Space Station 'nauts touch down on Kazakh steppe

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Three International Space Station crew have made it safely back home, landing early this morning in Kazakhstan in the Soyuz TMA-04M.

Cosmonauts commander Gennady Padalka, flight engineer Sergei Revin and NASA astronaut and flight engineer Joe Acaba touched down just before 4am BST (8:53 local time), after decoupling from the International Space Station's Poisk module five hours earlier.

The 'nauts spent 123 days aboard the station to finish Expedition 32, which featured multiple spacewalks to prep the Pirs module for its replacement and attach a new power-switching unit.

Flicking that switch proved to be harder than the expedition expected when a bolt kept sticking, forcing the crew to take a second run at it.

Japanese 'naut Akihiko Hoshide and NASA 'naut Sunita Williams took those two walks, before lining up to take control of the station and move into Expedition 33 after the Soyuz left.

Williams takes over as commander, while flight engineers Hoshide and Yuri Malenchenko make up the rest of the crew until 12 November.

The station will get a bit more crowded up when flight engineers Kevin Ford, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin launch on 15 October for a rendezvous with the ISS on 17 October.

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Space Station 'nauts touch down on Kazakh steppe

International Space Station Astronauts Land Safely in Kazakhstan

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Three members of the Expedition 32 crew undocked from the International Space Station and returned safely to Earth on Sunday, wrapping up a mission lasting more than four months.

Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA, and Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of the Russian Federal Space Agency, undocked their Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft from the space station at 7:09 p.m. EDT and landed north of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, at 10:53 p.m. (8:53 a.m., Sept. 17, Kazakhstan time). The trio arrived at the station May 17 and spent 125 days in space, 123 of which were aboard the orbiting laboratory.

After the Soyuz spacecraft separated from the space station, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams took command of Expedition 33. Williams is the second woman to command the station. She and her crewmates, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will work aboard the station as a three-person crew until the arrival of three new crew members, including NASA astronaut Kevin Ford, in mid-October.

Acaba, Padalka and Revin orbited Earth 2,000 times and traveled 52,906,428 miles. Padalka now ranks fourth for the most days spent in space -- a total of 711 days during four flights.

To follow Twitter updates from NASA's Expedition 33 astronauts, visit: http://twitter.com/Astro_Suni and https://twitter.com/Aki_Hoshide

For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

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International Space Station Astronauts Land Safely in Kazakhstan

Soyuz brings three station fliers home to pinpoint landing

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A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three station fliers returned to Earth from the International Space Station Sunday, dropping to a bullseye landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan.

Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA flight engineer bid their three space station crewmates farewell Sunday, strapped into their Soyuz ferry craft, undocked from the lab complex and fell back to Earth, making a pinpoint landing in Kazakhstan to close out a 125-day voyage.

Descending through a clear blue sky under a large orange-and-white parachute, the charred Soyuz TMA-04M descent module settled to a rocket-assisted touchdown near the town of Arkalyk at 10:53 p.m. EDT (8:53 a.m. Monday local time).

NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba relaxes and pumps his fist after being helped out of the Soyuz TMA-04M descent module following a flawless landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan

The final stages of the descent were carried live on television relayed through the Russian mission control center and NASA's satellite network, showing the last-second firing of the crew's braking rockets and billowing clouds of dust and smoke as the module touched down and the parachute collapsed.

Russian recovery teams deployed near the landing site quickly rushed in, reporting the descent module had tipped over on its side, a relatively common occurrence.

They quickly got to work opening the main hatch to help Soyuz commander Gennady Padalka, flight engineer Sergei Revin and Joseph Acaba out of the cramped module after four months in the weightlessness of space. Padalka, the first out, looked relaxed and in good spirits as he rested in a recliner and enjoyed a cup of tea. Revin and Acaba quickly followed suit and all three were given quick medical exams before a two-hour helicopter flight to Kustanai.

At that point, the crew planned to split up, with Padalka and Revin flying back to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City near Moscow while Acaba flies back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston aboard a NASA jet.

Touchdown on the steppe of Kazakhstan marked the conclusion of a 53-million-mile 2,000-orbit voyage that began with liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 15.

It also moved Padalka up to No. 4 on the list of most experienced space fliers, with 711 days in orbit over four space flights. Acaba has now logged 138 days aloft during two missions while Revin's mark will stand at 125 days for his first flight.

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Soyuz brings three station fliers home to pinpoint landing

Female astronaut takes command of space station

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NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, took charge of the International Space Station Saturday, becoming only the second female commander in the orbiting lab's 14-year history.

