Russian instruments for ExoMars rover-2020 will be ready in the autumn of 2017

© Photo: ESA / ATG medialab

MOSCOW, June 26 - RIA Novosti. Two Russian instrument, designed to be mounted on the rover mission ExoMars-2020 is practically ready before the end of 2017 they will be delivered to the European Space Agency (the ESA), told RIA Novosti Head of the Laboratory of Space Research Institute (IKI) Daniel Rodionov.

© Photo: ESA / AOES Medialab

The first test for the expedition ExoMars-2020 will begin no earlier than 2018

"The Russian equipment for the European Mars rover mission in 2020 are in a high degree of readiness, we are now completing design and development testing, and in the autumn 2017 will be ready to deliver the European Space Agency flight model to be installed on the rover." - Rodionov said taking part in the opened Monday in IKI SpaceOps seminar.

In April, ESA's Johann-Dietrich Werner Director General said that the first test in preparation for the second expedition ExoMars, scheduled for 2020, will begin no earlier than 2018.

© NASA / JPL-Caltech / ESA

"Exomars" will help NASA rovers communicate with

ExoMars ( "exomars") - the first in the history of cooperation between the EU and the Russian project to search for life on Mars. Launching of the project began with the start of the carrier rocket "Proton-M" with the upper stage "Breeze-M" March 14, 2016 from Baikonur, when TGO- devices bunch of "Schiaparelli" was put on the flight path to Mars. The main objective of the orbiter Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) - search for evidence of the presence of methane in the planet's atmosphere, which would confirm the presence or activity of life in the present or the past of Mars. The purpose of the landing module "Schiaparelli" - check the key technologies for the second expedition ExoMars, scheduled for 2020.

After separation apparatus 16 October 2016 TGO has been successfully put into an elliptical orbit, while the descent module "Schiaparelli" could not nominally reach the surface of Mars. Contact with him was lost for about 50 seconds before the estimated time of landing. By assumption, the representatives of ESA, the unit earlier than planned, opened the drogue parachute and its brake motors worked much less than the estimated time. ESA has confirmed later that the machine crashed during landing.

Stanford sociologist explains lack of grassroots climate change activism in U.S

SAN FRANCISCO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Stanford University sociology Professor Doug McAdam argues that while there is significant support from Americans for action on climate change, the issue is still not seen as an immediate threat by many.

His argument in a recent article appearing in the Annual Review of Political Science is based on a review of 40 years of research and theory on social movements in an attempt to determine why a sustained grassroots movement on climate change has not developed in the United States.

Numerous public opinion polls show that Americans believe climate change is a major problem that needs to be dealt with. However, there is a relative lack of grassroots climate change activism in the country. U.S. President Donald Trump decided in early June to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

McAdam blames a host of factors that help to account for the lack of grassroots activism, notably the relentless denial of the reality of climate change by anti-climate change forces; the increasing gridlock in U.S. Congress, making bipartisan action on any issue difficult; and the lack of "ownership" of the issue by any significant segment of the American public.

In addition, in McAdam's words, the mistaken extended "time horizon" associated with the issue reassures many Americans that the impact of climate change is still off in the nebulous future.

In explaining the lack of "ownership," he elaborates that the issue of police violence against African Americans is "owned" by the African American community. That is, the great majority of African Americans are deeply concerned about the issue. The same is true for the threat of deportation among Hispanic Americans. In short, grassroots action is much more likely if a specific population segment identifies with and is committed to action on a given issue.

In contrast, no clear segment of the U.S. population currently "owns" the climate change issue. Therefore, the issue does not elicit the powerful responses necessary for Americans to mobilize.

Although there are more than 400 formal climate change organizations in the United States, they generally eschew forms of non-institutionalized, or otherwise disruptive, action in favor of the more conventional tactics of lobbying and public education, according to the researcher. And relative to the far more numerous and much better-funded climate change denier organizations, "the top-down climate change organizations have had virtually no impact on environmental policy at the federal level."

"The organizations that arose to address the issue were ill suited to the kind of grassroots mobilization characteristic of successful movements," he writes in the abstract of the article, titled "Social Movement Theory and the Prospects for Climate Change Activism in the United States."

