese jails.

Lebanon's Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said blocking roads "is not the answer."

Jordan halts free treatment for Syrian refugees

2014-11-26

Reporting by Faris Al Rifai; Writing by Yusra Ahmed

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Another shock to Syrian refugees in Jordan after ceasing the food vouchers few weeks ago. The Jordanian Government cancelled all decisions in regard to free treatment in the Ministry of Health's hospitals and clinics. Syrians used to be treated via the health Insurance system; all they needed to do was showing the documents of the United Nations Higher Council for refugees (UNHCR).

The Jordanian Minister of Health said that decision was issued by the cabinet and had been implemented, as Syrians would be charged directly without any mediators.

The Minister confirmed that Ministry of Health still had JOD.34 Million unpaid charges for treating Syrians, from donors and international organization.

UNHCR has not commented on the decision yet, despite it put huge financial pressure of Syrian refugees, who cannot even afford for their food, and raise worries about the fate of children who make more than half of patients visiting health facilities of the Ministry of Health.

Donors who lag in paying charges for Syrians hold the majority of responsibility for the situation they put fragile Syrian refugees in.

Source: Zaman alwasl.
Link: https://www.zamanalwsl.net/en/news/7697.html.

Mauritania celebrates independence with wage hike

2014-11-28

To mark the 54th anniversary of Mauritanian independence on Friday (November 28th), President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz raised workers' salaries.

The base salary of workers earning less than 100,000 ouguiyas (275 euros) a month will climb by 50%, ANI quoted the president as saying Thursday in a televised statement. Wages higher than 100,000 ouguiyas will increase by 30%.

The pay hikes begin in January 2015.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2014/11/28/newsbrief-06.

Swiss to vote on massive gold-buying plan

November 28, 2014

GENEVA (AP) — In Switzerland, a campaign is on to protect the country's wealth by investing in gold — a lot of gold.

In a test of their sense of financial security, the Swiss are being asked to vote on a proposal to make the central bank hold a fifth of its reserves in gold within five years. That would mean buying about 1,500 metric tons, or 1,650 short tons, of gold worth more than $60 billion.

If the initiative wins the backing of a majority of voters this Sunday, the Swiss National Bank would also be prohibited from spending any of the treasure, which would have to be locked away in vaults entirely on Swiss soil. The prospect risks causing a spike in gold prices globally.

The nationalist Swiss People's Party, the country's largest, has brought the "Save our Swiss Gold" initiative, arguing it will restore trust in the central bank and its paper money. The proposal is opposed by the government and financial leaders but aims to capitalize on a growing sense of caution among the Swiss about the perceived dangers and increasing volatility of financial markets.

Though the country is among the world's most prosperous, the initiative argues that owning physical gold in vaults would protect the country's wealth from trouble in markets beyond the control of this small Alpine nation. The experience of the 2008 global financial crisis, triggered in part by complex investments that brought down multiple banks and bankrupted states, is fresh in people's memories.

Jacques Mayor, a Geneva accountant, said he was wary of the idea of Switzerland buying or selling gold in large amounts in international markets. "The last time they sold gold, we had an enormous loss," Mayor said, referring to the central bank going $10 billion in the red in 2013, when the value of its gold holdings slumped.

Despite the perception that gold's value is protected by the fact it is a physical good, its market price can in fact be quite volatile. The metal is used often by speculators as a safe haven. Recently, gold has lost much of its sheen. Its price has fallen 11 percent since the summer to around $1200 an ounce.

Swiss polling firm gfs.bern has found the initiative is likely to fail, with just 38 percent supporting it, short of the required majority. About 47 percent were opposed as of early November. For investors, the vote is still too close for comfort.

"Initial market reaction to a yes vote would be a sharply higher price — a $50 dollar rise looks plausible," said Carsten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank. A greater impact may be felt over months, as global traders know the Swiss central bank will be a regular buyer. "It could provide the base for an upward trend in the years to come," said Fritsch.

Until 1973, Switzerland was part of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates and the value of the Swiss franc was defined in grams of gold. But the Swiss National Bank, or SNB, was criticized for holding excessive gold reserves that generated too little return. Moving away from this system allowed the bank to decide more freely how to invest its currency reserves.

Fritz Zurbruegg, a member of SNB's governing board, notes the Swiss still hold a relatively large amount of gold in reserve. "At 125 grams per capita, Switzerland has the largest gold reserves per head of population of any country - triple those of Germany and quintuple those of the U.S.," he told a conference last week.

If the initiative were to pass, the SNB would need to dramatically increase its gold holdings, which currently amount to 1,040 metric tons or just fewer than 8 percent of its nearly $532 billion in reserves as of the end of September. Raising that to the required 20 percent of its official reserve assets would mean buying gold worth over $60 billion at current prices.

