News in Brief (25-12-2018)

Sending human

‘to Mars would

be stupid’

LONDON, Dec 24: One of the first men to orbit the Moon has told BBC Radio 5 Live that it's "stupid" to plan human missions to Mars. Bill Anders, lunar module pilot of Apollo 8, the first human spaceflight to leave Earth's orbit, said sending crews to Mars was "almost ridiculous". Nasa is currently planning new human missions to the Moon. — BBC

NASA spacecraft

moves toward

historic flyby

TAMPA, Dec 24: A NASA spacecraft is hurtling toward a historic New Year's Day flyby of the most distant planetary object ever studied, a frozen relic of the early solar system called Ultima Thule. Four billion miles (6.4 billion kilometres) away, the unmanned spaceship, New Horizons, is poised to zoom by at 12:33 am (0533 GMT) on January 01, at a distance of just 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) from Ultima Thule. — AFP

Turkey-backed Syrian fighters to replace US forces

BEIRUT, Dec 24: A spokesman for Turkish-backed Syrian forces says they are preparing to deploy in eastern Syria alongside Turkish troops once American forces withdraw. US President Donald Trump has said the withdrawal from Syria will be slow and coordinated with Turkey, without providing a timetable. — AP

Quake jolts Myanmar’s northernmost state

YANGON, Dec 24: An earthquake measuring 4.9-magnitude jolted Myanmar's Kachin state on Monday morning, said a press release from the Meteorology and Hydrology Department. The quake struck at 03:02:18 local time. — Xinhua

Police probing drones over Gatwick

LONDON, Dec 24: Sussex Police insist investigations into drone sightings around London's Gatwick Airport are ongoing despite a comment from a senior detective that there may not have been any drones flying over the airport after all. — AP