China develops new rocket for manned moon mission: media

Beijing (AFP)
Dec 08, 2014

China is developing a huge rocket that will be used for its first manned mission to the moon, state media said Monday, underscoring Beijing's increasingly ambitious space program.

The first launch of the Long March-9 will take place around 2028, said the China Daily, which also cited experts saying the rocket's development is at the research stage.

It will carry a load of 130 tonnes, the newspaper added, equal to what NASA is aiming for with its Space Launch System (SLS), which aims to blast off for the first time in 2018 with an initial test payload of 70 tonnes.

The US space agency has touted its deep-space rocket as having "unprecedented lift capability".

Li Tongyu, head of aerospace products at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, told the newspaper: "Our current launch vehicles, including the Long March-5, which is set to conduct its first launch soon, will be able to undertake the country's space activities planned for the coming 10 years.

"But for the nation's long-term space programs, their capabilities will not be enough."

Beijing sees its multi-billion-dollar space program as a marker of its rising global stature and mounting technical expertise, as well as evidence of the ruling Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

The military-run project has plans for a permanent orbiting station by 2020 and eventually to send a human to the moon.

Li said that the Long March-9's diameter and height would be far greater than the Long March-5, while its thrust would be more powerful.

"We need to develop a brand new engine for it to make sure the rocket has sufficient thrust," he said.

Li Jinghong, a designer at the academy, said the rocket would not only be used for missions to the Earth's only natural satellite, but also for other deep space exploration projects.

The vehicle's diameter "should be eight to 10 meters", and its weight "at least 3,000 metric tonnes", he said.

China currently has a rover, the Jade Rabbit, on the surface of the moon.

The craft, launched as part of the Chang'e-3 lunar mission late last year, has been declared a success by Chinese authorities, although it has been beset by mechanical troubles.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/China_develops_new_rocket_for_manned_moon_mission_media_999.html.

Finding infant earths and potential life just got easier

by Vasyl Kacapyr for Cornell News
Ithaca NY (SPX)
Dec 08, 2014

Among the billions and billions of stars in the sky, where should astronomers look for infant Earths where life might develop? New research from Cornell University's Institute for Pale Blue Dots shows where - and when - infant Earths are most likely to be found. The paper by research associate Ramses M. Ramirez and director Lisa Kaltenegger, "The Habitable Zones of Pre-Main-Sequence Stars" will be published in the Jan. 1, 2015, issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"The search for new, habitable worlds is one of the most exciting things human beings are doing today and finding infant Earths will add another fascinating piece to the puzzle of how 'Pale Blue Dots' work" says Kaltenegger, associate professor of astronomy in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences.

The researchers found that on young worlds the Habitable Zone - the orbital region where water can be liquid on the surface of a planet and where signals of life in the atmosphere can be detected with telescopes - turns out to be located further away from the young stars these worlds orbit than previously thought.

"This increased distance from their stars means these infant planets should be able to be seen early on by the next generation of ground-based telescopes," says Ramirez. "They are easier to spot when the Habitable Zone is farther out, so we can catch them when their star is really young."

Moreover, say the researchers, since the pre-main sequence period for the coolest stars is long, up to 2.5 billion years, it's possible that life could begin on a planet during its sun's early phase and then that life could move to the planet's subsurface (or underwater) as the star's luminosity decreases.

"In the search for planets like ours out there, we are certainly in for surprises. That's what makes this search so exciting," says Kaltenegger.

To enable researchers to more easily find infant earths, the paper by Kaltenegger and Ramirez offers estimates for where one can find habitable infant Earths. As reference points, they also assess the maximum water loss for rocky planets that are at equivalent distances to Venus, Earth and Mars from our Sun.

Ramirez and Kaltenegger also found that during the early period of a solar system's development, planets that end up being in the Habitable Zone later on, when the star is older, initially can lose the equivalent of several hundred oceans of water or more if they orbit the coolest stars.

However, even if a runaway greenhouse effect is triggered - when a planet absorbs more energy from the star than it can radiate back to space, resulting in a rapid evaporation of surface water - a planet could still become habitable if water is later delivered to the planet, after the runaway phase ends.

