Coastguard Springs into Action to Save Kitesurfer

^{PHOTO: ITALIAN COASTGUARD RESCUING KITESURFER IN DISTRESS OFF THE COAST OF A SICILIAN ISLAND}

INTERNATIONAL: A kite surfer looking for some recreational fun off Italy's Sicilian coast got more than he bargained for when the weather conditions changed abruptly. An Italian coast guard springs into action to save a man in distress who had been stranded at sea for many hours on Tuesday.

The man set off from Isola dei Porri, a tiny island off southern Sicily, in the early afternoon when the conditions of the sea were ideal for kitesurfing. While out at sea, there was an unexpected change in the weather and the waves had risen to 1.5 metres high making it difficult for him to return to the beach.

Coastguards were alerted by a friend of the kitesurfer who had noticed he had not returned from his excursion. The task group immediately sent out a search and rescue boat and a helicopter, who were searching for five hours until the surfer was found.

The man had been at risk of being shipwrecked and was in difficulty when they found him, clinging on to the surfboard, very tired and in a slight state of hypothermia. He was found near the bay of Granelli and was treated by medics as he was transferred to the port of Pozzallo.

German’s Sea-Eye 4 with 800 Migrants on Board Awaits Port of Safety

^{PHOTO: RESCUE SHIP SEA-EYE 4 CARRYING OUT VARIOUS RESCUE OPERATIONS, IN TOTAL THEY HAVE SOME 800 MIGRANTS ON BOARD}

A German charity-rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 awaits a port of safety on Thursday with more than 800 migrants on board who were rescued from boats in distress in the Mediterranean and since set course for Lampedusa.

The Sea-Eye 4 had already rescued 397 people in six operations by Wednesday, assisted by the Mission Lifeline ship Rise Above. The vessel then picked up a further 400 people from a heavily overcrowded wooden boat on Thursday morning.

Sea-Eye 4 says that the Maltese rescue services, though responsible for maritime emergencies in the area, “did not respond to any of the calls for assistance.” The migrants and 24 crew on board are facing an “unprecedented, highly stressful situation” and are “dependent on the rapid assignment of a port of safety.” The NGO SOS-Mediterranee’s Ocean Viking ship was also in the area and had provided food supplies to the Sea-Eye 4. Any delay by the authorities endangers the health and lives of the rescued people and the crew.

So far this year, 53,836 migrants have arrived in Italy, according to Italian interior ministry data. In the same period of 2020, from January 1-November 3, 29,267 migrants arrived in the country.

NASA’s DART to Crash into an Asteroid

^{PHOTO: NEWS CONFERENCE, VARIOUS OF ANIMATION DEMONSTRATING ASTEROID TARGETING SYSTEM}

And…. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Thursday unveils spacecraft to target asteroids in first planetary defence mission. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a spacecraft they plan to launch later this month on a mission to crash into an asteroid is the agency’s first planetary test mission.

NASA has revealed details of how it plans to deliberately crash a spacecraft into an asteroid to see if it will change the asteroid's course. It will direct itself at an asteroid while traveling at a speed of about 24,000 kilometres per hour. DART which will be a part of a new Earth defence system, which launches on 24 November, will target a double asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos. Neither asteroid poses a threat to the Earth.

Planetary Defense Officer Lindley Johnson says that it’s a test. They want to know about how the spacecraft work and what the reaction will be by the asteroid to the impact before Earth will ever get in a situation like that.

DART, which will launch from California's Vandenberg Air Force base, will reach Dimorphos and Didymos in fall of 2022.