Williams took charge of the space station from Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who is returning to Earth on Sunday after months commanding the outpost's six-person Expedition 32 crew. Williams launched to the station in July and will command its Expedition 33 crew before returning to Earth in November.

"I would like to thank our [Expedition] 32 crewmates here who have taught us how to live and work in space, and of course to have a lot of fun up in space," Williams told Padalka during a change of command ceremony. She will officially take charge of the station on Sunday, after Padalka and two crewmates board their Soyuz spacecraft for the trip home.

Padalka, NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and cosmonaut Sergei Revin are scheduled to undock from the space station Sunday at 7:09 p.m. EDT (2309 GMT) and land in the Central Asian steppes of Kazakhstan at 10:53 p.m. EDT (0253 on Sept. 17). The trio is wrapping up a five-month mission to the space station and Padalka thanked his crewmates and flight controllers on the ground for their help during the flight.

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Sunita Williams arrived at the space station on July 17 on a Soyuz spacecraft with two crewmates: Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. They will be joined by three new crewmembers in October.

Williams, 46, is a captain in the U.S. Navy and flying on her second long-duration space mission. She first launched into space in 2007 and spent 195 consecutive days in space, setting a record for the longest single spaceflight by a female astronaut. On Sept. 19, she'll celebrate her birthday in space.

In a NASA interview before launch, Williams said a friend asked her if she was nervous about commanding the space station. She said no, adding that the more than two years of training alongside her Expedition 32 and 33 crewmates, as well as the Mission Control team, prepared all the space station crewmembers for life in space.

"When you get up on the space station, you know what to do, so Im not nervous about it all," Williams said. "Im psyched."

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Female astronaut takes command of space station

NASA space shuttle Endeavour's L.A. flight delayed to Tuesday

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Space shuttle Endeavour, atop a NASA 747, awaits final preparations for its journey to Los Angeles. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times / September 16, 2012)

September 16, 2012, 6:24 p.m.

NASA has delayed the space shuttle Endeavours departure for Los Angeles by 24 hours because of a threat of stormy weather along its flight path, officials announced Sunday.

Endeavour, which is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Thursday, will now take off around sunrise Tuesday. It will still arrive in L.A. on schedule its pit stop in Houston will be shortened to a day. Once it arrives, it will be driven through the streets of Los Angeles to its final destination, the California Science Center.

As it flies, the specially outfitted Boeing 747 aircraft carrying Endeavour will still pull some crowd-pleasing low flyovers along the Space Coast, including the Kennedy Space Center and the Patrick Air Force Base.

Though Endeavour has made 25 missions into space, its still the baby of the shuttle family. It was built to replace Challenger, which was destroyed when it exploded after launch in 1986.

[For the record, 6:25 p.m. Sept. 16: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said Endeavour was built to replace the shuttle Columbia.]

amina.khan@latimes.com

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NASA space shuttle Endeavour's L.A. flight delayed to Tuesday

Neil Armstrong Remembered in NASA's Touching Tribute Video

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Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, was publicly memorialized at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. on Thursday. His colleagues at NASA created this tribute video for the fallen hero, tracing his storied career as one of NASA's best pilots, as well as one of its most humble and self-effacing astronauts.

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Neil Armstrong Remembered in NASA's Touching Tribute Video

NASA Accepting Applications For Aeronautics Scholarships

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Mon, Sep 17, 2012

NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is accepting scholarship applications from graduate and undergraduate students for the 2013-2014 academic year. The application deadline is January 14, 2013. NASA expects to award 20 undergraduate and five graduate scholarships to students in an aeronautical engineering program or related field.

Undergraduate students who have at least two years of study remaining will receive up to $15,000 per year for two years and the opportunity to receive a $10,000 stipend by interning at a NASA research center during the summer.

Graduate students will receive a $35,000 stipend per year and $11,000 for educational expenses for up to three years, with an opportunity to receive a $10,000 stipend interning at a NASA research center for up to two consecutive summers. Graduate students also must apply under a specific research topic to align with NASA's aeronautics research programs.

Students not committed to a specific academic institution or program still may apply. If accepted, they must be admitted by fall 2013 into an aeronautical engineering program or related field of study at an accredited U.S. university. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. Scholarship money may be used for tuition and other school-related expenses.

NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate conducts cutting-edge, fundamental and integrated systems research in traditional and emerging disciplines. The intent is to help transform the nation's air transportation system and support development of future air and space vehicles. The directorate's goals include improving airspace capacity and flexibility, aviation safety, and aircraft performance, as well as minimizing the environmental footprint of aviation by reducing overall noise, engine emissions and fuel usage.

