Sabancaya Volcano, Peru

The 5,967-meter- (19,577-foot-) high Sabancaya stratovolcano (Nevado Sabancaya in the local language) is located in southern Perú, approximately 70 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the city of Arequipa. The name Sabancaya means “tongue of fire” in the Quechua Indian language.

Sabancaya is part of a volcanic complex that includes two other nearby (and older) volcanoes, neither of which has been active historically. In this detailed astronaut photograph, Nevado Ampato is visible to the south (image left), and the lower flanks of Nevado Hualca Hualca are visible to the north (image top right). The snowy peaks of the three volcanoes provide a stark contrast to the surrounding desert of the Puna Plateau.

Sabancaya’s first historical record of an eruption dates to 1750. The most recent eruptive activity at the volcano occurred in July 2003, and it deposited ash on the volcano’s summit and northeastern flank. Volcanism at Sabancaya is fueled by magma generated at the subduction zone between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates.

Magma can erupt to the surface and form lava flows through the volcano’s summit (frequently forming a crater), but it can also erupt from lava domes and flank vents along the volcano’s sides. Lava has issued from all of these points at Sabancaya, forming numerous gray to dark brown scalloped lobes that extend in all directions except southwards (image center).

NASA Satellites' View of Gulf Oil Spill Over Time

Two NASA satellites are capturing images of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which began April 20, 2010 with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. This short video reveals a space-based view of the burning oil rig and, later, the resulting spread of the oil spill. This version updates a previous version of the video through July 14th. The timelapse uses imagery from the MODIS instrument, on board NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. The oil slick appears grayish-beige in the image and changes due to changing weather, currents, and use of oil dispersing chemicals. The oil slick only appears clearly in MODIS imagery when the sun is a a particular angle in relation to the satellite's position as it orbits over the Gulf. In areas where sunlight reflects off the ocean's surface toward the satellite, oil-slicked water usually looks brighter than cleaner ocean water in the region. (no narration, music only)

The images in this video were selected to show the spill most clearly. The full image archive is available at http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov. For more information and imagery about the oil spill, visit NASA's Oil Spill website. Imagery and information about the oil spill is also available on NASA's Earth Observatory Natural Hazards website.

Commercial Facility Activated on U.S. National Laboratory Onboard International Space Station

his July, U.S. Astronaut Shannon Walker activated a fully commercial research facility designed to make access to the International Space Station easy and cost-effective for scientists and educators.

Developed by NanoRacks LLC, of Laguna woods, Calif., the research platforms are designed for use within the pressurized space station environment. Each platform provides room for up to 16 customer payloads to plug effortlessly into a standard USB connector, which provides both power and data connectivity. Its plug and play system uses a simple, standardized interface that reduces payload integration cost and schedule for nano-scale research on the orbiting laboratory.

NanoRacks is working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement awarded from a competitive announcement of opportunity for the use of the National Laboratory on the International Space Station. The funding to build and certify the rack inserts has come exclusively from NanoRacks and their customers.

"As the International Space Station National Lab activities are ramping up to enable full use of the station, partnerships such as this one are an important component of an integrated strategy to enable full utilization," said Jason Crusan, NASA's chief technologist for Space Operations. "Lowering the burden to conduct research while demonstrating that hardware can go from concept to on-orbit capability in less than 10 months is also a significant milestone."

Crew Performs Dry Run for Monday Spacewalk

Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Mikhail Kornienko will exit the International Space Station Monday night for a six-hour spacewalk. The pair will exit the Pirs docking compartment and work outside the Zarya and Zvezda modules. This will be the first Expedition 24 spacewalk.

› View Spacewalk Briefing Graphics from July 21

They will outfit the Rassvet module’s Kurs automated rendezvous system, install cables and remove and replace a video camera. Kurs is a Russian radio telemetry system that allows automated dockings of unmanned spacecraft such as the Progress resupply vehicle. The new video camera will document the rendezvous and docking of future Automated Transfer Vehicles to the aft end of the Zvezda service module.

On Friday, Yurchikhin and Kornienko put on their Orlan spacesuits and performed a dry run of the spacewalk activities. From inside the Pirs docking compartment they checked out the Orlan systems, practiced translation movements and tested their mobility.

NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker continued their science and maintenance activities throughout the station. The three flight engineers also participated in a review and conducted a conference to discuss future shuttle and station spacewalks.

Walker also completed work on the station’s Oxygen Generation System. The American life support system is now running again providing breathable oxygen for the station’s environment.

Friday morning, the sun’s glint over the Gulf of Mexico allowed the crew to photograph the oil spill’s progress. Pictures were taken using 400mm and 800mm lenses as the station orbited 220 miles above the gulf and Mississippi delta region.

The next spacewalk will take place Aug. 5 with Flight Engineers Caldwell Dyson and Wheelock. The astronauts will exit the Quest airlock and install a Portable Data Grapple Fixture on the Zarya module extending the reach of Canadarm2, the station’s robotic arm, and increasing a spacewalker’s capabilites. They also will jettison old multi-layer insulation removed for the PDGF install and mate power connectors to Zarya.

