AHS falls to high-powered Cuthbertson

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WAXHAW The Asheboro High School Blue Comets knew they were facing a team Friday night that loved to throw the ball.

In the second round of the state 3-AA playoffs at Cuthbertson High School, the Cavaliers showed the Blue Comets first-hand why the ball is in the air so much.

Cuthbertson quarterback Austin Kendall threw for 312 yards and six touchdowns as the Blue Comets saw their season come to an end with a 49-14 setback.

AHS (9-4) led 14-13 midway through the second quarter before the Cavaliers scored the final 36 points of the game.

Kendall, a junior who has already committed to Tennessee, connected on 21 of 34 passes and now has 43 scoring passes on the season.

Hes a very polished high school quarterback, AHS coach Owen George said. They are very, very good. Very explosive. If you are going to beat a quality team in the playoffs, you have to be near-perfect and we were far from that tonight. We can play better and that is whats disappointing.

The Blue Comets commited four turnovers in the contest, including one on the very first play from scrimmage.

The Cavaliers took advantage, driving 35 yards for a score, a touchdown pass to JT Cauthen at the 9:40 mark.

In the first quarter, the Blue Comets were able to respond for the most part as they tied the game on a short scoring run from Terry Richmond. Richmond finished with 147 yards rushing as he eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau for the season.

Cuthbertson answered with a 69-yard scoring drive with Kendall finding Brian Muckelvene for a 40-yard scoring strike for a 13-7 lead.

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AHS falls to high-powered Cuthbertson

InterContinental Riyadh Hotel voted Saudi Arabia's Best Golf Hotel

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RIYADH: InterContinental Riyadh Hotel has won the award as Saudi Arabia 's Best Golf Hotel at the inaugural World Golf Awards 2014, hosted last week end in Quinta do Lago, Portugal. The World Golf Awards is part of the World Travel Awards (WTA), which was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry. Today, the WTA brand is recognized globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality, and has been dubbed the Oscars of the travel industry. The presentation of the awards was the centerpiece of a three-day itinerary for the event, which saw guests enjoy some of the world-class facilities on offer at the famous Quinta do Lago Resort. Tariq Dowidar, InterContinental Riyadh General Manage, and Mounir Melliti,InterContinental Riyadh Recreation Manager, received the award from the renowned sports journalist Steve Rider. The World Golf Awards has been created in response to a demand from the golf industry for a fair and transparent program that would celebrate and reward excellence in golf tourism, as well as recognize world-class courses & golf destinations, explained Chris Frost, managing director, World Golf Awards. Voted for by professionals working within the golf travel and tourism industry, including senior executives, travel agents, tour operators and media professionals, as well as members from the general public (golf tourists) the World Golf Awards aim to stimulate both the domestic and international golf tourism markets. With an estimated 50 million golf tourists travelling the world to play 32,000 golf courses and resorts worldwide, golf tourism constitutes a vital segment in the global travel and tourism marketplace. The inaugural World Golf Awards will focus on the leading 130 nations that are shaping the future of this dynamic industry.

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InterContinental Riyadh Hotel voted Saudi Arabia's Best Golf Hotel

Indianola woman is a 'citizen of the world'

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By Sandy McKay / Special to Sound Publishing

During her lifetime, Indianola resident Pam Perry has traveled extensively to interesting, exciting and exotic locations around the world. Her parents, Linc and Fredi Perry, were "big travelers", as she puts it.

"They always inspired me with the with stories of places they had been," she said. "They would also ask us -- my brother Ken, my sister Andi and me -- what we wanted from their travel destinations, their ports-of-call."

Pam and her siblings were always motivated to by their parents' stories to learn about where they traveled.

"It forced us to a lot of research to learn about those countries and what they produced that we might want," Perry remarked.

She has had a travel visa from the age of 12. As a family they went to Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, and to Hawaii three times.

"I have always had wanderlust," she said.

"We had a great family unit with weekly family meetings, organized by my dad, to keep up to date with everything that was happening to each of us," Perry said. "I always felt loved and supported by my parents and siblings, and that continues to this day."

She had an extended family, as well.

In her early childhood she was "adopted" by close friends of the family, Paula and Hal Hubbell.

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Indianola woman is a 'citizen of the world'

Local clinic treats animals with stem cell therapy

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AVON LAKE, OH (WOIO) - When Shannon Goulding's bloodhound Butler tore a ligament in his knee his entire personality changed.

