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- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
- Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over app store
- Officials see no shortages from likely US port strike
- UK families of Gaza hostages warn Lebanon attack 'takes focus away'
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- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
- New blow for UK's Starmer as growth data disappoints
- China's top banks to tweak mortgage rates to boost housing market
- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
US to launch next Moon mission on Valentine's Day
US companies are set to launch for the Moon on February 14, less than a month since a similar mission ended in failure with the spaceship burning up in the Earth's atmosphere, NASA said Wednesday.
The upcoming attempt features a lander built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines fixed to the top of a SpaceX rocket, while the last try involved a United Launch Alliance rocket and Astrobotics lander.
But the stakes remain just as high: achieving America's first soft touchdown on the lunar surface since the end of the Apollo-era five decades ago, and the first ever by private industry.
SpaceX is targeting a 12:57 am (0557 GMT) blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander expected to land on the Moon on February 22, at an impact crater near the lunar south pole.
NASA paid Intuitive Machines more than $100 million to ship its scientific hardware on the mission, part of a broader strategy to stimulate a lunar economy and delegate routine cargo missions to the private sector.
The "Nova-C" lander's payload includes instruments to better understand the lunar environment as NASA prepares to send human crew members back to the celestial body under the Artemis program later this decade.
It also includes more colorful cargo, including sculptures by the artist Jeff Koons.
Only five nations have achieved soft lunar landings. The Soviet Union was first, followed by the United States, which is still the only country to put people on the Moon. China achieved the feat three times in the past decade, followed by India, and most recently Japan.
Japan's lander touched down on January 20 but ended up on its side, leaving its solar panels off kilter.
Astrobotic's failure was the third botched effort by non-government missions, after an Israeli nonprofit and Japanese company both crash-landed in 2019 and 2023, respectively.
Landing on the Moon is complicated by treacherous terrain and the lack of atmosphere, which means parachutes aren't an option and a spaceship has to use its thrusters to achieve a controlled descent.
D.Avraham--CPN