Science & Technology

PARIS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), which is investigating the recent crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX plane, announced on Monday that it had found similarities between the doomed jet and Indonesia's Lion Air flight of the same model that crashed into the sea in October last year.

CHICAGO, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Boeing said Sunday it is finalizing a software update and pilot training revision related to MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) in 737 Max, following two deadly air crashes in less than five months.

March 17, 2019; AP: Surgery for certain bad heart valves may soon become a thing of the past. New studies suggest it’s OK and often better to have a new valve placed through a tube into an artery instead.

The results are expected to quickly transform treatment of a problem that affects millions of people — a stiff or narrowed aortic valve that doesn’t let blood pass as it should. Until recently, fixing severe cases required a major operation using a heart-lung machine while surgeons cut out the old valve and sewed in a new one.

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. A new multifunctional laboratory module Nauka (Science), which is expected to be launched to the International Space Station in 2020, will be transported from Moscow’s Khrunichev space research center to the RSC Energia for pre-flight tests in August, Dmitry Rogozin, chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, wrote on his official Twitter account on Saturday.

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. The Northern design bureau has started developing the construction documentation for modernized frigates of Project 22350M capable of carrying up to 48 Kalibr cruise missiles, a source in the defense and production sector told TASS on Sunday.

"The Northern design bureau has completed designing frigates of Project 22350M and is now developing working design documentation for these vessels in line with the customer’s tactical and technical order," the source said.

WASHINGTON, March 15. /TASS/. The United States has launched the production of components to support developmental testing of conventional, ground launched missiles, Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza told TASS on Friday.

MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft carrying three crew members successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, Russia's space corporation Roscosmos said.

Soyuz MS-12 docked with the Rassvet module at 04:01 Moscow time (0101 GMT), Roscosmos said in a press release.

New Delhi, Mar 14 (PTI) The Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully test fired indigenously developed, low weight, Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile for the second time on Thursday in the ranges of Rajasthan desert, a statement said.

The missile is incorporated with advanced features including state-of-the-art Imaging Infrared Radar (IIR) Seeker with integrated avionics, it said.

The first test was conducted on Wednesday.

13 Mar 2019; AFP: The US space agency NASA on Wednesday cast a shadow on the future of its new heavy-lift rocket, the SLS -- acknowledging development delays on a project that is already years behind.

The Space Launch System program is being run much as the Apollo and space shuttle mission were handled in the days of old.

But Wednesday's announcement illustrates how quickly NASA has embraced a new era dominated by private space companies who are offering the option of low-cost transport on a mission-by-mission basis.

March 13, 2019; AP: Airline pilots on at least two U.S. flights have reported that an automated system seemed to cause their Boeing 737 Max planes to tilt down suddenly.  

The pilots said that soon after engaging the autopilot on Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, the nose tilted down sharply. In both cases, they recovered quickly after disconnecting the autopilot.