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by Issam Ahmed and Lucie Aubourg Agence France Presse With its impeccable landing on Thursday, NASA’s Perseverance became the fifth rover to reach Mars — so when can we finally expect the long-held goal of a crewed expedition to materialize? NASA’s current Artemis program is billed as a “Moon to Mars” mission, and acting administrator Steve Jurczyk has reiterated his aspiration of “the mid-to-end of the 2030s” for American boots on the Red Planet. But […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA on Friday released stunning new photographs from Perseverance, including one of the rover being gently lowered to the surface of Mars by a set of cables, the first time such a view has been captured. The high-resolution still was extracted from a video taken by the descent stage of the spacecraft that had transported the rover from Earth. At that moment, the descent stage was using its six-engined […]
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer on Friday said tests have shown that their coronavirus vaccine can stand warmer temperatures than initially thought, potentially simplifying the jab’s complex cold-chain logistics. The companies said they have asked the US Food and Drug Administration to allow for the vaccine to be stored for up to two weeks at minus 25 to minus 15 degrees Celsius (minus 13 to five […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A 90-year-old American woman trudged six miles in a foot of snow with two walking sticks to get her coronavirus vaccination. Fran Goldman, of Seattle, had been trying frantically to get an appointment for her first shot, working the phones every day in vain, reports said. When she finally got one for last Sunday, Goldman was determined to keep her appointment — several inches of snow on the ground […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union on Thursday ordered Poland to comply with a top EU court decision and implement new regulations to preserve one of the continent’s last primeval forests. The European Court of Justice in 2018 said Poland’s government broke the law by allowing logging in the Bialowieza Forest, a UNESCO world heritage site. The logging began in May 2016 and the European Commission took Poland to court arguing that it was […]
by Issam Ahmed and Lucie Aubourg Agence France Presse After seven months in space, NASA’s Perseverance rover survived a nail-biting landing phase to touch down gently on the surface of Mars on Thursday, ready to embark on its mission to search for the signs of ancient microbial life. “Touchdown confirmed,” said operations lead Swati Mohan at around 3:55 pm Eastern Time (2055 GMT), as mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena erupted […]
by Martin PARRY Agence France Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Japan’s Naomi Osaka brutally halted Serena Williams’s latest bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title on Thursday, as Novak Djokovic wrote the final chapter of qualifier Aslan Karatsev’s fairy-tale run. Fans returned after a five-day coronavirus lockdown in time to see an emotional exit from Williams, Jennifer Brady’s win over Karolina Muchova and top-ranked Djokovic preserving his perfect semi-final record at Karatsev’s expense. Triple […]
by Philippe Rater with Shaun Tandon in Washington Agence France Presse UNITED Nations (AFP) — The United Nations on Wednesday led calls for a coordinated global effort to vaccinate against Covid-19, warning that gaping inequities in initial efforts put the whole planet at risk. Foreign ministers met virtually for a first-ever UN Security Council session on vaccinations called by current chair Britain, which said the world had a “moral duty” to act together against […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — A South African company is seeking to help solve the logistical nightmare of keeping Covid-19 vaccinations at the ultra-cold temperatures necessary as they are shipped across the continent. Johannesburg-based natural gas producer Renergen is developing an ultra-cold biologic transport freezer for the task as countries throughout Africa plan for rollouts of comprehensive vaccination programmes. The vaccines developed jointly by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech must be stored at […]
by John BIERS and Daniel HOFFMAN Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Some 2.7 million households in Texas were still without power as of Wednesday morning in the wake of extremely cold weather buffeting the region. But while the unusual Arctic air mass has lashed numerous states with snow and sleet with more on the way Thursday, Texas, the heart of the country’s oil industry, has seen the worst of the power outages. […]
by Lucie AUBOURG Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — After a seven-month journey, NASA’s Perseverance rover prepares to touch down on Mars on Thursday after first negotiating a risky landing procedure that will mark the start of its multi-year search for signs of ancient microbial life. The Mars 2020 mission, which set off late from Florida in late July, includes the largest ever vehicle to be dispatched to the Red Planet. Built […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — More than a century after the first powered flight on Earth, NASA intends to prove it’s possible to replicate the feat on another world. Transported aboard the Mars 2020 spacecraft that arrives at the Red Planet on Thursday, the small Ingenuity helicopter will have several challenges to overcome — the biggest being the rarefied Martian atmosphere, which is just one percent the density of Earth’s. – Ultralight – It might […]