There would be the additional cost of repatriating gold Switzerland now stores overseas. About 30 percent of the SNB's gold is kept in U.K. and Canadian central banks. European countries historically store part of their gold with allies to protect it in case of war on the continent.

A gold-buying binge could also hurt the Swiss economy by reducing the amount of money the central bank has to spend on keeping a lid on the strong Swiss franc. The bank currently intervenes in currency markets to weaken the franc, with the ultimate aim of helping exporters and tourism.

Zurbruegg said the initiative to buy more gold could therefore disrupt the domestic economy. And the benefits would be dubious: "Gold which cannot be sold in a crisis no longer meets the definition of a reserve and thus offers no security at all."

East-West divisions define Moldova's elections

November 28, 2014

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — A wealthy pro-Russian candidate who had hoped to be Moldova's next prime minister fled the country before dawn Friday, a dramatic development two days before elections in a country that is deeply torn over whether to move closer to Russia or the West.

The candidate, Renato Usatii, a Rolls Royce-driving businessman who has done business with Russian Railways, said he feared arrest by Moldova's pro-European authorities. This week a court banned his Patria party from running, saying that it can't compete because it receives money from abroad. Border police said he caught an early flight to Moscow.

His departure still leaves two other pro-Russian parties in a parliamentary race whose outcome will determine whether the former Soviet republic will stick to its current course of pro-European reforms or move decisively back into Russia's orbit.

Given Russia's aggression in Ukraine and reassertion of influence in Georgia, Moldova's decision carries geopolitical importance that far outweighs its size and economic weight. The poor nation of less than 4 million people is wedged between Ukraine and European Union member Romania; it has a breakaway region, Trans-Dniester, which longs to join Russia. Moscow keeps more than 1,000 troops there.

Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, whose government forged closer ties with the European Union and who has used European money to bring some economic improvement to the country, has been appealing to voters to stick with the current reforms. He is vowing to fight corruption and attract more investments to the country, hoping for eventual EU membership.

"In order to keep going forward and not to stop here with all that we have achieved, we .... must support the ones who want to bring Moldova into Europe — or, better said, to bring Europe into our home," Leanca said in a stump speech in a village near the capital Thursday.

The most openly pro-Russian contender, Igor Dodon, leader of the Socialist Party of Moldova, argues European integration will not create the jobs the country needs or solve its other economic problems. He points to cases like Bulgaria and Greece, EU members with crippling unemployment and other troubles.

"On the other hand, there's the Russian Federation, the Euro-Asian space, which says clearly: We are ready to buy your products," Dodon told The Associated Press. "We will never export to Europe the volumes we could export to Russia. Again, exports mean jobs."

Opinion polls show pro-European parties ahead of the pro-Russian parties, but the outcome is far from certain. Since no party is expected to win a majority of votes, the ultimate outcome will depend on whether the party with the most votes can forge a coalition.

Voters are bitterly divided. "The only future for Moldova is with Russia," said Aleksandr Panov, 49. "We have had enough of corruption and no justice. We want to live better to have order like they have in Russia now."

On the other side are voters like Mihaela Enache, a 32-year-old state clerk who wants Moldova's road to Europe to "become irreversible." "After what happened in Ukraine, only a naive person would think that Russia would bring peace and stability to the Soviet region," Enache said.

Usatii, the businessman who fled Friday, announced his departure in an online video, and called on his supporters not to stage violent protests. This week, recordings emerged in which Usatii said he represented Russia's business interests in Moldova. Usatii confirmed the tape was authentic but said he was playing games in the conversation. He denied that he receives foreign funding, says the case against him is politically motivated, and accused the authorities of corruption. On Friday his party appealed the ban to the country's supreme court; a decision is expected later in the day or Saturday.

Authorities fear that a Russian-backed organization could plan violence after the election if pro-European parties win. On Wednesday they identified 15 Moldovan and Russian suspects allegedly planning unrest, and said searches of their homes had uncovered pistols, grenade launchers, military uniforms, plans to attack unnamed institutes and large sums of money.

Vanessa Gera contributed from Warsaw, Poland.

Energy revolution spells doom for German village

November 28, 2014

ATTERWASCH, Germany (AP) — Five days a week, a giant machine eats its way through soil at the Jaenschwalde open-cast mine in eastern Germany, exposing the brown coal buried beneath.

Lignite, as this form of compressed peat is known, is becoming an increasingly important part of Germany's effort to phase out nuclear energy. It's also the reason why Atterwasch, a village that survived the Thirty Years' War, a Soviet onslaught at the end of World War II and four hard decades of communist rule is slated to be razed.

