The latest NASA "Image of the Day".[ 2285 ]

NASA Image of the Day

Return to Earth

The Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli and Cady Coleman in a remote area southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. 

 

NASA Astronaut Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Kondratyev and Italian Astronaut Nespoli are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 26 and 27 crews. 

 

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Τρίτη, 24 Μάιος 2011 7:00:00 πμ

Russia criticizes NATO attacks to Libya... [ 2284 ]

Russia condemns latest round of NATO air attacks on Tripoli

TREND ///// , 25.05.2011 14:54

Russia on Wednesday sharply criticized the latest round of air strikes by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on the Libyan capital Tripoli, calling the attacks "useless" and a "violation of UN resolutions."

A statement from Russia's Foreign Ministry said the early Wednesday morning strikes "will lead to even more suffering of the Libyan population."

All sides should lay down their arms immediately, the statement said, DPA reported.

Russia in March enabled international intervention into the Libyan civil war by abstaining from a UN resolution authorizing member nations to use force to protect Libya's civilian population.

NATO nations since then have launched more than 8,000 sorties in a widening air campaign against armed forces and ground installations controlled by Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi.

Russia has accused NATO nations of abusing the spirit of the UN resolution in an attempt to force Gaddafi from power.

Christine Lagarde for IMF candidacy..[ 2283 ]

Christine Lagarde announces IMF candidacy

Click to play

Christine Lagarde: "I have received a number of calls of support from different countries"

BBC., 25 May 2011 Last updated at 11:16 GMT 

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Christine Lagarde has announced her candidacy to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The French finance minister had been an early favourite to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned last week to fight sex assault charges in New York.
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Ms Lagarde has the support of much of Europe but emerging countries have called the tradition of a European always leading the IMF "obsolete".
All 10 of the IMF's managing directors since its inception have been European.
"If elected, I will give the IMF all my experience as a lawyer, a director of enterprise, a minister and a woman," Ms Lagarde told a news conference in Paris.
If elected, she would be the first woman to head the IMF in its 65-year history.
The 24 members of the IMF's executive board will choose the next chief.

'Good debate' Ms Lagarde said she had the full support of both French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
She stressed she was not leaving her post in the French government, merely announcing that she was running for the IMF job.
"There are other candidates and I am looking forward to a very good debate between us," she said.
So far the only other official candidate is Agustin Carstens, the head of Mexico's central bank, after the Mexican finance ministry said on Monday that it would nominate him.
Other names in the frame include Germany's former banking chief, Axel Weber, and South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.
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Ms Lagarde also paid tribute to the work done by Mr Strauss-Kahn.
"The IMF has taken up the challenges of the [financial] crisis thanks to the actions of the director general Dominique Strauss-Kahn and to his team as well."

European v non-European? Ms Lagarde is widely backed in Europe and is expected to receive the support of the US.
On Tuesday, the French government also said that China would support Ms Lagarde's candidacy, although Beijing declined to comment.
And later on Tuesday, the so-called Brics countries - which includes China, as well as Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa - released a statement expressing concern at comments from senior Europeans that the IMF should continue to be led by a European.
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But Ms Lagarde said: "Being a European should not be a plus; it should not be a minus either."
In France, Ms Lagarde is involved in a legal row about her decision to settle a dispute between the state and tycoon Bernard Tapie, a personal friend of President Sarkozy.
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Commenting on the judicial investigation currently taking place, Ms Lagarde said: "I have every confidence in the procedure because my conscience is at ease."

Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano starts new eruption..[ 2282 ]

Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano starts new eruption

 

Grimsvotn is Iceland's most active volcano

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BBC., 21 May 2011 Last updated at 23:26 GMT 

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Iceland's most active volcano, Grimsvotn, has started erupting, scientists say.

The volcano, which lies under the Vatnajokull glacier in south-east Iceland, last erupted in 2004.
In 2010, plumes of ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused weeks of air travel chaos across Europe.
Officials say the latest eruption is unlikely to cause similar problems, although a flight ban has been imposed around the area.
Volcanic eruptions are common in Iceland, which lies along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that divides the Eurasian and North American continental plates.
Icelandic Meteorological Office geologist Hjorleifur Sveinbjornsson told Reuters that Grimsvotn had thrown a plume of white smoke about 15km (nine miles) into the air.
"It can be a big eruption, but it is unlikely to be like last year," he added.
Iceland's Isavia airport authority said a flight ban of 120 nautical miles had been imposed around the area.
Ash monitored

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Glaciologist Matthew Roberts: the eruption "shouldn't have any far-reaching effects"

"We close the area until we know better how the ash is going to work," she spokeswoman Hjordis Gudmundsdottir.
Domestic airline Icelandair said no traffic had been affected.
"We do not expect the Grimsvotn eruption to affect air traffic to and from the country in any way," said communications director Gudjon Arngrimsson.
Last year's outpouring of ash from Eyjafjallajokull led to the largest closure of European airspace since World War II.
About 10 million travellers were affected and some questioned whether the shutdown was an over-reaction.
However, a scientific study published last month said the safety concerns had been well founded.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Iceland said ash particles from the early part of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption were especially abrasive, posing a possible threat to aircraft.

Russian space programs.[ 2281 ]

Russia sends two Soyuz carrier rockets to French Guiana

Soyuz launch complex in Kourou, French Guiana
© AFP/ Jerome Valette

03:04 21/05/2011

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MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti)
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Two Russian Soyuz-ST carrier rockets are on the way from Samara to St. Petersburg to be shipped to French Guiana for future launches from the Kourou space center, the Progress design bureau said.
"A ship with carrier rockets will arrive in French Guiana in June," the company said. "The launch of one of these rockets is scheduled for the third quarter of 2011."
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The Russian rocket will carry two Galileo navigation satellites that are the equivalent of the U.S.'s Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russia's Glonass.
Soyuz-ST is a Soyuz-2 modification developed specially for Kourou to meet European requirements for security, telemetric systems and operation parameters.
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Soyuz will join the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and the new lightweight Vega at the Kourou space center creating a family of launch vehicles operated from French Guiana that cover the full range of commercial and institutional mission requirements for Arianespace customers.
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The Soyuz launch site at Kourou combines the proven design elements from the long-existing launch site at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan with satellite integration procedures that meet the specifics of spacecraft preparation for Ariane missions.
Russia and France agreed on long-term cooperation in Soyuz-ST launches from Kourou in November 2003.
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The first Soyuz-ST was scheduled to blast off from Kourou with the French Hylas satellite on board on December 17, 2010, but the launch was called off. The French operator said it was because it had become clear the Russian rocket would not be ready to fly by the end of the year.
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The Kourou launch site is intended mainly for the launch of geostationary satellites. Its proximity to the Equator will enable the Soyuz-ST to put into orbit heavier satellites than those launched from Baikonur and Plesetsk in northern Russia.