"Our own planet gained additional water after this early runaway phase from a late, heavy bombardment of water-rich asteroids," says Ramirez. "Planets at a distance corresponding to modern Earth or Venus orbiting these cool stars could be similarly replenished later on."

Ramirez and Kaltenegger's research was supported by the Institute for Pale Blue Dots and the Simons Foundation.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Finding_infant_earths_and_potential_life_just_got_easier_999.html.

ISS Enables Interplanetary Space Exploration

Washington DC (SPX)
Dec 05, 2014

If necessity is the mother of invention, then survival in space breeds many "children." These children are the research and technologies demonstrated aboard the International Space Station.

For 16 years, the station has provided researchers a platform in microgravity where they perform experiments and test technologies to allow humans to travel farther into the solar system than ever before. From life support systems to growing plants in space, the space station continues to drive human exploration for missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

NASA's Orion spacecraft, which is set to blast off on its first flight test in December, will demonstrate many technologies first tested aboard the space station. Orion, built to transport humans into deep space, embarks on a two-orbit, four-hour "Trial By Fire" on Dec. 5 to test many of its critical systems.

"Without what we've learned from having a continuous human presence in space for more than a decade, we wouldn't be able to think about sending people into deep space onboard Orion," said Mark Geyer, Orion Program manager.

"We're testing out technologies and concepts on the space station right now that are necessary for the kind of long-duration trips Orion enables."

Technology demonstrations aboard the station beget new systems and concepts for on Earth and for space exploration. For example, the amine swingbed, which uses organic compounds with modified ammonia atoms, controls carbon dioxide and humidity in Orion. This type of recovery system also can operate on Earth to help remove carbon dioxide and humidity in tight spaces, like in mine tunnels or submarines.

With successful demonstrations of 3-D printing on the space station, the potential now exists to manufacture parts quickly and cheaply in space. Instead of waiting for a cargo delivery, astronauts could replace filters or faulty equipment simply by printing new parts. Researchers are gaining insight into improving 3-D printing technology on Earth by testing it in microgravity. This knowledge could help advance industry printing methods.

Environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) aboard the station support humans in space. ECLSS includes wastewater recycling to provide clean water for bathing and drinking.

It also includes oxygen generation systems to provide air for crews to breathe. These and other components of ECLSS help cut transportation costs for resupply and provide astronauts a habitable environment. This technology demonstration helps engineers design and develop improved closed-loop life support systems for long duration spacecraft.

"Testing various life support sub-systems is an ideal use of the space station," said George Nelson, manager of NASA's International Space Station Technology Demonstration. "Reliability of these systems on long duration missions is paramount. We can verify design reliability in the microgravity environment by using them on the station without any mission or crew risk, since the existing space station systems are always available."

Human behavioral health and performance also is taken into account for deep space missions where crew members reside in confined spaces for long periods of time. One study evaluates the effects of delayed communications for interplanetary crews that have to handle medical and other emergencies.

This type of research also may help refine procedures for Earth-based teams that operate in extreme or remote environments with limited contact with a home base and its experts.

Additionally, NASA recently announced funding for three proposals to help answer questions about neurological conditions related to behavioral health and performance on deep space exploration missions.

Finally, plant growth facilities on the station like Veggie may one day produce safe, fresh and nutritious crops for astronauts while giving the crew opportunities for relaxation and recreation. Using these facilities, researchers can glean knowledge about plant growth and development in microgravity. This information may improve growth, biomass production and farming practices on Earth.

Necessities for survival in space breed innovations aboard the space station. Like a mother to her child, these inventions are improving life on Earth and, one day, may support humans on the planets beyond.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ISS_Enables_Interplanetary_Space_Exploration_999.html.

'Mirage Earth' exoplanets may have burned away chances for life

Seattle WA (SPX)
Dec 04, 2014

Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars - easily the most common stars in the universe - are prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life. But new research led by an astronomy graduate student at the University of Washington indicates some such planets may have long since lost their chance at hosting life because of intense heat during their formative years.

