TWIN NASA PROBES ENTER MOON ORBIT

The second of 2 NASA lunar probes on a mission to check the moon's inner core went into orbit as planned, the US house agency said.
The second Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL-B) can be part of GRAIL-A that reached lunar orbit on Saturday, in line with officers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Scientists hope the 2 probes can permit them to raised perceive the origins of the planets.

NEWS: Probes could notice Remnants of Moon's Lost Sibling

"NASA greets the new year with a replacement mission of exploration," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a very statement.

"The twin GRAIL spacecraft can vastly expand our data of our moon and also the evolution of our own planet," he said.

"We begin this year reminding individuals round the world that NASA will massive, daring things so as to achieve for brand new heights and reveal the unknown."

The $500-million try of laundry machine-sized satellites were launched on Sept. ten on a mission to map the moon's inner core for the primary time.

ANALYSIS: may Galactic Cataclysms Be Recorded on the Moon?

The spacecraft are in a very near-polar elliptical orbit, traveling round the moon each eleven.5 hours, NASA said. within the coming back weeks, that orbit time are reduced to merely underneath 2 hours.

Beginning in March, the 2 unmanned spacecraft can send radio signals that permit scientists to form a high-resolution map of the moon's gravitational field, serving to them to raised perceive its sub-surface options and also the origins of different bodies within the solar system.



The mission ought to shed lightweight on the unexplored way facet of the moon and check a hypothesis that there was once a second moon that fused with ours.

The two spacecraft have taken 3 months to achieve the Moon as hostile the standard three-day journey taken by the manned Apollo missions. The longer journey allowed scientists to raised check the 2 probes.

NEWS: Earth could Have Swirled Moon's Core

Scientists believe that the Moon was fashioned when a planet-sized object crashed into the planet, throwing off a load of fabric that eventually became our planet's airless, desolate satellite.

How it heated up over time, making a magma ocean that later crystallized, remains a mystery, despite 109 past missions to check the Moon since 1959 and also the incontrovertible fact that twelve humans have walked on its surface.

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Will Rick Santorum win in Iowa?

DES MOINES, IOWA--Rick Santorum is thus hot immediately, you'd assume he was the cure to one thing. When pollsters for the Des Moines Register started contacting Republican voters on Tuesday, Santorum was at ten %. By Friday when the polling ended, he was at twenty two %, tied for the lead. If they'd kept calling Saturday, voters may need answered the phone singing the senator's name.

When the times were averaged out, that pollsters do to swish out anomalies, the findings place Romney at twenty four %, Ron Paul at twenty two %, and Santorum at fifteen %. Given the trend, it's potential Santorum may win the caucus on Tuesday, which might be an ideal ending to a volatile race.

The question in Iowa immediately is: Are Iowa Republicans finally waking to the wonders of the two-term senator, or is Santorum merely the newest candidate who isn't Mitt Romney? Voters are on a relentless rummage through the bin, probing for another. initial they moved toward Bachmann, then Perry, Cain, Gingrich, and Paul. Santorum is that the last one left.

The answer is maybe a mix of the 2. Santorum has place himself during a position to require advantage of the instant. He has worked the state more durable than the other candidate, visiting all ninety nine counties and attending 250 events over the last six months. For months he was the Nowhere Man, toiling away and not budging within the polls.

Santorum is additionally a conviction candidate during a contest that has continually been between voters who desire an electable candidate (Romney) and voters who need a candidate who shares their conservative values (anyone however Romney). Santorum has talked concerning social problems during a method that appealed to evangelical voters who currently seem to be rallying to him. "The reason I ran is 'cause i feel individuals grasp there's quite simply a trifle slender issue referred to as 'jobs,' " he told CBS's Jan Crawford.

