Sci Tech Space Astronomy

Backgrounder: Brief introduction to LRO/LCROSS mission

2009-06-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Xinhua) -- NASA's two new lunar probes -- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), lifted off Thursday on a landmark mission to scout water sources and landing sites in anticipation of leading astronauts back to the moon in 2020.

LRO is a robotic mission aimed at creating a comprehensive atlas of the moon's features, finding possible landing sites, identifying available resources, characterizing the radiation environment and testing new technology.

After launch, LRO's journey to the moon will take approximately four days. LRO will then enter an elliptical or "commissioning" orbit. During this period, the LRO spacecraft will be checked out and the scientific instrumentation suite will be activated and tested. After about sixty days, LRO will enter its operational circular polar orbit, 50 km above the moon's surface.

The LRO payload, comprised of seven instruments, will provide vital data to enable a human return to the moon. LRO will spend at least one year in low polar orbit around the moon, collecting detailed information about the lunar surface and environment.

After a year, having collected the data for human mission planning, the spacecraft will be transferred to the Science Mission Directorate and will be used for an extended period of time to address high priority scientific questions identified by the National Academy of Sciences.

Although LRO will remotely sense evidence of resources such as water ice in cold regions of the moon, the LRO launch will also carry another spacecraft, LCROSS, which will directly determine if water ice occurs in an area of permanent shadow near the lunar poles.

LCROSS will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket to impact part of a polar crater in permanent shadows. It will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.

Whatever LCROSS discovers about the presence of water, it will increase human knowledge of the mineralogical makeup of some of the most remote areas of the moon -- deep polar craters where sunshine never reaches.

U.S. lunar probes lift off on mission to scout water, landing sites

2009-06-30T15:42:00.001-07:00

The two probes, a powerful lunar orbiter and a smaller spacecraft that will hunt for water ice by crashing into the moon, were launched on an Atlas V rocket at about 5:32 p.m. EDT (2132 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The launch of the dual probes occurred one month shy of the 40th anniversary of the first lunar footprints.

The 583-million-dollar mission has been delayed since October 2008 and was slated to launch on Wednesday. But NASA opted to delay the flight by one more day to allow the space shuttle Endeavour to try and launch after a hydrogen gas leak thwarted its initial attempt. The leak reappeared and the shuttle remains on Earth at the nearby Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA's lunar exploration missions roll to pad for Thursday launch

2009-06-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) rolled aboard their Atlas V rocket to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Wednesday morning, in preparation for launch on Thursday, NASA said.

The spacecraft left its processing facility at 10:02 EDT (1402 GMT) and arrived at the pad about 35 minutes later.

The spacecraft are scheduled to lift off together on Thursday, June 18, with three attempts possible at 5:12 p.m., 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.. If launch slips to Friday, June 19, the launch opportunities would be 6:41 p.m., 6:51 p.m. and 7:01 p.m..

The LRO is scheduled for a one-year exploration mission at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, the closest any spacecraft has orbited the moon. Its primary objective is to conduct investigations to prepare for future explorations of the moon.

The LCROSS will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket to impact part of a polar crater in permanent shadows. The LCROSS will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.

Launch of space shuttle Endeavor postponed again

2009-06-30T15:41:00.001-07:00

Space shuttle Endeavour sits on the launch pad June 17, 2009. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- NASA on Wednesday postponed the launch of space shuttle Endeavor for the second time due to a hydrogen gas leak during fueling.

Endeavor was originally scheduled to lift off on June 13, but was postponed because of a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the shuttle's external fuel tank.

The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad.

Endeavor's 16-day STS-127 mission to the International Space Station will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory.

Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

NASA sets new launch dates for space shuttle, LRO and LCROSS

2009-06-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Space shuttle Endeavour crewmembers
(L-R) Chris Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency
astronaut Julie Payette listen to trainer and Astronaut Rescue Team Leader
Capt. George Hoggard as he instructs them on driving an M-113 armored
personnel carrier during launch rehearsal exercises at the Kennedy Space
Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 2, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
Photo
Gallery

WASHINGTON, June 15 (Xinhua) -- NASA managers on
Monday scheduled the next launch attempt of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127
mission for 5:40 a.m. EDT (0940 GMT) on Wednesday. The launch will take place at
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

As a result, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) are set to lift off
together aboard an Atlas V rocket on Thursday, June 18. There are three launch
opportunities from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida -- 5:12 p.m.,
5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.

