Spacecraft. "Rosetta"-Asteroid "Lutetia"..[ 1421 ]

4osetta probe passes Asteroid Lutetia

BBC.,Saturday, 10 July 2010 22:00 UK

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

 

Lutetia at closest approach - distance of 3,162km

Europe's Rosetta space probe has flown past the Asteroid Lutetia, returning a stream of scientific data for analysis.

The huge rock - about 120km in its longest dimension - is the biggest asteroid yet visited by a satellite.

Pictures showed Lutetia to be quite irregular in shape, its surface marked by a number of wide impact craters and even some intriguing grooves.

Rosetta's encounter with the asteroid occurred some 454 million km from Earth, beyond the orbit of Mars.

Scientists hope the data will help them determine Lutetia's true nature.

"The pictures are majestic; they take my breath away," Professor David Southwood, the European Space Agency's director of science, told BBC News.

Earth-based telescopes have had great difficulty in classifying Lutetia.

Some observations have suggested it is a very primitive body, little changed since its formation (a so-called C-type asteroid).

Other measurements, though, have also spied what appear to be metals in its surface, indicating the rock might have undergone a greater degree of evolution (M-type asteroid).

Lutetia might even be the fragmented remains of a much larger asteroid smashed apart in a great collision.

 

Rosetta took this image as it moved away from the asteroid

Rosetta will attempt to resolve these issues once and for all.

Nearly all of the Rosetta mission's instruments were switched on for a period of several hours around closest approach (1544 GMT; 1644 BST; 1744 CEST).

Multi-wavelength cameras and spectrometers, magnetic field and plasma experiments, dust instruments, a radio science experiment - all were tasked with gathering as much information as possible as the spacecraft whizzed by at the relative speed of 15km/s and a minimum distance of 3,162km.

Scientists say it will be some days before they can start to make some definitive statements about Lutetia's origins. 

THE ROSETTA PROBE MAKES ITS CLOSE PASS OF ASTEROID LUTETIA
Asteroids are the ancient remnants left over from the formation of the Solar System Most are made of rock, but some are also composed of metal, mostly nickel and iron Their sizes range from small boulders to objects that are hundreds of km in diameter Most asteroids reside in the vast region of space that exists between Mars and Jupiter

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.u

Boeing, and the refueling tankers for Air Force..[ 1420 ]

Boeing, EADS to bid on refueling tankers for Air Force

A KC-135 Stratotanker tanker lowers its boom to a B-52 bomber. Boeing and EADS plan to bid on building aerial refueling tankers. (Paul J. Richards/agence France-pressep/getty Images)

By Peter Whoriskey and Marjorie Censer

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Boeing and archrival European Aeronautic Defence and Space both formally entered the competition to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force by Friday, with each submitting thousands of pages in highly technical proposals.

But at least part of the epic $35 billion contest between the U.S. manufacturer and its European competitor will unfold over the summer and fall as the debate turns into a multifaceted political tug of war.

Domestically, the case pits Washington state and Kansas, where Boeing has plants, against Alabama, where EADS promises to build its tanker.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) attended a Boeing rally in Everett, Wash., on Friday; Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is scheduled, along with Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (R), to attend a rally on Monday in Mobile, Ala., company officials said.

Internationally, the contest figures prominently in a long-running trade dispute between the United States and the European Union over government subsidies to aerospace companies, one that has drawn the attention of President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Last month, the World Trade Organization ruled that European governments gave EADS's Airbus illegal subsidies in its efforts to overtake Boeing as the world's largest planemaker. The E.U. has meanwhile brought a complaint claiming that Boeing has improperly benefited from billions in subsidies from its military business and tax breaks.

The House voted in May to require defense officials to consider any "unfair competitive advantage" that companies might have in pursuing the refueling contract.

"At a time when our national unemployment rate is nearing 10 percent, it is outrageous to even consider outsourcing thousands of jobs to a foreign company," Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) said after the vote. "We asked the Pentagon to consider the illegal subsidies, they refused, and so today we made sure they will consider the illegal subsidies and give American workers the fair chance to compete that they rightfully deserve.

