NASA launches spacecraft to study Moon atmosphere

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <b>WALLOPS ISLAND: NASA launched an unmanned spacecraft Friday to study the Moon's thin, dusty atmosphere.</b><br /> <b><br /></b> <b>Blazing a red path in the night sky, the LADEE mission lifted off at 11:27 pm (0327 GMT) aboard a Minotaur V rocket, a reconditioned missile operated by Orbital Sciences Corporation.</b><br /> <b><br /></b>The main goal of the mission is to learn more about the atmosphere and dust on the Moon by circling it over the course of several months.<br /> <br /></div> When US astronauts last walked on the moon four decades ago, they learned that Moon dust could be a huge problem for sensitive spacecraft and equipment, said space expert John Logsdon.<br /> <br /> "If we were ever to go there with people for long duration, the dust gets in everything. It's not smooth dust like a piece of sand on the beach. It's made of very, very small fragments," said Logsdon, a NASA advisor and former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.<br /> <br /> "All the Apollo crews complained about the lunar dust getting everywhere."<br /> US astronauts first walked on the Moon in 1969, and the last explorers of the Apollo era visited in 1972. The Moon's atmosphere is so thin that its molecules do not collide, in what is known as an exosphere.<br /> <br /> Exploring that exosphere will be a $280 million solar and lithium <br /> battery-powered spacecraft about the size of a small car -- nearly eight feet (2.4 meters) tall and five feet (1.85 meters) wide.<br /> <br /> After launch, LADEE aims to hurtle itself beyond Earth's orbit so it can <br /> circle the Moon. The journey there will take about a month.<br /> <br /> <br /> When the spacecraft first enters the Moon's orbit, it will cruise at a <br /> height of about 250 kilometers (156 miles) for 40 days, and then moving lower to 20 to 60 kilometers (12.4 - 37.3 miles) from the surface for the science portion of its mission.<br /> <br /> It is carrying an Earth-to-Moon laser beam technology demonstration and <br /> three main tools, including a neutral mass spectrometer to measure chemical variations in the lunar atmosphere and other tools to analyze exosphere gasses and lunar dust grains, NASA said.<br /> <br /> "These measurements will help scientists address longstanding mysteries, <br /> including: was lunar dust, electrically charged by solar ultraviolet light, responsible for the pre-sunrise horizon glow that the Apollo astronauts saw?" NASA said. Other instruments will seek out water molecules in the lunar atmosphere.<br /> <br /> About 100 days into the science portion of the mission, the LADEE <br /> spacecraft will do a death plunge into the Moon's surface. The spacecraft was made in a modular design that aims to "ease the <br /> manufacturing and assembly process" and "drastically reduce the cost of <br /> spacecraft development," NASA said.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OFvGhrJeMNGSSuXOkrbQgppaAE6WQTTisNqQ2Op0ez9RQBjPOnkUTpg616fcT9PceZ27aKYD7uOm3-rULGYHM2pzg6JrmBRN55x7JhMKUz4gFnm7Pzc_vYW6T8XPoq4xtFM6hhzhcXND/s1600/NASA+launches+spacecraft+to+study+Moon's+atmosphere.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OFvGhrJeMNGSSuXOkrbQgppaAE6WQTTisNqQ2Op0ez9RQBjPOnkUTpg616fcT9PceZ27aKYD7uOm3-rULGYHM2pzg6JrmBRN55x7JhMKUz4gFnm7Pzc_vYW6T8XPoq4xtFM6hhzhcXND/s1600/NASA+launches+spacecraft+to+study+Moon's+atmosphere.PNG" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> Potential future uses of this module could include unmanned probes to an <br /> asteroid or to Mars, as well as future Moon probes, though none are planned for now.<br /> <br /> LADEE was conceived when NASA was planning to return humans to the Moon as part of the Constellation program, which President Barack Obama cancelled in 2010 for being over budget and redundant in its goals.<br /> <br /> NASA's next big human exploration project aims to send humans to Mars by <br /> the 2030s. Recent NASA robotic missions such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have returned troves of images detailing the Moon's cratered surface, while NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) revealed how being pummelled by asteroids resulted in the Moon's uneven patches of gravity.<br /> <br /> A previous NASA satellite, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing <br /> Satellite(LCROSS) discovered water ice when it impacted in 2009, the space agency said.<br /> <br /> <b>AFP</b></div>