Endeavour was originally scheduled to lift off on
June 13, but was postponed because of a leak associated with the gaseous
hydrogen venting system outside the shuttle's external fuel tank. The system is
used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad.

Endeavour's 16-day STS-127 mission to the
International Space Station will feature five spacewalks and complete
construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory.
Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that
will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

The LRO and LCROSS launch was moved to June 18 to
accommodate Endeavour's June 17 liftoff. If Thursday's liftoff of the LRO and
LCROSS is postponed 24 hours, the launch times Friday are 6:41 p.m., 6:51 p.m.
and 7:01 p.m.. Saturday's opportunities are 8:08 p.m.,8:18 p.m. and 8:28 p.m..

The LRO is scheduled for a one-year exploration
mission at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, the closest any
spacecraft has orbited the moon. The primary objective of the LRO is to conduct
investigations to prepare for future explorations of the moon.

Launching with the LRO is LCROSS, a partner mission
that will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage
Centaur rocket, about the size of a sports utility vehicle, to impact part of a
polar crater in permanent shadows. The LCROSS will fly into the plume of dust
left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the
lunar surface.

NASA plans to launch Endeavour Wednesday

2009-06-30T15:40:00.001-07:00

The U.S. and Endeavour orbiter flags wave in the breeze in front of the space shuttle Endeavour Friday afternoon June 12, 2009 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery

BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhuanet) -- NASA is planning to launch space shuttle Endeavour on Wednesday on a construction mission to the International Space Station, officials said on Sunday.

The U.S. space agency postponed Endeavour's launch on
Saturday due to a potentially dangerous hydrogen leak. Repairs were expected to
take four days.

NASA managers decided on Sunday to try to make one
attempt to launch Endeavour this week, on Wednesday at 5:40 a.m. EDT (0940 GMT).
If weather or technical problems interfere, the shuttle mission likely would be
delayed until next month to allow the moon probe flight.

Originally NASA reserved Wednesday for launch of an
unmanned Atlas rocket carrying the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
spacecraft. NASA planned to delay the launch of its new moon probe for two days
for the sake of Endeavour.

NASA has to choose between the missions because Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station can support only one type of rocket at a time. "It
really is better for both missions to try to go during this launch period," said
LeRoy Cain, shuttle deputy program manager.

Endeavour is due to deliver the last segment of
Japan's Kibo laboratory and dozens of spare parts to the station. NASA is on
deadline to complete station assembly and retire the shuttle fleet by Sept. 30,
2010. Eight missions remain on the schedule.

"Each delay that we have ... puts us closer to the
point where I can no longer finish my mission from an overall perspective," Cain
said.

If Endeavour doesn't launch this week, the mission
would have to be delayed until July.

(Agencies)

China to witness longest total solar eclipse in 500 years

2009-06-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

NANJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- China will see the longest total solar eclipse in 500 years on July 22, a scientist said Saturday.

The prime time of the total eclipse was expected to begin from 9 a.m. to 9:38 a.m. (Beijing Time), said Wang Sichao, a research fellow with the Nanjing-based Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"The total eclipse will last up to six minutes, or the longest one that can be seen in China in almost 500 years from 1814 to 2309," Wang said.

He said viewers in parts of 11 provinces in China's southwestern, central-southern and eastern areas, such as Tibet, Hunan and Jiangsu, will be able to witness the total solar eclipse, while in most parts of Shanghai, viewers can see the spectacular phenomenon.

For viewers in other provinces, including Beijing, they can observe a partial eclipse, he said.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is caught between the sun and the earth while each of them moves along their fixed orbits.

In a total solar eclipse, the sun, the moon and the earth are directly aligned as the sun swings into the cone of shadow cast by the moon.

Wang said the next total solar eclipse that can be seen in China will fall on March 20, 2034.

"But it can only be seen remote provinces, such as Tibet and Qinghai. It cannot not be compared with the upcoming one -- in terms of duration and number of cities that can see the eclipse," he added.

The last total solar eclipse visible in China took place on Aug. 1 last year. It was observed in northwest China and lasted two minutes in Yiwu County of northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the best place to see the phenomenon.

