First woman to land on moon will be American: US Vice President Mike Pence
Washington, May 7: The United States is planning another space mission to the moon, Vice President Mike Pence said Monday asserting that the first woman to land on Earth's natural satellite will be an American.
"At President (Donald) Trump's direction, the United States will return to the moon within the next five years, and the first woman and the next man on the moon will be Americans," Pence said, in his address to the Satellite 2019 Conference here.
The Trump administration is incredibly proud that before the year ends, we will once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil into the vast expanse of space, he said.
To fully unlock the mysteries of space, President Donald Trump recognises the US has to look beyond the halls of the government, beyond NASA, for input and guidance.
"That's why we assembled this Users' Advisories Group in the National Space Council, which, I'm proud to say has brought together some of the brightest minds and biggest talents in the country to help accelerate innovation across the space enterprise," he said.
More than 15,000 scientists and industry representatives from 105 countries, including India, are attending the four-day mega event beginning May 6 in Washington DC.
It is touted to be the largest commercial satellite industry event. It has featured headline keynote appearances from Amazon and Blue Origin founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, One Web founder Greg Wyler, among many other.
Noting that other nations are joining the space race, Pence said while their capabilities increase, the truth of the matter is that there's no guarantee nations around the world share same values, ideals, or the US commitment to freedom and the rule of law and peace.
"And that's what makes our leadership in space so important," he said.
"The truth is, nations from Russia and China to North Korea and Iran have pursued weapons to jam, blind, and disable our navigation and communications satellites via electronic attacks from the ground," Pence said.
"Recently, we've even seen nations working on bringing new weapons of war into space itself. From anti-satellite weapons and airborne lasers, to highly threatening, on-orbit activities and evasive hypersonic missiles, our competitors and our adversaries have been aggressively developing and deploying technologies that put our technology and put our prosperity and our security at risk," said the vice president.
"Today, we recognise space a war-fighting domain, just like the land [and] air and sea," Pence quoted Trump as saying. And America is going to be as dominant for its security in space, as it is here on Earth, he asserted.
"To meet the emerging threats, President Trump has taken decisive action to strengthen American power.
"From the first days of this administration, we've been rebuilding our military, restoring the arsenal of democracy. And last year, President Trump signed the largest investment in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan, including renewed resources to enhance the resilience of our space defense systems," he said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