Researchers can learn more about opportunities to develop and fly science experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) at the NASA ISS Research Academy Aug. 3-5 in League City, Texas.

Nasa Discoveries Spark Hopes Of Alien Life

Nasa's planet-hunting deep space observatory has found hundreds of new potential planets, sparking hopes of finding other worlds similar to Earth.
The objects were found in Nasa's Kepler Mission, a space observatory designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.

Its massive telescope monitors the brightness of over 145,000 stars in a fixed field of view in three constellations in the Milky Way.

A 95-megapixel camera records and analyses the passage of planets around those stars by measuring the changes in light radiation.

The findings show 140 of the new discoveries could be similar in size to Earth.

"From the orbital size and the temperature of the star, the planet's characteristic temperature can be calculated," Nasa explains on the mission's website.

"From this the question of whether or not the planet is habitable (not necessarily inhabited) can be answered."

Scientists say the results contradict older theories that had suggested small and Earth-like planets would be less frequent.

An astronomer on the Kepler mission, Dimitar Sasselov, professor of astronomy at Harvard University, revealed the findings in a conference in Oxford earlier this month.

He said the next step would be to determine whether the suspected planets would indeed be habitable.

"The figures suggest our galaxy, the Milky Way, will contain 100 million habitable planets," he said.

"With our own little telescope just in the next two years we will able to identify at least 60 of them.

"There is a lot more work we need to do with this, but the statistical result is loud and clear, and it is that planets like our own Earth are out there."

Clean Technology in 'Hot Water'

What if work performed in space could improve the treatment of household and nuclear waste on Earth? That's what investigators are hoping to do with the results of a fluid physics study in progress on the International Space Station.

The experiment, called DECLIC-HTI, is studying supercritical water that could lead to spin-offs in the field of clean technologies for treating waste here on Earth.

A supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point -- the point at which the fluid is one homogeneous phase and exhibits properties of both liquids and gases. In this form, the substance can flow through solids like a gas and dissolve materials like a liquid. Water and carbon dioxide are the most commonly used supercritical fluids. Using extremely high temperatures, supercritical water can completely break down waste into benign forms.

DECLIC, or DEvice for the study of Critical LIquids and Crystallization, is a miniaturized, automatic thermo-optical laboratory that studies transparent fluids by finely tuning the temperature of a sample and sending images and video to the ground. The HTI, or high temperature insert, can measure fluid temperatures up to 400 degrees Celsius.

For the experiment, astronauts plug an insert, containing the water sample cell, into the DECLIC payload. The sample is precisely heated and observed in real time by investigators on the ground.

"These phenomena will be of interest to understand the behavior of supercritical fluids in space, but also to improve industrial processes on the ground," said Gabriel Pont, DECLIC mission manager with the CNES, or Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, in Toulouse, France.

"A typical example is burning completely organic or industrial waste in supercritical water at a much lower temperature than in conventional systems, thus saving energy and being cleaner. Microgravity will provide the ideal environment to understand how to do that."

The supercritical water temperature is very sensitive to gravity and has never been measured in microgravity conditions. "We expect HTI to give us the best measurement of this temperature ever found," added Pont.

The experiment began in October 2009 when the High Temperature Insert commissioning was performed. Since then, four experimental sequences have been performed, leading to more than 80 running days. "We are very excited about what we've seen thus far, and cannot wait to see the potential benefits of our work on Earth," added Pont.

NASA Moves Forward on Commercial Partnership for Rocket Engine Testing

Engineers at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center recently installed an Aerojet AJ26 rocket engine for qualification testing as part of a partnership that highlights the space agency's commitment to work with commercial companies to provide space transportation.

Stennis has partnered with Orbital Sciences Corporation to test the AJ26 engines that will power the first stage of the company's Taurus® II space launch vehicle. Orbital is working in partnership with NASA under the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) joint research and development project. The company is under contract with NASA through the Commercial Resupply Services program to provide eight cargo missions to the International Space Station through 2015.

Stennis operators have been modifying their E-1 test facility since April 2009 to test the AJ26 engines for Orbital. Work has included construction of a 27-foot-deep flame deflector trench.
The latest step in the project involved delivery and installation of an AJ26 engine for testing. In upcoming days, operators will perform a series of "chilldown" test, which involves running sub-cooled rocket propellants through the engine, just as will occur during an actual "hotfire" ignition test.

The chilldown tests are used to verify proper temperature conditioning of the engine systems and elapse time required to properly chill the engine, and to measure the quantity of liquid oxygen required to perform the operation.

Once the installed engine passes the chilldown and other qualification tests, it will be removed from the Stennis E-1 test facility. The first actual flight engine then will be delivered and installed for hotfire testing.

