European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is a European organisation dedicated to space exploration, currently with 17 member states. ESA's spaceport, however, is located in South America in Kourou, French Guiana- a site chosen because it is close to the equator from which commercially important orbits are easier to access.

Gondwana

Gondwana, sometimes called Gondaranya, is a region of central India, and is named after the Gondi people who live there (though they can also be found in other parts of India). The name of the ancient continent of Gondwanaland was derived from Gondwana, because some of the earliest rock formations of this continent were first investigated in part of the region, in modern Orissa.

Crawler-Transporter

The Crawler-Transporter, with a loaded max speed of one mile per hour, is a tracked vehicle used to transport Space Shuttles from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch site. In their lifetime, the two transporters called "Hans" and "Franz" have travelled some 2,500 miles. NASA will continue to use the crawlers when the Space Shuttle is retired in 2010.

Human settlement

Human settlement in Judea streches back to the Stone Age and is believed to have been one of the routes through which humans travelled out of Africa to colonise the rest of the world around 1,00000 years ago. Archaeological evidence of human settlement dates back 11,000 years in the case of the city of Jericho, believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the world.

Aztecs

The ancient Aztecs made a fermented beverage from the Century Plant or Maguey plant called Pulque. The alcoholic content was equivalent to modern-day beer. But the Pulque drink was forbidden for anyone below the age of 60. First offenses drew relatively light punishment, but repeat offenses could be punished by death. The Aztecs also made a frothy and bitter beverage from Cocoa beans called Xocolatl.

Namco

Namco was founded in 1955, by Masaya Nakamura under the name Manakura Manufacturing, the company manufactured mechanical rocking-horses. They changed their brand name to Namco in 1971 and released their first arcade game Gee Bee in 1978. Some of Namco's more famous games include Galaxian, Pac-Man Tekken, Bosconian, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Xevious and Mappy.

Pygmy

The word pygmy traces its roots to the Greek word 'Pygmaioi', which in turn is derived from the word "pygme" meaning "the length of the forearm". In Greek mythology, the Pygmies were said to be involved in an eternal fierce battle against cranes.

Ceres

At 930 km in diameter, Ceres is the largest known asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was originally classified as a planet when discovered in 1801, but has since been classified as an asteroid. It may, however, soon be reclassified as a planet and known informally as a 'dwarf planet' of the proposal under consideration by the International Astronomical Union is passed on Aug 24.

NASA’s Atlantis

NASA’s Atlantis is one of only three (along with Discovery and Endeavour) shuttles remaining in the fleet, following the destructions of Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003). She made her first flight in October 1985 and has since flown 26 flights, spent 220.40-days in space, completed 3,468 orbits, and flown 89,908,732 miles in total, as of February 2003. She last flew in October 2002.

International Space Station

The International Space Station has a lot of interesting innovations, for example, all its electrical power is derived from solar panels. Even more amazing is the life support system that collects, processes and stores water and waste used and produced by the crew. This includes recycling fluid from the sink, shower, urine and even condensation.