10 years on, Europe salutes its Martian scout

Paris (AFP)
June 01, 2013

It was built on a relative shoestring, was completed in just five years and was designed to survive for just 687 days.

Ten years later, after more than 12,000 swings around the Red Planet, Europe's Mars Express is still going strong.

Along with NASA's massively successful fleet of probes and landers, the orbital scout has helped pull aside the veil of secrecy surrounding our sister planet.

It has pointed to the presence of subterranean water and a wild volcanic past and shed light on the bizarrely-pocked martian moons.

"The mission has already provided countless breathtaking views of Mars in three dimensions," says the European Space Agency (ESA).

"It has traced the history of water across the globe, demonstrating that Mars once harbored environmental conditions that may have been suitable for life."

The orbiter's seven instruments have detected minerals that form only in the presence of water and seen underground formations of water ice. Scans of the surface suggest volcanism on Mars may have persisted until recent times.

And its chemical analysis of the martian atmosphere indicates the possible presence of methane -- which on Earth is attributed to active volcanism and biological life.

The first European mission to explore another planet, Mars Express was launched from Baikonur cosmodrome by a Russian Soyuz rocket on June 2 2003, just when Earth and Mars were approaching their closest alignment in 17 years.

The mission ran into a humiliating setback that December with the crash of a small British-built lander, Beagle-2, whose loss remains unexplained to this day.

But the mission, designed to last for one martian year, has already been extended four times, and its latest closure date is for the end of 2014.

Mars Express is proving to be so sturdy that its builder, Astrium, believes it may even be around in January 2016 to welcome ExoMars, an unmanned European-Russian mission that will explore the methane enigma.

"Nobody would have believed it back then," says the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which developed what is arguably the star instrument aboard Mars Express: a stereoscopic camera that has imaged more than two-thirds of the planet in color and 3D to a resolution of 20 meters (65 feet) per pixel.

Memorable images include Mars' icy southern pole and Olympus Mons which towers 26,000 meters (84,500 feet) above the surrounding plains.

Conceived as a streamlined, low-cost project, Mars Express was a gamble for ESA.

It broke with conventional thinking that planetary exploration required individually-tailored probes that took a decade to make and inevitably cost a billion bucks apiece.

To save costs, ESA's contractors essentially resorted to mass production.

The basic box-like design for Mars Express, and for a sister spacecraft called Venus Express -- launched in 2005 and also doing fine -- is the same platform as for Rosetta, a comet-chasing probe whose mission is due to climax next year.

So far, exploration of Mars has cost ESA 300 million euros ($390 million), which is minute for a mission that has returned such wonders.

And not a single life has been placed at risk.

Last week came proof that a manned trip to Mars would be health-threatening unless today's chemical rockets are replaced by much faster transport.

Measurements made aboard the Mars Science Laboratory, an unmanned NASA rover and mobile lab that landed in August 2012 showed exposure to high levels of radiation during its 253-day trip.

These are particles spewed out by the Sun, or coming from beyond our Solar System, that can slice through DNA and boost the risk of cancer.

"In terms of accumulated dose, it's like getting a whole-body CT scan once every five or six days," said Cary Zeitlin of the Southwest Research Institute's (SwRI) Space Science and Engineering Division.

"Radiation exposure at the level we measured is right at the edge, or possibly over the edge of what is considered acceptable in terms of career exposure limits defined by NASA and other space agencies."

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/10_years_on_Europe_salutes_its_Martian_scout_999.html.

Putins attend ballet, then announce their divorce

June 07, 2013

MOSCOW (AP) — Vladimir Putin pulled off one of his most audacious pieces of stagecraft, attending a ballet with his rarely seen wife, then emerging smiling and announcing their marriage is over.

The end of the marriage of the Russian president and Lyudmila Putina less than two months shy of their 30th anniversary came on state television after a Thursday evening that started out like a model of domestic contentment — a devoted husband taking his wife out for an artsy interlude.

After the performance of "Esmeralda" at the Great Kremlin Palace, the two came into a luxurious room to speak to a reporter. "Excellent. Great music, excellent production," Putin said and Lyudmila echoed his praise.

After about a minute, the reporter asked about rumors that the two didn't live together. Putin smiled slightly, like a boy caught misbehaving, and turned his head toward Lyudmila. "This is so," he said.