Cool Pics from Orion Pad Abort 1 Flight Test

After glorious animation, a live webcast and a “Best of” vodcast, the success of the Orion Pad Abort 1 Flight Test continues to amaze. These pictures come to us via our good buddies at White Sands Missile Range out in New Mexico, and for me they bring the experience home in a new way.



As one of the Orion Pad Abort 1 Team stated mid flight, “Today, we just saved astronauts’ lives.” Even though there were no astronauts in the crew module for this test, NASA and their partners proved that the technology to save lives works. And as we move forward, that is great news.


If you want to see high quality versions of these pictures, visit our flickr page.



NASA EDGE Flickr Page


Enjoy,


The Co-Host


You can see that the Attitude Control Motor fires immediately to provide control. (photo: White Sands Missile Range)


Orion successfully reoriented for separation. (Photo: White Sands Missile Range)



All three motor systems worked as planned. Will the chutes deploy? (Photo: White Sands Missile Range)


Gravity dictates that the Launch Abort System lands first. (Photo: White Sands Missile Range)




The Orion descends safely! And provides a very nice picture. (Photo: White Sands Missile Range)


The Orion has landed! (Photo: White Sands Missile Range)


I'm pretty sure I could have survived this ride! (Photo: White Sands Missile Range)


Not the usual desert image, but a very welcome one for NASA. (Photo: White Sands Missile Range)

US Stocks Fall As Bernanke Disappoints

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks tumbled Wednesday despite strong earnings reports from Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Apple, as investors were disappointed with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's signal that the central bank is not planning further stimulus in the near term.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 109.43 points, or 1.07%, to 10120.53, its first drop in three sessions. While the drop was broad, the Dow's financial components got hit the hardest. J.P. Morgan Chase fell 1.21, or 3.1%, to 38.42 and Bank of America declined 41 cents, or 3%, to 13.36.

Among the Dow's other decliners, Johnson & Johnson fell 1.46, or 2.5%, to 57.12, Hewlett-Packard declined 1.13, or 2.4%, to 45.48, and Alcoa dropped 26 cents, or 2.4%, to 10.59.

The declines followed testimony from Bernanke calling the economic outlook "unusually uncertain" but indicating that no moves were imminent to bolster the recovery. In addition, Bernanke's comments remained focused on how the central bank will need to tighten conditions to prevent inflation "at some point."

Investors said it seemed too early to be discussing an exit plan, and pointed to the "unusually uncertain phrase" as an area of particular concern.

"It's different, new language," said Maury Fertig, chief investment officer at Relative Value Partners. "This is saying they're clearly not as confident in their forecast."

Fertig added, "The fear of a double dip is so great that anything that smells of that at all has got investors completely running for the hills."

Still, Coca-Cola managed to climb 84 cents, or 1.6%, to 54.08, leading the Dow's few gainers. Aggressive marketing around the soccer World Cup gave the company's namesake soda a boost in the second quarter, driving sales in markets from the U.S. to Brazil and pushing profit up 16%.

Caterpillar and 3M also eked out gains ahead of their second-quarter reports due Thursday morning. Caterpillar rose 44 cents, or 0.7%, to 66.87, while 3M added 11 cents, or 0.1%, to 82.30.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 13.89, or 1.28%, to 1069.59, with all of its sectors closing in the red, led by financials.

However, Morgan Stanley jumped 1.58, or 6.3%, to 26.80 after its quarterly results showed resurgent sales and trading operations boosted the investment bank's second-quarter profit.

Wells Fargo was another bright spot. The bank's profit jumped 20% from the prior quarter, as once-raging loans losses tapered sharply and hedging gains from mortgage-servicing rights boosted the firm's bottom line. Its shares edged up 15 cents, or 0.6%, to 26.06.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 35.16, or 1.58%, to 2187.33. Weighing on the measure, Yahoo (Nasdaq) tumbled 1.29, or 8.5%, to 13.91 after the Internet giant's second-quarter revenue came in below analysts' expectations.

Still, Apple (Nasdaq) climbed 2.35, or 0.9%, to 254.24. The consumer-electronics giant posted a 78% jump in fiscal third-quarter profit on stout initial sales of its multimedia iPad device and the latest version of its popular smartphone, the iPhone 4, while Macintosh computer sales also hit a record.

Textron leapt 1.57, or 8.7%, to 19.65. The maker of Cessna planes and Bell helicopters swung to a sharply higher second-quarter profit than analysts expected and boosted its 2010 profit target.

Boston Scientific dropped 30 cents, or 4.8%, to 5.97. The medical-device maker's second-quarter profit slid 38% on double-digit sales declines for defibrillators and stents, as well as lower margins.

BlackRock slipped 6.03, or 4%, to 143.33. The investment-management firm's second-quarter profit doubled on the impact from December's $13.5 billion acquisition of indexing giant Barclays Global Investors, topping analysts' expectations. However, the firm continued to experience some deal-related business outflows in the second quarter, which disappointed the market.

