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Showing posts from November, 2009

Orbiter Puts Itself Into Safe Standby

Artist concept of Mars Odyssey. Image credit: NASA/JPL Mars Odyssey Mission Status Report PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter put itself into a safe standby mode on Saturday, Nov. 28, and the team operating the spacecraft has begun implementing careful steps designed to resume Odyssey's science and relay operations within about a week. Engineers have diagnosed the cause of the Nov. 28 event as the spacecraft's proper response to a memory error with a known source. The likely cause is an upset in the orbiter's "memory error external bus," as was the case with a similar event in June 2008. In safe mode over the weekend, Odyssey remained in communication with ground controllers and maintained healthy temperatures and power. To clear the memory error, the team commanded Odyssey today to perform a cold reboot of the orbiter's onboard computer. The spacecraft reported that the reboot had been completed successfully. "This event is a type we

Atlantis Astros Feted Today; Endeavour Crew Rehearse for STS-130

After a flawless mission to resupply the International Space Station, the STS-129 crew members now are back at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. They will be honored with a homecoming ceremony at nearby Ellington Field today. Meanwhile, preparations for space shuttle Endeavour and its crew are ramping up for the STS-130 mission targeted to launch Feb. 4, 2010. Endeavour is scheduled to roll over from the orbiter processing facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in late December. There, it will be lifted and attached to the waiting external tank and twin solid rocket boosters. The STS-130 crew members, Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts Jr., Mission Specialists Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire, are rehearsing deorbit procedures today at Johnson. Endeavour will deliver a third connecting module, the Tranquility node, to the station in addition to the seven-windowed Cupola module, which will be use

Indian automobile Mahindra, BAE Systems ink military vehicles' JV

Indian automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and global defence security and aerospace company BAE Systems have signed an agreement to create a military vehicles-focused joint venture based in India at an investment of $21.25 million, it was announced Monday. The two companies will infuse the funds in three years, with Mahindra holding 74 percent of the equity and BAE 26 percent in accordance with the Indian government's current defence sector foreign direct investment norms. The JV, whose name is currently going through the official certification process, will be headquartered in New Delhi with manufacturing at a purpose-built facility south of Faridabad, just outside of Delhi. Initially, there will be about 100 employees and existing projects include the Axe high mobility vehicle as well as armoured and bulletproof Scorpios and Boleros, the Rakshak rapid intervention vehicle and the Marksman light armoured vehicle, a Mahindra statement said. 'In anticipation of the ne

Salman: I'm blessed

On World AIDS Day, Salman Khan writes on the films he did to spread awareness about AIDS and HIV.... In 2004, Revathi wanted to make her directorial debut in Hindi and was looking for actors for Phir Milenge. It was about an HIV positive person looking for a job. She went to a lot of stars to cast them for the film, but they all refused the part because they felt it might go against their image. So she approached me. The part appealed to me and the film itself had a meaning, an urgent message, and could do a lot of good in spreading awareness about HIV. Although the film was critically acclaimed, I still feel that it didn’t reach enough people. It could’ve been different if the treatment was in the local language. Shilpa Shetty was actually the one who asked me to do the film. She was playing the role of the person living with HIV. It was a bold step on her part and made me realise that if a big actress like her could take this step, then so could I. The premise of the film was about

Shilpa Shetty: go to US for honeymoon

Newly married Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty said that she would go for her honeymoon to the United States. Shetty visited her guru Kalki Bhagavan at Satyavedu, near Tirupati along with her husband Raj Kundra and a few other relatives. Shetty said she would be leaving for the US on Saturday . "I don't make any plan, tomorrow night we are leaving for America for honeymoon," said Shetty, who earlier on Friday sought blessings at the Tirupati temple. Shetty married London-based businessman Raj Kundra in a star-studded glittering ceremony in Khandala on Sunday (November 22). The couple had met in London soon after Shetty shot to fame as the winner of the British reality show ''Celebrity Big Brother'' in a controversial 2007 season that saw contestant Jade Goody hurl abuse at Shetty, making fun of her name and her Indian origin. Shetty went on to host ''Big Boss'', the Indian version of Big Brother, and also launched several business ventures, i