It wasn't immediately clear if that meant just separate domiciles. After a few more comments, the reporter gently prodded: "I am afraid to say this word 'divorce.'" "Yes, this is a civilized divorce," Lyudmila said.

The peculiar format for the announcement appeared aimed at underlining that this wasn't just a powerful man dumping his faithful helpmate. That's a potentially important strategic move for Putin, who has based his public image on rectitude and support of traditional values.

Tabloid reports in 2008 claimed that Putin already had divorced Lyudmila and planned to marry a gymnast less than half his age. The Interfax news agency cited presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the divorce has not been formalized and that the televised comments were only an announcement of the decision to divorce.

Divorce is common in Russia, and nearly 700,000 couples dissolved their marriages in 2009, according to UNICEF. Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociologist who studies Russia's political elite, said the divorce probably won't hurt Putin in the public eye — as long as he doesn't take a trophy wife.

"If a young wife appears, then the reactions in society may be very different," she said in an article published by the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on its website. For some of his detractors, the move even seemed to earn some grudging approval.

"For years I've heard that it would be good if Putin told the truth and divorced. And what now? Everyone's criticizing him for the divorce," Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite and supporter of Putin's opposition, wrote on Twitter.

Russian leaders, unlike their American counterparts, generally keep their domestic lives well out of public view. Lyudmila Putina, 55, was rarely seen in public during her husband's long tenure at the top of Russian politics.

"I don't like publicity and flying is difficult for me," said the former Aeroflot flight attendant. The 60-year-old Putin, however, seeks the spotlight. His penchant for macho media events ranging from riding with bearded motorcyclists to petting a polar bear have earned him admiration — or derision — and his televised annual news conferences that stretch beyond four hours are legend.

"All my activities, all my work, is linked with publicity. Absolute publicity. Some people like it, some people don't. But there are people who absolutely can't stand it," Putin said. What he rarely shows in public is any hint of vulnerability and the divorce announcement didn't have the air of a man brooding over the fading of love's bloom. Rather, Lyudmila portrayed him as a man devoted to his country.

"Vladimir Vladimiorvich is absolutely concentrated on his work," she said. Putin in turn aimed for a touch of gallantry, remarking on his wife's forbearance. "Lydumila Alexandrovna has kept the watch for eight years, even nine," he said, apparently referring to his first two terms in the Kremlin and his year-old non-consecutive third term.

The Putins married on July 28, 1983, and have two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina, whose lives get little public view. "We love them very much and we are proud of them," Putin said. There have been hints that Lyudmila Putina was unhappy. In a 2005 interview with three Russian newspapers, she complained that her husband worked long hours, forgetting that "one needs not only to work, but also to live."

Associated Press writer Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.

Erdogan calls for end to Turkey protest

June 07, 2013

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's prime minister took a combative stance on his closely watched return to the country early Friday, telling supporters who thronged to greet him that the protests that have swept the country must come to an end.

In the first extensive public show of support since anti-government protests erupted last week, more than 10,000 supporters cheered Recep Tayyip Erdogan with rapturous applause outside Istanbul's international airport.

Despite earlier comments that suggested he could be softening his stand, Erdogan delivered a fiery speech on his return from a four-day trip to North Africa. "These protests that are bordering on illegality must come to an end as of now," he said.

Tens of thousands of protesters have held demonstrations that have spread to dozens of cities across Turkey, sparked by the violent police reaction last Friday to what started out as a small protest against a plan to develop Istanbul's central Taksim Square.

Since then, three people have died — two protesters and a policeman — and thousands have been wounded. One protester is on life support in a hospital in Ankara. Protesters from all walks of life have occupied the square and its park, objecting to what they say is Erdogan's increasingly autocratic and arrogant manner — charges he vehemently denies.

Turks have been awaiting Erdogan's words upon his return, seeing them as a signal of whether the demonstrations would fizzle or rage on. Erdogan at times was almost drowned out by his supporters, part of the base that has helped him win three landslide elections. "God is Great," they chanted, and soon moved on to slogans referring specifically to the protesters in Taksim Square.

"Let us go, let us smash them," they shouted. "Istanbul is here, where are the looters?" Erdogan had initially referred to the protesters as looters and troublemakers, while also acknowledging that excessive police force might have been used, and promising it would be investigated.