NASA cancels Saturday launch of space shuttle Endeavour

2009-06-30T15:39:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) on Saturday cancelled the planned launch of space shuttle Endeavour because of a hydrogen leak, a spokesman said.

The launch has been delayed by at least four days, reports said.

The leak was near the ground umbilical carrier plate, which is attached to the external tank, NASA said in a statement.

The spacecraft's external fuel was immediately pumped out after the fault was discovered.

The technical problem, detected when the spacecraft was being fueled, was similar to the one that occurred during the first launch attempt of the space shuttle Discovery in March, reports said.

Endeavour had been scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:17 a.m. EDT (1117 GMT) for a 16-day mission to deliver the

last part of a Japanese laboratory to the International Space Station.

Reports said the launch is likely to be postponed to next Wednesday, but that will coincide with the planned launch of an unmanned rocket carrying a spacecraft for a moon exploration mission.

Decisions on the time arrangement of the two launches have yet to be made, Mike Moses, shuttle manager of Kennedy Space Center, said.

The Endeavour's 16-day mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

The STS-127 crew members are mission commander Mark Polansky, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette. Kopra will join the space

station crew and replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will return to Earth on Endeavour to conclude a three-month stay at the station.

NASA cancels Saturday launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour

2009-06-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- NASA on Saturday cancelled a planned launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour because of hydrogen leak, said a NASA spokesman.

Vietnam to launch second man-made satellite in 2012

2009-06-30T15:38:00.001-07:00

HANOI, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will launch the country's second man-made satellite in 2012, local newspaper the New Hanoi reported Friday.

This is an important plan which was included in the strategy of research and application of space technology to 2020 of the country, said the newspaper.

The satellite, called VNREDSat-1, is of small size and low orbit. It will be used to monitor and take picture of the earth surface of different sizes and types and provide those pictures to centers gathering earth-surface satellite pictures.

A controlling center will be built on an area of two hectares in the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park in Hanoi.

Vietnam is expected to spend about 60 to 70 million U.S. dollars on the launching project, including expenses for manufacturing and launching satellite, building controlling center, and training human resources.

The satellite will operate for five years from the time of being launched into the space, according to the newspaper.

Czech scientists take photos of solar corona

2009-06-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

PRAGUE, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Czech scientists have taken the pictures of the solar corona which were carried on the cover of the latest issue of the prestigious international journal of Nature this week.

Czech experts from the Technical University in Brno (VUT) have developed a mathematical method which enables to process unique visualizations of the corona. The visualization helps astrophysicists explore the top layer of the solar atmosphere.

Physicists and professional photographers have been monitoring the solar corona for decades. The pictures on the journal's front-page were taken in Siberia and Mongolia by the VUT research team last summer. They have computer program which is able to visualize hundreds of photographs of the solar eclipse and show various processes in the corona more clearly.

The Nature international weekly has been in publication for almost 140 years. 

Famous star Betelgeuse shrinking, puzzling astronomers

2009-06-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star 600 light-year away in the constellation Orion,experiences a size reduction of about 15 percent in 15 years, according to media reports Thursday.

From Earth Betelgeuse is clearly visible with the naked eye as the reddish dot that marks Orion's left shoulder.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, first measured the star in 1993 with an infrared instrument on top of Southern California's Mount Wilson. They estimated the star to be as big around as Jupiter's orbit around the sun.

But measurements made since then using the same instrument show that Betelgeuse is now only about as wide as the orbit of Venus -- a size reduction of about 15 percent.

The cause of the star's rapid contraction is mysterious. But the team noted that they had observed an unusual big red spot on the star three years ago.

"Maybe there's some kind of instability going on there," said study team member Charles Townes, a Nobel Prize-winning astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley. "This red spot may be connected with the fact that (Betelgeuse is) gradually shrinking in size."

Betelgeuse is a type of variable star, with slight dips in its brightness every few years.

A class of stars known as Mira variables are known to swell and contract by as much as 25 percent every two years. At their lowest points Mira stars can completely disappear from view. Astronomers know how and why Mira stars pulsate, and they know that the pulses are linked to changes in the stars' brightness.

But its pulses are nowhere near as dramatic as those of Mira stars, the UC Berkeley researchers said. And on average the star is no fainter now than it was 15 years ago.

"Something unusual is happening with this star. The question is, What's going to happen next?" Townes said.