"He was sedentary, and he wasn't as active as before," said Goulding.

Dr. Petti a veterinarianat the Avon Lake Animal Clinic told Goulding, who also works at the clinic, suggested that stem cell therapy could help.

"Watching him walk he looked stiff and uncomfortable," said Petti.

The therapy was successful. Goulding said after four weeks after the surgery she could see a change the way Butler moved.

Stem cell therapy helps animals suffering from sore knees and joints by using their own fat cells.

"You take them from the patient, you process them, make them active, and then you re inject them into the parts of the animal that are giving them problems," said Petti.

Petti said Avon Lake Animal Clinic has helped about 15 animals with stem cell therapy and people from all over the country have been calling.

One injection of stem cells can last up to three years, and after that a second injection may be needed.

Stem cell therapy is also an expensive procedure. It ranges from $2,000-2,500, but for Goulding she says seeing Butler run free without pain is worth it.

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Local clinic treats animals with stem cell therapy

Brain injuries in mice treated using bone marrow stem cells, antioxidants

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Researchers of CEU Cardenal Herrera University (CEU-UCH) for the first time transplanted bone marrow stem cells into damaged brain tissue while applying lipoic acid (a potent antioxidant), with the aim of improving neuroregeneration in the tissue. This new way of repairing brain damage, which combines cellular treatment with drug therapy, has shown positive results, especially in forming blood vessels (a process called angiogenesis) in damaged areas of the brains of adult laboratory mice. Angiogenesis is a process that is essential to the recovery of damaged neural tissues. The investigation was led by Jos Miguel Soria Lpez, deputy director of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at CEU-UCH, and its results were published in the international medical journal Brain Injury.

Professor Soria, who is affiliated to the Department of Biomedical Sciences at CEU-UCH, heads the investigative group 'Strategies in Neuroprotection and Neuroreparation', which carried out the investigation in cooperation with the Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), located in Sevilla, and the Mediterranean Ophthalmological Foundation, located in Valencia. The research team used the experience they obtained from their previous investigations on the neuroregenerative efficiency of lipoic acid to develop a new remediation strategy for patients of brain damage. This new therapy combines the transplantation of bone marrow stem cells into the brain -- in this case, the brains of adult rats -- with the administration of the potent antioxidant lipoic acid.

Lipoic acid is already used in the treatment of degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis or diabetic neuropathy. Professor Soria concluded from previous researches he conducted at CEU-UCH that it has the ability to increase the creation of blood vessels, which speeds up cerebral immune response after an injury and stimulates the restoration of damaged tissues. Several other researches, for their part, proved that after brain damage stem cell therapies using a patient's own bone marrow induce functional improvements. The two therapies -- one cellular; the other one pharmacological -- were both applied in this research so as to evaluate their combined effect.

New blood vessels

Angiogenesis -- the process that forms new blood vessels -- in the treated neuronal tissue began only eight days after the application of this new, combined therapy. CEU-UCH professor Soria says that "although bone marrow stem cells disappear from the brain tissue where they were transplanted after only 16 days, new cells keep forming. To put it another way, brain tissue is regenerated by new cells that appear in the brain as a result of stem cell transplantation. This proves the regenerative efficiency of the new combined therapy."

The research also shows how the blood vessels that formed after the treatment grow into the damaged area of the brain. "They act as a kind of scaffolding to that area that allows microglia cells to migrate," professor Soria says. "In the damaged area, they contribute to regeneration." He adds that "the application of both treatments results into high angiogenic activity, which is crucial for an efficient recovery of the damaged brain area." According to Soria, "the laboratory mice that recovered fastest from brain injuries were those that had a higher density of regenerated blood vessels."

Taking into consideration brain damage is, especially among children and adolescents, one of the leading causes of disability and death in the developed world, the good results that were obtained from the combination of the two therapies make the research team very hopeful. "Combining an antioxidant such as lipoic acid with bone marrow stem cells has proven to be an effective remedy," Soria observes. The team plans to conduct future research into similar combined therapies.

The image above shows the transplant of bone marrow stem cells from transgenic mice under the effects of cerebral cortex after suffering local brain damage. Also visible is a neuroprotective drug therapy.

