South Korea arrests former top officials over 2020 killing
South Korea’s former defense minister and coast guard chief have been arrested over their alleged involvement in covering up facts and distorting the circumstances surrounding North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official in 2020 near the rivals’ tense sea border.
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Moon, Biden agree to work on joint North Korea strategy
In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Blue House, South Korean President Moon Jae-in talks on the phone with U.S. President Joe Biden at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, in South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. During their first phone talks since President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed the allies make joint efforts for lasting peace and denuclearization. The two leaders agreed on the need to soon map out a “comprehensive strategy on North Korea if possible,” Moon’s spokesman, Kang Min-seok, said. AdThe U.S., which has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, regularly stages military drills with South Korea. North Korea views such military training and U.S.-led sanctions as proof of American hostility.
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First full moon of 2021 will arrive next week
GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND - JANUARY 11: A so-called wolf moon rises over Glastonbury Tor on January 11, 2017 in Somerset, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)This year’s first full moon is arriving next week, and astronomers are calling it the “Wolf Moon.”According to NASA, you’ll be able to see the Wolf Moon at its fullest on Jan. 28, around 1:16 p.m., appearing opposite of the Sun. The moon is also called the “Ice Moon,” as it’s known as the first full moon of winter. February’s full “Snow Moon” will reach its peak in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 27, according to the Almanac. To learn more about the Snow Moon, click here.
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Moon urges Biden to learn from Trump's N. Korea diplomacy
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during an on-line New Year press conference with local and foreign journalists at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP)SEOUL – South Korea’s president on Monday urged the incoming Biden administration to build upon the achievements and learn from the failures of President Donald Trump’s diplomatic engagement with North Korea. Biden has accused Trump of chasing the spectacle of summits rather than meaningful curbs on the North’s nuclear capabilities. And while Moon acknowledged that Biden is likely to try a different approach than Trump, he stressed that Biden could still learn from Trump’s successes and failures in dealing with North Korea. “The start of the Biden administration provides a new opportunity to start over talks between North Korea and the United States and also between South and North Korea,” which have stalled amid the stalemate in nuclear negotiations, Moon said.
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Companies are cashing in on moon rocks
And with a different form of space race heating up, some companies are trying to cash in. NASA pledged in September to buy moon rocks from companies that can get robotic rovers to the lunar surface and scoop up samples of the dusty terrain, and the space agency asked for bids from companies all over the world. The goal is not to gather new information about lunar soil composition or study how various lunar resources can be used. NASA may be the only organization that’s currently in the market for buying moon rocks from private companies, but the space agency allowed the companies to name their price. The economic incentive for the four companies signed up for NASA’s new lunar resource program is not exactly clear, but all of the companies are already well underway developing various lunar exploration technologies.
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Does a ‘blue moon’ actually exist?
Most people have heard the phrase, “once in a blue moon” when referring to something that doesn’t happen very often. But an actual blue moon is traditionally defined as the second full moon to happen in a single calendar month, and usually doesn’t have anything to do with the actual color of the moon. In this case, our second full moon, and now blue moon, will be on Halloween night. According to earthsky.org, that will happen next in the year 2048, when a monthly blue moon falls on Jan. 31, and a seasonal blue moon on Aug. 23. If you’re wondering, the next seasonal blue moon will be August 22, 2021.
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NASA announcing ’exciting new discovery’ about the Moon on Monday
Update: Scientists have announced that the Moon may hold frozen water in more places than suspected, meaning astronauts could use those resources in the future. Original: NASA is expected to announce a new scientific discovery about the Moon on Monday. According to a news release, NASA will make “an exciting new discovery” as it continues to delve into moon and space exploration. NASA says the first woman and next man will be sent to the lunar surface in 2024 to prepare for the human exploration of Mars. The human expedition to Mars could take place in the 2030s, NASA said.
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Rare blue moon will illuminate Halloween sky in 2020
SAN ANTONIO – This Halloween might look a little different for a lot of reasons including a rare blue moon illuminating the sky. The term “blue moon” refers to the second full moon in a single month and, according to NASA, the phenomenon only occurs seven times every 19 years. The first full moon for October will appear on Oct. 1 and is referred to as the Harvest Moon. EarthSky.org reports that the last blue moon occurred on March 31, 2018 and the next one is expected to occur Aug. 22, 2021. So no matter what you’re doing on Halloween - you should look up and check out the rare Halloween blue moon.
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N. Korea's Kim apologizes over shooting death of S. Korean
It’s extremely unusual for a North Korean leader to apologize to South Korea on any issue. South Korean officials condemned North Korea for what they called an “atrocious act” and pressed it punish those responsible. According to the North Korean message, North Korean troops first fired blanks after the man found in the North’s waters refused to answer other than saying he’s from South Korea a couple of times. The troops determined he was dead and burned the floating object in line with anti-coronavirus rules, according to the North Korean message read by Suh. The North Korean message was sent from the United Front Department of the ruling Workers’ Party, a top North Korean body in charge of relations with South Korea.
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Look to the sky on 4th of July to see the first full moon of summer
SAN ANTONIO – Fireworks won’t be the only reason to look to the sky on the Fourth of July! According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the first full moon of the summer, otherwise known as the Buck Moon, is taking to the skies just before the midnight hour on Saturday. There will also be a partial penumbral lunar eclipse, NASA officials said. This process is known as a partial penumbral eclipse. The moon will appear full for about three days around the eclipse, from Friday evening into Monday morning, and NASA officials said this will be a full moon weekend.
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Check out this ‘mini-moon’ that’s orbiting Earth
A tiny object that has gotten sucked into orbit around Earth is acting as a temporary mini-moon. The object, which is actually an asteroid, is only the second asteroid known to orbit Earth, according to CNN. Kacper Wierzchos and Theodore Pruyne, both researcher specialists for the Catalina Sky Survey, made the discovery on Feb. 15 and posted it to Twitter. On the night of Feb. 15, my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Teddy Pruyne and I found a 20th magnitude object. pic.twitter.com/zLkXyGAkZl — Kacper Wierzchos (@WierzchosKacper) February 26, 2020Researchers said the asteroid, known as 2020 CD3, is likely between 6.2 feet and 11.4 feet in diameter.
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A Snow Moon will light up the sky this weekend
A Snow Moon will appear from Friday evening to Monday morning, but don't worry: it won't affect the weather. According to the Farmers' Almanac, northeastern Native American tribes referred to the second full moon of winter as the Snow Moon because of February's heavy snow. However, experts disagree on what constitutes a supermoon, according to EarthSky. A supermoon is a full moon that occurs when the moon is at the closest point to earth in its orbit. This moon is important for other reasons as well, according to NASA.
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The US proposed nuking the moon, and other surprising facts about Earth’s celestial satellite
Since the moon is Earth's closest celestial neighbor, we've been able to learn more about it than any other in the solar system. There are surprising details about the moon, such as how in 1958, the US proposed exploding a nuclear bomb on its surface, for clout. Twelve men walked on the moon between those years, and all spacecraft on the moon's surface since have been unmanned. Astronauts will dock Orion at the Gateway, a spacecraft where they will live and work around the moon. Tides are caused by the moonThere are two bulges in Earth resulting from the gravitational pull of the moon.