Sudanese Airplane Hits Huge Bird before Landing

 A Boeing 737 MAX takes off during a flight test in Renton, Washington January 29, 2016. | File Reuters
A Boeing 737 MAX takes off during a flight test in Renton, Washington January 29, 2016. | File Reuters
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Sudanese Airplane Hits Huge Bird before Landing

 A Boeing 737 MAX takes off during a flight test in Renton, Washington January 29, 2016. | File Reuters
A Boeing 737 MAX takes off during a flight test in Renton, Washington January 29, 2016. | File Reuters

A Sudanese airline has called on authorities at the Khartoum International Airport to address the “bird phenomenon” and its threats against aviation, people, and properties.

This call came after one of the company’s airplanes survived a disaster after it hit a huge seasonal bird, following its take-off from Ad Damazeen Airport.

The jet safely landed at Khartoum airport, but the crash caused serious damage to the aircraft's nose, just metres from the pilot's cockpit.

In a press release, the Badr Airlines, owner of the damaged jet, said the J4-314 flight took off on schedule from Damazeen Airport heading to Khartoum, but, "it crashed into a huge seasonal bird after about 45 minutes in the air, which caused serious damages in the jet’s nose."

The pilot was able to land normally at Khartoum Airport, thanks to the instructions mentioned in the jet’s operating guide.

All passengers were safe and were not affected by the accident. Media sources reported that the bird that caused the incident is one of the giant eagles that migrate to the country in the fall, and is locally known as the «bald hawk».

Badr Airlines said the incident is not "normal". But, the company dealt with the situation properly, which led to a safe and normal landing, without affecting the passengers.

Badr called the authorities of Khartoum Airport to put an end to the “bird phenomenon” threatening lives and properties.

This accident is not the first of its kind. In September 2016, about 108 passengers and a six-member crew survived a disastrous crash in a Boeing 737, heading from El Fasher west of the country to Khartoum.

The later hit an eagle in the air, and the collision caused a large hole in its outer structure, which obliged it to return, and to land safely at El Fasher airport.



Earth Is ‘Really Quite Sick Now’ and in Danger Zone in Nearly All Ecological Ways, Study Says

Dead fish drift in the Oder River near Brieskow-Finkenheerd, eastern Germany, on Aug. 11, 2022. (AP)
Dead fish drift in the Oder River near Brieskow-Finkenheerd, eastern Germany, on Aug. 11, 2022. (AP)
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Earth Is ‘Really Quite Sick Now’ and in Danger Zone in Nearly All Ecological Ways, Study Says

Dead fish drift in the Oder River near Brieskow-Finkenheerd, eastern Germany, on Aug. 11, 2022. (AP)
Dead fish drift in the Oder River near Brieskow-Finkenheerd, eastern Germany, on Aug. 11, 2022. (AP)

Earth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into “the danger zone,” not just for an overheating planet that's losing its natural areas, but for well-being of people living on it, according to a new study.

The study looks not just at guardrails for the planetary ecosystem but for the first time it includes measures of “justice,” which is mostly about preventing harm for countries, ethnicities and genders.

The study by the international scientist group Earth Commission published in Wednesday’s journal Nature looks at climate, air pollution, phosphorus and nitrogen contamination of water from fertilizer overuse, groundwater supplies, fresh surface water, the unbuilt natural environment and the overall natural and human-built environment. Only air pollution wasn’t quite at the danger point globally.

Air pollution is dangerous at local and regional levels, while climate was beyond the harmful levels for humans in groups but not quite past the safety guideline for the planet as a system, the study from the Swedish group said.

The study found “hotspots” of problem areas throughout Eastern Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, parts of Africa and much of Brazil, Mexico, China and some of the US West — much of it from climate change. About two-thirds of Earth don’t meet the criteria for freshwater safety, scientists said as an example.

“We are in a danger zone for most of the Earth system boundaries,” said study co-author Kristie Ebi, a professor of climate and public health at the University of Washington.