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Brain injuries in mice treated using bone marrow stem cells, antioxidants

Police officer's debuts play about spirituality

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IN 2012, Philadelphia Police Lt. Jonathan Josey became a national symbol of police brutality after a cellphone video went viral of him hitting a woman in the aftermath of the Puerto Rican Day Parade.

He was charged with simple assault and fired - only to be exonerated the following year. Josey, at the time a decorated, 19-year-veteran of the police force, also got his job back - complete with back pay.

Fast-forward to 2014 and Josey is not only a vindicated man but a wiser one. The incident, which made national headlines, helped him reorder his priorities about what's really important, a message he shares in his new play, "What If Heaven Was Black."

It is scheduled to debut tomorrow at 3 p.m. and to be performed again at 7 p.m. at Microsoft's School of the Future at 4021 Parkside Ave. (Tickets are $25 at the door.)

"And like I tell people: When God has a plan for you and he gives you something, he needs you to work on what he gives you. Don't make it second to anything," he continued. "I think I was so consumed with my job because it had been my everything for almost 20 years at the time, it was stopping me from doing something that he gave me. So, when he removed that from me, it allowed me time to finish this play. And as soon as I was finished, everything that was taken from me, I got back."

Despite a flurry of negative media attention, Josey said he managed to remain calm for the most part. (Shortly after the incident, I saw Josey at the premiere of a local, independent movie he acted in. Josey was glad handing with well wishers and socializing as if nothing had happened.)

"Even though I was vilified in the press and I had all this stuff going on and the pending trial and all that stuff, there was a peace in everything," explained Josey, who attends Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. "I knew that God needed to remove that to get me to do what he needed me to do. So, this was my peace."

The show tells the story of eight strangers from various backgrounds who meet in the after life. The main character, a 60-year-old matriarch who died of breast cancer, is loosely based on the late Philadelphia Police Officer Kathy Battle, who worked with homicide victims' families before dying of the same disease in September 2012. The first female president of the Guardian Civic League, she and Josey became close friends when he served under her as vice president of membership.

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Police officer's debuts play about spirituality

International Space Station to have two women on board for first time in years

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Samantha Cristoforetti, 37, will join crew of ISS this Sunday Will be sent into space with other members on rocket in Kazakhstan Her arrival will mark first time since 2010 two women have been on board Elena Serova went up in September, after being hassled about make-up In Italian style, Cristoforetti will take first space-ready espresso maker along

By Kieran Corcoran for MailOnline and Associated Press

Published: 12:02 EST, 21 November 2014 | Updated: 17:31 EST, 21 November 2014

The International Space Station will have its most female-heavy crew in years as when Italy's first female astronaut joins the vessel this weekend.

Samantha Cristoforetti, 37, will launch into space from a facility in Kazakhstan this Sunday, where she will join Russian Elena Serova, who has been in orbit since September.

It will only be the second time that two women have been on board the ISS at once, making the six-member crew one third female.

Space-bound:Samantha Cristoforetti, posing above with the spacesuit she will wear, is Italy's first female astronaut

Companion: Elena Serova, a Russian, is already in orbit on the International Space Station. Cristoforetti's arrival will make the crew more women-heavy than it has been since 2010

Cristoforetti's arrival will also bring a new first to space, as she will bring a specially-designed Italian espresso machine along with her.

The so-called ISSpresso machine, which weighs 44lbs, is designed to work in zero gravity, and will be the first device of its kind outside the earth's atmosphere, the Guardian reported.

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International Space Station to have two women on board for first time in years

Space Station-Bound Astronaut Eager to Fly NASA's Orion to the Moon

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A NASA astronaut preparing to fly to the International Space Station Sunday (Nov. 23) eventually wants to go even farther into space much farther.

NASA's Terry Virts says he would love to fly NASA's Orion space capsule designed to take humans farther into space than ever before to a nearby solar system destination.

"I'd really like to fly Orion to the moon," Virts said to Space.com in a September interview. Orion will undergo its first uncrewed test flight on Dec. 4 when it rockets 3,600 miles (5,800 km) above Earth before coming in for a high-speed re-entry. Crewed missions are expected to follow in the 2020s. [See images of the Orion space capsule]

The former test pilot said he's eager to try out any space vehicle. In that spirit, Virts is looking forward to flying into orbit aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that is scheduled to carry him and his crewmates to space on Sunday (Nov. 23).