Azan: Ranbir In Mani Ratnam's

After the huge success of ' Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani ', Bollywood chocolate boy Ranbir Kapoor be being considered by ace film producers. Mani Ratnam be one of those considering the actor for his upcoming movie, as he is so impressed by Ranbir's acting talent. Mani, who is presently busy with 'Raavana', is planning his next venture tentatively titled Azan, which will hit theatres by August 2010. Azan is a pro-Muslim movie, which is said to be into the writing process. Nothing is known about the female lead that will be seen romancing opposite Ranbir. A source said, "After the release of Raavana in May 2010, Mani will start working for Azan. Unlike the films releasing in Bollywood of late, which focuses on either Jehad or Islam, this is a pro- Muslim film which will portray Muslims in a positive light." "The title of the film be the name of the lead character as he will be born during Azan (The Muslim summons to prayer, called by the muezzin from a

NASA 50th Anniversary Moments

STS-129 HD Landing From: NASAtelevision | November 27, 2009 | 8,718 views Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven astronauts ended an 11-day journey of nearly 4.5 million miles with a 9:44 a.m. EST landing Friday at NASA 's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, designated STS-129, included three spacewalks and the installation of two platforms to the International Space Station 's truss, or backbone. The platforms hold large spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired. The shuttle crew delivered about 30,000 pounds of replacement parts for systems that provide power to the station, keep it from overheating, and maintain a proper orientation in space. ... (more info) (less info) View comments, related videos, and more

STS-129 Post-landing Crew Conference

Commander Charles O. Hobaugh took the lead describing how well Atlantis performed from launch to landing, and the incredible amount of work that went into preparing both the shuttle and the crew for this ambitious mission. Hobaugh proudly introduced his crew and the tasks each member was responsible for. He mentioned Mission Specialist Randy Bresnik was not present at the briefing because he flew home to be with his wife and new baby girl, born while he was still on orbit. Nicole Stott is doing really well, said Hobaugh, after her 91 days in space, 80 of them as flight engineer. She's enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with her family. Mission Specialist Robert L. Satcher Jr. remarked that the training the crew members received helped them deal with the false alarms that went off a few times during their stay on the orbiting outpost. After being asked if there were any memories that stood out, Pilot Barry E. Wilmore jokingly said, "I feel great (but) I had noticed that many of the b

Reality Check: Column Ignores Facts about Health Reform

In today's Washington Post , Charles Krauthammer takes great pains to paint a bleak picture of health care reform as "monstrous," "overregulated," and rife with "arbitrary bureaucratic inventions." The columnist's argument may be cogent and well-written, but it is wholly inaccurate . Krauthammer describes a "better choice" for health reform as having three elements: tort reform, interstate purchasing and taxing employee benefits. All three elements are part of the current effort. President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of HHS to move forward with an initiative to give states and health systems the opportunity to apply for medical liability demonstration projects . Section 2531 of the House bill also includes a voluntary state incentive grants program to encourage states to develop alternatives to traditional malpractice litigation. Section 9001 of the Senate bill does impose a fee on high-cost health car

On the PERAB Tax Task Force

The President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board released the following statement today: Statement from PERAB Chairman Paul Volcker on Tax Task Force The tax subcommittee of the PERAB was scheduled to release its report on December 4th. But we have received more than 500 submissions of serious tax reform ideas from the public both in person and on our website and we had to cut them off to meet the original deadline. I want us to review as many suggestions as possible and to have sufficient time to fully consider the hundreds of suggestions that have come in already. I have asked the Administration to extend our deadline and to reopen the website for submissions so that we can hear the widest possible range of ideas. We still have the same specific mandate: to discuss the pros and cons of a spectrum of reform ideas relating to tax simplification, enforcement of existing tax laws and reform the corporate tax system without considering policies that would raise taxes on families

Today in History: November 28

The First American Automobile Race At 8:55 a.m. on November 28 , 1895, six "motocycles" left Chicago's Jackson Park for a 54 mile race to Evanston, Illinois and back through the snow. Number 5, piloted by inventor J. Frank Duryea, won the race in just over 10 hours at an average speed of about 7 . 3 miles per hour! The winner earned $2,000, the enthusiast who named the horseless vehicles "motocycles" won $500, and the Chicago Times-Herald , sponsor of the race, declared: Persons who are inclined…to decry the development of the horseless carriage…will be forced…to recognize it as an admitted mechanical achievement, highly adapted to some of the most urgent needs of our civilization. "The Future of the Motocycle", The Chicago Times-Herald , November 29, 1895. Jackson Park , Chicago, Illinois, 1908. Taking the Long View, 1851-1991 Only two years earlier in Springfield, Massachusetts , brothers Charles and J. Frank Duryea had built and driven what t