Betelgeuse is about 8.5 million years old, and astronomers predict it could explode as a supernova at any time. When it detonates, the blast should be clearly visible from Earth.

"Is it going to keep on shrinking and maybe collapse, or will it oscillate back and forth?" Townes mused. "We don't know."

(Agencies)

Orbital chaos may cause planetary smash-up within solar system

2009-06-30T15:36:00.001-07:00

BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study in
the Thursday's issue of Nature predicts there's a real, albeit slim, possibility of a
planetary smash-up inside the inner solar system due to the Mercury's distinctly
lopsided orbit.

Forget sendingprobe to Mars, the planet may
come crashing right here to Earth if gravitational interactions substantially
agitate its now-stable orbit.

Boffins Jacques Laskar and Mickael Gastineau of the
Paris Observatory say results of a new computer model show a roughly one percent
chance within the next five billion years that such a planetary apocalypse will
happen.

The researchers simulated the most current data
available on the interactions of solar system's eight planets (with the edition
of Pluto and Earth's moon) over the course of five billion years -- a point in
which the sun is expected to swell into a red giant andswallow the inner
planets.

Mercury is a particular nuisance to the stability of
the solar system because its orbit is a slightly elongated ellipse, leaving it
more vulnerable to being swayed by gravity of the large outer planets like
Jupiter.

Out of 2,501 scenarios sequentially nudging Mercury's
orbit by only 0.38 millimeters, 25 lead to a large enough increase in the
planet's orbital eccentricity to allow collisions with Venus or the sun.

In one simulation, Mercury smashes into Venus about
1.76 billion years from now. In three others, Mercury falls into the sun.

In yet another, Mercury's gravitational tug yanks
Mars within 800 kilometers of Earth 3.34 billion years from now, causing the red
planet to rip apart and shower Earth with debris.

Astronomers believe the solar system is about 4.6
billion years old.

(Agencies)

Canadian space tourist begins training in Russia

2009-06-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

MOSCOW, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Founder of the famed Canadian acrobatic troupe
Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberte, has started his training in Russia for a 12-day
trip to the International Space Station (ISS).

The 50-year-old Canadian billionaire is currently receiving training at
Russia's Star City space training center, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
He is scheduled to travel to the ISS on Sept. 30, aboard the Russian Soyuz
TMA-16 spacecraft.

"Laliberte and his backup -- American Barbara Barrett -- will be trained to
use a spacesuit and on-board means of personal hygiene, and will learn how to
cook and eat in zero gravity," Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a
statement.

"In addition, they will take a daily Russian language course," the
statement said.

Laliberte, who spent 35 million U.S. dollars for the world's seventh space
trip, earlier said he was devoting it to raising global awareness of clean water
issues.

The sixth space tourist Charles Simonyi, one of the brains behind Bill
Gates' Microsoft, is the first twice self-funded space traveler.

Besides Simonyi, U.S. businessman Dennis Tito, South African Mark
Shuttleworth, U.S. millionaire Gregory Olsen, Iranian-born American Anousheh
Ansari and U.S. computer games developer Richard Garriott have also paid to
visit space.

ISS crew complete spacewalk

2009-06-30T15:35:00.002-07:00

MOSCOW, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Two crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday have successfully completed the second spacewalk conducted in this month, and have returned to the station, said the Mission Control Center outside Moscow.

During the 37-minute spacewalk starting at 10:55 a.m. Moscow time (0655 GMT), Russian Commander Gennady Padalka and U.S. Flight Engineer

Michael Barratt successfully installed a cone-shaped docking component onto the Zvezda (Star) service module, Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the Mission Control Center said.

The two space walkers also took pictures of the ISS exterior.

Both spacewalks conducted in first half of June were aimed to install necessary equipment outside the Zvezda service module for the docking of Russia's small research module MIM-2, a space vehicle due to blast off in autumn, Lyndin said.

MIM-2 is a multifunctional module used for docking Russian Soyuz and Progress spaceships to the ISS. It will also take over some functions of the Zvezda service module.

Russia's new Orlan-MK spacesuits, which the two astronauts were wearing, functioned well during the spacewalk.

Padalka and Barratt installed three antennae for the Kurs auto-docking system to receive MIM-2 on June 5 in a nearly five-hour spacewalk.

Three astronauts joined the three crew members already on board the space station in late May and formed a six-member permanent crew for the first time.