Low-mass stars, also called M dwarfs, are smaller than the sun, and also much less luminous, so their habitable zone tends to be fairly close in. The habitable zone is that swath of space that is just right to allow liquid water on an orbiting planet's surface, thus giving life a chance.

Planets close to their host stars are easier for astronomers to find than their siblings farther out. Astronomers discover and measure these worlds by studying the slight reduction in light when they transit, or pass in front of their host star; or by measuring the star's slight "wobble" in response to the planet's gravity, called the radial velocity method.

But in a paper to be published in the journal Astrobiology, doctoral student Rodrigo Luger and co-author Rory Barnes, a UW research assistant professor, find through computer simulations that some planets close to low-mass stars likely had their water and atmospheres burned away when they were still forming.

"All stars form in the collapse of a giant cloud of interstellar gas, which releases energy in the form of light as it shrinks," Luger said. "But because of their lower masses, and therefore lower gravities, M dwarfs take longer to fully collapse - on the order of many hundreds of millions of years."

"Planets around these stars can form within 10 million years, so they are around when the stars are still extremely bright. And that's not good for habitability, since these planets are going to initially be very hot, with surface temperatures in excess of a thousand degrees. When this happens, your oceans boil and your entire atmosphere becomes steam."

Also boding ill for the atmospheres of these worlds is the fact that M dwarf stars emit a lot of X-ray and ultraviolet light, which heats the upper atmosphere to thousands of degrees and causes gas to expand so quickly it leaves the planet and is lost to space, Luger said.

"So, many of the planets in the habitable zones of M dwarfs could have been dried up by this process early on, severely decreasing their chance of actually being habitable."

A side effect of this process, Luger and Barnes write, is that ultraviolet radiation can split up water into its component hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The lighter hydrogen escapes the atmosphere more easily, leaving the heavier oxygen atoms behind. While some oxygen is clearly good for life, as on Earth, too much oxygen can be a negative factor for the origin of life.

"Rodrigo has shown that this prolonged runaway greenhouse phase can produce huge atmospheres full of oxygen - like, 10 times denser than that of Venus and all oxygen," said Barnes. "Searches for life often rely on oxygen as a tracer of extraterrestrial life - so the abiological production of such huge quantities of oxygen could confound our search for life on exoplanets."

Luger said the working title of their paper was "Mirage Earths."

"Because of the oxygen they build up, they could look a lot like Earth from afar - but if you look more closely you'll find that they're really a mirage; there's just no water there."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Mirage_Earth_exoplanets_may_have_burned_away_chances_for_life_999.html.

Brazil to launch new satellite to track deforestation

Rio De Janeiro (AFP)
Dec 04, 2014

Brazil will launch a satellite from China Sunday to keep an eye in the sky on deforestation in the Amazon, the National Space Agency (Inpe) said Thursday.

An agency spokesman said the launch of the Cbers-4 satellite was scheduled for 0326 GMT December from Tayuan, China, about 750 kilometers (460 miles) southwest of Beijing.

Brazil and China will share the $30 million cost of sending the two-ton satellite into a 778-kilometer high orbit, the spokesman added.

Both countries participated in the development of the satellite, which has four cameras in its payload module.

The launch comes a year after its predecessor satellite failed to enter orbit because of a fault with the launch vehicle, China's Long March 4B.

Cbers, standing for China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite, will allow Brazil to keep a close watch from space on deforestation in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rain forest, as well as administer agriculture and monitor livestock movement.

Brazil and China began space cooperation in 1988 and Cbers 1 was launched in 1999, with a second satellite in 2003 and a third in 2007.

Brazil has not received images from the Cbers program since Cbers-2B ended its useful life in 2010, Valor financial daily reported Thursday, leading the South American giant to ink agreements for use of images from other satellites, including US observation satellite Landsat-8 launched in February last year.

Using Landsat images has been costing Brazil 200,000 reais ($72,200) a year.