Erdogan's speech, delivered from atop an open-air bus outside the airport terminal, appeared at first to be an attempt to strike a unifying note. "They say I am the prime minister of only 50 percent. It's not true. We have served the whole of the 76 million from the east to the west," he said, referring to his election win in 2011, when he took 50 percent of the vote.

"Together we are Turkey. Together we are brothers," he said, adding "We have never endeavored to break hearts. We are in favor of mending hearts." But he soon became more combative. "We have never been for building tension and polarization. But we cannot applaud brutality," he said.

In his last speech in Tunisia before flying to Istanbul, Erdogan had said that terrorist groups were involved in the protests, saying they had been identified. In a twist, Erdogan implied that bankers were also part of a conspiracy that was fuelling the protests. He added that the flames of dissent had been fanned by other groups too.

"Those who call themselves journalists, artists, politicians, have, in a very irresponsible way, opened the way for hatred, discrimination and provocation," he said. Speaking before Erdogan's return, Koray Caliskan, professor of political science and international relations at Bosporus University, pointed out that the prime minister was maintaining a hard line because "until now Erdogan had always gained support by increasing the tension in the country."

"Turkey is absolutely at a crossroads. Erdogan won't be able to point at Turkey as a model of democracy anymore," he said. In his earlier comments in Tunisia, Erdogan acknowledged that some Turks were involved in the protests out of environmental concerns, and said he had "love and respect" for them.

Those comments don't appear to have swayed many of the thousands of protesters who thronged the square for a sixth day Thursday. More than 10,000 others filled a busy street in a middle class area of Ankara.

"I do not believe his sincerity," said protester Hazer Berk Buyukturca. Turkey's main stock market revealed the fears that Erdogan's comments would do little to defuse the protesters, with the general price index plunging by 8 percent after his comments on concerns that continuing unrest would hit the country's economy.

Over the past week the demonstrations have spread to 78 cities, growing into public venting of what protesters perceive to be Erdogan's increasing arrogance. That includes attempts to impose what many say are restrictive mores on their personal lives, such as how many children to have or whether to drink alcohol.

So far, 4,300 people have been hurt or sought medical attention for the effects of tear gas during the protests, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation said. One person is on life support in Ankara. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said more than 500 police officers had been injured. A total of 746 protests had erupted, causing some 70 million Turkish Lira ($37 million) in damages, he said. Nearly 80 protesters were still hospitalized, and almost all detained protesters had been released.

Fraser reported from Ankara. Ezgi Akin in Ankara contributed.

Canada slaps new sanctions on Iran

Ottawa (AFP)
May 29, 2013

Canada's top diplomat announced Wednesday more sanctions against Iran, including a total ban on all trade with the Islamic republic, ramping up pressure on Tehran to scrap its nuclear program.

Ottawa also added 30 individuals and 82 companies to its Iran sanctions blacklist, accusing them of supporting Tehran's nuclear efforts and helping the country avoid international sanctions.

"Canada's grave and sincere concern over Iran's nuclear program again compels us to act decisively," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said.

"In round after round of talks with both the International Atomic Energy Agency and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), Iran has failed to engage meaningfully while the risk posed by its enrichment activities only increases.

"The absence of progress... leads Canada to ban, effective immediately, all imports to and exports from Iran," he added.

The move is part of an apparent coordinated effort by Western governments to isolate Iran.

Western powers have demanded that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment program, fearing that Tehran would use the material to build a nuclear bomb.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and intended solely for civilian energy purposes.

The sanctions blacklist bans Canadian entities and individuals from any financial or commercial relations with those named.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Canada_slaps_new_sanctions_on_Iran_999.html.

Woolley mammoth discovered; liquid blood fuels cloning hope

Friday, May 31, 2013

By Vladimir Isachenkov
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW —  A perfectly preserved woolly mammoth carcass with liquid blood has been found on a remote Arctic island, fueling hopes of cloning the Ice Age animal, Russian scientists said Thursday.

The carcass was in such good shape because its lower part was stuck in pure ice, said Semyon Grigoryev, the head of the Mammoth Museum, who led the expedition into the Lyakhovsky Islands off the Siberian coast.