The village, with its volunteer fire station and old brownstone church, is to make way for a strip mine in the next decade. Dozens of other villages have fallen victim to the same fate, as coal once again becomes king.

The plan has many of Atterwasch's 250 inhabitants up in arms. "This is an ancient village," said long-time resident Monika Schulz-Hoepfner. Historical records first mention Atterwasch in 1294, and the house that she and her husband raised their three children in was built in 1740.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, point out that Germany's hunger for lignite flies in the face of its green credentials. "Germany has a coal problem," said Regina Guenther, Director Climate and Energy at WWF Germany. "Despite the expansion of renewable energy the carbon emissions are rising because the dirtiest coal power plants are running at full steam."

The low cost of coal-based energy means that the cleaner, but more expensive, gas power plants are not running at full capacity, she said. Vattenfall, one of Europe's biggest energy companies, says the five open cast lignite mines and three lignite power stations it operates in the Lusatia region a couple of hours drive southeast of Berlin provide over 33 000 jobs. Anti-mine campaigners put the figure much lower, but still conceded that the jobs run into the thousands, in an area with high unemployment.

At least as important as the jobs is the energy that comes from the 60 million tons of lignite mined there each year. That's because Germany's ambitious plan to shut down all its nuclear reactors by 2022 and dramatically ramp up the use of renewable sources — known as the "energy switchover" — requires coal as a stopgap.

"Lignite is part of the energy switchover because it offers a bridge to the time when, as is the goal in Germany, 80 or more percent of energy is generated by renewable means," said Thoralf Schirmer, a spokesperson for Vattenfall.

Even after 2050, when all nuclear plants have been closed for 28 years and renewable sources should be highly developed, there will be a role for lignite, he said. "If you have little wind or sun available," he said, "then you have to rely on one of the remaining conventional energy sources."

Last year, about a quarter of the German gross electricity production came from lignite, according to the German Federal Statistics Office. More than a third of the lignite — up to 10 percent of Germany's total energy supply — comes from the region around Atterwasch.

Vattenfall has recently outlined plans to sell the German lignite mines and power plants as a part of the Swedish company's own drive toward renewable energy. But it is unlikely that the buyer of the plants would want to stop the mine expansion given the vast lignite deposits — estimated at hundreds of millions of tons — and potential profits to be made.

The current plan, approved years ago, is to remove Atterwasch and two other nearby villages by 2025 to make way for an expansion of the Jaenschwalde mine. "We're making a sacrifice that isn't really necessary anymore," said Schulz-Hoepfner. "I think it's simply not legitimate to let old villages, which are part of our cultural heritage, fall into a coal hole anymore."

She and others campaigning against the mine haven't given up hope that the village will be saved, and are appealing to the Brandenburg state government for help. To them, Atterwasch is "Heimat," she said, a German word that loosely translates as "home" but which signifies a deep emotional connection to a particular place. Its location near the present German-Polish border and the bilingual road signs in German and Sorbian — the language of Germany's Slavic ethnic minority — testify to the region's complex history.

"It's like a tree that's dug its roots deep into the ground," said Schulz-Hoepfner. "And then someone comes along and wants to pull this healthy tree out."

Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

French Parliament debates recognizing Palestine

November 28, 2014

PARIS (AP) — France's government is pushing to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, amid growing pressure across Europe for recognition of a Palestinian state after decades of Mideast stalemate.

France's lower house of Parliament on Friday debated a measure urging the government to recognize an independent Palestine. The Socialist government supports the idea of two states, but argues that it's too early for outright recognition.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France is working at the United Nations for a resolution to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations — and to set a two-year deadline for success. "France will recognize a Palestinian state," Fabius told the lawmakers, but the question is "when, and how."

France — which has western Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish populations, and has seen tensions erupt between them — has sought to keep good ties with Israeli and Palestinian authorities in recent years. "Our only enemies in this region are the extremists," Fabius said.

In the Parliament debate, lawmakers argued over whether recognizing a Palestinian state would help or hurt chances for peace. They will vote Tuesday on the measure proposed Friday, which urges the government "to recognize the state of Palestine in view of reaching a definitive settlement to the conflict."

Many in Europe are frustrated with the deadlock in peace talks, and with the Israeli government's actions in Gaza and in supporting the growth of Jewish settlements. On Oct. 30, Sweden's government became the first Western European nation in the EU to recognize Palestinian statehood. Since then, lawmakers in Britain, Spain and Ireland have approved non-binding motions urging recognition, and the European Parliament debated the issue this week.