"One of the things that I enjoyed most about this flight was learning about the Soyuz," Virts told Space.com in September. "As a test pilot I've flown a lot of different aircraft and spacecraft."

NASA hopes that the commercial spaceflight companies Boeing and SpaceX will begin shuttling astronauts to the space station from U.S. soil by 2017. One of the major goals of his mission will be to retrofit the station to accommodate these new commercial vehicles, Virts added.

Virts' nearly six-month-mission is expected to feature two spacewalks. Those activities should focus on placing cables and wires that will be necessary to install a docking ring for the commercial vehicles.

The docking ports on the station were originally designed to accommodate vehicles like the Soyuz, various cargo craft and NASA's space shuttles (which have since been retired). But changes will be needed for SpaceX's human-rated Dragon capsule and Boeing's CST-100.

The space station's robotic arm which grapples with commercial cargo spacecraft also requires some grease from spacewalkers to loosen it up after a decade in space.

Virts, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov will also be busy inside the station after they launch this weekend. The three Expedition 42-43 crewmembers will help perform 170 U.S.-based experiments and 70 others from around the world.

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Space Station-Bound Astronaut Eager to Fly NASA's Orion to the Moon

Space station rarity: Two women on long-term crew

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14 hours ago by Marcia Dunn In this Sept. 25, 2014, file photo, Russian cosmonaut Elena Serova, the crew member of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, attends pre-launch preparations at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Samantha Cristoforetti, Italy's first female astronaut, is set to rocket into orbit this weekend from Kazakhstan, bound for the International Space Station. There, she will join Serova. It will be just the second time in the International Space Station's 16-year history that two women make up the six-member crew. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

For the 21st-century spacewoman, gender is a subject often best ignored. After years of training for their first space mission, the last thing Samantha Cristoforetti and Elana Serova want to dwell on is the fact they are women.

Cristoforetti, Italy's first female astronaut, is set to rocket into orbit this weekend from Kazakhstan, bound for the International Space Station. There, she will join Russia's Serova, a rarity in her homeland's male-dominated cosmonaut corps.

It will be just the second time in the space station's 16-year history that two women make up the long-term, six-member crew.

Just don't ask Cristoforetti or Serova about the gender issue.

"Space is what I do for work, and that's what I think about it: It's my work," Serova said in a NASA interview before launch in late September.

Cristoforetti, 37, a fighter pilot and captain in the Italian Air Force, has managed to sidestep most if not all gender questions leading up to Sunday's planned launch.

Serova tried to do the same. But before the 38-year-old engineer climbed aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket, Russian reporters asked if she was taking up makeup and wondered how she would wear her hair during her six-month mission.

Serova ignored the makeup question. As for her hairdo, she shot back:

"I have a question for youwhy don't you ask the question about Alexander's hair, for example," she said, referring to crewmate Alexander Samokutyaev seated next to her at the news conference. "I'm sorry, this is my answer. Thank you. More questions?"

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NASA Aims To Slash Space Shipping Costs With Shiny 3-D Printer

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The Columbus module is installed on the International Space Station in 2008. Pictured is NASA astronaut Rex Walheim. Credit: NASA

Need a part on the International Space Station? Youre going to have to wait for that. That is, wait for the next spaceship to arrive with the critical tool to make a repair, or replace something that broke. You can imagine how that slows down NASAs desire for science on the orbiting laboratory.

Enter the first orbiting machine shop: a 3-D printer that was just installed in the stations Columbus laboratory this week. If the printer works as planned, astronauts will be able to make simple things based on instructions from the ground. Over time, the agency hopes this will save time and money, and reduce the need to rely on shipments from Earth. And keep an eye out in 2015: two other 3-D printers are scheduled to join it.

As NASA aims to send astronauts to an asteroid and perhaps to Mars, the need to manufacture parts on site is critical. Sending a valve to Phobos isnt an easy proposition. Much better that future crews will make stuff on the spot, and NASA says the space station will be a good spot to test this kind of stuff out. Adding motivation is a National Research Council report from this summer urging NASA to start 3-D printing testing as soon as possible, since the station (as of yet) is only funded by all partners through 2020. Negotiations are ongoing to extend that to 2024.