If planet Earth just got an annual check-up, similar to a person's physical, “our doctor would say that the Earth is really quite sick right now and it is sick in terms of many different areas or systems and this sickness is also affecting the people living on Earth,” Earth Commission co-chair Joyeeta Gupta, a professor of environment at the University of Amsterdam, said at a press conference.

It’s not a terminal diagnosis. The planet can recover if it changes, including its use of coal, oil and natural gas and the way it treats the land and water, the scientists said.

But “we are moving in the wrong direction on basically all of these,” said study lead author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

“This is a compelling and provocative paper – scientifically sound in methodology and important for identifying the dimensions in which the planet is nearing the edge of boundaries that would launch us into irreversible states,” Indy Burke, dean of the Yale School of the Environment said in an email. She wasn’t part of the study.

The team of about 40 scientists created quantifiable boundaries for each environmental category, both for what’s safe for the planet and for the point at which it becomes harmful for groups of people, which the researchers termed a justice issue.

Rockstrom said he thinks of those points as setting up “a safety fence” outside of which the risks become higher, but not necessarily fatal.

Rockstrom and other scientists have attempted in the past this type of holistic measuring of Earth’s various interlocking ecosystems. The big difference in this attempt is that scientists also looked at local and regional levels and they added the element of justice.

The justice part includes fairness between young and old generations, different nations and even different species. Frequently, it applies to conditions that harm people more than the planet.

An example of that is climate change.

The report uses the same boundary of 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial times that international leaders agreed upon in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The world has so far warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit), so it hasn’t crossed that safety fence, Rockstrom and Gupta said, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t being hurt.

“What we are trying to show through our paper is that event at 1 degree Centigrade (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) there is a huge amount of damage taking place,” Gupta said, pointing to tens of millions of people exposed to extreme hot temperatures.

The planetary safety guardrail of 1.5 degrees hasn’t been breached, but the “just” boundary where people are hurt of 1 degree has been.

“Sustainability and justice are inseparable,” said Stanford environmental studies chief Chris Field, who wasn’t part of the research. He said he would want even more stringent boundaries. “Unsafe conditions do not need to cover a large fraction of Earth’s area to be unacceptable, especially if the unsafe conditions are concentrated in and near poor and vulnerable communities.”

Another outside expert, Dr. Lynn Goldman, an environment health professor and dean of George Washington University’s public health school, said the study was “kind of bold,” but she wasn’t optimistic that it would result in much action.


European Genes Found in Ancient Egyptian Mummy in Ireland

The remains of an Egyptian mummy and its
sarcophagus lie within a tomb at Saqqara, south of Cairo. AP
The remains of an Egyptian mummy and its sarcophagus lie within a tomb at Saqqara, south of Cairo. AP
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European Genes Found in Ancient Egyptian Mummy in Ireland

The remains of an Egyptian mummy and its
sarcophagus lie within a tomb at Saqqara, south of Cairo. AP
The remains of an Egyptian mummy and its sarcophagus lie within a tomb at Saqqara, south of Cairo. AP

A research team at the University of Manchester's Center for Biomedical Egyptology, managed to unveil further secrets about the life of mummy Takabuti kept at the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

Previous research used CT scans to look into the cause of the mummy’s death, and showed that it was “stabbed with an axe, and not with a knife”, as it was previously thought.

The new research, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, provides new insights on the life, death, and embalming of Takabuti, based on a proteomic and genomic analysis of 50 milligrams of bone and thigh muscle. The new findings show that the famous mummy “had European genes that originated from the mother.”

The team also examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which revealed a group of maternal genes known as “H4a1 haplogroup” that currently dominates in Europe.

The new discovery supports a theory saying that the family of Takabuti’s mother may have originated outside Egypt, as the name of the mother “Tasenirit” engraved on the mummy’s sarcophagus, is not known elsewhere in Egyptian sources. However, her father’s name, Nespare, and his role as a priest of Amun as indicated from Takabuti’s sarcophagus, suggest that she had direct Egyptian ancestry.

The analyzed proteins also indicate protracted leg muscle activity in the hours before death, which suggests that Takabuti tried to escape the attacker who hit her with the axe.

