For Pikesville-raised Becky Perlow, path around world winds upward to Mount Kilimanjaro

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For Becky Perlow, the next destination looms 19,341 feet above sea level. The goal? Reaching the top of Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, located 3 degrees south of the equator and deemed by many the highest free-standing and "walkable" mountain in the world.

That's easier said than done, but Perlow's father, Howard, said he thinks his daughter will make it.

"When she sets a goal, she usually finds a way to complete that goal," he said.

Since 1991, Kilimanjaro-goers have been legally required to climb with a guide, so Perlow, 26, is hitting the hillside with the travel organization Adventures Within Reach and three other climbers, excluding the guides.

She will be accompanied by a CNN co-worker of nearly three years, Laura Koran, also 26.

They begin trekking the Machame Route, also known as the "Whiskey" route, on Tuesday and plan to reach the top at Uhuru Peak five days later, the ideal time to take to the mountain.

Koran's father, Donald, is the U.S. ambassador to Rwanda, which borders Tanzania, and she said she had been meaning to get out there to visit her parents.

"So Laura approached me several months ago and said, 'I want to hike Kilimanjaro,'" Perlow explained. "And I said, 'Me, too!' So I said, 'Why not? Let's do it!'"

"I've always wanted to climb Kilimanjaro but never really had anyone who wanted to do this with me," Koran said, laughing.

But Perlow is always game for adventure.

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For Pikesville-raised Becky Perlow, path around world winds upward to Mount Kilimanjaro

Styled by Spirituality (Ep. 5) – "Negative Association – Stop Pooing On The Present – Video

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Styled by Spirituality (Ep. 5) - "Negative Association - Stop Pooing On The Present
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Styled by Spirituality (Ep. 5) - "Negative Association - Stop Pooing On The Present - Video

'Vatican Waltz': Illuminating novel of a plain young woman impelled by her spirituality

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Crown. 304 pages. $24

In this increasingly skeptical and secularist age, he has dared to write a story of spiritual quest, set in a world that may seem not only archaic but frankly foreign to many of his readers.

First, there is the premise. A young woman leading a surpassingly innocuous life, Cynthia Piantedosi, comes to believe God is calling her to become ordained as the first female Roman Catholic priest.

There's nothing particularly revolutionary about such a premise. Women in the Roman Catholic Church have felt themselves called to ordained ministry for centuries, and in the last few decades, that sense of calling has become an issue within (and without) the church.

And indeed, Merullo often walks a fine line between advocacy and exploration as he details the soul-altering adventures of a woman who comes to believe over time (though her faith is laced with generous dollops of self-doubt) that she is on a God-sent mission.

Mining the rich veins of scriptural imagery and the Catholic mystical tradition, the writer poses, in the character of Cynthia, questions that would be familiar to Catholic writers of a previous age. What separates human experience and divine calling? When does faith become extremism, sanity veer into delusion? And who, in the end, is to judge?

But as Cynthia seeks to fulfill her calling, she is doing it in a church under siege from years of scandal, one in which the forces of liberalization and tradition are fighting a fierce if sometimes secretive battle.

At first glance, it appears that the life of this 22-year-old nursing student, who lives at home with her widowed father in the working-class Boston suburb of Revere, couldn't be more ordinary.

A solitary soul with few friends and almost no experience of romance, Cynthia has settled into a life of routines: nursing school classes, subway rides, the occasional walk on the beach, a hot meal made by her taciturn Italian immigrant father, long chats with the parish priest.

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'Vatican Waltz': Illuminating novel of a plain young woman impelled by her spirituality

Vote Now! Best Space Stories of the Week Feb. 9, 2014

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Olympic Space-Flown Torch, 'Baby Milky Way and More

Last week the 2014 Winter Olympic Games launched in Sochi using the torch that flew to the International Space Station, NASAs rover Curiosity snapped its first photo of the Earth from the surface of the Red Planet, and the structure of the 'Baby Milky Way' galaxy was seen for the first time. See the best stories from last week here.

FIRST STOP: Sochi Winter Olympics Launch with Space-Flown Torch, Cosmonaut Flag-Bearers

The 2014 Winter Olympic Games launched in Sochi, Russia, Friday (Feb. 7) using the torch that flew to the International Space Station. The space-themed spectacle, which took place as part of an elaborate opening ceremony, also had cosmonauts carry the Russian and Olympic flags.