EMC Corp. fell 76 cents, or 3.8%, to 19.48. The data-storage company's second-quarter earnings more than doubled and the company said it expects to exceed previous forecasts for full-year profit and revenue. But shares fell as the company didn't quantify by how much it expects to top its current forecast for the year, and investors were hoping for more clarity.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold edged up 1.74, or 2.7%, to 66.06. The mining company's second-quarter profit rose 2.5% on lower taxes and higher revenue as prices continue to rise.

Eaton climbed 4.08, or 5.9%, to 73.14. The diversified manufacturer's second-quarter earnings soared as the company continued to recover from last year's slumping demand, especially in its automotive segments.

Quest Diagnostics declined 3.25, or 6.5%, to 46.70. The operator of clinical laboratories that perform medical tests posted second-quarter earnings above analysts' estimates, but the company lowered its 2010 earnings projection, citing "a further slowdown in physician-office visits."

Cytec Industries surged 7.07, or 17%, to 49.86. The specialty chemicals and materials company swung to a second-quarter profit, handily topping Wall Street expectations as sales and volume climbed.

NASA EDGE Nominated for Best Video Podcast in the 5th Annual Podcast Awards!

NASA EDGE continues their unprecedented, unscripted journey through the world of video podcasting with their very first award nomination. This is no small accomplishment considering that only two and half years ago, they weren’t sure that they would find an audience.



Well, they have. Almost three years and 3.2 million downloads later, NASA EDGE is now recognized in the company of such internet greats and fellow nominees as “Buzz out Loud,” “Diggnation” and “Filmriot” just to name a few.



In fact, the 5th Annual Podcast Awards, managed by Podcast Connect Inc., mentioned on their web site that this year’s competition received more than 321,000 nominations for over 3500 different shows.



Be sure to vote for NASA EDGE



You can vote once a day from November 13th to November 30th, 2009 by visiting www.podcastawards.com. NASA EDGE is listed in the “Best Video Podcast” category with 9 other video podcasts.



If you’re already a fan of NASA EDGE, please vote for them. If you haven’t seen or heard of NASA EDGE, visit their home page at www.nasa.gov/nasaedge and download any or all of their 46 video podcasts. You will not be disappointed.



What is NASA EDGE?



NASA EDGE is different. Unscripted and unpredictable, NASA EDGE takes a unique look in and around the greatest space program on the planet. They have hosted the Great Moonbuggy Race, examined NASA spinoff technology at the X Games, followed the Desert-RATS with an unconventional set of duct tape boots, coined the term Magnetospherence and even made an appearance on ESPN’s nationally syndicated Mike & Mike in the Morning Show.



Their latest Vodcast added a new wrinkle. In October they covered NASA’s historic Ares I-X Flight Demonstration live on the web. That show featured the entire broadcast team and an attempt at defining and redefining ‘triboelectrification.’



Of course, NASA EDGE isn’t just a video podcast. If you have questions, comments or thoughts about NASA or NASA EDGE, you can friend them on facebook and ask questions, chat or check out some exclusive facebook videos.



Or if you just want to keep up with their latest shows or activities you can follow them on twitter (@NASA_EDGE.)



If all goes well, you’ll hear from them the second they win their very first award!

NASA Earth Buzz: Soot, the Big Melt, and More

What on Earth Was That?
Last week, we asked you to identify the image on the left, and we received all sorts of replies. (Nope, it’s not an ant eating salt, spitting acid, or laying eggs). The correct answer? A microscopic view of soot from a wildfire. Check the original post for more details.

The Big Melt
A massive chunk of glacial ice tumbled from the shores of Greenland on July 6-7. The calving front – where the ice sheet meets the ocean – retreated nearly 1.5 kilometers (a mile) in a day. The mass of ice lost was nearly 1/8 the size of Manhattan. (NASA.gov)

Get a GRIP on This
A group of NASA researchers based in Florida and southern California won’t be sipping lemonade by the beach this summer. Instead, they’ll be chasing hurricanes with three NASA aircraft. (JPL News)

Record Setting Heat Sears Mid-Atlantic Region
After the whopper snowstorms this winter, a broiling heat wave has descended on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. By June 28, Washington DC had endured 10 consecutive days where temperatures soared above 90°F (32° C). (Goddard DISC)

Climate Connections
Have questions about global warming and climate change? Tired of all the spin? Try these straightforward questions and answers from NASA scientists and science writers. (Earth Observatory)

Coming to a Theater Near You
You’d have to be living under a rock not to know that NASA studies the Moon, Mars, and deep space. But as a rocket-pack clad astronaut points out in a new video short at your local movie theater, a big part of our mission is to study Earth. (NASA Explorer)

A Porthole on the Arctic
Get a glimpse of science in action as NASA-funded researchers cruise the Arctic on an icebreaker. (NASA HQ Flickr)

Tweet of the Week
Floods kill an average of 140 people per year in the U.S., making it the number one severe weather killer. (SciJinks)

REFERENCE http://blogs.nasa.gov

NASA launches full-time HD channel

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has launched a full-time HD channel today, making its MPEG-2 high-definition feed available to cable, satellite, and other media companies. NASA announced they would be launching the channel last Friday.