“The blood is very dark, it was found in ice cavities below the belly and when we broke these cavities with a poll pick, the blood came running out,” he said in a statement released by the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, which sent the team.

Woolly mammoths are thought to have died out around 10,000 years ago, although scientists think small groups of them lived longer in Alaska and on islands off Siberia.

Scientists have deciphered much of the woolly mammoth’s genetic code from their hair, and some believe it’s possible to clone them if living cells are found.

Grigoryev said the find could provide the necessary material. The blood of mammoths appeared not to freeze in extreme temperatures, likely keeping mammoths warm, he said.

The temperature at the time of excavation was 14 to 19 degrees Fahrenheit.

The researchers collected the samples of the animal’s blood in tubes with a special preservative agent. They were sent to Yakutsk for bacterial examination in order to spot potentially dangerous infections.

The carcass’ muscle tissue was also in perfect condition.

“The fragments of muscle tissues, which we’ve found out of the body, have a natural red color of fresh meat,” Grigoryev said.

Up to 13 feet in height and 10 tons in weight, mammoths roamed across huge areas between Great Britain and North America and were driven to extinction by humans and the changing climate.

Source: Telegram.
Link: http://www.telegram.com/article/20130531/NEWS/105319772/1052/.

Mali youth hold 1st protest against French

May 30, 2013

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Youth in the recently-liberated Malian city of Gao held a sit-in on Thursday to protest against what they see as France's tacit support of the Tuareg ethnic group, the first indication that the mood toward the French in Mali is changing.

Gao was the first city where Islamic extremists were pushed out by French forces in January, and is now where the population is staging the first act of protest against the French. The youth staged the sit-in in an area in the center of the city that came to be known as "Shariah Square" during the city's 10-month-long occupation last year by the radical Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO. Countless accused thieves were strapped to chairs and had their hands sawed off by the jihadists in the square, in scenes of horror that had never previously been witnessed in this part of the world that has long practiced a more tolerant version of the religion.

Moussa Boureima Yoro, who took part in the protest, said the youth are unhappy with what they see as France's bias toward the Tuaregs, including the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, or NMLA, a Tuareg rebel group which is currently controlling the city of Kidal, located 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of Gao.

"We want to give France a heads-up and to tell them that they are allowing a situation to take place in Kidal that we do not understand," Yoro said. "We want France to tell us what they are up to — because we are confused when they say on the one hand that Kidal is part of Mali, and at the same time, they act as if it doesn't belong to Mali."

Yoro, who was a member of the committee that organized the sit-in, said: "It's true that France liberated us, but at the same time we don't want to be taken advantage of." The organizers of the early morning protest Thursday said more than 1,000 people participated, though officials said the number of people protesting was significantly less.

The protesters accuse France of long having given preferential treatment to the Tuaregs, a minority ethnic group whose members are predominantly from the country's north, a zone they refer to as the Azawad in the Tamashek language. Last year, the NMLA, made up of secular Tuaregs demanding independence, swept across the north, seizing towns and villages and briefly proclaiming the birth of a new Tuareg nation. They were swiftly kicked out by Islamic militants, who rode their coattails into the towns, only to then turn on their former allies, yanking down their multi-colored flags in order to replace them with the black flag of extreme Islam.

France, Mali's former colonial ruler, was greeted in Gao with shouts of "Vive la France" when they liberated the city on Jan. 26, and the scenes of exuberance were repeated throughout the northern towns they freed. With one major exception: Kidal.

The northernmost provincial capital has long been a Tuareg stronghold, and when French special forces entered the city they weren't accompanied by the Malian military. Nearly five months later, Malian soldiers have yet to step foot in Kidal. While the country's army has not been able to return, the NMLA was soon able to come back to Kidal. The protesters on Thursday accused France, which has a unit stationed at the Kidal airport, of simply looking the other way when the rebels returned.

Those gathered in the square also took issue with the Tuareg soldiers, who are part of a Tuareg battalion in the army, now patrolling Gao. The colonel leading the battalion defected during the events of 2012 and eventually went into exile along with his fighters in neighboring Niger. Col. Elhadji Gamou's brigade is now back in Gao, patrolling the streets. Civilians who are mostly from the darker-skinned, sub-Saharan ethnic groups accuse the Tuaregs of having shown complicity toward the Islamic extremists.