[Full Story]

NEXT: Curiosity Rover Sees Earth from Mars for 1st Time (Photos)

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has snapped its first photo of Earth from the surface of the Red Planet, an amazing image that also includes the moon.

[See the photos here.]

NEXT: Tim Tebow Plays Moon Football in Super Bowl Ad (Video)

NFL star Tim Tebow is taking the Super Bowl into space today by tossing the pigskin on the moon in a T-mobile ad to air during the big game.

[See the video here. ]

NEXT: Depression in Space: How Computer Software Could Help Astronauts Cope

Astronauts on a deep-space mission are much too far removed to visit a specialist for cases of depression. Here's one way software could help space travelers.

[Full Story]

NEXT: Pow! Fresh Crater on Mars Spotted by NASA Spacecraft (Photo)

A NASA spacecraft has snapped a stunning photo of a Martian crater that was gouged out of the Red Planet just in the last three years or so.

[Full Story]

NEXT: NASA Sun-Earth Video Wins International Science Challenge

A video called Dynamic Earth, produced by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, has won an international visualization challenge sponsored by Science magazine and the National Science Foundation.

[Full Story]

NEXT: Ariane 5 Rocket Blasts Off on 250th Launch with 2 Satellites

Dual payloads to broadcast television and broadband signals for Asia Broadcast Satellite and French and Italian security forces rocketed into orbit on an Ariane 5 rocket Thursday on Arianespace's landmark 250th launch.

[Full Story]

NEXT: Wobbly Alien Planet with Wild Seasons Found by NASA Telescope

Astronomers have discovered an alien planet that wobbles at such a dizzying rate that its seasons must fluctuate wildly.

[Full Story]

NEXT: Black Holes Heated Early Universe Slower Than Previously Thought

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Vote Now! Best Space Stories of the Week Feb. 9, 2014

Space Programme Can Improve Health Care: Ex-ISRO Chief

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India's versatile space programme has potential to significantly improve health care through tele-medicine and gene therapy which will go a long way in providing affordable treatment to large section of people, former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan said today.

Delivering the 13th Dharma Vira Oration organised by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the eminent scientist, who had steered ISRO's space programme as its head from 1994 to 2003, said spin offs from satellite technology can be used extensively to enhance the health care sector in a big way.

"The experience from human space flight has led to several interesting ground based application such as artificial heart, kidney dialysis, invisible braces, sun glasses as well as other bio-medical instruments," Kasturirangan said while explaining possible applications of space technology in the health care sector.

Noting that tele-medicine could be a potential tool for improving the health care facilities across the country, he said it will cut the cost of medical treatment and at the same time ensure quality services, particularly to people in rural areas.

Kasturirangan, who is a member of the Planning Commission, said ISRO has provided connectivity to nearly 400 rural hospitals with 60 super specialty hospitals in the country so far.

Elaborating on the use of various satellite-related innovations in health sector, Kasturirangan said space imaging techniques can be helpful for early detection of cancer, cardiovascular disease and heart surgery.

He said continuous monitoring of astronaut's heart in space can be of great help to similar needs on the ground.

Ashok Chandra, Chairman of Sir Ganga Ram Trust Society paid tributes to Dharma Vira, saying his vision of involving doctors in the day to day running of the hospital have paid rich dividends.

"We are trying to fulfil his dream by providing quality, affordable health care to all sections of our society," said D S Rana, Chairman of Board of Management of the hospital said.

In his address titled 'Space: An Innovative Tool for Serving Human Kind' Kasturirangan also outlined some futuristic developments involving the 'bio-capsules' to reduce the effect of high radiation levels, treating diabetes and brain cancer as well as their use in gene therapy.

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Space Programme Can Improve Health Care: Ex-ISRO Chief

SpaceX on pace for mid-March launch to space station

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Juggling flight delays and busy skies with the skill of seasoned air traffic controllers, International Space Station managers have approved the launch date for SpaceX's next cargo resupply mission for March 16.

Photo of a previous Dragon spacecraft arriving at the International Space Station in March 2013. Photo credit: NASA Liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad is set for 4:41 a.m. EST (0841 GMT), the time when Earth's rotation brings the space station's flight path over the Space Coast, NASA announced last week.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo carrier will make the company's third commercial logistics delivery to the space station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. The deal calls for 12 missions through 2016.

The Dragon spacecraft will chase the space station for two days, with final approach set for March 18 under the guidance of high-tech laser mapping sensors.