Rick Santorum is either Mike Huckabee, who in 2008 won Iowa with thirty four % of the vote, or Pat Robertson, who in 1988* came in second with twenty five % of the vote. each appealed to social conservatives, however Huckabee expanded the citizens, drawing new voters to the method. On caucus night, longtime participants noticed individuals revelation they'd never seen before at Republican functions. Those were the Huckabee fans. At the instant, Santorum appearance to be inspiring Huckabee-like fervor. within the Register poll, seventy six % of Santorum supporters say they'll positively caucus instead of most likely attend, a better proportion than for the other candidate.

But this enthusiasm might not carry Santorum all the thanks to a win. So far, the range of evangelical voters seems to be down from 2008. however Ann Selzer, the highly revered pollster who runs the Des Moines Register poll, ran the numbers for a Huckabee-like turnout. beneath that state of affairs, Rick Santorum wins with twenty five %, and Mitt Romney is second at twenty %.

Santorum's rise would appear to contradict a storyline from this year that organization does not matter in Iowa. Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich rose to the highest of the polls while not blanketing the state. The recent cliche that you are alleged to work effortlessly and obtain hot at the top might not be dead, after all. The Register poll shows Iowans have recognized Santorum's toil. He leads within the classes of "relating to normal Iowans" and "least ego-driven"--you'd ought to be to endure those months of lonely campaigning. he is conjointly benefitted by avoiding the scrutiny that has battered alternative candidates. Negative ads concerning Paul could are what stopped his rise. (He's slipped within the last days of polling.) Newt Gingrich, once the front-runner, has plummeted once a sustained attack of negative ads. within the latest Des Moines Register poll he's currently seen because the most ego-driven, least ready to bring forth amendment, least consistent.

Still, Santorum cannot count on a robust showing. Nearly each Republican candidate has enjoyed a surge within the 2012 Republican race, aside from Mitt Romney, who appears to own a surge protector. At twenty four % he's virtually precisely where he was within the June Des Moines Register poll, that he conjointly led with twenty three %. within the October poll he was at twenty two %. His final caucus end in 2008 was twenty five %. the great news for Romney within the poll is that as fervent because the look for another appears to be, voters are going to be OK if he wins: seventy eight % said they might be terribly enthusiastic or happy with the selection if Romney were the nominee, the best enthusiasm of the highest candidates tested.

And Romney simply may win, benefitting from a splintered field. he is operating the state exhausting within the final days, the end result of a long-planned strategic blow-off of Iowa. Romney did not participate within the compulsory events of Iowa politics--the Iowa straw poll, the Reagan dinner--and he did not visit the state abundant. however his organization from 2008 was largely intact. If he had a late chance, the set up was to rush into the state to create a smash and grab at the terribly finish.

Romney is drawing huge crowds and finishing on a transparent pitch: he is the foremost electable candidate. within the poll, forty eight % said he was the foremost electable. (His closest competitor, Newt Gingrich, got solely thirteen %.) If Romney wins, it'll not solely ratify his Iowa strategy and provides him a lift going into his stronghold of latest Hampshire, however it'll ratify his larger cautious strategy, that has been to target attacking President Obama and not responding to each challenger who appears momentarily hot.

Political reporters and execs love the Des Moines Register poll that is shown the late edge for Santorum as a result of it accurately predicted the result of each the Republican and Democratic races in 2008. We're conjointly all desperate for one thing to carry on to during this highly speculative last section. All my phone conversations with sources are all beginning to sound the same--inferences concerning support drawn by crowd sizes (are Santorum's crowds as massive as Huckabee's were?) and conjecture concerning whether or not this race is like 1980 or 1988 or 1996.

When the conversation stalls we tend to name what individuals universally name at stalled points: the weather. How can it have an effect on turnout at the seven p.m. caucuses? It's alleged to be comparatively heat on caucus day, with no precipitation, that one Republican veteran urged would hurt Ron Paul. His supporters are the foremost motivated, which suggests he'd have the benefit of unhealthy weather. His troops would mount the snowmobiles, whereas the Romney voters may keep home and revel in a pleasant fireplace. (The Register poll contradicted this concept. solely fifty six % of Paul supporters said they might positively attend the caucus. He little question incorporates a robust core following, however as his support has grown, he is conjointly taken on less ardent followers. This explains why he is also losing some support to Santorum.)

