March 13, 2025
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Private lunar lander Blue Ghost's shadow is seen on the moon's surface after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)
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Voice of America
15-03-2025
- Voice of America
NASA, SpaceX launch crew to space station to retrieve stuck astronauts
The replacement crew for the International Space Station was launched late Friday, paving the way for the return home of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, two NASA astronauts stuck on the space station for nine months. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying Crew-10 members: NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan's Takuya Onishi and Russia's Kirill Peskov. The crew is part of a routine six-month rotation. Crew-10 and the Dragon spacecraft are expected to reach the space station around 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Returning to Earth alongside Wilmore and Williams will be NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Their return is scheduled for Wednesday, to allow for an overlap of the two crews to brief the new team. Wilmore and Williams arrived aboard the International Space Station in June 2024 and expected to stay in space for about 10 days. But their return was delayed after mechanical issues with their spacecraft, which, after weeks of troubleshooting was subsequently sent back to Earth without them. Their return was continually pushed back due to other technical delays.
Voice of America
14-03-2025
- Voice of America
March 13, 2025
1 Private lunar lander Blue Ghost's shadow is seen on the moon's surface after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)
Voice of America
13-03-2025
- Voice of America
Researchers Use New Methods to Date Ancient Skeleton
Scientists have dated the ancient skeleton of a child that drew a lot of attention because it appeared to have both human and Neanderthal qualities. The nearly complete skeleton, first discovered 27 years ago in central Portugal, was red in color. Scientists think it may have been wrapped in a painted animal skin before burial. When the remains were discovered, scientists noted that some of the bone structure looked Neanderthal. The researchers suggested that the child's ancestors came from populations in which humans and Neanderthals mated and mixed. The idea was radical at that time. But progress in genetics has since shown those mixed populations existed — and people today still carry Neanderthal genetic material, or DNA. But scientists have had trouble learning when exactly the child lived. They were were not able to use traditional carbon dating on the bones due to corruption of the remains by plants or other sources. Instead, researchers dated some charcoal and animal bones around the skeleton to between 27,700 and 29,700 years ago. However, dating techniques have since improved. Researchers reported recently in the publication Science Advances that they dated the skeleton by measuring part of a protein found mainly in human bones. Examining part of a crushed arm, researchers found that the earlier estimate was close. They report the skeleton is from between 27,700 and 28,600 years ago. Bethan Linscott of the University of Miami is a study writer. Linscott told the Associated Press (AP), 'Being able to successfully date the child felt like giving them back a tiny piece of their story.' She described the research experience as a privilege, meaning an honor. Linscott noted that the first discovery was of more than just a skeleton, but also a burial site of a young child. When dating the bones, she said she could not help but wonder who loved the child, what made them laugh and what their world looked like in the short four years they walked the planet. Paul Pettitt is an archeologist at Durham University in England who was not involved in the study. He told the AP that the study is an example of how dating methods are becoming more effective and helping scientists better understand the past. The study of where humans came from is important 'for the same reason we keep the portraits of our parents and grandparents,' said study writer João Zilhão of the University of Lisbon. 'It's a way of remembering,' the archeologist said. I'm John Russell. Adithi Ramakrishnan reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. ______________________________________________________ Words in This Story radical – adj. very different from the usual or traditional charcoal – n. a dark or black carbon prepared from vegetable or animal substances portrait – n. a picture of a person