France returns 250 smuggled Egyptian antiquities

November 27, 2014

PARIS (AP) — France has returned 250 Egyptian antiquities seized from the luggage of travelers arriving in Paris four years ago.

The customs office said that it gave the Egyptian Embassy on Thursday the amulets, rings, funeral statues, clay pots and other objects seized in March and November of 2010 at Charles de Gaulle airport. A statement from Customs authorities said the objects date from different periods including 2000 B.C., the Roman and Byzantine eras and as late as the 7th century.

The return of the items came at the close of a visit to Paris by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, on his first European tour. He met on Wednesday with President Francois Hollande, coming to France after visiting Rome.

Namibia votes in election favoring ruling party

November 28, 2014

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The southern African nation of Namibia on Friday voted in parliamentary and presidential elections expected to deliver a comfortable win for the ruling party, which has been in power since independence in 1990.

Some 1.2 million Namibians, about half the population, were eligible to vote in the elections at several thousand polling stations, which are using electronic voting machines instead of the old ballot paper system. Sixteen political parties and nine presidential candidates were the race; final results were expected within 24 hours of the 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) close of voting.

The presidential candidate of the ruling SWAPO party is Prime Minister Hage Geingob, who campaigned for independence decades ago at the United Nations. If elected, he would succeed President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who is stepping down after serving two five-year terms.

Namibia enjoys political stability and benefits from major diamond and uranium reserves as well as revenue from tourists drawn to its stark landscapes. Geingob, the prime minister, has acknowledged that Namibia still has high poverty and lacks adequate health facilities.

Robert Besseling, an analyst at IHS Country Risk, has predicted that a smooth transition of power to Geingob would indicate continuity in "pro-business" policies in mining and energy. However, Besseling wrote in an analysis that a Geingob presidency could trigger more factionalism within the ruling party as well as a higher risk of labor unrest.

Geingob would be the first president from the ethnic Damara minority. Pohamba, the current president, belongs to the Ovambo, the biggest ethnic group in Namibia.

Europe postpones launch of first 'space plane'

Paris (AFP)
Oct 24, 2014

Europe said Friday it was postponing the launch next month of its first-ever "space plane" to give scientists time to finetune the mission's flight plan.

Dubbed the IXV, for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, the plane had been scheduled for launch on November 18 by a Vega light rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.

"The European Space Agency (ESA), in conjunction with the French space agency CNES, has decided to carry out additional flight trajectory analyses," said Arianespace, which markets services by ESA's launchers.

"A new launch date will be announced as soon as possible," it said in a press release.

The size of a medium-sized car and developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($193 million), the IXV is the test bed for a shuttle-like vehicle that would giving Europe the ability to return to Earth from orbit.

One idea is that in a future form it could bring back astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Studded with 300 sensors, the prototype IXV will collect data on the craft's handling and thermodynamics.

The preliminary test entails hoisting the IXV to a height of 450 kilometers (280 miles) where it will go into sub-orbital flight for 100 minutes.

It will then re-enter the atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific, where it will be recovered by ship.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Europe_postpones_launch_of_first_space_plane_999.html.

Eight months on 'Hawaiian Mars' tests rigors of exploration

Washington (AFP)
Oct 24, 2014

Six people have sealed themselves inside a white vinyl dome in Hawaii to embark on an eight-month test of how their mental health might fare during a mission to Mars.

The NASA-funded project, the longest US Mars simulation yet, involves three men and three women who have no access to fresh food and limited access to Internet that requires 20-minute intervals between click and response, as it might be in deep space.

They are allowed to venture outside their igloo-like enclosure -- which measures 36 feet (11 meters) in diameter and 20 feet (six meters) tall -- only if wearing a spacesuit.

"We are surrounded by basaltic lava and living in isolation on the slopes of Mauna Loa where there is little evidence of plant or animal life," wrote crew member Jocelyn Dunn, a doctoral candidate at Purdue University's School of Industrial Engineering, after her first day in the dome on October 17.

"The training wheels are coming off as our new reality is setting in," Dunn wrote on her blog, http://fivestarview.blogspot.com, which she plans to update throughout the mission.

NASA is spending $1.2 million on a series of three such projects known as Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) to determine the potential pitfalls of sending people together to spend long periods in close quarters on a distant planet.

- Risks, reality -

NASA is aiming for a human mission to Mars mission by the 2030s, but experts are still not sure if humans can withstand the radiation that the journey would involve.

It could take eight months to reach the Red Planet, not to mention time spent on an orb with a thin atmosphere and no known food source, followed by an attempt at returning to Earth.

One recent study found that with the current limits of technology, adventurers to Mars would start dying in 68 days. Another study out this week said the risk of radiation-induced cancer would limit any trip to one year.

