Sen. Bill Nelson announces NASA ‘s plan to capture asteroid

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NASA will use a robotic spaceship to capture an asteroid and bring it closer to the moon. Astronauts will then explore the asteroid in the hopes of developing technology to nudge dangerous asteroids away from Earth.

The US space agency is planning for a robotic spaceship to capture a small asteroid and park it near the moon for astronauts to explore, a top senator disclosed Friday.

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The plan would speed up by four years the existing mission to land astronauts on an asteroid by bringing the space rock closer to Earth, Sen. Bill Nelson said.

The robotic ship would capture the 500-ton, 25-foot (450 metric-ton, 7.6-meter) asteroid in 2019. Then using an Orion space capsule, now being developed, a crew of about four astronauts would nuzzle up next to the rock in 2021 for spacewalking exploration, according to a government document obtained by The Associated Press.

Nelson said this would helpNASAdevelop the capability to nudge away a dangerous asteroid if one headed to Earth in the future. It also would be training for a future mission to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, he said.

Nelson, chairman of the Senate science and space subcommittee, said President Barack Obama is putting $100 million in planning money for the accelerated asteroid mission in the 2014 budget that comes out next week. The money would be used to find the right small asteroid.

"It really is a clever concept," Nelson said in a news conference in Florida, the state whereNASAlaunches take place. "Go find your ideal candidate for an asteroid. Go get it robotically and bring it back."

While there are thousands of asteroids that size out there, finding the right one that comes by Earth at just the right time to be captured will not be easy, said Donald Yeomans, who headsNASA'sNear Earth Object program that monitors close-by asteroids. He said once a suitable rock is found, it would be captured with the space equivalent of "a baggie with a drawstring. You bag it. You attach the solar propulsion module to de-spin it and bring it back to where you want it."

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Sen. Bill Nelson announces NASA 's plan to capture asteroid

NASA chooses all-sky planet hunter, neutron star watcher for liftoff in 2017

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An artist's conception shows the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, in space. (Planets not to scale.)

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

NASA has selected two new space missions for launch in 2017:a satellite that can scan the entire sky for exoplanets and a space station experiment that can monitor cosmic X-ray emissions. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the Neutron-star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) won out at the end of a selection process that took more than two years.

"With these missions we will learn about the most extreme states of matter by studying neutron stars, and we will identify many nearby star systems with rocky planets in the habitable zone for further study by telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope," John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, said in a statement Friday.

Under the terms of NASA's Explorer Program, the TESS mission will be budgeted at no more than $200 million, and NICER's mission costs will be capped at $55 million. Those price tags exclude the cost of the launch vehicle.

Planet hunter TESS is designed to follow up on NASA's Kepler mission, which is surveying a patch of sky in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra for extrasolar planets. Like Kepler, TESS would detect other worlds by looking for the faint dips in starlight as they make regular transits across their parent suns. TESS' array of wide-angle cameras would take in much more territory, however.

"TESS will carry out the first space-borne all-sky transit survey, covering 400 times as much sky as any previous mission," principal investigator George Ricker, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, said in a statement. "It will identify thousands of new planets in the solar neighborhood, with a special focus on planets comparable in size to the Earth."

The mission's scientists say it will be possible to study the masses, sizes, densities, orbits and atmospheres of a wide range of planets, including a sampling of the rocky worlds in the habitable zones of nearby planetary systems. "The selection of TESS has just accelerated our chances of finding life on another planet within the next decade," said MIT planetary scientist Sara Seager.

TESS won out over another planet-hunting mission designed to study alien atmospheres, known as theFast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer or FINESSE.

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NASA chooses all-sky planet hunter, neutron star watcher for liftoff in 2017

NASA to grab asteroid

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An Orion exploration vehicle approaches a near-Earth asteroid in this artist's conception. Such a mission would be carried out in 2021 under the White House's new plan for NASA exploration beyond Earth orbit.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

NASA's accelerated vision for exploration calls for moving a near-Earth asteroid even nearer to Earth, sending out astronauts to bring back samples within a decade, and then shifting the focus to Mars, a senior Obama administration official told NBC News on Saturday.

The official said the mission would "accomplish the president's challenge of sending humans to visit an asteroid by 2025 in a more cost-effective and potentially quicker time frame than under other scenarios." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no authorization to discuss the plan publicly.

The source said more than $100 million would be sought for the mission and other asteroid-related activities in its budget request for the coming fiscal year, which is due to be sent to Congress on Wednesday. That confirms comments made on Friday by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a one-time spaceflier who is now chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space. It also confirms a report about the mission that appeared last month in Aviation Week.