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Euthanasia outside the discipline of Palliative Medicine

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Euthanasia outside the discipline of Palliative Medicine

The TV1, 7pm news programme on Sunday 16th September 2012 described the tragic story of Rosies death, a person with multiple sclerosis. As a society of Palliative Medicine doctors we care for patients with advanced multiple sclerosis as well as patients with advanced illnesses from many other sources. Unlike last nights distressing story of Rosies decision, the patients we care for with multiple sclerosis do not have their lives ended prematurely and do not request this.

In our experience patients with advanced illnesses such as multiple sclerosis can be supported, as well as their family and friends, by multidisciplinary team of Palliative Care with community general practice and hospital support. Rosies daughter Amy Nankivell said in the documentary she regretted that no one had said to her mother not to kill herself. In our opinion the legalisation of euthanasia in New Zealand would be the equivalent of this state and society saying, when someone expresses that life is difficult, yes go ahead, lets end your life. rather than as Rosies daughter suggested saying no dont do it, we will look after you.

The Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine Inc., (ANZSPM), believes that the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide are outside the discipline of Palliative Medicine. The Society endorses the New Zealand Medical Associations Position Statement on Euthanasia, and similarly the World Medical Associations which state that euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide are unethical. This position is not dependent on euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide remaining unlawful. Even if they were to become legal, or decriminalised, the NZMA would continue to regard them as unethical.

ANZSPM recommends that a request for euthanasia or assisted suicide be acknowledged with respect and be extensively explored in order to understand, appropriately address and if possible remedy the underlying difficulties that gave rise to the request. Appropriate ongoing care consistent with the goals of Palliative Medicine should continue to be offered. ANZSPM recommends that when requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide arise, particular attention be given to gaining good symptom control, utilising the skills of a multidisciplinary team.

The Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM) is a society of medical practitioners who practice or have an interest in palliative medicine. The full ANZSPM position statement on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide can be found at http://www.anzspm.org.au.

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Euthanasia outside the discipline of Palliative Medicine

Women face cultural barriers in academic medicine

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Although men and women working in academic medicine strive toward advancement, significantly fewer women achieve leadership positions, says a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

For the past decade, women have made up about 50% of medical students, according to the Assn. of American Medical Colleges. Meanwhile, the average medical school has 43 female full professors compared with 192 male full professors, said Linda Pololi, MD, lead study author and senior scientist at the Womens Studies Research Center at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Those numbers are still absolutely shocking, and without a good explanation, she said.

To gain insight into the cultural barriers women face in academic medicine, researchers surveyed 4,578 full-time faculty at 26 U.S. medical schools. They found that women reported a lower sense of belonging and support and were more pessimistic about gender equity and their chances for advancement compared with men. Women also were less likely to believe that their institutions were family-friendly or to see their values as aligning with the institutions.

The average medical school has 43 female full professors and 192 male full professors.

The findings, published online Aug. 31, demonstrate that medical schools have failed to create an environment where women feel fully accepted and supported to succeed, said Dr. Pololi, director and principal investigator of the National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine, also known as C-Change, which engages medical schools in research aimed at attaining equality in academic medicine.

The study proves wrong the notion that women are less ambitious than men. It shows that both genders have equal leadership aspirations and are equally engaged in their work, she said.

Women care very deeply about having a rich professional life, Dr. Pololi said.

The findings are not surprising and reinforce previous research, said Page S. Morahan, PhD, founding director and director of research at the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.

We have seen this over and over again, she said.

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Mafia Medicine: Jordana Spiro, Josh Berman Weigh In on The Mob Doctor

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Jordana Spiro

"What would have happened if Meadow Soprano had gone on to medical school and become a doctor?" That's the question writer-producer Josh Berman said he found himself wondering when Jamie-Lynn Sigler (who played Tony Soprano's brainy daughter on The Sopranos) guest-starred on his show Drop Dead Diva.

Fall Preview: Get scoop on all of this season's new shows

Thus was planted the seed for The Mob Doctor, Berman's new series that stars Jordana Spiro as Dr. Grace Devlin, a surgeon who tries to balance her professional career with a secret side job: providing medical services for the Chicago Mafia in order to pay off a debt owed by her brother (Jesse Lee Soffer).

Berman says that after Sigler's appearance on Drop Dead Diva, he and co-producer Rob Wright started researching real-life Mob doctors. "We were shocked," he said. "It is the underbelly of organized crime their medical fixers, so to speak. So when we found out that this actually did exist, it became even more compelling and that's the point we decided, 'We have to write this.'"