With 2 days till the voting starts, the race is as fluid as anyone will keep in mind, though the forty one % who told the Des Moines Register they may amendment their mind is smaller than the nearly fifty % who said that in 2008. In that election, those last-minute deciders gave Mike Huckabee thirty four % of the vote and dealt a devastating blow to Mitt Romney. That was back when races used to solely have one or 2 surges. 2012 has been a season of surges, however Santorum could have timed his perfectly.

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Cara Daftar Akun IPaymu

Ipaymu adalah salah satu situs penyedia layanan transaksi keuangan online Indonesia yang terpercaya saat ini. Sebagai pebisnis online tentu sangat membutuhkan alat pembayaran online untuk web bisnisnya, dan alat pembayaran online itu adalah IPaymu. iPayMu menyediakan produk yang merupakan integrasi tiga bisnis terpisah menjadi satu perusahaan yaitu bisnis e-commerce solusi, gateway pembayaran/

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Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Tops New Year's Box Office

 

Tom Cruise is still riding high at the box office.

The fourth installment in his Mission: Impossible film franchise, Ghost Protocol, topped the three-day New Year's weekend box office with an estimated $31.3 million gross according to early Sunday totals.

PHOTOS: Tom's romance with wife Katie Holmes

Having debuted December 21, the action flick is expected to surpass Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows as the top-grossing December 2011 film.

Indeed, Sherlock Holmes finished out the year strong, earning $22.1 million during the holiday haul. The animated sequel Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked settled comfortably into this weekend's third place spot, raking in $18.3 million in receipts from family-friendly moviegoers.

PHOTOS: The year's best family-friendly flicks

Rounding out the New Year's Eve weekend top five were Warhorse ($16.94 million) and the Rooney Mara based-on-the-book pic The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which earned $16.8 million.

PHOTOS: Rooney Mara's style transformation

Final three-day totals will be released on Tuesday.

Tell Us: Which movie did you see this weekend?

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Gingrich: Romney desires to "buy election"

AMES, Iowa -- As he struggles to eke out a top-three end in Tuesday's Iowa caucus, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich launched one in all his harshest attacks nevertheless on front-runner Mitt Romney, saying the previous Massachusetts governor would "buy an election if he may."

As he was leaving a campaign event, the previous House speaker was asked by journalists a few report that he, earlier within the day, had accused Romney of making an attempt to shop for votes. Gingrich replied, "No, I did not say he was. I said he would if he may. ... He would get an election if he may."

Gingrich said he was concerning the negative ads that a PAC backing Romney is running against him in Iowa, and said that the ad buys may total $3.5 million. Gingrich's comments came as he and his wife, Callista, left the West Towne Pub en route to his next campaign event.

Romney was asked for his response by a National Journal/CBS reporter traveling together with his campaign. He failed to address the ads, however noted that Gingrich has raised plenty of cash as a candidate. "He anounced that he raised ten million this quarter, and he need to be pleased with that. ... this is often an election, however, that is not being driven by cash raised. It's being driven by message reference to the voters, dialogue and knowledge."

Gingrich has vowed to remain "positive" in his quest for the GOP nomination, however has been increasingly on the attack against Romney as his poll numbers have declined, mainly in response to the barrage of negative ads purchased by teams supporting Romney, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and different of his rivals. an excellent PAC calling itself Restore Our Future and run by former Romney aides has spent nearly $3 million on ads in Iowa.

Accusing Romney of making an attempt to "buy votes" serves Gingrich's purpose of portraying his rival as an elitist, calling attention to his background as a wealthy former investment banker at Bain Capital. however it comes with some risk for the previous lawmaker, who himself created millions once leaving Congress by trading on his influence in Republican political circles in Washington.

Sarah B. Boxer contributed to the present story.

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