NASA Image of the Day, Mar 1nd., ..[ 2138 ]

NASA Image of the Day

On Approach

After a very cloudy day at Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, the skies cleared to allow a view of this stunning pass of the ISS and Discovery on Feb. 26, 2011. 

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Photographer Rob Cullen, who captured this breath-taking view of the shuttle Discovery and the space station, said, "I could not believe the timing was so fortuitous to show the shuttle closing in on the station. 

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I captured this, what I guess could potentially be, a once in a lifetime image of these two spaceships traveling as separate craft using Canon EOS 40D using eyepiece projection through a hand guided 8.5 inch Newton."

Image Credit: Rob Bullen (Used by permission)

Τρίτη, 1 Μαρτίου 2011 7:00:00 πμ

Massive landslide hits Bolivia..[ 2137 ]

Report: Massive landslide hits Bolivian capital

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 28, 2011 7:33 a.m. EST

Posted here March 1st 2011-17:45 local

Locals attempt to recover belongings with trucks following a "mega-mudslide" in La Paz on February 27, 2011.

(CNN) -- Sudden seismic activity caused a "mega-mudslide" in the Bolivian capital of La Paz Sunday, the country's state news agency reported.
The mudslide left at least 800 families homeless, according to the ABI news agency's report, which did not mention any fatalities or injuries.
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A fault stretching 80 to 100 hectares (200 to 250 acres) triggered the disaster, ABI said.
Bolivia's president called an emergency meeting of government ministers late Sunday to evaluate the damage left behind by the mudslide and declared the area an emergency zone.
During a visit at a school that served as a shelter Sunday night, Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera pledged that the government would help victims rebuild.
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"Many of you have lost the homes that you spent so much time and effort building, and I want to tell you that we are not going to abandon you," he said, according to ABI

NASA Image of the Day, Feb 28h ..[ 2136 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Conjoined

The docked space shuttle Discovery and the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator, are featured in this photograph taken by the STS-133 crew aboard the station. 

The blackness of space and Earth's horizon provide the backdrop for the scene. 

Image Credit: NASA

Δευτέρα, 28 Φεβρουάριος 2011 7:00:00 πμ

Spacewalk outside the international space station..[2135 ]

Shuttle astronauts hold pre-spacewalk 'campout'

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 28, 2011 6:07 a.m. EST

This mission marks the 13th time Space Shuttle Discovery has docked with the international space station.

(CNN) -- Discovery astronauts Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew are scheduled for a six-hour spacewalk outside the international space station Monday.

The team prepared by holding a 14-hour "campout" in the station's Quest airlock.

"The airlock's atmospheric pressure will be lowered to help purge nitrogen from Bowen and Drew's bloodstreams, protecting them from 'the bends' when they leave the airlock for the vacuum of space," a statement on NASA's website said.

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They will install a power extension cable, move a failed ammonia pump and perform other operations outside the shuttle during the spacewalk.

Discovery started its 39th and final flight with a launch late Thursday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

 
Foam falls off Discovery

 

Bill Nye and the final Discovery launch

Originally scheduled for November, the shuttle's launch had been delayed to make repairs to the external tank's support beams.

Astronauts spent Sunday moving items brought up on Discovery over to the space station.

On Tuesday, day six of the mission, astronauts will work to attach a permanent module -- known as Leonardo -- to the station. The module will be home for experiments in fluid physics, materials science, biology, biotechnology and other subjects.

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The Discovery crew is headed by Steve Lindsey. Bowen, a late addition, became the first astronaut to fly consecutive missions after he was assigned to take the place of Tim Kopra when Kopra was injured last month in a bicycle accident, according to NASA.

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Prior to Thursday's launch, Discovery had spent 352 days in orbit, circling the Earth 5,628 times. It has also carried 246 crew members, more than any space vehicle in history.

"In a way, it's ... sad to see the last flight," astronaut Steven Swanson said Thursday. "It's such a wonderful vehicle."

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The last scheduled launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour is set for April 19. It will be commanded by Mark Kelly, the husband of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who is recovering from being shot last month in Tucson, Arizona. The last shuttle mission will be Atlantis, tentatively scheduled to launch during the summer.

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Discovery was the first space shuttle to dock with a space station of any kind when it met up on June 4, 1998, with Russia's now defunct Mir space station. The craft also was the first to hook up with the international space station, doing so on May 29, 1999, according to NASA. Saturday's event marked the 13th such docking for the Discove

Belarus of violating Ivory Coast arms embargo..[ 2134 ]

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UN chief accuses Belarus of violating Ivory Coast arms embargo

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 28, 2011 3:21 p.m. EST

The office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon accused Belarus of defying a U.N. arms embargo.

(CNN) -- The United Nations on Monday accused Belarus of defying an arms embargo against Ivory Coast by delivering three attack helicopters to the disputed president of the West African nation.

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the helicopters and other related materiel "are reportedly being delivered at Yamoussoukro," the nation's capital, for Laurent Gbagbo's forces.

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Ban is pushing for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the matter, the spokesman said.

"The first delivery arrived reportedly on a flight which landed this (Sunday) evening and additional flights are scheduled for Monday," the spokesman said in a statement.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday afternoon that U.N. officials on the ground in Ivory Coast were unable to confirm whether the delivery was made, saying they were forced to withdraw from the airport before they were able to verify the report.

Gbagbo, the nation's incumbent leader, is clinging to the presidency despite an international call for him to step down after an electoral commission declared challenger Alassane Ouattara the winner of a November election.

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The deliveries violate an arms embargo that has been in place since 2004, the spokesman said.

Andrei Savinykh, a spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, vehemently denied the allegation, calling it part of a campaign of "lies and slander" against Belarus.

A "destructive information attack is being carried out" against Belarus, Savinykh added, according to the Belarus state-run Belta news agency.

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Violence in Ivory Coast escalated sharply over the past week, after four African heads of state left Abidjan. They were given a mandate by the African Union to find a "binding solution" to the post-election crisis in Ivory Coast.

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Gbagbo and Ouattara supporters have clashed in the central cities, Yamoussoukro and Daoukro, in addition to ongoing fighting in Abidjan.

Ouattara is holed up in the Golf hotel in Abidjan under the protection of U.N. peacekeepers.

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CNN's Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report