Monday Morning News Briefing

Monday, June 26, 2017 Six month old Palestinian American Waleed Shehadeh rests on a blanket as he is photographed by family members in celebration of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr in Staten Island, New York, U.S., on June 25, 2017. REUTERS/Gabriela Bhaskar Washington U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold their first face-to-face meeting in Washington on Monday, seeking to boost U.S.-Indian relations despite differences over trade, the Paris climate accord and immigration. Modi will try to strengthen ties that have appeared to loosen. Indian officials, noting both men's tendency to speak their mind, were anxious to see how they get along. At a weekend event with conservative donors, top aides to Charles Koch, the billionaire energy magnate, said the Senate’s healthcare bill does not go far enough to dismantle Obamacare, and said they will lobby for changes to it. Immigration Thousands of people who fled to Canada to escape President Trump’s crackdown on illegal migrants have become trapped in legal limbo because of an overburdened refugee system, struggling to find work, permanent housing or enroll their children in schools. A small border town and some of the largest cities in Texas will ask a federal judge on Monday to block a new state law to punish "sanctuary cities," arguing it promotes racial profiling, diverts resources from police and is unconstitutional. Japan A U.S. warship struck by a container vessel in Japanese waters failed to respond to warning signals or take evasive action before a collision that killed seven of its crew, according to a report of the incident by the Philippine cargo ship's captain. Multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations are underway into how the guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the much larger ACX Crystal container ship collided in clear weather south of Tokyo Bay in the early hours of June 17. COMMENTARY: Trump should go easy on North Korea over Warmbier death China The battle for full democracy in Hong Kong has been a defining issue for the city of 7.3 million. It has sown distrust between China and Hong Kong, polarized politics, hampered governance and stoked mass street protests, including the 79-day pro-democracy Occupy movement in 2014. In the process, a young generation has become radicalized, with some agitating for greater autonomy and even independence from China. Philippines The vice president of the Philippines expressed hope for a swift end to an urban siege by Islamist rebels, and offered support to displaced civilians. President Rodrigo Duterte, who’d normally conduct such a visit, has not been seen in public in six days. UK After Prime Minister Theresa May lost her majority in parliament with a failed gamble on a snap election, she’s tried to secure the backing of the small Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and its 10 lawmakers. Though talks have dragged, May drew closer to clinching a deal as she prepared to meet the party leader. Colombia Nine people died and 28 are missing after a multi-decked tourist boat carrying about 170 passengers sank in Colombia's Penol-Guatape reservoir on Sunday during the long holiday weekend, a government official said. NYC Pride parade doubles as protest  Participants hold up signs as they take part in the LGBT Pride March in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., June 25, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Business Italy began winding up two failed regional banks in a deal that could cost the state up to 17 billion euros ($19 billion) and will leave the lenders' good assets in the hands of Intesa, the nation's biggest retail bank. Intensa said its planned acquisition of the good assets of Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca could lead to the closure of around 600 branches and the departure, on a voluntary basis, of around 3,900 staff. Japan's Takata Corp, the firm at the center of the auto industry's biggest ever product recall, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Japan, and said it would be bought for $1.6 billion by U.S.-based rival Key Safety Systems. Deutsche Bank appointed Borislav Ivanov as chief country officer for Russia and chairman of its local board. Ivanov, who is moving from his position as Deutsche Bank head in Ukraine, is replacing Annett Viehweg, but has yet to get regulatory approval. The oil industry faces a bottleneck holding back resurgent domestic oil production - an outmoded U.S. distribution system. Pipeline construction often lags production booms by years - if proposed lines are built at all - because of opposition from environmentalists and landowners, topographic obstacles, and permitting and construction challenges. That forces drillers to limit output or ship oil domestically, usually by rail - which is more costly and arguably less safe. Entertainment Facebook is in talks with Hollywood studios about producing scripted, TV-quality shows, with an aim of launching original programming by late summer, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday

Technology Report: June 26, 2017

Short of IT workers at home, Israeli startups recruit elsewhere TEL AVIV (Reuters) - When Alexey Chalimov founded software design firm Eastern Peak in Israel four years ago he knew he would not find the developers he needed at home.

Facebook in talks to produce original TV-quality shows: WSJ (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is in talks with Hollywood studios about producing scripted, TV-quality shows, with an aim of launching original programming by late summer, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Western Digital won't consent to SK Hynix participation in Toshiba chip unit sale TOKYO (Reuters) - Western Digital Corp has told Toshiba Corp that it will not agree to a sale of the Japanese conglomerate's prized memory chip unit to a preferred bidding consortium that includes rival chipmaker SK Hynix Inc .