Astronomers predict birth of new star

2009-06-30T15:35:00.001-07:00

LOS ANGELES, June 9 (Xinhua) -- A computer simulation of the dark nebula
Barnard 68 suggests that the cloud will inevitably collapse and give rise to a
new star "soon" -- at least on an astronomical time scale, astrophysicists said
in a statement Tuesday.

The two-Sun-mass Barnard 68, about 400 light years away in the
constellation Ofiuco, is already in an initial unstable state. Much worse,
another cloud, one tenth the mass of Barnard 68, is getting closer and is "on
the verge" of colliding with it.

Joao Alves, director of the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain, and his
colleague Andreas Burkert from the University of Munich in Germany believe that
the collision will create the ideal conditions such as high density and
temperatures needed to activate a nuclear fusion that results in the formation
of a star.

According to their calculations, a new star will be born out of the
collision sometime in the next 200,000 years, not very far from our solar
system, with the potential for planets to be formed around it. That means our
Sun will get a new neighbor.

But right now, Barnard 68 is still hidden in the darkness and cannot be
seen because it, as a dark nebula, blocks out, rather than reflects, the light
of the stars.

Scientists have already known that stars form from the condensation of
giant gas clouds known as nebulae, as a result of their own gravity, but many
details remain unclear.

The new study, published recently in the Astrophysical Journal, may be able
to shed some light on the process of the star formation, the researchers said.

ISS crew start second spacewalk this month

2009-06-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

MOSCOW, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Two crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) have started the second spacewalk in this month on Wednesday, the Mission Control Center outside Moscow said.

Russian Commander Gennady Padalka and U.S. Flight Engineer Michael Barratt opened the hatch of the space station at 10:55 a.m. Moscow time (0655 GMT) and began the spacewalk, said Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the Mission Control Center.

The main task of the walk is to change a docking component of the Zvezda (Star) service module, said Lyndin.

He said both spacewalks conducted in first half of June aim to install necessary equipment outside the Zvezda service module for the docking of Russia's small research module MIM-2, a space vehicle due to blast off in autumn.

The whole process is expected to last about 40 minutes.

Padalka and Barratt installed three antennae for the Kurs auto-docking system to receive MIM-2 on June 5 in a nearly five-hour spacewalk.

Three astronauts joined the three crew members already on board the space station in late May and formed a six-member permanent crew for the first time.

Red giant star Betelgeuse found mysteriously shrinking

2009-06-30T15:34:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The red super giant star Betelgeuse, the bright reddish star in the constellation Orion, has been shrinking for more than a decade, but it remains unclear why that occurs, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

The University of California, Berkeley researchers said they were able to determine the change in Betelgeuse, the first star ever to have its size measured, by using the Infrared Spatial Interferometer on the top of Mt. Wilson in Southern California to monitor it since 1993.

The "measurements showed ... over 15 years, it has decreased in size about 15 percent, changing smoothly, but faster as the years progressed," Charles Townes, a UC Berkeley professor who won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the laser and the maser, a microwave laser, said in a statement.

Betelgeuse's radius is about five astronomical units, or five times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and it would reach to the orbit of Jupiter if placed at the center of our solar system. That means the star's radius has shrunk by a distance equal to the orbit of Venus.

"To see this change is very striking. We will be watching it carefully over the next few years to see if it will keep contracting or will go back up in size," Townes said.

Today, Betelgeuse is still one of only a handful of stars that appears through the Hubble Space Telescope as a disk rather than a point of light, but as a red supergiant star, it is nearing the end of life.

"We do not know why the star is shrinking," said Townes's colleague Edward Wishnow, who also worked on the study. "Considering all that we know about galaxies and the distant universe, there are still lots of things we don't know about stars, including what happens as red giants near the ends of their lives."

Despite Betelgeuse's diminished size, its visible brightness has shown no significant dimming over the past 15 years, the researchers noted.

The findings were presented on Tuesday at the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, California, and already published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters early this month.

Chinese American girl wins NASA's Mars rover naming contest

2009-06-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

by George Bao

LOS ANGELES, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Clara Ma had never dreamed she could name a Mars rover, but this came true on Monday when she signed her name on Curiosity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The Mars Rover Curiosity is scheduled to be launched in 2011.