"We are here to denounce the presence of the Tuaregs in Gao. The soldiers loyal to Col. Gamou are doing everything they can to make the Tuaregs return in great numbers — and we are not OK with this. We suffered for many months here in Gao because of them," said Atayoubou Agaly Maiga, a member of one of Gao's self-defense groups which were created to ferret out the members of extremist groups hiding among the population after their ouster by the French.

Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.

Radiation Exposure Associated with a Trip to Mars Calculated

Boulder CO (SPX)
Jun 03, 2013

On November 26, 2011, the Mars Science Laboratory began a 253-day, 560-million-kilometer journey to deliver the Curiosity rover to the Red Planet. En route, the Southwest Research Institute-led Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) made detailed measurements of the energetic particle radiation environment inside the spacecraft, providing important insights for future human missions to Mars.

"In terms of accumulated dose, it's like getting a whole-body CT scan once every five or six days," said Dr. Cary Zeitlin, a principal scientist in SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division and lead author of Measurements of Energetic Particle Radiation in Transit to Mars on the Mars Science Laboratory, scheduled for publication in the journal Science on May 31.

"Understanding the radiation environment inside a spacecraft carrying humans to Mars or other deep space destinations is critical for planning future crewed missions," Zeitlin said.

"Based on RAD measurements, unless propulsion systems advance rapidly, a large share of mission radiation exposure will be during outbound and return travel, when the spacecraft and its inhabitants will be exposed to the radiation environment in interplanetary space, shielded only by the spacecraft itself."

Two forms of radiation pose potential health risks to astronauts in deep space: a chronic low dose of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and the possibility of short-term exposures to the solar energetic particles (SEPs) associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections.

Radiation dose is measured in units of sievert (Sv) or millisievert (1/1000 Sv). Long-term population studies have shown that exposure to radiation increases a person's lifetime cancer risk; exposure to a dose of 1 Sv is associated with a 5 percent increase in fatal cancer risk.

GCRs tend to be highly energetic, highly penetrating particles that are not stopped by the modest shielding provided by a typical spacecraft. These high-energy particles include a small percentage of so-called heavy ions, which are atomic nuclei without their usual complement of electrons. Heavy ions are known to cause more biological damage than other types of particles.

The solar particles of concern for astronaut safety are typically protons with kinetic energies up to a few hundred MeV (one MeV is a million electron volts). Solar events typically produce very large fluxes of these particles, as well as helium and heavier ions, but rarely produce higher-energy fluxes similar to GCRs. The comparatively low energy of typical SEPs means that spacecraft shielding is much more effective against SEPs than GCRs.

"A vehicle carrying humans into deep space would likely have a 'storm shelter' to protect against solar particles. But the GCRs are harder to stop and, even an aluminum hull a foot thick wouldn't change the dose very much," said Zeitlin.

"The RAD data show an average GCR dose equivalent rate of 1.8 millisieverts per day in cruise. The total during just the transit phases of a Mars mission would be approximately 0.66 Sv for a round trip with current propulsion systems," said Zeitlin. Time spent on the surface of Mars might add considerably to the total dose equivalent, depending on shielding conditions and the duration of the stay. Exposure values that ensure crews will not exceed the various space agencies standards are less than 1 Sv.

"Scientists need to validate theories and models with actual measurements, which RAD is now providing. These measurements will be used to better understand how radiation travels through deep space and how it is affected and changed by the spacecraft structure itself," says Donald M. Hassler, a program director at Southwest Research Institute and principal investigator of the RAD investigation.

"The spacecraft protects somewhat against lower energy particles, but others can propagate through the structure unchanged or break down into secondary particles."

Only about 5 percent of the radiation dose was associated with solar particles, both because it was a relatively quiet period in the solar cycle and due to shielding provided by the spacecraft. Crew exposures during a human mission back and forth to Mars would depend on the habitat shielding and the unpredictable nature of large SEP events. Even so, the results are representative of a trip to Mars under conditions of low to moderate solar activity.

"This issue will have to be addressed, one way or another, before humans can go into deep space for months or years at a time," said Zeitlin.

Source: Space Mart.
Link: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Radiation_Exposure_Associated_with_a_Trip_to_Mars_Calculated_999.html.