NASA deems it just as important to study whether people's mental states could hold up under the pressure of a Mars journey, said principal investigator Kim Binsted.

Both crew psychology and radiation are considered "red risks" for Mars, "which means essentially, until we solve these problems, we are not going," Binsted told AFP.

Binsted is coordinating the experiment from the outside the dome. Those inside are healthy, educated people in their 20s and 30s, each with a keen interest in science and space.

"It is kind of the opposite of a reality show. We select against drama," explained Binsted.

"We try to pick a crew that will get along with each other, be cohesive. We pick generally level-headed and easy-going people."

They include Allen Mirkadyrov, an aerospace engineer for NASA and Neil Scheibelhut, a microbiologist and former combat veteran in Iraq.

Sophie Milam is an expert in robotics who is pursuing a master's degree in engineering, and Zak Wilson is mechanical engineer.

The commander is Canadian-born Martha Lenio, who earned a doctorate in photovoltaic engineering and has worked in the sustainable building industry, according to her biography.

As time wears on, experts want to see how they get along with each other, and how they relate to mission control.

- Third-quarter syndrome -

One potential problem may come late in the game, when a depression known as "third-quarter syndrome" kicks in. The simulation is no longer as fun as it was at the start, and the end is not quite near.

There is also the issue of communication breakdown between the crew and ground control, which happens often in these kinds of missions, Binsted said.

"The crew basically comes to the conclusion that mission support doesn't understand what they are going through, is asking too much of them and isn't providing enough support," she said.

"Meanwhile, mission support gets the idea that the crew is being prima donna-ish. 'Why won't they do this one thing that we need them to do?' It is a very common kind of communication breakdown."

HI-SEAS will also test a technology that does not record the crew's every word, but keeps track of the volume of their voices and their proximity to others, to see if a person is self-isolating, or if there are arguments between certain people.

Other simulation experiments have taken place under the sea off the Florida coast, in Antarctica and in Russia, where a 520-day Mars experiment was carried out in 2011.

Each has its own strengths, Binsted said.

"If we see problems arise in this environment, we can be confident that those problems are going to arise in space."

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Eight_months_on_Hawaiian_Mars_tests_rigors_of_exploration_999.html.

Russian cosmonauts finish all planned work outside ISS

Moscow (RIA Novosti)
Oct 24, 2014

Two Russian cosmonauts have finished their spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), completing all the necessary work earlier than planned, the Russian Mission Control told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

"In accordance with the ISS flight program, Commander Maxim Suraev and Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev have finished their work in the open space," a Mission Control spokesman said.

The Wednesday spacewalk was supposed to last six hours and was expected to end at 11:37 p.m. Moscow time (19:37 GMT). However, the cosmonauts finished all the planned work, which included removing outdated communications gear and taking pictures of the ISS, early.

This was the second career spacewalk for both Suraev and Samokutyaev, and the 184th overall in support of space station assembly and maintenance.

The ISS operates in low-Earth orbit. It serves as a space environment research laboratory, where crew members conduct experiments in astronomy, meteorology, biology, physics and other fields.

Apart from Samokutyaev and Suraev, the ISS crew currently consists of Americans Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore, German Alexander Gerst, and the first-ever female astronaut on board the ISS - Russian Elena Serova.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Russian_cosmonauts_finish_all_planned_work_outside_ISS_999.html.

Galactic wheel of life shines in infrared

Los Angeles CA (SPX)
Oct 24, 2014

It might look like a spoked wheel or even a "Chakram" weapon wielded by warriors like "Xena," from the fictional TV show, but this ringed galaxy is actually a vast place of stellar life. A newly released image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the galaxy NGC 1291. Though the galaxy is quite old, roughly 12 billion years, it is marked by an unusual ring where newborn stars are igniting.

"The rest of the galaxy is done maturing," said Kartik Sheth of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory of Charlottesville, Virginia. "But the outer ring is just now starting to light up with stars."

NGC 1291 is located about 33 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. It is what's known as a barred galaxy, because its central region is dominated by a long bar of stars (in the new image, the bar is within the blue circle and looks like the letter "S").

The bar formed early in the history of the galaxy. It churns material around, forcing stars and gas from their original circular orbits into large, non-circular, radial orbits. This creates resonances -- areas where gas is compressed and triggered to form new stars. Our own Milky Way galaxy has a bar, though not as prominent as the one in NGC 1291.

Sheth and his colleagues are busy trying to better understand how bars of stars like these shape the destinies of galaxies.

In a program called Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies, or S4G, Sheth and his team of scientists are analyzing the structures of more than 3,000 galaxies in our local neighborhood. The farthest galaxy of the bunch lies about 120 million light-years away -- practically a stone's throw in comparison to the vastness of space.