The asteroid retrieval mission is based on a scenario set out last year by a study group at the Keck Institute for Space Studies. NASA's revised scenario would launch a robotic probe toward a 500-ton, 7- to 10-meter-wide (25- to 33-foot-wide) asteroid in 2017 or so. The probe would capture the space rock in a bag in 2019, and then pull it to a stable orbit in the vicinity of the moon, using a next-generation solar electric propulsion system. That would reduce the travel time for asteroid-bound astronauts from a matter of months to just a few days.

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NASA to grab asteroid

NASA to Launch Planet-Hunting Probe, Neutron Star Experiment in 2017

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NASA has picked two new low-cost missions for launch in 2017: a planet-hunting satellite and an International Space Station experiment designed to probe the nature of exotic, super-dense neutron stars.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) are the latest missions chosen under NASA's Astrophysics Explorer Program, which caps costs at $200 million for satellites and $55 million for space station experiments, officials announced Friday (April 5).

The TESS spacecraft will use an array of wide-field cameras to scan nearby stars for exoplanets, with a focus on Earth-size worlds in their stars' habitable zones that just-right range of distances where liquid water could exist.

"TESS will carry out the first space-borne all-sky transit survey, covering 400 times as much sky as any previous mission," principal investigator George Ricker of MIT said in a statement. "It will identify thousands of new planets in the solar neighborhood, with a special focus on planets comparable in size to the Earth."

As its full name suggests, TESS will detect alien planets by noting when they transit, or cross of the face of, their host stars from the instrument's perspective. NASA's Kepler spacecraft has used this strategy with great success, flagging more than 2,700 potential exoplanets since its March 2009 launch.

Unlike the free-flying TESS, NICER will be mounted to the space station. From this perch, it will measure the variability of cosmic X-ray sources, potentially allowing scientists to better understand neutron stars, which are the ultradense collapsed remnants of exploded stars.

NICER's principal investigator is Keith Gendreau of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Both missions should advance scientists' understanding of the universe, NASA officials said.

"With these missions we will learn about the most extreme states of matter by studying neutron stars, and we will identify many nearby star systems with rocky planets in the habitable zone for further study by telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope," John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington, said in a statement.

NASA's Explorer program aims to provide frequent, low-cost access to space for investigations relevant to the agency's astrophysics and heliophysics programs. More than 90 missions have launched under the Explorer program since the first one, Explorer 1, blasted off in 1958 and discovered Earth's radiation belts.

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NASA to Launch Planet-Hunting Probe, Neutron Star Experiment in 2017

Global Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials Market Stage of Development, Global Activity and Market Opportunities Latest …

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Researchmoz.us include new market research report"Global Nanotechnology And Nanomaterials Market Stage Of Development, Global Activity And Market Opportunities" to its huge collection of research reports.

Albany, NY (PRWEB) April 06, 2013

Nanotechnology applications and nanomaterials are being applied across a raft of industries due to their outstanding magnetic, optical, catalytic and electronic properties. There are already established market for nanomaterials including titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, silicon oxide nanopowders and carbon nanotubes, nanofibers, nanosilver, nanoclays, quantum dots and nanoporous materials driven by demand from applications in filtration, electronics, cosmetics, energy, medicine, chemicals, coatings and catalysts. Recent breakthroughs have heralded new market opportunities in graphene and nanocellulose. This new 502-page report from Future Market, Inc., the world's leading provider of nanotechnology and nanomaterials information and publisher of Nanotech Magazine, provides a comprehensive insight into all aspects of the market for these materials.

To Read The Complete Report with TOC Kindly Visit@ http://www.researchmoz.us/the-global-nanotechnology-and-nanomaterials-industry-stage-of-development-global-activity-and-market-opportunities-report.html

What Does The Report Include?

