UR TV CAST

Computer-controlled robotic missions can gather vast quantities of data But they are less good at evaluating it. Everything we need – food, water, the air we breathe – must be taken with us. These factors limit the length of any mission, while the sheer weight of such basic items significantly reduces the useful payload of shuttle missions. Discovery and its surviving sisters, Atlantis and Endeavour, are hopelessly limited vehicles, capable of reaching only low earth orbit.

Nasa’s most productive programme is the Hubble Space Telescope, which has provided invaluable insights into fundamental problems of astrophysics- Hubble’s Ultra Deep Field is the most sensitive astronomical optical image ever taken. Hubble is approaching the end of its life, but a “Next Generation Space Telescope” is due to be launched in 2010. The Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rovers have also been huge successes, continuing to send back important data about the red planet to scientists.What’s the problem with sending people into space?Quite simply, space is an extremely hostile environment for humans. Each shuttle launch costs around $1.3bn (£720m), but the most important exploration today is carried out by unmanned craft, costing far less per individual mission. In July 2005, Discovery carried out a first post-disaster mission, amid lingering worries over possible damage at lift-off from fragments of foam insulation that hit the craft’s heat resistant tiles. The launch appears to have been a complete success, with no sign of significant damage. It is thus more likely that the shuttle programme will continue until its scheduled retirement in 2010.
The fact remains, however, that man’s presence in space, which started with Yuri Gagarin in 1961, reached its climax just eight years later when Apollo XI carried men to the moon, 250,000 miles from earth.

The main point of the latest Discovery mission, at a modest altitude of 200 miles, is to test the ability to make in-flight repairs, and above all to ensure the seven-man crew returns safely.Is there an alternative to manned space exploration?Very much so. “Both of them appeared to be dancing pretty enthusiastically, though they were just having a bit of a laugh. The young lady did seem suitably impressed with Hoon’s moves. He only stopped when he realised a few mischievous people were taking photographs.”pandora independent.co.uk.

So why are we asking this now?

The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Florida on Tuesday. This 13-day mission is in effect a second safety test for the entire US shuttle programme, after the loss of Columbia in February 2003. “Everyone round here is now calling him the Child Catcher.”* Some might say the talents of New Labour minister Geoff Hoon have been somewhat unfairly called into question over the past few years. But according to reports, there can be no detractors when it comes to his form on the dance floor.At a recent reception in Strasbourg in honour of a retiring MEP, Hoon was seen taking the floor with someone described by one witness as a “young, twenty-something blonde”.”The two of them both got up to dance after the Sinatra song ‘New York, New York’ started playing,” I’m told. She said she loves reading and reads to her children at home all the time.”* Tory MEP Edward McMillan-Scott has been on the receiving end of a number of cruel jibes from colleagues this week.He has just issued a press release urging the European Commission to “name and shame” those countries that fail to punish parents who abduct their own children during custody battles.Unfortunately for McMillan-Scott, however, his efforts have been overshadowed by the unfortunately phrased opening sentence of the release, where he innocently boasts: “I am involved with several cases of child abduction in the UK”.”It’s a bit of a shocker for Ed,” says one colleague. During her appearance on Big Brother four years ago, she famously asked whether East Anglia was abroad.”Jade was suggested by one of the publishers involved,” explains a spokesman.”She did a Q&A session with some local teenagers and seemed to really enjoy it. Just recently she embarked on a pop career, having previously had a crack at modelling as well as acting.* Strange as it may seem, Jade Goody has emerged as an unlikely campaigner against the closure of our nation’s libraries.Earlier this week, Goody performed as a guest speaker at an event in Kent organised by the government-supported Love Libraries campaign.Her involvement is a surprise choice, since books are not normally considered one of Goody’s passions.

The pair apparently bonded after Mills-McCartney invited Hilton over to her LA pad to watch a video of cats and dogs being skinned alive for their fur.”Paris’s decision is wonderful,” she says. “As a trend setter and a fashion icon, I know she is already using her influence to persuade some of her fur wearing celebrity friends to stop wearing fur.”It’s a bold statement, since Hilton is not known to sticking at things for long. The FA – clearly with enough on their plates at the moment – aren’t getting involved.”Clearly we are very pro-active in terms of stamping out homophobic behaviour,” says a spokesman.”But Peter Tatchell should direct this at The Sun and its editor. We don’t want to enter into a debate with the media.”* Heather Mills McCartney might be estranged from her husband, but her drive to recruit celebrities to her crusade against the fur industry is going great guns.Yesterday, she announced on her website that she had persuaded the shopaholic US heiress Paris Hilton to stop wearing fur. “We urge the Football Association to prove its proclaimed commitment to tackling homophobia by reporting The Sun to the Press Complaints Council. In particular, Tatchell has taken issue with what he calls a homophobic smearing of Ronaldo, after the newspaper dubbed him a “nancy boy” and a “pretty boy”.
Such talk is like a red rag to a bull for Tatchell, and he’s now demanding that the FA report the matter to the Press Complaints Commission.”"The Sun’s homophobic sneers against Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo, are out of order,” he says.