The astronomers are documenting structural features, including bars. They want to know how many of the local galaxies have bars, as well as the environmental conditions in a galaxy that might influence the formation and structure of bars.

"Now, with Spitzer we can measure the precise shape and distribution of matter within the bar structures," said Sheth.

"The bars are a natural product of cosmic evolution, and they are part of the galaxies' endoskeleton. Examining this endoskeleton for the fossilized clues to their past gives us a unique view of their evolution."

In the Spitzer image, shorter-wavelength infrared light has been assigned the color blue, and longer-wavelength light, red.

The stars that appear blue in the central, bulge region of the galaxy are older; most of the gas, or star-making fuel, there was previously used up by earlier generations of stars. When galaxies are young and gas-rich, stellar bars drive gas toward the center, feeding star formation

Over time, as the fuel runs out, the central regions become quiescent and star-formation activity shifts to the outskirts of a galaxy. There, spiral density waves and resonances induced by the central bar help convert gas to stars.

The outer ring, seen here in red, is one such resonance area, where gas has been trapped and ignited into star-forming frenzy.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Galactic_wheel_of_life_shines_in_infrared_999.html.

Next Chinese mission to moon will return to Earth

Moscow (RIA Novosti)
Oct 24, 2014

This week China will launch a new lunar orbiter, which, in contrast with previous space probes, will return to Earth after orbiting the Moon, China's official Xinhua news agency reports.

Ye Peijian, senior adviser to the China Academy Of Space Technology talked to Xinhua about the probe earlier this month: "After we are able to have probes return to earth, we'll study and move to possible manned lunar missions," adding that "China started late in the space race. We never had astronauts in the lunar missions. But we have good technology for manned space missions."

The latest spacecraft, which has not been named, arrived to the launch site at Xichang, located in southwest China's Sichuan Province, in August. It is set to take off at some point between October 24 and 26 and will test technology for use in the next step in China's lunar explorations.

Another probe is planned for 2017, Chang'e-5, which aims to land on the Moon, gather samples from its surface and then return to Earth.

Sending probes to the Moon is a feat China shares with five other nations or organizations: India, Japan, the European Union, USA, and Soviet Union. However, only the latter two have to date succeeded in bringing the spacecraft back to Earth, because it requires higher levels of fuel and protection for re-entry in to the Earth's atmosphere.

In December China's Chang'e 3 probe landed on the Moon and deployed a lunar rover vehicle, called "Yutu". The vehicle was sent to scout the Moon's surface and investigate its geological structure, substrate and natural resources. The robot was the first to soft land on the Moon in 40 years.

This month, one of Yutu's designers told Xinhua that Yutu, which was intended to roam the planet for three months, was now, after nine months, "gradually degrading" and that his team were keen to find out the reasons for the control problems which had beset the vehicle in January: "We hoped the Moon rover would go farther, and we really want to find the true reason why it didn't."

These developments mark the latest advancements in China's ambitious space project. In 2018 China plans to start the launch of experimental modules for its planned space station, with the station itself to be built in 2022.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Next_Chinese_mission_to_moon_will_return_to_Earth_999.html.

New lunar mission to test Chang'e-5 technology

Beijing (XNA)
Oct 24, 2014

China will launch a new lunar mission this week to test technology likely to be used in Chang'e-5, a future lunar probe with the ability to return to Earth.

The experimental spacecraft launched this week is expected to reach a location near the moon and return to Earth, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense on Wednesday.

The test model is currently ready and scheduled to be launched between Friday and Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China, with the whole mission taking about eight days.

"The meteorological condition will meet the requirements for the launch," said Tao Zhongshan, chief engineer of the center.

It is the first time China has conducted a test involving a half-orbit around the moon at a height of 380,000 kilometers before having the craft return to Earth.

The return mission will involve the spacecraft entering, exiting, and re-entering Earth's atmosphere and landing, said the administration.

During this process, the spacecraft's speed will be slowed down so it can land safely at a determined location, a key capability needed for Chang'e-5, which is expected to return from the moon at a velocity of 11.2 kilometers per second, according to the scientists' explanation.

China's advanced Long March-3C carrier rocket will make its debut during the test.

The Chang'e-5 probe, expected to launch in 2017, will be tasked with landing on the moon, collecting samples and returning to Earth.

"Apart from the technology of self-returning to Earth, the probe will make breakthrough in sample collecting, moon surface takeoff, rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit," said Hu Hao, chief designer of the third phase of China's lunar probe project.