See Mob Doctor's Jordana Spiro and more fall stars to watch

Inspired by one nonfiction account in particular, Ron Felber's Il Dottore: The Double Life of a Mafia Doctor, Wright and Berman started developing the character of Grace. Berman says the series will balance the medical drama with Grace's personal life story lines bookended by her relationships with her boyfriend/colleague (Zach Gilford) and former Mafia boss/family friend Constantine (William Forsythe).

"We have some episodes that take place predominantly in the hospital, and then some that take place predominantly in the field," Berman said. "I like to refer to those cases as the dirty medicine cases, because we get to tell stories without the bureaucracy of a hospital, and to me that's what's so compelling. ... When Grace is in the field, the only thing she needs to do is worry about the patient. And I think she takes that energy and that passion back into the hospital with her, which kind of gives her that 'I don't give a damn' attitude when it comes to placating her bosses. Instead, she puts her patients' interests first."

Spiro, who previously starred in TBS' comedy My Boys, said she was drawn to the role due to the moral dilemmas Grace faces as she tries to extract herself from the Mafia life. (Her father was a minor player in the Mob.) In the pilot episode, for instance, Grace receives a message to kill a patient, an informant who's brought into her hospital."This woman is making choices that are very morally conflicted and yet, at the beginning, it's to save her family," Spiro says. "And so this question becomes, 'How far do you go, and where is that line that you absolutely won't cross? And what happens when that line keeps edging further and further away?'"

The Mob Doctor's antihero will cross the line

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Ownership of islands strains relationship

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Reuters

The wave of anti-Japanese protests currently sweeping across China has its roots in history but more recently can be traced back to April, when the firebrand governor of Tokyo announced plans to buy a group of islands claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.

He did so without the apparent knowledge or approval of the Japanese government.

Spying an opportunity to assert Japanese control over the Senkaku islands, or Diaoyu as they're known in China, Governor Shintaro Ishihara launched an online appeal fund to buy them from their private owners.

Donations poured in, prompting a sharp rebuke from China and forcing the Japanese government to wade into the dispute with its own offer for the contested land.

Who is Shintaro Ishihara?

Ishihara has a long history of making inflammatory comments about China, so much so that in 1999, when he was appointed Tokyo governor, Japan's then chief cabinet secretary, Hiromu Nonaka, sought to reassure China that relations would remain "friendly."

Before taking office, Ishihara was a well-known author whose name became famous in his early twenties after writing "A Season of the Sun," which won Japan's most prestigious literary prize.

He's an outspoken nationalist who in the past has cast doubt on historians' account of the 1937 Rape of Nanking, in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese were killed by Japanese troops.

After launching the fund, Ishihara likened China's claim to the islands as like "a burglar in Japan's house."

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U.S. urges China, Japan to cool anger in islands dispute

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TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States urged Japan and China on Monday to settle their increasingly angry dispute over islands claimed by both sides, saying it was in everyone's interests to have good relations between Asia two biggest economies. The mounting tension over ownership of the islands in the East China Sea triggered protests in a number of cities across China at the weekend and warnings ...

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Saudi- Private hospitals urged to provide better services

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(MENAFN - Arab News) Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah urged health care providers in the private sector yesterday to enhance their services to residents and citizens in the Kingdom.

The minister said the government is keen to provide them with the best possible health care and there should be coordinated efforts.

Ali Azzawwawi, undersecretary to the ministry of health for the private health sector, said that the Ministry of Health organizes field visits to private health care institutions to ensure that they maintain the ministry's standards. "Violators of health care regulations were subject to various penalties and even closure of private medical clinics," he said, adding that the licenses of medical clinics were also withdrawn and violating health personnel was suspended from regular services.

The motto of the health ministry is "Patients First", hence, he said, the ministry would take all measures to look after the welfare of the patients and to enhance the services and health facilities provided to them. The official said that the ministry treats members of the private sector as strategic partners in providing the best health care to the people in the Kingdom. "Such measures are adopted as a remedial action to discourage practices that jeopardize the health of the people," he added.

In 2012, he said, the ministry closed down 140 medical clinics in the private sector and took action against 351 medical personnel, who had violated the Kingdom's health regulations.

During this year, he said 14,078 new licenses were issued to medical institutions, which included 672 pharmacies. "We have also given licenses to 2,295 medics and paramedics to practice in the private sector in the Kingdom.

Early this year, the Ministry of Health (MOH) closed a private medical center in the capital for alleged professional mistakes.

The ministry found a series of mistakes carried out by the center in its cosmetic surgical section. Besides the death of a woman following a cosmetic surgery, the ministry found that the administration of the medical center too had violated the Kingdom's labor regulations.