Comprehensive data and forecasts for the global nanotechnology and nanomaterials market to 2019. Nanomaterials covered include aluminium oxide nanopowders, antimony tin, bismuth oxide, carbon nanotubes, cerium oxide, cobalt oxide, fullerenes and POSS, graphene, graphyne, graphdiyne, graphane, indium, iron oxide, magnesium oxide, manganese oxide, molybdenum disulphide, nanocellulose, nanoclays, nanofibers, nanosilver, nickel oxide, nano-precipitated calcium carbonate, nanoporous materials, quantum dots, silicone, silicon oxide, titanium dioxide, yttrium oxide, zinc oxide and zirconium oxide

Technology roadmaps/commercialization timelines to 2020, by nanomaterials and by market

Financial estimates for the markets nanotechnology and nanomaterials will impact including aerospace and aviation, automotive, civil engineering and construction, exterior protection, communications, hygiene, cleaning and sanitary, electronics and semiconductors, energy, environment, food, agricultural, beverage, marine, medical and life sciences, military and defence, packaging, paper, personal care, plastics and rubber, printing, product security and anti-counterfeiting, sensors, sporting and consumer goods, textiles, tools and metals

Latest global regulations for nanomaterials

Toxicology

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Pfizer Partners With Nanotechnology Firm

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Pfizer Inc. said Wednesday that a new collaboration with Massachusetts-based BIND Therapeutics could eventually lead to drug work at company laboratories in Groton.

New York-based Pfizer confirmed a deal Wednesday that would pay BIND up to $200 million for each drug it works on that wins regulatory approval. The Cambridge company has a patented nanotechnology system that helps bypass the body's antibodies to deliver precise, therapeutic doses of new drugs to targeted areas.

"As any future investigational molecules from Pfizer advance into candidates, Groton could play an important role given the site's key development, safety and regulatory teams," Pfizer spokeswoman Lauren Starr said in an email.

Starr added that other Pfizer sites also might be involved in the collaboration with BIND. The company did not identify the types of diseases being targeted, but in the past BIND has worked on cancer, inflammatory and cardiovascular therapies.

"Pfizer has a strong legacy in targeted small molecule drug discovery and development and continues to be on the cutting edge of innovation in this area," said Rod MacKenzie, Groton's site leader and head of Pfizer's PharmaTherapeutics research division.

MacKenzie added that BIND's nanotechnology techniques bring the possibility of "optimizing the therapeutic potential" of orally administered drugs.

"BIND develops Accurins that outperform conventional drugs by selectively accumulating in diseased tissues and cells," the Cambridge company said in a release. "The result is higher drug concentrations at the site of action with minimal off-target exposure, leading to markedly better efficacy and safety."

BIND will get about $50 million in up-front payments from Pfizer for each Accurin it develops, with the potential of another $160 million or more for every drug that passes regulatory hurdles. Pfizer will decide on the drug targets, but it wouldn't say how many it will be aiming for, according to industry blog FiercePharma.

FiercePharma pointed out that the BIND collaboration "marks a key change for Pfizer," saying the company had over the past few years been spinning out drug programs rather than buying into them.

BIND is developing some of its own drugs in-house, but also has inked a key agreement with Amgen to produce new drug targets for teh California-based pharmaceutical company.

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Pfizer Partners With Nanotechnology Firm

Penn Medicine Two-Step Ovarian Cancer Immunotherapy Made from Patients’ Own Tumor Benefits Three Quarters of Trial …

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Newswise WASHINGTON, D.C. As many as three quarters of advanced ovarian cancer patients appeared to respond to a new two-step immunotherapy approach -- including one patient who achieved complete remission -- according research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today in a press conference at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 (Presentation #LB-335).

The immunotherapy has two steps a personalized dendritic cell vaccination and adoptive T-cell therapy. The team reports that in the study of 31 patients, vaccination therapy alone showed about a 61 percent clinical benefit, and the combination of both therapies showed about a 75 percent benefit.

The findings offer new hope for the large number of ovarian cancer patients who relapse following treatment. The first step of the immunotherapy approach is to preserve the patients tumor cells alive, using sterile techniques at the time of surgery so they can be used to manufacture a personalized vaccine that teaches the patients own immune system to attack the tumor. Then, the Penn Medicine team isolates immune cells called dendritic cells from patients blood through a process called apheresis, which is similar to the process used for blood donation. Researchers then prepare each patients personalized vaccine by exposing her dendritic cells to the tumor tissue that was collected during surgery.

Because ovarian cancer symptoms can be stealth and easily mistaken for other issues constipation, weight gain, bloating, or more frequent urination more than 60 percent of patients are diagnosed only after the disease has spread to their lymph nodes or other distant sites in the body, when treatment is much less likely to produce a cure compared to when the disease is detected early. As the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States, it takes the lives of more than 14,000 women each year.

Given these grim outcomes, there is definitely a vast unmet need for the development of novel, alternate therapies, said lead author Lana Kandalaft, PharmD, PhD, MTR, a research assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of clinical development and operations in Penn Medicines Ovarian Cancer Research Center. This is the first time such a combination immunotherapy approach has been used for patients with ovarian cancer, and we believe the results are leading us toward a completely new way to treat this disease.