Brazil's space program, based out of a launch site at Alcantara in the northeastern state of Maranhao, suffered a blow in 2003 when 21 technicians were killed in an explosion while assembling the VSL-1 launch rocket as part of ongoing attempts to develop the country's own launcher.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Brazil_to_launch_new_satellite_to_track_deforestation_999.html.

Russia bans book on Islams First Caliph

22 January 2015 Thursday

Russia has banned the publication of a book that details the life of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr (pbuh).

In a statement by the prosecutors office in the district of Kurgan, the book, written by Ali Muhammed al-Salaybi, “Abu Bakr Siddique, the First Caliph” was labelled as a radical text and hence banned. The court decision referred to language experts who allege that, “The book contains references to hatred and hostility against non-Muslims and shifts Muslims away from the principle of unity”.

However, according to experts at the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, the banning of the book was illegal. In a statement, they said that, “To ban a book that explains Muslims their own history is illegal. These books explain battles that have taken place in history. Many battles have taken place in Islamic history and other religions and these are etched in peoples minds”.

According to SOVA, no language expert has the skill to review a book and that a court decision should be based on concrete evidence.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/headlines/153540/russia-bans-book-on-islams-first-caliph.

Critics dog Cambodia's leader as he marks 30 years in power

January 14, 2015

NEAK LOEUNG, Cambodia (AP) — Hun Sen, Cambodia's tough and wily prime minister, marked 30 years in power Wednesday, one of only a handful of political strongmen worldwide who have managed to cling to their posts for three decades.

Since first taking up the job of prime minister at age 33, he has consolidated power with violence and intimidation of opponents that continue to draw criticism from human rights advocates. But he could also take some credit for bringing modest economic growth and stability in a country devastated by the communist Khmer Rouge's regime in the 1970s, which Hun Sen had abandoned as they left some 1.7 million people dead from starvation, disease and executions.

In a speech inaugurating the country's longest, 2,200 meter (7,200 foot) bridge across the Mekong River on Wednesday, Hun Sen, 62, defended his record, saying that only he was daring enough to tackle the Khmer Rouge and help bring peace to Cambodia.

"If Hun Sen hadn't been willing to enter the tigers' den, how could we have caught the tigers?" he said. He acknowledged some shortcomings, but pleaded for observers to see the good as well as the bad in his leadership.

Born to a peasant family in east-central Cambodia, Hun Sen initially joined the Khmer Rouge against a pro-American government. He defected to Vietnam in 1977, and accompanied the Vietnamese invasion that toppled his former comrades in 1979.

The timely change of sides led to his being appointed foreign minister, then prime minister of the Vietnamese-supported regime in 1985. Since then, he has never left the top post despite being forced to temporarily accept the title of "co-prime minister" after his party came in second in a 1993 U.N.-supervised election. Four years later, he deposed his coalition partner in a bloody coup.

"It is superficially true that relative peace and stability occurred during the reign of Hun Sen's three decades in power. But Hun Sen's 'achievements' are only relative to the blackness of the Khmer Rouge," said Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights activist.

Historian David Chandler, a Cambodia expert at Australia's Monash University, has characterized Hun Sen as "intelligent, combative, tactical, and self-absorbed." According to the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, Hun Sen has been linked to a wide range of serious human rights violations: extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, summary trials, censorship, bans on assembly and association, and a national network of spies and informers intended to frighten and intimidate the public into submission."

In 2013 elections, it seemed Hun Sen's grip on power had been shaken when the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party mounted an unexpectedly strong challenge, winning 55 seats in the National Assembly and leaving Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party with 68.

The opposition alleged the results were rigged and its lawmakers at first boycotted the legislature. But then, Hun Sen brokered a deal with opposition leader Sam Rainsy and the parliament resumed work, with the longtime leader again appearing unscathed.

Human Rights Watch said in Wednesday's report that "Cambodia is in the process of reverting to a one-party state." "After 30 years of experience, there is no reason to believe that Hun Sen will wake up one day and decide to govern Cambodia in a more open, inclusive, tolerant, and rights-respecting manner," said the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams, who authored the report. "The international community should begin listening to those Cambodians who have increasingly demanded the protection and promotion of their basic human rights."