The researchers note that “the mummy lived in Thebes during the turbulent period when the Kushite rulers of Egypt were conducting military campaigns against the Assyrians, and she may have been caught up in one of these conflicts.”

The team also looked into the secrets of Takabuti’s mummification. CT scan results from former studies showed that the embalming reflected changes in practice during the Third Intermediate and Late Periods, where greater attempts were made to make a mummy look more “realistic”, such as the unusual retention of the complete head of natural hair rather than shaving the head or adding hair extensions.

The new study uncovered other secrets with the help of 20–30 mg needle biopsy sample of the packing material inserted during mummification.

The researchers found that the materials used for embalming contained cedar wood shavings. Using radiocarbon dating, they determined that “the mummification took place in the Third Intermediate Period and in keeping with the previously dated hair and the stylistic dating of the coffin that placed it in the 25th Dynasty.”


KAUST Hosts Int’l Conference on Sustainable Development

The four-day conference, the first of its kind in the Kingdom and the entire Middle East has attracted 1,000 scientists and innovators from leading regional universities
The four-day conference, the first of its kind in the Kingdom and the entire Middle East has attracted 1,000 scientists and innovators from leading regional universities
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KAUST Hosts Int’l Conference on Sustainable Development

The four-day conference, the first of its kind in the Kingdom and the entire Middle East has attracted 1,000 scientists and innovators from leading regional universities
The four-day conference, the first of its kind in the Kingdom and the entire Middle East has attracted 1,000 scientists and innovators from leading regional universities

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has inaugurated the international conference on sustainable development organized by Times Higher Education (THE).

The four-day conference, the first of its kind in the Kingdom and the entire Middle East has attracted 1,000 scientists and innovators from leading regional universities, including Prince Sultan University, the Knowledge University, the United Arab Emirates University, and Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University.

Officials from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Ministry of Economy and Planning, and the Bureau of Strategic Administration are also in attendance.

The President of KAUST, Dr. Tony Chan, emphasized that the conference serves as a platform to foster strong collaborations among participating institutions.

He expressed hope that academic and research organizations would align their educational and innovation programs to achieve concrete and impactful outcomes.

Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih participated in the conference and delivered a presentation on investment in the Kingdom's transformation.

Al-Falih underscored the conference's significance as a platform for showcasing global efforts and research in sustainable development.


Saudi Astronaut Crew Returns from Space Station 

Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner, and mission specialists Ali Al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi representing Saudi Arabia pose before the planned Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch to the International Space Station at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner, and mission specialists Ali Al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi representing Saudi Arabia pose before the planned Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch to the International Space Station at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
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Saudi Astronaut Crew Returns from Space Station 

Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner, and mission specialists Ali Al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi representing Saudi Arabia pose before the planned Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch to the International Space Station at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner, and mission specialists Ali Al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi representing Saudi Arabia pose before the planned Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch to the International Space Station at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US May 21, 2023. (Reuters)

The team of Saudi astronauts, including the first Arab woman sent into orbit, splashed down safely off Florida on Tuesday night, capping an eight-day research mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the Saudis and two Americans parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, after a 12-hour return flight and blazing re-entry plunge through Earth's atmosphere.

The splashdown was carried live by a joint webcast presented by SpaceX and the company behind the mission, Axiom Space.

It concluded the second space station mission organized, equipped and trained entirely by Axiom, a 7-year-old Houston-based venture headed by NASA's former ISS program manager.

The Axiom 2 crew was led by retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, 63, who holds the US record for most time spent in orbit with 665 days in space over three long-duration missions to the ISS, including 10 spacewalks. She now serves as Axiom's director of human spaceflight.

"That was a phenomenal ride. We really enjoyed all of it," Whitson radioed to mission controllers moments after splashdown.

Ax-2's designated pilot was John Shoffner, 67, an aviator, race car driver and investor from Alaska.