In November 2014, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore installed a 3-D printer made by Made in Space in the Columbus laboratorys Microgravity Science Glovebox on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

Additive manufacturing with 3-D printers will allow space crews to be less reliant on supply missions from Earth and lead to sustainable, self-reliant exploration missions where resupply is difficult and costly, stated Jason Crusan, director of NASAs advanced explorations systems division at NASA headquarters in Washington. The space station provides the optimal place to perfect this technology in microgravity.

But dont get too excited yet; astronauts arent going to make screwdrivers right away. The first step will be calibrating the printer. Then, the first files (mainly test coupons) will be printed and sent back to Earth to make sure they meet up to standards compared to identical samples printed on the ground with the same printer.

Made In Space Inc. manufactured this printer (which arrived on station in September) with the aim of sending up a more advanced version in 2015. In a statement, the company said it is gratified that the printer is ready to go in space. Any science collected on it will inform the design of the new printer, which will enable a fast and cost-effective way for people to get hardware to space, the company added.

And guess what: there is yet another printer that will be launched to the space station next year. Called the POP3D Portable On-Board Printer, the European Space Agency promises that the tiny machine less than half the diameter of a basketball will be able to print a plastic part in about half an hour.

The prime contractor for this printer is Italian company Altran. POP3D will reach the station in the first half of next year, ideally while Italys Samantha Cristoforetti is still doing her Futura mission in space (which starts this Sunday, if the launch schedule holds.)

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NASA Aims To Slash Space Shipping Costs With Shiny 3-D Printer

A Giant Step for Coffee Lovers: Italian Espresso Headed To Space

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Astronauts on the International Space Station will soon be waking up to the refreshing aroma and taste of authentic Italian coffee.

ISSpresso, an espresso machine designed by engineering company Argotec and coffee roaster Lavazza in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, is one of the many items headed to space in April 2015.

"We have been thinking about taking the espresso into space for some time...In fact, today we are in a position to overcome the limits of weightlessness and enjoy a good espresso the indisputable symbol of made in Italy products," said the Giuseppe Lavazza, vice-president of Lavazza in a press release.

The device is the first capsule-based coffee machine to be sent to space and the first designed to handle its microgravity conditions in which the physics behind the dynamics and movement of liquids differ from that on Earth. Microgravity refers to "zero gravity" or weightless.

"The fluid dynamic in a microgravity environment is different from the one observed on Earth," Antonio Pilello, a spokesperson for Argotec told ABC News in an email. "Since you are weightless in orbit, there is no up, down, left nor right. For this reason we designed our system to be capable of making coffees without being affected by gravity."

The machine is comprised of a steel tube to transport water while being able to tolerate over 400 bars of pressure. The machine, weighing 20 kilograms, also has extra important components to maintain safety protocols issued in accordance with specific regulations set by the Italian Space Agency.

Courtesy Lavazza

PHOTO: The Italian Space Agency is sending the first espresso coffee machine to the International Space Station. Made by Lavazza and Agrotec, it is designed to withstand extreme amounts of pressure and can operate in microgravity conditions.

ISSpresso will also offer other options, including caffe lungo, tea, infusions and broth, allowing food to be re-hydrated. Astronauts will be able to drink these substances using small pouches with valves that are inserted into and draw coffee from the machine.

Pilello told ABC News that only instant coffee is available for astronauts right now.

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A Giant Step for Coffee Lovers: Italian Espresso Headed To Space

Toronto students' space tomatoes out of this world

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The tomato seeds spent almost two years in outer space before making their way to Nandita Bajajs Grade 9 science class.

And after an experiment that began at the start of this school year comparing the percentage of space seeds that germinated compared to those with earthly beginnings Bajaj did the big reveal on Friday, giving the excited teens the results.

In the past weve done different experiments to teach the scientific method, but the unit after this is astronomy, so the Tomatosphere project worked well on two fronts, said Bajaj, who has a degree in aerospace engineering as well as teaching.

The best thing about the experiment is the awareness of how real science is conducted, she said, and it gives students a chance to experience something that is part of a real-world experiment on the effects of space on food growth.

Some 18,000 students across North America will take part in the Tomatosphere program this year, and about three million have since it began 13 years ago.

Bajajs class received certificates from the Canadian Space Agency, handed out on Friday, for taking part in the mass experiment.

Tomatosphere is in part sponsored by Lets Talk Science, the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Guelph.

The seeds for Bajajs class at Northview Heights Secondary School some travelled more than 450 million kilometres were brought back to Earth last year from the International Space Station by famed Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.

