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NASA HAS SUCCESSFULLY launched its unmanned MAVEN spacecraft toward Mars to study the Red Planet’s atmosphere for clues as to why Earth’s neighbour lost its warmth and water over time.
The white Atlas V 401 rocket carrying the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter blasted off on schedule at 6:28 pm (1.28 local time).
(Youtube/ NASA Kennedy)
“Everything is looking good,” said NASA mission control.
The flawless liftoff of the $671 million spacecraft began its 10-month journey to Mars.
Arrival at Mars is scheduled for September 2014, with the science mission of the solar-wing paneled orbiter set to begin two months later.
The probe is different from past NASA missions because it focuses not on the dry surface but on the mysteries of the never-before-studied upper atmosphere.
MAVEN before launch at the Kennedy Space Centre. (Pic: AP Photo/John Raoux)
Much of MAVEN’s year-long mission will be spent circling the planet at a height of 6,000 kilometres above the surface.
However, it will execute five deep dips to a distance of just 125 kilometers above the Martian landscape to get readings of the atmosphere at various levels.
Researchers have described the mission as a search for a missing piece to the puzzle of what happened to Mars’ atmosphere, perhaps billions of years ago, to transform Earth’s neighbor from a water-bearing planet that might have been favorable for life to a dry, barren desert.
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The Chinese have built this island in disputed waters. It is a land grab by them using their might to bully the countries that have much greater claim to the area such as Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Yes, that’s right. But watch 70% of the comments here use the story as an opportunity to take a swipe at the USA.
I forgot to mention that the Chinese have probably done untold environmental damage constructing these island and destroyed the reefs and wildlife that lived there.
Robin Hilliard_There is a valid reason people take a good swipe at the USA.
since the United States was founded in 1776, she has been at war during 214 out of her 235 calendar years of existence.
We should swipe more at the US and hold them to account for their support of reckless countries like Israel.
And so it begins, the long expected Chinese aggression to the West
Not to mention America’s reckless support for Saudi Arabia a breeding ground for ISIS and all these other “head hacking” terrorist organisations.
It would never happen but Russia should sell China some land
Russia: Land; 17m Sq Kilometers , pop : 141,882,000
China: Land ; 9m Sq Kilometers , pop : 1,333,670,000
China’s level of population is always going to cause tensions in the area, and it could be argued that they are doing their best by investing in farmland in Africa and the 1 child policy …
Question just reading, who is going to sell land to India?
India Land: 3.29m Sq. Km, Population: 1.276 Billion Density 385/sq. km. vs 145/sq. km in China
@ just readin, China isn’t building these tiny islands to get extra land for its population.
What ever happened to Chinese building a city outside Athlone in the Midlands?
We should condemn China, but the US condemning China is ridiculous. Check your history, how did you think most of southern USA was annexed into the union in the mid 1800s? By doing THE SAME of what happened in CRIMEA. There was a significant minority presence of US citizens (English speakers and white) in Northern Mexico (Texas, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona), but still minority, they decided to join the US, but the locals didn’t allow that, so they held a local consultation amongst white americans and they won, so the US annexed these Mexican States by force using the exact same tactics Putin used nowadays with the excuse of “protect the interest of US citizens in this territory”.
Saul, the Americans didn’t condemn China. They just sailed a warship close to the artificial islands to show that they don’t recognise China’s legitimacy in the area. There’s a difference.
@Presson….Israel,- Foremost in the fight against Hamas/ISIS Islamo-Fascist terror.
I agree with the idea of the right to have your sovereign land rights etc but is this not the group of “islands” China just started making in international waters ? In an attempt to try beef up its “lack of “tactical advantage in the area ?
I bet every one of China’s neighbours feels great about a Chinese military Base on their own claimed economic zones.
Alan yes is the answer.
made in China no worries the island will probably sink within a year or so.
More than likely China is right.
America has no business in that part of the world.
You’re aware that the islands which China is building and then claiming are nowhere near China?
