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Roscosmos, NASA to Build ‘Deep Space Gateway’ near Moon

An astronaut works outside the International Space Station on May 12, 2017. (AP)
An astronaut works outside the International Space Station on May 12, 2017. (AP)
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Roscosmos, NASA to Build ‘Deep Space Gateway’ near Moon

An astronaut works outside the International Space Station on May 12, 2017. (AP)
An astronaut works outside the International Space Station on May 12, 2017. (AP)

Humans are preparing for a new major step aiming at discovering more space-related secrets, and preparing to land on other planets in the solar system, along with building international space stations all around the globe.

In this context, both the US space agency NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos announced that they reached an agreement to implement another promising space project in order to conduct further studies on the moon and to establish farther stations, which will transport people deeper into space.

Astronauts from both agencies are currently working on establishing a lunar space station, which will house people and will be similar to the International Space Station built by Russia and the US where astronauts and experts from around the world would work.

Roscosmos and NASA signed the new station’s agreement on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress held in Australia on September 27.

The station will be known as the “Deep Space Gateway”.

According to Igor Komarov, Roscosmos’s general director, the first modules are projected to be completed between 2024 and 2026.

He noted that his agency would manufacture the parts and the vehicles that would form the station, suggesting that the techniques may be used later to create orbital stations around Mars.

The agreement signing came after over a year of talks between the two sides, during which they studied the details of the project, and shared the tasks during the implementation.

Given the importance of the project, the Russian space agency intends to adjust its financial plan until 2025 and will work with the government to secure the necessary funds for the project.

NASA confirmed the signing of the “Deep Space Gateway” agreement and said it reflects the common vision of space institutions in both countries to continue space exploration. It also described the lunar orbital station as a strategic step and a very important component of space exploration, which requires much study.

The agreement between the Russian and US agencies allows other countries to participate in the project, namely China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

Scientists say the lunar orbital station will help humans build stations on the moon to study it more accurately. The station itself may be used as a platform to launch spacecraft to distant planets.

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On Lebanon Border, Israel and Hezbollah’s Deadly Game of Patience

Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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On Lebanon Border, Israel and Hezbollah’s Deadly Game of Patience

Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke is seen as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is intercepted following its launch from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Kibbutz Eilon in northern Israel, July 23, 2024. (Reuters)

In deserted villages and communities near the southern Lebanon border, Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters have watched each other for months, shifting and adapting in a battle for the upper hand while they wait to see if a full scale war will come.

Ever since the start of the Gaza war last October, the two sides have exchanged daily barrages of rockets, artillery, missile fire and air strikes in a standoff that has just stopped short of full-scale war.

Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border, and hopes that children may be able to return for the start of the new school year in September appear to have been dashed following an announcement by Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Tuesday that conditions would not allow it.

"The war is almost the same for the past nine months," Lieutenant Colonel Dotan, an Israeli officer, who could only be identified by his first name. "We have good days of hitting Hezbollah and bad days where they hit us. It's almost the same, all year, all the nine months."

As the summer approaches its peak, the smoke trails of drones and rockets in the sky have become a daily sight, with missiles regularly setting off brush fires in the thickly wooded hills along the border.

Israeli strikes have killed nearly 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists, while 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Even so, as the cross border firing has continued, Israeli forces have been training for a possible offensive in Lebanon which would dramatically increase the risk of a wider regional war, potentially involving Iran and the United States.

That risk was underlined at the weekend when the Yemen-based Houthis, a militia which like Hezbollah is backed by Iran, sent a drone to Tel Aviv where it caused a blast that killed a man and prompted Israel to launch a retaliatory raid the next day.

Standing in his home kibbutz of Eilon, where only about 150 farmers and security guards remain from a normal population of 1,100, Lt. Colonet Dotan said the two sides have been testing each other for months, in a constantly evolving tactical battle.

"This war taught us patience," said Dotan. "In the Middle East, you need patience."

He said Israeli troops had seen an increasing use of Iranian drones, of a type frequently seen in Ukraine, as well as Russian-made Kornet anti tank missiles which were increasingly targeting houses as Israeli tank forces adapted their own tactics in response.

"Hezbollah is a fast-learning organization and they understood that UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are the next big thing and so they went and bought and got trained in UAVs," he said.

Israel had responded by adapting its Iron Dome air defense system and focusing its own operations on weakening Hezbollah's organizational structure by attacking its experienced commanders, such as Ali Jaafar Maatuk, a field commander in the elite Radwan forces unit who was killed last week.

"So that's another weak point we found. We target them and we look for them on a daily basis," he said.

Even so, as the months have passed, the wait has not been easy for Israeli troops brought up in a doctrine of maneuver and rapid offensive operations.

"When you're on defense, you can't defeat the enemy. We understand that, we have no expectations," he said, "So we have to wait. It's a patience game."