Both treatments are given in conjunction with bevacizumab, a drug that controls the blood vessel growth that feeds tumors. Combining bevacizumab with immunotherapy makes a powerful duo, Kandalaft says. The vaccine trial is still open to accrual to test new combinatorial strategies.

The other Penn authors are Janos Tanyi, Cheryl Chiang, Daniel Powell, and George Coukos. This study was funded by a National Cancer Institute Ovarian Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant, the National Institutes of Health and the Ovarian Cancer Immunotherapy Initiative.

Dr. Kandalaft will present the findings of the trial on Saturday, April 6, 2013 in the Late Breaking Clinical Trials press conference at 1:00 p.m. ET in room 153 of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt Vernon Pl. NW, Washington, DC. She will also present during the Late-Breaking Research: Immunology poster session in Hall A-C (Poster Section 46) on Wednesday, April 10, from 8 a.m. to noon ET.

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Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise. The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

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GlaxoSmithKline and Liberty Property Trust/Synterra Partners Transform the Work Environment with the Opening of Five …

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PHILADELPHIA, April 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- GlaxoSmithKline (@GSKUS) officially opened its new double LEED platinum certified facility in Philadelphia's Navy Yard Corporate Center today, ushering in a new era of how people work in Philadelphia. Employees, families and friends will celebrate and attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony with GSK President of North America Pharmaceuticals Deirdre Connelly, Liberty Property Trust Chief Executive Officer Bill Hankowsky, Synterra Partners Principal Bill Wilson, design architect Robert A.M. Stern, workplace strategist and interior architect Francis Cauffman Principal John Campbell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter.

"Our new work space is designed to inspire and connect people," says Deirdre Connelly, President, North America Pharmaceuticals, GSK."My teammates and I are energized by this new environment, where we can do our best work and collaborate without the constraints of office walls."

The 208,000 square foot building at Five Crescent Drive represents an $80 million investment by Liberty Property/Synterra, and an investment of approximately $70 million by GSK. GSK has signed a 15.5-year lease at the building, which includes a four-story central atrium, a monumental stairway, a coffee shop, cafeteria, fitness center, meeting centers and a large multi-purpose room.

"GSK's new facility reflects the reality of The Navy Yard: it is a Philadelphia magnet for creative, forward-looking companies," said Bill Hankowsky, Chief Executive Officer, Liberty Property Trust. "Innovation and growth are now synonymous with this dynamic environment."

The four-story, glass-encased building with an open floor plan and grand central staircase has been awarded both Core & Shell and Commercial Interiors LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It is the first double LEED Platinum building in Philadelphia. It is anticipated that the innovative building systems will save as much as 30% of energy use when compared to a traditional building.

These substantial energy savings are the result of the state-of-the-art building facade and high-performance glass which maximize daylight in winter while reducing heat gain and providing shading in summer. ENERGY STAR-rated lighting and equipment, as well as an astronomical time clock and cloud sensor program, activate the automatic shades on windows to control glare. In addition smart meters track and monitor the building's energy and water use and provide ongoing accountability for utility consumption and performance.

"It was GSK's commitment to Philadelphia that put The Navy Yard well over the 10,000 employee mark," said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. "Just 18 months ago we stood here to break ground on this project, and I am thrilled to be here today to celebrate the grand opening of one of the most innovative, healthy, and green work spaces in the US."

"Five Crescent Drive is the happy product of our collaboration with GSK, Liberty Property Trust, and Synterra," said Robert A.M. Stern, founder and senior partner of Robert A.M. Stern Architects This high-performance, light-flooded building, the last and most consequential building block to the Navy Yard's gateway crescent, is an innovative working environment with loft-like interiors opening off a dramatic, street-like atrium that will bring employees together even as it brings the outdoors in."

Sweeping views of Philadelphia are accessible from nearly 90% of the workspaces. In the office-less layout, employees are located in "neighborhoods" and can work in a variety of settings throughout the day. These include custom-designed sit-to-stand workstations, team tables, meeting areas, social areas with soft seating, and quiet rooms.

"Francis Cauffman is very excited to see employees working and interacting throughout the entire building, and to hear the highly positive employee response to their new workplace," said John B. Campbell, LEED AP, AIA, RIBA, Principal-in-Charge of Workplace Strategies at Francis Cauffman. "By creating an open and healthy workplace environment focused on providing the right physical and IT tools with a wide variety of work settings throughout the building, the new workplace has transformed the level of energy, engagement and connectivity across the organization."