The 12-year-old girl, a sixth-grader from Sunflower elementary school in Lenexa, Kansas, won an essay contest to name NASA's next rover to Mars in May.

She is the only winner among over 9,000 contesters in the United States and the only Chinese American who got the honor to name a Mars rover.

"I feel very excited and honored to name the Mars rover and sign my name on it," Ma told Xinhua after her signing ceremony.

"It took me only about 10 to 20 minutes to finish my essay. I mailed the essay out in January. I never dreamed that I could win," she said, adding that "It is so wonderful, so great."

She said she has great interest and curiosity in space science, which pushed her to participate in the essay contest.

Speaking of why she chose the name "Curiosity" for the Mars rover, she said that's what space exploration is all about.

"Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone's mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day," Ma wrote in her essay.

"Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn't be who we are today. When I was younger, I wondered, 'Why is the sky blue?', 'Why do the stars twinkle?' and I still do," she wrote.

"Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder," the essay said.

The nationwide student essay contest designed to collect names has received more than 9,000 proposals.

"Students from every state suggested names for this rover. That's testimony to the excitement Mars missions spark in our next generation of explorers," said Mark Dahl, the mission's program executive at the NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"Many of the nominating essays were excellent and several of the names would have fit well. I am especially pleased with the choice, which recognizes something universally human and essential to science," he said, referring to Ma's works.

According to NASA, the Mars Rover Curiosity will check whether the environment in a selected landing region on Mars is favorable for supporting microbial life and preserving evidence of life.

The rover also will search for minerals that formed in the presence of water and look for several chemical building blocks of life.

Russian spacewalk ends successfully

2009-06-30T15:33:00.000-07:00

BEIJING, June 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Two crew members at
the International Space Station completed a spacewalk last week as they
successfully installed two new antennas for Russian space vehicles.

International Space Station Commander Gennady Padalka
and Flight Engineer Mike Barratt ended thespacewalk at 8:46 a.m. EDT
Friday. They installed docking antennas, a docking target and electrical
connectors for the Kurs automated rendezvous equipment.

The modifications were intended to prepare the
station for the arrival of the Russian Mini Research Module-2, or MRM2, later
this year. The module will serve as an additional docking port for Russian
vehicles.

The spacewalk was the seventh for Padalka and the
first for Barratt.

The spacewalk was delayed slightly due to concerns
about high carbon dioxide levels in their redesigned Russian space suits.

(Agencies)

ISS crew perform spacewalk successfully

2009-06-30T15:32:00.001-07:00

Commander Gennady Padalka (top) and flight engineer Mike Barratt work during their spacewalk from the International Space Station in this image from NASA TV June 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo Gallery

MOSCOW, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Two crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) successfully concluded a spacewalk on Friday, the Mission Control Center outside Moscow said.

The space walkers, Russian Commander Gennady Padalka
and U.S. Flight Engineer Michael Barratt, installed three antennae for the Kurs
auto-docking system to prepare the station for the arrival of the Russian Mini
Research Module-2, a space vehicle scheduled to blast off in autumn, Mission
Control Center spokesman Valery Lyndin said.

The astronauts also hooked up electrical connectors for the antennae, and took photos of the ISS exterior during the nearly five-hour spacewalk, Lyndin said.

Flight engineer Mike Barratt (L) and Commander Gennady Padalka (R) work with cables on the docking antenna during their spacewalk from the International Space Station in this image from NASA TV June 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo Gallery

The spacewalk began at 11:52 Moscow time (0752 GMT),
about one hour later than planned because the astronauts spent more time to
check the pressurization of the adapter section and the state of all systems of
Russia's new Orlan-MK spacesuits, which are used ina spacewalk for the first
time.

This is also the first spacewalk since the number of
the ISS crew rose to six. Three astronauts joined the three crew members already
on board the space station in late May and formed the first-ever six-member
permanent crew.

ISS crew start spacewalk

2009-06-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

MOSCOW, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Two crew members of the International Space
Station (ISS) began their spacewalk on Friday, the Mission Control Center
outside Moscow said.

The main task of the spacewalk is to install a docking port for Russia's
small research module MIM-2, a space vehicle scheduled to blast off in autumn,
said Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the Mission Control Center.

The pair, Russian Commander Gennady Padalka and U.S. Flight Engineer
Michael Barrett, also planned to install an antenna to aid docking during the
over five-hour spacewalk, Lyndin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news
agency.