China carried out Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 missions in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

In December, 2013, Chang'e-3 lunar probe succeeded in soft landing on the moon, with the country's first moon rover on board. The Chang'e-3 mission marked completion of the second phase of China's lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/New_lunar_mission_to_test_Change_5_technology_999.html.

Cosmonauts complete 3rd EVA for October

Washington DC (SPX)
Oct 24, 2014

Russian spacewalkers Max Suraev and Alexander Samokutyaev closed the Pirs docking compartment hatch at 1:06 p.m. EDT ending the third spacewalk for Expedition 41. The cosmonauts were outside the International Space Station for three hours and 38 minutes. Two U.S. spacewalks took place Oct. 7 and 15.

The duo's first task was to remove the Radiometriya experiment that was installed on the Zvezda service module in 2011 and which is no longer required for data collection.

They jettisoned it for a later reentry into the atmosphere where it will burn up. The experiment gathered data to help scientists predict seismic events and earthquakes.

The veteran cosmonauts moved on to another external experiment and removed its protective cover. They photographed the Expose-R experiment before taking a break during the orbital night period.

After orbital sunrise, they took more photographs of the work area, translated back to Pirs and placed the protective cover inside. The European Space Agency study exposes organic and biological samples to the harsh environment of space and observes how they are affected by cosmic radiation, vacuum and night and day cycles.

Suraev and Samokutyaev then removed hardware from Pirs and collected samples of particulate matter on the outside of the docking compartment. Dubbed the TEST experiment, the samples will be analyzed on the ground for chemical and toxicological contaminants including microbes.

The Russian spacewalkers then translated over to the Poisk mini-research module on the space-facing side of the Russian segment. Once there, they reached a pair of rendezvous antennas no longer needed that were blocking translation paths for future spacewalks. They removed both antennas and jettisoned them from the orbital laboratory.

Finally, the cosmonauts conducted a detailed photographic survey of the exterior surface of the Russian modules.

This was Suraev's second spacewalk of his career. His first was in January of 2010 during Expedition 22 when he spent five hours, 44 minutes outside the station setting up Poisk for future vehicle dockings. Suraev's two spacewalks total 9 hours, 22 minutes.

This was also Samokutyaev's second spacewalk. He worked outside the station in August 2011 for six hours, 23 minutes installing science and communications gear and relocating a cargo boom during Expedition 28. Samokutyaev's two spacewalks total 10 hours, 1 minute.

Wednesday's spacewalk was the 184th in support of station assembly and maintenance.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Cosmonauts_complete_3rd_EVA_for_October_999.html.

Organic molecules in Titan's atmosphere are intriguingly skewed

Washington DC (SPX)
Oct 24, 2014

While studying the atmosphere on Saturn's moon Titan, scientists discovered intriguing zones of organic molecules unexpectedly shifted away from its north and south poles. These misaligned features seem to defy conventional thinking about Titan's windy atmosphere, which should quickly smear out such off-axis concentrations.

"This is an unexpected and potentially groundbreaking discovery," said Martin Cordiner, an astrochemist working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the lead author of a study published online in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"These kinds of east-to-west variations have never been seen before in Titan's atmospheric gases. Explaining their origin presents us with a fascinating new problem."

This discovery, made during a remarkably brief three-minute "snapshot" observation with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), may help astronomers better understand the processes that shape this world's complex chemistry.

Titan's atmosphere has long been of interest because it acts as a chemical factory, using energy from the Sun and Saturn's magnetic field to produce a wide range of organic molecules. Studying this complex chemistry may provide insights into the properties of Earth's very early atmosphere, which may have shared many chemical characteristics with present-day Titan.

The researchers used ALMA's extreme sensitivity and resolution to track the atmospheric distributions of hydrogen isocyanide (HNC) and cyanoacetylene (HC3N), which initially appeared to be concentrated evenly over Titan's north and south poles.

These findings were consistent with observations made by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which found high concentrations of some gases over whichever pole is experiencing winter on Titan.

The surprise came when the researchers compared the gas concentrations at different levels in the atmosphere. At the highest altitudes, the pockets of organic molecules were shifted away from the poles. These off-pole concentrations are unexpected because the fast-moving, east-west winds in Titan's middle atmosphere should thoroughly mix the molecules formed there.

The researchers do not have an obvious explanation for these findings yet.

"It seems incredible that chemical mechanisms could be operating on rapid enough timescales to cause enhanced 'pockets' in the observed molecules," said Conor Nixon, a planetary scientist at Goddard and a coauthor of the paper. "We would expect the molecules to be quickly mixed around the globe by Titan's winds."

At the moment, the scientists are considering thermal or other effects tied to interaction with Saturn's powerful magnetic field, which extends far enough to engulf Titan, as potential sources of this skewed molecular concentration.