Content on the NASA HD channel will include live coverage of space shuttle and other spacecraft launches, “ISS Update” — a daily program covering the activities of the on-orbit International Space Station crews, and video footage of the Earth shot by space station crews and NASA satellites.

Additional content to run on the channel includes media conferences, lectures, satellite interviews and other special events.

NASA did not provide specifics on which television providers will carry the channel. For NASA TV programming check out their website listings: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/schedule.html.

எல்லையில் துப்பாக்கிச் சண்டை

ஜம்மு, ஜூலை 20: பாகிஸ்தான் ராணுவத்தினர் எல்லைப் பகுதியில் திங்கள்கிழமை இரவு துப்பாக்கியால் சுட்டனர். பதிலுக்கு இந்திய ராணுவ வீரர்களும் திருப்பிச் சுட்டனர். இரவு 10 மணிக்குத் தொடங்கிய பரஸ்பர துப்பாக்கிச் சூடு நள்ளிரவு 12.30 மணி வரை நீடித்ததாக எல்லைக் காவல் படையினர் (பிஎஸ்எப்) தெரிவித்தனர்.

இந்த மாதத்தில் மட்டும் எல்லையில் பாகிஸ்தான் ராணுவத்தினர் இத்தகைய அத்துமீறல் நடவடிக்கையில் ஈடுபடுவது இது ஏழாவது முறையாகும். சக் பக்ரிவால் பகுதியில் உள்ள எல்லை சோதனைச் சாவடியை நோக்கி பாகிஸ்தான் ராணுவத்தினர் சுட்டனர். துப்பாக்கிகள் மற்றும் சிறிய வெடி குண்டுகள் மூலம் தாக்குதல் நடத்தினர். அப்போது எல்லையில் பாதுகாப்புப் பணியில் ஈடுபட்டிருந்த வீரர்கள் திரும்ப தாக்கினர். இரு தரப்பினரிடையிலான துப்பாக்கிச் சூடு 2.30 மணி நேரம் நீடித்தது.

இந்திய தரப்பில் எவ்வித உயிர்ச்சேதமும் ஏற்படவில்லை என ராணுவத்தினர் தெரிவித்தனர். இந்த துப்பாக்கிச் சூடு சம்பவம் குறித்து செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை காலையில்

சோதனைச் சாவடியில் இரு நாட்டினரும் கொடி அணி வகுப்பில் ஈடுபட்டபோது, இந்திய அதிகாரிகள் புகார் பதிவு செய்தனர்.

சர்வதேச எல்லையில் இம்மாதத்தில் மட்டும் பாகிஸ்தான் ராணுவத்தினர் தாக்குதல் நடத்துவது இது ஏழாவது முறையாகும். மூன்று வாரங்களில் ஏழு முறை தாக்குதல் நடத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதில் நான்கு சம்பவங்கள் சக் பக்வாரி எல்லைப் பகுதியில் நடந்துள்ளன. இதில் ஜம்மு பகுதியில் காவல் பணியில் இருந்த பிஎஸ்எப் வீரர்கள் மீது பாகிஸ்தான் ராணுவத்தினர் சுட்டதில் 2 இந்திய வீரர்கள் உயிரிழந்துள்ளனர்.

பாகிஸ்தான் ராணுவத்தினர் 6 இந்திய சோதனைச் சாவடிகள் மீது சிறிய ரகக் குண்டுகள், துப்பாக்கிகள் மூலம் தாக்குதல் நடத்தினர். இத்தகைய தாக்குதல் ஜூலை 15 மற்றும் 16-ம் தேதிகளில் நடைபெற்றுள்ளது. சர்வதேச எல்லைக்கோடு அமைந்துள்ள ஆர்.எஸ். புரா, கர்கோலா, போட்லா பகுதியில் உள்ள சோதனைச் சாவடியில் ஜூலை 9-ம் தேதி தாக்குதல் நடத்தினர்.

இதேபோல ஜூலை 6, 7-ம் தேதிகளில் சக் பக்வாரி எல்லையில் தாக்குதல் நடத்தினர். ஜூலை 6-ம் தேதி பாகிஸ்தான் படையினர் நடத்திய தாக்குதலில் பிஎஸ்எப் வீரர் உயிரிழந்தார். ஒரு கிராமவாசி காயமடைந்தார். கிருஷ்ணகட்டம் பகுதியில் பாகிஸ்தான் ராணுவத்தினர் போர் நிறுத்த ஒப்பந்தத்தை மீறி தாக்குதல் நடத்தியுள்ளனர்.
http://www.dinamani.com/edition/story.aspx?SectionName=India&artid=275174&SectionID=130&MainSectionID=130&SEO=&Title=%E0%AE%8E%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D%20%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%8D%20%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%A3%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%88

Barack Obama: UK relationship is 'truly special'

US President Barack Obama has called his country's relationship with the UK "truly special", following a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron.