A third company, U.S. Aerospace Inc., a U.S. aerospace and defense contractor, Friday announced that it has submitted a bid as well, though some analysts consider it a long shot.

All of the companies are vying for the first phase of the Air Force's multi-decade effort to replace 415 refueling tankers, at least some of which are 50 years old.

Their replacement is the Air Force's most urgent acquisition priority, a spokesman said.

"Living with 50-plus year old tankers introduces the engineering risks of unseen corrosion, metal fatigue, cracking, de-lamination and fuselage stresses and strains on materials fabricated in the 1950s and 1960s," Maj. Heather Brennan said.

The military will weigh the various proposals based on their compliance with 372 measures.

Boeing is proposing to alter its 767 to become a tanker; EADS is proposing to convert its A330, which the company says will be built in Mobile, Ala. EADS says its development is farther along than Boeing's.

"What the competition boils down to is this: Who can take a commercial airplane and make it into a combat-ready tanker?" said William Barksdale, a Boeing spokesman.

Both companies say their efforts will involve about 50,000 American jobs.

Though the EADS version is larger and more capable, it's also more expensive to operate, said Richard Aboulafia, a defense analyst with the Teal Group.

"The practical reality is that you can make a strong case for either approach," he said. "And the deciding factor has been partisan politics."

Israel blocks aid ship bound for Gaza..[ 1419 ]

Israel steps up bid to block aid ship bound for Gaza

BBC., Saturday, 10 July 2010 10:39 UK

 

The Amalthea is carrying 2,000 tonnes of food, medicine and other items

Israel has stepped up its attempts to stop an aid ship breaking its blockade of Gaza, sending a letter to the UN and engaging Greece and Moldova in talks.

The Moldovan-flagged ship, Amalthea, chartered by a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, was due to leave the Greek port of Lavrio on Saturday.

Israel said it now believed the ship would not reach Gaza.

An Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship in May killed nine Turkish activists.

Israel insisted its troops were defending themselves but the raid sparked international condemnation. 

Israel recently eased its blockade, allowing in almost all consumer goods but maintaining a "blacklist" of some items.

Israel says its blockade of the Palestinian territory is needed to prevent the supply of weapons to the Hamas militant group which controls Gaza.

Continue reading the main story

The foreign ministry believes that due to these talks, the ship will not reach Gaza

Israeli foreign ministry

Israel has been engaged in intense diplomatic activity to prevent the Amalthea, renamed Hope for the mission, reaching Gaza.

A foreign ministry statement said that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had spoken with his Greek and Moldovan counterparts on the issue.

The statement said: "The foreign ministry believes that due to these talks, the ship will not reach Gaza."

Ministry officials quoted by the Israeli news source Haaretz said that if the ship did sail it would travel instead to the Egyptian port of el-Arish.

Israel also lobbied the UN to take action.

Israel's UN ambassador Gabriela Shalev said in a letter: "Israel calls upon the international community to exert its influence on the government of Libya to demonstrate responsibility and prevent the ship from departing to the Gaza Strip."

Ms Shalev also warned: "Israel reserves the right under international law to prevent this ship from violating the existing naval blockade on the Gaza Strip."

She said the motives of the operators were "questionable and provocative".

'Expressing solidarity'

The Amalthea is being loaded with about 2,000 tonnes of food, cooking oil, medicines and pre-fabricated houses.

It has been chartered by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. Its chairman is Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

The organisation said the 92m (302ft) vessel would also carry "a number of supporters who are keen on expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people."

The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Lavrio says the Libyans clearly believe the time is right to test Israel's resolve to maintain the naval blockade.

 
Charity director Yousef Sawani said: "We are doing what we can, this is our responsibility. If everyone says 'we will not allow this', nothing will happen and the people of Gaza will continue un

An amazing lightning storm..[ 1418 ]

   Denver, chasing an amazing lightning storm   

Telegraph co.uk.