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WALLOPS ISLAND: NASA launched an unmanned spacecraft Friday to study the Moon's thin, dusty atmosphere. Blazing a red path in the ni...

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Oil prices mixed in Asian trade

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOk98_Z8E9smA6dmpCqlZUI57YEhSeh8HIwJonaP1cDq1SEfkZBrqSRkka9XOQbus648-XfX9ylOkJhgiWKed7zj8BR-PmWqIIlbuRUGh7O8A9YzCvsONMwbVz9PMdZCvXk9ywUm9qUo/s1600/Oil+prices+ease+in+Asian+trade.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOk98_Z8E9smA6dmpCqlZUI57YEhSeh8HIwJonaP1cDq1SEfkZBrqSRkka9XOQbus648-XfX9ylOkJhgiWKed7zj8BR-PmWqIIlbuRUGh7O8A9YzCvsONMwbVz9PMdZCvXk9ywUm9qUo/s320/Oil+prices+ease+in+Asian+trade.PNG" width="320" /></a></div> <b>SINGAPORE: Oil prices were mixed in cautious Asian trade on Wenesday as dealers await the conclusion of the US Federal Reserve policy meetnig analaysts said.</b><br /> <b><br /></b> New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in September, was up 30 cents at $103.38 a barrel in mid-morning Asian trade, and Brent North Sea crude for September fell four cents to $106.87.<br /> <br /> AFP</div>

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SINGAPORE: Oil prices were mixed in cautious Asian trade on Wenesday as dealers await the conclusion of the US Federal Reserve policy mee...

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Oil prices dip after weak China data

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <b>SINGAPORE: Oil prices slipped in Asian trade Wednesday as weak Chinese manufacturing activity fuelled concerns over energy demand in the world's second biggest economy, analysts said.</b><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOk98_Z8E9smA6dmpCqlZUI57YEhSeh8HIwJonaP1cDq1SEfkZBrqSRkka9XOQbus648-XfX9ylOkJhgiWKed7zj8BR-PmWqIIlbuRUGh7O8A9YzCvsONMwbVz9PMdZCvXk9ywUm9qUo/s1600/Oil+prices+ease+in+Asian+trade.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOk98_Z8E9smA6dmpCqlZUI57YEhSeh8HIwJonaP1cDq1SEfkZBrqSRkka9XOQbus648-XfX9ylOkJhgiWKed7zj8BR-PmWqIIlbuRUGh7O8A9YzCvsONMwbVz9PMdZCvXk9ywUm9qUo/s320/Oil+prices+ease+in+Asian+trade.PNG" width="320" /></a></div> <b><br /></b> New York's main contract, West Texas Interemediate for delivery in  Septecmber, was down 27 cents at<br /> <br /> <b>$106.96</b> a barrel in mid-morning trade,while Brent North Sea crude for September shed 22 cents to $108.20.<br /> <b><br /></b> <b>AFP</b></div>

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SINGAPORE: Oil prices slipped in Asian trade Wednesday as weak Chinese manufacturing activity fuelled concerns over energy demand in the wo...