Robin Hilliard_Do you also realize that the US Military have their bases and are sprawled all over the world “nowhere near America”
@JohnAbbs you do realise that those US bases are there with the agreement of the governments of the countries they are based in!
Puppet Governments taken over by regime changes.
I guess it won’t be too long before governments of Syria and Iran also “agree” to US military bases.
This is where we can appreciate Valdimir Putin for stepping in and nipping the bud of this situation
So the US has puppet Governments in the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea and Spain. Yeah I say you haven’t a clue. BTW did anybody tell you about the Russian base in Syria?
aah…. generic anti-american troll is right!
no… wait…. he/she/it isnt, at all.
There can be no rational defense for building artificial islands 1,200 kms from the mainland & claiming all the waters up to Malaysia & the Philippines as Chinese!
You’re a special kind of stupid John
John, have you ever looked at China’s territorial claim for waters in the China sea? Seriously you could be a complete NATO hater and still you would have to be either really dumb or really Chinese to believe their claims have any standing in international law
Russia were cleared by the internationally recognised leader of Syria, Assad to set up base in Syria and help gain control over the country. They are there legally. The U.S. Are there illegally. Check your facts before stating blatant lies!
proinsias, ask the former inhabitants of the chagos islands if they agreed to house an American base on their island.
The Chinese probably see this as a way of extending their territory by building a platform on a reef and create a military installation with an aircraft landing facility. The Japanese had similar ambitions during WW2.
In my day, bullys only responded to a good kick in the hole. China should have done the same.
But in this case it is China that is acting the bully, other nations such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia have a far better claim to the area as their land masses are much closer to the disputed area!
What would that kick in the hole involve? China opening fire on a US warship? That would really end well
At this point, a war between the two would result in the total annihilation of China and they’re well aware of that fact. The US have enough warships with anti-missile capabilities in the Pacific to down all of China’s long-range nuclear arsenal. The Americans have enough long-range missiles to wipe out China’s major population centres 2x over.
They’re going through a ‘big bad wolf’ moment, they can push around the countries immediately neighbouring them (with the exception of Russia) but the US is still a major obstacle which they can’t overcome.
Read the Russian report on what would happen if Russia and China went to war John. They had a full plan devised as to what they would do in the event of a war and the results for China would be absolutely devastating. No doubt the US and her eastern allies came up with a similar plan with a similar outcome.
Jason Culligan_Your statement “a war between the two would result in the total annihilation of China”
In reality a war between the two would involve Russian intervention and a nuclear war.
Vladimir Putin: Don’t mess with nuclear-armed Russia
Do you honestly think that the Russians would intervene on behalf of the Chinese? The two nations barely tolerate one another and only somewhat agree on certain points in geopolitics.
Jason Culligan_ America is totally out of control in its foreign policies and the patients between these both countries are on thin ice.
China and Russia are also together in the quest to rid Syria of US backed terrorist organisations.
That US Ship is 12 Miles of artificial islands Beijing is building. 12 Miles = 19.3121KM > 17
John China claims all of the he South China Sea as its waters even the bits that are 2 miles off the coast of Vietnam
Wayne O’Fathaigh and Vietnam, the senseless War that America lost.
58,148 were killed in Vietnam.
75,000 were severely disabled.
23,214 were 100% disabled.
5,283 lost limbs.
1,081 sustained multiple amputations.
Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21.
11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old.
Of those killed, 17,539 were married.
Average age of men killed: 23.1 years.
Why don’t u just move to the good ol usa?
The pentagon actually believes war with China would have no winner as the Chinese will launch their nuclear arsenal
Even if they did launch their nuclear arsenal, the missiles would mostly be shot down by America’s anti-missile systems. The US has invested heavily in upgrading the USN with anti-missile capabilities, to the point that additional destroyers being deployed to the Med upset Russia as these ships posed a serious threat to Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
That’s before we touch on the Patriot missiles which have also been heavily upgraded in recent years for anti-missile duties. The Chinese simply do not have enough long-range missiles to run the gauntlet of American defence systems.
