XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 05/11/11

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

Greece launches massive fire sale - Marinas, casinos and former Olympic venues up for grabs to help service its debt -

Greece launches massive fire sale - Marinas, casinos and former Olympic venues up for grabs to help service its debt -

Marinas, casinos and former Olympic venues could be up for grabs after Greece announced a massive fire sale to help service its debt.
The Greek government said it was putting vast areas of state-owned land on the market to raise £44billion in the next four years.
Nationalised companies could also be privatised to help raise the necessary capital to ensure it does not default on debt payments.
A general strike held today has seen most public services grind to a halt across the country, while thousands marched through Athens to protest against harsh austerity measures.

Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385900/Greek-debt-Greece-launches-massive-sale-riot-police-clash-protesters.html

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has obtained its first image of the giant asteroid Vesta -

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has obtained its first image of the giant asteroid Vesta -
Dawn's First Glimpse of Vesta

This image shows the first, unprocessed image obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft of the giant asteroid Vesta in front of a background of stars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
› Full image and caption

Dawn's First Glimpse of Vesta -- Processed

Dawn's First Glimpse of Vesta -- Processed

This image, processed to show the true size of the giant asteroid Vesta, shows Vesta in front of a spectacular background of stars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
› Full image and caption

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has obtained its first image of the giant asteroid Vesta, which will help fine-tune navigation during its approach. Dawn is expected to achieve orbit around Vesta on July 16, when the asteroid is about 188 million kilometers (117 million miles) from Earth.

The image from Dawn's framing cameras was taken on May 3 when the spacecraft began its approach and was approximately 1.21 million kilometers (752,000 miles) from Vesta. The asteroid appears as a small, bright pearl against a background of stars. Vesta is also known as a protoplanet, because it is a large body that almost formed into a planet.

"After plying the seas of space for more than a billion miles, the Dawn team finally spotted its target," said Carol Raymond, Dawn's deputy principal investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "This first image hints of detailed portraits to come from Dawn's upcoming visit."

Vesta is 530 kilometers (330 miles) in diameter and the second most massive object in the asteroid belt. Ground- and space-based telescopes obtained images of the bright orb for about two centuries, but with little surface detail.

Mission managers expect Vesta's gravity to capture Dawn in orbit on July 16. To enter orbit, Dawn must match the asteroid's path around the sun, which requires very precise knowledge of the body's location and speed. By analyzing where Vesta appears relative to stars in framing camera images, navigators will pin down its location and enable engineers to refine the spacecraft's trajectory.

Dawn will start collecting science data in early August at an altitude of approximately 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) above the asteroid's surface. As the spacecraft gets closer, it will snap multi-angle images, allowing scientists to produce topographic maps. Dawn will later orbit at approximately 200 kilometers (120 miles) to perform other measurements and obtain closer shots of parts of the surface. Dawn will remain in orbit around Vesta for one year. After another long cruise phase, Dawn will arrive in 2015 at its second destination, Ceres, an even more massive body in the asteroid belt.

A CANNIBAL has been arrested after his "dinner guest" changed his mind and called the cops -

The would-be victim from Switzerland answered an internet advert from the 43-year-old man seeking someone who would agree to be killed, cooked and eaten.

He claims he thought the offer — posted by a man in Slovakia — was nothing more than a "macabre fantasy game".

But he said after speaking to the unnamed man on the phone, he realised he was "deadly serious".

He alerted Swiss police who informed their Slovakian counterparts on Monday.

The cops sent in an undercover officer posing as the victim in a sting operation to catch the suspected flesh-eater.

But as officers attempted to arrest the man yesterday, in the north-eastern village of Kysak, a gunfight broke out and the man and a cop were shot.

A Kysak police spokesman said: "It appears this man was genuinely seeking to eat someone.

"His advert said he wanted someone who would agree to be put to sleep then killed, cut up, cooked and eaten.

"One of our officers and the suspect both suffered gunshot wounds during the arrest and are both being treated in hospital."