New indian bollywood movies

Daily approximately 15 million Indians from all walks of life go to cinema halls and theatre to watch Bollywood movies. In addition to this, millions of people watch Bollywood movies on DVDs, videos and Internet. Most Bollywood movies are masala films to give full value for money to the audiences. The movies are good entertainer involving songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and fight scenes. New Bollywood Movies It is noted that many new movie video files are uploaded within days of their release on many websites. This constitutes piracy and is in violation to copyright laws. As the old and new Bollywood movies are copyright material, we cannot give any links to watch them online. We have not created any streaming videos or uploaded any movie files on our servers. People usually upload new movies on internet sites such as youtube.com. video.google.com, dailymotion.com, zshare.net and similar video sites. You can watch many old and new movies from India online on many web sites.

Dhoni - Sreesanth controlled his emotions

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni believes a well-behaved Shanthakumaran Sreesanth augurs well for the side. The temperamental fast bowler marked a spectacular return to the international game after a break of over 18 months by claiming six wickets in India's crushing victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test at Kanpur. Sreesanth's five for 75 in the first innings - only his second five-wicket haul in Tests - had helped India enforce the follow-on and eventually secure victory by an innings and 144 runs inside four days. It was India's 100th victory in Test cricket and Dhoni credited Sreesanth for his part in the success. "I don't think anybody expected a seamer to run away with a five-wicket haul but he did," Dhoni said. "He bowled really well, came steaming in and consistently hit good areas. "More importantly he controlled his emotions and he has definitely cut down on his antics. "He was aggressive, but in a different way and that is good

UK loves comedy films - but Coventry is crazy about sci-fi

FILM FANS are choosing to laugh their way through tough economic times, with comedy named as the UK's favourite genre . Cinema chain Odeon polled more than 5,000 UK moviegoers - and found that comedy came out on top, with just over a fifth of votes (21 per cent). This was followed by action/adventure with 15 per cent, and romantic comedies with 12 per cent. Nearly a quarter of those who took part in the poll (24 per cent) named police spoof Hot Fuzz, starring Simon Pegg, as their favourite comedy film of all time. The survey also found regional variations, with the action adventure genre particularly popular in Oxford, Bollywood in Brighton , comedy in Cardiff, gangster in Norwich, sci-fi in Coventry, horror in Wolverhampton, musical in Worcester and rom com in York. Luke Vetere, sales and marketing director at Odeon and UCI cinemas said: "2009 has proved to be a real treat for comedy fans with blockbuster offerings such as The Hangover and Bruno taking the nation by storm du

What's on WWE Superstars tonight : The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Goldust in action

Tonight's edition of WWE Superstars on WGN will feature R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler from the Smackdown brand. Truth has been placed in higher profile matches as of late while Ziggler's recent streak has included a two-fall loss to John Morrison in a two-out-of-three falls match for the IC Title on last week's Smackdown , the first elimination in the opening Survivor Series match, and a decisive loss against Kofi Kingston in the opening match on Raw. Miz_130GG_15.jpg The Raw brand has U.S. champion The Miz vs. Santino in a "re-match" from their near-food fight on the "Dinner Impossible" show on Food Network that aired earlier this month. It will be interesting to see whether the announcers refer to that cross-over show during the match tonight. ECW has Goldust vs. Kozlov in a match-up of two men who were off WWE TV for a few weeks. Kozlov returned to ECW TV this past Tuesday while Goldust has not appeared on TV since the November 10 ECW from England .

Crew Given "Go" for Payload Bay Door Closing

At 5:52 a.m. EST, STS-129 entry Flight Director Bryan Lunney and his entry team of flight controllers gave space shuttle Atlantis Commander Charles Hobaugh a "go" to close the payload bay doors. Shortly, Atlantis will transition to the entry software program. The crew members will begin suiting up in their launch and entry suits at 7:14 a.m. and strap into their seats at 7:37 a.m. A "go-no go" call for the 8:37 a.m. deorbit burn is expected at 8:17 a.m. Weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility are observed "go" and forecast "go" for the predicted landing time of 9:44 a.m. EST. NASA Flight Crew Operations Director Brent Jett is flying weather reconnaissance flights at Kennedy and reports the conditions are as predicted. Capcom Chris Ferguson told Hobaugh, "Really good conditions down here." Image above: The STS-129 crew members show some of their Thanksgiving food items during an in-flight media intervie