The president said the world was "more secure and more prosperous" when the UK and US worked together.

During their three-hour meeting, the leaders discussed Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the economy.

Mr Cameron called the countries' relationship "essential".

On his first official US visit as prime minister, he added that he was "confident" that reforms to the banking system would be successful.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Cameron called the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a "catastrophe" and said it was in the interests of both countries that the company is successful.
'Hard-headed'

Moving on to the release by the Scottish government of the Lockerbie bomber last year, Mr Cameron said it had been "wrong", adding: "He showed his victims no compassion... they were not allowed to die in their beds surrounded by family... neither should he."

And both leaders urged Iran to negotiate over calls to end its nuclear weapons programme.
Related stories

* Bomber 'should have died in jail'
* Fresh call for Lockerbie inquiry

Earlier, Mr Cameron told a US newspaper he would be "hard-headed and realistic" about UK-US relations.

The prime minister has also agreed to meet four US senators to discuss their concerns over the release of the Lockerbie bomber last year.

Mr Cameron held talks earlier with Vice-President Joe Biden, where there was "common ground on the full range of foreign policy issues," according to a Downing Street spokesman.

Talks are planned between Mr Cameron and defeated Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain and senior figures in the US Congress.

A briefing on Afghanistan at the Pentagon is expected on Wednesday, and the prime minister is also due to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

Four US senators are calling for an investigation into allegations that oil firm BP lobbied for the early freeing of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which killed 270 people.

The Libyan, who has terminal prostate cancer, was released by Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill in August last year on compassionate grounds.

Megrahi was said to have as little as three months to live.

BP has admitted urging the British government in 2007 to agree a wider prisoner transfer agreement with Libya, but denies any part in the decision of the Scottish government to free him.

Mr Cameron's aides said he would meet the senators, having earlier declined to do so.

But Mr MacAskill told the BBC: "I stand by the decision I made. I reflected and followed the rules and laws of Scotland. I upheld the values and the beliefs that we seek to live by as the people of Scotland."

REFERENCE : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10693215

Chugging into a danger zone

The danger signals have been flashing for at least a decade now but inexplicably, no one in the railway ministry seems to have taken them seriously. Had they done so, perhaps the mishap on Monday when the Uttar Banga Express crashed into the Vananchal Express in West Bengal could have been averted.
As always, no time has been lost in calling for Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's resignation along with allegations of her cavalier attitude to her portfolio. And much of the criticism is warranted. But, for the moment, given that at least 63 people have died, the focus should be on getting the green signal for the long-awaited modernisation of the antiquated equipment and systems in the railways.

The most important of these is to install anti-collision devices (ACDs) in trains. This has been done with good effect in the Konkan railway network and the Northeast Frontier railways. But for reasons of bureaucratic and political apathy, these have not been installed in all trains. In the latest accident it is yet to be ascertained whether the driver of the Uttar Banga disregarded the warning signal or the signal failed. Either way, better technology could have minimised the casualties if not avoided them altogether. Where ministerial culpability can be seen is in the manner in which at least 90,000 safety-related posts have been lying vacant for want of official sanction. Apart for the ACDs, experts have long sought the installation of auxiliary warning systems in trains that prevents them from jumping red signals. This drastically eliminates the margin of human error. With the railways having grown at a rapid pace, the skills of its employees too should have been upgraded so as to keep them on track. In addition, safety equipment should be refitted as also railway tracks.

Our decision makers often go on tours to examine how the railways are run in other countries. Should we conclude that this has not enabled them to bring anything fruitful to the table? Of the four major train accidents this year, the latest included, three appear to have been caused by systems' failure. One was sabotage. At a time when connectivity is the buzzword, it is passing strange that efforts are not being made to improve an existing lifeline like the railways. It would be a pity if this disaster too becomes mired in political mudslinging and the real issues put off till another occurs. Four accidents in six months make it inexcusable for officials to misread the signals once again.

TDP Protests 'manhandling' of its leaders by Maha Police

Telugu Desam Party activists staged protests and rasta rokos across Andhra Pradesh following reports that their party leaders including president, N Chandrababu Naidu, were manhandled by the Maharashtra police on Tuesday.

The TDP chief and his supporters including MLAs and MPs, who were remanded to judicial custody till July 26, were forcefully moved from Dharmabad to Aurangabad airport in Maharashtra on Tuesday amid high drama and complaints that police had cane-charged them.
They were arrested by the Maharashtra police on July 16 when they entered Dharmabad town, around eight kilometres from the Andhra border in Nanded district, to protest against the construction of Babli barrage on the river Godavari.

As the reports of manhandling of trickled in, the TDP activists went berserk and started stoning buses at various places besides blocking traffic and burning the effigies of Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan.

Police arrested TDP leaders N Janardhana Reddy, P Keshav, K Rammohan Rao and D Veerabhadra Rao and other party activists when they tried to storm the Jubilee Hall in the state capital where Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was holding a meeting of the chief ministers of the southern states.

