Space station sees busy week
The international space station’s three residents bade farewell to one set of houseguests Sunday and prepared for the arrival of more visitors.
The send-off of space shuttle Atlantis’ six astronauts was the start of a week of heavy traffic at the station, the equivalent of rush hour in space.
A Russian Soyuz vehicle ferrying two new station crew members and the first female space tourist launched early today; the departure of a Russian cargo ship from the station also is scheduled for today. The Soyuz was scheduled to arrive at the space station early Wednesday, and Atlantis was set to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida later that day.
Boston
Sister of JFK dead at age 82
Patricia Kennedy Lawford, the sister of President John F. Kennedy and wife of actor Peter Lawford, died at her New York home of complications from pneumonia on Sunday, according to a family statement. She was 82.
“My sister Pat is irreplaceable,” Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said in a statement. “Everyone who knew Pat adored her. She was admired for her great style, for her love and support of the arts, her wit and generosity – and for the singular sense of wonder and joy she brought into our lives.”
Lawford is survived by four children and 10 grandchildren. Memorial and funeral arrangements are pending.
SALT LAKE CITY
Separated twins go home
Twin 4-year-old girls who were born fused at the mid-torso were released from a hospital Sunday, six weeks after separation surgery.
Kendra and Maliyah Herrin left Primary Children’s Medical Center in the arms of their parents and will continue recovering at home in North Salt Lake.
A team of eight surgeons separated the girls, who were fused at the torso and sharing a pair of legs and critical organs, during a 26-hour operation that began Aug. 7.
Doctors divided their liver, the bladders and pelvis, leaving each girl with one leg. Kendra kept their shared kidney. Maliyah is receiving dialysis in preparation for a kidney transplant.
Los Angeles
Ex-NATO chief will join UCLA
Wesley K. Clark, a former NATO commander and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, will join the University of California, Los Angeles, this fall as a senior fellow, university officials are set to announce Monday.
Clark, who is expected to arrive on campus about the first of October, will teach occasional seminars, publish policy papers and organize and hold an annual conference on national security, officials said. He will be affiliated with the university’s Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations.
Compiled from wire reports