News in Brief (25-12-2018)

FE Team | Published: December 24, 2018 23:41:04

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