Giving a regional twist to the entire episode, TDP activists in Anantapur district damaged two lorries belonging to Maharashtra. They also warned that they would disrupt the Wednesday's scheduled visit of Chavan to Puttaparthi, the home of godman Sai Baba, located in the district.

Film actor Mohan Babu took out a rally in the temple town of Tirupati protesting that the manhandling of the TDP leaders amounted to an assault on “ the self respect of Telugus.”

Chief minister K Rosaiah condemned the reported manhandling of the TDP leaders and appealed to the people to exercise restraint and caution as Babli was an inter-state problem, which should be handled delicately.

State home minister, Sabitha Indra Reddy, said she would call for a detailed report on what happened at Dharmabad. A TDP delegation met the state governor, ESL Narasimhan, and apprised him of how the Maharashtra police misbehaved with the party leaders at Dharmabad.

The Maharashtra government was reported have withdrawn all the cases filed against Naidu and his supporters by Tuesday evening.

REFERENCE : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/tdp-protests-%5Cmanhandling%5Cits-leaders-by-maha-police/401972/

Osama not in Pakistan: Gilani

Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday asserted that the world's most wanted man — Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden — and Taliban spiritual head Mullah Omar were not in Pakistan as alleged by United States of America Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Reacting to Ms. Clinton's contention during her two-day visit to Pakistan which concluded on Monday, Mr. Gilani said if anyone has credible and verifiable information establishing their presence on Pakistani soil, then it should be shared with the Government of Pakistan.

Interacting with a delegation of the All Pakistan News Agencies Council, Mr. Gilani was also reported as stating Ms. Clinton did not bring it up in her meetings with the top leadership of the Pakistan Government during her stay in the Capital.

Responding to questions from television anchors, Ms. Clinton had on Monday said that she believed Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were in Pakistan.
Repeat

Essentially, Ms. Clinton was repeating something she had said in her first visit to Pakistan as Secretary of State in October 2009.
REFERENCE : http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article525525.ece

Last Shuttle External Tank Rollout at Michoud Assembly Facility

Commemorating 37 years of successful tank deliveries, NASA and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company held a ceremony on Thursday, July 8, at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to rollout the final external tank for the last space shuttle flight.

The last external tank scheduled to fly on a shuttle mission was completed on June 25 by Lockheed Martin workers at Michoud. The tank, designated ET-138, will travel on a wheeled transporter one mile to the Michoud barge dock. It will be accompanied by the Storyville Stompers, a traditional area brass band, and hundreds of handkerchief-waving employees in typical New Orleans fashion and spirit during the ceremony. ET-138 will then travel on a 900-mile sea journey to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will support shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 launch.

The external tank, the "gas tank" for the orbiter, holds the propellants used by the space shuttle main engines. It also is the "backbone" of the shuttle during launch, providing structural support for attachment with the solid rocket boosters and orbiter. It is the only component of the space shuttle that is not reused. Approximately 8.5 minutes into the flight, with its propellant used, the tank is jettisoned into the ocean.

External tank ET-138
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches into an early morning sky at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. External tank ET-138 (top) will help launch Space shuttle Endeavour (bottom) into space on its last mission later this year. (Image credit: NASA) Taller than a 15-story building and more than 27 feet in diameter, the external tank absorbs the 7.8 million pounds of thrust of the three space shuttle main engines and solid rocket boosters during a space shuttle launch. It feeds 145,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 390,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen to the main engines.

The three main components of the external tank include the liquid oxygen tank, liquid hydrogen tank and the collar-like intertank, which connects the two propellant tanks. The intertank houses instrumentation and processing equipment and provides the attachment structure for the solid rocket boosters.

When ET-138 arrives at Kennedy, processing will begin to mate it with shuttle Endeavour and solid rocket boosters for the STS-134 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than mid-November. The mission will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 3 and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. It will be the 36th shuttle mission to the space station and the 134th and final scheduled shuttle flight.

Michoud Space Systems workers, of Lockheed Martin Corporation, Littleton, Colo., have delivered 135 flight tanks to NASA during the 25 years of flying the space shuttle.

Work will be completed on one additional external tank, ET-122, which was at Michoud during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and damaged by falling debris. It is being restored to flight configuration and is scheduled for delivery to Kennedy in late September to serve as the “Launch on Need” tank, if needed, for STS-134.

Giant Antenna Propped up and Ready for Joint Replacement

Workers at NASA's Deep Space Network complex in Goldstone, Calif., have been making precise, laser-assisted measurements to ensure a flat surface for pouring new grout as part of a major renovation on the 70-meter-wide (230-foot-wide) "Mars antenna." While officially dubbed Deep Space Station 14, the antenna picked up the Mars name from its first task: tracking NASA's Mariner 4 spacecraft, which had been lost by smaller antennas after its historic flyby of Mars.

This work represents the first time network engineers have redesigned and replaced the hydrostatic bearing assembly, which enables the antenna to rotate horizontally. To accomplish this, they lifted the entire rotating structure of the giant antenna for the first time.