Rounding out the crew as mission specialists were the first two astronauts from Saudi Arabia to fly aboard a private spacecraft - Ali Al-Qarni, 31, a fighter pilot for the Royal Saudi Air Force; and Rayyanah Barnawi, 34, a biomedical scientist in cancer stem-cell research.

Barnawi is the first woman from the Arab world ever launched into Earth orbit and the first Saudi woman to fly in space.

In August 2022, Sara Sabry became the first Arab woman and the first Egyptian to fly to space on a brief suborbital ride operated by the Blue Origin astro-tourist venture of Jeff Bezos.

California-based SpaceX, founded by Twitter owner and Tesla Inc electric carmaker CEO Elon Musk, supplied the Falcon 9 rocket and crew capsule that ferried Axiom's team to and from orbit and controlled the flight.

NASA furnished the launch site at its Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and assumed responsibility for the Axiom crew during their stay aboard the space station, orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.


Vietnam Capital Dims Street Lights to Save Energy During Heat Wave 

People go fishing during sunset at West Lake, a popular destination to escape the high temperatures in Hanoi, Vietnam, 17 May 2023. (EPA)
People go fishing during sunset at West Lake, a popular destination to escape the high temperatures in Hanoi, Vietnam, 17 May 2023. (EPA)
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Vietnam Capital Dims Street Lights to Save Energy During Heat Wave 

People go fishing during sunset at West Lake, a popular destination to escape the high temperatures in Hanoi, Vietnam, 17 May 2023. (EPA)
People go fishing during sunset at West Lake, a popular destination to escape the high temperatures in Hanoi, Vietnam, 17 May 2023. (EPA)

Authorities in Vietnam's capital of Hanoi are turning off street lights to keep the national power system running amid record temperatures bringing a surge in demand in some parts of the Southeast Asian nation.

As weather officials warn the heat wave could run into June, several cities have cut back on public lighting after state utility EVN said rising demand for air conditioning could burden the national grid further.

"It's so harsh and hot outside that people have to wear protective clothing to cool down and not get burned," said Hanoi resident Tran Van Hung, 67.

Temperatures this week are expected to range between 26 and 38 degrees Celsius (78.8 and 100.4 degrees F), weather officials say.

To deal with the problem, Hanoi turns on its public lighting half an hour later than usual, and switches it off half an hour sooner, while halving illumination on some major roads and in public parks.

"If people all save energy, all will have enough electricity to use, but if not, there will be a partial electrical overload that will put the power grid at risk," said Luong Minh Quan, an electrician with EVN in Hanoi.

Last week Vietnam called for electrical devices to be turned off when not in use, and for air-conditioning to be kept above 26 degrees C (78.8°F).

Some chose to cool off at a waterpark, though experts say activity in extreme heat can cause dehydration and exhaustion.

"The water can help overcome the heat, as there are no other immediate solutions," said Tran Minh Trung, 48.


China Launches Shenzhou-16 Mission to Chinese Space Station 

Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. (AFP)
Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. (AFP)
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China Launches Shenzhou-16 Mission to Chinese Space Station 

Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. (AFP)
Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-16 Manned Space Flight Mission, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gansu province, on May 30, 2023, heading to the Tiangong space station. (AFP)

China sent three astronauts to its now fully operational space station as part of crew rotation on Tuesday in the fifth manned mission to the Chinese space outpost since 2021, state media reported.

The spacecraft, Shenzhou-16, or "Divine Vessel", and its three passengers lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert in northwest China at 9:31 a.m. (0131 GMT).

The astronauts on Shenzhou-16 will replace the three-member crew of the Shenzhou-15, who arrived at the space station late in November.

The station, comprising three modules, was completed at the end of last year after 11 crewed and uncrewed missions since April 2021, beginning with the launch of the first and biggest module - the station's main living quarters.

China has already announced plans to expand its permanently inhabited space outpost, with the next module slated to dock with the current T-shaped space station to create a cross-shaped structure.

Leading the Shenzhou-16 mission was Jing Haipeng, 56, a senior spacecraft pilot from China's first batch of astronaut trainees in the late 1990s. He had travelled to space three times before, including two trips as mission commander.