A shot from Roger Hill's house in Denver, Colorado, of an amazing lightning storm. 
Storm-chasing husband and wife team Roger and Caryn Hill take tourists on trips following tornadoes

Picture: ROGER HILL / BARCROFT USA

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Afghanistan: A deadly road to peace..[ 1417 ]

Slow, deadly road to peace for U.S. troops in Kandahar

A group of men detained for suspected Taliban activities are held for questioning at a schoolhouse in the village of Kuhak in Arghandab District, north of Kandahar July 9, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Bob Strong

By Jonathon Burch

 

KUHAK Afghanistan (Reuters)Sat Jul 10, 2010 1:49am EDT - 

As U.S. soldiers from Alpha Company stepped out of their outpost on a scorching July morning in Arghandab in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, an all too familiar sound rang through the air.

"Can you hear that? They're blowing their horns again," one soldier shouts down the line.

It is a sound the U.S. soldiers have become accustomed to nearly every time they go out on patrol -- insurgents sounding their car and motorcycle horns, warning each other the Americans are on the move.

A couple of hours into the patrol and the even more familiar crack of gunfire breaks the mundane silence. The soldiers dive for cover, bullets whistling past their heads, as they work out where the shots are coming from.

"Flank it 1 Alpha!" Sergeant Jonathan Garcia screams at his soldiers up ahead before firing off a couple rounds over the low mudbrick wall.

As the soldiers maneuver forward, the insurgents -- probably no more than three or four men -- lose heart and disappear into the thick vegetation.

Apart from one Afghan soldier who takes a bullet through his leg and is airlifted to safety, the battle passes without incident and finishes as quickly as it started. This is Kuhak, a small village nestled inside the pomegranate orchards of Afghanistan's Arghandab valley, only miles outside Kandahar city.

It is a scene the soldiers from Alpha Company, 2-508th Parachute Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, are getting all too used to since they moved into the area in December.

Homemade bombs and gunbattles are now an almost daily occurrence. In the last week alone, the men at Kuhak have come under fire five times.

GATEWAY TO CITY

The reason the insurgents are putting up a tough fight in Arghandab is because the district forms a gateway to Kandahar from the north and the militants do not want to give that up.

With only around 2,500 Canadian troops patrolling the entire province until last year, the Taliban, for years had virtual free reign around Kandahar. When U.S. troops arrived there in Spring 2009, they disturbed something of a hornets' nest.

A U.S. Stryker Brigade that first moved in suffered heavy losses early into its deployment. More than 20 soldiers were killed and many more wounded, most by homemade bombs.

Recognizing the province was neglected for too long, military commanders have now shifted focus from neighboring Helmand to Kandahar, in a bid to drive the insurgency from its heartland strongholds.

Instead of launching a massive offensive as in Helmand earlier this year, however, commanders are talking of bringing a slow wave of security to the area with alongside more effective government and backed up with economic development.

At the battalion headquarters perched on a hill overlooking the valley, a line of bearded men wait to see the district governor, who shares his compound with the U.S. troops.

Chris Harich, from the U.S. State Department, who has been in the district center since November as part of Washington's civilian "surge," said more villagers were now coming to enquire about development projects, but also to complain about security.

WALKING THE LINE

With all the talk of governance and development, for the young soldiers at Kuhak it is just another day and another gunfight.

The men from Alpha Company rarely see who they are fighting and if they eventually do catch up to them, the insurgents have hidden their weapons and melted back into the population.

"It gets really frustrating trying to walk the line between a counter-insurgency fight and not harming the populace and trying to kill the enemy," said Platoon Commander Staff Sgt. Aaron Best.

Best, a bright 28-year-old on his second Afghanistan tour, understands the counter-insurgency message coming down from commanders, but that does not stem platoon level frustration.

"In 2007 I was getting blown up and shot at. I come back now and guess what, I'm getting blown up and shot at. Nothing's changed," he said.

(Editing by David Fox)