Science & Technology

MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia plans the country's first manned mission to the moon in 2031, RIA Novosti news agency reported Saturday, citing a document by the Russian Central Research Institute of Machine Building.

The crew members are expected to conduct astronauts' activities on the moon and implement tasks set by the Russian Academy of Sciences.

10 Feb 2019; Xinhua: China's icebreaker Xuelong arrives at the Zhongshan Station, a Chinese research base in Antarctica, Feb. 9, 2019 and started to transfer fuel oil to the station by helicopter.

Washington, Feb 7; PTI: The US has agreed to sell two state-of-the-art missile defence systems to Air India One for an estimated cost of USD 190 million, a move that will enhance the security of planes flying the prime minister and the president.

According to the Pentagon, the sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the US by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship.

Washington, Feb 8 (PTI) The US has called for tougher sanctions against the Iranian regime following the reported second failed space launch by Tehran in defiance to the international community and the Security Council resolutions.

Images released by the Colorado-based company DigitalGlobe have showed a rocket at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province on Tuesday.

Industry experts have suggested the launch failed just after liftoff.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The United States space agency NASA has released its first look of China's Chang'e-4 Lunar Landing Site.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) approached the Von Karman crater on which the the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 4 landed, nearly four weeks after its landing.

On Jan. 30, the LRO rolled 70 degrees to the west to snap a spectacular view looking across the floor toward the west wall, according to NASA.

TEHRAN, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Thursday revealed an underground missile production facility, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The factory of the IRGC is the underground ballistic missile production site which was put on show for the first time, the report said.

The IRGC also unveiled a ballistic missile, named Dezful, in the production site.

Dezful is a smart surface-to-surface missile with the range of 1,000 km and high destruction power, according to Fars.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran appears to have attempted a second satellite launch despite U.S. criticism that its space program helps the country develop ballistic missiles, satellite images released Thursday suggest. Iran did not immediately acknowledge conducting such a launch.

Images released by the Colorado-based company DigitalGlobe show a rocket at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran’s Semnan province on Tuesday. Images from Wednesday show the rocket was gone with what appears to be burn marks on its launch pad.

06 Feb 2019; DW: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and French Defense Minister Florence Parly announced plans to produce a new joint fighter jet on Wednesday.

The two spoke at Gennevilliers near Paris at a facility operated by Safran Aircraft Engines, which will produce the jet's new engine in collaboration with Germany's MTU Aero Engines.

06 Feb 2019; AA: A team of Turkish scientists are developing clothing especially designed to withstand sub-zero weather conditions in Antarctica, the world’s coldest continent.

According to Caner Filiz, an instructor at Turkey’s Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy, the project is being carried out in coordination with Turkey’s Coast Guard Command and with contributions from the Turkish Mountaineering Federation.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. Underwater trials of a power unit of Russia’s nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) Poseidon confirmed its previously declared unlimited range and maximum speed of over 200 kmph, a Russian defense industry source has told TASS.

"During the at-sea trials of the unmanned vehicle’s power unit, the previously declared specifications of its unlimited range of use and speed of over 200 kmph were confirmed," the source said.