The Russians are attempting to pour cold water on the wedding plans of cosmanaut Yuri Malenchenko who is hoping to marry his Texas bride via a internet voice link from orbit onboard the international space station. The Russian space agency says it is not against the plan. But it states the wedding would be against Russian law.

Malenchenko, who blasted off to the station in late April together with American astronaut Edward Lu, had quietly arranged to have his tail coat and wedding ring flown to him aboard a Progress cargo ship that arrived at the station in June.

Under Russian law, Malenchenko, a Russian air force colonel, is considered the holder of state secrets and can marry a foreigner only after getting permission from his superiors.

According to the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russian air force chief Col.-Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov was angered by Malenchenko's plans and said that a "cosmonaut mustn't behave like a movie star."

I personaly hope the wedding goes ahead. And only hope the wedding outfits are alot better than those worn by Worf and Jadzia Dax on Deep Space Nine!

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70 Sextillian stars in the universe!?

Astronomers announced recently that there are 70 sextillion stars in the visible universe, or some 70 thousand million million million. That's a 7 followed by 22 zeros.

The figure paints an inadequate picture of the scope of the cosmos, however.

Other scientists have previously tried to pin down this most elusive of astronomical numbers. The new figure is 10 times more accurate than previous attempts, according to those who made it. Still, the researchers admit that it is just an estimate, based on surveying only a small patch of sky.

"This is not the total number of stars in the universe, but it's the number within range of our telescopes, said Simon Driver of the Australian National University. "The real number could be much, much larger still -- some people think it is infinite."

Under very dark skies in remote locations on Earth, roughly 8,400 are visible to the naked eye, globally speaking. From any given location on a single night, about 2,500 are available to the discerning eye. Under bright city lights, the quantity of stars visible to the unaided eye can drop to mere dozens.

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China ready for manned launch.

Chinese officials say they are on schedule to launch their first manned spacecraft in October, becoming only the third nation to send a human into orbit.

Hong Kong's pro-Beijing "Wen Wei Po" newspaper earlier said that official Chinese sources were saying the launch would take place sometime in the next 100 days.

If the mission does go ahead, China will join the former Soviet Union and the United States as the only countries to have carried through a manned space programme.

Pilot Chen Long has been named as part of Shenzhou 5's crew. It is unclear, however, how many astronauts will be on board the maiden flight with him.

It is known that 14 fighter pilots, each with more than 1,000 hours flying experience, have been training as astronauts. Two, including Long, have spent some time at Russia's cosmonaut school.

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Japanese shuttle crash.

Japan's delta-wing space shuttle approached the speed of sound while cruising over Sweden, but tumbled into a field moments later - a crash landing that was the latest setback for Japan's space program.

The shuttle, an unmanned craft only 12.5-feet long, took flight Tuesday, lifted by a stratospheric balloon 13 miles above a test site in northern Sweden.

The shuttle was then released and hit speeds up to Mach 0.8 during its 5-minute plunge. Scientists at Japan's National Space Development Agency monitored the flight for data on high-speed acceleration and aerodynamics.

But as the shuttle barreled toward Earth, two of the craft's three parachutes failed to open properly and the craft crashed into a field, breaking its left wing and nose cone.

"From a scientific perspective, it was a success because we collected the data we were looking for. But because of the landing, we are unsure if we can continue the test flights." Said Hiroaki Sato a japanese Space Agency Spokesman.