"Some of the center's medics and paramedics were also working for the public sector," the ministry said. The center had allegedly also not complied with the health ministry's regulations to maintain health standards. The center in the north of Riyadh has several affiliates in the city. The ministry also banned all one-day surgeries in all these facilities.

According to the Kingdom's labor regulations, it is illegal for members of the private sector to work part-time in the private sector.

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Aerospace engineering program named No. 1 in job placement

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Iowa State has been named one of the premier engineering schools in the nation, according to Aerospace Week and Space Technology Magazine.

This publication hasdeemed Iowa State the No. 1 school in regards to the number of graduates hiredin the aerospace and defense industry. An achievement of such caliber placesIowa States aerospace engineering department in the same conversation asprestigious schools such as Cal Tech and MIT.

What sets Iowa State apart from theseschools, however, is places like Cal Tech and MIT turn out some very high quality students, but they dont turn out very many students, said RichardWlezien, professor and department chairman of the aerospace engineering program. Iteach a freshman class, Introduction to Aerospace Design, and it's based on the MITcourse. When MIT teaches the class, they teach it to 35 students; when I teach theclass, I teach it to 230 students.

Wlezien said Iowa State is not only up topar with the quality of students it produces but is also exceptional in terms ofquantity. Given the readiness of graduates for the real world and thepromising future of job availability in the aerospace and defense field, this level of success appears tobe sustainable.

There are jobs in aerospace engineering, and it doesnt mean thateveryone has to be in aerospace engineering," Wlezien said. "There are other fields that theaerospace companies hire. The challenge aerospace companies have right now istheir workforce is aging, and theyre looking to replace those people, so there areopportunities.

With enrollment up 10 percent in the aerospace program,Wlezien said ISU graduates are primed to take advantage of theaforementioned opportunities for years to come.

One current student who hasalready taken advantage of a great opportunity is Prasad Raman, a senior in aerospaceengineering who has completed an internship with Boeing.

"[It was] a great opportunity to take some of the classroom knowledge and apply thatto a real world problem something thats difficult to do in a classroom setting, Raman said.

Similar experiences are the norm for other students within the program, asthey "come back with practical knowledge that really enhances what they do in theclassroom, which is something that contributes to ISU having the highest rate ofgraduates hired,"Wlezien said.

Stepping back to view a broader scale, ISU President Steven Leath explained how Iowa State goes about molding such high-levelgraduates, not only within the aerospace engineering program but universitywide.

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Federal appeals court to hear challenge to California DNA collection law

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SAN FRANCISCO -- On a March day three years ago in San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza, Elizabeth "Lily" Haskell was arrested during a rally against the Iraq war, cuffed on a felony allegation that she tried to spring another protester who had been taken into custody.

But once hauled off to jail, Haskell found herself in the legal crosshairs for more than just civic rabble-rousing. Sheriff's deputies ordered her to submit to DNA testing under a then-new provision of California law, giving her the choice of letting them swab the inside of her cheek or face an additional misdemeanor charge and sit in a jail cell for two days.

Haskell relented and took the DNA test. But now the Oakland woman is at the center of an American Civil Liberties Union legal challenge to a state law that allows law enforcement to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested for a felony, regardless of whether they are later charged or convicted. In Haskell's case, prosecutors never followed up the 2009 arrest with a criminal charge.

"My DNA was taken without any kind of due process," Haskell said last week. "I believe people should have the right to refuse to give their DNA."

On Wednesday, a special 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the latest round in the case, which has highlighted a legal issue that appears bound for the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, in a brief order earlier this year, Chief Justice John Roberts said

At the request of civil liberties lawyers, the 9th Circuit agreed to take a second look at the Haskell case after a three-judge panel, in a 2-1 ruling, earlier this year upheld a voter-approved 2004 California law allowing DNA collection. The 9th Circuit rejected arguments that the law, which went into effect in 2009, tramples on the constitutional rights of those arrested for felonies, saying "government's compelling interests far outweigh arrestees' privacy concerns."

In court papers, lawyers for Haskell and others arrested but never charged with felonies argue that the California law "is an unprecedented expansion of the government's power to collect DNA evidence and to DNA profile individuals who have never been convicted of any crime."

To the ACLU, there is no reason someone's DNA should wind up in the state's DNA database if the person has never appeared in court, much less in front of a jury.

"People who haven't been convicted of anything shouldn't be treated like criminals," ACLU attorney Michael Risher said.

Law enforcement officials argue that the DNA collection law is a crucial tool in solving crimes. They liken taking a DNA swab at the time of arrest to fingerprinting.

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Federal appeals court to hear challenge to California DNA collection law

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