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DISCOVERY

‘Weightlessness is as fun as it was the first time’: Fuglesang

The Discovery space shuttle’s seven-person crew, including Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, has started their second day on the job, following the successful blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday evening (local time).

‘Weightlessness is as fun as it was the first time’: Fuglesang

Their tasks included monitoring the shuttle’s heat shield and preparing for docking at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday.

Fuglesang, who is undertaking his second space mission, wrote a short message after takeoff that was published on Rymdkanalen, a website of the Swedish National Space Board (Rymdstyrelsen):

“We’re on our way! Wonderful start. Felt less shaky than last time. Haven’t managed to see much yet, we are working hard, but Discovery is now properly configured for space. Weightlessness is as fun as it was the first time. Have eaten a little bit too much since dinner and am now going to sleep.”

Friday’s successful takeoff was the fourth attempt during the week. The first attempt on Tuesday was cancelled shortly before liftoff when weather conditions were deemed too dangerous, and two subsequent attempts were thwarted by problems with a liquid hydrogen fill-and-drain valve.

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ANIMAL

Mysterious animal found without legs, feet in Danish forest

A dead animal with its head and hooves removed was discovered in a forest in western Jutland on Monday.

Mysterious animal found without legs, feet in Danish forest
The animal was found in a forest between the towns of Struer and Lemvig. Photo: Morten Stricker/Ritzau Scanpix

The animal was found by a person who was walking in the Klosterheden forest, local newspaper Holstebro Struer Dagbladet reports.

Police were alerted to the discovery at 2:20pm on Monday. The animal was found behind a bench near a parking area in the forest, which is located between the towns of Struer and Lemvig.

The long-haired animal, which was initially thought by the person who found it to be a horse, is an alpaca, a relative of the llama native to South America, police said.

“We do not yet know how it came to be there,” Lilian Jensen of Central and West Jutland Police told Holstebro Struer Dagbladet.

In addition to the missing head and hooves, the animal’s hind legs also had parts removed, which suggests that it may have been killed for its meat before being disposed of in the forest, the newspaper writes.

Jensen told Holstebro Struer Dagbladet that no reports of missing alpaca had been received.

Police also said that the condition of the carcass suggested it had been found within 24 hours of being left at the scene of the discovery.

READ ALSO: Escaped white kangaroo on the hop in Denmark