"Alternatively, I don't think we could rule out some kind of peculiar atmospheric circulation pattern," speculates Cordiner.

This marks ALMA's first foray into atmospheric studies of a major body in our Solar System. Further observations are expected to improve our understanding of the atmosphere and ongoing processes on Titan and other objects throughout our Solar System.

Titan is in some ways the most Earthlike body in the Solar System, with a thick atmosphere and prominent lakes, rivers, and seas. In place of water, however, Titan's frigid surface flows with liquid organic molecules, including methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6).

"These ALMA observations give us new insights into how organic molecules, the building blocks of life, form and evolve in a planet-like environment," said Anthony Remijan, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Va., and coauthor on the paper.

"It is exciting to imagine the new discoveries ALMA will enable as we look more deeply at other interesting objects in our Solar System."

Source: Saturn Daily.
Link: http://www.saturndaily.com/reports/Organic_molecules_in_Titans_atmosphere_are_intriguingly_skewed_999.html.

Two families of comets found around nearby star

Paris (SPX)
Oct 24, 2014

Beta Pictoris is a young star located about 63 light-years from the Sun. It is only about 20 million years old and is surrounded by a huge disc of material - a very active young planetary system where gas and dust are produced by the evaporation of comets and the collisions of asteroids.

Flavien Kiefer (IAP/CNRS/UPMC), lead author of the new study sets the scene: "Beta Pictoris is a very exciting target! The detailed observations of its exocomets give us clues to help understand what processes occur in this kind of young planetary system."

For almost 30 years astronomers have seen subtle changes in the light from Beta Pictoris that were thought to be caused by the passage of comets in front of the star itself. Comets are small bodies of a few kilometres in size, but they are rich in ices, which evaporate when they approach their star, producing gigantic tails of gas and dust that can absorb some of the light passing through them.

The dim light from the exocomets is swamped by the light of the brilliant star so they cannot be imaged directly from Earth.

To study the Beta Pictoris exocomets, the team analysed more than 1000 observations obtained between 2003 and 2011 with the HARPS instrument on the ESO 3.6-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

The researchers selected a sample of 493 different exocomets. Some exocomets were observed several times and for a few hours. Careful analysis provided measurements of the speed and the size of the gas clouds. Some of the orbital properties of each of these exocomets, such as the shape and the orientation of the orbit and the distance to the star, could also be deduced.

This analysis of several hundreds of exocomets in a single exo-planetary system is unique.

It revealed the presence of two distinct families of exocomets: one family of old exocomets whose orbits are controlled by a massive planet, and another family, probably arising from the recent breakdown of one or a few bigger objects. Different families of comets also exist in the Solar System.

The exocomets of the first family have a variety of orbits and show a rather weak activity with low production rates of gas and dust. This suggests that these comets have exhausted their supplies of ices during their multiple passages close to Beta Pictoris.

The exocomets of the second family are much more active and are also on nearly identical orbits. This suggests that the members of the second family all arise from the same origin: probably the breakdown of a larger object whose fragments are on an orbit grazing the star Beta Pictoris.

Flavien Kiefer concludes: "For the first time a statistical study has determined the physics and orbits for a large number of exocomets. This work provides a remarkable look at the mechanisms that were at work in the Solar System just after its formation 4.5 billion years ago."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Two_families_of_comets_found_around_nearby_star_999.html.

Russian 'Smart' Mini-Satellites to Go Into Orbit in 2016

Moscow (RIA Novosti)
Oct 16, 2014

The first group of Russian "smart" mini-satellites should be launched into orbit in 2016, Mikhail Sonkin, the Deputy Governor of Russia's Tomsk Region, said Wednesday.

"The signing of an agreement on the creation of an association to carry out projects in the sphere of the development of groups of miniature satellites is in progress...The launch [of the satellites] is planned for 2016," Sonkin, who is responsible for the scientific and educational complex and innovation policy in the region, said at the Open Innovations Forum in Moscow.

A number of Russian universities and space industry companies are expected to join the association, which will work on creating software to control groups of mini-satellites and improve their interaction with each other.

According to Sonkin, members of the association, which will include Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Tomsk State University (TSU), will also be working on developing new materials for the space industry and on establishing communication networks in remote areas.

Last month, Chairman of the Presidium of the Tomsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Psakhie announced that Russian scientists were planning to create unique mini-satellites capable of group interaction.

The satellites, similar to CubeSat developed in the United States, would be able to self-educate and repair each other without leaving the Earth's orbit.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russian_Smart_Mini_Satellites_to_Go_Into_Orbit_in_2016_999.html.