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GlaxoSmithKline and Liberty Property Trust/Synterra Partners Transform the Work Environment with the Opening of Five ...

Bill Maher Bashes Rand Paul & Paul Ryan for ‘Ruining Libertarianism ’

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Bill Maher on Friday trashed the current wave of libertarianism, singling out Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as "intellectually stuck in their teen years."

"New rule," Maher said on "Real Time with Bill Maher." "Libertarians have to stop ruining libertarianism. Or at least do a better job of explaining the difference between today's libertarian and just being a selfish prick."

Maher, who has described himself as libertarian in the past, said that at some point, "libertarianism morphed into this creepy obsession with free market capitalism" based on Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged."

"Her book has a strange appeal to people who are kind of smart, but not really," he said.

He said libertarianism as it stands now has gone "nuts."

"To everyone who keeps trying to shame me about abandoning my libertarian moorings, my message is this: I didn't go nuts, this movement did," he said. "Like when you see a stoplight, your reaction should be 'Great, an easy way to ensure we don't all crash into each other,' not, 'How dare the government tell me when I can and cannot go? Seatbelts? I refuse to live in a nanny state. I'm an individual and I want to soar free as an eagle -- right through the windshield."

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Bill Maher Bashes Rand Paul & Paul Ryan for ‘Ruining Libertarianism ’

China to let tourists visit disputed Paracel Islands in South China Sea

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BEIJING - China will this month start allowing tourists to visit the Paracel Islands, one of a group of disputed islets and reefs in the South China Sea, state news agency Xinhua said, a move likely to irk rival claimant Vietnam.

A cruise ship that can accommodate 1,965 passengers is ready for sailing to the Paracels, known in Chinese as Xisha, Xinhua reported, citing ship owner Haihang Group Corp.

Hainan Harbor and Shipping Holdings Co is building another cruise ship.

"Tourists will eat and sleep on the cruise ships and can land on the islands for sightseeing" ahead of Labour Day on May 1, Tan Li, vice governor of China's southernmost island province of Hainan, told Xinhua late on Saturday.

There is only one hotel with 56 rooms on the two-sq-km Woody Island, the largest island in the Paracels, the agency said.

"Prices will be relatively high due to the high costs of tourism infrastructure construction," Huang Huaru, general manager of a tourism agency in Hainan, told Xinhua.

Last year, China approved the formal establishment of a military garrison in Sansha city, which is located on Woody Island. The city administers the mostly uninhabited islands in the South China Sea which China claims.

Tan said local authorities will build more supply ships and infrastructure in Sansha, including ports, water supply and sewage treatment facilities.

China took full control of the Paracelsa cluster of close to 40 islets, outcrops and reefsin 1974 after a naval showdown with the then South Vietnam, and there have been incidents ever since. Taiwan also claims the Paracels.

Last month Vietnam accused China of opening fire on a fishing boat near the Paracels and burning down its cabin, charges Beijing denied.

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China to let tourists visit disputed Paracel Islands in South China Sea

Eastday-China to open Xisha Islands to tourism before May

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BOAO, Hainan, April 7 -- China is scheduled to let tourists visit the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea ahead of the forthcoming May Day holiday, said Tan Li, executive vice governor of the southern-most province of Hainan, on Saturday.

People will be allowed to visit the islands on cruise tours, said Tan at the 2013 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, which will open on Sunday.

Details on the tour routes, capacity of tourist reception and cruise ships will be released on a later date, he said.

The Xisha Islands are a cluster of close to 40 islets, sandbanks and reefs.

Tourists will eat and sleep on the cruise ships and can land on the islands for sightseeing, the official said.

Cruise tours are the choice as hotels and other facilities to accommodate tourists are inadequate, he said.

There is only one hotel with 56 rooms in the 2.13-square-kilometer Yongxing Island, the largest island among the Xisha Islands group and home to the government offices of Sansha city. In addition, there is no fresh water and all supplies have to be transported from outside.

The city was established last summer to administer more than 200 islets, sandbanks and reefs in the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and 2 million square kilometers of surrounding waters.

A cruise ship with a gross registered tonnage of 47,000 tonnes that can accommodate 1,965 passengers is ready for sailing, according to the ship owner Haihang Group Corp Ltd..

Hainan Harbor and Shipping Holdings Co. is building another one.

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Eastday-China to open Xisha Islands to tourism before May