Australia to seek greater powers on encrypted messaging at 'Five eyes' meeting SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia said on Sunday it will push for greater powers to tackle the use of encrypted messaging services used by terrorists and criminals at an upcoming meeting of ministers from the "Five Eyes" intelligence network.

EU court seen ruling on Intel antitrust case next year: judge PARIS (Reuters) - Europe's top court is likely to rule on Intel's appeal against a record 1.06 billion euro ($1.19 billion) EU antitrust fine next year, an EU judge said on Monday, a case that may affect companies such as Google and Qualcomm in the EU's crosshairs.

China, Canada vow not to conduct cyber attacks on private sector (Reuters) - China and Canada have signed an agreement vowing not to conduct state-sponsored cyber attacks against each other aimed at stealing trade secrets or other confidential business information.

British lawmakers hit by 'sustained' cyber attack LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's parliament was hit by a "sustained and determined" cyber attack on Saturday designed to identify weak email passwords, just over a month after a ransomware worm crippled parts of the country's health service.

CEO of Raytheon's Forcepoint eyes IPO: Boersen-Zeitung FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. missile maker Raytheon's cybersecurity unit could thrive were it to be listed separately, the head of the unit, Forcepoint, told German business daily Boersenzeitung in an interview published on Saturday.

Even with Whole Foods, Amazon would need many more warehouses to reshape grocery delivery (Reuters) - If Amazon.com Inc hopes to revolutionize grocery delivery, then its bid to buy Whole Foods Market Inc for $13.7 billion will be just the start of a long and costly process.

Google to stop scanning Gmail for creating targeted ads (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google said on Friday it would stop scanning Gmail content for creating personalized ads from later this year, bringing the widely-used email service in line with its enterprise offering, G Suite.

Health Report: June 26, 2017

Trump reaches out to lawmakers on healthcare as another says 'no' WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump made calls to fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Friday to mobilize support for their party's healthcare overhaul while acknowledging the legislation is on a "very, very narrow path" to passage.

South Africa imposes countrywide ban of sale of live hens to contain avian flu CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa has placed a general ban on the sale of live hens throughout the country in a bid to control an outbreak of highly contagious H5N8 bird flu, but no humans have been affected, the government said on Monday.

USDA finds abscesses, unidentified material in raw Brazil beef: USDA CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found repeated import violations in raw Brazilian beef, including abscesses and unidentified foreign material, a top agency official said, explaining reasons for a U.S. ban on imports of fresh Brazilian beef.

Roche says new hemophilia drug cuts bleed rate by 87 percent ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche's investigational hemophilia drug emicizumab cut the bleed rate by 87 percent in patients who had developed resistance to standard treatment, compared with those who instead got bypassing agents, the Swiss company said on Monday.

Health insurers says Senate bill's Medicaid cuts to hurt states NEW YORK (Reuters) - Health insurers are concerned about the U.S. Senate's plans to cut the Medicaid program for the poor and the impact such a move would have on state governments, the industry's largest lobbyist said on Friday.

Novartis breast cancer drug Kisqali wins European panel backing ZURICH (Reuters) - A European Medicines Agency (EMA) panel recommended on Friday approving Novartis's Kisqali drug, bolstering the Swiss drugmaker's bid to challenge rival Pfizer's Ibrance against tough-to-treat breast cancer.

High hopes ride on marijuana painkillers amid opioid crisis (Reuters) - A handful of drugmakers are taking their first steps toward developing marijuana-based painkillers, alternatives to opioids that have led to widespread abuse and caused the U.S. health regulator to ask for a withdrawal of a popular drug this month.

Saudi crown prince donates $66 million to fight Yemen cholera epidemic DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince has donated $66.7 million to combat a cholera epidemic in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting in a war blamed for causing a humanitarian disaster.

United Nations stresses for support for Haiti cholera fight PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - The United Nations stressed on Thursday its support for eradicating cholera in Haiti, an epidemic it accidentally started, although the government said residents would be better served if aid funding was channeled through it.

Portola shares soar after FDA approves clot preventing drug WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new oral blood-thinner made by Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc to prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms in acutely ill patients who are not undergoing surgery.