Article~Unknown object seen over south dakota skies

An object was seen over the South Dakota skyline this morning, but what it was is still not known.

The first two minute clip of video was taken at 8:00 AM from our Empire Mall Skycam looking south-southeast. You can clearly see the object leaving a vapor trail behind in the sky as it drifts toward the southern horizon.

The second part of the clip was taken from our Rapid City Skycam. This view is looking east as the object moves from north to south parallel to the horizon. The second half of the video from Rapid City was captured at about 8:15 AM CDT.

We`re gathering information about it today and we`ll share what we find later today on KELOLAND.com and News.

Article~Malaysian Astronaut Won't Ignore Faith During Spaceflight

STAR CITY, Russia (AP) -- Among the things Malaysia's first astronaut will be worrying about next month: How does an observant Muslim pray toward Mecca while soaring hundreds of miles above the Earth?

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor will blast off aboard a Russian-built Soyuz space craft en route to the International Space Station along with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson.

They blast off from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 10.

Speaking at a news conference Thursday at Russia's cosmonaut training center in Star City, on Moscow's outskirts, Shukor said during his 10 days in space, he hoped to perform life science and other research, but said he would not ignore the responsibilities of his faith.

"I do agree that I am a Muslim, I am Islamic, but my main priority is more of conducting experiments,'' the 35-year-old astronaut said. "As a Muslim, I do hope to do my responsibilities, I do hope to fast in space.''

After months of discussion and two international conferences, the Islamic National Fatwa Council came up with guidelines as to how Muslim astronauts should observe daily rituals. The rules were published in 12-page booklet titled "Muslim Obligations in the International Space Station.''

Observant Muslims are required to turn toward Mecca -- located in Saudi Arabia -- and kneel and pray five times a day. However, with the space station circling the Earth 16 times a day, kneeling in zero gravity to pray -- or facing toward Mecca for that matter -- makes fulfilling those religious obligations difficult.

Malaysia's National Fatwa Council ruled that Muslim astronauts will not be required to kneel to pray if the absence of gravity makes it too hard. Facing Mecca while praying will be left to the "best abilities'' of the astronaut, the council said.

Adding to the difficulties is the fact that the launch coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- when Muslims are expected to fast from dawn until dusk. The fatwa decided the fasting may be postponed until returning to Earth.

Other exceptions include allowing simple silent prayer if performing physical rituals is impossible.

Shukor will return to Earth Oct. 20 along with two members of the station's current crew -- cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov.

www.space.com

Article~Mysterious peruvian meteor disease solved

An object that struck the high plains of Peru on Saturday, causing a mysterious illness among local residents, was a rare kind of meteorite, scientists announced today.

A team of Peruvian researchers confirmed the origins of the object, which crashed near Lake Titicaca, after taking samples to a lab in the capital city of Lima.

Nearby residents who visited the impact crater complained of headaches and nausea, spurring speculation that the explosion was a subterranean geyser eruption or a release of noxious gas from decayed matter underground.

But the illness was the result of inhaling arsenic fumes, according to Luisa Macedo, a researcher for Peru`s Mining, Metallurgy, and Geology Institute (INGEMMET), who visited the crash site.

The meteorite created the gases when the object`s hot surface met an underground water supply tainted with arsenic, the scientists said.

Numerous arsenic deposits have been found in the subsoils of southern Peru, explained Modesto Montoya, a nuclear physicist who collaborated with the team. The naturally formed deposits contaminate local drinking water.

"If the meteorite arrives incandescent and at a high temperature because of friction in the atmosphere, hitting water can create a column of steam," added José Ishitsuka, an astronomer at the Peruvian Geophysics Institute, who analyzed the object.

By Wednesday, according to Macedo, all 30 residents who felt ill reported feeling better.

"People Were Extremely Scared"

Locals described the meteorite as a bright, fiery ball with a smoke trail. The sound and smell rattled residents to the point that they feared for their lives, Ishitsuka said.

The meteorite`s impact sent debris flying up to 820 feet (250 meters) away, with some material landing on the roof of the nearest home 390 feet (120 meters) from the crater, Ishitsuka reported.

"Imagine the magnitude of the impact," he said. "People were extremely scared. It was a psychological thing."

The meteorite`s crash also caused minor tremors, shaking locals physically and emotionally.

"They were in the epicenter of a small earthquake," Montoya, the nuclear physicist, said.

The resulting crater resembles a muddy pond measuring 42 feet (13 meters) wide and 10 feet (3 meters) deep.

Solving the Mystery

Even as meteorite samples arrived in Lima Thursday for testing, Peruvian scientists seemed to unanimously agree that it was a meteorite that had struck their territory.

"Based on the first-hand reports, the impact and the samples, this is a meteorite," Macedo, of INGEMMET, said.

Tests revealed no unusual radiation at the site, though its absence didn`t rule out a meteorite crash.

"Everything has radioactivity, even underground rocks," Montoya said. "But nothing out of the ordinary was found."

Preliminary analysis by Macedo`s institute revealed no metal fragments, indicating a rare rock meteorite. Metal stands up better to the heat created as objects enter Earth`s atmosphere, which is why most meteorites are metallic.

(See related news photo: "Mysterious Space Object Crashes Into House" [January 5, 2007].)

The samples she reviewed had smooth, eroded edges, Macedo added.

"As the rock enters the atmosphere, it gets smoothed out," she said.

The samples also had a significant amount of magnetic material "characteristic of meteorites," she said.

"The samples stick to the magnet," Ishitsuka, the astronomer, confirmed. "That shows that there is iron present."

Water samples at the crater proved normal, but the color and composition of soil were "unusual" for the area, Macedo noted.

José Machare, a geoscience adviser at INGEMMET, said x-ray tests conducted on the samples earlier today further confirmed the object`s celestial origins.

He said the group`s findings put to rest earlier theories that the object was a piece of space junk or that the crater had formed by an underground explosion.

"It`s a rocky fragment," Machare said, "and rocks that fall from the sky can only be meteorites."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070921-meteor-peru.html