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ASTRONAUTICS Tale of the Damselfly by Evan Hadingham It was the world's first flight of a powered, heavier-than-air flying machine, or so everybody thought at the time. The date was November 12, 1906, and the setting was not the bleak sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, but the manicured gardens of the Bagatelle Park in the eastern suburbs of Paris. The elegantly attired aeronaut, Alberto Santos-Dumont, stood upright in his #14bis, an ungainly, tail-first contraption inspired by the box kite that he managed to coax into the air four times. His best flight was a powered hop lasting 21 seconds and covering 722 feet. The diminutive, daring Brazilian pioneer was hailed as the undisputed conqueror of the air. ASTRONAUTICS My First Balloon Ascent At the height of his career, the pioneering aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont believed that flight could be a pathway to world peace, enabling people to reflect on the all-too-human world below and inspiring them to lead more just and moral lives. But when he first took to the skies at the age of 24, flight for Santos was foremost an act of adventure and joy. In the following excerpt from his memoir My Airships, Santos reminisces about the virgin voyage he took in 1897. ASTRONAUTICS Russians begin preparation of Brazilian astronaut’s space flight Baikonur (Kazakhstan) – Ravil Khamitov, the Director of the Press Center of Baikonur, Russian cosmodrome located in Kazakhstan, said this Monday (27) that he considers "very meaningful that the first Brazilian cosmonaut will be launched to space exactly from the Yuri Gagarin platform." The Russian Gagarin was the first man to go to space, in 1961. ASTRONOMY ASTRONAUTICS NASA spacecraft finds water on Saturn moon It's almost 1300-million kilometres from earth, but scientists believe they have discovered evidence of water on one of Saturn's icy moons -- rekindling hope in the existence of life outside planet Earth. ASTRONAUTICS Nine satellites ready for blast-off Nine satellites, including one that will carry nothing but seeds, are set to be launched into space this year. ASTRONAUTICS Shuttle hopes for three flights The US space agency (Nasa) is growing optimistic of resuming space shuttle flights in May and perhaps squeezing in three missions this year.