The class received space and non-space tomato seeds, which they were asked to germinate, without knowing which was which, and to then compare success rates for each set.

Ten days ago, their work was sent to the Canadian Space Agency. Their results were close to the overall average about 65 per cent of their 113 earthly seeds germinated, while 57 per cent of the 113 space ones did.

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'Space plane' readies for launch

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The Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle. Photo: ESA

Europe's first-ever "space plane" will be launched on February 11 next year, rocket firm Arianespace says after a three-month delay to fine-tune the flight plan.

The unmanned, car-sized vessel will be sent into low orbit by Europe's Vega light rocket, on a 100-minute fact-finding flight to inform plans to build a shuttle-like, reusable space vehicle.

Dubbed IXV, for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, the plane will be boosted from Europe's space pad in Kourou, French Guiana, and separate from its launcher at an altitude of 320 kilometres.

ISV's misison overview. Photo: ESA

The European Space Agency website says it will attain an altitude of around 450k kilometres before re-entering the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 kilometres - representative of a return mission from low orbit.

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The vessel is expected to collect data on its hypersonic and supersonic flight phases, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean with a parachute.

The initial launch had been scheduled for November 18, but Arianespace in October announced a postponement "to carry out additional flight trajectory analyses".

"Based on joint work by ESA [the European Space Agency] and CNES [the French space agency], the date for the IXV mission to be launched by Vega has been set for February 11, 2015," the company said in a statement on Friday.

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A replica of the ESAs space plane IXV is on display during the presentation at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, on September 9, 2014 - ANP/AFP/File

PARIS: Europes first-ever space plane will be launched on February 11 next year, rocket firm Arianespace said Friday after a three-month delay to fine-tune the mission flight plan.

The unmanned, car-sized vessel will be sent into low orbit by Europes Vega light rocket, on a 100-minute fact-finding flight to inform plans to build a shuttle-like, reusable space vehicle.

Dubbed IXV, for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, the plane will be boosted from Europes space pad in Kourou, French Guiana, and separate from its launcher at an altitude of 320 kilometres (200 miles).

According to the European Space Agency website, it will attain an altitude of around 450 km, allowing it to reach a speed of 7.5 km/s (4.7 miles/s) when reentering the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 km fully representative of any return mission from low orbit.

The vessel is expected to collect data on its hypersonic and supersonic flight phases, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean with a parachute.

The initial launch had been scheduled for November 18, but Arianespace in October announced a postponement to carry out additional flight trajectory analyses.

Based on joint work by ESA (the European Space Agency) and CNES (the French space agency), the date for the IXV mission to be launched by Vega has been set for February 11, 2015, the company said in a statement Friday.

Arianespace will resume launch preparations in early 2015.

Developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($190 million), the IXV is the testbed for a reusable vehicle that may one day be able to land on a conventional runway on Earth after a mission to space.

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European space plane set for February launch

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14 hours ago A replica of the ESA's space plane IXV is on display during the presentation at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, on September 9, 2014

Europe's first-ever "space plane" will be launched on February 11 next year, rocket firm Arianespace said Friday after a three-month delay to fine-tune the mission flight plan.

The unmanned, car-sized vessel will be sent into low orbit by Europe's Vega light rocket, on a 100-minute fact-finding flight to inform plans to build a shuttle-like, reusable space vehicle.

Dubbed IXV, for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, the plane will be boosted from Europe's space pad in Kourou, French Guiana, and separate from its launcher at an altitude of 320 kilometres (200 miles).

According to the European Space Agency website, "it will attain an altitude of around 450 km, allowing it to reach a speed of 7.5 km/s (4.7 miles/s) when reentering the atmosphere at an altitude of 120 kmfully representative of any return mission from low orbit."

The vessel is expected to collect data on its hypersonic and supersonic flight phases, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean with a parachute.

The initial launch had been scheduled for November 18, but Arianespace in October announced a postponement "to carry out additional flight trajectory analyses".

"Based on joint work by ESA (the European Space Agency) and CNES (the French space agency), the date for the IXV mission to be launched by Vega has been set for February 11, 2015," the company said in a statement Friday.

"Arianespace will resume launch preparations in early 2015."

Developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($190 million), the IXV is the testbed for a reusable vehicle that may one day be able to land on a conventional runway on Earth after a mission to space.

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European space plane set for February launch