British-born astronaut blasts off

Space shuttle Endeavour - whose crew includes a North Yorkshire-born man - rocketed into orbit on what is likely to be the last night-time launch for the programme.

Dr Nicholas Patrick, originally from Saltburn-by-the-Sea, near Guisborough, was one of the six crew on-board the shuttle for the pre-dawn launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The sky was ignited with a brilliant flash seen for miles around. Thick, low clouds that had delayed a first launch attempt on Sunday returned, but then cleared away just in time.

There are just four more missions scheduled this year before the shuttles are retired.

Endeavour's destination, the International Space Station, was soaring over Romania at the time of lift-off. The shuttle is set to arrive at the station early on Wednesday.

Commander George Zamka and his crew will deliver and install Tranquility, a new room that will eventually house life-support equipment, exercise machines and a toilet, as well as a seven-windowed observation dome which has the biggest window ever sent into space, a circle 79 centimetres across. It will be the last major construction job at the space station. Both the new room and observation dome - together exceeding $400 million - were supplied by the European Space Agency.

Launch manager Mike Moses said he got "evil glares" in the control centre for making his team report to work on Super Bowl night. He noted that the shuttle's fuel tank was made in New Orleans. "They were at least happy with the results of the game," he said with a smile.

Monday morning's countdown ended up being uneventful, except for a last-minute run to the launch pad. Astronaut Stephen Robinson forgot the binder holding all his flight data files, and the emergency red team had to rush it out to him, just before he climbed aboard.

A quick look at the launch video showed a few pieces of foam insulation breaking off Endeavour's external fuel tank, but none appeared to strike the shuttle, officials said.

Copyright © Press Association 2010

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Source : http://blogs.yourdiscovery.com/discovery-news/2010/02/british-born-astronaut-blasts-off.html

Animal Crackers

Animal Crackers is back for a brand new second series and is packed full of hilarious and bizarre animal stories.

A fun series for all the family, this show demonstrates how our world and the animal kingdom can often collide with astonishing consequences.

Throughout the series, viewers will be introduced to a variety of weird and wonderful animal encounters, such as the animals that should never have bonded but have, including the intriguing and heart warming story of big boxer dog Billy and his best friend Lilly the goat.

We meets Helena Seget, an artist and designer who shares her home and studio space with fellow artist Tony the rat. Viewers will also have the chance to meet Katie who lives on a farm in Devon with her pig Rupert whose ‘piece de resistance’ is playing the piano.

Finally the work of those dedicating their lives to animal welfare is highlighted, plus the wacky inventors who are working round the clock in order to help the animal kingdom.

We've scoured the world for some of the planet’s most entertaining and astounding animals and the people who are wild about them.

To see the their latest video Here
Source: http://www.yourdiscovery.com/web/animalplanet/animal-crackers/