Yes John and how does that relate to the issue we are discussing China claiming all of the China sea as theirs despite being divided amongst a number of states under international law
Wayne O’Fathaigh_America has no business dictating to other nations on “international law” issues until it gets its own house in order.
Bit of the pot calling the kettle.
Jason the American apologist strikes again, here to defend America!! They can do no wrong. Except the fact of millions being killed in proxy wars to destabilise the Middle East and of course looking after Israel. Russia wants America to strike. Putin is provoking them but they won’t because the Russians have missiles trained on Israel to wipe it out before the U.S. Can come to its rescue. The U.s. Have tactical warheads that don’t cause as much devistation. Russia and China are both still following the old way and throw Iran into the mix. WWIII here we go are the U.S. Prepared to start that? They are just teasing the Chinese the same as the Russians there is a teasing game going on the question is who and when will strike first. Oh btw the U.S. Have zero interest in protecting Vietnam etc as history dictates so cut the bullshit. Oh yeah by the way the U.S. Owes most of its debt to China. The yellow man will rule the world ;)
John, both the US and Russia use mostly tactical nuclear weapons as these are the systems with the highest chances of success. Both nations field nuclear missiles which contain multiple smaller warheads as this maximises the chance that a warhead will still hit the target in the event of a missile intercept. Also it has been proven that ‘bigger’ warheads generally are useless compared to a larger number of smaller warheads as the extra explosive force is mostly wasted. It helps to do your research first.
Israel aren’t particularly worried about Russian missiles, after all Israel is leading the pack when it comes to sophisticated anti-missile systems. Even the US is pulling experience and designs from Israel to upgrade their missile defence capabilities.
Good thing they don’t John, territorial waters are defined by the UN Law of the sea, China are part to the agreement,funnily enough the USA are not!
But keep flying kites and fishing for red herrings rather than dealing with the issue
That would probably reduce world hunger though, on the bright side Jason. 1.3 billion less people on the planet would help reduce the demands on the environment and resources.
Sail a warship 2 miles away from Guam and see how the US like it
The US didn’t purposely build Guam to piss off the Japanese.
Oh I forgot It’s intrinsically part of the US and not militarily significant at all.
The Chicom government plant on this site is pretty obvious
Think the headline needs to be looked at again
America need to f##k off and leave other countries alone. It’s obvious that they are causing more wars than preventing. Its all about oil.
The Chinese built these islands in disputed territory purposely. Honestly I can’t blame the US for reminding the Chinese that they don’t fear the Chinese military and don’t care for China’s attempts at land-grabbing.
Yes Sean and it’s the Chinese who are trying to claim oil, gas and whatever else lies under these waters by building artificial islands not the Americans. The smaller nations in the region don’t have the military strength to stand up to China so the US is their only hope for the application of international law. Try to see past the knee-jerk anti Americanism
Sean you are very naive if you think it is that simple. No America around seems to be the thing some looney’s want but what you think the likes of China, Russia, NK etc would live and let live without the yanks? Dream on.
China and the US won’t got to war anytime soon. It will destroy both countries and the world and they both know it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/llewellyn-king/how-to-steal-the-sea-chin_b_6258780.html
“But that is what China is actively doing in the ocean south of the mainland: the South China Sea. Bit by bit, it is establishing hegemony over this most important sea where the littoral states — China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam — have territorial claims.
The importance of the South China Sea is hard to overestimate. Some of the most vital international sea lanes traverse it; it is one of the great fishing areas; and the ocean bed, near land, has large reserves of oil and gas. No wonder everyone wants a piece of it — and China wants all of it.”
There you go Sean.
The Chinese, not a great bunch of lads!
I think the US need to send that ship to Dubai
The Yanks trying to show their military might but I doubt the Chinese are bothered they could just call in a few loans their owed by U.S and the ship wont have enough fuel to go anywhere.
This has been explained to you multiple times, you can’t just ‘call in a few loans’ when it comes to international bonds. The system does not work like that.
China may not have a ball to strike US, but another small countries may not be that lucky if they do the same.
The question is whether US is willing to protect these countries if they are struck by China.