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20 children dead from school meal in India: official

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <img border="0" src="http://images.geo.tv/updates_pics/20-children-dead-India_7-17-2013_109726_l.jpg" /></div> <b><a href="http://www.saarinews.com/search/label/indian%20news">PATNA</a>: Twenty children have died and more are sick after eating a free meal at a primary school in eastern India, a state government minister said Wednesday.</b><br /> <b><br /></b> <b>''</b>It is sad but true that 20 children died after eating their midday meal, which appears to be poisonous, ''Bihar state education minister P K Shahi told AFP. The death toll rose from eight on Tuesday and some 30 more children were still sick in hospital in the state capital Patna, the minister said.<br /> <br /> Investigation is under way into the incident on Tuesday afternoon at the state-run school in the village of Masrakh, in Bihar's Saran district.<br /> <br /> Several hundred people staged protests against the state government over the incident. Children started falling sick after eating their lunch of lentils and rice cooked at the school, officials have said.<br /> <br /> ''Hundreds of angry people staged a protest in Saran sinch late Tuesday night, demanding stern action against government officials responsible for his shocking incidnet, '' district government officials S K Mall said.<br /> <br /> Free meals are offered to improverished students in state-run school as part of the government welfare measures in many of India's 29 states.<br /> <br /> <b>AFP</b></div>

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PATNA : Twenty children have died and more are sick after eating a free meal at a primary school in eastern India, a state government min...

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Top Egyptian judge Mansour sowrn in as interim president

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCVn5L-LOIS3zYOKH1_WBx3bLqc_6z1s11M1tK47C-pdKNL5gKw1x3hGUlqdKD2tfIK89FjgaGtcbVC3p6G3QuRbqZk26SyHgweYQrWWl2IXI-4inzn71eVihVzhfJhZqsbfa4dxQjpY/s615/Top+Egyptian+judge+Mansour+sworn+in+as+interim+president.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCVn5L-LOIS3zYOKH1_WBx3bLqc_6z1s11M1tK47C-pdKNL5gKw1x3hGUlqdKD2tfIK89FjgaGtcbVC3p6G3QuRbqZk26SyHgweYQrWWl2IXI-4inzn71eVihVzhfJhZqsbfa4dxQjpY/s1600/Top+Egyptian+judge+Mansour+sworn+in+as+interim+president.jpg" /></a></div> <b>CAIRO: Egypt's chief justice Adly Mansour was sworn in as the country's interim president on Thursday, a day after the military ousted Mohamed Morsi following a week of massive protests.</b><br /> <b><br /></b> ''I swear to preserve the system of the republic, and respect the constitution and law, and guard the people's interest, '' Mansour said as he took the oath of office at a ceremony in the supreme Constitutional Court. (AFP)<br /> <br /> <b>AFP</b></div>

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CAIRO: Egypt's chief justice Adly Mansour was sworn in as the country's interim president on Thursday, a day after the military o...

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China's ethnically divided Xinjiang region riots kill 27

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgXECMIUyFpmNky-0iXjYGUP_EtXJy3Sb1Sk_sm-2TOrBsC0fAkTKlu9jyze1bs_wM-yzd90eO-nwVZ3LtIRVjLasiZBSoC6uklbVAtPHp1hv2Z992qdXkJ2qX0GPXiU5uo4eJv8fJ1c/s1600/China's+ethnically+divided+Xinjiang+region+riots+kill+27.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgXECMIUyFpmNky-0iXjYGUP_EtXJy3Sb1Sk_sm-2TOrBsC0fAkTKlu9jyze1bs_wM-yzd90eO-nwVZ3LtIRVjLasiZBSoC6uklbVAtPHp1hv2Z992qdXkJ2qX0GPXiU5uo4eJv8fJ1c/s320/China's+ethnically+divided+Xinjiang+region+riots+kill+27.png" width="320" /></a></div> <b>BEIJING: Riots in China's ethnically divided western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday killed at least 27 people, state media said.</b><br /> <b><br /></b> <b>''Seventeen people had been killed... before police opened fire and shot dead 10 rioters'', Xinhua news agency said.</b><br /> <b><br /></b> <b>The reports came after 21 peopel died in violence in the region in April.</b><br /> <b><br /></b> <b>AFP</b></div>

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BEIJING: Riots in China's ethnically divided western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday killed at least 27 people, state media said. &...

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