Jing flew with Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, both 36 and part of China's third batch of astronauts. The mission is Zhu's and Gui's first spaceflight.

Former military university professor Zhu will serve as spaceflight engineer while Gui, a professor at Beihang University, will serve as the payload specialist on the mission, managing science experiments at the space station.

Beijing is expected to launch one more crewed mission to the orbiting outpost this year.

Also by the end of 2023, China is due to a launch space telescope the size of a large bus.

Known as Xuntian, or "Surveying the Heavens" in Chinese, the orbital telescope will boast a field of view 350 times wider than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched 33 years ago.


Saudi Astronauts on Board ISS Conduct Interactive Experiment with School Students

Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni carry out an interactive scientific experiment on heat transfer with high school students in the Kingdom. (SPA)
Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni carry out an interactive scientific experiment on heat transfer with high school students in the Kingdom. (SPA)
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Saudi Astronauts on Board ISS Conduct Interactive Experiment with School Students

Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni carry out an interactive scientific experiment on heat transfer with high school students in the Kingdom. (SPA)
Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni carry out an interactive scientific experiment on heat transfer with high school students in the Kingdom. (SPA)

Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni have conducted an interactive scientific experiment on heat transfer with high school students in the Kingdom via satellite from the International Space Station (ISS).

 

The experiment allowed students to communicate with the two astronauts for questions and to compare results in microgravity environment with results on Earth. The astronauts, along with the students, were able to measure the variation in the speed of heat transfer in the microgravity environment compared to that on Earth. The results showed that heat travels at a slower speed through space than on Earth.

 

The experiment aims to motivate a new generation of Saudi leaders, explorers and scientists and achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 by building human resources and promoting a culture of research, development and innovation.

 

Such experiments seek to heighten the students' interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and grow human capital by attracting talent and developing the necessary skills. This will boost the Kingdom's role in developing the space sector, become an important part of the global community in space science research and invest in research, in the service of humanity.

 

The experiments are being organized by the Saudi Space Commission (SSC) in partnership with the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), and Riyadh and Misk schools.


Interior Ministry Issues Special Stamp to Commemorate Saudi Crew’s Mission to ISS

Saudis watch the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule, carrying four astronauts, two of whom are Saudi nationals, to the International Space Station, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US, in an event organized to celebrate the first Saudi woman into Space in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 22, 2023. (Reuters)
Saudis watch the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule, carrying four astronauts, two of whom are Saudi nationals, to the International Space Station, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US, in an event organized to celebrate the first Saudi woman into Space in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 22, 2023. (Reuters)
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Interior Ministry Issues Special Stamp to Commemorate Saudi Crew’s Mission to ISS

Saudis watch the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule, carrying four astronauts, two of whom are Saudi nationals, to the International Space Station, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US, in an event organized to celebrate the first Saudi woman into Space in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 22, 2023. (Reuters)
Saudis watch the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule, carrying four astronauts, two of whom are Saudi nationals, to the International Space Station, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US, in an event organized to celebrate the first Saudi woman into Space in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 22, 2023. (Reuters)

The Saudi General Directorate of Passports issued a special stamp in commemoration of the launch of the Saudi astronauts’ mission to the International Space Station, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Monday.

The stamp, "Saudi Arabia Toward Space", was issued in cooperation with the Saudi Space Commission.

It will be made available to travelers at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, and Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport.

The Saudi Space Commission launched the "Saudi Arabia Toward Space" campaign to boost the Kingdom's global position in the field of space, its contribution to international space activities, and promote its efforts to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.


China Prepares to Send First Civilian into Space 

A member of People's Liberation Army (PLA) runs on the site of Shenzhou-16 manned space flight mission on the eve of launching in Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, 29 May 2023. (EPA)
A member of People's Liberation Army (PLA) runs on the site of Shenzhou-16 manned space flight mission on the eve of launching in Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, 29 May 2023. (EPA)
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China Prepares to Send First Civilian into Space 

A member of People's Liberation Army (PLA) runs on the site of Shenzhou-16 manned space flight mission on the eve of launching in Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, 29 May 2023. (EPA)
A member of People's Liberation Army (PLA) runs on the site of Shenzhou-16 manned space flight mission on the eve of launching in Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, 29 May 2023. (EPA)

China will send its first civilian astronaut into space as part of a crewed mission to the Tiangong space station on Tuesday as it pursues its ambitious plans for a manned lunar landing by 2030.