The outpost's crew, scheduled to be three-strong at the time of the Dragon capsule's arrival, will grapple the free-flying spacecraft with the space station's Canadian-built robot arm. The crane-like appendage will move the food- and experiment-toting Dragon to a parking port on the lab's Harmony module for a one-month stay.

The astronauts will unpack the Dragon spacecraft's pressurized cabin, about the size of a large walk-in closet, of several tons of supplies, including government, commercial and student experiments. Then the crew will reload the spaceship with an array of cargo tagged for return to Earth, including biological samples, equipment requiring repair, and other unnecessary gear.

The robotic removal of a pair of payloads stowed inside the Dragon spacecraft's unpressurized trunk is also on tap during the vehicle's visit. A laser communications terminal developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be mounted to a payload platform on the space station's main truss, and a package of four commercial high-definition video cameras will begin filming from an attach point on the European Columbus module.

Dragon's departure from the space station is tentatively set for April 17, with splashdown several hours later in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Southern California.

Officials delayed the flight from a previous target launch date of Feb. 22, and poor weather prevented the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage from being delivered to Florida in time to be ready for a launch attempt in early March, according to a senior NASA space station official.

The Falcon 9's first and second stages, along with the Dragon spacecraft, are now at Cape Canaveral for launch processing, a SpaceX spokesperson said.

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SpaceX on pace for mid-March launch to space station

As space commercializes, where does Houston fit?

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HOUSTON -

With two corporations, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, already delivering supplies to NASA's International Space Station, a golden age may be at hand for private space firms.

Late this year, Virgin Galactic may launch its first suborbital flight, opening space to non-astronauts. And private companies are beginning to announce dates by which they'll be ready to fly astronauts into orbit, a venture that until now has been solely the province of governments.

"We're seeing a democratization of access to space," said Michael Lopez-Alegria, a four-time astronaut who now leads the industry group Commercial Spaceflight Federation, told the Houston Chronicle.

The rise of commercial space raises questions about the future of Houston as Space City, which for the entire history of U.S. spaceflight has been responsible for training and managing the flights of U.S. astronauts. Houston is racing to reinvent itself this decade as other parts of the country seek to chip away at its pre-eminence as the home of human spaceflight.

For now, Johnson Space Center will continue to be the home of NASA astronauts, but it's not clear what role the center will have in working with astronauts who fly on privately-built commercial vehicles to space.

NASA, for example, chose to establish its office overseeing the development of private spacecraft that will eventually carry U.S. astronauts to the space station at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, instead of at the Houston-based center.

The Houston region has not been oblivious to the rise of commercial space and its implications for the city's traditional hegemony in human spaceflight.

"Houston is being very proactive," said David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute.

Texas A&M recently held a commercial space workshop with Rice and industry partners to discuss a commercial space strategy for Houston and Texas. Universities, governments and industry partners will need to work together to ensure the vibrancy of Houston's space presence, Alexander said.

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As space commercializes, where does Houston fit?

Hollande to get super-red carpet treatment on US state visit

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French president Franois Hollande: reportedly planning to voice concerns about data protection and the tax optimisation schemes of major internet companies such as Google during his US visit. Photograph: EPA/Mohamed Messara

America is expected to roll out the red carpet for Franois Hollande

today as the president becomes the first French leader to make a state visit for almost two decades.

The three-day visit, which includes a black-tie dinner at the White House and a trip in the presidential plane Air Force One, is seen as evidence of the close ties between the US and France.

As well as talks with Barack Obama, who has hosted only six state dinners since he took office in 2009, Hollande will visit Silicon Valley and have lunch with the heads of key technology and social networking companies.

He will also tour the Francophile president Thomas Jeffersons house in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, unusually, he will not address Congress. Both the White House and the lyse insist this is due to a lack of time.

Google In San Francisco, Hollande will meet Eric Schmidt, the head of Google, and Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, as well as representatives from Twitter and Mozilla.

Hollande is reportedly planning to voice concerns about data protection and the tax optimisation schemes of major internet companies such as Google. Last week Google was reportedly hit with a 1 billion bill in unpaid taxes by the French fiscal authorities.

Officials say, however, that relations between the two countries are excellent, despite revelations last year that American intelligence agencies had been snooping on the French and other Europeans.

And the criticism will not be all one way. Hollande is sure to face hard questions from Silicon Valley firms about Frances high taxes for companies and what are seen as business-unfriendly economic policies.

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Hollande to get super-red carpet treatment on US state visit