The spacewalk was delayed by about one hour because the astronauts spent
more time to check the pressurization of the adapter section and the state of
all systems of Russia's new Orlan-MK spacesuits.

Three astronauts joined the three crew members already on board the space
station in late May and formed a six-member permanent crew for the first
time.

China's help in peaceful use of space lauded

2009-06-30T15:31:00.001-07:00

VIENNA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- China's rapid development in space technology is of help to the United Nations' effort in pushing for the peaceful use of outer space, the director-general of the United Nations Office in Vienna said on Thursday.

Antonio Maria Costa also expressed his appreciation of China's proposal for a peaceful outer space in talks with the Chinese delegation participating in the 52nd session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) on Thursday.

Chinese delegate Wang Wenbao, who is the director of the office of China's manned spaceflight, said China's space industry "is peaceful and open," and the country is willing to cooperate and communicate actively with the other countries around the world.

Costa stressed that the peaceful use of outer space was an issue concerning the whole world, and international cooperation was very important.

Mazlan Othman, head of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs also attended the meeting.

The 52nd session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is being held from June 3-12.

China to join efforts to maintain peace in outer space: envoy

2009-06-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

VIENNA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China is ready to join the international community in efforts to maintain peace in outer space, a Chinese envoy said here at the 52nd plenary session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

"The Chinese government has always stood for and abided by the principle of peaceful use of outer space," Tang Guoqiang, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Vienna, said, "We considered this an important part of efforts to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity."

He also said outer space is the common property of humanity and its exploration and use concerns all humanity.

He elaborated the Chinese government's position on the establishment and improvement of relevant laws and regulations to effectively prevent weaponization and an arms race in outer space, as well as on other issues.

The president of the 52nd session of the COPUOS, Ciro Arevalo Yepes, said in an interview with Xinhua that the Chinese government "pays great attention to the development of the space industry."

He also said he believes China's active participation would help the international community to better respond to many global problems.

When addressing the conference, China's first astronaut Yang Liwei called for peaceful development and use of outer space.

The COPUOS was established in 1959 as one of the United Nations General Assembly committees with the purpose of developing principles and regulations for peaceful use of outer space, as well as to promote cooperation and research, and to explore the technological and legal issues that may arise.

It currently has 69 member states. China became a full member in November 1980.

The 52nd session of COPUOS is being held from June 3-12 at the UN office in Vienna.

Chinese astronaut calls for peaceful use of outer space

2009-06-30T15:30:00.001-07:00

China's first astronaut Yang Liwei delivers a speech at the 52nd plenary session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), in Vienna, capital of Austria, June 3, 2009. Yang Liwei on Wednesday called for peaceful development and use of outer space here at the 52nd plenary session of COPUOS of the United Nations. The 52nd session of COPUOS is being held from June 3 to June 12 at the UN office in Vienna. (Xinhua/Liu Gang)
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VIENNA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China's first astronaut
Yang Liwei on Wednesday called for peaceful development and use of outer space
here at the 52nd plenary session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful
Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

China believes space resources should be explored and
used peacefully on the basis of equality and mutual benefits, mutual
complementarity and mutual learning for the benefit of all mankind, Yang said.

"The Chinese government has always maintained that outer space is the shared wealth of all mankind and has consistently advocatedf or the peaceful exploration and use of outer space for the common good and benefit of all human beings," he said.

China's first astronaut Yang Liwei (R) shakes hands with Ciro Arevalo Yepes (L), President of the 52nd plenary session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), in Vienna, capital of Austria, June 3, 2009.(Xinhua/Liu Gang)
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Yang also said China believes international space
cooperation should follow the basic principles embodied in a U.N. resolution of
1996 which was entitled "Declaration on International Cooperation in the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space for the Benefit and in the Interest of All
States, Taking into Particular Account the Need of Developing Countries."

In developing its space industry, China has always
maintained a close and friendly relationship with the United Nations and
conducted extensive exchanges with astronauts and space agencies of many other
countries, Yang said.

China's space industry is "taking solid and steady
steps" in accordance with its own national conditions, he said.

Yang carried out China's first space mission,
Shenzhou-5, in October 2003.

The 52nd session of COPUOS is being held from June 3
to June 12at the UN office in Vienna.