The world's second-largest economy has invested billions of dollars in its military-run space program, trying to catch up with the United States and Russia after years of belatedly matching their milestones.

Until now, all Chinese astronauts sent into space have been part of the People's Liberation Army.

Gui Haichao is a professor at Beijing's Beihang University, and will manage scientific experiments on the station during the mission, China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) spokesperson Lin Xiqiang told reporters on Monday.

His mission will "carry out large-scale, in-orbit experiments... in the study of novel quantum phenomena, high-precision space time-frequency systems, the verification of general relativity, and the origin of life," Lin said.

"I've always had this dream," Gui told a press conference on Monday.

His university said he hailed from an "ordinary family" in the southwest province of Yunnan.

He had "first felt the attraction of aerospace" listening to the news of China's first man in space, Yang Liwei, on campus radio in 2003, the institution said in a post on social media.

Gui's addition is "particularly significant", independent analyst Chen Lan told AFP, given previous missions only carried astronauts trained as pilots responsible for more technical tasks and not specialist scientists.

"It means that, from this mission on, China will open the door to space for ordinary people," he said.

Gui is set to take off onboard the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Tuesday at 9:31 am (0131 GMT), the CMSA said.

The commander is Jing Haipeng -- on his fourth mission into space, according to state media -- and the third crew member is engineer Zhu Yangzhu.

Jing said he hadn't gone home for nearly four years because of fears travel could disrupt his training.

"As astronauts going into space... our main responsibility and mission is striving for glory for our country," he said at a press conference on Monday.

The three will stay in Earth's orbit for around five months.

'Space dream'

Under President Xi Jinping, plans for China's "space dream" have been put into overdrive.

China is planning to build a base on the Moon, and CMSA spokesman Lin on Monday reaffirmed Beijing's plan to land a manned mission there by 2030.

"The overall goal is to achieve China's first manned landing on the Moon by 2030 and carry out lunar scientific exploration and related technological experiments," he said.

The final module of the T-shaped Tiangong -- whose name means "heavenly palace" -- successfully docked with the core structure last year.

The station carries a number of pieces of cutting-edge scientific equipment, state news agency Xinhua reported, including "the world's first space-based cold atomic clock system".

The Tiangong is expected to remain in low Earth orbit at between 400 and 450 kilometers (250 and 280 miles) above the planet for at least 10 years.

It is constantly crewed by rotating teams of three astronauts.

While China does not plan to use Tiangong for global cooperation on the scale of the International Space Station, Beijing has said it is open to foreign collaboration.

China "is looking forward to and welcomes the participation of foreign astronauts in the country's space station flight missions," Lin said Monday.

China has been effectively excluded from the International Space Station since 2011, when the United States banned NASA from engaging with the country.


City Walk Jeddah’s Carnival...a Place for Fun, Enjoyment

The Carnival entertainment zone embodies excitement and challenge, including kinetic game - SPA
The Carnival entertainment zone embodies excitement and challenge, including kinetic game - SPA
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City Walk Jeddah’s Carnival...a Place for Fun, Enjoyment

The Carnival entertainment zone embodies excitement and challenge, including kinetic game - SPA
The Carnival entertainment zone embodies excitement and challenge, including kinetic game - SPA

The "Carnival" zone at City Walk is offering a number of events within the Jeddah Events Calendar 2023, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Carnival entertainment zone, which embodies excitement and challenge, including kinetic games, also comprises various games for different ages.

The City Walk zone offers a variety of options for visitors, as it features a unique atmosphere for ten different sub-zones, offering its distinctive experiences, many other daily shows, watching entertainment events, experiencing adventures and exciting shows, and various games.