Discovery blasted off on Tuesday for the first United States space-shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster in February 2003, which forced the US to rethink its space programme completely. Thirteen days after a previous attempt was called off, Discovery lifted off into clear blue skies.
The space shuttle Discovery‘s launch could go ahead even if a fuel-gauge malfunction reoccurs, but weather might delay the lift-off, Nasa said on Sunday. Nasa has failed to explain what caused the failure of a sensors that prompted the last-minute cancellation of the July 13 launch.
Nasa called off Wednesday’s launch of Discovery — the first by a US space shuttle since the 2003 Columbia disaster — after detecting a faulty fuel sensor. The flight was postponed two hours and 20 minutes before the scheduled lift-off. The seven crew members had already boarded Discovery.
Michael Jackson’s lawyers are working on their final arguments in the star’s child-sex trial that could go to the jurors within days, after three months of often graphic testimony. Now that both sides have rested their case, the rival lawyers could start delivering their closing arguments as early as Wednesday.
Comedian Chris Tucker and United States talk-show host Jay Leno are scheduled to take the stand for Michael Jackson this week as the defence wraps up its case in the entertainer’s child-sex trial. The two are expected to be among the last witnesses to appear for the prosecution, which appears set to conclude its case by mid-week.
Holding vigil at the gates of Neverland, fans wait for a glimpse of Michael Jackson, horrified at the child-sex charges against the star they say is just a boy who wouldn’t grow up. A wave from their idol out of a car window stirs a frenzy of excitement, but the hardcore supporters insist they have not come to star-gaze.
Michael Jackson’s prosecutors on Friday were set to wrap up a week of explosive testimony in which jurors heard how the star allegedly performed oral sex on a young boy and fondled others. Jackson is on trial for allegedly fondling another 13-year-old boy at his Neverland ranch two years ago, but the prosecution hopes the prior cases will show a pattern of child abuse in his past.
Michael Jackson’s legal team braced for more damaging testimony on Thursday, after a former maid recounted seeing the pop star with young boys in the shower, the bathtub and in bed. The so-called ”King of Pop” is on trial for allegedly fondling a 13-year-old cancer survivor two years ago.
A flight attendant offering to cuddle a prosecutor and a stand-up comic making fun of the lead defence attorney have helped to lighten a serious court case. The judge himself said he did not mind a bit of humour in his courtroom, and admitted that between the comedians and the lawyers, he preferred the comedians.
Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson trial on Tuesday inflicted new setbacks on a defence team already reeling from a decision to allow testimony about the star’s alleged history of child abuse. The prosecution boost came after Judge Rodney Melville ruled that jurors at the child sex trial could hear about five more boys the embattled ”King of Pop” is alleged to have molested in the past.