The hydrostatic bearing assembly puts the weight of the antenna on three pads, which glide on a film of oil around a large steel ring. The ring measures about 24 meters (79 feet) in diameter and must be flat to work efficiently. After 44 years of near-constant use, the Mars antenna needed a kind of joint replacement, since the bearing assembly had become uneven.

Engineers and managers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which manages the Deep Space Network for NASA, drew up plans for new runner segments, new sole plates below the runner segments, and an epoxy grout that is more impervious to oil. The thicker segments deform less when the antenna's pads pass over them, and allow for more tightly sealed joints.

Since beginning work in March, engineers and technicians have carefully lifted several million pounds of delicate scientific instruments about five millimeters (0.2 inches) and transferred the weight of the antenna to temporary supporting legs. They have removed the old steel runner and cement-based grout. They have also installed sole plates, which cover the grout and anchor the new runner. Over the past week, JPL engineers checked to make sure the sole plates were level, and workers poured the new epoxy grout underneath to hold them in place. Mixing and pouring the new grout occurred at night to ensure the work was completed within the tight temperature tolerances required to handle this material.

Over the next few weeks, the new, thicker steel runner segments will be installed. Work is on track to return the antenna to service on Nov. 1, 2010.

For more details about the work on the Mars antenna, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-083

For more information about the Deep Space Network, visit: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn

For more information about NASA's space communications and navigation program, visit: http://www.spacecomm.nasa.gov

NASA appears to no longer be shooting for the stars

Reporting from Sandusky, Ohio — In a cavernous structure at NASA's Plum Brook Station near Lake Erie, a concrete chamber five stories high rises from the ground. Its walls are 2 feet thick to withstand the blast of powerful gas-operated horns strong enough to destroy human organs.

The $150-million facility was built to contain the next-generation manned spacecraft for the Constellation program, NASA's project to send humans back to the moon. It is the largest acoustic test chamber in the world, created to buffet the spacecraft with intense sound waves, simulating the stresses of launch.

Chavan ignores Rosaiah request, appeals Naidu to return to Andhra Pradesh

MUMBAI: Ignoring the request of his Andhra Pradesh counterpart K Rosaiah to allow Chandrababu Naidu to visit the Babhli irrigation project site, Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan on Sunday appealed to the TDP chief to return to his state owing to the "sensitive" situation in the region.

"I have requested Chandrababu to return to Andhra Pradesh as the situation in the area is very sensitive," Chavan said here on Sunday.

Chandrababu is trying to politicise the situation, keeping an eye on by-elections in Andhra Pradesh. He should take bail and return to his state, Chavan said.

"He either has to go back or his custody would be extended. It is not correct to enter the state by breaking laws and then call for a bandh in Andhra Pradesh," the chief minister said.

Earlier in the day, Rosaiah spoke to Chavan urging him to let a Telugu Desam Party team led by Naidu to visit the Babhli barrage.

"The matter is subjudice and the court's decision has to be respected," Chavan said, adding, "what is he going to achieve by visiting Babhli barrage?"

The TDP chief and 74 partymen were arrested Friday at Dharmabad during the protest over an irrigation project in Babhli and remanded to two days judicial custody yesterday after they refused to take bail.

Meanwhile, local politicians have set up an All-Party Action Committee on the initiative of Congress MP Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar and MLA Omprakash Pokarana.

Speaking to the media after the first meeting of the committee, Khatgaonkar said "we have requested the government to ask Chandrababu to leave the place by tomorrow. We would call Nanded bandh on July 20 if he does not change his stand."

"I also requested him (Chavan) to permit them to go around and have a look at it. So, I told him please provide necessary bandobast and help and allow them to go around," Rosaiah had said.

TDP has called a state-wide bandh in Andhra Pradesh tomorrow in protest against the arrest of Naidu and 74 legislators.

Congress decries Yeddyurappa's clean chit to Reddy brothers

Congress on Sunday decried Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa's stout defence of the controversial Reddy brothers - Janardhana and Karunakara - and rejection of all demands for their removal from his cabinet on charges of being involved in illegal mining and export of iron ore.

Within hours of the CM's clean chit and the brothers' meeting with senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj here, the party called the development an "incentive" to corrupt ways.

"It is shocking but we are not surprised," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said. "That the BJP and its chief minister are fully complicit and collusive is now proved beyond doubt."

He claimed that the CM at first had allowed 35 lakh tonnes of iron ore worth Rs 2,500 crore to vanish without raising any questions. "They fiercely opposed a CBI probe and initiated no criminal prosecution on their own," he said. Singhvi claimed that the Yeddyurappa government had stalled the state Lokayukta from proceeding against the brothers before giving them a good-conduct certificate.

"This is nothing but modern-day goonda raj in Karnataka," he said. "The BJP has made us believe that the protector could indeed turn into a predator" Singhvi said, adding that lawlessness was prevailing in the state under BJP rule.