Zee Multiplex Nov. 25 '09

For more news and analysis, log on to www.zeenews.com ... zee news multiplex bollywood priyanka chopra vidya balan katrina kaif arshad warsi movie Tags : top bollywood news , youtube bollywood news , new bollywood films , bollywood star news , current bollywood news , latest bollywood news

Indian film: fraternity divided on capturing 26/11 on reels

A year after the country's entertainment capital witnessed one of the worst-ever terror attacks, Bollywood is still divided on whether it is the right to bring alive the 26/11 carnage on the silver screen. Though around 10 film titles revolving around the tragedy have been registered and a couple of low-budget movies are ready for release, mainstream filmmakers have chosen to stay away from the topic after director Ram Gopal Varma faced flak for accompanying the then Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deskmukh to visit the Taj hotel soon after the attacks. Despite Verma's denial that he had any plans to make a film on the attacks, he was severely criticised for the 'terror tourism', which also cost the chief minister his job. Filmmaker Rensil D'silva, who tackles terrorism in his recently released film Kurbaan, feels it is too early to explore the subject as the wounds left by the incident. "Not anytime soon. The wounds are yet to heal. We should wait for at least 3-4 yea

Wish Shahrukh was here, say Makrand Deshpande

Panaji, Nov 26 (IANS) Actor and director Makrand Deshpande would have loved to have superstar Shahrukh Khan for the premiere of his film ‘Shahrukh Bola Tu Khoohbsurat Hai’ at the 40th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here. ‘I had invited Shahrukh here for the premiere of my film, but he told me that he would attend the opening night instead,’ Deshpande told reporters. Speaking about his film , Deshpande, known for his quirky roles like that of a gangling ascetic in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s ‘Swades’, said that the movie was about a girl who has a small brush with Shahrukh Khan in real life which completely transforms her life. ‘This girl is in a very bad mood, when Shahrukh suddenly as a matter of chance passes by the street in a car and says ‘tu khoobsurat hai!’ (you are beautiful!). It changes the life of this flower-selling girl,’ Deshpande said. Speaking about his role as a director, Deshpande said that experience in theatre held him in good stead. ‘I did not

Cricket news: Dravid scores landmark ton

Rahul Dravid completed his 28th Test century and moved into fourth place on the all-time scorers list as India tightened their grip on the second Test against Sri Lanka yesterday. Dravid made a superb 144 after becoming the third player to score a hundred before India were all out for 642 soon after tea on the second day. Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath triggered a late batting slump,when he grabbed five wickets by striking either side of the interval on a slow Green Park pitch. Herath captured five for 121, his fourth five-wicket haul in a test innings,, taking all but one of the last six wickets which tumbled for 29 runs. Sri Lanka reached 66 for one at stumps after a nightmare start when opener Tillakaratne Dilshan was out for a first ball duck when he top-edged a loosener down the leg side from paceman Zaheer Khan to be caught at mid-on. Contador to stay with Astana team Tour de France champion Alberto Contador is set to remain with his Astana squad in 2010 after Intern

2nd ODI England v South Africa: Cape Town preview and tips

Cape Town will host England in the third ODI against South Africa. The visitors lead the series 1-0 and a win here for England will mean that they cannot lose the series. This will be a coup of sorts, as the last time South Africa did not win a bilateral ODI series at home was way back in 2001-02! However, South Africa will draw heart from the fact that their record at Newlands in Cape Town has been near-impeccable. In the 27 games that the hosts have played here, they have lost only three. They will also go into the game on a nine-match winning streak here, and that is probably one reason why Bet Fred offers 4/7 for a South African win. England, who were 2/1 to win the second game is now at 6/4 (Boylesports) to take an unassailable 2-0 lead, and with the issues that South Africa has had with their bowling, it is a reasonable possibility. South Africa did get to 250 in the previous game, but the captain Graeme Smith wasn’t too far from the truth when he said that the pitch demanded at

New Report Provides Update on Recent Climate Changes

View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. Image credit: NASA › Larger image A new global scientific synthesis report prepared by 26 of the world's top climate scientists, including JPL research scientist Eric Rignot and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center researcher Robert Bindschadler, concludes that several important aspects of climate change are occurring at the high end of, or even beyond the expectations of just a few years ago. The report, "The Copenhagen Diagnosis: Updating the World on the Latest Climate Science," documents key findings in climate change science since December 2005. That was the cutoff for scientific inputs used to prepare the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, released in 2007. › Read the news release › Read the full report