Free Republic

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency intends to launch its DESTINY+ mission to the near-Earth asteroid Phaethon in 2024, with the aim of flying by the space rock in 2028, so this "potentially hazardous" asteroid has been studied intensely in the lead-up to the mission. Researchers recently made one particularly notable discovery about Phaethon: Its spin is speeding up. The asteroid's rotational period is decreasing by 4 milliseconds per year. Even a small change like this could impact the DESTINY+ observations. Knowing the specific spin rate allows the team to more accurately predict the asteroid's orientation during the spacecraft's flyby —...

/begin my translation   N. Korea Ordered 300 Volkswagen Cars, Including a Luxury Sedan   by Kim Jong-ho Recently, N. Korea purchased about 300 passenger cars from Volkswagen, including top-class luxury model Phaeton, and mid-size model Passat in Europe. A source from Volkswagen Korea said on (Jan.) 28th, "We heard from an executive from the headquarter who visited here recently that N. Koreans came to Volkswagen headquarter in Germany, and placed orders for 300 Passats, mid-size car, and 5 Phaetons, a top-class luxury sedan." N. Koreans first placed orders for 300 Passats (engine displacement: 1,800~2,000 cc(cubic centimeter)), airlifted one Phaeton with 6-cylinder engine(engine displacement 6,000cc) to Pyongyang, and...