Space freighter burns up after launch

State commission to probe crash

MOSCOW, Dec 2, (AFP): An unmanned cargo ship travelling to the International Space Station burned up in the atmosphere shortly after launch on Thursday, Russia’s space agency said.

“According to preliminary information, as a result of an abnormal situation, the cargo ship’s loss occurred some 190 kilometres (110 miles) above the remote, unpopulated mountainous territory of (Russia’s) Tuva region, and most fragments burned up in dense layers of the atmosphere,” Roscosmos said in a statement.

Roscosmos said earlier Thursday that it had lost contact with the Progress MS-04 383 seconds after launch from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The failure was being investigated.

Loss

The agency said the loss will “not affect the ISS system’s normal operations and the subsistence of the station’s crew”.

NASA meanwhile said on its website that supplies at the space laboratory are “at good levels”.

The cargo ship, which had been scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Saturday, was carrying 2.4 tonnes of fuel, food and

“I could be a little underdressed for Antarctica. Although I tend to be hot blooded,” he wrote on November 27, posting a picture of himself wearing a black and red Mars shirt. (AFP)

Yoga philosophy in heritage list:

The ancient Indian philosophy behind yoga, the mind-body discipline now practised the world over, on Thursday joined UNESCO’s list of “intangible” world heritage.

The discipline was added to the prestigious list in recognition of its influence on Indian society, “from health and medicine to education and the arts”, the World Heritage equipment when it took off, Roscosmos said.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who launched to the ISS for a six-month mission in November, confirmed that the ISS crew had enough supplies.

“We can last many months up here without supplies because we recycle as much as possible and have many spares,” Pesquet wrote on his Facebook page.

“Spaceflight is international teamwork and some setbacks are always expected!”

Ship

Pesquet added that a cargo ship from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency was set to arrive on Dec 9.

The Russian agency said a state commission would probe the failure but did not say whether future launches would be affected.

In April 2015, a failed Progress launch was blamed on a problem with a Soyuz rocket.

Russia put all space travel on hold for nearly three months, and a group of astronauts had to spend an extra month on the ISS.

Russia said at the time that because the same type of rocket is used for manned ships, all issues Committee said in a statement.

“Designed to help individuals build self-realisation, ease any suffering they may be experiencing and allow for a state of liberation, (yoga) is practised by the young and old without discriminating against gender, class or religion,” UNESCO added in a tweet.

The list of “intangible” cultural treasures was created 10 years ago, mainly to increase awareness about them, while UNESCO also sometimes offers financial or technical support to countries struggling to protect them.

On Wednesday, the Paris-based UN body meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa added Cuba’s rumba dance and with Progress resupply missions needed to be thoroughly investigated before any manned vessels could be launched.

Russia sends three or four such spacecraft per year to supply the ISS. After making their delivery, they plummet back to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean.

Pesquet last month successfully blasted off to the ISS along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and NASA’s Peggy Whitson.

The launch followed that of Russians Andrei Borisenko and Sergei Ryzhikov and American Shane Kimbrough in October, which was pushed back by nearly a month due to technical issues.

Technical problems have complicated plans to extend the periods during which the ISS is fully staffed with six astronauts.

Russia’s Soyuz capsules offer the only way for astronauts to reach the ISS since the US shuttle was retired in 2011.

A US-led venture, the ISS comprises a human outpost and laboratory in space, assembled from components starting in 1998. It travels in low orbit at about 28,000 kilometres per hour (17,000 miles per hour). Belgium’s beer culture to the list, which also includes the Mediterranean diet, Peking opera and the Peruvian scissors dance.

On Tuesday, the UN body designated Ugandan traditional music, which is dying out partly because it requires materials from endangered species, as intangible heritage “in urgent need of safeguarding”.

UNESCO began compiling a list for cultural and natural world heritage – physical properties such as Cambodia’s Angkor Wat or the Grand Canyon in the United States – in 1972.

The list now comprises 814 cultural sites, 203 natural ones and 35 with both natural and cultural qualities such as Australia’s Uluru National Park, formerly known as Ayer’s Rock.

The committee winds up its review of nominations to the list of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on Friday. (AFP)

Niagra falls to get lighting:

A $4 million lighting makeover promises to dial up the wow factor of Niagara Falls at night.

Officials say energy-efficient LED lighting being unveiled Thursday will provide brighter and more robust color than the halogen technology that’s been used to cast the Falls in rainbow hues after dark for the past 20 years.

The light beams emanate from banks of spotlights on the Canadian side of the Falls, lighting up the Horseshoe and American Falls that, along with the Bridal Veil Falls, make up the bi-national tourist attraction.

The Falls were lit for the first time in 1860 with 200 lights like those used to signal for help at sea. Electricity was first used in 1879. The Illumination Tower where most of the lights are located was built in 1899. (AP)