New Amateur Video Shows NASA Rocket Exploding In Massive Ball Of Flames | ||
| | ||
Amateur footage has surfaced of the NASA rocket that exploded on Tuesday night, seconds after liftoff from the space agency's flight facility in Virginia. The video, taken by Instagram user michaelwaller77, was posted by The Wall Street Journal.
In a statement, NASA said it is "disappointed" that the resupply mission — the third of eight under a $1.9 million contract — was not succesful. However, the agency still has five more contracted launches with Orbital Sciences, which will go forward as planned. "The crew of the International Space Station is in no danger of running out of food or other critical supplies," NASA said.
The mishap occurred just after 6:22 p.m. EDT at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. NASA officials said that damage to the area following the explosion was mostly contained, although there might be some scattered of debris. Orbital has organized an investigation board to determine what caused the catastrophic failure. “It is far too early to know the details of what happened,” Frank Culbertson, Orbital’s executive vice president and general manager said in a statement. "As soon as we understand the cause we will begin the necessary work to return to flight to support our customers and the nation’s space program.” Roughly one-third of the cargo headed for the ISS was dedicated to science experiments, but there was also more then 1,500 pounds of crew equipment, food, and flight procedure books. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
Juventus look to maintain lead, Milan target third spot | ||
| | ||
Milan (AFP) - Juventus travel to Genoa looking to maintain their three point lead on Roma on Wednesday while AC Milan go in search of a win away to Cagliari that could see them jump up to third place in Italy's Serie A. Champions Juventus extended their advantage at the top of the table with a 2-0 win over Palermo Sunday while Roma dropped two points in a 0-0 draw away at highflying Sampdoria the previous day. Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri admits his side are still 'looking for balance' as they head to the Luigi Ferraris Stadium. Carlos Tevez should be buoyed up following his first call-up to the Argentina squad in three years on Monday, while Alvaro Morata and Fernando Llorente are both in the running to start alongside the 'Apache' up front. Llorente broke his league duck in Sunday's win in Turin, although Morata could also be given the nod having shown plenty of promise in a 1-0 Champions League defeat away to Olympiakos last week. Juventus will be without defender Patrice Evra after he was diagnosed with a hamstring strain which is expected to keep him out for a month. Ghanaian Kwadwo Asamoah is expected to fill in, having mostly shared the left side position with Evra since the Frenchman arrived on a two-year contract from Manchester United in the summer. Roma would be forgiven for feeling some nerves on their return to the Stadio Olimpico for the first time since the 7-1 Champions League drubbing by Bayern Munich last week. The visit of promoted Cesena should, on paper, be no major problem for Rudi Garcia's side as they look to get back to winning ways. "The Bayern match is behind us," insisted Garcia, who made light of his side's failure to score a goal against Sampdoria. "We had chances to win this game but lacked bite in front of goal." Ashley Cole was dropped following his shocking display against Bayern and although Leandro Castan and Maicon are still sidelined through injury, the former Chelsea left-back is expected to start on the bench as Roma welcome Kostas Manolas back from a one-game ban. Garcia still has doubts over the availability of midfielder Seydou Keita although striker Mattia Destro is expected to start despite missing training Monday due to a thigh problem. Udinese leapfrogged Sampdoria into third place following a well-deserved 2-0 win over Atalanta on Sunday and the pair are now both on 16 points, six behind Juve and one ahead of Milan. Anything less than a win for Udinese and Sampdoria, who face Fiorentina and Inter respectively, coupled with a Milan win would see the Rossoneri go third if they prevail at Cagliari. The Sardinians, however, have put behind them a poor start by claiming seven points from their last four games, including three from a 4-1 drubbing of Inter Milan at the San Siro and a 4-0 rout of hosts Empoli last weekend. That game saw a brace of goals from Brazilian Danilo Avelar, including a vicious strike from 25 metres that had wily veteran coach Zdenek Zeman positively purring. "I'm happy because I have so many quality players to choose from, they make it difficult every time I'm choosing the starting line-up," said Zeman. Fernando Torres, looking to add to the lone goal he has scored for Milan so far, away to Empoli a month ago, should start as the lone striker flanked by Stephan El Shaarawy and Keisuke Honda. El Shaarawy admits it will be crucial to have the right attitude in Sardinia. "We have to stay compact and united and take home three points. We just need to be a bit more clinical from the start," El Shaarawy told Milan Channel. "We have a long road ahead and we have to pick up as many points as we can to stay close to third place."