They were in Korea, Vietnam and the First Gulf War to name but a few examples. Say what you will about the US but when their allies are militarily invaded they do tend to respond quickly.
If these islands mean invasion, what is US waiting for? Crossing 12 miles means nothing, it looks so fake. It knows China is not Iraq or Korea. China is like Russia. US won’t risk a war to protect Ukraine or Georgia. Do you think it will protect Philippine?
They didn’t want to risk a war with Russia because the US’ missile defence systems would not be enough to stop the sheer volume of long-range nuclear weapons that Russia has available. In terms of a conventional war only, NATO’s active military forces dwarf that of Russia’s.
China, on the other hand, has mostly short and mid-range nuclear weapons systems which would be useful against it’s immediate neighbours. It has only a few missiles capable of reaching the US which would be easy for the US’s missile defence systems to deal with.
Well, we will wait and see that US will destroy these islands for Philippine. Do you believe US will protect Philippine fish boats?
I doubt the US would go to war if China shot up a few Philippine boats, however they would certainly relocate more USN assets to the area to act as a screening force. I also doubt that the Chinese would be willing to escalate things too far either given the disparity of strength.
Jason, if US really wants to do something, it should deploy fleet 7 around these islands for a while and then invite fishing boats of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippine to fish there for while. Otherwise, it is just nothing more than a clumsy show.
North Korea, an ally of the Soviet Union and China invaded South Korea, an American ally. North Vietnam, again an ally of the Soviet Union, invaded South Vietnam, an American ally.
You need to brush up on your history mate.
you would swear the US did something
Ah Jason baseless claims like your infantile claims about American foreign policy at every turn you have been proved wrong time and time again . Wring about Libya wrong about Iraq wring about Syria wrong about Russia and now wrong about China. You remind of a DJ playing songs at a party that were once cool but now sound abit cheesey and shit the people have moved on mate . Keep spinning those records though whatever makes you a buck or two. Will you be still here when it all comes crashing down I doubt it .
Nail on the head.
Jason reminds me of a DJ playing a scratched record.
Where have I been proven wrong about any of those you just listed? Please do list examples with links, I’m curious as AFAIK having B-Egan cry ‘you’re wrong’ does not automatically qualify as an adequate refutation of a point.
If you need some time to gather the required evidence I’ll be patient.
Jason how much you getting paid lad ? Gwan tell us…
To show you up for someone who makes baseless claims about topics he knows little about? Sure that’s payment in itself.
Jason the Chinese are in the process of dumping American debt tho debt is been bought by American investors their national debt is 22 trillion and rising the dollar Is a doomed currency its on life support the machine will eventually be turned off and then your anti China Russia preachings will come back and bite you . Unemployment is imminent for you I feel.
Again you show little understanding of how the markets work.
The Chinese are dumping debt at the moment as they used American Sovereign Debt as a way of tying up Yuan. By purchasing American debt (which is still seen as a stable, if unprofitable investment) the Chinese government could take Yuan out of circulation and artificially maintain it’s value.
Now, as I’m sure you’re well aware, China is going through an economic slowdown. They’re attempting to free up currency to invest in their ailing stock market to keep it afloat. Nothing to do with attempts to scuttle the American economy as to do so would be economic suicide for China. The debt will be bought by other countries.
The great America, they can do no wrong. Meddling in foreign matters and making a complete f**k up of it look at Afghanistan and Iraq? Lol do you really think that their interest is in bringing peace lmao that’s a funny one you U.S. Apologists make me sick you are blind!!
12 miles. So what is China’s exclusion zone. ?
China claimed that everyone can freely travel through these islands, crossing 12 mile is just a show to the world. But I doubt if US dares to fish and drill there. If it does, now, we are at the edge of war.
Yankee-haters with fake Irish names should go live in Yankee-hating countries like China/Russia/Islamo-Fascist Sharia Law States,etc.
I really can’t wait till they meet there match
But China is creating islands on top of coral reefs stealing the area from the Philippines and other countries in the area, they are the thieves really and ” the Philippines had been under U.S. administration since the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898.”
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2794.htm
have your say