Fixtures (all 1845 GMT) Wednesday Atalanta v Napoli, Cagliari v Milan, Fiorentina v Udinese, Genoa v Juventus, Inter v Sampdoria, Palermo v Chievo, Roma v Cesena, Torino v Parma Thursday Verona v Lazio Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
Hitachi profit nearly triples, raises full-year forecast | ||
| | ||
Tokyo (AFP) - Hitachi said Wednesday its net profit for the six months to September nearly tripled to $850 million as the Japanese giant hiked its full-year earnings forecast. The vast conglomerate said net profit soared to 91.54 billion yen ($850 million) during the first half of its fiscal year to March, up from 32.77 billion yen a year earlier, as it pointed to a strong performance in its information technology and elevator divisions. Operating profit rose about 23 percent to 214.02 billion yen on sales of 4.50 trillion yen, up 0.6 percent, said the company which sells everything from batteries to nuclear plants. Hitachi also revised up its annual forecast. It now expects a net profit of 250 billion yen on sales of 9.5 trillion yen, up from a previous outlook of 230 billion yen and 9.4 trillion yen, respectively. Demand picked up for IT systems, electronic devices, and so-called social infrastructure such as elevators and trains, Hitachi said. Strong demand for elevators and escalators in China helped results, Hitachi added, but it also warned that demand some parts of the world could be shaky. "In terms of the overall global business environment going forward, the US economy will likely keep a steady recovery path while the global economy as a whole faces uncertainties," it said in a statement. "Risks pertaining to the European economy such as financial instability in southern Europe and the Ukraine crisis, a slowing growth in the Chinese economy, and geopolitical risks in the Middle East" may weigh on results. Hitachi shares closed up 0.83 percent at 804.5 yen in Tokyo. Its results were published after markets closed. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
New Amateur Video Shows NASA Rocket Exploding In Massive Ball Of Flames | ||
| | ||
Amateur footage has surfaced of the NASA rocket that exploded on Tuesday night, seconds after liftoff from the space agency's flight facility in Virginia. The video, taken by Instagram user michaelwaller77, was posted by The Wall Street Journal.
In a statement, NASA said it is "disappointed" that the resupply mission — the third of eight under a $1.9 million contract — was not succesful. However, the agency still has five more contracted launches with Orbital Sciences, which will go forward as planned. "The crew of the International Space Station is in no danger of running out of food or other critical supplies," NASA said.
The mishap occurred just after 6:22 p.m. EDT at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. NASA officials said that damage to the area following the explosion was mostly contained, although there might be some scattered of debris. Orbital has organized an investigation board to determine what caused the catastrophic failure. “It is far too early to know the details of what happened,” Frank Culbertson, Orbital’s executive vice president and general manager said in a statement. "As soon as we understand the cause we will begin the necessary work to return to flight to support our customers and the nation’s space program.” Roughly one-third of the cargo headed for the ISS was dedicated to science experiments, but there was also more then 1,500 pounds of crew equipment, food, and flight procedure books. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
LG Electronics reports Q3 profit jumps 87% | ||
| | ||
Seoul (AFP) - LG Electronics reported Wednesday an 87 percent jump in third-quarter net profit from a year ago after profits from its mobile unit surged to a five-year high. Net profit for the South Korean electronics giant in the July-September period amounted to 202.6 billion won ($193 million), up 87 percent from a year ago, the company said in a statement. Operating profit also jumped 112 percent to reach 461.3 billion, while sales rose seven percent to 14.9 trillion won. The firm's handset unit led the growth with a 39-percent rise in sales and an operating profit of 167.4 billion won -- the highest for five years and a turnaround from a 79.7 billion won loss a year ago. The handset unit sold 16.8 million smartphones in the third quarter, breaking the quarterly sales record set in the second quarter. The world's sixth-largest smartphone maker struggled for years with sluggish sales after making a late entry into the market following competitors like Samsung and Apple. But LG recently showed signs of revival with its flagship G3 smartphones, while its bigger South Korean rival Samsung saw profits sag. Samsung -- the world's top maker of smartphones and TVs -- is set to post a nearly 60 percent plunge in its third quarter operating profit to be announced on Thursday, although the figure of 4.1 trillion won is still nearly 10 times bigger than LG's. LG's TV unit saw operating profit inch up five percent to 130.5 billion won on growing sales of high-end sets. LG shares rose 4.31 percent to close at 67,800 won on the Seoul stock market. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
| |
